It’s Friday so its time to have another guest join us with a song. This is week its Jordan W. Carter, a talented rapper and dear friend of mine. But before we get to his song choice, I want to speak a little bit about Jordan’s single “SPACE” with sali.
I first met Jordan almost 10 years ago now. And over those 10 years he has been a lot of things to me. Besides a friend, he’s been a next door neighbor, a video-game opponent, an occasional roommate, a drum instructor, a creative collaborator, and more. And through that whole time and all of those phases and eras, Jordan has always been, above all else, proudly and vocally an Atlantan.
Atlanta and Jordan’s deep, emotional, and intrinsic relationship is something that was made clear to me the moment I met him and became even clearer when I heard his music.
From his vocal tone, to his beats and instrumentals, to the lyrical content, Jordan’s music isn’t just inspired by the southern sounds that we know and love, it’s born from it. And this is evident and artfully expressed in, “SPACE”.
So, stick around to hear from Jordan himself, and the music that resonates with him:
Growing up on the Westside of Atlanta, the most fun I have ever had in my childhood can be traced back to D4L’s “Laffy Taffy”. I remember the gymnasium dance floor at Peyton Forest Elementary School like it was just twelve minutes ago. All my peers, no one yet over four feet tall, breaking out our most intricate combination of the ‘Poole Palace’ mixed with the ‘Lean Wit It Rock Wit It’ while reciting every single lyric without missing a step.
Some may be envious that I lived through these original, ethereal hip-hop experiences, but you truly had to be poor enough to be there or else have some other familial ties to the community. Peyton Forest Elementary is located in zip code 30311 and in 2005 when “Laffy Taffy” came out, the median household income for 30311 was $30,000 (only about $10,000 lower than today’s) with a 47% unemployment rate.
Reminiscing on these school dance moments really make “Laffy Taffy” like therapy to me; especially when NYC’s cost of living bums me out. It’s just something about growing up in the hood, that makes you not give a fuck about anything else going on (especially not finances) when your song is playing.
Thanks for listening,
Jordan W. Carter