Lenny Kravitz’s greatest hits introduced me to the genius talent of Lenny. I have all his albums and have seen him live twice. “Run Away” is my ultimate song to escape to.

Grace Jones’ “My Jamaican Guy”.. she’s fierce. I saw her in concert in Feb. It was amazing! She hula hooped to an entire song and I was able to record it on my camera.

“Don’t cry” from Guns n’ Roses made me cry and I love it!

“Jammin” by Bob Marley.

Ultimate Caribbean Soca tunes for me is “Big Truck” by Machal Montano and “Hot n Groovy” by Militant. Once I hear these in a club, I have to dance.

–The Carnival: i’d be remiss if i left this album off the list. ‘Clef was a beast on this album. and a 16 hour roadtrip from chicago to montreal with this tape being the only thing that was played? one of the best memories of my natural-born life. props to the haitian brethren.

–The Big Chill Soundtrack: this is the first CD i knew every word to. who doesn’t love good oldies music? smokey robinson? check. marvin gaye? check. aretha franklin? damn straight.

–Aijuswanaseing: 8th grade. that was a minute ago. lawd. it still has a TON of replay value. keep it real: who wasn’t singing [or at least TRYING to sing] that high note in ‘love’? my fave tracks include ’speechless,’ love,’ ‘poparatzi,’ and of course ‘marygoround.’

–Songs in A Minor: this album came out RIGHT AFTER i decided to quit playing the piano, and my parents still give me grief about it.

–Black on Both Sides: when my cousin first bought this during his ‘im’-gonna-buy-CDs-instead-of-pay-for-my-lunch’ phase during high school, he bought this. i listened to it then with the mindset of a 13-year-old…i can fully say that i appreciate it more now as a 22 year old.

–The Final Tic: i had to! one of my first tastes of chicago rap, back when the BOX was on TV and ‘Hay’ [along with 'Crossroads'] got major airplay. chicago whatup! *throws C’s in the air*

–Forever My Lady: my daddy knew he had no business letting me bump this CD when i was 8 years old!

–The Mamas and the Papas: 16 Of Their Greatest Hits: i don’t think there’s really an explanation needed here…mostly because i don’t have one.

–Mizzundazstood: the first CD i ever burned. the angry white girl in me came out with this album, lol. i think she displays more vocal talent on this joint, and even though it’s mostly rock or whatever, it still seems very soulful to me.

–Kaleidescope: this was a new kinda R&B for me, really. she was screaming in ‘caught out there’, yo. and her hair was like 12 different colors. kelis was always left of center, man, and kaleidescope was THE CD of my moment. ‘get along with you,’ a great song about the end of a relationship, etc., and the last song, ‘wouldn’t you agree, ‘ are just…man. and ’suspended,’ man…the neptunes laced here with some ILL production on this.

–College Dropout: no explanation needed, really. it…just…is.

–CrazySexyCool: they taught me what it was to ‘creep,’ people. and ‘waterfalls?’ man, don’t get me started. not to mention all the HIP HOP on the interludes: phife, diddy, busta, and the last track with andre 3 stacks. wow.

–Hot Fuss: i don’t know what drove me to buy this album, but a big part of it would have to be the good memories from hearing it in my close friend’s car senior year of high school. slowly it grew on me. so i bought the album and loved it. ‘believe me natalie,’ ‘andy, you’re a star,’ and ‘glamorous indie rock & roll’ are my faves.

–Get Lifted: first time i listened to it, i was in the car with my pops going to the airport to pick up my cousin. my pops loves john legend, i love john legend, we bonded, lol. ’she don’t have to know’ is seriously one of the best, sexiest songs about cheating on your significant other. and i will play ’stay with you’ at my wedding.

–Room for Squares/Heavier Things/Continuum: [i couldn't pick one, actually, so i'm pretending that it's a triple album] anyways, the first time i heard ‘room for squares,’ my brother was driving to the apple store and i was waiting in the car for him, and ’st. patrick’s day’ came on. i replayed that song [which happens to be the last one] like 5 times. then ‘heavier things’ came out, and i was a full-blown fan. ‘come back to bed,’ ’split screen sadness,’ and ‘wheel,’ [man, john mayer has this thing where his last song is probably the best song on the album...] are just…man. ‘clarity’ makes me happy [especially with ?uest on the drums]. then ‘continuum’ comes out, and i die. ’stop this train’ is a great song about being afraid of the future and growing up; ’slow dancing in a burning room’ is a great song about a relationship that’s about to end, on it’s last legs; SEE HIM LIVE! he’s great.

