Morning Mixtapers! Welcome to another stunning, flawless, amazing, SERVING YOU ANNIVERSARY REALNESS better than your favorite edition of the Majak Mixtape, where pop culture has gone to get its soundtrack for the past year. That's right, Mixtapers, this week marks the one year anniversary of the Majak Mixtape. In that time, we've typed about a lot of tunes, spilled an ocean's worth of tea, and snatched so many wigs we may just open our own cosmetology school for the underprivileged, okay? In honor of this lovely little milestone, we've decided to put together an extra special Mixtape filled with songs, stories, and snippets from Mixtapes gone by. But before we get to the Mix, let us first get to the tea.
First up, Oprah ended her 25 year run as America's favorite shouter of celebrity names yesterday as "The Oprah Winfrey Show" signed off. Over the two day Oprah Winfrey Spectacular that took up Monday and Tuesday of the program, Oprah, in front of a hand-picked audience, went out on a relatively quiet note, just speaking to the camera for the hour. You cannot tell me that at least one person in the audience wasn't annoyed they didn't get a car or trip to Australia or at least a copy of a book underneath their chair. Though, we suppose, being able to be on Oprah's show and bask in all of her Oprah-ness. Did the show veer into preachiness? Of course it did. Did we feel like we might have to write a final exam after her lecture? Most definitely. But overall, the last hour of Oprah turned out to be a grand send-off for fans and a sincere thank-you from Oprah to her ridiculously loyal viewing audience.
Given that we spent a season watching "Glee," you would understand that our pain threshold when it comes to Fox music shows is about nil at this point and why we decided to skip out on the two-hour season finale of "American Idol." Seriously, this show is more padded than all the drag queen contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race combined. What we do know is that it was the grand battle of White Country Singer Girl vs. White Country Singer Boy. Stirring, I know. While they sang for their suppers, Jennifer Lopez wondered how being on this show barely helped her album sales, Steven Tyler found new and intricate ways to out-incoherent Paula Abdul's tenure and Randy Jackson existed to, well, fill space while Ryan Seacrest spent his commercial breaks trying to figure out exactly how many more reality shows he could get out of the Kardashian family. The winner turned out to be White Country Boy. And the world rejoiced, except for the people who have realized that a girl may never actually win this competition again.
Now put on your party hat, crack out open the cheap champagne from Kwik Trip because it's time for what? A Mixtape party!
Once upon a time, some 200 mixtapes ago, yours truly was in the midst of toiling away in the trenches of the Second Supper, busily spending my first season as a theatre reporter gallivanting from one show to the next. I had laughed. I had cried. I had seen things that were helluva lot better than "Cats." My theatre dreams were coming true, but as I was working to put the finishing touches on the Second Supper's inaugural edition of the Suppie Awards, our tribute to local theatre, I came to the revelation that with the close of the theatre season I would be like Finn Hudson on "Glee," devoid of a beat. Realizing that one's soul as well as one's pocket book cannot be nourished on retail work alone, I started racking my brain to figure out exactly what I would do while the theatres took a brief hiatus.
The music gods work in mysterious ways as I came strolling into the offices of the Mixtape, still racking my brain, when I heard the news that Shuggypop, the writer behind the incredibly popular Second Supper column "Getting Shuggy With It," had decided to end his column.
Ambition is a funny thing. It often times becomes the puppeteer with you the dummy on the string as I found myself immediately blurting out that I would totally write a music column despite having no idea exactly what I would write about. I knew, for a fact, that if I tried to approach anything similar to Shuggy, I would be dead in the water because his knowledge of music is seemingly never ending, particularly of hidden gems. The gems I knew of were not so much hidden but just in need of a little polish and resetting. Within one meeting of the Second Supper, a few ideas were bandied about before I settled on what came to be the Majak Mixtape: a column that would take pop culture and give it a soundtrack featuring the latest music.
