Over the past 6 months to a year I’ve been on a big Clear Soul Forces/ Noveliss trip. Every few years there’s a sound that I find in Hip Hop that bring me back to that boom bap/ pure 90’s sound and Noveliss does just that for me. So this Episode 85 Hour 2 I decided to run a few of his solo jams along with kicking things off with a fire track from CSF “Sparring Session”. Plus we got bangers from Oddisee, Skyzoo and that unreleased Dangerdoom joint with Black Thought. A recipe for straight neck knocking! Enjoy the vibe.

Playlist:

Sparring Session - Clear Soul Forces

A World Without Music - L'Orange & Mr. Lif

Mad Nice (feat. Black Thought & Vinny Price) – Dangerdoom

Poets and Gangstas - Talib Kweli & Styles P

Nnge (feat. Toine) – Oddisee

Charlie Brown (feat. Blu) – ScienZe

Maximum (prod. 9^th Wonder) - G-Eazy

Super Predator (feat. Styles P) - Joey Badass

Point Guns At Magneto (feat. Nolan The Ninja) – Noveliss

Finesse Everything – Skyzoo

Through with Him – Rapsody

Friendzone – Elzhi

Temporary - NorCal Nick, Rav.P, ILL.SUGI

Next Time - Tanya Morgan

Left Alone – Noveliss

I Remember – ANTHM

Cole Summer - J. Cole

Peace world, it’s your selector Wil Infamous here taking a serious tone as I attempt to shine some light on a serious epidemic that plagues many households around the world, domestic violence.

You may be asking yourself, “what does this have to do with Hip-Hop and the straight bangers that I’m normally accustom to on these playlist?”…everything, at least for me. Good Hip-Hop music speaks to your soul and as an emcee if you have the self-awareness that your music does that and actually try to tackle a serious issue that many can’t put their feeling into words, but can relate to yours, that’s very powerful. I’ve recently been educated on domestic violence and the emotional impact that it can have on both men and women. A lot of the tracks that I have on this playlist are from a child perspective growing up seeing abuse in their home. A scary statistic I found out was that 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence. If you or someone you know is in a toxic relationship, educate yourself and leave. Life is too short to waste away with anger…listen to good music and be mindful of your thoughts instead.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you want to check out some more statistics on this topic please see below. Peace.

• On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of [some form of] physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime.

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severephysical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

• 1 in 7 women and 1 in 18 men have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime to the point in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.

• On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.

• The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.

• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.

• Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.

• 19% of domestic violence involves a weapon.

• Domestic victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior.

• Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries

Women are much more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence with 85 percent of domestic abuse victims being women and 15 percent men. Too many women and men have been held captive by domestic violence — whether through physical abuse, financial abuse, emotional abuse or a combination of all three.

Domestic violence is not a singular incident, it’s an insidious problem deeply rooted in our culture — and these statistics and songs prove that.

Playlist:

Last Good Sleep - Company Flow [lyrics]

3 Wishes - J. Cole [lyrics]

Cold Hearted (ft. Miguel Jontel) - Blu & Exile [lyrics]

Dorian - Brother Ali [lyrics]

Bottle Dreams - Oliver Hart (Eyedea) [lyrics]

The Last to Say – Atmosphere [lyrics]

Wha gwan Bredren! It’s your Hip-Hop selector, Wil Infamous, here with the first episode of Nitty Gritty Radio for the new year. Wanted to start thing out on a feel good tip for 2017 (because TRUST, we all need it) so I packed the Episode 84 (Hour 1) playlist full of feel goods from Kid “N Play, De La Soul, The UMC’s and Guru to name a few. Here’s to hoping that 2017 treats a lot of us better than 2016 did. Onward and upward is the mantra. Now, let’s get into some beats!!

Playlist:

The Rhythm – Kwame

We Rock the Mic Right - Redhead Kingpin and the F.B.I.

