[Music] Welcome to Ear Biscuits, the podcast where two lifelong friends talk about life for a long time. I’m Link and I’m it. Today we’re doing a special one just solo cuz Rhett is out of the facility. Okay, you cool with that? I thought today since it was just me and you, um, I would share a little joy from my life to yours. And the thing that I’m getting so much joy from lately is my record collection. I am really I I just continue to get into it more and more, shopping for records, listening to records, accumulating my collection. Um, and yeah, I thought it would be a super laid-back way for us to hang out and have an episode. Um, if it sounds boring to you, maybe just hitting the one for you. But, uh, if you’re into hearing about some of my favorite records, which, uh, I’m going to do a little show and tell for the video version. Hey, I’m in. if you’re in um yeah, I want I I want to get right into showing a record and then maybe I’ll talk more about um just what I’m learning about record collecting and how it makes me happy as as I go through it. So, I I had this idea yesterday and I went by um the creative house, got my I I usually carry this crate in the car because I’m moving records between the creative house and my house, sometimes Lando’s room, sometimes to other places if I’m playing records somewhere else. So, I always try to keep this there. But, I I I didn’t plan too much. I just thought, okay, I these resonate with me. These are things that I I want to I want to share some stories or my perspective or why where I got these or why I got them. Um, but not not too much crafting in terms of what I’m picking here. And one last thing before I get into the first record. I think what I’m going to do is post a playlist that I’m going to make on Spotify where I make my playlist. You make your playlist wherever you want. No judgment. And uh so I’m going to post that. So if you want to listen to some of the songs from these records that I’m highlighting, I guess the best way to get the link is um you know, wherever this episode is posted and shared. Also, my Instagram bio has links to my Spotify playlist in them. So um you can find it that way. And um you know if if you want to be super duper helpful and be the one to create a playlist on the on the m if you’re on a m different music stream and you want to duplicate my playlist somewhere else and then post that uh we’ll try to share it so it’s not just for Spotify listeners. Um okay this this is a good one to start with. This is DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s um third album. I always thought it was their sophomore album because that’s how I experienced it growing up. This album is called And in This Corner. It’s It came out in 1989. It’s the followup to the album that if that that really made Jeff and Will famous. This is uh he’s the DJ, I’m the rapper, which the cool thing I’ll talk more about this, but the cool thing about it is you got to look at the back if you want to see the fresh prints. This has got parents just don’t understand on it. So that this this is the first record that I discovered. um of theirs and was like 11 years old. Let’s see. 11 years old when this one came out and in this corner. Yeah. So that’s like a that’s like a formative time if you I didn’t I wasn’t buying records then. I was buying tapes and I didn’t have a television in my room. I would just go into my room as an only child and I would just listen to my tapes. I would just pour over these tapes. And after He’s a DJ on the rapper like being my favorite tape, I just couldn’t wait for the follow-up album to come out, which the single off of this is I think I can beat Mike Tyson, which is a lot of a lot of the songs that he was writing at the time. I mean, he was probably 19 years old, you know, he’s a kid. Super super funny. Um, storybased. I I got to be honest, this album is not I mean, it’s not that great. I don’t know how well this album holds up, but for me, it was important that I own it because I remember pouring over this record. It wasn’t a question of is this good? Will I like it? It’s these are my favorite guys on the planet. I want to be DJ Jazzy Jess. So, I had this allegiance to it and I memorized and listened to every single part of it. Um, so the first song, Then She Bit Me, I can’t even tell you what that’s about. I think it’s she’s a vampire. He’s dating a vampire. Um, everything that glitters ain’t always gold. I think it may be a little problematic with its um tribal references and tropish stereo uh stereotypes that are at play here. But he get he and his girlfriend take a cruise to an island and then they get abducted and it’s like it goes very Indiana Jones. So again, it’s a ridiculous story where he impersonates tribal language in a way that’s probably problematic these days, but when I was 11 years old, I just thought it was completely silly. Um there’s a song called Who Stole My Car? It’s the story of um his car being stolen, but then he decides to call the car phone and he has an altercation with this is this is what you get with Fresh Prince back then. It’s like fun stuff. But the song that’s most special to me is track three on side one, Jazzy’s Groove. When uh Rhett and I were in middle school, there would be the middle school dance. And if this this was like the prime opportunity to have your first kiss. I was petrified about that. And and I actually wasn’t dating anyone at the time anyway. So, the thing that was most important to me was the lip sync contest. Um, and of course, Rhett and I were going to perform together. So, this in 1989, we decided to perform Jazzy’s Groove, which again, this is this is like this