A year ago, the Majak Mixtape made its debut with a photo of my face next to it just so I could fully feel like I was facing a firing squad. Would people like it? Would they get it? Would there be a hipster riot in front of the Second Supper offices with people throwing crushed up cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, to be recycled later, at the window as they demanded the return of their beloved Shuggy?
“Usher’s song 'OMG' is currently the number one single on the Billboard Top 100. If you like this tune, you will like: the five million identical Black Eyed Pea songs Will.I.Am has produced.”---Excerpt from the first Majak Mixtape
"i miss shuggys articles. lady gaga ke$ha come on dude. i wanna hear of some cool new underground music."As a gay Black man living in the Midwest, it's the rarest of pleasures to be considered horrifically mainstream.
---Comment on the very first Majak Mixtape
Since that little Mixtape one year ago, we've tackled a whole multitude of topics from politics, both nationally and on the more local level:
“Oh former President George W. Bush, how are you doing? You must be tired from all the interviews for your book Decision Point. We truly believe here that you’ve conducted more interviews in the last two or three weeks than you did during the entirety of your second term as president. You were on CNN, which was lovely; Fox News, which was expected; and on Oprah, where you gave everybody in the audience a free waterboarding. KIDDING."
---The Majak Mixtape on President Bush's memoir
“But the cherry on top of the sundae that is this news story is the flat-out melodrama of you allegedly crying for 10 to 15 minutes during this meeting to discuss the halting of the study, as well as dropping to your knees, clasping your hands. Frankly, we think more complaints should be written with Emily Bronte-like flourishes.”
----The Majak Mixtape on the Mayor Matt Harter ethics hearing
World events:
“You’ve got hand it to the royal wedding. It literally took somebody being shot in the head before the press would stop talking about it.”
---The Majak Mixtape on the killing of Osama Bin Laden
“With accusations of police brutality, corruption, legalized censorship, citizens took to the street for a protest called ‘Friday of Anger,’ which coincidentally is what I call days after enjoying too much Thirsty Thursday.”
---The Majak Mixtape on Egypt
Sports:
“This is the first time the two teams have met in the playoffs since 1941, back in those more genial times when a quarterback had to wait up to a week for a photo of their privates to reach somebody.”
---The Majak Mixtape on the Bears/Packers Super Bowl
And of course, celebrity scandals:
“Oh Laurence Fishburne, your daughter is a porn star now. She will undoubtedly be starring in a host of adult films that reference your films in some way: What’s Condoms Got To Do With It, Akeelah and the Peen, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (we didn’t even have to change that one).”
“Oh Chris Brown, how are you doing? In the past few years, you hit the top of the charts, Rihanna’s face, and now windows at the ABC Studios in Times Square. Kudos to moving away from living things I guess.”
But without the music there would be no Mixtape so in honor of this, we've put together our top five favorite albums that have come out since we started doing the Mixtape. We know, the list title doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but stick with us.
Number 5:
Robyn, "Body Talk Part II"
We've loved Robyn ever since she asked us to show us love and wondered if we had what it takes. Since then, Robyn has blazed her own quirky trail across the pop landscape, working with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Britney Spears while crafting her own unique brand of electro-pop. Last year, Robyn decided to release three EPs. Though we loved "Body Talk, Part I," "Body Talk, Part II" came with our favorite Robyn song of all time, the wonderfully dancey but incredibly depressing "Hang With Me."
Number 4:
Kanye West, "My Dark Twisted Fantasy."
Sure, he may be an egotistical a-hole, but Kanye West is an egotistical a-hole who puts out some amazing music. "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" is both West's mea culpa for his notorious attitude as well as a middle finger to the haters, these divergent thoughts happening often times within the same song. Filled with strong production and a plethora of guest appearances from the likes of Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bon Iver, John Legend and others, "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" still manages to be a personal album in spite of all the star power happening. Below, our favorite song from the album:
Number 3:
Kelis, "Flesh Tone."
We know. Kelis? The "Milkshake" singer? How is this possible? It's because her criminally underrated "Flesh Tone" album was one of the best dance albums of the best possible years. Not merely settling on getting bodies moving, Kelis dropped some of her "Bossy" persona to make her personal album to date as well as her most catchy in a lot of ways. Combining heartfelt lyrics with dance beats isn't the most original idea in the world, but it's rare that it's executed in such amazing fashion.
