I started out high school un-ironically listening to a lot of R&B. I was a romantic 15-year old, very consumed with thoughts of the ladies. I was into Jodeci. ‘Nuff said. Shortly thereafter I started listening to Live 105.3 and got into modern rock. My tastes shifted dramatically in my sophomore and junior years when I came to know and love The Afghan Whigs. Gentlemen is still in my top albums of all-time. As far as rock, The Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead were my other favorite bands. The Beastie Boys were a huge influence. I remember skipping third period and running to “The Warehouse” at Broadway Plaza (we had two Warehouses in Walnut Creek within a few blocks of each other) to buy Check Your Head on cassette. It was a green tape, and I was stoked. One of my favorite things to do during that era was hang out at Tower Records. There was this little shop in Lafayette on Mt. Diablo Blvd. that sold bootleg CDs for $40 each. I bought a Nirvana live CD and one from The Afghan Whigs, and I was so proud of them. Other seismic shifts in my tastes occurred when I bought Nas’ Illmatic. I saw a poster for the record and on the wall of X-Large, the clothing store owned by The Beastie Boys that was located on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. It was grimy, articulate, and so artful without even trying. Up to that point I had been listening to a lot of E-40. After Illmatic, I got very much into the New York hip-hop scene, especially Mobb Deep, B.I.G, and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Jodeci – Come and Talk To Me

The Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen

Nirvana – Heart Shaped Box

U2 – One

Radiohead – Just

Alice In Chains – Would?

2Pac – Holler If Ya Hear Me

Cypress Hill – How I Could Just Kill A Man

A Tribe Called Quest – Buggin’ out

Beastie Boys – Pass the Mic

The Pharcyde – Passin’ Me By

E-40 – Practice Lookin’ Hard

Nas – It Ain’t Hard To Tell

Wu-Tang Clan – Protect Your Neck

Raekwon – Ice Cream

R. Kelly – Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)

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