volume 150 - RIBBIES™️
a new annual tradition 🤠
welcome to the first ever Ribbies™️!! 😌
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 ⤵️
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 😌