is a deep cut off an album that nobody cares about. Um, I think I can beat Mike Tyson was the only song that anyone ever really heard. It had a music video. And who knew that all these years later you could probably They could have used that song for the for the for the Jake Paul fight. I don’t think they did. They could have. They could have. We should have Red and I should have chosen Can I Kick It by Tribe Called Quest. I think we would have won the lipsync battle because there were there two rappers, two of us. I actually think Lynwood Campbell ended up doing that one with Maurice Cameron and they and I think they won. So, we chose this Jazzy’s groove and Rhett was Will and I was DJ Jazzy Jeff. And I’m pretty sure I had just like a fake DJ board and the whole song is dedicated to how good of a DJ Jeff is, which he was and still is absolutely amazing. He was I mean one of the big reasons that and to hear Will Smith talk about it. One of the big reasons that their career took off was because Jeff was such a talented DJ and he would they would go to like these national and international uh DJ competitions and he came out of nowhere and won and then so then that that gave them a lot of opportunity and it actually goes to show you why on their previous album Jeff’s the one on the cover. Will Smith’s not even on the cover. He’s on the back. He’s the DJ. I’m the rapper. You need to know who’s who. And we’re equally important. I resonated with that a lot. So, when we chose this song, it’s got this part and we’ve told this story before where Jeff is he’s scratching mathematical equations or at least simple math. Like you’d have James Brown saying 1 2 3 give a count and then he would on another record he would have somebody say plus. So he’d have 1 + 1 is two and then he would ceue up a response to that and then 2 + 2 is four. You play it on the radio. So, like it’s actually pretty amazing when you listen to Jazz’s Groove and you can think of him per using two turntables and two records with these samples and actually performing this routine live or live to tape for this but as part of a um competition. So, when I found this I found this in Burbank actually. I had to get it. Um, Parents Just Don’t Understand was absolutely huge for me as a a 10-year-old. This was 1988. This was the first um Grammy winner for the rap category when it came out. And uh it’s it’s hard to argue with that. But the tape that I had was black and white and I bought it at the chicken shop where we would my nanny would go well my nanny didn’t drive. My aunt Vicki would go and get gas. Sometimes my mom and I would go there and get gas and I’d get a tater wedge and some fried chicken. And at the counter they were selling tapes and parents just don’t understand was there. So I got it. And what I didn’t realize for many maybe years was that it was a bootleg tape that somebody just made and sold at the T-art and it was only All right. So this record there’s two there’s two records there’s two records here. Um, and of course by buying the tape, the bootleg tape, it was only one of the records. It was only the first half of the album. I didn’t even know it. I mean, it had what I wanted on it. Had parents just don’t understand. And I worshiped this record not knowing that I was only listening to half of it forever. I think Rhett’s brother Cole got it and I was looking at it at his house one day and I think that’s how I realized. But when we were on tour in Philly, which is where uh DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince are from, I was digging through crates. And this is one of the best things about There’s a lot of great things that I love about record shopping. But digging through what a particular record store has and finding something that you didn’t know you wanted. And if you’re in Philadelphia and you’re looking through the hip hop bins and you see the original pressing with the original artwork of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s first album before they were before parents just don’t understand. Um, you have to buy it. And I, you know what? I’ve kept it in the I don’t keep them in the plastic. They say you’re supposed to keep them in the plastic, but I know this one’s in the plastic, but I, as a policy, I don’t keep my records in the plastic because I like to touch them. I like to mess them up. I like to use them. I paid $75 for this record. I’m gonna be honest. And I know that because price tag’s still on the back. But the the interesting thing about this is it’s got Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble. It’s got the UK mix on it. After the success of Parents Just Don’t Understand, and they were signed to Jive, they re-released this album, Rock the House, with a different cover. And the thing I learned by listening to Jeff being interviewed on Quest Loves uh podcast, Quest Love Supreme, was that he actually hates this album cover. Jeff does because it’s a complete ripoff of Run DMC’s album King of Rock because they’re I don’t know who the guy was. They’re like executive investor like record label, small record label. He was like, I want you guys need to do like that worked for Run DMC. You need to do the same thing. So, they literally did the exact same record cover, which is Yeah, I understand why you didn’t like it, but I’m really happy to have it because when Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble, it it uses the um sample from um I Dream of Genie. And I found it after while I was waiting while I was waiting for this album to come out and in this corner, I found this and it was like it was brand new to me. So then you just sit around you’re waiting for