The Micro-Chop Monthly: September 2023 Playlist
A few highlights from this month's playlist, currently available on Spotify and YouTube.
Every month I build a playlist throughout the month on Spotify and YouTube. I use Twitter to share each song selection and then add it to the playlist. Here’s the September 2023 playlist. (Click here for the YouTube version.)
I usually end up sharing somewhere between 200-400 songs when all is said and done. I decided to highlight a handful of tracks from this month’s playlist in my newsletter. I hope you enjoy them and find some new artists to explore.
The lead-off track is Raekwon’s 2009 Marley Marl-produced “Pyrex Vision” from his seminal Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II. Clocking in at just 54 seconds, this song is a perfect example of less is more/quality over quantity.
Next up is O.C.’s “Jewelz” from his 1997 release of the same name. Though Jewelz was not as critically acclaimed as its predecessor Word...Life, the album has always meant a great deal to me and I consider it at the same level of quality. I picked up a vinyl copy a few years after it dropped and has more or less stayed in my rotation since. You’ll also notice “Pyrex Vision” and “Jewelz” share the same sample source.
A few songs later comes Shabaam Sahdeeq’s breathtaking tollbooth heist narrative “Do or Die.” This beautifully produced (by Nick Wiz) demo that first aired on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show back in 1996. It survived on tape rips, internet forums, and YouTube for the following quarter-century-plus before finally seeing an official release in 2022 on Shabaam Sahdeeq and Nick Wiz’s collaborative effort Cabin Fever.
Georgia Anne Muldrow is also featured in several songs from this month’s playlist. An incredibly talented, multi-faceted MC, producer, and vocalist, I included the song “Seeds” from her outstanding 2012, Madlib-produced project of the same name.
In honor of his September 12th birthday I included several songs related to the late singer, songwriter, and producer Barry White - including his solo work, production, and covers of both his solo records and songs produced by him. I can’t get enough of Mongo Santamaria’s 1975 rendition of Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Midnight and You.”
Also included in the playlist is Honey & The Bees’ beautiful “I'll Spend My Life Loving You” from their lone full-length Love, which was released by Jubilee Records subsidiary Josie in 1970. I discover a lot of new music while looking for songs to include in my playlists and this is one of my favorite recent discoveries.
Six seems like a good number of songs to feature here - there are 107 more (and counting) if you decide to give the playlist a spin. Do any of these songs stand out to you? Did something else from the playlist grab your attention? If so, please let me know in the comments.
If you want to revisit past monthly playlists I keep a running archive here. That’s it for now, thanks so much for your attention and support.
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