I don’t understand why…

…we should fight for love, either it aint or it is. it either aint or it is

I don’t want to be a soldier anymore,

because the war never ends, and no one ever wins…

I don’t understand why we should fight for love, either it aint or it is…

This.damn.song…

I guess that I am not as strong, as I pretend to be….

welp.

I listened to this CD–the latest from The Foreign Exchange Authenticity a few times, but it wasn’t until I heard it in my car recently–and this song in particular came on that I really said well gatdamn, those are some GOOD lyrics. That soldier line is how I feel absolutely about love and about life in general. I am a lover, not a fighter. I mean…I definitely have some fight in me, but who the hell wants to fight all the time? who ENJOYS that? metaphorically and literally I couldn’t be a soldier, or in any armed forces–just not my thing.

Moving on…this is a great mellow cd, in the same vein as Leave it All Behind, it totally flows from beginning to end. I wanted to put the entire lyrics to this song on the blog–but I’m lazy so just take my word for it and listen to the song for yourself.

The subject matter for the CD is  of course love. The ups and downs and the little nuances of relationships. Well I should say the downs and ups–as it starts on  somber note with “The Last Fall” with lines like–so what is the use? I’m never gonna love again…

The lyrics are real and the entire CD very honest–authentic! so it works. That’s one of the things that made me fall in love with Phonte even in the LB days–the realness and honesty of his lyrics.

“Maybe She’ll Dream of Me” was the lead single and has a nice groove that I dig as well. Very romantic. This is the point of the CD where things start to turn upwards.

My absolute favorite from the very first listen, which features Darien Brockington  is “Don’t Wait.”

“Laughing At Your Plans” spoke to me also because I’m always planning something. Its just what I do, my little way to exhibit control, when I really can’t control anything or anyone but self. I always remind myself of that saying “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans” so yeah I’m sure He laughs at me often. Yet I still make the plans. This song makes me think of that…

I will now revisit all of The Foreign Exchange’s projects–Connected, Leave it all Behind and Authenticity to see how they flow together. Their first CD is very much more hip hop, but the instrumentation from Nicolay remains crisp, clean and even sexy. To me. I could listen to all of the tracks without the lyrics… THIS IS MUSIC!

I won’t list all the songs  on Authenticity because they all are very good, so suffice it to say if you haven’t checked it out yet, please do. If you loved LIAB, you will love this too. Also, if you are a new listener this is still a good place to start.

Fellow FE fans– I won’t even ask if you love it, because I already know that you do. So, what are your favorite tracks so far?

Whats in my earbuds pt. 5

*I actually own these! and they don’t hurt my ears!*

I realized I haven’t done one of these posts in a minute. And to be honest its because I’ve been listening to a lot of older music and nothing really stood out to me to the point that I wanted to hear it over and over, thus making it post worthy. I’m gonna try to do these more often, so hopefully I’ll be inspired more often.

Top of my list is the new Raheem Devaughn mixtape Mr February aka March Madness, my inspiration. I’ve been listening to this since last Friday and I’m loving it as expected. Some of my favorites are: I’m Good (gotta love that Neptunes beat), Slow Dance, Bonita Applebum, Know What I Mean (the 50 cent have a baby joint), and Love Experience Pt. 2. If you loved the original “The Love Experience” song from his first CD, you will like that one. It also includes an unplugged version of one my favorite songs from The Love Experience, the underrated “Until”

He even has a remake of Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much.” It’s a jazzy effort, but I love Big Lutha like my play uncle so I can’t say its comparable in anyway. He actually sings it a bit too slow, IMO. There are a few other remakes but I’ll let you peep those for yourself when you download it, the link is embedded–overall it doesn’t disappoint.

Unthinkable (I’m Ready) -Alicia Keys ft. Drake This song has been on radar for a few weeks now and I always play it a few times. I have acquired her new CD  awhile ago and haven’t finished listening to it–I’m just not that interested to be honest. I’ve already told yall how I feel about Keys, I like her, and love her earlier works.

Understanding -Kidz in the Hall -Another track I’ve been on for over a month or so. when the LRG The Professional Leisure Tour mixtape dropped. I even had a lil back and forth with Naledge on twitter about the song, which basically started with a “me likey” on some #FreakyFriday ish even though it wasn’t even a Friday– however….“could your pretty peach be dessert after dinner…”   yeah, its official. LOL

We Major – Kanye West.  After cosiging my homies on twitter that this was his best CD, I’ve been all over Late Registration again, which is my favorite. I love this damn song. “feeling better than head on a Sunday afternoon,  better than a chick that say yes too soon.” Plus it has Nasir on it toooooo! Another song I can’t get enough of is “Late”.  I’ve loved that song since the leaks before LR came out.

My Flame -Zo! ft. Phonte: I love the just visiting too EP, and this is one of my favorite tracks. Just smooth mellow vibe. if you are fans of the Foreign Exchange crew, check this out too if you haven’t already.

No Ceilings the entire mixtape. I don’t do Wayne at all but he kills this and I’ve been listening on and off since to it since October, still hype off it.

You remix -LLoyd ft. Andre 3000 & Nas. I’ve been on a Lloyd kick lately–he’s one of my guilty pleasures. I posted last year about how I feel he’s totally slept on, and Street Love was seriously one of my favorite CDs to come out in 07. this song, the return of 3 stacks?! loves it still. glad I decided to revisit. “I said what time you get off, she said when you get me off.”

pretty random mix; just a few things in heavy rotation over here! I haven’t heard anything too new new other than the Raheem that I’m loving like that. so let me know what have y’all been on lately? Now that my iPod mystery has been solved (just needed a new usb cord to port music) I’m ready to add some new stuff!