It’s that time of the year again, folks. The time when every critic and/or blogger tries to give you the definitive answer to that all important question: “What was good in 2011?”
These ‘end year lists’ come in many different forms, and cover almost any cultural or creative output imaginable, from best movies to best literary works. For one month the entire web is hell-bent on educating the masses on what they should be reading, watching or listening to. And it usually results in quite an interesting, if not, very entertaining read.
In the past four years I’ve contributed to this tradition by making a yearly Top 100 list of my favorite songs. Each year I would write a series of ten blogs, in which I would discuss ten songs per blog (counting down from a hundred).
This year’s “Soundtrack of 2011” series represents a collection of songs that piqued my interest over the past eleven and a half months. The reason for their inclusion in this list can be attributed to a number of things namely, lyrical content, musicality and sentimental value.
The list will cover a wide range of musical genres, but at the end of the day its main focus is on black music. Hip hop, soul, jazz and R&B are all very well represented in this list.
So, without any further ado……let the countdown commence!
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40. “It’s All Real” – Gerald Walker
Gerald Walker is someone I hope to hear a lot from in the upcoming years. He’s been on the grind for some time now; releasing several high-quality mixtapes and a ton of great tracks. His “The Other Half Of Letting Go” project proved once more that the combination of R&B vocals and hip-hop beats could lead to some stunning results. The fact that Gerald Walker can out sing Drake any day of the week also doesn’t hurt.
“It’s All Real” was by far my favorite track on this project. It reminded me of those old laidback G-funk cuts by dudes like Warren G. Not that this is exactly like that, but the groundwork is the same. Another thing that comes to mind when listening to this song is the resemblance with some of the more mellow cuts by hip-hop outfit Bone Thugs and Harmony. What I want to say here is that this song brings back a lot of memories and feelings, and therefore is very deserving of a place in my list.
