Although I’ve always respected Eminem for his MCing and for what he’s accomplished, I’ve never been a mega-fan. I became a believer, however, with his Mosh video below, a protest song against George W. Bush before the 2004 election. It was an inspiring call to arms or rather a call to get out and vote. It gave me chills the first time I saw it and still does today. Check out the video below.

I love it when artists explicitly weave social messages into their music.  Eminem released Mosh early before his album Encore in late 2004 to influence the youth to vote against Bush and the war. This one is definitely a favorite of mine. It shows that Eminem is not content to sit still and watch the world go to hell. He rose to the occasion to motivate others to make the right change.

Check out more of Eminem’s latest album below and click through to the offer page where you can get the downloads, deluxe packages, vinyl, t-shirts, hoodies, autographed prints, and high-quality audio-file formats.

Topspin had the honor of digitally shepherding this wonderful album out to the world. Listen to the full album for free in the player above and click-through to purchase. More offers include physical CDs, videos, films, digital art, lyrics, bonus songs, screensavers, and hard bound books. Go straight to the order page. The album feels like a tapestry of funky, soulful, gospel, rock grooves with a nice variety of tempo and melodies. It’s a classic. I’ve been listening to it over and over again, and it just keeps getting better. Wise men say talking about music is like dancing to architecture. Clearly I’m not doing it justice in words so click Play above and listen to your hearts content.

As the purpose of this blog is to give major props, I have to give a massive shout out to my Topspin team. Unfortunately, only one person reads this blog, so it’s a shame I couldn’t give the team a louder shout. We started working on David and Brian’s release less than two months before it went live. The team built significant, new systems and rose to the challenge to deliver a quality product and user experience. I’m blessed to have the pleasure and privilege of working with such an amazing team of music technology professionals. The bonus is that we’re having sweet fun in the process. We’re bringing our domain experience, sweat, passion, and love to what Topspin’s main man, Ian Rogers, call’s “God’s work.” Ian does a better job describing the story of the Byrne Eno release here. There’s so much more to do and improve on our end, and I’m super psyched to be working with this team for the long haul, the best I’ve ever worked with. I better stop gushing before someone hates on me for bragging about my peeps. But this blog is about Mad Respect. If you came here for excessive veneration, idolization, and mounting people on pedestals then you’re in the right place. If you came here to be snarky, I can’t help you.

Click play and enjoy the tunes!

It’s been a wonderful three years celebrating life at the Sweetspot. The time has come to move out and give the space back to the new owners who took over recently. We’ve had a beautiful era at the space and are grateful for everyone’s presence and contribution to the Sweetspot experience.

After Simone and I built it out, the Sweetspot hatched Topspin and served as a creative space for the greater community headz including intentional gatherings, cultural movements, design explosions, dance trouping, holiday dinners, and just plain music fun. Topspin is moving literally around the corner on 20th and Colorado with more space and better parking. Stop by and visit anytime. There’ll be some familiar flavor in the new Topspin digs since we can’t help ourselves.

If you’ve ever appreciated what you’ve seen in the Sweetspot space from power tools, 20 foot bamboo, large screens, paintings, dressers, stools, bookcases, audio gear, appliances, or furniture, feel free to make an offer. It will most likely be sold out or donated in the next week. You can check out pics of stuff around the space here

In the meantime Sweetspot will live again in another day with a new beginning…