It’s been a good week everyone. It’s hot outside, but it’s cool in here.

In
Rotation: July 29, 2005.

The method behind the summer madness is as follows:

I started out feeling really good, and being wide awake late at night, and I
thought to myself that I wanted to hear a little but of everything, so I started
out with the following:

01 – Leela James – Good Time. From A Change Is Gonna Come.
I was really encouraged from the feedback from her track Don’t Speak. Strong
vocals with a vibe that’s all encompassing makes it a nice eye opener.
02 – Sy Smith – No Place Like Love. From The Syberspace
Social. Honey featured it as an underground
soul CD, so you know it’s all good, right? It’s airy, funky sound is what
endeard me to this cut.
03 – The Sunburst Band – Everyday (Joey Negro Club Mix). I
got the London Soul CD and I had been checking this cut out and wishing
I could get the extended version. Once I found out where it was, and saw Joey
Negro on the cover, I had to pick it up, no questions asked. 7 minutes plus of
pure goodness.

After all of that head nodding I mellowed it out just a little bit, because
I personally knew that I needed a breather from those tracks, so I put on:
04 – Vanessa Marquez – Day Dreaming. I’m still on the Vanessa
Marquez tip. Special thanks to Nikki.
The guitars and woodwinds made this song a relaxing track.
05 – Jaguar Wright – One More Drink. Everytime I listened to
this track, it made me smile, because I’ve seen this in action at just about
every bar I’ve been at. I can see women vibing to this track and knowing all
of the words, trust me, just as they’d be able to vibe to:
06 – Vivian Green – I Like it (But I Don’t Need It). After
hearing this track though, I’m sure my fellas would take over the turntable
with a track that pretty much describes their thoughts after hearing the Vivian
Green track:
07 – Anthony Hamilton – Love Is So Complicated, am I right?

But after those tracks, I figured I wanted the heads to nod again and to hear
a little hip-hop inflection as well.
08 – Platinum Pied Pipers – Deep Inside. Featuring Sa-Ra Creative
Partners, this track starts heads nodding again.
09 – Ladybug Mecca – Dogg Starr. Now, just two weeks ago, I
mentioned Trip The Light Fantastic. Well, I was blessed to receive
an email from Ladybug who was glad that someone was spinning her record and
she mentioned that it was a little different from what people had been used
to. I found that surprising mostly because I was able to vibe to the entire
album from start to finish. To me, different/eclectic is a good thing. My hats
off to you, Ladybug.
10 – Little Brother – Feelin Alright. Again from The Chitlin
Circuit, which has also been in regular rotation.
11 – Black Eyed Peas – Like That (Featuring Cee-Lo,
John Legend, Talib Kweli & Q-Tip). With those four in this track,
I don’t believe I need to say anymore why I really like this track.

Since the last track had Cee-Lo in it, I decided to pull out a cut from his
from last year to slow things down:
12 – Cee-Lo – Living Again. This track made me pull out another
mellow track:
13 – Esthero – Gone. This track features Cee-Lo. I got to see
them perform this live earlier this month. Since I was still on the mellow tip
and was about to wind down and get some much needed rest, I pulled out:
14 – D’Nell – The Best Way from 1st Magic. With the head nodding
and the strings, I felt pretty mellowed out and wanted to wrap it up with a
track for a warm summer’s night:
15 – Siji – The Day Ahead, from God Given.

And that’s how the flow went. Hope you enjoy.

I’m typing this here live from Philly, where I’ll be this weekend to continue
the celebration to a (somewhat nondescript) birthday week. What makes this easier
and is making me excited, however, is the fact that Todd Kelley has put his goodness
into the music. So while I’m looking forward of hitting the Electric
Factory to see John Legend/De La Soul/Rahzel/DJ JS-1 (and yes, I will have
camera), we can all bob our heads to this:

Todd
Kelley: When You Hear The Birthday Song.

Big shoutouts go to Honey,
Obi, KB,
Luke Cage,
and the one, the ONLY, Todd Kelley
for this mix. This made my whole week worthwhile.

