For Rowan.

You were born in the middle of one of the most fun decades in hip-hop. You just didn't know it yet.

In the early 2000’s it started to shift from something you didn’t want your parents to hear to something you couldn’t avoid everywhere you went. It was in the mall, in the locker room, on the radio, coming out of cars three blocks before they actually passed you.

My college years were in the middle of it, 2003 to 2007, and I’ll say I caught one of the best parts. The years when the South took over. 50 Cent absolutely destroyed the radio. Kanye changed what a rapper was supposed to sound like and dress like. The auto-tuned voices. Setting a snippet as your ringtone. No drama, just energy and fun. You could be surrounded by the whitest and blackest people you know and everyone knew the lyrics. It fully went mainstream.

This ‘tape’ is my attempt to give you a piece of what it was like to go through college, party, hit the club, and just chill with the music.

Side A is the mainstream. The songs that topped the charts that you’ve probably heard fragments of your whole life without knowing where they came from. Side B is the personal one. The tracks I bumped and lived with. The ones that played in my Scion tC driving down Sunshine or poolside in Sherwood Village. Speakers turned up in my room the night before an exam, or at Uncle Matt’s to pre-game before Uncle Brad would sneak me in somewhere.

Some of these you’ll love. Some will take a few listens. A few you’ll probably think “WTF”. Maybe just maybe a few might even get pulled to your gym playlist.

Congratulations on graduating. We’re proud of you. We love you. Now go listen to something loud.