it’s been 2 years and a day since we had our very first run it back v2 basketball session. to celebrate, i want to go back to what led to that inaugural run

i was looking for something outside of our local YMCA because i wanted to play more and the schedule was changing. i didn’t gravitate towards other gyms given that pickup / 1v1 culture is so toxic nowadays with hella arguing and isoball

i wanted something more organized where we’re competitive, play as a team, and treat each other with respect. when i couldn’t find a private run like this to play in, i decided to start my own. i touched upon this in a recent post:

for that first session, i created my idea of the perfect pickup run with people i liked playing with. here’s footage from that day (s/o dax for the camera work 🫡):

fast forward 2 years later and we’ve had over 75 sessions and now have 75+ people in our community 😭🙏. there are some high schoolers, folks in their late 20s, and all the way up to 50+ playing together. it really is a beautiful thing to experience 🥲

to celebrate, we had our first official hang off the court. there are already friendships that were established previously but this was the first organized event where a big group showed up (and s/o trey for hosting us):

this truly shows the power of community. ever since i was young, i’ve always loved bringing people together over a shared interest. this will be the first of many social events :)

i got asked last night how do i have the time to do this while managing a full-time job and just life in general. the answer? i have more help now (s/o justin and logan) and it still feels fun 😌

there are still stressful moments like trying to recruit the night before a morning session 😅, but the community makes it all worth it.

my biggest motivator has always been (and will continue to be) playing basketball with my friends. i’m not looking to make this into a business nor make hella money off it. there’s a lot on the horizon for year 3 that i’ll touch upon as they come up

until next time ✌️

- claud

now playing

when i don’t know what to listen to and just want to play something, i go to this playlist. it’s a collection of songs that have been on repeat for me lately. i just sort by recently added (or shuffle) and enjoy :)

wonder how they did this during thanksgiving

😭😭😭😭

this is my youngest sister’s roblox character LOL

today

sometimes it’s hard to even write a sentence.

following up the big announcement from ribv1 > ribv2, it felt like moving mountains to try and go even bigger next newsletter. i had to refresh my memory on how i write:

there it was: just had to start and take things one step at a time.

it reminded me of when i first started ribv2. i told myself things were gonna be different this time. i wasn’t gonna try to do everything at once. i really wanted the core to be great then build off that. future opportunities showed me what to focus on

the things we do now i wouldn’t have been able to do successfully first starting out. i needed more reps on what works and what doesn’t. on having difficult conversations. on scouting in a thoughtful way to intentionally gatekeep the community

with more experience, comes the realization that the process is the reward. that’s how momentum builds. good process leads to good things

so if you’re reading this and have a new year’s resolution, just put on your favorite song and take the first step that brings less anxiety / more clarity to your future self. and if you have a false start? don’t beat yourself up. can’t be you vs. you

just observe and show yourself some grace 😌🙏

- claud

now playing

i love how every one of their albums sounds different in the best way possible

match made in heaven fr

oh youtube links have thumbnails now? yall bout to get my fav youtube videos LOL. playing this is my fav prank to play on veronica because they’re the hardest cartoon sounds to imitate

we’ve been in austin 5 years now & will be here at least another 3 😌

does anyone know if we have to reap what we sow tomorrow?

i’m here for the toxic positivity memes

today

it’s been a minute. close to 1.5 years actually 😅😭

run it back is back.

for those new, run it back started as my covid baby as i wanted to stay connected with friends through music. it’d be what’s top of mind for me at a given time accompanied with 4 songs that had been on repeat that week

ironic that my last official post was reminding myself and yall what run it back was about (which will now by known as ribv1):

at this point, i was at a crossroads. writing ribv1 was starting to feel like homework. i told myself that if it ever felt like a chore, i’d take a break

the signs were there. i had strayed away from the original format of 4 songs a week and i started writing intermissions.

with intermissions, the writing felt liberating. didn’t have to follow a given format. didn’t feel obligated to be vulnerable and didn’t have to write about anything in particular:

for this intermission ⬆️, i touched upon this towards the end:

i finally found a good group here at the ymca but since the year turned, we’re losing critical mass because the programming impedes on open play. so i took it upon myself to start a community from scratch

@my ymca hoopers, sound familiar?

for the day ones, run it back (which will now by known as ribv2) has evolved. april 24th, 2024 was my last run it back post. my first organized basketball session for austin yall-stars (aka atx ys) was on april 28th

since then? our community just wrapped up fifty sessions 😌

leading up to atx ys 50, i felt it was the right time to change. there have been a number of different milestones that have brought me to this point but i’ll cut to the chase:

today officially marks the transition from ribv1 > ribv2 🫡

my vision is to grow run it back into austin’s first underground basketball club. austin is thirsty for it. targeting amateur players that can’t dunk, move the ball, and are a general good hang

don’t need egos coming in with temper tantrums and arguing. and don’t need an injury after getting dunked on LOL

the newsletter moving forward will be me thinking out loud as progress is made. i’ll get into:

1. what makes ribv2 different from the current basketball options in austin?

2. what goes into making a successful session?

3. is this economically feasible?

4. and more 😉

all that being said: i’m grateful for all my experiences, history, and people that been a part of this journey. locking into my passion of hooping with my friends has brought me so much energy and joy.

having a north star in life helps me stay present despite all the bullshit going on. life deserves a highlight reel. and run it back plays a big part of that 🙏

-claud

now playing

been on a HUGE funk, soul, & disco tip lately. too many songs for just 1 playlist lmao

so here’s vol. 1 😌

every now and then i’ll reissue an old volume of Run It Back so we can see how things have evolved over time. it’s a nice stroll down memory lane 🤠

vol. 118 was a lil reminder on what Run it Back is about. it’s dope to see this guiding light still ring true while closing in on our 4 year(!!) anniversary 😌

p.s. - despite the reissue, there’ll be *fresh* memes that brought me joy this past week :)

memes of the week 🤠

need a bootleg tee of all those banks listed like a music festival lineup

somehow all recipes include white beans

🤟😌🤟

when i say you are my everything, this is what i mean

i was asked recently who the main audience for Run It Back is.

let’s start with what it’s not. i hate classifying y’all as people aged 24-35 that live in major cities and listen to both Young Thug and Kacey Musgraves unironically. it feels…icky.

especially in an era where companies and algorithms are constantly operating behind the scenes mining our data 

Run It Back is for real people, not whatever category fits ads. you might like it if you:

1. at a high level know who the important artists are in our history, understood the memes, but never went deep

2. were there for Limewire, iTunes, and would download mixtapes from sites like DatPiff

3. discovered music during the blog era in the early 2010s

4. like to discover music not in a pretentious way

5. are tired of algorithms and want music recommendations for your playlist 

6. want to get to know someone through music and their experiences

at a bare minimum, i hope you laugh. at a maximum, i want you to get to know me and others better while discovering something new

simply put: Run It Back is me texting my friends about music and my life

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Clueless
   The Marías
   Released: 2018

