The Aquarium

Here we go again, paying tribute to musicians born under the same zodiac sign, another air sign in fact. Outside of Libra, we found Aquarius to have the next extensive and impressive list of musicians so we had to show them some love. It helps that three of the Aquarius that made our playlist are native Detroiters.

Singer, songwriter, producer Leon Ware (Feb 16th), who may be best known for co-writing and co-producing Marvin Gaye’s I Want You album (he also co-wrote Maxwell’s Sumthin Sumthin) is on the list with a remake of his song Rockin You Eternally remade by Jazzanova featuring fellow Detroiter and Aquarius Dwele (Feb 14th) on vocals. Dwele is also included on Dime Piece, one of the tunes we included by Detroit’s and the world’s eminent hip-hop producer, J. Dilla (Feb 7th) as well as his lead single, Find a Way from his debut album Subject.

We begin the playlist, however, with an operatic piece by the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan 27th), Serenade No. 13 in G Major, then we appropriately hit you with the psychedelic hit by The 5th Dimension, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In. Songs 3-7 begin our tribute to J. Dilla with tracks produced for himself, Slum Village, Common and The Pharcyde. Songs 8-10 feature sounds by J. Dilla’s fellow Soulquarians artists D’Angelo (Feb 11th), James Poyser (Jan 30th) w/Erykah Badu and also fellow Aquarius, DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jan 22nd).

Songs 11-16 offer us our hip-hip segment starting with a two for one Aquarius combo of Rapsady (Jan 21st) and Anderson Paak (Feb 8th) with OooWee; J. Cole’s (Jan 28th) Apparently; Eric B. & Rakim’s (Jan 28th) Move the Crowd; Ice-T’s (Feb 16th) 6’N the Mornin’; Dr. Dre’s (Feb 18th) Talking to My Diary; and Rick Ross’ (Jan 28th) Push It.

Songs 17- 22 make up the pop/R & B segment with Justin Timberlake’s (Jan 31st)Cry Me a River followed by Kelly Rowland’s (Feb 11th) Motivation; Khalid’s (Feb 11th) Location; Brandy’s (Feb 11th) Angel in Disguise; Alicia Keys (Jan 25th) Un-thinkable (I’m Ready); and The Weekend’s (Feb 16th) Earned It.

We finish things out starting with some reggae featuring the legendary Bob Marley (Feb 6th) with Could You be Loved, song number 23, then the British sensation Ed Sheeran (Feb 17th) with Shape of You at song number 24. Song number 25 finds us coming back to the Detroit region with Ann Arbor native Mayer Hawthorne’s (Feb 2nd) Time for Love. For songs 26-28 we go back in the day with Rick James’ (Feb 1st) Give it to me Baby; Outkast’s (Big Boi Feb 1st) The Way You Move; and Bobby Brown’s (Feb 5th) Every Little Step. Songs 29 & 30 are the aforementioned sounds featuring Dwele, Find a Way and Rockin’ You Eternally and the last song, tune 31 which sounds like a finale song, is In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins (Jan 30th). Have yourself a Happy Ears experience!