Last Night - Kid 'N Play

Somebody For Me - Heavy D & The Boyz

Latifah's Had It Up to Here - Queen Latifah

Eye Know – De La Soul

Push It Along - A Tribe Called Quest

Fudge Pudge - Organized Konfusion

One to Grow on - The UMC's

Soul Flower - Brand New Heavies feat. The Pharcyde

La Schmoove (feat. Phife Dawg) - Fu-Schnickens

Trippin Out - Prince Markie Dee

Watch What You Say – Guru

Valley Of The Skinz - Trends Of Culture

Episode 84 (Hour 2) has bangers from Jean Grae, CyHi The Prynce, Noveliss…plus, new joints from Gensu Dean feat. Dynas, Rapper Big Pooh, Stick Fig and Oddisee. The feel good keeps flowin’ on this playlist! Enjoy!

Playlist:

Casebaskets - Jean Grae

Dreams – Choosey

Can It Be (feat. The Regiment) – Confidence

Cydel Young - CyHi The Prynce

Pretty Bird (feat. Masta Killa and Talib Kweli) – HaLo

Triangle Offense (feat. Sha Stimuli) - Skyzoo & Torae

These Bammas - Diamond District (Oddisee, yU & Uptown XO)

Hook Heavy (feat. Sean Price) - 7evenThirty

Super Hero (feat. MF DOOM) [L'Orange Remix] - Kool Keith

Preem (feat. DJ Soko) – Noveliss

Jump Shots – Reks

Dreams (feat. Dynas) - Gensu Dean

There's An Art To Sleeping - L'Orange & Mr. Lif

#Goals – Rapsody

Big Trouble Little Child - Rapper Big Pooh

Organic (prod. Blu) - NorCal Nick

Down Payment (feat. Elzhi & Nottz) - Stik Figa

Like Really - Oddisee

Early in The Morning - Lando Chill

Peace brethren! It’s you musical pied piper Wil Infamous here with the last installment of Nitty Gritty Radio for the year 2016. For this one we’re taking a trip in the wayback machine to a very important year in my personal Hip-Hop journey, 1996.

Nine Six was my first year DJ’n on the radio in Boston and it was also the beginning of when a shift started happening in Hip Hop music. There was a clear divide happening between “Underground” and “Mainstream” Hip-Hop. Beats were changing, subject matter and most importantly where the music was being produced. Myself, I’m a loyalist to that authentic Boom Bap sound so my ear went to the Underground and this playlist reflects a lot of the tracks that I would play on my radio show and that I was personally feeling at the time. Hope you feel that ’96 vibe with this one.

Playlist:

