[Now] ‘Old Souls – Part XV: Baltimore’ (2016-2020)

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Stream here; download at the bottom of this post.

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Baltimore artists have no patience for boundaries, limits, gatekeepers; they’re too busy puting themselves into the world with all the confidence (maybe more) of bigger cities that get more popular attention.  The music they’re making, which ‘Old Souls Part XV: Baltimore‘ celebrates, stands with anything made anywhere today, including world centers like Chicago and London, especially centering Queer voices and making radical leaps across supposedly disparate sounds look completely effortless.  I only knew a few key artists until recently–Serpentwithfeet, Joy Postell, Naeem (nee Spank Rock), Abdu Ali, Jpegmafia–but through the recommendations of Musicophilia comrade and Baltimore musician Micah E. Wood, it became quickly apparent that those artists’ restless, horizon-expanding vision is a shared quality of many B’more musicians.  Across little over an hour, this mix covers an incredible breadth of sound, all tied by an intense beauty and feverish forward-facing excitement.  But these artists don’t need hype, they just needs to be heard.  Dive in and you’ll soon be a believer.

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Thank you for listening…But please don’t just listen. Every day, always, support Black artists. Buy music on platforms and from shops that are financially equitable–please don’t just stream. It takes literally tens of thousands of streams on Spotify et al to add up to the same financial support as one CD, LP or download purchase–and those streams trickle in over years, instead of coming at once. If you’re only streaming your favorite artists–they’re not your favorites, and you’re not supporting them. Every day, always, support Black-lead organizations working to right the systemic injustice that informs centuries of history and all current governmental and corporate policy. Every day, always, act to support justice and equity for Black people everywhere. If you can’t safely get to protests and demonstrations during COVID-19, there’s still a lot you can do. And every day, always, don’t stand for bullshit on an individual level from white people you know: when you hear racist remarks, call them out; when you encounter well-intended but softly ignorant talk about “I don’t see color,” take it as a sign someone wants to learn but just haven’t yet that justice and equity are not the same as pretending life is a meritocracy and we’re all free so that’s good enough. If you’re not Black, when you act, make sure you’ve listened to Black people first, and have understood it’s not about you, and help how you’re told help is needed, and don’t try to take on leadership that isn’t yours. But rely on education that’s available: don’t burden Black people with your search for answers or your need to feel better. We cannot ever “get back to normal,” because normal was nowhere near good. Let’s never go back to that.

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Various – ‘Old Souls – Part XV: Baltimore’
2016-2020
01 [00:00] Serpentwithfeet – “Messy” (‘Soil’ 2018)
02 [03:30] Al Rogers, Jr. – “Brightheart” (‘Brightheartedn***a’ 2017)
03 [07:15] Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals – “Ken x Karen” (‘Rhino XXL’ 2020)
04 [10:25] Tek.Lun – “No Peace!” (‘The Oppression Olympics’ 2020)
05 [14:30] Jpegmafia – “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot” (‘All My Heroes…’ 2019)
06 [17:05] Bobbi Rush – “Decisions” (‘Miles’ EP 2017)
07 [19:40] Butch Dawson – “This Is Your Hood” (‘Ollieworld’ 2019)
08 [21:40] Joy Postell – “Consciousness” (‘Diaspora’ 2018)
09 [25:00] Naeem – “Startisha” (‘Startisha’ 2020)
10 [30:30] Jsoul – “The Orbital” (‘Levels’ 2020)
11 [33:30] Randi Withani – “Gasoline Dreamz” (‘Portfolio (Drafts)’ EP 2020)
12 [40:15] Abdu Ali – “Chastity” (‘Fiyah!!!’ 2019)
13 [44:00] Ghostie – “Let It Go” (‘Self Hate Wraith’ 2020)
14 [46:05] Infinity Knives – “Requiem for Yaya” (‘In the Mouth of Sadness’ 2019)
15 [48:00] Kotic Couture – “Missed Calls” (‘Diary of a Dreamer’ 2019)
16 [50:20] Ddm – “Closed” (‘Beautiful Gowns’ 2019)
17 [54:05] Zadia – “Henny on the Pavement” (‘Vacants’ 2020)
18 [59:50] :3lon – “Tea Leaves” (‘Ronin’ EP 2016)
[Total Time: 1:06:10]

 

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Download ‘Old Souls Part XV’ here as a mixed mp3 (158 MB)

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Stream here:

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