Category / Imagine

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Jam of the Century – Disc Jock B Hill on Chances With Wolves!

One of the coolest crew moves of all time happened this week when Chances With Wolves put up episode number 408 featuring our bud B Hill!

He texted after it came out to share the hype, and hadn’t said a word about it (to me) leading up. Just let it drop and humbly repped an incredible mix for the crew/WORLD. I texted back wishing I could have told myself this was going to happen 10 years ago…

This got me thinking… what other stuff has happened in life that I’d want to share with myself ten years ago? I know I’d tell myself about my wife (who I was with then but didn’t realize our relationship could ever be this dope), our animals, my job (and hella uncharted path to get here), putting out music on a favorite record label with my best bud, Count Bass D performing at my friends’ underground venue, ThinkTank!!

That’s a bit of what I’d put on my personal list, how about you?

Maybe its not 100% hype. Could be hard stuff you’ve been through and learned from too. Anything surprising is probably fair game.

B Hill X Chances With Wolves is such a perfect example. We’ve looked up to them and listened to them for years (thank you Mars T). And B Hill took that inspo, did his thing for a decade, digging for better records, practicing his craft, and most importantly – being a chiller people love to be around. This combo is destined for the greatness of meeting incredible DJs – why not some we put in the Michael Jordan category?

Maybe we can use this hype for what’s next – what can happen ten years from now based on the work you’re doing today. As our 10 years ago list proves – we can add milestones that we might not even think are possible. Maybe even hide your future list away in a google doc and give yourself a notification to open it in 2029.

If you find it hard to come up with things you’d like to tell your younger self, that might be a good sign to focus on uppercutting the future. A good sign to look ahead at what’s possible, and start doing the small stuff to get there now.

If you’re superstitious is this a bad omen, cart before the horse type of sich? Or is it just adding some amazing things to the back of our minds that we might slowly be working towards right now? I’m hoping for the latter and putting some crazy things in my digi google doc time capsule rn 🙂

Be you – Do you 🧡💙

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A spike in the normal

A spike in the normal is what’s needed for real change – the kind of change no one is prepared for or wants – since it would be a lot easier if we all stayed in our same old patterns. The problem is these patterns are doing more than blindly moving us through days. They create lasting and building impressions on us that can lead to stuff breaking down – like a car at over 100,000 miles.

Real change is hard. 99.9% of the world doesn’t know you or care if it happens, and to make it even harder – the people who do love you and want you to do you to the utmost inadvertently support and reinforce your OG patterns (except for the people around you inspiring change – maybe write down who this is in your life and try to hang with them more)! The people closest to you will benefit from who shows up when you decide to be who you are right now vs your default self pulling from years of patterns that might not be serving anyone anymore.

These norms are so ingrained in how we communicate changing is challenging – but isn’t most important stuff? 

Think about how easy it is to get weird in front of strangers. Costume up and walk down a busy street on Halloween (or Tuesday), holler from a car window as a teen: amazing stuff. Easy and while kinda fun on the surface -zero challenge. Changing in front of friends and family is – so lean into it this year! Ditch the default – be 100% you. Does the fam want a weird you-robot version 2.0 flying across the country to hang? Or the dope inspiring person you actually are, above what’s normal? 

It’s like going from kid to teen. That era when you get GI Joes and Public Enemy or Nirvana tapes on the same bday.  Or from teen to adult (by that I of course mean 14-30), when you get bottles of booze and inspiring art. It’s possible a party lifestyle and the patterns that surface can leave you with addiction, poor health, weirdly sporadic motivation – and the easiest vibe to find and hang on to is everyone still wanting you to be that old self who goes hard and gets weird (challenging?).

The people who love you will be down to see doing things to improve your life. People that miss you are plagued by fear of change and FOMO. Be you. That’s the heaviest thing you can do. Do it for you. And for the one life you have – even more, the moments you have because life can mean a lot of things, so start with today.

Forget normal. Save time, live bold. What’s a more awesome, inspiring, and challenging path? What’s a change you could make today that would hype up the people around you to better themselves?

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Jams of the Week 64 & 65 & 66: Frenz & Strangerz & Myrrh

Welcome to the happiest 4 seconds of music I can think of – on repeat. 

