The State of Play
A disorderly collection of anything is no good. A week or so ago, I saw a video of this community centre in South London that featured a mini library of books that were just scattered about with absolutely no thought as to the placement, order or anything. It stressed me out. It reminded me just how bad my CD collection has become as of late. In 2012-2016, I had the most stunningly well-organised music library going, and once I moved to Nottingham, I just didn’t keep it up to the high standards that I needed it to be in.
I blame it on the fact I myself and Hollie have had to do a lot of long distance drives the past two years, so I would always fill a Sainsburys bag full of CDs before I left and then forget to put everything back in its proper place when we got home. I would still fit into the right section for genre, but my chronology was way off. Along with this, I’ve amassed a lot more music, and haven’t been logging it in the spreadsheet that I created for that specific purpose. It’s all a mess. That video acted as inspiration for me to get my stuff together.
ALSO – I couldn’t find MJG – “Too Pimpin’ 2.0” or Hi-Five – “Keep It Goin’ On” and I really want to listen to them in the car.
The way it was displayed before meant that there was a lot that I couldn’t get to easily. It meant that whenever I went to look for something to listen to, I’d usually resort to something that I’d already listened to recently (negating the need for a collection with nearly 1,000 releases!).
Dismantling the collection meant that I could go back to the beginning and make sure that everything was in order, that I have what I want, and also that I can get rid of what I don’t want.
The Ones That Don’t Make It to the Next Round
Let’s kick it off with all the CDs in the collection that I don’t deserve to be there. If I’m never going to listen to them in the car, they don’t deserve to clog up a space that could be occupied by something fly. They’ll have been sat there since I got them, and there’s never going to be a time when I just fancy checking them out. (Don’t judge me for having these in the collection in the first place – lots of what I got came for free or part of massive job lots that I’ve bought over the years).
As you should know, I’ve got a thing for obscure releases and will try everything to make sure any decent rapper, R&B singer, MC or people that have caught my ear have been given a chance by me. But there are limits.
The Rejects
Marvin Gaye – “Love Songs”
Oasis – “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”
Ice-T – “Original Gangster” – I really like turn of the ‘90s Rap, but not Ice-T, unfortunately
Barry White – “Soul Selection”
Javier – “Left of Centre” – It’s just not good
Outsidaz – “The Bricks” – I just can’t enjoy this
Anastacia – “Not That Kind”
Macy Gray – “The Trouble with Being Myself”
Chantay Savage – “I Will Survive”
The Tony Rich Project – “Words”
Tinchy Stryder – “Catch 22” – I should never have allowed it in
Flex the Truth – “Reveal”
Lighthouse Family – “Ocean Drive”
PM Dawn – “Of the Heart…” – I literally don’t know how this got in
Ann Nesby – “I’m Here for You”
Daniel Merriweather – “Love & War” – Remember him?
Take That – “Beautiful World” – No
Peter Andre – “Natural” – Don’t tell Hollie I got rid of this.
US Rap
I’m proud of all of these duplicates, to be honest.
Kanye West – “Late Registration” x2 – Surely I knew by the third time I bought it
Nelly – “Nellyville”
Snoop Dogg – “Boss tha Cost to be tha Boss” – This one deserves so much more praise
Three 6 Mafia – “Most Known Unknowns” – I lost the disc for my first copy for two years
Soulja Boy – “SouljaBoyTellEm.com”
Will Smith – “Willennium” – One of the first albums I owned, by the way
Ma$e – “Harlem World” x2
2Pac – “All Eyez on Me” – Always good to have a spare
Kanye West – “Graduation”
Warren G – “Take a Look Over Your Shoulder” – One time for “Annie Mae”
Mobb Deep – “Infamy”
Big Boi & Dre – “OutKast”
OutKast – “Aquemini” – I got stuck with a clean version for time
Ludacris – “The Red Light District” – No idea why, since I listened to this so much as a teen
A Tribe Called Quest – “Beats, Rhymes & Life” – Why don’t people love his as much as I do?
T.I. – “King” x2 – Again, I don’t know how I managed to buy it so many times
The Notorious B.I.G. – “Born Again”
N.O.R.E. – “Norega”
Ma$e – “Double Up” – I’ve got a thing for excess Ma$e
2Pac – Strictly 4 My…”
Kanye West – “College Dropout”
R&B
As R&B represents the largest proportion of my collection, it’s only right that I won’t quite remember which titles I haven’t yet acquired yet. When I look at this list, some of the duplicates are just favourites that I probably kept because I just wanted to listen to them on the way home, and they were so cheap. (What was I playing at?)
Jill Scott – “Beautifully Human”
SWV – “It’s About Time” x2 – For all the years I neglected them, I got it three times
Deborah Cox – “Deborah Cox” – I’m sure the first copy skipped on “Who Do U Love”
Ginuwine – “The Senior”
R. Kelly – “12 Play”
Beyoncé – “4” – Can we agree this is her best?
112 – “112” – I never remember what I have of theirs, but it’s a full set
Missy Elliott – “Miss E… So Addictive”
Soul II Soul – “Vol II – 1990: A New Decade”
Montel Jordan – “Get It On… Tonite”
Craig David – “Trust Me”
Alfonzo Hunter – “Blacka da Berry” – Intentional because it’s so overlooked
Joe – “Everything”
John Legend – “Get Lifted” – The first version I got literally had four working songs on it
Missy Elliott – “Da Real World”
Lauryn Hill – “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”
Tevin Campbell – “I’m Ready” – It’s so damn good, so how could I let someone else take it
UK Garage, UK Rap and Grime Duplicates
I’m a lot more aware of what’s in my UK Garage, UK Rap and Grime collection than the rest, just because so many of the releases are so much more difficult to acquire. I have bits in there that I know some won’t even know came out. These are the ones that I accidentally ended up getting more than once.
J Spades – “MMMP3: Get Rich Together” – Because I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to get a J Spades physical
Roll Deep – “In at the Deep End”
Static – “Connected” – I remember doubling up on this and the next in a charity shop
Roll Deep – “Rules & Regulations” – The Roll Deep Skepta was a madness
Neat & Luck – “It’s All Good”
Chipmunk – “Whatever the Weather” (Vol. 2)
Devilman – “D-E-Velopments Mixtape” – Rare
Dizzee Rascal – “Instrumental II” – It’s sealed, so I’ll sell this in 2030
The State of the Collection
So I completed the whole lot over the course of a week’s worth of evenings. I’ve got sections with growing room for my US Rap, R&B, Reggae and Dancehall, Grime & UK Rap. It’s solid. But now it’s inspired me to add to it and fill a few more gaps, and that’s a problem. I’ll drop another update when the time is right. Perhaps I’ll have another clear-out and get rid of more that I know I’ll never listen to.
Oh yeah, about those Hi-Five and MJG CDs – I still haven’t found them. KMT.