Ever since I was ten I knew it was summer not because of how my hair shriveled up, but because local DJs break out the song every child in Long Beach should be required to know. “Summertime in the LBC” reminds me of being pushed off of diving boards into swimming pools by adults, and free county box lunches from the park – with those extra dry turkey sandwiches and one chocolate chip cookie you tried to convince your home girl she didn’t want.

 

My old babysitter “Aunt Flo” use to have us riding 10 deep in her raggedy station wagon all over Long Beach and Compton, hitting up parks with free activities that would keep us occupied and off of her good furniture. Flo’s “kids” got into so much trouble in the summer doing ig’nant shit (we terrorized more than a couple of Chuck E. Cheese’s and Discovery Zones when our parents weren’t broke) but we loved every minute of it. 

 

It’s been awhile since I thought about those summers but the moment I popped in Dom. Kennedy’s “Future Street/Drug Sounds” I’ve been suffering from a bad case of nostalgia. I thought I was feeling FS/DS because of it’s vintage west coast sound – reminds me of NWA, Dogg Pound, Warren G – but I think the reason I really love it is because it makes me feel like a kid again. 

 

Flo didn’t care too much for hip-hop but this mixtape is the kind of stuff her 18-year-old daughter Jeni would have put on when her mama wasn’t home. I remember once Jeni and her friend Rebecca made me pretend to be Ice Cube and perform “It Was a Good Day” because they didn’t believe I knew all of the words. For the record, at eight, I knew all of them. Ask about me (but don’t tell my mama)! I could see Jeni and Rebecca trying to choreograph inappropriate dances to FS/DS for the talent and fashion show we put on for our parents at the end of the summer. Somewhere out there, there is a video of me pretending to walk a little boy on a leash as part of a dance routine to “Atomic Dog.” I swear on Flo’s dead Daddy (RIP), who only had one leg, that those random acts of  ridiculousness were some of the greatest moments of my child hood. 

 

I love that FS/DS brings back those memories. I also love how even though I didn’t grow up in South Central Los Angeles I’m familiar with all of the places Dom mentions on the mixtape because of other random acts of ridiculousness involving Ang and ‘Licier while we were at USC. Man, if Stocker and Crenshaw Blvd could talk!

 

I neglect the skip button while listening to FS/DS, but there are a few standouts that are reminiscent of classic summer anthems. These two in particular make me want to feel the bass on my back while riding down Cherry Avenue in an old station wagon packed like some Mexicans:

 

Imeem only gives you 30 seconds here so visit them for full tracks

Showtime! 

 

Hellagood Intermission

Tags: Dom Kennedy, Dove Shack, Future Street/Drug Sounds, Long Beach, Proper Song of the Day, South Central, Summer