2014 was a year of transcendence and re-order. The past twelve months have reminded us that the more things seem to change, the more they remain the same. In the news, Ebola, police brutality that caused the nation to march in the streets, Republican takeover, Russia and Ukraine fighting, a Hollywood studio's biased way of thinking revealed to the public. It was all a throwback to an earlier time even as it was re-tweeted on Twitter, “liked” on Instagram, linked on Reddit and posted on Facebook walls a few millions times.

Musically, the industry continued to flounder as sales hit…

New year, new goals.

One of my music-related objectives for the new year is to condense my perhaps, too large, digital music library (14,000+ strong, as of this typing) into one streamlined collection that's all killer and no filler. To do so, I am weeding out all the unnecessary junk that's just taking up space and doing little for my ear buds.

I will begin by going genre-by-genre and taking it from there. The first up to bat is hip hop/rap. On the chopping block–in various categories–I place:

HIP HOP/RAP

IT WAS IIGHT…BUT I NEVER LISTEN
Ab-Soul-Longterm Mentality
B.o.B.-The Adventures…

2013 was a year of rediscovery in my personal life and a year of evaporated hype and diminished returns in the musical world.

For me, the year was a twelve-month period of redirection. I quit a stifling corporate job that I truly hated early in the year to force myself to follow my true passion and to create a path to do what I truly desired. The only hard part was figuring out what exactly those passions were and deciding which path I truly wanted to take.
For the music industry, sales continued to dip, ringtones and Spotify/Pandora hits continued…

On Monday, March 25th, 2012, I give my official resignation letter to The Kroger Company after less than a year of employment.

Words can't describe the level of freedom that I will feel when I place theshort-but-professionally-to-the-point letter onto the district HR coordinator's hands.

10 months of long hours (an average of 50 per week), manual labor, meanial tasks and clueless customers asking me where the toothpaste is even when the sign above the aisle in clearly states its location, will come to an end.

When I accepted Kroger's offer to join their Management Trainee Program in May 2012–passing over…

• If last year marked the crucial period when I bumped into Mother ‘Reality’ and Father ‘Self- Realization’ while walking down the street with my head down and my headphones turned all the way up, 2012 was the year that I chilled on the porch with my two newly-acquainted parents while listening to the sweet sounds that came from the stereo. It was a year where I embraced both the high and low frequencies that come with the sound wave that is life. I embarked on a new “career” only to realize that passion and job satisfaction outpace what any…

2011.

What a year I had. This year I proudly achieved an academic goal, finally explored "other dimensions" of my mind, achieved some true inner confidence, moved to a new city only to experience what initially seemed like the worst time in my life, fell in lust/love and began a new career only to find out that it may not be my calling and began transforming my physique

…and oh, I also listened to some great music. LOTS and LOTS of great music.

The best of which, that was released within the calendar year, being:

1. KENDRICK LAMAR, Section .80…