the tape. Again, I didn’t have any of the records. I only had the tapes. But I I it just goes to show you from like being a 10year-old like I was always attracted to what DJ Jezy Jeff was doing and still am. Like took his course. He’s the guy I want to meet. So Jeff, you’re the guy I want to meet. You know, when it comes to your financial future, the smallest steps forward that you make now can make a big difference later. Chime is a great choice for making that first step as they really are trying to build a sense of community. When you open a Chime checking account, you’re one step closer to a better financial future. With no maintenance fees, feef free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit, making progress has never been easier. And if you ever want access to your pay before payday, you can use my pay to get up to $500 of your pay before payday with no mandatory fees or interests. 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Um, this is Van Morrison’s album Astral Weeks, which is quite a vibe. If I’m going to recommend one Van Morrison album, uh, it’s not going to be this one. It’s going to be uh, uh, I can’t remember what it’s called right now. It’ll come back to me, but um, it’s the one after this one. It’s got the hits on it, but this one is good to like listen to from start to finish. And it’s very, it kind of takes you on this onto an astral plane for weeks at a time. Maybe that’s why he called it that. But let’s see. This came out. The main thing I remember about this album, I can’t remember when it came out, early ‘7s maybe, was I got into this right when me and Christy first got married. And this is the album I was listening to when we got back from our honeymoon. And we were housesitting for a couple and we had the whole place to ourselves and they had this big old bathtub and here I am newly a newlywed having an unexpectedly large bathtub. I brought a I bought a bottle of rum. Brought it back from our honeymoon in Jamaica. Shouldn’t I shouldn’t use a accent. Jamaica. And I got in that tub. I put on this record and I drank I know I didn’t drink the whole bottle of rum. That would have been impossible. But I got very very sick and it’s the reason why I can’t drink rum. So I can still listen to this record and I don’t feel the room doesn’t spin but it kind of does. It’s kind of good. Van Morrison, Astro Weeks, that’s good. Um, if I’m going to pick one song off of this, it’s it’s really about the album. I’m not going to pick a song, but I I will have put one on the playlist. All right, let’s go further back. I found this on my trip to Seattle. This is James Brown. There it is. This came out in 1972. It’s got a nice illustration of the godfather of soul on the back here. Um, I was really happy to get this because it has my favorite James Brown song on it and I just wanted some James Brown. You have to have some James Brown in your collection, right? But I don’t I don’t like to buy records. I’m at a point now where I’m buying I I have to have a connection to everything, which is I guess why I knew I could just bring a stack of these in and talk to you about them because like I buy things for my reasons. And the reason why I bought this was it has a song. He didn’t write it. Uh he and the band wrote the music. Um it’s called King Heroine. Now, back in the days when I would buy lots of BMG, I I had the BMG um subscription where it’s kind of like Columbia House where you can get 10 CDs for a penny and then they start charging you every every so often, every month when they mail you one and if you don’t mail it back, they’ll charge you probably more than it’s worth. And that’s probably their business model. But you can cancel after the 10. And I think one of the 10 I got was I was thinking the same thing that I was just telling you. I got to get into James Brown. So I got like this double CD like best of James Brown. And it’s what you would expect except for two songs which ended up being my favorite songs. Not because they’re the best, but because they are the most outlier for James Brown, but still really good. One’s called Down and Out in New York City, which I’m looking for that record, which is on a soundtrack for a movie called I can’t remember. I have it written down in my discs, but when I found this one, it had King Heroin on it. It’s a spoken word slower song about the dangers of heroin. But it’s heroin, the drug itself, speaking as a person to you, giving you a warning, talking about how what it’s going to be like when you go to prison and you have to go and you have to suffer from withdrawals from your heroin addiction and how heroin is saying, “Oh, don’t worry. when you get out, I’ll be standing there at the gate. And so, it’s this cautionary tale from heroin itself to not do heroin. I mean, Leonard Skinner’s Needle in the Spoon is a really good song, but I’m sorry. I think this is the best song about heroin. This is such a good song about heroin. I love it. I love the song not heroin. I hate heroine. Um and um yeah, the reason why is in this. But this is this is a good album in general. It’s got there it is part one and two. It’s got lots of like samp stuff that’s been sampled like James Brown saying things or like the his backup singer saying, “Oh, there it is.” So, I kind of have this idea that I’mma put this record on just to kind of scratch in my own James Brown samples. And that’s another I mean, once I’ve started playing more of my vinyl for my friends and at like little kickbacks and little parties, I’ve discovered that I’ve start that I’ve started expanding what I’m buying. I’m always looking for new reasons to buy records, but I always have to have