So I was poking around itunes and this group called the Foreign Exchange popped up as something I should check out… and I did and was pleasantly surprise on how absolutely fresh this album is. Leave it all Behind, brings funk, soul, R&B and a bit of electronic all together in a sultry album about love heartbreak and everything in between. If you need a personal soundtrack of love and love loss, this is sure hit.

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Other classics to check out:

Theses have been out awhile but if you haven’t,  checked the out:

Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Esperanza Spalding – Chamber Music Society

Little Dragon – Ritual Reunion

Kanye West & Jay Z – Watch the Throne

The event called Live at the Pagoda, started by two very cool cats Thomas Aguilar and Michael Grammar who make up Ungrammar have featured artists as vibrant as Bilal(if you have never caught one of his live shows put that on your to do list IMMEDIATELY), as eclectic as Little Dragon and Electric Wire Hustle and a whole slew of artist in between. On Friday it featured two beautiful artists that I wasn’t up on. Hailing from Oakland was Mara Hruby, whose rendition of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful”, was pretty NASTY( in a good way) she also had one of my FAVORITE musicians in the Bay backing her Nate Mercereau of the PARK!! Pairing up with Mara was Andy Allo from LA by way of Bamenda,Cameroon. Her ease with the crowd made her set pretty enjoyable not to mention her whole set was FEEL GOOD MUSIC the whole way through. Keeping the energy moving forward was my main man Cory aka DJ the C.M.E. Not only is he one of my closest friends but he has been honing his skills under the tutelage of the Bay Area’s own Sake1derful. If you missed it you missed it but do yourself a favor and add these folks on Facebook so you can keep yourself in the loop. Live at the Pagoda

U-N-I-T-Y that’s a unity. I know ya’ll remember this song from Queen Latifah’s Black Reign.  Many young adults and parents alike turned on their radio’s one Jan 6, 1994 and heard aggressive lyrics, a smooth beat and cussing on the radio. UNITY stressed a real topic, domestic violence, in away that for hip hop heads can understand. This classic is coming a day later than usual, but its still the truth. Give it up for Setting it Office hardest gangsta gal…The Queen.

Baggy Jeans, girls wearing boxers, junior mafia…yeah I just brought it back to the 90′s ya’ll. This weeks classic pick is from none other than the Notorious BIG. Life after death came with the ether, this 2 cd album is definitely a classic to say the least.

You already know the tragedy that happen with Biggie, so I won’t rehash it here. But I will bring it back to the days of X-men, smurfs, teenage mutant ninja turtle and ghost busters. Sit back hit play cause only the sky is the limit.