Ever since revisiting Friends by Whoodini all these cuts moved in my head (again).

First was DOOM’s Deep Fried Frenz off the MM..Food LP (just listened to this podcast w DOOM yesterday – so good, so inspiring!) – then after playing that and the inster for it (also included here) for days I got back into the og sample: Ronnie Laws Friends and Strangers.

I had a tape with a live version of the Ronnie Laws cut back in the day… It eventually died from overplaying. Second jam of the week from that tap actually – here’s the first. Not sure there’s a happier tune/loop and so nice to hear DOOM riff it.

Peep the archived Jam of the Week playlist on Spotify and YouTube

Orange heart/Blue heart

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Jams of the Week #61 & 62: Powder & Lil Mofo

Wanted to share 2 mixes that have been hyping me up lately – Powder’s set on Beats in Space radio and Lil Mofo on RA. Lil Mofo’s is faster/crazier, where Powder stays more in a dancey house world. Totally love em both!

They take me into a cool alternate universe of partying to some rad techno while doing work – sometimes to the point where I laugh a bit at whats pouring in through the headphones while emailing folks from a chill tea shop. Hope you dig!! 🧡💙

Check the archived jam of the week playlists on Spotify & YouTube

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Jam of the Week #58: Celestial Blues

More trippy and simultaneously literal awesomeness thanks to listening to records with my bud STLB3… Also heard recently on Liquid Beat Radio 👌

Andy Bey – Celestial Blues from the 1974 Experience and Judgement LP

We must get closer to the essence of life
But be aware that it takes courage and strife
Expand your mind, don’t let it wither and die
You’ll find that it lifts your spirits high to the sky, high
So c’mon, meditate

Find archived Jam of the Week playlists on Spotify & YouTube

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Jam of the Week #56: Audio Champion (and the power of radio!)

This might be a bit on the mellow/trippy side but hearing it gave me some of the coolest feelings of my week.

Audio Champion by Isotope 217 from the 1999 Utonian_Automatic LP

I heard Audio Champion while listening to KMHD Jazz Radio a couple days ago. Such a great station btw, way beyond standards, tons of hype tunes and great DJs. Anyways it completely blew my mind open/apart. Here’s why: I’ve listened to Audio Champion on a cassette I dubbed of a trip-hop show from a college radio station in St Cloud, MN (KVSC) thousands of times!! It was right where the tape flipped and restarted so I never knew who made the track.

So the other night it honestly felt like they were playing my dubbed tape on the radio! The one I made by stringing speaker cords for antennas down the side of my house to get good enough reception to make!

19 years later I’m on my couch and Tucson and it comes on… this time including an interview with the artist. Randomly or just because this track SLAYS, Audio Champion is what they lead into the interview with. If they hadn’t played it I still wouldn’t know.

This the power of radio. Showing you anything is possible. Another means to the hype. Radio gets me hyped because I get to share the hype from DJs worldwide. The vibes they put into their show get transmitted to me and even when its an internet stream VS terrestrial radio (am/fm)… that hype bliss comes out every time. 

Hope you dig!

Here are the links to the Jam of the Week archived playlists on Spotify & YouTube

And here’s list of radio shows and stations I love to get you started with some radio hype. Please send your fav radio shows my way too. 🧡💙

chanceswithwolves.com

xray.fm

kmhd.org

https://xray.fm/shows/the-impact-sound

https://xray.fm/shows/galaxy-my-dear

https://xray.fm/shows/optic-echo-presents

https://xray.fm/shows/nightschool

https://xray.fm/shows/searchingforthesound

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Jam of the Week #51: the year I became a mutherfuckin’ G

Busdriver – the year I became a mutherfuckin’ G from the 2018 Electricity is on our Side LP

I almost feel like I have to post this to move past it living in my head 24/7. I LOVE this track, the vibe, the literal hype shit, the harder-to-figure-out raps, the guest spots that feel like people really trying to make a dope song together and not just emailing verses around, and that it feels like Busdriver shooting for something new in his art.

Hope you dig 🧡💙

Archived Jam of the Week playlists are avail on Spotify & YouTube

I can do anything when I’m focused
I can do anything when I’m focused
These out-of-towners are so bogus
When they come through
(I can do anything)
(I can do anything)