I’ve learned something very valuable in college, and that’s to hold basement parties dear to your heart.

There’s going to be a juncture in all of our lives where we can’t attend them anymore. So enjoy the grungy keg rooms, the mysterious ducks into a dark space with your closest friends, and the sloppy exits with a new friend.

The last basement party I went to brought me new friends in a less Biblical sense.

Finley Knight is the best new friend your ears can have. For all of us crazies dancing around, Finley Knight also did our bodies some good, too. We grooved with plastered-on smiles, stripping some layers so our sweaty bodies could keep moving with the music. My good friend P. Mac near died and rose to heaven when they played his requests for Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain.” The songs suited the band well, a band that’s sort of like the bastard child of all rock, funk, and jam genres. Finley Knight shows us that being genre-ambiguous is sometimes a beautiful, beautiful thing.

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I’ve always loved Biggie Smalls’ music. His beats are sick and his flow is unbelievable- there’s no denying it. With the release of the biopic Notorious on Jan 16th, I did some digging on the internet to learn more about the man. I stumbled across this video, which features Biggie Smalls at age 17 in a lop-sided rap battle. It’s clearly evident that even at that young age, Biggie was bound for stardom. He had something special. Take a look at the clip, and let me know what you think.

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