Whitney Houston has always sung my life’s soundtrack. I regret that I haven’t done a tribute to her up until now. My mother has begged me for 2 years to do a mix. I made a cd for her but I didn’t take the time to do a full fledged mix. I still remember when she brought home Whitney’s first album. She and my father would dance in the living room: slow dance and work the floor to her fast hits. When they would go out and leave me to babysit, I remember listening to her slow jams. I would sit, obsess over my latest crush, think and cry over the lyrics. As I grew older, Whitney Houston continued to touch my life with her music. Ever since I found out about her death, I have been devastated. My mother said that she thought I would do a good job with this mix and I really hope I did. Thank you Whitney. Thank you. And thank you Mommy. You have always guided my music life and I’m thankful that I had mother like you to show me what real music is and was.

Track Listing

1. I’m Every Woman
2. Million Dollar Bill
3. How Will I Know
4. I Wanna Dance With Somebody
5. I Get So Emotional
6. I’m Your Baby Tonight
7. My Name is Not Susan
8. It’s Not Right But Its Okay
9. Bobby Brown ft. Whitney Houston- We have Something In Common
10. One Of Those Days
11. My Love Is Your Love
12. HeartBreak Hotel ft. Faith Evans
13. Shoop Shoop
14. I Will Always Love You
15. Star-Spangled Banner
16. The Greatest Love Of All
17. When You Believe ft Mariah Carey
18. Run To You
19. Saving All My Love For You
20. You Give Good Love
21. Just The Lonely Talking Again
22. All At Once
23. Didn’t We Almost Have It All
24. I Believe In You And Me
25. Why Does It Hurt So Bad

(Explicit lyrics included)

Happy New Year Everybody! But before you say goodbye to last year…make sure you download my last mixtape for 2011. It’s full of tracks to keep you dancing because you know that’s what I love to do: make you dance!

Track Listing

1, Jay-Z & Kanye West – Niggas In Paris
2. Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj – Dance (A$$)
3. Tyga – Rack City
4. Drake ft Lil Wayne – The Motto
5. Mary J. Blige ft. Diddy, Lil Wayne – Someone To Love Me Naked
6. Frank Ocean – Novacane
7. Chris Brown – She Aint You
8. Beyoncé – Countdown
9. Jay-Z & Kayne West – Otis
10. Beyonce – Love On Top
11. J. Cole – Work Out
12. Lupe Fiasco – Out of My Head (ft. Trey Songz)
13. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
14. Pitbull Ft. Ne-Yo – Give Me Everything (Tonight)
15. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love
16. Beyonce  – Who Run This World (Girls)
17. Jill Scott Ft. Eve – Shame
18. Syleena Johnson – A Boss
19. Monica ft Rick Ross & Lil Kim – Anything (to find you)
20. Beyonce-Party (Ft. Andre 3000 & Kanye West)
21. Rick Ross ft Nicki Minaj – You The Boss
22. J Cole ft Trey Songz – Can’t Get Enough
23. YC Ft Wiz Khalifa – Racks on Racks (Remix)
24. Waka Flocka Flame – No Hands ft Wale Roscoe Dash
25. Meek Mill ft Rick Ross – Im A Boss
26. DJ Khaled – I’m On One
27. Drake – Headline

What I’m feeling now, feels like what I was feeling back then. I hope it comes across in the mix and I hope my special person likes it

Here’s the calendar if you need to know how much time you have left LOL

Seems like there’s a lot of heart break going on…myself included lol.

I have been working on a package for my BFF’s daughter and I noticed that she had a lot of female rock singers included in her request list. That got the wheels turning and during one particularly emotional session, I came up with this mix. With some of my favorite female rockers, I made this mixtape to give you something to cry about and get mad at the person at the same time. Time heals all wounds, so if it seems like tonight is particularly bad, cry it out and resolve to get over it tomorrow. That’s how I deal with heartbreak and this mix helped me alot.

I hope it helps you too!

Adele – Someone Like You
Natasha Beddingfield – Soulmate
Alicia Keys – Sleeping With a Broken Heart
Dido – White Flag
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
Alanis Morrisette – You Oughta Know
Pink – Just Like A Pill
Ace of Base – Don’t Turn Around
No Doubt – Dont´t Speak
Evanescence – My Immortal
Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry
Sheryl Crow – If It Makes You Happy
Melissa Etheridge – I’m The Only One
Madonna – Take A Bow
Rhianna – Take A Bow
Beyonce – Irreplaceable
Annie Lennox – Why
Gwen Stefani – Cool

Hey Everybody! This week is another “your favorite blogger’s, favorite DJ” mix. I have had the good fortune of knowing Lynne D Johnson (virtually) for quite a number of years. First in the Blog world when I started out 7 years ago on Blogspot,  but for the last 4 years I have followed her on Twitter, and I also had the luck of winning a book with the foreword written by her. Lynne was one of the first users on Spotify , and she and I began to enjoy each other’s playlists.

