Of course, there are many mixtapes I’ve made over the years, and I can’t help but diving back into this topic.

So, let’s take a look at some of my Greatest Hits over the years. I have lost some of my mixes, but they were mostly shitty anyway so I’m not too worried about that.

Gangsta Grande Grillz GRIP GRIP GRIP GRIP – For most of my mixtapes, a bizarre and unnecessarily long title is usually present.  This is a 51 song playlist that I made based on news there would be a way to play music at the after party of my sister’s wedding.

*Me? In charge of the music? Yes, Mam!*

My carefully crafted list had plenty of crowd pleasers before delving into dancier tunes for when I expected the older crowd to depart for the night and the youngers to continue on drinking and carousing. It is a truly great mix, and after my hard bouncers, I ended with K-Ci & JoJo’s slowburning romantic classic “All My Life.” My final-final song (the song that signifies it is time to get the fuck out) is a Toots and the Maytal’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads,” – a surefire barn stormer for crowds that are into reggae covers of John Denver songs.

Unfortunately, the playlist was never used, but that is always a risk for these things. It’s better to be prepared than not, right?

Oh, and the title is a combination of the last names of mine (i.e. my sister’s) and her new husband, and my affinity to make all things “gangsta as fuck.”

An Amerindian in Hipstown – Vol. 2 – Courage Under Fire – Ah, yes. An excellent mix and one that I have no idea if it was ever listened to. I made this electronic mix (which really was the 2nd one) for my (ethnically) Indian friend who is currently living in Hipstown – aka Brooklyn. Yes, the dreaded musical playlist of weighing romantic desire. Probably a failure since she likely never listened to it (I never inquired to see if she had). I’ll talk about her in one of these posts, because there is too much to say now without boring you and me both.

A Distant Rhine – Across the Great Divide – This was a mix I made for Rhine, my last ex-girlfriend. I sent it to her this past fall when I was in the States and she was still in Vietnam and I was still under the impression we were together and lacking the realization to know she was already fucking someone else. Oh, well.

I like this story mix because I go from wistful lusting “Where Are You Now,” to basically whining/crying “I’ll Be The One You Want Someday,” to more crying/lusting “The Devil’s Tears,” before finally coming to the realization that “We’re Going To Be Friends” and where? “Somewhere Over The Rainbow & What A Wonderful World” (ukulele mix). That’s good. Even though I whined and blubbered my emotions through 15 songs, at least by the end I said we’ll probably be just friends anyway.

Of course, after it all I realized I didn’t really want to have anything to do with her at all so we aren’t friends. On the plus side I do have this very awesomely mixed playlist!

League of Nations – Fuck Yo Ethnicity – Maybe it’s not still my favorite mix (though it’s still up there), but, based on title alone, this one continues to kick a lot of ass. I made this for my two German roommates and I’s “League of Nations” party at our apartment in Phnom Penh. Fuck yeah. We (or maybe it was just me actually) called it that because we had people from countries all over the world coming together to drink, party, dance, and have a great time. And really, as the sample from one  of Kendrick’s songs states, “Fuck Yo Ethnicity.” It didn’t matter if you were black, white, or orange, we’re all the same. It was a damn good party too.

Plenty more mixtapes, but another day, another day.