All Over Albany

My Exit: Josh Lewis

WEXT's My Exit is back. Every Monday night local listeners get to come into the station and program an hour of music. We thought it'd be fun to find out a little bit about these people and why they picked the songs on their play list.

Here's this week's My Exit DJ...

Who?
My name is Josh Lewis. I'm from Syracuse (go 'Cuse), but have lived in Albany since 2002. I am a voice over artist/host, and I am always looking for my next gig.

Musical taste:
My taste in music ranges all over the spectrum. It's actually easier for me to say that I do NOT like new country, but appreciate just about everything else. Personally, a fresh and new sound is always appealing.

A few songs from Josh's My Exit:
I chose some of my favorite songs from my youth and some I discovered and/or re-discovered in adulthood. The concept came from a mix-CD I made several years ago which I entitled "Back 2 It," as it brought me back to the old school stuff I grew up with. It is danceable, funny and contagiously fun music that also laid the foundations for a lot of the hip-hop/pop the kids listen to nowadays. I hope everyone enjoys it. I'd say it would be really hard not to, unless you just hate to have fun.

LL Cool J -- "Rock the Bells"
One of LL's greatest hits, but still a bit off the radar. Maybe it was a little too rough for the radio back in the day. It didn't have the crossover appeal that so many of LL's other hits had, but it blew my, and my friends', minds back in the day.

Oran "Juice" Jones -- "The Rain"
With a second verse that is all spoken word, as Oran tells his girl where she can go now that he caught her cheating, this is one of the funniest songs I have ever heard, but with a beat and hook that are super contagious. Another old school classic that too many people have never heard.

De La Soul -- "Buddy"
I just always loved DeLa because of their jazzy melodies and laid-back flow, and the fact they were sort of weirdoes, as opposed to tough guys, that were able to rap and rap well. This song is basically about physical contact, in the romantic sense, and who doesn't appreciate that...?

Boogie Down Productions -- "Jack of Spades"
KRS-1, just as Bradley from Sublime sang on "40 oz to Freedom," was the most intelligent, informative and interesting man alive in the mid-80s. As a result, he had my complete attention through much of the decade. When my friends and I saw the film, "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka", which this track was written for, I managed to hook my dad's stereo up to the TV and record the song on an audio cassette. It was that important... and hilarious!

You can hear Mike's My Exit show tonight at 8 on 97.7 or at exit977.org.

Here's how to schedule your own My Exit show on WEXT.