"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
Photo: Jennings/WireImage On Friday, Rock Daily was pondering Lil Wayne’s impending trip to prison — and T.I.’s last days of incarceration — and asked our readers to muse on the concept of “Freedom” for our Weekend Rock List. The results are in, and they are pretty literal: seven of the Top 10 tracks include the word “Free,” though Bob Marley’s inspiring “Redemption Song” and Aretha Franklin’s “Think” also made the cut. Check out the list and our gallery of rock-star mug shots:
1. Neil Young – “Rockin’ In The Free World”
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
3. Tom Petty – “Free Fallin’”
4. Rush – “Freewill”
5. Queen – “I Want To Break Free”
6. R.E.M. – “Radio Free Europe”
7. Rage Against The Machine – “Freedom”
8. Bob Marley – “Redemption Song”
9. Bob Dylan – “I Shall Be Released”
10. Aretha Franklin – “Think”
Barring any more root canal surgeries or courthouse fires, this weekend will be Lil Wayne’s last as a free man before he’s officially sentenced to a year in jail on Monday. The day Weezy goes behind bars, T.I. will unveil his first post-penitentiary single, a celebration of his own freedom called “I’m Back.” As a tribute to the soon-to-be-incarcerated and the recently released, this weekend’s Rock List is dedicated to Freedom Songs. Tell us your favorites and on Monday we’ll tally the votes. Until then, here’s a handful of our picks and a gallery of rock-star mug shots:
• The Who – “I’m Free”
• George Michael – “Freedom! ‘90″
• Ween – “Freedom of ‘76″
• The Beatles – “Free as a Bird”
• Devo – “Freedom of Choice”
Photo: Haun/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Last week, in memory of Newcleus’ Chilly B and their hit “Jam On It,” we asked our readers to tell us their favorite 1980s hip-hop tracks. Public Enemy, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys rightfully dominated the list, but it was Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” that won the popular vote, beating out “It’s Tricky,” “Brass Monkey” and “The Breaks.”
1. Grandmaster Flash- “The Message”
2. Afrika Bambaataa – “Planet Rock”
3. Public Enemy – “Fight the Power”
4. Run-DMC – “It’s Tricky”
5. Beastie Boys – “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”
6. Public Enemy – “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”
7. Run-DMC – “Walk This Way”
8. Run-DMC – “King of Rock”
9. Kurtis Blow – “The Breaks”
10. LL Cool J – “I’m Bad”
11. Beastie Boys – “Brass Monkey”
12. Beastie Boys – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
13. Slick Rick- “Hey Young World”
14. De La Soul – “Me Myself and I”
15. Public Enemy – “Rebel Without A Pause”
Newcleus’ Robert “Chilly B” Crafton — who features in the electro classic “Jam On It,” above — passed away this Tuesday, February 23rd following a stroke, Newcleus’ MySpace page solemnly writes (via Pitchfork). He was 47. As “Jam On It” is one of our favorite jams, this week’s Rock List looks back at Newcleus and other icons of ’80s hip-hop. All styles, genres and subgenres are fair game, as long as they were recorded between 1980 and 1989. Leave your picks in the comments, and on Monday we’ll tally the votes. Until then, here’s a small sampling of our faves below:
• Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”
• Boogie Down Production – “The Bridge Is Over”
• Run-DMC – “My Adidas”
• Newcleus – “Jam On It”
• The Beastie Boys – “Paul Revere”
In memory of Bon Scott, the AC/DC frontman who passed away 30 years ago on February 19th, last week we asked our readers to tell us their favorite AC/DC songs spanning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s catalog. The results were split pretty evenly between songs featuring Scott and singer Brian Johnson, but in the end it was “Back in Black,” the title song from the first post-Scott album, that readers named AC/DC’s best, beating out “Dirty Deeds,” “T.N.T.” and “Shoot to Thrill”:
1. “Back In Black”
2. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
3. “You Shook Me All Night Long”
4. “Highway to Hell”
5. “Hell’s Bells”
6. “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)”
7. “Big Balls”
8. “Whole Lotta Rosie”
9. “T.N.T.”
10. “Jailbreak”
11. “Thunderstruck”
12. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”
13. “Shoot To Thrill”
14. “Let There Be Rock”
15. “Girls Got Rhythm”
Photo: Jennings/WireImage
Photo: Haun/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
Photo: Kane/Getty
