Infinite Shuffle #10: Been Thru A Lot

Welcome back Shufflers old and new! We’re almost at 2,000 subscribers! That’s awesome. Y’all are awesome. What a fun thing to do every week. If you ARE new don’t forget to sub. I tweet a lot, so it might be easier for you to scroll your email inbox than go through my terrible tweets about candy corn and old cartoons.

Artist of the week: Dexter Wansel

Let’s take it back to the *checks notes* 70s and 80s. A young Dexter Wansel was producing heat for EVERYONE. Love TKO by Teddy Pendergrass? That’s Dexter. If Only You Knew by Patti Labelle? Yup. Winning a Grammy for his work on “Unmistakably Lou” with Lou Rawls? You bet.

Dexter Wansel was a dope producer for other artists and on his own solo projects. The latter is the source of numerous samples. From Mick Jenkin’s “VIBE” to Blow My High by Kendrick Lamar, it’s so refreshing to see the newer generations go through his old instrumentals and make dope shit from it.

There’s one sample in particular that I’ll go over at the end.

Project of the week: Life on Mars

Look. If life on Mars sounded like this then I will happily travel there. Wansel gives us 8 tracks or heavenly instrumentation that literally takes you to another planet. What’s more to like?

Now here are our songs of the week.

Jack Harlow - Tyler Herro

Jack Harlow is back with an all-new song “Tyler Herro”. The man out of Kentucky simply does not miss with tracks. This song is full of IG captions for the fall. I definitely can’t wait to post a selfie with “The ones that hate me the most look just like me. You tell me what that means”. And by selfie, I mean a meme.

Mahalia - I wish I missed my ex

Mahalia’s 2018 song “I wish I missed my ex” gives very chill energy about an ex hitting you up late at night saying that they miss you and want to see you again.

I also love how the music video is shot. Like things are going backwards… but not at the same time. I love effect illusions like that. Next week, I’ll go over some music videos that I think about every day basically.

I encourage you to check out her 2019 project “Love and Compromise”. It’s solid. There’s some interesting sample work all over that project too so stay tuned.

KennyHoopla - how will i rest in peace if i'm buried by a highway?

“SHE'S GONNA CUT MY HEAD OFF. BUT I DON'T CARE, I DON'T CARE”

KennyHoopla is one of my new favorite artists out. I love the live version of this song so much. Such power and raw emotion can take a new form in a live performance that makes the song better and better with every listen.

The Hoopla in his name is reportedly from that Spongebob episode, which instantly makes him one of my favorite artists ever.

Lil Yachty - Been Thru a Lot ft. Young Thug

This is one of Lil Yachty’s best songs. Point blank period. Thanks to production superstar TM88, Yachty, and Young Thug are able to get the best out of each other. Yachty is such a confusing artist to me because in 4 years his sounds have had incredible highs and lows. That comes from his willingness to experiment paired with the fact that his projects have some of the more polarizing reviews on the market.

Not everything is for everyone and I have my opinions on where Lil Yachty shines the best. I think he’s at his best when he pairs with Detroit Rappers and does songs like “Been Thru a Lot”

My opinion means nothing though.

Kim Wilde - Chequered Love

Kim Wilde has my favorite version of the song “Kids in America”, but I also love her other songs. Chequered Love makes me want to visit a skate ranch and fall on my face 28 times because I finally get the hang of it and try to show off and fall again.

Sample of the week: The Sweetest Pain by Dexter Wansel.

Look! Dexter’s back. Remember him from earlier? Well, I want to talk about this specific sample. Now it was used in that Mick Jenkins song ‘VIBE’, but I think that producer Black Diamond used it best in “Nikes on My Feet”.

Mac Miller was a truly special man. He’s one of the few rappers with a flow that would go smoothly on any beat. K.I.D.S. was special because it showcased how both he and the people around him were students of the sound. They searched and searched for music both new and old. They were so consumed in their craft that everything that they made turned into something brilliant and timeless. RIP Mac.

Okay, y’all that’s it for now. Oh, wait! I made an Instagram account! Follow it if you want to! We’ll have memes and moods galore.

See y’all next week!