–Mama’s Gun: i listened to it every morning, in between classes, in my daddy’s car, wherever i happened to have headphones and the CD at that moment. from the first song [penitentiary philosophy] to the last [green eyes. oh god, GREEN EYES!], i just love this album. dilla did his thang on ‘didn’t cha know,’ and the hook on ‘kiss me on my neck’ is so lovely and cute, and the duet with stephen marley always makes me feel good inside. ah, and the album version of ‘bag lady’ is billion times better than the one released on the radio with the ‘xxxplosive’ beat. and ‘green eyes’ is probably the ONLY 10 minute song that i’ll love as much as i do.

–Connected (my favorite hip hop album): because i’ve never fallen in love with an album as quickly and securely as i have with this album. [did i just personify an album? yes?] this album is the ONLY album that i will never, ever, ever put on shuffle because it’s blasphemy. it just flows so smoothly, so perfectly. such nice songs on here, so chill, so great. it’s truly changed my life. if anything, the hook on ‘be all right’ is enough to just make all cares go away. nicolay’s beats are so…ah! and ‘come around’ makes me fall in love with darien brockington forever. and ever. and ever. dope beats, dope lyrics.

–The Low End Theory: man, the first tribe album i bought. i remember listening to Excursions on FULL BLAST cuz i couldn’t hear a d!mn thing. i like this album better than MM, but not by a huge margin. “What?” is one of their most underrated songs. there’s this chill out vibe i get from it; it’s definitely a summer album for me.

honorable mentions to:
–Shine Through (Aloe Blacc): his rendition of ‘ordinary people’ in spanish is something to behold.
-Uptown Saturday Night: because as many times as i’ve played this album, i still don’t know what they’re talking about ever.
-Songs About Jane: amazing from the first to the last song. “Sweetest Goodbye” is soo bittersweet.
–Donuts: RIP to one of the best to ever do it. one of my friends said that this album (along with Ruff Draft) cements his place in Heaven, and i couldn’t agree more.
–any R. Kelly pre-Happy People. because those albums are amazing. keep it real.
–Aquemini: ‘Kast is top 5 best hip hop duos. big boi is TOOOO underrated. i prefer him to 3stacks most (if not all) of the time.
–Below the Heavens: so what if it came out 2 years ago — in 5 years’ time it’ll be classic.

there’s so many more, but then i’d just never stop typing!

‘I could spend the rest of the day naming albums that have affected me in some way because I LOVE music. How could someone not?’

~~~

Same here, that’s why I haven’t listed all mine because the list would be way too much for you guys to bother reading over. Most of the repeat albums listed today fall into my favs but I really wanted to stick to the albums that greatly impacted my life in a memorable way. Alot of albums will be great albums and you’ll listen to them but it doesn’t make you think of a time in your life where spinning it affected your mental state. Like Madonna’s album ‘Bedtime Stories’ was a major impact on loving myself just the way I was. Don’t ask why, it just did… I also love the way Madge just keeps reinventing herself, sometime it’s just the way she sings a certain tune that makes you look at things a little bit differently. People talk alot of crap about her but that is one talented (rhymes with itch)…lol

Camp Lo was thee most slept on duo in hip hop during the 90s. ‘Cooley High’ was also a dope track.

Matchbox 20 – Mad Season: “If You’re Gone” and “Bed of Lies” speak so much truth.

Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum: My roommate my freshman year turned me on to some great country music. This is one of my favorite albums because I love all of the songs. Not to mention I’m a sucker for a sad song.

Adele – 19: “Chasing Pavements” touched my heart because I had definitely been there before.

Lykke Li – Youth Novels: I stumbled upon this album reading some random blog. It is a bit strange and definitely different than most of things I listen to which was refreshing. My favorite song is “Complaint Department”.

I could spend the rest of the day naming albums that have affected me in some way because I LOVE music. How could someone not?