I spent this Easter in Williamsburg with a crew of family-less people.
There was Max, the lyric-spitting real estate broker. Anytime anyone says something that reminds him of a rap lyric he goes off and rhymes that lyric out loud like he has some sort of unknown version of Tourette.
There was Evan, who reminded me of Ben, the main character in HBO's How To Make It In America. He had the awkward good-looking white boy look to him. On his right-side was his girlfriend, straight from California, Roxy. She could have definitely been in that show too.
I sat there as we hung out by the window at Ba'sik. Facing that window, as I listened to everyone talk in the background, I couldn't help but notice everything that was happening outside; people parking their cars, crossing the street, hailing taxicabs and curbing after their dogs. As mellow as the neighborhood was because of the holiday is as busy as it still kept itself. Nothing changes. The world keeps spinning.
I turned on this remix of A Tribe Called Quest's "Butter" today, and all of that came rushing back into my mind. This DJ Day remix has all the same feels. That mellow Sunday vibe where the colors all around us don't have the regular bright glows of a sunny day. Where the wind blows lightly and the cold air still lingers even though Spring has already made it's entrance.
This is Monday, or Tuesday, or an any day easy-listening jam. It's a jazzy remix that fits in all of Jazz music's best elements into it. You'll find the cool piano and the swaggy horns. Best of all, you'll hear Phife Dawgs voice just one more time.
RIP Phife.