reasons. And sometimes those reasons are this will fit in a set that I want to start that I want to play for people. Matter of fact, this next one does that as well. Um, so I’ll tell you how what I have in mind there. This is Feist’s first album. I’m pretty sure I talked about this on the podcast. Jamie, did I talk about Didn’t I tell Rhett that like when I went to that like I found this unexpected album? I don’t know if it doesn’t matter if I did, but I might have I think I mentioned this to Rhett either on the podcast or otherwise. One of the th this album represents one of the biggest thrills that I experience with this hobby and that is going to a record shop and going to the new arrivals. Meaning these are albums that are most recently sold back to the record store. So they’re all used. Um, some of them can still be unopened. And what you’ll do is you can you can find things that they’re not categorized usually. And um, so you’re looking through a bunch of random stuff, but it hasn’t been picked over. And I had on my list, this is this is always this for like 20 years. When did this come out? Yeah. 2004. This album came out in 2004. This is a 2018 pressing, but it’s still I never seen it before, new or used. And I’ve always loved this album. Feist follow-up album called The Reminder has one, two, three, four on it, but this one has gatekeeper. This is uh every song is great on this album. Um, she’s Canadian. Just I’m just warning you. This is funky. It’s very It feels It’s well produced, but it also feels small and it’s like very funky, very viby, very upbeat. And it’s each song is different and each song is very unique from the one before and after it. So, it takes you on a on a on a nice little trip. Uh, lover voice. And like I said, finding this thing, I wasn’t I wasn’t looking for it, but I had always been looking for it. I’ve been looking for it so long that I forgot that I was looking for it. And a matter of fact, the ver the version that I had on CD, the cover was black and white, but I didn’t buy it at the T-art and it wasn’t bootleg. But it but the I think this because it’s a special release, it’s in color. So when I first saw it, I was like, hold on, is this what I think it is? And so that it wasn’t an immediate yes. It was like, “Hold on, is this” And so it slowly dawned on me as I pulled it out and looked at it that I was having the mo the best experience as a vinyl collector I had ever had, which was starting to think and hope that this was what it was and take it out and look at it and read the back and realize that it was. And then Lando was there with me and I was I was like, Lando, I just it just happened. The the thing that you search for hours and months and years going to record shops forever for that feeling. I’m having the feeling right now. And I’m I’m yelling across the record store to him cuz he’s not in he’s in the soul section. Um, love this album. So, I’m looking for the reminder and I’m also looking to see Feist because I I had a friend who met Feist on the street in uh Highland Park. So, sometimes I walk around Highland Park just seeing if I can find me some feist. I did find uh uh Walter Gogggins. Walton. Walton. Walton. Walton Gogggins. That’s amazing. Yeah, he was walking down the street over there. That was many, many years ago. That’s probably six years ago. I think I said hey, but I didn’t talk to him. Anyway, this the song that I’m gonna play that I put in the um uh playlist is Inside and Out. Funky little song. Great song. Always loved it. And what else do I have? Let me see. There’s There’s one that goes with this that I need to find. Hold on. What happened? Did I lose it? Okay. Yes, I found it. I try not to be too precious with my records. Um, this is the BG’s immaculate album, Spirits Having Flown. Spirits Having Flown is not Yes, it is a song on this album. Uh, I got into the BeeGees over the pandemic. There’s an amazing documentary that back during the pandemic when we were doing wrecks all the time, I wrecked I can’t remember what it’s called. I think it’s on Apple, an Apple uh documentary. Such a good story. Um and they wrote so many songs and you discover so many songs. My favorite song like when I got into Begs, my favorite song of theirs became Too Much Heaven. Something about that song, like the groove of that song is just funky but comforting and uh the harmonies are amazing and it gets a little repetitious, but then they change the harmonies a little bit. So just when you’re thinking you got it down, there’s a there’s a little spice to it. So I’m going to throw that on the playlist, too. But at a certain point, and I don’t I think it might have been when I bought this album, I realized that the fee song, Inside and Out, that I’d been obsessed with was a cover of Beg of the Beees. Um, and that’s also on this album. It’s an amazing song. It is slower, a little slower than the fee version. So, I feel like what I need to do is I have to figure out how to play these together in a set. That’s what I’m trying to figure out because um I took Christy and Lando over to the creative house and I was basically DJing for the two of them. Like Christiey’s I brought Christiey’s records over. I brought some of Landos and I know what he’s into. So, I’m like playing music for them and and he said, “Dad, play that Feist record cuz I love it.” And it’s like, “Of course you do cuz you have great taste, son.” And I and I play it for him. And then when I get to to Inside and Out, then without him knowing because he was on his phone, I started playing this version and I’m just kind of watching out of corner of my eye to see if he realizes what’s happening. And he