Guess what today is?!

Pavement runner’s Playlist Thursday!  The theme for this Thursday is Local Flavor!  Now that I am living in Brooklyn I probably could have found tons and tons of New York City artists but I decided that would be too easy!  I decided to limit myself to just artists from Brooklyn (which was actually much easier than I thought it would be – there has been a lot of musical talent grown out of Brooklyn!).

It was super hard to decide on who to choose for this list – some close runner-ups include: Aaliyah, Pat Benatar, Lil Kim, Maxwell, Lil Mama & Busta Rhymes <– Crazy, huh?  It was really fun to research people from my new home – Thanks for the great theme, PR!

Check out my previous playlists: I Heart House, Summer Songs & Pop Music.
If you want to find some other fun playlists, go check out pavement runner’s Playlist Thursday Catalogue!

So here are the guidelines: (taken from pavement runner‘s page)

Something Old: These will be songs that are at least 5 years old. I know that isn’t too long to be considered old, but music turnover happens quickly.
Something Current: These will be songs that have been released within the past year. I know, but you have to give me some leeway here.
Something to Consider: These will be songs that are not typically heard on the radio and may be by artists you’ve never heard of or considered running to. This is the wild card category, can be old or current.

Something Old

Artist: Biggie Smalls (AKA Notorious B.I.G.)
Title: Juicy
Side Note: Now this is not my favorite Biggie song (Sky’s the Limit will always be one of my favorite songs of all time) but he does rap about Brooklyn – so it was necessary!  Biggie grew up in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and actually went to the same high school as the next guy on my playlist and Busta!
Quotable: ”Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way”

Something Current

Artist: Jay-Z
Title: Empire State of Mind
Side Note:  Now you knew that this man had to make my list, right?  I mean, he is Mr. Brooklyn.  He grew up in Marcy Projects (literally less than a mile from where I live now…good or bad thing?) and raps about Brooklyn in every one of his songs.  He actually just bought a stake in the Brooklyn Nets, is playing 3 sold out shows for the opening of the stadium, is opening a bar inside the stadium and a Rocawear clothing store right outside.  He also raps about the subway line that I take every day…that makes me cool, right?
Quotable: ”I’m up in Brooklyn, now I’m down in Tribeca, right next to De Niro but I’ll be hood forever.”

Something to Consider

Artist: MC Lyte
Title: Lyte as a Rock
Side Note:  This song holds a special place in my heart because it is from the Love and Basketball soundtrack so when I saw that MC Lyte is from Brooklyn, she obviously had to be included in this playlist.  This song is super catchy and I know every word.  And fun fact:  she was actually the first solo female rapper to release a full album. So I had to show her some love!
Quotable: ”And now, directly from the planet of Brooklyn, MC Lyte, as a rock.”

and there you have it folks, Brooklyn’s finest.

Do you know of any one famous from your area?  If not, do some research - it was really interesting to find out about so many people who grew up where I live today!