You're tellin’ me ‘I can't take this shit no more, baby’
How does it feel every time I let you down?

the male version of Maria is Mario (“Muh-ree-oh”)

2. Echo Arms
   Mr Twin Sister
   Released: 2018

Echo arms round me
Echo arms round me
Can't wait for everlasting
Proof of a heavenly

whenever i listen to this i go back to being tucked up with Veronica eating warm cookies by the fireplace while watching Out Cold for the 27th time (which has a mix of early 00s alt hits and Jack Johnson)

3. Tonight
   Suzy Q
   Released: 1981

The light
The light that’s shining in your eyes
The line
Is near the strength I need tonight

we were eating at Birdie’s for Veronica’s birthday where we’re regulars now (and i love that) and they were playing this and i had to leave the table hella fast to Shazam this song and i regret nothing

4. Soul Beat Runna
   Boymerang
   Released: 1997

it’s wild how many electronic music dialects there are. i can’t keep track of them all and struggle with how to discover new house music

that’s where YouTube comes in. their “recommended videos” algorithm is actually p good!

one gem was this Jungle mix from the mid-90s that put me onto this track. i have no idea how i found it but it’s been a staple in my rotation ever since

welcome back to another intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

happy thursday y’all :)

last week was the anniversary of Run It Back’s soft launch!!

(official anniversary in June 👀)

way back during freshman year of the pandemic, i put myself out there and started something from scratch 🥹

i had an outlet amongst friends to exchange music but wanted something more. i wasn’t necessarily seeking validation (although when unsolicited, it’s great). i just wanted more space to express myself

i had dabbled a little bit with doing Village Resting Radio in the mid 2010s, so i knew how gratifying having that outlet felt. and while the world was about to hunker down for the long haul with the pandy, i decided to revisit that feeling

i had NO idea what i was doing when i first started lmao. but i wanted to try:

side note: one friend (who doesn’t listen to rap) said i had too much rap each week, so i took it as a challenge to keep the playlist as diverse as possible. and its only paid dividends since 🥰

Run It Back has changed so much year over year. i’m glad the platform and format have grown since! change is a constant so why not ride the wave and see where you land?

fast forward to today with basketball: we’ve been in Austin for close to 4 years now and it’s been hard to find a consistent basketball community

i’ve put myself out there and tried a bunch of different places but there was always something missing / getting in the way:

1. 5am games 35 minutes away

2. court / hoops aren’t up to par

3. wayyy (WAYYY) too much iso ball and not enough team play

i finally found a good group here at the YMCA but since the year turned, we’re losing critical mass because the programming impedes on open play. so i took it upon myself to start a community from scratch

i’m bootstrapping my way to the first pickup run (which is in less than 2 weeks 👀). we’ll see how far this goes but i’m excited to go on this journey with friends

as the saying goes: faster alone, farther together. no matter what i do, i try to carry that energy throughout my life 🦦

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

p.s. - shoutout to past me for including memes from day 1 😌. my goal was (and still is) if that you don’t like the writing or music, we can at least share a laugh 🤠

this week’s music ⤵️

Más Tiempo (Skepta & Jammer) DJ set in The Lab LDN

i love when artists branch out and try something new. had no idea Skepta was into house like that!! once he dropped the song at 22:00+ i had to Run It Back 😉

the youtube commenters agree…wait holy shit i literally just found out they released it officially via this comment:

thank you @aceconlon699, you’re doing the lord’s work 🙏🫡

memes of the week 🤠

that transition from watching birds to birdwatching >

LOL

i'm kinda interested in everything that is unknown to me

idk why they agreed to do this lmao

nah that’s ducked up fr

they not ready for round 9 of the Despacito megamix

what’s the supreme court equivalent?

don’t worry we’ll put the bill on one card and split it evenly even though you only got a side salad and a water no ice

conservative political ads are masochists

happy thursday y’all :)

every now and then, someone will float a song my way that captures my attention and doesn’t let go. they’re often so good that i need that person to share why they love it so much 🫡

i call them snippets™️

this week’s snippet™️ is from my partner Veronica aka Studio del Toro. we’re coming up on 6(!!) years together next week which is *wild* because i never thought i’d be with someone this long

and the relationship still feels very fresh! we’re growing together and growing our sense of self. it’s been a blessing to see her explore her creative side in ceramics and more

i couldn’t ask for a better partner 😌

in the meantime, please send me songs!! i will always subscribe to the human algorithm

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Stressed Out
   Babyface
   Released: 9/11/2001

For all the things you've ever dreamed
It could work out
So don't stress out (oh baby)
It will happen if it's meant to be

when i was researching the song i had to do a double triple take on the release date lmao

anyways, this song feels like ships passing in the wind: Babyface was in his early 40s and The Neptunes / Pharrell were continuing their meteoric rise into the mid-2000s (e.g. “U Don't Have to Call” released January 2022 🙏)

a friend was playing Quinta Brunson’s Spotify playlist and this came on. i’ve been hooked ever since 😌

2. Baltimore
   Nina Simone
   Released: 1978

Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain't nowhere to run to
There ain't nothin' here for free

originally this was a Randy Newman song:

his feels more critical like getting a lecture from your parents when you make a mistake. while her version feels much more empathetic as she’s singing more on a peer-to-peer level. she’s not above or below Baltimore: she’s right there with them

turns out Nina hated recording this lmao. she wasn’t feeling the reggae influence at all. the recording session for the entire album took a lil over an hour cause she wanted to peace out ASAP lmao

but she cooks here though!! i love how her voice meshes with the layer of sounds — the strings especially

when i sent this to , he said it’s the perfect intro for a 70s detective show and that’s 1000% accurate

3. All the Go Inbetweens
   Silversun Pickups
   Released: 2005

Said son you're still young
But your mind has grown old it seems
Now go tell your sister
To show me her new magazines

KEXP has been cooking as of late. i’ve found this and other hidden gems listening to The Morning Show while getting my day started ❤️‍🔥

they make radio feel so raw and real. the DJs are never afraid to be vulnerable and the station as a whole continue to put out original programming

case in point: today they had 5 hours of shoegaze and in a couple weeks they’re doing Six Degrees of KEXP

Since starting in 2013 with Sharon Van Etten, KEXP's Six Degrees has been an annual spotlight of how our DJs program on the fly, relying on their vast music knowledge and thinking on their feet to come up with the next song.

Connections can include anything from guest vocals, shared musicians, same producers, and more. None of these connections have been pre-planned.

and they just started broadcasting on an FM station back in The Bay so i’m backing them even more now 🫡

4. Little Black Submarines
   The Black Keys
   Released: 2011

Treasure maps, fallen trees
Operator, please call me back when it's time
Stolen friends and disease
Operator, please patch me back to my mind

editor’s note: and now some words from Studio Del Toro…

—

What a sonic journey through emotions, tempo, and story. The low and slow (and almost quiet?) introduction really sucks me into the pain behind that broken heart…

And then WHAM(!), the first guitar strings and drums are a true plot twist. I feel the heightened emotion or chaos that those types of things can bring up out of nowhere. Tip to toe, a great tune.