did. And I could see him like I could see him go through the process of like the eyebrow squ. And then he kind of looked up and then he looked at me. He’s like, “Is that?” And I was like, “It’s the BeeGees, man.” And he was like, “So the Beeges, who covered who?” I was like, “Fe covered the Beeges.” It was 20 they hers is in 2004. So, uh, but the fact that the song is so good and it’s, you know, that’s one of the things about like, um, well, just to finish that thought before I I I I start waxing about wax. Um, yeah, I want I I like um coming up with little DJ challenges that can kind of tell a story. So figuring out how do I what is it best to transition from BG’s into the fee version? I think so. Um cuz it’s the productions 2004. It’s louder. It’s got I don’t know. It’s just and it’s faster. So I can I can slow it down trying to kind of beat mash it a little bit and then ramp up and bring the energy up for the 5-second. But I got to figure out how to do that. The great thing about it is that it will work. You know, you got this song from 1979 and then you go to 2004 and the reason why she covered it is because it’s a great song and it’s still a great song. And I think listening like having this I I’m not really big into original pressings. Like people would be like, well original pressing of something that’s worth something is worth more and it’s harder to find. So, like as a collector, you might be into that, but like I don’t worry about that too much. But the the timelessness of that’s communicated by having the record, you know, to know that somebody was grabbing and holding and removing this record and like playing it somewhere in the world. But when I was born and then all these years later, I found it. I can’t remember exactly where I found this one. I think this is outside of Joshua Tree. Probably paid $7 for it. Special. This is This is one of my favorite albums. Um my favorite packaging of an album. I’m obsessed with the hip-hop producer, The Alchemist. I mean, I think it’s safe to say that he’s probably my favorite artist right now. And this year, he’s extremely prolific. I mean, he’s been around for um decades. He does like samplebased uh hip-hop, so it kind of like it’s easy for a old head, someone who likes older hip-hop to to get into it. But he works with like a lot of up andcoming rappers and um like or underground rappers and he will release records um through his own label and limited pressings and um charging a lot of money and but if you can find one out in the wild, it’s more difficult for that reason because they’re only sold on his website. And this one in particular from uh 2022. I found I found this one in North Carolina before I went back to um I was flying back home and I had a few hours and I went to my one of my favorite record stores in Raleigh called Sorry State. And I found an Alchemist record and I was like, “Well, I want this.” And he was like, “Well, you know what? I got one more over there.” And it was this. And this was like the one I dreamed of finding. So, I’ll never forget the feeling of finding this this album. Of course, it comes in a bag. It’s called As if you were buying a sandwich. And then because what what he did was he released he released an EP called the meat and then he released one called the cheese and then he released one called the bread and then he put this out when he released all three together and called it the alchemus sandwich. So you buy you get like a it’s a sandwich bag and then there’s different versions. So this is the Milano and salami version. So when you when you take this out, it’s it’s the the sleeve is is cheese. The sleeve is cheese. Swiss cheese. And look, it’s got the holes. And then when you pull this out, the record is, you guessed it, the salami. I mean, the other one there’s one that’s roast beef and it’s kind of ugly looking, but let me turn my mic. You might be into the roast beef, you know? I understand. I’m into the roast beef. The flappy beef. Oh crap, y’all. And look, but I had to get the salami. And then there’s the of course you got the lettuce. So, there we go. All of it together. Picture disc lettuce. It made me so happy when this existed. People will crap on the on picture discs saying that they’re not um they don’t sound as good. But when it’s when it’s this packaging, I mean, you can’t argue with that. And I don’t even know if that’s true. I’m not that much of a audio file that I can I can tell. But like and then part of the experience is just sitting like sitting down put it dropping the needle then sitting down and like just looking at the packaging. Like I just spent hours in a perfectly curated environment of my listening room at the creative house and I just it’s my happy place. It’s It makes me so happy. So, finding these and then actually being able to like handle it, go through it. It helps you handle life. You know, it’s your me time. You can, you know, you can go out, you can spend a lot of money on records, but you can also spend a reasonable amount of money on records. But if you really get into it, you’re going to spend at least $200 on a record player. Probably 250. that’s going to be worth it. And then you got to buy speakers and I don’t know, it can it can get away from you. So, you need to watch out. But, um, and yeah, so I paid $100 for this record. I think when he originally sold it on his website, it was $100. So, very fairly priced. And it’s got um it’s got Rock Mariano, Westside Gun, Kanye the Machine, Action Bronson, Benny the Butcher, Baldi James, Black Thought, Earl Sweatshirt, School Boy Q. That’s the other thing with like producer records is that you get all the artists they work