Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer (#Merky Records, 2017 First Pressing)
Well, @Poly-Rythmo beat me to it with the fantastic Little Simz, so I will go with Stormzy and his fantastic album 'Gang Signs & Prayer'. It was the first grime album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart and won British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.
The reason I personally like Stormzy so much is that he doesn't particularly care about living up to the typical gangster image. He's like a big kid who pays tribute to people other musicians that grime artists would never dare to (he's regularly declared his love for the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran for example). He also pushes changes for the good of others. At the Brit Awards in 2018 he performed a freestyle that called out Theresa May for not responding during the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the next day 10 Downing street issued an official statement. He also launched the Stormzy scholarship which paid for several students course and maintenance fees to allow them to attend Cambridge University. Basically, he seems like a great guy!
Day 17 - Very Presidential
Spin a record that would make your country proud Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska Few artist speak to a specific strain of the American experience as eloquently or as succinctly as The Boss. Almost any of his releases would have fit well here but the darkest times call for possibly his darkest album. Nebraska speaks to a desperate America looking for a way out and yet still shows us hope as dawn begins to break at the end of that endless gray highway.
Also, not for nothing but Nebraska is the album I suggest as a “gateway drug” to Friends who claim to dislike Bruce Springsteen and It it has a surprisingly high success rate.
Well there’s the cover. Also, this album features an embarrassment of American talent: Kendrick, Kamasi, Thundercat, Josef Leimberg, Robert Glasper, Ryan Porter, etc.
Blues with Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
One of my favorites in my collection. This is a performance with the 3 above artists including some interviews conducted by Studs Terkel done at a Chicago radio station in 1959. Great Folkways release.
Day 16 - Chin Up!
Spin a record that makes you feel like A FUCKING CHAMP!
Okay.. So I just remembered the "Chin Up" part when putting this record on. Now that I'm posting it, I totally blanked on the "FUCKING CHAMP!" part.. So while this doesn't totally make me personally feel like a champ.. This is the perfect pick me up album. I do however feel like a champ for scoring a great deal on this pressing
Day 17 - Very Presidential
Spin a record that would make your country proud
Beach Boys still seem to be known for their early output, focusing on cars, girls, the beach, and surfing.
This record catalogues their transition from about the mid-60’s to the end of the decade where the message seemed to be “now that we have your attention, let’s get real for a moment.”
...not feeling like a champ 