- Veronica / Studio del Toro

welcome back to another intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

*dusts cobwebs off*

happy thursday y’all :)

it’s been a minute! glad to be back writing again

life was a bit much this past month and i didn’t feel inspired. the decision to post or not was nerve-racking. the weight of writing felt immense

i took a winter break, got back to it, so why take another break? would people still read? why do i want people to read?

i was questioning a lot of things. it was the imposter syndrome talking

i wasn’t sure what to do so…i did what felt right

and i took a break 😌

looking back, it makes sense that this coincided with my injury. i had a ton of momentum playing and then i was forced to put it all on pause

luckily, i avoided major injury with my knee. initially they thought it was a torn meniscus but the MRI came back clean. i was in physical therapy for the past month+ building my strength back up again

and i just got the go-ahead to return to playing again!!

so i’ll be back hooping next week :)

that means getting back to that flow state is on the horizon. and i can’t wait for it to spill off the court as well ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

wanted to highlight a select few of my favorite Lil Wayne mixtape songs this week. it sucks cause these will never be on streaming proper because of licensing / sample issues

caveat: i am not a Weezy expert, this is simply what i grew up on 😌

1. I Can’t Feel My Face
   Lil Wayne
   Da Drought 3
   Released: 2007

you’ll recognize this sample being used in the latest Metro x Future project

on first listen i knew i heard that beat from somewhere

2. SportsCenter
   Lil Wayne
   Dedication 2
   Released: 2006

teen claud was a sports generalist 🫡, so when he opened up the song with this i knew it would easily become my favorite Wayne song

My favorite TV shows, man, is SportsCenter, ESPN News, Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, Quite Frankly, Outside the Lines, Baseball Tonight? Y’er’me? I watch sports, dog.
…
I got a favorite team, a favorite player in every single sport. I’m not gon’ answer those questions.

side note: i remember ESPN would put out the audio of those shows as pods. i would listen at 2.2x speed. why? idk lmao

3. Rewind
   Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana
   Blow
   Released: 2006

the opening bars are embedded in a deep wrinkle in the back of my smooth brain

Yea, Ice Cream hoodie, Bathing Ape tennis shoes
No time for pictures, no time for interviews
I'm gon' get the money, snowstorm or sunny
Try me and I'm coming out my coat arm with somethin'

the “i can’t feel my face” and “kmicheeada” (← no idea what they’re saying 😅) tags are iconic af

memes of the week 🤠

🤣🤣🤣🤣

but when the world needed him most, he vanished

we are going to start a dialogue

these are the reviews i live for

“do kush ups until failure”

SIR YES SIR

what are interludes? this space will focus less on the music and more on the newsletter at large. i’ll sporadically share these peaks behind the curtain on what makes Run It Back flow. hope you enjoy :)

happy thursday y’all 😌

lately i’ve been seeing indie creatives share how the social media grind takes away from their passion. it got me thinking about my attitudes towards having a “social media strategy” when it comes to Run it Back

i think these platforms can be great for connecting with others in communities you’re interested in. but there are countless reasons why they also suck lmao. both are true

when i first started out, i felt like i had to lean on my background working at a social media agency. and that time was not fun!

i was expected to go above and beyond masking as brands i didn’t care about for shit pay. at times it was interesting being behind the scenes but ultimately it all felt hollow

it felt so weird trying to connect with fans / customers as a “brand” 🤪 (we’re #relatable so please buy our products!)

so i tried developing my own rubric. i’ll never forget when i first started, i thought i’d try a color motif on every post for #aesthetic purposes

i pivoted: what if i shared the album art from each newsletter for people to scroll through?

then one of the readers was like yo dude, might be more engaging if you did it in a panel

i was like cool! way more visually pleasing. what else could i do?

i did what every dog owner does and exploited Toro for my own gain 😈

after that i thought it’d be hella funny to have me look at the album artwork lmao

i changed my thinking from Run It Back the brand to just being me. i don’t want to share things i’m interested in hella sterilized. i’d rather talk to you like i text my friends lmao

much more freeing to live without wearing a mask (although it can be my protection at times too)

in that vein, i’ve started posting anything i like on @runitbackback (music-related or not). no content calendar, just vibes 😌

in the end, these type of strategies may work for others. but based on my experiences and seeing so many indie creatives burn out, i’d rather focus on what’s sustainable and what works for me 🙏

hope y’all enjoyed this special peak behind the curtain ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

memes of the week 🤠

the absolute funniest thing about sports is when people gatekeep fandom by forcing you to prove that you’re worthy enough to be a fan

aight y’all have to listen to me play my intrinsic thoughts on repeat

hahahaha

we can’t let go of our childlike curiosity as we get older

this is what you learn while getting your masters in math

every now and then i’ll reissue an old volume of Run It Back to go down memory lane. you can see how the format of the newsletter and my voice have evolved over time

looking back it’s funny how this was the re-igniting of my love for FIFA. i had no idea i’d be playing this much these days lmao. they’re playable sports cards which satisfies every itch i’ve ever had

i can vividly picture this time with Josh too. it felt so nice being hella connected while being states apart 😌

long distance relationships hit different in my 30s 🤪

p.s. - despite the reissue, there’ll be *fresh* memes that brought me joy this past week :)

memes of the week 🤠

i didn’t drink soda when i was younger for this very reason

at that point it’s a panic war

we are going to start a dialogue: luka deserves a better barber

why go to therapy when mister bagel exists

Today’s playlist is all about the FIFA 22 soundtrack. I’ve gotten to know it well in recent months binge playing with my best friend Josh (of Village Resting).

I fell back into gaming two years into the pandemic. What really sparked it was Veronica getting COVID. I somehow didn’t get it so we had to isolate for a bit.

I didn’t know what to do in my free time. This was quarantining on hard mode. What do I do with my hands?

I hit up Josh and it turned out we both had a shit ton of free time. We took advantage of the moment and would play almost every day for at least 10 days straight.

It was like summer break in high school all over again. We played for hours on end.

I’m glad we took advantage of that moment in time because it’s not a guarantee that the stars align again. We still play now but not as frequent given priorities.

Gaming is nice because it’s a different way to hang out with someone.

Trying to catch up can feel burdensome at times because it’s as if we just talk until there’s nothing left to catch up on. That can be exhausting at times.

With this, we can just be with no agenda.

And with that, let’s get to the music for the week.

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Tunnel Feat. Channel Tres
   Polo & Pan
   Released: 2021

I know you seekin' answers
In a doubtful place
I know you need defenses
This is not a race

Polo & Pan are a French electronic duo that’s been around since 2013. It’s hard to pinpoint their sound. They have a distinct approach to electronic music mixing tropical and world elements to their production.

I love how they teamed up with Channel Tres for this song. He’s found his place oscillating between traditional rap bars and those random vocals you’ll hear on house tracks. I need him narrating my life.

