BamaLoveSoul Radio

After almost half a year we’ve returned with another compilation of covers from some of your favorite musicians. It’s always interesting to see what interesting things are done to place their individual spin to a familiar treat. This edition features covers by Tall Black Guy, Miles Bonny, Nicolay and many more. Enjoy

The concept is the same on part 1 or our Covers compilation. We've assembled others' takes on some of your favorite tunes but these have a particular jazzy or acoustic take. Grab this and take a walk on the jazzy side! Enjoy

If mimicry truly is the sincerest format of flattery, then a cover song should certainly qualify as one of the purest ways to convey it. We looked around for some of the best examples and came across a plethora, so many in fact that we couldn’t possibly use them all in one set. Some tracks stay close to the original format, taking just slight liberties, others push the boundaries a bit more, while a few are tried and true staples re-drawn, re-shaped and reimagined. Enjoy!

Around this time is when I get inspired to do a social justice mix in thew vein of my Mental Evolution series. I figured Episode 002 of On My Hard Drive would be a good place to set some songs I would definitely include if I were to do a mix soon. I've also been mining my Hard Drive and came across Bilal's shelved 2004 album, Love For Sale. This album is too good for people to miss due to being unaware of it's existence. Enjoy the gems and spread the word! Show notes at DJRahdu.com

Over the past few weeks, there have been a few really dope James Brown remixes to cross my inbox so I decided  to grab a few of my favorites (old and new) and pay tribute to the Godfather.  Here's 30 minutes off flips, chops, remixes, blaps and tributes by Waajeed, Kev Brown,  Madlib and many more. Enjoy!

I left my iPod in the house Friday night as I was rushing to DJ the Julie Dexter/Jaafar concert. Choosing not to listen to the radio, I blindly selected a CD from my Jeep’s console. It was unmarked, so when the intro began I nearly crashed my Jeep because I hadn’t heard this mix in years.

This mix was created around 2005-2006 and is a sexy soulful number featuring artists like Spacek, Cottonbelly and Silhouette Brown. Gypsy Eyes was created to be a Love Jones inspired mix, however when (one of) my external hard drive(s) died I lost the mix. Luckily there’s this CD that I burned when I initially started working on Gypsy Eyes; the music mixing is complete, but the drops/movie snippets aren’t there. There’s no tracklisting on this one because admittedly I’ve forgotten some of the tracks.

In 1996 I was fiercely committed to East Coast Hip Hop and discovering the breaks used to create it. I had a friend who worked at a local music shop at a strip mall perpendicular to my job, and during my scheduled break I would visit, kick the Willie BoBo and in turn be laced with whatever I could carry out. I remember one evening, while staging the purchasing of a large amount of Hip Hop and Breaks, seeing a white cardboard display at the checkout for an artist I’d never heard of with unique, attractive packaging and a really cheap price point, like .99 or so. I picked up the CD single, mulled over adding it to the pile, decided I would never have the opportunity to listen to it with the large amount of music I was amassing and set it down.

As a child I spent countless hours glued in front of the television watching videos on MTV, but when we finally got BET in '84 I was introduced to a crew of Smooth Operators that would have a long-lasting effect on me and legions of others. Appearing in constant rotation was one of the most aesthetically pleasing acts, unbound by genre, that continue to confound music lovers to this day. Was Sade Folk, Soul, Jazz, RnB, a combination of all of the above or none of them at all? It never mattered as long as they continued to provide their mysterious trademark sound. 6 albums and 4 Grammy's later, they're still one of my favorite bands and a constant source of inspiration for up and comers.

Much love to my brother, DJ BlaqT for offering me the opportunity to rock a guest mix during the launch of Ubuntu Beats Radio FM in South Africa on his sOulfanaticS frequencies show. I pretty much throw the kitchen sink at the listener for an hour with an eclectic mix of breaks, hip hop, soul & remixes.

I hope you enjoy the mix but make sure you support and listen to UBRFM.net, the only station in South Africa playing independent, alternative music from around the world. The station keeps it funky and my man BlaqT represents dope sounds everytime sOulfanatics frequencies begins.

On My Hard Drive is a podcast/web series that allows me to discuss the discoveries I make as I take an involved listen to the music on my hard drive.