Twitter is a wild place.  85% of the stuff that people say is random wildness, but every once in a while you can find some real value.  I started following @Catf1sh a while ago and noticed the dude really knew his music.  So the other day I was talking some junk about old R&B groups and he chimed right in.  I figured Catf1sh could hit me with a hot playlist of tracks I wasn’t up on so I asked him to fire me one, he did that and more.  He dropped a full on Top 25 on that ass for Team Us.  I usually curate content before I throw it up here, but I know Catf1sh brings the heat so I’ma be hearing these tracks for the first time like all of you.

Follow that man Catf1sh on twitter at www.twitter.com/catf1sh and peep his blog at Carl Winslow’s Hairline.

Here is the first installment, 25-16, more next week.

-Brock

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Basically, this post came to fruition when the homie Brock was posting something on Twitter about the other 2 niggas in Jodeci’s irrelevance. Maybe a day or so before that I posted the same exact question but about the other 2 niggas in Jagged Edge. Everyone knows what the twins do, similar to K-Ci & JoJo, but those other niggas bringing up the rear are about as useful as Tiger’s divorce lawyer. They just show up, take a cut of your dough, then bounce. Yeah.

So, Brock asked me to put together a list. 25 songs, no genres, no time frames. Just music that I love that you all might as well. If you don’t, who gives a shit? I know I don’t. Shall we?

25. All Star AKA Starlito – “Starlito’s Way”

No hook, just spitting. Figured we’d get this list off the right way. Starlito, as he goes by nowadays, is from Memphis and he’s no stranger to ripping a beat to shreds. This song has it all: shit talking, dope punchlines, and enough swagger on the track for a guy to say “You’re paying for my presence, the bars is free”. Carlito would be proud.

24. Lil Eddie – “Passing Time”

Kinda like the anti-love song R&B record, which is why I love it. Dude is basically singing to a chick telling her she has great pussy but they really don’t have a future together. When she tries to handcuff him, he’s like “Stop lying to yourself, you knew what this was.” What’s not to like about that.

23. Shyne – “The Life”

One of the best Shyne songs ever made, and a song where dude has his own identity, rather than being a Biggie clone. One of the eeriest things ever is to listen to the last verse of this record, then keeping in context all the trials and tribulations he had to deal with as a result of the Puffy/J. Lo shooting incident. Death before dishonor indeed.

22. The-Dream – “Love vs. Money Pt. 1”

Basically every man will have to decide between love and money at some point on his life. Women don’t have that problem, because other socioeconomic factors usually prevent money that they own from becoming an issue. But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about some dude taking Dream’s girl behind his back while he was out grinding making money trying to make her happy. Ungrateful bitch.

21. Lil B – “Real Life”

Lil B is one of my favorite new artists. Dude gets hated on unjustly, but songs like this one are why he’s rated so highly by myself and others who look past the whole Based thing. This song is a deep storytelling track about the ills of unprotected sex and drug addiction. If you don’t get the message behind the music on this one, you don’t have a soul.

20. Goo Goo Dolls – “Name”

This song has special meaning to me because my friend in college used to play this on the guitar and get all the white chicks fawning over him. I went thru a phase where I wanted that kind of attention that being a white guitar player brings you, and this was the only song that made me want to pick up a guitar and take guitar lessons. I never got around to it, but whenever I hear this song, it takes me back to that moment.

19. Usher – “Can U Handle It?”

The first pussy I got was to this song. Enough said.

18. Bilal – “Sometimes”

Being a Virgo, I tend to overanalyze things often. This song is like an extension of several thoughts that I have had at one point or another. Some of the stuff that you second guess and wonder how it would be different if sometimes you get the long end of the stick instead of the short end (pause). Also, the scat ending just kinda seals the deal for me.

17. Eminem, Stat Quo, Obie Trice & 50 Cent – “Spend Some Time”

Four rappers all with four different takes on women. Some of them are jaded by superstardom, such as 50’s verse. Others, particularly Em’s verse, come from a much more relatable position. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the consequences that arise when the time that you spend with someone just isn’t enough to them.

16. Trae – “Quit Calling Me”

Sometimes I just want alone time. Whenever I’m in one of those moods, this song sums up my views perfectly. I’m an asshole by nature.

-Catf1sh