Number 2:
The Magic Kids, "Memphis."
Indie outfit The Magic Kids and their album "Memphis" is one of our absolute favorite albums to play whenever we're the least bit sad. With it's odes to the 1960s-flavor of Beach Boys pop combined with its lo-fi production makes it a bubbly joy. The first track we heard from the album was the song "Hey Boy," which is like a kooky blend of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and the jubiliant nature of something that would've been on "Sesame Street."
And our number one album? We bet you're expecting Janelle Monae. But "The ArchAndroid" actually came out a week before we started writing the column so it's been bumped off the list. Adele maybe? We love "Rolling in the Deep" but the rest of the album is a little hit or miss with us.
Our number one album is "Treats" by Sleigh Bells. The loud, clanging noise pop of Sleigh Bells manages to blow out our speakers while still being melodic enough for us to sing along to. Bold, unique and brimming with attitude it's one of those albums we obsessively listen to then put down and then return to again and again.
Check back tomorrow for part of our Mixtape as we take on our bits of spilled tea, our favorite songs and our favorite music videos from our first year of the Mixtapes.
As always, we wish you love, peace and downloads! NOW BRING ON THE SOLID GOLD DANCERS!
Robyn, "Body Talk Part II"
We've loved Robyn ever since she asked us to show us love and wondered if we had what it takes. Since then, Robyn has blazed her own quirky trail across the pop landscape, working with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Britney Spears while crafting her own unique brand of electro-pop. Last year, Robyn decided to release three EPs. Though we loved "Body Talk, Part I," "Body Talk, Part II" came with our favorite Robyn song of all time, the wonderfully dancey but incredibly depressing "Hang With Me."
Number 4:
Kanye West, "My Dark Twisted Fantasy."
Sure, he may be an egotistical a-hole, but Kanye West is an egotistical a-hole who puts out some amazing music. "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" is both West's mea culpa for his notorious attitude as well as a middle finger to the haters, these divergent thoughts happening often times within the same song. Filled with strong production and a plethora of guest appearances from the likes of Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bon Iver, John Legend and others, "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" still manages to be a personal album in spite of all the star power happening. Below, our favorite song from the album:
Number 3:
Kelis, "Flesh Tone."
We know. Kelis? The "Milkshake" singer? How is this possible? It's because her criminally underrated "Flesh Tone" album was one of the best dance albums of the best possible years. Not merely settling on getting bodies moving, Kelis dropped some of her "Bossy" persona to make her personal album to date as well as her most catchy in a lot of ways. Combining heartfelt lyrics with dance beats isn't the most original idea in the world, but it's rare that it's executed in such amazing fashion.
Number 2:
The Magic Kids, "Memphis."
Indie outfit The Magic Kids and their album "Memphis" is one of our absolute favorite albums to play whenever we're the least bit sad. With it's odes to the 1960s-flavor of Beach Boys pop combined with its lo-fi production makes it a bubbly joy. The first track we heard from the album was the song "Hey Boy," which is like a kooky blend of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and the jubiliant nature of something that would've been on "Sesame Street."
And our number one album? We bet you're expecting Janelle Monae. But "The ArchAndroid" actually came out a week before we started writing the column so it's been bumped off the list. Adele maybe? We love "Rolling in the Deep" but the rest of the album is a little hit or miss with us.
Our number one album is "Treats" by Sleigh Bells. The loud, clanging noise pop of Sleigh Bells manages to blow out our speakers while still being melodic enough for us to sing along to. Bold, unique and brimming with attitude it's one of those albums we obsessively listen to then put down and then return to again and again.
Check back tomorrow for part of our Mixtape as we take on our bits of spilled tea, our favorite songs and our favorite music videos from our first year of the Mixtapes.
As always, we wish you love, peace and downloads! NOW BRING ON THE SOLID GOLD DANCERS!
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