2. Well Rested
   Kero Kero Bonito
   Released: 2021

We must fight the unnatural cause of anti-humanity
And listen to the Earth's word

I love how much meat is on the bone with this pro-Earth track. From the industrial house sound to the raw recording of nature in the outro, there are so many layers. What a ride.

Lead vocalist Sarah Midori Perry sounds like a cult leader in the best way possible. Whatever she’s selling, I’m buying.

3. You Shaped Hole
   Baby Queen
   Released: 2021

I stopped listening' to the music you listen to
But I still look at all your photos, so what's the use?
I can do any fucking thing that I want to do
But there's a hole inside of me and it's shaped like you

I love the songwriting despite how depressing the lyrics are. But that’s how breakups make us feel.

The keys in the background really drive the track. The way they progress and add depth during the hook is like a direct hit of serotonin.

4. Before The Morning Comes
   sir Was
   Released: 2021

We gotta get somewhere
Before the morning comes

We round out today’s selection with this breeze of a song. When it opens, it seems very basic and sterile. But once the chord progression in the hook hits I’m…hooked.

I can already picture this playing at a hipster coffee shop back home. And by the time I pick my milk, it’s closing time.

i imagine this is what 5’7 feels like

how did parents distract their kids before ipads came out

never forget

😭😭😭😭

happy wednesday y’all :)

i’ve been hooping pretty consistently for about 7 months now and loving every second. as mentioned in previous volumes, i’ve never played this good before (all at 31 lmao)

it’s been really nice to finally find a pickup basketball community. i been trying so many different places since moving and they were always missing something: court isn’t hardwood / too small, expensive, far, hours aren’t great, lack of team play

but i finally found a home at the YMCA out here. i’ve met a lot of people there and progressed from outsider, to insider, to gateopener

things were winding down while playing earlier this week and i told myself if we didn’t win this game, i’d call it a day. i didn’t want to injure myself before going home to SF this week because i’d plan on playing with old friends

on the first play i went up for a layup and bam, a sharp pain on my right knee spasmed while i lept off the ground 🤪

i was able to walk off the court but couldn’t put weight on my knee while trying to squat. i was distraught. how can the thing that brings me so much joy bring me so much pain?

i saw a doctor yesterday and it might be a meniscus strain / tear. spoke with a friend who’s a physical therapist and it might not be that bad. MRI will tell more early next week

i’ve handled a lot in the past and seeing athletes (albeit with more time, money, and athleticism) come back from similar injuries gives me hope

there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to deal with the hard shit. but i want to face the grind of commitment sooner than later so i don’t have to punt recovery down the road and potentially have it worsen

music has been a helpful distraction 😌. i’m really stoked to share with y’all today: from classics, to bangers, to general good vibes. everybody eats!

so join me on this ride to recovery 🫡

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Is That Enough
   Marvin Gaye
   Released: 1978

i’m not usually one to follow the lyrics initially when i’m listening to music unless the bars are really bad (cut to Drake’s beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what? beat it, what?)

but after doing some digging on this track, i learned this whole album is directed towards Marvin Gaye’s ex-wife as they were going through a divorce. when recording the album, he said “why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway?”

it all started to make sense revisiting the track listing with songs like: "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You", "You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You", and the title track

i mean look at these lyrics on “Is That Enough” lmao:

What could I do
The judge said she got to keep on living the way she accustomed to
She trying to break a man
I don't understand
Somebody tell me please, tell me please
Why do I have to pay attorney fees (My baby's)
Attorney fees (Ooh baby)

what a way to process emotion / trauma / pain out loud. and to channel his vulnerability into an album sending shots to your ex-wife as y’all are figuring out custody of your kid / alimony payments is WILD lmao

he eventually settled and gave half of the percentage of album royalties from his next Motown album 😮‍💨

also: the outro is absolutely incredible and i love they let the sax solo for a long ass min

p.s. - DJ Paul and Juicy J sampled this on their classic “Sippin’ On Some Syrup”:

2. Another Planet
   Shintaro Sakamoto
   Released: 2016

that pervasive flute and those guitar chords post-hook 😮‍💨😮‍💨

3. Pieces Of Me
   Ashlee Simpson
   Released: 2004

i rediscovered this recently on one of those #90sbaby IG reels. i normally don’t like those because they put nostalgia on the highest pedestal and make it seem like nothing will ever compare to that time. it feels like a shield protecting ourselves from change

(let me take my cynical claud™️ hat off for a second 😅)

i did not like this song when it came out initially lmao. they played it so much i couldn’t escape it

but now? i didn’t appreciate how much of a banger this is!! the hook alone is chef’s mf kiss. i’m not joking when i say i blasted this at the gym to get through the workout

i think this would work as a country cover as well. can’t you hear Kacey Musgraves’ channelling her inner Ashlee Simpson?

Oh, it seems like I can finally rest my head on something real
I like the way that feels
Oh, it's as if you know me better than I ever knew myself
I love how you can tell

4. Bang The Bus
   Maxo Kream
   Released: 2024

Naija shotta, badman dem
Matte black Rover, Batmobile

i know Maxo from certain singles over the years but mainly from his song with Playboi Carti early in their careers:

when i saw the song title and album artwork (if you know, you know), i was skeptical. holy shit though this blew me away with how his bars float over the beat!! the latter being dreamy, house-y rap

EVILGIANE is behind the beat and has produced for hella underground artists all the way up to Kendrick Lamar. and the sample he used? none other than Frou Frou, Imogen Heap’s electronic side project with Guy Sigsworth (which Wiz Khalifa also sampled on “In The Cut”)

easily easily easily my favorite release of 2024 so far. but plenty more coming for that title as the year goes on 🤠

welcome back to another wednesday thursday night intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

what’s good y’all! hope your week’s been smooth so far

happy to be back at it with Run It Back after a lil winter break 🤠

i don’t subscribe to new year’s resolutions but appreciate the fresh start with the turning of the calendar. i view it as an opportunity to continue progress from last year with a clean palette. in general, it’s good to feel good in the new year 😌

my biggest lesson from last year? consistency, flexibility, and time to recharge are key for any endeavor. time can drag but ultimately moves fast. sometimes we have to be patient for long-term results and not just think about the next 30 days

as i get older, i’m definitely feeling how fast time can move. like covid dropped FOUR years ago?? i intimately remember that time because that’s also when i started it Run It Back 🫡

looking ahead, i’m excited to see what gets released this year. there are songs / albums that we don’t even know about that will make our EOY playlists. i’m 1000% positive new Carti will make mine:

whether you view this as a fresh start or just another moment in time, i hope you’re getting what you want so far. and as always, a reminder as we’ve entered February:

see y’all next week 😌❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

icymi, check out ’ latest iteration of his radio show: Intersession with Mr. Joshie

it’s so dope to see his growth over the years both personally and with his creative outlets. he’s always been someone i’ve turned to for style advice (i can’t tell you how many times i’ve hit him up on what jeans to cop lmao), music recs, and thoughts on life

to see his show grow from when we did the original Village Resting Radio to Intersessions has been a blessing 🥲

i’m grateful he’s given me a small part in the next episode. hopefully going to start doing more shortform audio in the near future 👀

memes of the week 🤠

Sean: i noticed you’ve gone mute since starting your ego death

hahahaha

this is why therapy was invented

elmo pls i’m tired

really makes you think

if you’re hungry for more, check out his volume from last year:

before we get to it, some housekeeping: i’ll be taking a holiday break these next couple weeks to refresh and recharge. we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming with a fresh volume in the new year!

until then 🤠❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

Happy Holidays, Run It Back family! It’s me, Ryan, and I’m back with yet another holiday volume. I’ve asked Claudio to let me know when we start approaching Scary Movie territory, and it turns out they surprisingly only cranked out five of those bad boys. Such a shame.

