as a refresher: in the lead up to our three(!!) year anniversary on June 16th, i’ll be reissuing previous anniversary posts to see how far we’ve progressed since. i’ve got some travel coming up so here's the upcoming schedule:
to celebrate two years, i did an ama (ask me anything) on IG and had no idea what to expect. v grateful people participated because i didn’t want to make burners and answer my own questions lmao
you can find it on the @runitbackback IG under highlights:
thank you for participating and making me feel less alone!
as far as our three year celebration, big things on the horizon. i may have to dish it out in parts because i want to capture the essence of who we’re celebrating and why. until then:)
p.s. - as always, there’ll be *fresh* memes that brought me joy this past week!
Hey, it’s our anniversary. Two years to be exact. (Technically it’s this Thursday, but let’s celebrate early.)
For our anniversary, I wanted to show you how far Run It Back has come. It wasn’t something built overnight. It took time and hella iterations to get to where we’re at now.
Let's start with my earliest music memory.
It has to be Radio Disney playing on repeat. Partly because of the Catholic guilt from going to a Catholic middle school, but mostly because I was young and was my own guide. I figured, no bad words and I can listen with my mom? Why not?
Shortly thereafter, I started transitioning to other radio stations. (R.I.P. KFOG and Live 105.) They played mostly indie, alternative, and lite rock (shoutout KOIT) but I had no idea who or what I was listening to at the time.
To this day, I still can’t name the artists I listened to back then but if you played one of their songs, I’ll immediately go back to 12 year old Claud driving down Sloat Boulevard on our way to Ross Dress For Less to get new home goods.
Fast forward to high school. There was this dude that had the best taste in music. So much so that one day I straight up asked him if I could borrow his iPod to download all of his music. (Thank you Will C.) Then I just listened on shuffle throughout the year.
This takes me back to making CD mixes for my high school crushes. Young Claud made personalized mixes with custom artwork to feed into this antiquated idea of love.
R&B songs taught me about love but as I got older, I quickly realized love is not limited to the romantic love Day 26 was singing about.
This is around when I wanted to do something about my love for music.
The blog era in the early 2010s laid the foundation for what Run It Back is today. I went through a lot of learning lessons:
Penny Rockets: “I love Penny Hardaway and I love the Houston Rockets, so why not combine the two and figure out what to write about later?” - Freshman year Claud
Extended Record: Literally the exact opposite of Run It Back. More longform content and thoughts on music akin to Grantland.
College Radio Show: I don’t even remember what the name of my show was, only that my DJ name was, “CL Audio,” and that I averaged 3.5 listeners. (One of them was me.)
Village Resting Radio: It’s out there if you search hard enough. This was one of my favorite times with Josh (of Village Resting) and I’m glad it’s on historical record. Along with doing pop-ups on the weekends, we’d meet weekly to do skits, crack jokes, and exchange thoughts on three songs we’d pick each week.
When COVID came around, I knew it was time to do something. Here we are two years later.
Today’s volume will be an incomplete list of songs from artists and sounds I grew up on. I’ve highlighted just four in today’s volume, but added a bunch to the playlists that bring me back to my education.
Happy anniversary.
And with that, let's get to the music for the week.
Still Tippin’ Feat. Slim Thug & Paul Wall Mike Jones
Released: 2005
Pimpin' fo' hoes (Pimpin' fo' hoes) And I'm packin' fo' fo's (And I'm packin' fo' fo's) Blowin' on that indo, GameCube Nintendo Five percent tint so you can't see up in my window
I wanted to get into rap and had no guidance, so I decided to explore the genre starting from where I was born (Houston). I bought Chamillionaire’s Mixtape Messiah series and got into chopped and screwed early.
When “Still Tippin’” was at its peak popularity, I was in love. Why didn’t more songs sound like this?
I still remember printing out the lyrics to memorize them during class. And telling my classmates about Chamillionare while everyone else was into Mac Dre.
As soon as I hear those strings, I still channel my inner Slim Thug and get to work.
Pull up, turn the scraper in the circle Hit the block one time, tryin' to see who got purple Who got purple? (I got grapes) Who got purple? (I got grapes)
I didn’t have enough rhythm to go dumb when I was young but I have so much pride in growing up during the hyphy movement. In my bubble, I thought this is what everyone else grew up on.
It’s only fitting that Nump is one of the executive producers for the hyphy retrospective documentary We Were Hyphy.
I’m glad Bay Area music has grown over time because it’d be a shame if things stayed the same. There’s room to reminisce and to evolve.
Satan Is My Motor CAKE Released: 1998
I've got wheels of polished steel I've got tires that grab the road I've got seats that selflessly hold my friends And a trunk that can carry the heaviest of loads
I’ll be honest, it was hard to pick just one CAKE song. They’re one of many artists I associate with the oracle of Run It Back, my dad. (editor’s note: hint for our 3 year anny 😉)
My parents split up when I was young but I got to know my dad through music. I was (and still am) in awe of his music taste and how deep and wide it spreads.
I was even with him when he first learned about the iPod.
We just boarded our flight and my dad was combing through his CD collection in preparation to depart. He noticed the guy next to him listening to music on a white brick and asked him what that was.
Simpler times.
Talamak Toro y Moi Released: 2010
How can I tell if I love you anymore? Nevermind I know I do
It’s hard to pick just one Toro song because he means so much to me.
I love how much he changes his sound, how he represents his Filipino heritage (we’re both half-Filipino), and that he creates what he wants without the distraction of trying to become mainstream.
He’s also one of the reasons why we named our dog Toro and started Studio del Toro.
Last but not least: I love sharing music and building our community so damn much that it feels like we’re just getting started. The fact that this still feels new and exciting only shows us that we’ve got big plans ahead.
Thank you for being part of the ride. I appreciate you always.
