Mixtape Themes: Love, Breakups, Perseverance, Money, Business, Friends, Dreams, Adversity, Girls, & Reminiscing on the simpler times
Tracklist
01 Sway - Still On My Own
02 Scribe - Dreaming
03 DJ Quik - Summer Breeze
04 Celph Titled - Me and My Friends (Ft. Apathy & One Two)
05 Showbiz & AG - Fat Pockets (Off Beat Dance)
06 Looptroop - Business & Pleasure
07 Macklemore - Love Song
08 Skyzoo - Comeback
The ripe age of twenty-three is such a pivotal time in the human life cycle that I would say that it's the fulcrum on the seesaw of life (yes, pun intended) - It's the point in the maturation process when you can finally peek over the edge into the future and realize the immense possibilities in life while you look back at your past and reflect on how you got where you are.
This EP is about the themes and struggles of the 23 year old. I put this EP together because I realized that a few of my favorite songs are about what it's like to be my current age. Each song has a line about being 23 and this simple fact means that many of these songs are introspective and self-reflective, which you'll see after you listen to them. Some of them are extremely relevant in my life and some might be more relevant in yours. As an MC or musician, it's important to have your fans identify with your music. One of my favorite MC's, Macklemore, put it best in his song Kings by saying "be a mirror to the people when they're searching for truth". Ultimately, I made this EP because I connect with the songs and my hopes are that the other 23 year olds of the world will connect with them too.
Now let's get into the music shall we.
Sway - Still On My Own
"I'm only 23, but I feel like I'm older. Developed a hunchback from carrying the world on my shoulders. In a world full of motives in the land of Tony Blair, it's hard to BBC (see) my dreams and stay focused. And I've always been a loner in the form of a trio, the three amigos with me, myself, and I - uno mio."
Scribe - Dreaming
"I'm 23 and I just want to be me. Want to be free. Want to be everything I can be. But I don't have many choices, can't afford to be wrong. All I do is try to stay true to the words of my song. Just don't hesitate and wait too long cause like a dream when you wake up its gone...its gone."
DJ Quik - Summer Breeze
"Now I'm 23 and I remember the times when we was chillin' like villains and didn't have no nines. Like when we used to mob to beaches to kick it and swim, now I hang around and watch the tides come in. And I'm thinking how many funerals I've been to, watching all my homies get buried in them boxes they put 'em into."
Celph Titled Ft. Apathy & One Two - Me and My Friends
"Yo, the crew I roll with - cold as hell. We own the streets like OG's own the jails. Mack college bitches, they know us well, but now that I'm 23 I feel old as hell."
Showbiz & A.G. - Fat Pockets
"My pockets stay fat, and they always like that. Not only in my pocket in my bank there's stacks and stacks - of dough, cause I move slow. I get my cash flow. Then I go and brother's don't know I'm on the down low. Some get mad 'cause they can't understand, that I'm 23 years old. I'm in command!"
Looptroop - Business & Pleasure
"They say don't mix business with pleasure, you know what that means? Ain’t a rapper with a deal that's pleased. Some don't see where they run, so they run to the sea like lemmings. Drown in despair 'cause they depending. All dressed in designer underwear, but most rhymers are unaware - lyrically impaired. And not prepared to battle me. Been doing this since Karate Kid and Police Academy. A twenty-three years young man, with no suntan, always was a KRS-One fan."
Macklemore - Love Song
"I'm getting older now, 23 years old and half of me just wants to make the move and go and settle down. The other half's like 'hell no you better mess around, don't let me down, especially when you got an album coming out'. When I first saw you I'm like 'awww shit, goddamnit look what God did, Hail Mary Jesus'."
Skyzoo - Comeback
"You a hot one girl, believe I'm a fan, but I don't want you running round like you got a man. I'm only 23 with a lot of life in front of me, and there's a lot of types I wanna see. And I can't give you my all, when part of me still wanna answer my calls."
Enjoy.
