My Life in Albums (Places & Spaces)

Questlove’s Mo Meta Blues is one of the most creative memoirs I’ve ever read. He decided to tell his story through interviews, rather than just him trying to summarize his entire life in twenty chapters. In his book, he tells his life story based on albums that were out at the time and what time periods he associates them with. Going so far as to tell what drew him to each individual album and what they meant to him growing up.

My favorite part of music as a language is how it sometimes speaks to memories. Quest speaks of a game the Roots played on the tour bus called the “Associations Game” The game was simple; someone names an album or song and everybody spits out the first thing that comes to mind. It makes for a pretty intimate look into everyone’s perception. Everyone shouts out what they were wearing, who they were dating, where they were when that song dropped

I took this game to some of my friends’ cribs and I gotta tell you, it’s a lot of fun. 

And if you’ve got the time, I’d now like to play this game with you.

I’m gonna list a couple albums and tell you the first thing that comes to mind when I hear ‘em. Feel free to pick a couple and do yours in the comments below. I’m gonna do my best to read every one and respond.

Graduation by Kanye West (2007)

In 2007, I was living in Seattle with my Aunt Zinda and Uncle Don when Stronger, the first single for this album, dropped. I was blown away by the futuristic sound of the record, and the music video was insane. I had just begun my journey into anime, and Kanye was very vocal about the Akira influences in the video.Over the school year, my boy Dunman let me borrow his copy of the album. I used to sneak and listen to it on my parents’ sound system and play SSX On Tour whenever they left the house. That same year, I went to see my cousin Cobe down in Charlotte and when he picked me up in his Astin Martin, Flashing Lights soundtracked us careening down the highway through the brisk NC night. 

This album became so personally important to me, that I listen to it any time I graduate from anything. Middle School, High School, Undergrad. I listened to the album in full on each one of these momentous occasions.

Yellow Album by Dom Kennedy (2012)

It was June 2012 and we were all at Kendall’s crib right after his high school graduation. Melvin wanted to hear My Type of Party but Straw said we couldn’t start the tape partway through, we had to run it from the top. I’d already been hip to Dom for a couple years at this point, but for some reason I’d dragged my feet on listening to the new tape. We sat there while they played 2K and listened to the whole thing from top to bottom. From that moment it became the soundtrack of my summer as I transitioned from high school to college down in North Carolina. Every now and then I still have to run 5.0 Conversations and 125 in the dead of night off the principle. To this day it’s still my favorite Dom project. 

The Most Known Unknown by Three 6 Mafia (2005)

I’m old enough to remember when Youtube didn’t exist yet and if you wanted to watch music videos you either had to catch them on TV or watch ‘em on Yahoo Music. I used to watch the Stay Fly and Poppin’ My Collar videos every day after school. I used to get home an hour before my folks, and I’d use that time to look up music videos that I knew I couldn’t watch when they were in the house. That viral tweet ain’t lying when it says that the green skull shirt Juicy J wore in Stay Fly went platinum in the black community. 

Not long ago, I wrote about someone that Three Six Mafia sampled frequently, Willie Hutch. Willie is a godfather of soul whose name isn’t mentioned nearly enough.

Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park (2000)

I’ve mentioned before that my time with Linkin Park and anime are forever intertwined thanks to the early days of Google Video and Youtube. In the End was the rock song that got my entire generation to take a step on that other side. This album was for sure my awakening in a few different ways and still to this day gets consistent play. Points of Authority, Papercut, and Forgotten fasho went platinum on my iPod Nano. Rest in Peace, Chester.