Music Makes Me High - Lost Boyz

Must Stay Paid – Broadway

Concubinez - Hyenas in the Desert

101 Things To Do While I'm With Your Girl - Kwest Tha Madd Lad

Broken Language (feat. Trigger Tha Gambler) - Smoothe Da Hustler

The Message – Nas

Clones – The Roots

The Bitch In Yoo (Original Demo Mix) – Common Sense

Big Brother Beat (feat. Mos Def) – De La Soul

The Nod Factor - Mad Skillz

It's Like That (My Big Brother) (Feat. K-Solo) – Redman

Visit To The Gynecologyst - Dr. Octagon

Fakin Jax – INI

Eyes May Shine – Xzibit

Epiphany – Juggaknots

Uknowhowwedu – Bahamadia

Coolie High (Remix) - Camp Lo

1nce Again (feat. Tammy Lucas) - A Tribe Called Quest

Ijustwannachill - Large Professor

Stakes Is High (Spinna Version) - De La Soul

Me Or The Papes - Jeru The Damaja

Peace, Prosperity, & Paper - A Tribe Called Quest

The Mask – The Fugees

The Look Of Love - Slum Village

Just Another Case – Cru

Renee - Lost Boyz

Nature Of The Threat - Ras Kass

Peace world. Wil Infamous here with a very personal and special Episode 83 (Hour 1) “I wish my Brother Rob was here”. My older Brother Rob was the first person to introduce me to Hip-Hop music at a very young age. I remember when I was 6 years old (and afraid of the dark) my father would try to convince me every night to go to bed with the light off. One night he tried to convince me to sleep without my lights and said “why don’t you put on the radio to help you fall asleep?”. I said yes and the first song we found playing on the radio was Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “The Message”. Now my brother would BUMP that track when picking me up from daycare so it was very familiar to me and in a weird way looking back, soothing. My Dad turned off the light, closed the door and I fell a sleep that night (for the first time in the dark) listening to Melle Mel spit fire and it was literally a lullaby for me. THAT in a nutshell was how strong of an influence musically my Brother Rob was in my life. Rob had the illest shell toes, flyest cars, was a neighborhood DJ and did some tagging on the side for fun using the name “Rizz”. Needless to say…in my eyes growing up, he was the MOTHERFUCKIN’ MAN! As I got older we started drifting apart and by the time I got in my mid-twenties our relationship was basically nonexistent. Years went by like that and in late August of 2016 I got a call from my Mother saying my Brother Rob passed away in Florida. After the shock, I got off the phone with my Mom the first thoughts that I had were not the bad times but the good times, and with those good times came the memories of all the music we would listen to from Guns N Roses to Brand Nubian. I miss my Brother and will always have the regret of not mending our relationship before it was too late. But with this music and this playlist of Episode 83 (Hour 1) I hope my Brother will hear it and in his ultra-cool voice say “this shit is funky!”. Every track on this playlist is a direct memory of Rob and the Hip-Hop we would listen to. The first piece of vinyl I ever owned was Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew with the A Side: The Show and the B Side: La Di Da Di. Rob gave me the record because when we listened to The Show I recognized the Inspector Gadget sample and he thought that was awesome and wanted me to have the 12”. That was the type of dude he was for me growing up. I can’t thank him enough with giving me the foundation on which I stand now musically.

Well, enough blah blah. Let’s get into some amazing memories for me growing up and some neck crackin’ Hip Hop here on Nitty Gritty Radio…as per ushe.

I love you, Rizz. This is for one’s for you….

Playlist:

The Message - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Sucker MC's - Run-D.M.C.

A Fly Girl - Boogie Boys

Veronica - Bad Boys (Featuring K Love)

The Show (feat. Slick Rick) - Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew

The New Style - Beastie Boys

Top Billin' - Audio Two

Dana Dane With Fame - Dana Dane

Pickin' Boogers - Biz Markie

Criminal Minded - Boogie Down Productions

How Ya - Kool Moe Dee

I Get The Job Done - Big Daddy Kane

Greatest Man Alive - Greatest Man Alive

Funky For You - Nice & Smooth

Love's Gonna Get 'Cha (Material Love)(7"Radio Edit) - Boogie Down Productions

The Grande Finale - The D.O.C.

On Episode 83 (Hour 2), this Hour of Hip Hop’s playlist looks much like an Hour 1 usually would with new tracks from artist like A Tribe Called Quest, Common, Sadat X and D.I.T.C. I have to say before putting this playlist out I probably listed to it at least 20 times and haven’t gotten sick of it yet. Hope you feel the same and enjoy the vibe.

Playlist:

We The People.... - A Tribe Called Quest

Pyramids – Common

Talk That Talk – CZARFACE

World Renown (Dan The Automator Mix) feat. Del the Funky Homosapien)- Mr. Lif

2 AM (feat. Ab-Soul) – Rapsody

Animals (feat. Anderson .Paak) - Dr. Dre

Rock Shyt (feat. Fat Joe, Lord Finesse & Diamond D.) - D.I.T.C.

Murder Soundtrack (feat. A-F-R-O & Rahzel The Legend) - Sadat X

Mobius - A Tribe Called Quest

Blue Waffles - Tanya Morgan

Realer Than Most (feat. Skyzoo) - The Other Guys

Verbal Toxin (feat. Shadow The Great) - Complex Fusion

Opponents (feat. J-Live) - Gensu Dean

Durag vs. Headband (feat. Big Body Bes) - Action Bronson

Khadijah – NxWorries

Crown – Rapsody

Stuck – OSHUN

Make 'Em Proud (feat. A.G., Fat Joe & Diamond D.) - D.I.T.C.

Untrue (feat.Rapper Big Pooh) - Villain Notshaf