ATSIC S04E42 - XMAS EDITION
This is a mix for everyone who’s tired of Mariah month. It’s important to recognize that not everyone has had the same experience around Christmas, and that not everyone is celebrating. Some are doing their best to get through it and be done with it. Hip Hop has a very powerful way of letting people share their stories, and this mix has some songs that will look at Christmas from some angles you won’t find on a Hallmark card. It’s an unedited hour of Xmas raps, and its running up around 70 percent Canadian content, amazingly enough. There’s even a couple tracks you can’t hear anywhere else, Rubix with “Silent Nights,” a song that only his homies at a christmas party 2 years ago and listeners of ATSIC have heard; and my own mash up mix of Classified’s “The Bells Are Ringing” using samples from “Keep Their Heads Ringing.” It’s better than I expected it to be when I sat down to do it. All in all, the mix here is stronger than your dads eggnog.
There’s still some happy festive stuff on here too, not to worry. I tried to strike a balance between people rapping about happy family moments and people rapping as the Grinch, or sharing less glamourous perspectives on the occasion. I also chopped up some samples from movie clips so you’ll hear the voices of some of the most well known holiday characters, rather than mine, as there’s no talk segment to break up the hour of music this time.
I truly hope everyone is safe and happy and surrounded by love this holiday season. There’s a lot wrong in the world and we should all do what we can to make life better for one another. Everyone supporting and listening to the show really made this a great year for me, I’m in a good place and looking forward to Season 5 of ATSIC and Season 3 of Fly in Formation starting fresh first thing in January with weekly music mixes and interviews from artists across the country. Shouts to the musicians who send music and spend time talking to me for FiF. Shouts to the listeners who msg me on socials letting me know what they think of the mixes. It means a lot and you’ve all contributed a lot of positive energy to the show. My small contribution to this years holiday is this mix, please enjoy it with whoever and whatever you celebrate with.
Thanks for the support and for checking in. Feel free to share your thoughts on the mixes, songs, artists, my opinions, or anything else. Sound off in the comments here, on Mixcloud, or on any of the socials (YouTube).
The second season of my interview series, 'Fly in Formation,' has concluded, but Season 3 is returning in January! The Jan/Feb schedule is available online below, starting with a talk with American Niagara based emcee John Creasy & and Halifax based producer Uncle Fester to talk about their 2 recent releases and what’s up next. Things are getting bigger and better, stay tuned. Check the promo below to see who else is coming up, I’m excited to talk to everyone and learn some game. Make sure to hit follow on Twitch or subscribe so you don’t have to watch the ad breaks during interviews! Help build a community by popping up in chat and asking questions to me or the guests.
Every week, I buy every song I play, unless the artist sent it to me, saving me a buck. I believe in buying music to support independent artists. Making music is time-consuming and expensive. Streaming doesn’t pay much at all, and since streaming has become the way most people consume music, it’s even more important to make sure to buy tickets, buy music (physical or digital), and buy merch from artists you want to hear more from. Streaming pays next to nothing, so if you want artists working on more music instead of working more shifts at their day job, you need to show them love by opening your wallet and giving them financial support.
Telling a friend is another great way to support the show, I appreciate everyone who helps spread the word immensely.
Merry Christmas.
Stay Up.