From here,
he drops it to you:

01 – Intro / The Birthday Song
02 – Shout Out: Obi from South London
03 – Breathe In – Ivana Santilli
04 – That’s How I Know – D’Nell
05 – Take Your Time – Pete Rock f/ Loose Ends
06 – Station Drop 1
07 – Stand Alone – Sy Smith
08 – Shout Out: Honey
09 – Spread My Wings (Remix) – Troop
10 – If You Were Here Tonight – Alexander O’Neal
11 – Station Drop 2
12 – In Time – Jazzy Jeff f/ V
13 – Been Gone – Symbolyc One & ILLmind f/ Strange Fruit Project
14 – My Place – Jaguar Wright
15 – Station Drop 3
16 – 2nd Childhood (Cookin’ Soul Remix) – Nas
17 – Affection – Tamara & The Seen
18 – Butterfly – Jamiroquai
19 – That Easy – Clara Hill

That’s all I’m gonna say about it. Man, I’m getting all misty eyed….
Have a good weekend! I see you, Philly!

EJ for Dollars

Originally uploaded by ej flavors.

You should be celebrating this entire this weekend. On Saturday, July 16th, at
7:20PM, I turn 19.

Err, um, times two.

There will be a lot of introspection goin’ on this whole weekend. I really thought
about trying to concentrate on the flow as much as I could, but just like I’m
all over the map, so is the playlist.

This week’s In
Rotation: 07/16/05: EJ’s 38th.

00 – EJ Rotation Intro. Done by Todd
Kelley. He’s a bad man, people. He’s got skillz.
01 – Jamiroquai – (Don’t) Give Hate A Chance. If you’re a Jamiroquai
fan, you should pick this up. This is a feel good, wake up song.
02 – Groove Collective – Up All Night. I have to thank Trader
Mike for this one. Made me realize what I was missing on the Acid Jazz front.

03 – Fat Joe – I Can Do U. A really good mackdaddy cut from Fat Joe.
Special shoutout to Nastybastard.

04 – Little Brother – Love Joint. Alright, I should be warning you that
this is not a PG track. I can’t help it. I still vibe to it. A head nodder, for
sure.
05 – Vanessa Marquez – In The Midnight Hour (2nd Version). Nikki,
I owe you one. I still can’t stop playing this track (Rocka, take note). Nikki,
just for this, I’m gonna get you a Being Bobby Brown DVD for your birthday! *ducks*
06 – Nate James – Set The Tone. Another track from Britain.
07 – Little Brother – The Yo-Yo (Nicolay Remix). From The Chitlin
Circuit CD.
08 – The Foreign Exchange – Foreign Exchange End Theme. With Yazahrah
on vocals, I love this short track.
09 – D-Nell – That’s How I Know. I think Honey
and Todd can agree with me
that this track is a nice one.
10 – Jaguar Wright – Ecstacy. Thanks. Honey.
We love you down here in the dungeon!
11 – Sy Smith – Aquarius Rising. Did I mention the dungeon? This
track (from an already great CD) is graced by Nicolay, which, right now, speaks
volumes. Nicolay and Sy Smith may go unappreciated, but not by me.
12 – Raheem DeVaughn – Where I Stand. I’m tellin’ you, my
people, get this
CD. This CD will be in rotation for a while. I’m sure of it.
13 – Missy Elliott – Irresistible Delicious. This track features Slick
RIck and it’s infectious. I believe Silence
Is A Rhythm Too would agree with me. Special shoutout to Kim for the vibe.
14 – Vivian Green – All About Us. Just like KB
said, say what you want….the album is a good one.
15 – Amerie – One Thing (Silk Remix). Matt – thanks
for the vibe for this one. I didn’t think I would like this, and I’ve gotta admit,
this is a great remix of this song. Special shoutouts to O-Dub
too, who was feeling this track.
16 – Ladybug Mecca – Centre Of Nowhere. Her CD Trip The Light Fantastic
is a must-have if you are, or ever have been, on a Digable Planets vibe. Forilla.
17 – Koop – Summer Sun (Markus Enochson Remix). Keeping summer in mind,
I want to drop two remixes. The first is another remix from a very good album
from Koop. From Disco Jazz, Volume 1.
18 – Louie Vega – Sunshine (Sacred Rhythm Mix). Ending this mix on a
house note, and who better than Louie Vega. You know how we do. From
Elements of Life – "Extensions".