Through Facebook and Twitter, I was invited to celebrate her birthday at Negril’s in the village hosted by Big Ced and The Industry Cosign.  It my first time meeting her in person and she has a personality in real life that is as large as her virtual one!  Lynne took me by surprise when she said  ”Diva..I want you to make me a mix.” And she was serious! So over the weekend I took her most popular Spotify playlist and fashioned a mix for her of late 90′s hip hop.

I really hope she likes it. After years of blog and social media contact, it felt good to hug her in the flesh and to be able to do something just for her. Please read her Bio after the track listing to get a glimpse into how awesome she is! if you blog or use social media for your company, she’s a great asset to learn from.

This is for you Lynne! Love ya!

Track Listing:

Bio

Lynne d Johnson is a Senior Social Media Strategist at R/GA, the digital agency of the decade. She was formerly SVP, Social Media for the Advertising Research Foundation, where she was responsible for expanding the ARF’s social media presence, and managing the ARF Social Media Council. In her role there, she also guided members on how they could best utilize social media to gain insights and achieve their business objectives.

Prior to the ARF, she was Senior Editor & Community Director for Fastcompany.comwhere she oversaw both content and community functionality, and wrote the Digital Media Diva blog. Also a consultant, Lynne works with Web and media properties on content, brand, and social media development and strategy. She’s also a sought after speaker, and has presented keynotes and moderated panels around the world about the future of media, web 2.0, women in tech, African-Americans in tech, hip-hop, and the intersection of music and technology.

Before Fast Company, Lynne served as the General Manager, New Media for VIBE,SPIN, and VIBE Vixen where she managed marketing, editorial, production, business development, and sales operations for the magazine’s Web sites and mobile properties.

As both a professional journalist and blogger, Lynne has written for various online and offline properties. She has written for Cool Hunting, techPresident, Black Web 2.0, The Daily Voice, RushmoreDrive, Popgadget, VIBE, VIBE Vixen, PAPER, SPIN,Popmatters, The Source, New York Press, URB, XLR8R, and many other print and online publcations, including the now defunct Silicon Alley Daily, Digital Music Weekly, Artbyte, One World, and (ai) magazine.

Also a published poet and essayist, Lynne has been published in Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam, edited by Tony Medina and Louis Reyes Rivera (Three Rivers Press: 2001), Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004: The Year’s Finest Writing On Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Pop, Country, & More (Da Capo Press: 2004), and Etiquette: Reflections on Contemporary Comportment, edited by Ron Scapp and Brian Seitz (SUNY Press: 2006). A new essay entitled, “My’Pod Peeps: Why The iPod And Other Gadgets Are Fashion Staples In The ‘Hood,” will be published in Fashion Statements, also edited by Seitz and Scapp.

She also recently wrote the foreward for Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand, by Shel Holtz and John C. Havens (Wiley, 2008). She was the technical editor for Google Voice For Dummies, by Bud E. Smith and Chris Dannen, and was a contributing technical editor to the second edition of The Social Media Bible.

Since 2001 Lynne has published Lynne d Johnson || Diary, the winner of the 2006 Black Weblog Awards Black Blogger Achievement Award, and maintains a style blog – Change Clothes — as well as another website, BlackThoughtware.org, that was inspired by a column she once wrote for Popmatters. She also currently blogs ARF Social Media Insights at MediaBizBloggers.

When not working on Web and writing projects, Lynne is an adjunct professor in theAudrey Cohen School for Human Services at the Metropolitan College of New York, where she most recently taught Self-Assessment Through Writing and Technology in the Bachelor of Arts in American Urban Studies program. Previous courses taught included, The Sociology of Group Behavior, Systems for Learning and Communication, and Promoting Empowerment Through Teaching and Communication in the Bachelor of Professional Studies program.

She formerly taught at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, in the instructional technology tract of its MS program in Urban and Multicultural Education, where she also developed the curriculum for a special projects course called “Technology, Culture and Communication.” She also taught basic media production in the school’s BA program in Communication. In addition, Lynne taught computer skills in community-based organizations and assisted in the creation and publishing of web-based literacy education projects for both students and teachers on the Web.

Some of her past gigs include, technology reporter and editor at BlackPlanet.com, the leading African-American community-based Web site; associate editor of Digital New York, an online and offline publication for creatives working in print and Web design, digital photography and digital video; and managing editor of Beat Down, a hip-hop publication. Lynne was also the Editor-At-Large for Mosaic Literary Magazinefor many years.

Lynne earned a BA in Journalism from SUNY New Paltz, with two-and-a-half years of her coursework concentrated in information systems. She also holds an advanced certificate in Multicultural Studies from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, and an MBA in Media Management from the Metropolitan College of New York.

She currently serves on the advisory boards of BlackWeb20.com and Girls In Tech New York, and is a Key Influencer for Interactive One and on the standards board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium. She’s also a co-founder of the The New York Android Software Developers Meetup. In the past, she was on the Board of Directors of the Literary Freedom Project, and the advisory boards for Ypulse Urban/Multicultural Mashup ’09 and BlogHer Business ’08.