As a bonus to his in-studio appearance on WYCE, Grand Rapids hip hop artist Rick Chyme supplied Local Spins with a playlist of 12 songs that are near and dear to his heart, from The Roots to John Lennon.
Rick Chyme is in a better place now.
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The well-known, award-winning, ultra-bearded Grand Rapids hip hop artist revealed in an on-air interview during Local Spins on WYCE (88.1 FM) that in the midst of the success of his celebrated “5iveit LP” he was actually living an “imbalanced life” and residing in an unhappy place that stemmed from the death of his father in a plane crash many years before.
“I would write a song but I wouldn’t learn from it,” he said, describing the “5iveit LP” as “a map of my mental illness basically.”
But by working with students in Grand Rapids Public Schools through the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan’s Be Nice program, Chyme has learned to recognize the signs of his depression and, along with some other changes in his life, now has a truly positive attitude about his direction.
LOCAL SPINS ON WYCE: PODCAST NO. 27 (Feb. 27, 2015)
Indeed, he oozes excitement about plans for potentially putting 1,000 tutors into Grand Rapids schools during the 2015-2016 school year, and raves about the guests that will perform with him during his Saturday night show at Founders Brewing.
To whet the appetite for his upcoming Founders show (with Vox Vidorra, AOK and Venson Dix also on the bill for the 9:30 p.m. show, $5) — and with his dog, Willow, at his feet in the radio studio — he performed a new song, “Limb,” on the air, as well as offered up an unreleased track, “Sun Sets.”
Listen to the podcast of this Local Spins on WYCE episode above, including the debut of new songs by psychedelic folk-rock outfit Big Dudee Roo, Holland pop singer Kanisha K and An Dro, along with tracks from a host of other West Michigan artists.
Chyme also supplied a playlist of some songs that are important to him.
“This list is in no particular order and is not necessarily my favorite 12 songs in existence,” he said. “I know it’s supposed to be a 10-song list, but I’m not sorry. Thanks for taking some time to listen and read a bit about why I chose them.”
RICK CHYME: THE LOCAL SPINS GUEST PLAYLIST
1. “Renee,” The Lost Boyz — This is one of my favorite songs in hip hop history. I first heard it late night on MTV Jams and it was one of the first songs that told a detailed story that really grabbed me as a kid. It’s not often that I reach out to people I don’t know on Twitter, but sometimes I tweet at Mr. Cheeks and he responds! That part of the Internet makes the 16-year-old inside of me pretty happy. From the album, “Legal Drug Money.”
2. “Very Much Money (Ice Cream Dream),” Open Mike Eagle – A few months ago I had a show in Columbus, Ohio. I arrived at the venue with my dog Willow in our RV to find out that the show had been double-booked with a festival and there was zero time available for me to perform at the original location. The promoters and venue scrambled to find another location for us to perform and I ended up at a venue called Double Happiness adding on to a show by Open Mike Eagle. We traded music after the show and this song really connected with me. I feel the same about my friends, plus how can you be mad at a One Be Lo reference?! You can’t. Here’s a live performance video of this song that takes place in a bowling alley. It’s pretty entertaining, but I prefer Mike’s performance on the studio version. Shout out to Mello Music Group! Apollo Brown, Red Pill, etc…
3. “Real Love,” John Lennon – This song is really hard for me to listen to right now. I love it and I love Her. It will be a good day when this track can play and be happy. That’ll mean we are back together as teammates. Limb.
4. “Hip Hop Heaven,” One Be Lo — Lo has impacted my life tremendously. We’ve toured together and he’s taught me much. I chose this song because it’s a great story and also because it popped in my head first and he has too many fantastic songs to sort through and choose a favorite. I often play this during set breaks at my own shows. Shout out to Pontiac, Michigan.
5. “Dear God 2.0,” The Roots featuring Monsters of Folk — The Roots are legendary. It’s not often that I really get into current hip hop songs to the point that I know all of the lyrics…When this came out it grabbed me and hasn’t let go.
6. “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” The Who — I’m not really in love with this song in particular, but it’s on my Dad’s favorite album so I chose it.
7. “Fugazi,” Sincere — Sincere is a 17-year-old emcee from West Michigan who has unlimited potential. We are working together and I am very excited to help him achieve his goals. He’s wise past his years. This song appears on Statik Selektah’s recent release “What Goes Around” on Atlantic Records.
8. “Devil’s Pie,” D’Angelo — I should have probably just picked 10 songs from “Voodoo” for my list. D’angelo goes unmatched.
9. “All Falls Down,” Kanye West featuring Lauryn Hill — When “College Dropout” was released, I was working at Def Jam. This version never made the retail release, the Ms. Hill sample was replaced by Seleena Johnson. A lot of people really dislike Kanye, he makes it easy for them to do so, but when I lived in New York, he was a talented producer still trying to get people to accept him as a rapper. I believe we were spending time with the purest version of the man, before the industry machine and worldwide fame were able to get ahold of him. It wouldn’t be right if one of the songs on my list didn’t have a DJ yelling on the intro and outro.
10. “Oh, Me (MTV Unplugged),” Nirvana with Meat Puppets — I just always really loved this performance. Organic.
11. “Mystery Of Inequity (MTV Unplugged),” Lauryn Hill — Just listen. She’s legendary.
12. “Respiration,” Black Star featuring Common — One of my favorites. Stays in rotation to this day. Mos Def is one of the most talented artists on the planet. I was once at a Def Poetry Jam in NY that he hosted and I’m telling you that man could be a stand-up comic if he wanted to. He had us dying of laughter. I’m sure most of the jokes were edited out of the television release, but he killed that night.
RICK CHYME: THE LOCAL SPINS GUEST PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY
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