with. So it’s like I discovered that with Metro Booming when he released a Heroes and Villains too that like I really like this because as an as an experience it’s very cohesive because the producers sequenced it and like thought about not only the beats but also the transitions. And so you you have this album experience but you don’t get worn out or burned out from it because there’s so many different artists on it, you know. Um, I love all these artists. And so, basically, The Alchemist is my gateway into all the rappers that I love. The chief of which being Freddy Gibbs. Um, this is my favorite album. One of This is one of my favorite albums of all time. The And, um, I bought this in a strange way. This is Daylight Souls sophomore album Balloon Mind State. And this is I mean you can tell that it’s got this one’s been worn a lot. It’s it’s this is used. Now when I So inside of this, this is this is the only record that I’ve that I ordered from overseas. like I’ve had them for a couple of years now, but um I I I like to buy things in person. I like to go to the I like to go to the record shop and experience everything that the record shop has to offer. It’s like it’s a soup to nuts experience for me. So, I don’t like shortcircuiting that with ordering something online. But, this was this was early on in my collection. And um would I do it this way now? Maybe because this is really really hard to find and there’s like So if I had to do it again, I would. But so I bought this from like somebody in I don’t know Norway or something. I probably paid 70 bucks for it, but it was the only way to listen to this album at the time. Uh, Dea Soul, their first album, Three Feet High and Rising, was um a groundbreaking hip-hop masterpiece with like almost uncountable number of samples which ended up they ended up getting in a lawsuit and that’s over the clearance for one of the samples and it got it got caught up so much that it it changed the trajectory of how samples were people worked with samples. and charge for samples and the whole business of using samples in hiphop. The they were like the um the whipping the whipping child, whipping post, what’s it called? They they were the scapegoat um from a litigation standpoint. And then in the process, this album came out in 19, let’s see, I graduated. It’s not on here. So, I graduated in ’96. This is 92. I think it was ’92. So, their first album, 3 Feet High Rising, was like was the all the sample problems, but then their whole collection never went on streaming as a like a long-term residual of the rights not clearing. They didn’t repress anything. They didn’t distribute anything on streaming because it all got hung up in rights issues. So, the only way for me to get this favorite album, which I remember listening to this tape, uh, my freshman year in high school, this was like, this is my freshman year in high school, like in the on the bus listening to the tape of my Walkman going to like the soccer games that I warm the bench for. And um so I I kind of had to own it and I that’s why I was willing to pay as much as I paid for it because it didn’t exist any other way. And then within six months later they announced that they had worked through all of the rights and the albums were were coming out. The albums were put on streaming and then they were released. Uh they re-released the album. So, like I can get I’ll probably buy a new version of this cuz this one uh the big the biggest single off this is Break It Dawn which samples uh Michael Jackson’s Off-the-Wall album. Uh if I didn’t I just I’m curious what you would think of this album listening to it for the first time now because like so much of it I is tied to my experience. But it is an amazing album. It’s not just me. And uh uh shout out to um True the Dove who passed away. Um I think right around the time that they were re-releasing their albums and they were coming out everywhere, he passed away, which is sad. And shout out to Prince Paul who uh was a producer on this and I’ve talked to him on Instagram. Maybe I’ll meet him. Um, are you bored? Are you still with me? Are we still going? Super laid-back. Okay. Um, here’s another Here’s a rap album that I think is beautiful. The cover is beautiful and the album itself is beautiful. This is another alchemist find out in the wild. Uh there’s a record store called The Underground in Little Tokyo and they I can’t go in there. I I I can’t allow myself to go in there because every time I do I’ll I’ll buy a $100 record and it’s the only place that I’ve done that. But it’s because they have Alchemist stuff. I mean, someone goes in there and sells these things. And this one, I’m so glad I bought it. The Elephant Man’s Bones is a a collaboration album between Rock Mariano, who’s like this um word smmithy rapper. I mean, it’s like the beats are so barebones and it just creates this environment for you to appreciate that this guy is using words in a way that is relevatory. Um, very laid-back, not a lot of features on here, but he does have a spoken word feature from Ice Tea on the horns of Arais. Um, the song that I’m going to play on the playlist is track number two, Daddy Kane, featuring Action Bronson. This Action Bronson is very funny. You never know what he’s going to say and he’s he’s just wild and so entertaining and he’s so different than Rock Mariano. Um, that that’s such a fun song. He start I think it may be my my favorite start to a verse that I can think of right now. I maybe I’ll make a list but this is the only one on the list but it it’s going to be hard to beat it as number one. Action Bronson says uh well what does he say? I can’t remember the verb. I peel