That said, this year I really have appreciated and leaned on some of my personal favorite traditions going into the holiday. For me that looks like a few different things:

1. Spending Christmas Eve with friends and doing a full German dinner (complete with copious amounts of spaetzle)

2. Visiting a Christmas tree farm to get a tree

3. Or just watching tons (and tons) of holiday movies

So for this year’s holiday edition, we are going to dive into a few of my favorite holiday movies, and pick out some songs that I enjoy listening to each year as I marathon movie, after movie, after movie.

Let me know if you have a favorite movie you think I should check out!

And while we are at it: No, Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie.

-

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Scrooge
   A Muppet Christmas Carol
   Released: 1992

Muppets. A Christmas Carol. Gonzo as Charles Dickens. Sir Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. A sub-90 minute movie (Great movie length, IMO). What more could you ask for in a holiday movie?

“Scrooge” comes in pretty early in the film, and features the full Muppet cast. The song helps set the table for anyone unfamiliar with the type of person Ebenezer Scrooge is (I’m sure there’s someone out there that this benefits).

The timps come in hard, the choreography is top tier (mainly bobbing, but hey they are Muppets afterall), and the Muppet veggies deliver. A close second for this movie is “Christmas Scat” with Tiny Tim and Kermit, but gets knocked down because it runs short at only 23 seconds.

2. Christmas Vacation
   National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
   Released: 1989

Christmas Vacation starts off with an absolute gem of a song, complete with an amazing animation sequence that highlights some of the challenges Santa could hypothetically face on any given Christmas. Released on December 1st, 1989, this features all of the hallmarks of a great made-for-a-movie 80’s song.

If you haven’t seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, I highly recommend it. I can’t honestly say it has aged incredibly well or that Chevy Chase isn’t an asshole, but there are still some moments that make you both laugh and squirm at the same time. Plus, you can’t see the line, can you, Russ?

3. The Christmas Song
   A Charlie Brown Christmas
   Released: 1965

In keeping with the animation theme from above, I submit A Charlie Brown Christmas as a regular, must watch each holiday season. Add in the fact that Vince Guaraldi filled the movie with soothing, piano-filled takes on great seasonal classics.

I also believe this is a solid film to revisit, because as I’ve talked about in past editions, so much of the holidays often boils down to commercialism or forced religious components.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown goes through his own journey on how to not let commercialism ruin his Christmas, and finds ways to feel fulfilled through the help of his friends during the holidays.

4. Pennies From Heaven
   Elf
   Released: 2003

Okay, so I’m assuming everyone reading this has seen Elf. I’m not reinventing the wheel here by including this movie in a list of good or fun holiday movies. I’m especially sorry to Claudio who mentioned looking for potentially new movie suggestions. Whoops.

That said, “Pennies From Heaven” is just too damn catchy. Buddy exploring New York City with this going on in the background is the perfect energy. From the saxophones, to the very clear jazz band/swing feel, we have a lot to appreciate as movie and music are blended pretty perfectly here.

Big shoutout to Louis Prima for rerecording this classic in 1957, which is the version featured here and helped it get traction again after Elf released.

these won’t be the subjective best releases from the year nor subject to being released this year alone. these will be my favorites that i enjoyed throughout 2023. the playlist will have other songs that i wasn’t able to highlight today

these awards range from your standard song / album of the year all the way to the ultraspecific like Playboi Carti leak of the year lmao

as always with Run It Back, i like to focus on appreciation over criticism. it’s never as binary as that but i find it a much more fruitful thought exercise to talk about what i like (e.g. my Drake concert review)

but also there’s room for what i didn’t like (e.g. my Drake album initial thoughts — which has grown on me since lol)

there won’t be an entry for every single winner. i could go on and on but then this’d turn into a thesis that would get flagged in your email as spam. we don’t want that to happen 🤪

and with that, let's get to the music Ribbies™️ for the year ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

p.s. - i’m stoked to have back for round FOUR(!!) of his annual holiday volume. he’s been a staple in the Run It Back community and i can’t wait for y’all to see his recs this year 🙏

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

most played song

Pool Party
DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
Released: 2020

the mix of house, pop, and romcom references always keep me coming back for more 🤠

DJSTTDJ’s projects are hella long, but perfect if you wanna zone out to something upbeat and are just straight up fun to listen to. plus all their artwork are chef’s kiss

most played song from the year

sHouLd i B?
Lil Yachty
Released: 2023

more on this below :)

performance of the year

Red Bull Symphonic
Metro Boomin
Released: 2023

holy shit!! wow. i was putting off listening to this because i knew it was going to be amazing and wanted to give it my full attention. but then i saw a clip on twitter and had to put it on during this most recent FIFA binge

he has so many ducking bangers, it’s ridiculous how consistent and long his resume is. it’s also dope to see rap elevated on this level. i love when artists of any genre invest in the experience of a show

do yourself a favor and at least check out 1:16:05 where they do a live version of “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1”. the choir’s swag brought me so much joy

90s rally car drivers competing in the New Zealand / Australia circuit

TIE: Possum Bourne & Juha Kankkunen

at one point in time i got so bored with music that i started listening to vintage rally car races at work lmaooo

i remember how much i gravitated towards rally cars when i was younger because of how cool they looked and associated video games (RIP Colin Colin McRae)

cool cars, dirt, and jumps? say less

so i decided to revisit while working on mundane things. i hella appreciate so much more about it now! especially how a driver absolutely needs a partner to call out direction along with it being a race solely for the best time. it’s simply who can drive the fastest unimpeded by other racers on the road

naturally, i turned to YouTube. i stumbled upon these compilations of old 90s competitions in New Zealand and Australia and was hooked

while binging, 2 drivers kept being brought up over and over again: Possum Bourne (RIP) & Juha Kankkunen

the former was a native New Zealander and the latter from Finland. every single race i would hear their names over and over again. hearing them so often made me realize quickly that they were some of the top drivers back then. honestly, hearing the engines rev on turn after turn after turn was so soothing for me

also how sick is “Possum” as a nickname??

