TMIMM: a music blog
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Fela Kuti’s Musical Reign and the “Death” of Colonialism
FYI, this is a paper that I had to write for my history class — so if it sounds very professional, that’s because it is. I thought I should post it because I learned a lot about Highlife and especially Fela Kuti, and I dont want this to just be a Hip-Hop and R&B blog.…
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D’Angelo Appreciation Entry
After watching Digging the Greats’ amazing breakdown on D’Angelo’s Voodoo, I felt inspired to listen to the Virginia native’s discography once more. And, like everytime I listen to those three albums, my love for D’Angelo, and the entire Soulquarian subgenre, grows exponentially. D’Angelo has a level of musicianship not seen since Stevie Wonder (I am…
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‘Be’ at 20
20 years ago, after facing scrutiny for his previous record titled ‘Electric Circus’, Common released Be. Unlike the album before it, Be went back to Common’s roots of Soulquarian production with help from an up-and-coming producer from Roc-A-Fella records, Kanye West. At this time, Kanye had just come off of one of the best albums…
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Why You Can’t Cut Kanye Out (No Matter How Hard You Try)
February 7th was a dark day for all music fans, as one of the greatest musicians of all time, Kanye West, now known as Ye, went on a twitter rant that destroyed any hope of his sanity returning.
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The Transformation of Method Man’s “All I Need”
The album version of “All I Need” is very grimy, with a dark synth line that interpolates Marvin Gaye’s “You’re All I Need to Get By” (keep that song in mind for later) and 36 Chambers-type drums. Not really single material.
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Every Producer’s Best Sample Flip – The South
What would music be without producers? From the well-known ones like Quincy Jones (RIP), Dr. Dre, and Teddy Riley, to the more underground ones like The Alchemist and Conductor Williams, producers have shaped the way music is made for over half a century. But, the one genre where producers are the most recognized is, of…
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My Favorite R&B Song of Each Year 2024 – 2004
My favorite R&B song 2004 til now. Criteria is simple: only one song per year, artists can pop up twice, and we will be going in backward chronological order.
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‘Ready to Die’ at 30
Brooklyn is home to some of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. JAY-Z, Jeru the Damaja, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Lil Kim, Fabulous, Your Old Droog, Papoose, Joey Bada$$, and Pop Smoke. But, before all of them, there was one kid out of Bedford Stuyvesant with a deep voice and a lot of talent.…
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Why America Loves Taylor Swift So Much
If I asked 100 people on the street before September 13, 2009 who would be the biggest artist of the upcoming decade, they would have given a plethora of answers. Some would have said Lady Gaga, after she’d just released The Fame Monster with big hits like “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance”, or Katy Perry,…
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12 Remixes Better Than The Original Song
The value of a remix can not be overstated. It can rework a song to show another person’s vision of what could have been. Here’s my take on a dozen remixes that are better than the original song.
The Music In My Mind 