I don’t know about you but the second the weather dips a bit and we get a little bit of rain I grab that hoodie with the quickness but I also start pressing play on some different vibes with the music. And as the leaves turn and eventually fall and the weather gets colder, I know that in my headphones I need to take myself to NYC. Being in San Diego our Falls and Winters are super mild (!!!) and back in the 90s, I had no idea what it felt like in Brooklyn in December. I would see NFL games and the people in the stands all bundled up but I didn’t know what cold felt like. But that’s only in the physical, in my mind I knew what cold weather felt like. Cold weather always just felt like Smif-N-Wessun to me. And when I press play on their album, Dah Shinin’, it makes me feel a certain way. That’s why if we’re going to make a cold weather playlist, it has to start with “Bucktown” going back to ‘94 or ‘95.
But then other days I’m pulling that Cannibal Ox CD out of the collection and going straight to “Iron Galaxy” where El-P’s production and Vast Aire and Vordul Mega’s rhymes just take me to outer space. That whole Cold Vein album is so good and you all need to be listening to it more. I listen to this album and I imagine it being freezing in NY back in the late 90s and early 00s and Cannibal Ox were prob at El-P’s pad being so inspired by what was in front of them with these beats, these rhymes, and these artists’ talents. If you do anything today, just go listen to “Iron Galaxy” today. Put headphones on… Get away from any family and friends… Press play and zone on this right here and tell me you don’t feel something. This is a cold weather rap song to me at its finest.
Okay… you catch the vibe with where I’m going here? We’re trying to find the rap and hip tracks that make us feel like winter. And it doesn’t have to just be East Coast Rap, it can be anywhere and it’s not tied to the 90s or 00s or 10s or 20s or…. you know what I mean right? Some of these tracks will be no brainers but then others might make you think… others might be new songs that could lead you down rabbithole adventures where you find new music that you like. And with that said, you should all be listening to “Rain Every Season” from Evidence and The Alchemist right now. I could have picked a lot of Evidence and ALC tracks here but this was the chosen one as I look outside my garage and it’s dumping rain here in Sunny San Diego. Evidence might be the best cold weather artist of all time.
I’m building this cold weather playlist live with what I’m writing because I think it would be cool to show you how my mind works when it comes to something like this. Winter Rap… You gotta have Wiki in the mix and he is another rapper where I could pick like 20 different cold weather songs but I’m going “Wik the God” right now because part of this is just giving you the gateway drug that will get you to your musical high. Wiki is one of the best emcees out right now. He has been nice for a long time too. Wiki has an amazing ear and feeling for how to approach his bars. Shout out Navy Blue on the production.
Can’t go any longer without putting Ghost & Rae in the playlist with “Rainy Days” which is a track that ages like fine wine. It was always one of my favorites back then but 30 some years later after Only Built 4 Cuban Linx dropped, it’s “Rainy Days” that stays in repeat for me. Always when it starts raining… I can see that the weather report is telling me that it’ll rain and I’m already getting out that Raekwon CD… “Rainy Days” is so good and it is the perfect fit for this rainy days type playlist.
How about some Project Pat though? When I through that beanie on for the first morning of the year you besta believe that “Don’t Turn Around” is getting some airtime. I don’t think it’s possible to not like this track. I think anybody who presses play on this one will get hype… you gotta at least move to that beat right? The Project Pat flow? This is Pat’s real life brother Juicy J on production with DJ Paul. You should probably just spend a day listening to old Three 6 Mafia and Project Pat and Eightball & MJG because you’re probably missing some goated songs.
The Diplomats always make me feel like cold weather because they’d be rockin the flyest mink jackets in the summer so I think of them at times for cold weather vibes. “Who I Am” feels like a cold weather track to me and Juelz Santana shines so hard over this production. This makes me think of cold days… He talks about crying… he talks about family… his emotions… you are sleeping on this song and you need to stop… go catch a vibe with Juelz Santana and the whole Diplomat crew.
Cold weather and Mobb Deep should be synonymous with each other. Everybody listens to Mobb Deep once it gets cold right? For me that’s how I roll but now I just keep that Prodigy and The Alchemist album nearby because “Give Em Hell” is some motivation rap for my ear drums… I think of the cold weather here. Prodigy could be one of the best emcees when you gotta throw a few layers on right? This beat tho… That vocal sample all looped up… those drums… Prodigy out here spittin flames like a volcano too? Fire.
Feel like M.O.P. is a straight cold weather rap group right? If you think Mobb Deep is some hardcore East Coast Rap then you gotta be up on M.O.P. right? Fun fact… I don’t own any M.O.P. albums… I have never owned any M.O.P. albums… but hear me out on this… I’m a weird hip hop listener who likes to be all in on albums when I really like one… and fam… I just haven’t had my M.O.P. era yet but I feel it’s coming soon. What will be the first album I buy from M.O.P. once I get going? Gotta be Firing Squad right? This track “Stick to Ya Gunz” featuring none other than Kool G Rap is top notch.
Very hard to pick what Benny the Butcher song I would go with and I think it has to be him and J.Cole on the track “Johnny P’s Caddy” which forever stays dope. The beat from Cole along with his 2nd verse but the whole track doesn’t work without that opening Benny verse… Too cold… Benny owns cold weather music too… This track is perfection in the fall in my ears… bump it in the winter too…
Whenever I listen to Freeway or Beanie Sigel’s old albums I think of classic 90s east coast hip hop. Beanie Sigel is so slept on it’s crazy… He has good tracks and good albums. If you need a track of his to start with you should go with “Feel It In The Air” which is the perfect fit for this playlist about seasons changing.
I could go on and on with tracks like this but I’ll just get to the call to action… new playlist drop is below. I’ll keep adding to it this winter and please let me know tracks you think could fit well with the wave I got right here. Think of the beat… think of the rapper’s cadence over the beat.. think of where they’re from… think about all of this… including the music video.
And here’s the playlist!