Future’s Mixtape Run (2014-2015)

It’s May 2015 and we’re all about to head to Keydra’s birthday party. I was one of the few in my friend group that had a car, so it was on me to pick half of the group up. I heard a alot of buzz around the music Future had been putting out over the year, but I was yet again dragging my feet on listening. I decided to throw on Beast Mode and made my way up Spring Garden to pick up some folks from Spring Cottages and a little beyond. That moment I heard those keys fade in and out on Peacoat, I knew Fewch was the one. That summer, I listened to Monster & 56 Nights at every chance I could get on Soundcloud. I played in an ultimate frisbee league out in Suffolk that year. The games were deep enough in Suffolk that I could knock out most of a tape there and back. So that’s exactly what I did every Saturday. To this day, whenever I hear News or Somethin’ I think about riding over that bridge to Suffolk with the windows down and the summer breeze blowing through my old Accord. 

Fetti by Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, & Alchemist (2018)

October 2018 was a helluva month for me. We got the first gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2 at the beginning of the month and then the game dropped towards the end. Around the same time, we finally started hearing snippets of the long teased “Fetti” album from the trio of Spitta, Gibbs, & Alc. Around that time, I went to Toronto for the first time when Red Dead 2 dropped, so I was watching the clips of everyone else playing like that one meme of Squidward. When I made it home, the album dropped and I was playing it and listening to Red Dead 2. Still to this day, I believe it’s the best collaborative effort between two rappers since Black Star. I can’t explain how many times I played Now & Later Gators in the whip in the middle of the night. 

Finally Rich by Chief Keef (2012)

Chief Keef took Chicago by storm with Don’t Like, and then the world soon after when G.O.O.D. music remixed it. I remember somebody talking about Love Sosa on Twitter during my first homecoming, and I went and watched the video soon after. The rest was history, Love Sosa became my theme song for the rest of the year. Wherever I was, if I ever heard it, I was immediately on ten. When I thought it couldn’t get any better, the rest of the album dropped and I bought it. Finally Rich birthed the drill genre as we know it. Yeah, Keef had other projects (Back From the Dead) before Finally Rich, but FR’s international reach is what influenced everyone everywhere. 

Grindin’ by The Clipse (2002)

I know the rest of these entries are projects/albums but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include the specific effect this song had on the 757 and then the world. To be honest, I knew how to beat this song on the table with my knuckles and the side of my clenched fist before I’d even heard the song. I can’t describe how many times I got in trouble and got silent lunch over hittin’ this beat in class or at lunch. The Neptunes’ production is truly timeless, and this song is a treasure to the 75.

Songs In The Key of Life by Stevie Wonder (1977)

This is possibly the earliest memory in music that I have. I remember my mom singing “As” to me as a tyke, and thus it becoming the ultimate illustration of love to song in my mind. This is my personal favorite Stevie album, although for some reason I always forget the name of the album somehow. I grew up singin’ Living For The City and as I got older, learned the lesson behind that song. Songs in the Key of Life is a masterclass double-sided album that I’ll always suggest first for someone wanting to dig deeper into Stevie’s catalogue

4eva Is a Mighty Long Time by Big K.R.I.T. (2017)

This album saved my life. No joke. I was in the lowest points of my life after graduating college and having opportunity after opportunity slip through my fingers. I became bitter, which ended up ending my relationship at the time, and saw me moving back home. Everlasting will go down as one of my favorite hip hop love ballads of all time. Get Away used to bump in my car first thing as soon as I closed the door for a solid month. The duality between the Big K.R.I.T. and Justin Scott sides was something that I personally believe hadn’t been better executed since Speakerboxx/The Love Below (yes I believe this album is better than TI vs TIP and Sweat/Suit). Personally, I like the Justin Scott side more. The Light is definitely somewhere in my top 100 hip hop songs all time.

Honestly, I could go on for pages and pages of different albums and point out where/how they’ve impacted my life. If you all like this one enough, maybe I’ll do a part two in the future! What’re some albums that’ve impacted your life? Feel free to leave a quick story below in the comments, I’d love to talk to y’all about music.

I had to take a break from writing and posting to take care of my mental health. I’m happy to report that I’ve recently started therapy to further my work on myself. Thank everyone for the kind words they shared when I went on break, I am truly grateful for all of you.

-E.