Grown Folk - Liner Notes

The idea for Grown Folk, came to me after doing a gig for a bunch of college kids. I realized that all the music I played that night was targeted to youngsters - teens and tweens. They knew all the songs and the new line dances, they knew which songs to like and not like. It was weird. After that I decided that I didn't need to spend any more time finding out what teens listen to. Who cares what they think?

These days I don't listen to pop music, or watch MTV or listen to the radio, etc. I am no longer the target audience, I sit outside their demographic. But I came to terms with that. There is still good music out there, old and new. One of my friends asked how I can survive without staying on top of the new music that just came out an hour ago. I told him, I don't need new music, I got records! Back in the day, I wouldn't buy a record unless I thought I'd still like it 10 years later. Guess what, I still listen to those records, 20 years later! I wish I could say that about the music I played at that gig. I ended up trashing them all maybe a week later. Life is too short to listen to crappy music.

With Grown Folk, I wanted to make a mix that had joints that would appeal to the people that have listened to hip-hop for over 20 years. I wanted to remind them of some classics, but most importantly show them that there are new artists making new music that still has that familiar vibe. The mix has songs as old as 1988 and as new as 2010. At the same time I wanted to show that while it has a familiar vibe, it has also evolved and matured over the years. One of my long time friends told me this mix was exactly what he was looking for. Hopefully others feel the same.

As far as the artwork goes, I wanted to show what it's like to be chillin at home after a long days work, and putting on some records to relax. I used dark colors with warm tungsten lighting. Obviously I'm not a photographer, but I think the picture captures the vibe I was going for. The nice thing about the composition is that the records form a V shape that connects the two lines of text. Also the leaning records create a diagonal which makes the composition a bit more dynamic. For the type I used Futura for the title, and Garamond Italic for the subtitle. I did this to show a combination of classic and contemporary, a subtle nod to the music selection. There is nothing super flashy about the typography, but it has a quiet sense of self. No showing off, just solid typography.