my face off and reveal the same face. That’s the start of his verse. And I always think of it like a like those Mission Impossible masks, you know, where like Tom Cruz is wearing the the mask in that one and then it’s like it’s the reveal that it’s Tom Cruz. Well, think about that. But it’s somebody who you think is action Bronson and then he like he reaches down and he he pulls off the mask and it’s just him again. It’s like I think that is so badass. Like I am in disguise as myself. Pretty sweet. And the beat for that one is very accessible. But look at this album cover. Isn’t this beautiful? Like first of all, it’s got this like um I don’t know what you call this, but it’s called something. It’s like, oh, it makes you think that this it’s an additional sleeve thing. That’s like, oh, this is an intern. I got this in Japan, you know. This is the international version. I got it in a little Tokyo. But, um, this is a this is a photograph of a sculpture that just looks like a bunch of um who knows what. But then if you look on the back, here’s another picture of this. Well, let me see what’s on the inside. This is how I play with it. So, I’m listening to it and I’m looking at I’m like, what is this? This is amazing. It’s I love the colors. It’s beautiful. It makes me appreciate the music even more. And then, oh, this doesn’t open. It’s not a gate fold, but someone thought it was and ripped it. Then you look at the back and you see that it’s a it’s a human head. see human head. And then it’s actually turned. See, like that’s that’s his nose, right? There’s his nose right there. And then if you turn his nose up and then you zoom in here, then that becomes the back. There’s the nose right there. There’s the nose. So, this is what I’m doing when I’m listening to this record. Oh, there’s the nose. There’s the nose. You found the nose, dude. Good for you. Good for you, man. Say those things to myself. At one point, I talked about I made the mistake of saying that I might like live stream my DJ sets and then it’s come up a few times. And you know what? I’ve concluded, me time is for me. Um, sometimes I’ll take pictures of stuff that I’m listening to and I might post some stories, but I think that’s as far as I’m going to go. Um, oh look at this. Okay. All right. So, back to James Brown. My favorite song being King Heroine. Spoken word. He doesn’t even sing. Um, I was digging in Joshua Tree. Christy was digging around the corner. She found this and gave it to me and I was She was like, “Freddy Gibbs, you’re like him.” I’m like, “Yeah.” So, this was a DJ pressing 12 inch, meaning it’s a single. And I was like, I already have this album, but I don’t know. It’s $11. I’ll buy it. and I bought it. It’s got This is from um uh Freddy Gibbs and Mad Live album called uh Pinata, which is an amazing album. Uh I’m pretty sure it’s Pinñata and not the other one. Could be wrong. Anyway, this album has a single on each side, then an instrumental of the song. Um, and I like instrumentals because I have like weird records that are like spoken word stuff like um uh like like this right here. I found this record called Hi God and an ecumenical program based on the human growth and development of children and all who are open to love. It’s actually pretty weird. It’s this couple and they it’s like children’s songs but like folksy 1973 and there’s like weird spoken word stuff about God. So I like to take hip-hop instrumentals and then put spoken word about God over it or any weird stuff that I find. So I can say hi God. Hi God too. That’s fire. That’s where it’s at. If you’re going to get one or the other, go for high God two. I didn’t bring that one in. Um, so I’ll use that for the instrumental deeper on side. Heralds. Harolds has got a beat. But then there is a there’s a song there’s a third bonus track on either on either side that’s just a Mad Lib production. Madlib lost his house in the uh Altadena fires and a lot of his uh personal record collection. The guy is um he’s he’s he’s a musical hero. The way that he samples things, he and the Alchemist are like two peas in a pod, best ever. And I’m listening to this record for the first time and I’m like, you know what? I get these two Mad Lib tracks that I’ve never heard and that are maybe exclusive to this record and I listen to it and I’m like, “This is King Heroine. This is James Brown singing King Heroin.” And Mad Lib chops up my favorite James Brown song into something completely new. And the I mean the thrill of discovering that just by listening to an album that my wife found me because she knows I like Freddy Gibbs. It’s like I feel so seen, you know, and then I’m like having this experience with my with James Brown and Mad Lib and Freddy Gibbs. It’s like I’m hanging out with my favorite people and they’re doing something that just deeply resonates with me and I discovered it for myself as a complete surprise. There’s also a sticker in here from Sound Off Records which is um which is in Joshua Tree. I’m going to take this sticker and I’m going to put it on the back of my DJ booth upside down so that when I bend over to read what the stickers say, I can read it and it kind of lets me know what record stores I’ve been to. I’m deep in my happy place. Y’all watch out now. I’m If you’re still here, I guess you are, then you know I got to have the obligatory doi. I’d like to I’d like to thank Doi for giving me a multi-million view Tik Tok. Thank you, Dochi. You know, Rhett’s talking about spirituality. I’ll just be over here listening to Doi. I meant every word of that. So, um, but this album’s beautiful. I mean, her style, just like everything around the music is amazing, but