Anyone wanting to give? Paypal
and Amazon
are there for you.
Good gyrations for everyone this weekend.
Also, give your good vibes to Edwidge as this is also her birthday weekend as well! Go Edwige!

Someone asked me a while back, "EJ, why do you put up mostly radio blogs?
I mean, is there some hidden message there? What do they mean?" Without blinking
I said, "No, there’s no hidden message there. Either you get the flow or
you don’t. Either you feel it in your bones or you don’t, in which case you click through them. I’m happy with
the way the flow is." When listening to other mixes, other flows, I’m rarely
ashamed to say, "I don’t get the flow." Reading and absorbing thoughts
and flows around me is essential. Listening to music is a learning experience,
24/7. In short, Vibing is fundamental.

I suppose I could sit and lament over life’s issues and bring myself down.
Lord knows there’s a lot of ‘em. Or, I can do as I always do, sit there and
brood for a while, fuss around for a while, then put my headphones on, and then
get back up and keep going, because the flow is always there. The tunes will
always be here. And, as they always say, life will go on. It’s always good to
get a kick in my shins from a couple of people, ’cause that’s what they’re here
for.

Now, where does the flow come from? Well, this time, I believe I’ve got enough
space and time to put some words around my thoughts as I sequence the flow for
this week’s In Rotation. This is my month that I get to shine, since this is
the month of my birthday, and marks the third year blogging and entering my
second year of being able to share my music.

Most of the flows come through just from listening, reading, reacting, and
movin around the internet and blogosphere. Check it:

This week’s In
Rotation: 07/09/05.

01 – Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (DJ Smash Essential Funk
Mix). From Motown
Remixed. JT
and Terecico
really liked
the album and based on their recommendations, I picked it up.
02 – Vanessa Marquez f/ Justin Timberlake – Want You To Know.
Rocka dropped this
one to me exactly ten minutes after I had completed this mix, which made me
have to reshuffle everything just to fit it in. There was no way I could have
possibly ignored this cut.
03 – Five Point Plan – Tremble. From Rare,
another recommendation
from Honey.
04 – Mint Condition – That’s The Way (It’s Going Down). A lovely
lady by the name of Lis
has a new site devoted to Mint Condition which is called TMF:
The Mint Factory. This is one of the cuts she has there for your listening
pleasure, from the movie Good Burger. Check her
site out, let her know what you think.
05 – Vanessa Freeman – Dawning Of A New Day. From the CD London
Soul, which inspired me to check
her out even more and order her CD. Be sure to stay tuned for more from
Vanessa. This is only a taste.
06 – Will.I.Am – Swing By My Way. More Galactic
Soul for you. By default, because of the flow, I had to followup with:
07 – Yam Who – Star Of The Story. More Midnight
Soul for you. I never thought I’d say this, but this is a damn good remake
that injects just enough funk to make it different but not take away from the
original. Considering this is one of my all-time favorite songs that Yam Who
remade, that’s saying quite a bit.
08 – Anthony Hamilton – Icing On The Cake. From the new CD,
Soulife.
09 – Raheem DeVaughn – You. If you don’t have The
Love Experience, then you need to go get it. Now. Everytime I hear this
cut, I start thinking about Moments In Love by The Art Of Noise.
Classic.
10 – Leela James – Don’t Speak. Leela takes a song by No Doubt
and injects gritty soul into it.
11 – Rebirth – Common Ends. Now, a while back I was mentioning
that I was looking for this CD. Hypothetically
Speaking immediately let me know where to find their
CD. Glad she did.
12 – Dwele – Real Love (U Don’t Love Me). Another single from
Verbs and Predicates.
13 – Salakida – Like Heaven. From her album of the same name.
14 – Ivana Santilli – Caramel Sky. More Ivana. Just ask Tyrone
from Palm Trees In The
Ghetto.
15 – Lina – Story Goes (featuring Big Rube). Big Rube was one
of the members of Society of Soul way back in the day, and can be heard on quite
a few Outkast cuts. Nice flow from this track on The
Inner Beauty Movement.
16 – Esthero – My Torture. Just ask Lisa from Nonsensical
Musings, she’ll tell you just how good this track is.

And if anyone should ever ask you– yes, Cancers rule this month. Enjoy the
flow.
Soon to come, my 10 After 6. Jason has started a revolution.
Don’t sleep.