Seven Blazin' Summertime Joints That Aren't "Summertime"

During June, July, and August (and even including a few sweat-inducing days in late May), the temperatures rise stratospherically, and as a result, we trade in our rugged Timberlands for sandals and kicks, dump our hot chocolate in favor of chocolate ice cream cones, and Sunday home-cooked dinners turn into outdoor brunches and barbecues on the beach. The extended daylight recharges our energy, and as a result, are moods are livelier and happier (take that, winter depression!).  

Music connoisseurs like as myself tend to mentally compile and shuffle personal soundtrack for every mind frame, mood, or place that we’re in. Of course, this includes  the summertime, and I’m sure that the eponymous, Grammy Award winning 1991 hit by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince lands in everyone’s top 5 “summer jam” list (you know, that track that you HAVE to play at least three times during these sultry months because it captures how fly you thought you were when you finally threw on a pair of fresh, white Air Force Ones for the first time all year, or that euphoric feeling doing the Electric Slide with your grandmother during one of your weekly cookouts). But you know what? There are some other songs that also effectively encapsulate those special summertime moments. Check out the joints I’ve listed that serve that purpose for me. This isn’t a numbered, all-inclusive list, but you will see something old, something new, something borrowed, and something…Drake. You’ve been warned. 

“Ice Cream”- Raekwon f/ Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Cappadonna

I was just a chocolate deluxe in training when this song debuted. However, the concoction is mainstay on my summer playlist because it’s a humorously blatant reminder of how the hot sun brings the wolves out: you know, the brothers itching to get a minute (literally, haha) with the fly honey traipsing the city streets rocking those tight, denim short-shorts. Even as a young girl, I knew that if a dude came at me the way that Starky Luv or Cappa did on the track that he would not get any play from me (“I love you like I love my d*ck size” ? No, thanks!) except a big smile for making me laugh.