Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 50th Birthday. Every year around this time we pay tribute to Matthew here on Melting Pot, without a doubt one of the most influential musical presences in my life. Today I spent most of the day, along with other record nerds, digging through DJ Shadow’s Storage Sale at Rappcats. Shadow and Matthew knew each other well and according to Shadow, they used to try to blow the others mind with some strange and obscure album that they hoped the other wouldn’t know. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during one of those listening sessions, but I’m thankful for the years spent around Matthew and for the privilege to dig through Shadow’s collection. It was quite fitting that amongst the records I pulled, there was a 45 that Matthew (along with B.Cause) included on what might be my all-time favorite mix, Soul Boulders 2. It’s always a joy running into one of the records from that mix, or discovering new “soul boulders,” and wondering if Matthew had a copy (or two or three knowing Matthew). I felt like it made sense to highlight a few other 45s that are on that mix, as a tribute to Matthew this year.
This 45 is the one that actually starts off the Soul Boulders 2 mix. I had no clue what it was but one day feeling braze, I just asked B. Cause and he told me it was Daz Rene’s “Change,” something that I also recognized from Gonjasufi/Gaslamp Killer sample around the same time. That bass line hits so deep, every time I swear I feel it in my soul.
Leon Haywood – As Long As There’s You
On the Soul Boulders 2 mix, Matthew and B. Cause do a little studio trickery with this track, which extends some instrumental parts that are not in the this original single edition. As with most of the remixes Matthew did during his life, the changes are very subtle and take nothing away from the original, but only add layers that you never knew needed to be added, but once hearing them you wish were there in the original.
Webs – It’s So Hard (To Break A Habit)
Quite possibly the single best transition I’ve ever heard in any DJ mix (and over the years, I have heard many a DJ mix) is the transition out of Leon Haywood’s “Long As There’s You,” into Webs’ “It’s So Hard.” If you’ve never heard, it’s a true thing of beauty, two songs perfectly placed together and perfectly timed in the mix to create magic. This song is one of the deepest soul songs I’ve heard, one that you really feel the emotion of the lead singer in every cry, all matched beautifully by the background harmonies throughout. An ace tune if there ever was one.
This one is the most recent addition to my collection of Soul Boulders, picked up at the most recent DJ Shadow storage sale. “Lady In Red,” is an interesting song, aside from its musical charms. Despite multiple listens I still can’t tell if this is a anti-sex worker or pro-sex worker tune. Perhaps it can be seen each way, perhaps the titular “lady” isn’t a sex worker at all, but based on the lyrics it certainly seems so (especially that “I’ll be much older then but you’ll still be the same” line), and regardless of the intent, it is a singularly special song and one I likely never would have discovered absent the influence from Matthew & B. Cause on Soul Boulders 2.
Sass – I Only Wanted To Love You
The last track that I’ve chosen for this MKA tribute comes from the Bay Area in the form of Sass’ “I Only Wanted To Love You.” I know this song was released in 1976, but there’s something about the sound of it that messes with my mind as if it should be from a later date. I think it’s that synthesizer that’s just hanging out in the background. Maybe it’s the vocals that just remind me of 1980s quiet storm tracks. I don’t know what it is about this track that casts such a spell over me, and in all honesty, I don’t really want to ever know. I just appreciate that it’s one of my absolute favorite Soul Boulders, and ever thankful that Matthew (and this is one that I’m 99% sure Matthew brough into the mix) included it in the Soul Boulders 2 mix and brought it into my life. Just as I am so thankful for the memories and all the other music Matthew brought into my life…There will never be another, he was my brother. RIP MKA