the album is incredible. The album is incredible. There’s a there’s a poster in here. Obligatory Doi poster. Here it is. But this is what you really want to see. Doi with a an alligator bike scar. Do you an inspiration to all of us? You deserve all the love and flowers that you are receiving and I hope to never meet you because I would be too nervous. But I would love to meet your stylist. And if that’s just you, then I guess we’ll have to talk. I’ll put that together later. Um, we did an episode of Good Mythical Morning where we had to give ourselves goosebumps and we couldn’t play the song in the room for rights issues, but we played the song in like our headphones just so then you could get a closeup of my the hair standing up on my arms. I can’t remember any more about it, but I do remember the song that I chose to give me goosebumps. And this is it. This is the 12in single of U Philip Bailey’s Easy Lover with Phil Collins originally of Genesis. So, um, uh, Phil Collins produced this song. This is on Philip Baileyy’s album, which I don’t own. I don’t know that I’m not a huge fan of Philip Bailey besides this song. So, when I found the 12-in, I was like, this is perfect. It’s a little bit cheaper and it is the one song that is guaranteed to always give me goosebumps. Um, I paid $10 for it. [Music] Uh, but it has it has an extended since it’s a single it has the extended dance remix of Easy Lover. So I can have I can have the what’s it called? Goosebumps are called like friian fri frizzian. Friian I think the word is frizzen. Frizzian. I love this album cover. Average white band. This album is special because I inherited it from my mom. Um, you reach a certain age, like I said, when you’re listening to tapes and you go from just like the little jam box that you can carry around to like, okay, you go you go over to your friend’s house and like his older brother’s got a big stereo system. It’s like stacked up and the the speakers are big. It’s like then you you ask for one of those for Christmas and you get one not so big, but it’s got the tape deck, the radio, and the record player on top. Even though I’m buying tapes, I’m about buying records. So, my mom said she had a few records. So I I I dug up some of her records that she kept for all those years and they became my records. This average white band record is from 1974. It’s got uh pick up the pieces on it which is an instrumental there. This is a Swedish or Norwegian band. Um you know they they played like funk and soul. their their their name is self-deprecating because they are playing black music and they’re doing it very well. Um I think Quest Love’s parents who were artist, musicians, successful band, um I I think they made him memorize the drums to uh this entire record. The story goes something like that. Um, pick up pieces is the only thing said in that instrumental, which Rhett and I, this became the soundtrack backdrop for our first uh, screenplay, Gutless Wonders, which we started filming before we finished writing it. And uh the song Telephone Ring, Bad Connection. I think whichever song that is, that’s the opening song to our movie that we never completed. Average White Band. I’ve got more. I’ve got so much more. I don’t want to test your patience. I I’m going to end with uh something expected but very special. Lionel Richie Can’t Slow Down, his um sophomore solo album which came out uh after his self-titled um debut album Once He left the Commodores. Um so this is like I don’t know 86 and 85 84 something around there. Um, of course, this pose will always be super special. And of course, this will always be worth showing. Um, but if you’ll look if you’ll look closely at this, you’ll see that there’s like there’s a hole right here. There’s a hole right here. And then in this one, there’s a hole in both corners of this one. Like this. These were um two of the albums that were hanging on our set for the longest time before the lawyers told us that we didn’t need to have Liner Richie on the set. So, I’m happy to say that I actually still have the records that um were hanging on the the GMM set once it became Yeah. in its, you know, in its current iteration, right? Uh once we moved from Rhett’s garage. So, I only know these are them because of the holes. And I’m just glad I still have them because they mean a lot to me. So much so that when when we evacuated due to the fires, Christy was like, “Are there any records you want to get?” And I was like, “No, no, no. We’re it we’ll be fine. I don’t want to get a record. Don’t want to get any records.” And then I like I took a beat and then I realized I want to get all my records. So then I got I don’t know. It was like four boxes at the time. Things have changed since then. I don’t I don’t think I I don’t I don’t think I could get them. I don’t think I can move them all at once now because now I have a problem. Uh I have an addiction. But it’s my joy and I I thank you for sharing it with me today. And I just wish a similar level of joy for you today. For you to find something that gets you in touch with what you’re passionate about, what makes you light up inside. um what reconnects you to something pleasant from your childhood. You know, getting getting in your body with it, sitting there, touching the things, having your ears vibrate with the exact same rhythms and frequencies uh that your 10-year-old self started to build his identity around. or whatever floats you boat. We’ll talk at you next week. Hi, I just wanted to say that I love you guys so much and we’ve been fans for like eight years. Probably 10 years honestly. And we’ve heard your voice more than our own fathers. Love you. Bye.