2023 collab

Trojan Horse
Dave & Central Cee
Released: 2023

freestyle

Not a drill (Veeze)
Enphamus & Quez2rr
Released: 2023

playboi carti leak of the year

A Lot On My Mind
Playboi Carti
Released: ?

obscure world music find of the year

Aderico (Psychemagik Edit)
The Matheus Combo
Released: 1979

larry june song of the year

The Great Escape Feat. The Alchemist
Larry June & Cardo
Released: 2023

i love Larry June’s 2023. he’s been building his following organically over the years staying independent and grinding

i especially appreciate the new sound he’s bringing from The Bay. the Hyphy movement from the early 2000s (which holds a special place in my heart) can’t be the only sound we put out!

this year he’s had collabs with Slum Village, Big Sean, Ty Dolla $ign, ScHoolboy Q, E-40, and Action Bronson to name a few. all have different flavors in the rap game and it shows his ability to hang with a variety of sounds

the fact that he got Alchemist to lay down a couple verses on some songs they did together is…huge. that’s something Alc RARELY does

he released a couple albums where he rapped on his own beats in the mid-2000s but focused on production after that. but the start of his rap career? that was in the early 90s with the actor Scott Caan (son of James Caan) as “The Whooliganz”. and they eventually toured with Cypress Hill?? random as hell origin story lmao

going back to Larry, this year he released another project with Cardo and his first with The Alchemist. this track specifically exemplifies why they’re some of my favorite artists of all-time 😌

food show crossover

Action Bronson is another one of my fav rappers and not only did Larry and him get on a track, he went on Action’s food show too?? it was a nice lil reunion for Action and Alchemist as well, as they (along with Big Body Bes and Meyhem Lauren) were a part of the OG Fuck That’s Delicious crew. i’ll always feel joy after watching this 🥲

radio station

KEXP (from Seattle) easily takes the cake here. certain shows from KUTX out here still have my heart, but i’ve found that KEXP generally plays a wider variety of music whereas KUTX can sometimes play songs too much. for the latter, it’s not like they’re top 40 songs, moreso what they play can be repetitive

i’ve never been but Veronica was able to check out their sick ass cafe adjacent to their recording studio:

good design and good music?? match made in heaven

mix of the year

TIE:

• Chris Stussy for The Lab LDN (house)

• Kabza De Small for Boiler Room (amapiano)

• Jungle for Higher Ground London (disco, funk, house)

most played 2023 album

Let’s Start Here.
Lil Yachty
Released: 2023

this was one of my fav projects from this year. it was refreshing to see Yachty do his take on psych rock / Tame Impala. fans of both will tell you this album misses the mark but i just…like listening to it? prestige is important sure, but i moreso appreciate music i come back to often

at the end of the day, i’m glad when artists try something new. they may not hit 100% of the time, but the bravery / vulnerability to put something out to the masses is inspiring

i think about that with Run It Back too!

compared to where i started, this space continues to evolve. shit, this is the first ever Ribbies™️

who knows what the next year will bring. life will carry on and we’ll learn something about ourselves along the way. i think about Bernie Mac quote often as my guiding light:

it’s important to have fun every now and them, life’s too short not to 🤠

now that i’ve shared mine, i wanna hear what made your Ribbies™️! reply to this email and let me know what have been some of your favs this year. i’m all ears 😌

welcome back to another wednesday night intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

i’ve been in my new job for close to 5(!!) months now which has flown by. it’s been an adjustment to get back to a work routine especially coming in-office

i like seeing people IRL so i don’t mind it most times. the small talk can be brutal though and doing the half-smile to acknowledge someone i’m passing by can be boring lmao. thinking of switching to this lowkey:

i don’t come to the office frequently enough to say anything but this dude in a cubicle adjacent to me (in a sea of empty cubicles) takes. every. meeting. from. his desk. 🤪

i also forgot how brutal commutes can be. esp with the night coming sooner, the race to get back can be a slow simmer of stress from an already long day at work

i have my podcasts that i listen to but sometimes they get stale. i’m thinking i might start diving into some music theory content to learn on the go

the podcast Song Exploder is GREAT for this:

i also just discovered (editor’s note: IG’s relentless algorithm fed) clips from this new podcast One Song:

they use music theory to analyze hella popular songs but it feels wayyy more accessible. it doesn’t feel holier than thou and i’m brought along for the ride instead of being lectured

in this clip they talk about how “Maps” and how some of these mega pop producers like Max Martin repurpose the melody for some of today’s biggest hits. i honestly didn’t know how far its musical lineage went

it’s nice to know that the door is always open to find new ways to appreciate what we like 😌❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

shared this with me and i was blown away. you can hear the melodic trap influence originating from Speaker Knockerz (RIP 😪 — “Lonely” belongs in the hall of fame) to 24hrs and 454 and now 4batz

with each generation comes more refinement and he’s able to use his autotuned voice to blend between trap and Frank Ocean r&b all while sprinkling in a lil chopped & screwed on top. the second half is soooo moody, i love it

it’s sub-2 min but i play it on repeat for 20+ and get lost. this is def a late add to my fav songs of 2023 (more of which i’ll be highlighting in next week’s first ever Ribbies™️ 😉)

memes of the week 🤠

tired of companies feeding the "when you’re here, your family” lie

when the d&b logo is in full bloom, hide your Bud Lights

there’s about 3.5 Autozones all within a one mile radius of our house and i’m about 98% sure they’re all money laundering schemes

the best way to do date night and spend less than $30 a person

hahahaha

he also couldn’t handle a Baja Blast™️ to the face

a concept instagram story

we are going to start a dialogue

Peppa Pig’s dad did unspeakable things to make sure she had a good life

happy wednesday :)

(i’m trying something new for today’s volume, where i’ll be focusing more on the intro than the music itself. there’ll still be lil blurbs at the end, but you’ll definitely notice a difference)

i’m blessed to be in the same city as my dad and baby sisters to celebrate the holidays 🥰

as we close out the year, i’ve been thinking more on an introspective tip about what i’ve done this year and the road ahead. for the first time since pre-covid days, it feels like i’m carrying a lot of momentum into the new year

remember freshman year of covid?? the fear of the unknown generally is scary but on a global scale? sheeeeesh

going back to today, it feels good to have a stable job where i’m valued and respected. which is the complete opposite of where i was at before lmao

and i’m playing the best basketball of my life?? like seriously, i have no idea where the confidence came from but i’m not complaining. even in a macro sense, i’m just grateful to be coordinated enough to play basketball 😌

said something to me that resonated the other day: his perspective on confidence is being comfortable with any outcome

before i’d care about what other people would think or beat myself up if i didn’t do well according to impossibly high standards

now it’s understanding that life can’t constantly be up and down. it’s not that binary: it’s a blend of experiences

same goes for us as well. we can’t be reduced to a certain characteristic / stereotype, we’re just ourselves! it’s the balance between finding individuality and being part of something bigger

that’s why i love hooping so much: it’s that team play that really gets me going. i hate the iso play with just one player dominating the ball. it’s hella boring. i can get mine but i’d rather involve others so we can keep it moving

take a shot if you’ve heard me say this before: as the saying goes, faster alone, farther together 🤠

in terms of what’s ahead, i’ve made the executive call to send these out on wednesdays! with my work schedule (🤪), i’ve found it’ll be easier to share. here’s what we got on deck:

