A-Side
Money is tight for a lot of people because of the panny (pandemic), so there are some free.99 gifts included too!
Records — The Sound of Vinyl
If you have a local record shop, consider buying your records there. The Sound of Vinyl has a 30% storewide sale (code: HOLIDAY30) so for this guide, I chose them.
Archival Record Outer Sleeves by Mobile Fidelity
These are perfect if you want to protect your records for years to come. You can get 50 poly sleeves for $19.95, or 100 on sale for $35.95. Most of my records are my grandparents’ from 60s-90s, so I’m definitely buying these. Turntable Lab also has 10% discount if you buy 4 or more records (no code necessary).
Vintage Music Ephemera / Magazines — BLK MKT VINTAGE (Black Owned)
I always find good stuff here! They have Rolling Stone magazines, Vintage Assorted Soul and R&B sheet music, and you might even find some vintage autographed ephemera if you’re lucky. This week, I got a 1986 JET magazine with Whitney Houston on the cover (picture in From The Archives, below).
Make a playlist for a friend
Thoughtful gifts are the best, and if you can’t spend money this holiday season, making a curated playlist for yourself or a friend is $FREE.99.
Listen to an album or podcast with your friend — Spotify Group Session
If your friend’s love language is quality time, have a *virtual* album/podcast listening party with them ($FREE.99). My friend, Amoy, suggested this one :) You can each choose an album or podcast and listen together, in real time.
My podcast suggestions are:
The Read: weekly podcast covering hip-hop and pop culture's most trying stars. Throwing shade and spilling tea with a flippant and humorous attitude, no star is safe from Fury and Crissle unless their name is Beyoncé. (Or Blue Ivy.)
CABBAGES: The official podcast of the CABBAGES hip-hop / rap music newsletter, hosted by Gary Suarez and Jeffery Laughlin.
Louder Than a Riot: Hosted by NPR Music’s Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden, Louder Than A Riot reveals the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration.
Handmade CD Rug — Sean Brown (Black Owned)
Now, these are expensive ($250). You can choose from Jigga—Vol. 3, Sade—Love Deluxe, Outkast—The Love Below, Lil Kim—Hardcore, Kanye—MBDTF, and a few other albums.
If you have any gift suggestions, reply to this email and let me know!!
B-Side
What’s the 411?
Happy birthday, Jay-Z! 🐐 He released his year-end playlist “2020 VISION COVID 19” (lol) on Tidal.
RICOOOOOO *echoes*! Rico Nasty’s debut album, Nightmare Vacation is here! You can celebrate by designing custom Rico merch here. I got mine last week, and it’s the best artist merch I’ve bought this year.
Nightmare Vacation album cover Jazmine Sullivan is back, for real. Her album, Heaux Tales, drops January 8th, but you can pre-save it here. In the meantime, listen to her single, “Pick Up Your Feelings.” She’s really here to save us 😭
A new Asian Da Brat (Asian Doll) song is on the way ⬇️🔥🚨
Pass the Mic
🎤 “I feel like the problem with us nowadays is we want everything right now. But the music isn’t gonna be progressive when you’re putting something out every three months, because you ain’t been through nothing; you still feel like how you felt when you [last] dropped the music. To me, stuff doesn’t happen in my life every single day. Maybe for some people it does, but my life don’t happen that fast. I have to give myself time to actually go through things so I can speak on it, and have a new understanding of life. It’s not like I make music that’s not my life, so I feel like I need to give my life time to inspire me.” — Roddy Ricch in conversation with Andrew Barker, Roddy Ricch is Variety’s Breakthrough Artist of 2020
From the Archives
JET magazine, September 1, 1986. Ignore the B*ll C*sby part. I’m gonna scan pages from Whitney’s spread and include it in the next newsletter issue.
The Credits
See yall next week? or the week after?