• wednesday, 12/6: intermission

• wednesday, 12/13: Run It Back’s first ever Ribbies!! these will be arbitrary end of year awards that cross music and beyond

• wednesday, 12/20: is back for round FOUR for his annual Xmas volume. forever grateful he’s down to keep it going! in case you missed it, here’s what he shared last year

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

a few highlights:

1. Burna Boy brought out a LIVE string quartet just for that song. one of my fav performances i’ve ever seen live

2. i had no idea this Mac song was about the harsh realities of being 1000% honest with your feelings in relationships until i looked up the lyrics lmao

3. holy shit i didn’t know i needed shoegaze x DnB in my life!! Hotline TNT just fast-tracked their way to my heart 😌

welcome back to another wednesday night intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

y’all!! it’s been a min. last week i had a volume all queued up and just needed to make the final touches but work absolutely cooked me. there was a big meeting that we’ve been waiting on for months that i thought i’d be watching but then…i had to lead it lmao

it went smoother than expected! but i was so emotionally exhausted after i had to go airplane mode

it was a good reminder to show myself grace when life happens. we can’t prepare for everything in life, sometimes shit will go down and we have to trust our instinct to pull through. thank god it kicked in cause i had no idea what i was doing lmaooo

as far as programming goes, next week i’m taking a holiday break. work has lightened up though so we’ll go back to our regular schedule after that. until then ❤️‍🔥🤠

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

BlakkBoyz, JID, Lil Yachty - Van Gogh (Official Music Video)

this is FINALLY on streaming and i couldn’t be happier. Cardo really floated on the production 🫡

memes of the week 🤠

LOL

Everything Everywhere All at Once was our Avengers Endgame 😌

this is how i engage with my mom’s bf lmao

It Follows (2014)

now imagine if you gave them a Nacho Cheese Doritos® Locos Taco

welcome back to another wednesday night intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

what kind of texter are you? do you use exclamation points? keep it informal? or follow MLA formatting?

i thought about this the other night when it comes to dating platonically aka making friends. if you’ve moved around in your life, you know exactly what i’m talking about

when we first moved to Austin way back during freshman year of COVID, i tried making friends with the laundry repair guy who was a good dude and around our age. we had a good convo so i said fuck it why not

we exchanged numbers and talked about grabbing a bev. now at this point, i’m not tryna text raw, play 21 questions, or send memes with no context

i’m an IG guy, i’d rather play the long game and like a couple posts here and there along with story replies with the classic laughing emoji reaction and “lmao” combo 🥲

i asked him for his IG to get the ball rolling..

then i saw his profile. it was full of horny monster art!! which is…not for me lmao

things fizzled out after that because i could not relate to bricked up he-wolfs starting straight into me soul. also didn’t help that we were green texting cause he had an Android 🤪

this was a reminder that making friends as we get older takes investment. they take time and we have to accept the ebbs and flows as they come

same goes for friends that are in different stages of their lives, whether they’re having kids, moved away, or have a time-consuming job. sometimes those closest to us in proximity we see the least for one reason or another

i probably will only go back home twice next year and that’s a tough pill to swallow. only seeing friends and family for such a small period of time is a bummer

but! we have Facetime, voice messages, and the laughing emoji reaction + “lmao” DM to let them know we’re thinking of them 😌❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

9th Wonder On Sampling For Kendrick Lamar

a sneak preview of what’s to come next week 😉

memes of the week 🤠

hahahaha

hard mode: you can only communicate nonverbally

a lil ego death never hurt nobody

i mean it this time!!

we are going to start a dialogue

leaving group chats is simultaneously the most nerve-racking and most empowering thing i’ve ever done

love it when my coworker lingers too long and talks about the prison industrial complex and how she’s going through a divorce (i wish i was joking)

hahahaha

ahh yes, my go-to for therapy sessions 🥲

happy Tuesday y’all :)

today’s volume is all about basketball. i’ll be highlighting some of my fav pieces of content from the archives and the music that accompanies them

i talk about my love for hoop briefly in volume 143:

but i wanted to go a bit deeper today. so let’s start at the top: why offball screen? what even is an offball screen?

first, let’s set the scene with onball screens:

you’ll see these in pick and rolls where a player will set an screen onball then rolls to the basket or pops out for a shot to provide options for the ballhandler to make a decision. will they take a shot? pass to the screener? pass to their teammates? reset the offense?

all these options while working within a 24 sec shot clock

then we have offball screens:

offball screens have a similar philosophy to onball but as the name implies, everything happens while the ball is in someone else’s hands

unless the defense is hyperaware of everything going on (which is hard to be everywhere at once), there’s ripe opportunity to create offense while not touching the ball. you don’t need to be highly skilled to execute these either!

i love setting screens in pickup hoop because it enables others to get involved and feel like they’re part of a team. that’s already a win enough in my book, getting buckets is the cherry on top 🥲

so why is offball screen my username? i was tired of using some variation of my name for social handles. i’m blessed enough to have @claudio for Cash App and Soundcloud but i don’t use them much. i wanted to go back to when i was younger on AIM and Myspace and pick something unique to me

@offballscreen represents everything i’m about, both on and off the court. (the handle also happens to be fully available everywhere 😉)

i’m all about being behind the scenes enabling others. i don’t need to be at the forefront for validation

as the saying goes: faster alone, farther together

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Hip-Hop
   Dead Prez
   Released: 2000

i have no idea how i stumbled upon Yinka Dare’s mixes but they were so influential on my love for the game growing up. Yinka Dare the player had a cup of coffee in the league (aka a bench player who barely played and had a short career)

but the anonymous Yinka Dare creator? they were my entry to the NBA and to rap in general

it’s classic early 00s highlights in potato quality but this particular mix is ingrained in my memory. i think of it whenever this Dead Prez song comes on

this was my intro to Tracy McGrady aka T-Mac. he was a silky smooth 6’8 shooting guard who looked sleepy on the court but would give you bucket after bucket after bucket. these highlights focus on his time with the Raptors (with their dope ass jerseys) along with some highlights of when he blossomed with the Magic:

2. What Happened To That Boy Feat. Clipse
   Baby
   Released: 2002

the commercial and shoes had me in a chokehold when i was younger!! this embodied the different ways T-Mac would give you a three piece combo no biscuit

he went straight from HS to the league and his line in the commercial about taking rookies to school every night is so class:

the T-Mac 3s in particular were my favorite from his sneaker line. they’re so crispy and clean cut. i definitely had to cop for middle school basketball

they were my gateway for my love for sneakers. he even broke out mismatching patent leather pairs for the all-star game which was and still is hard af:

3. Invincible
   Capone-N-Noreaga
   Released: 2000

i LOVE old school AND1 mixes. Curry making all these kids shooters today was what AND1 was doing to kids back then developing their handles:

it toed the line between entertainment and quality hoop. but it’s not about what’s technically right, it’s about what’s fun to watch. at their peak they even had a video game, a reality tv show, and were playing in arenas!!

the equivalent nowadays is all these youtubers going to parks and recording their games. it shows how streetball persists in different forms and fashions over time

4. Ayva Çiçek Açmış
   İstanbul Şarkıcıları
   Released: 1979

the Houston Rockets are my favorite team and have a long history of big men coming through the ranks all the way from the 60s: Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Yao Ming, Luis Scola, Clint Capela, (we skip over Dwight Howard), and now Alperen Sengun:

he’s in the Jokic mold but not elite (yet). he creates for others with his flashy passes, shifty af for a big man, a throwback to the old game with his post moves, and is generally fun to watch

he’s not the most athletic but knows how to use his body. he’s how i envision my game aging as i get older 😌

also, HUGE shout out to Dunk Comp: they have the best mixes out with great music selection and oscillate up n down the obscurity levels of players. a treasure of content we should cherish while they’re still around

welcome back to another wednesday night intermission! as a refresher, this space will be more stripped down, more lowkey. these’ll be posts every other week in lieu of the traditional volumes we know and love

i listened to Drake’s recent album and left asking myself…am i going back on everything i said in my Drake post? lmao

all of his projects grow on me over time. this one might take a bit longer cause it’s filled with empty calories lol

some highlights: Virginia Beach, Drew A Picasso, Away From Home

some lowlights: all the corny (even for me) bars 🤪

I stay with that O like a tie
I stay with that O like a bagel
I stay with that O like a lifesaver

Feel like I'm bi 'cause you're one of the guys, girl

July, that's when I found out you lied

but the absolute funniest one has to be:

Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what?
Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what?
Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what?

lmaoooo

i still stand by what i said in my Drake post: he’s the gateway for his fans to different genres and artists

so it’ll be hella funny when these 15 y/o white boys from the burbs bump Yeat in their 2022 Jeep Wrangler their parents gifted them on the way to JV basketball practice

but something we can all agree on is that when Drake drops a new album, he also feeds the masses with IG captions for at least 6.5 photo dumps ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

p.s. - with the NBA coming back next week, this upcoming volume will focus on my relationship with basketball along with some songs from my favorite highlights. me and the lads had our fantasy basketball draft last night and i couldn’t think of a better way to spend ~2 hours on a Tuesday night 😌

this week’s music ⤵️

Playboi Carti - A Lot On My Mind (Unreleased)

where did this Carti go? why is his shit so easy to leak?? is his password “password1”? lmaooo

Pi'erre Bourne & Cardo - Pi'erre & Cardo's Wild Adventure (Full Tape)

incredible producers coming together for this incredible project that needs to be on streaming. Pierre’s bars can be mild at best, but this is something i set and forget while drifting away to Cardo’s signature cowbells

memes of the week 🤠

having worked for that Gary Vee dude back in the day, this is hella true

Run It Back in a nutshell 😅🤪

we are going to start a dialogue

he was born in the wrong era

hahahaha

that means divorces are dishonorable discharges

we are going to start a dialogue

i love sending passive friend homework to the lads

AI can take my job cause i just wanna be a stay-at-home dad who hosts a part-time radio show on the weekends 😌

happy Tuesday y’all :)

we’re trying something new for today’s volume: giving algorithms a chance

i know, i know, it doesn’t fit Run It Back’s mission statement. but i wanted to give Spotify’s algo a shot for a change. maybe it’ll be like my YouTube algorithm, which knows me better than my therapist

our test subject? Run It Back Radio™️

as a refresher, Run It Back Radio™️ has every song from every volume with the most recent volume’s songs at the top of the playlist. it even has songs from RIB’s first iteration: 2-3 Zone (can you tell i love basketball?)

i’ll often play it on shuffle when i’m without a paddle not sure where to go and what to listen to

at the bottom of every playlist you make, Spotify will recommend songs it thinks you should add. so today will be some of the songs they recommended

with so many different genres and sounds covered, i’m curious what they’ll say. let’s give algorithms a chance?

and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

p.s. - we’re continuing the new schedule with another intermission coming to you live and direct next Wednesday. which might include some thoughts on the Drake album?? 👀

this week’s music ⤵️

Apple Music

Spotify

1. Prototype
   Outkast
   Released: 2003

If we happen to part
Lord knows I don't want that, but hey
We can't be mad at God
We met today for a reason
I think I'm on the right track now

first thing that came to mind when i heard this was Tyler, The Creator and his latest music. like the beat itself and especially with the background vocals towards the end!

b2b with this track and tell me what you think:

even the “stank you very much” (which is also a reference to Outkast’s fourth album Stankonia) disarms the vulnerability to make light of the situation. compare that with the opening line here:

“OUUUU YOU LOOK MALNOURISHED” lmaooo, so wild to say in a song about love

2. Everybody Loves The Sunshine
   Roy Ayers Ubiquity

   Released: 1976

My life, my life, my life, my life
In the sunshine, everybody loves the sunshine
Sunshine, everybody loves the sunshine
Sunshine, folks get down in the sunshine
Sunshine, folks get brown in the sunshine

this song is ubiquitous but i really only know Roy Ayers because Tyler names him countless times as one of his many influences:

they even did a song together off his 2015 album Cherry Bomb!

it’s dope to see someone like Roy have this lasting career interwoven with contemporary artists. when he eventually passes on to his next chapter, we’ll have people like Tyler keeping his legacy alive

that’s all we can hope for ourselves in this lifetime right?

3. Didn’t Cha Know
   Erykah Badu
   Released: 2000

Guess I was born to make mistakes
But I ain't scared to take the weight
So when I stumble off the path
I know my heart will guide me back

i had no idea the legendary J Dilla produced this! i can wax poetic about the beat and sampling in general, but i’ll let Erykah do the talking from this 2006 Fader interview:

like it could all be so simple?? not everything has to be complicated

4. Run To The Sun
   N.E.R.D.
   Released: 2001

Though you're probably feelin' blue
And you'll do what you must do
I hope you know
I'd hand the skies to you

(tbh, i’m surprised this wasn’t added already 😅)

after listening to what was recommended, i was a lil disappointed with the lack of variety. i thought there’d be more house or world music involved

but! i liked these additions. it’s hella funny how these are all Tyler’s influences

is he…the algorithm?

down the road i’m thinking i’ll do the same exercise with Spotify’s Daily Mix playlists and their AI DJ. this’ll help answer some questions like why did they invest in this so much? how long was the script dude had to read for the AI’s voice? who asked for this??

lastly, i want to hear from you: what has your algorithm lobbed your way recently that you loved? music-related or not. let me know in the comments 🫡