In a recent interview, Spotify founder and CEO, Daniel Ek, made some comments that were quite the slap in the face for music artists and many music fans alike, the key quote from him being:
“…you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.”
He goes on to discuss the evolving nature of the music industry, claiming that successful artists today are the ones who create a “continuous engagement with their fans”.
Firstly, the timing of these comments from Mr Ek was not ideal – poking at artists for not churning out enough material during a pandemic, in which thousands of artists and other proponents of the industry are struggling, isn’t the best look.
I understand that the soaring popularity of streaming services has had a direct effect on the way music is created, the nature of the music itself, and the distribution process (as I mentioned in my blog post last month!). However, Daniel Ek’s blanket statements completely undermines the value of music as more than just a product, or a commodity. It’s in their name – music artists make art. You’d think that Spotify would want to present themselves as a platform that celebrates music as art, and supports both the artist as well as respects the listeners. Despite this, Ek’s comments belittle the listeners, like they are toddlers who will lose interest if not continuously fed with new music.
There are plenty of hugely successful artists who spread out their releases over multiples years. Ed Sheeran had 3 year gaps between his album releases. Frank Ocean’s 4 year gap between Channel Orange and Blonde seemed to add extra excitement, attention and adoration to the latter release.
Of course, these examples come from very big, well-established artists, who started their careers before streaming really dominated music consumption. Having said that, Billie Eilish waited nearly a whole year after her debut album (the biggest album of 2019 boasting over 2 billion streams), before she released any new music.
Ultimately, Daniel’s statements ignore the diversity of valid routes available to an artist for advancing their career. For a lot of artists, regular online engagement, and frequent releases is definitely the way to go. However, monthly releases may work for some, but not for all. Even in a Spotify-heavy landscape, I still believe that a lot of music fans, me included, would rather get one incredible album every three years, rather than more frequent mediocre projects.
Speaking of… it has been 4 YEARS since Frank Ocean’s Blonde?!?!
Rejjie’s debut album Dear Annie is one of my favourite projects ever, and this is the first new music he has released since that 2017 album. In fact, it’s chilled and groovy vibe makes it seem like it could seamlessly fit into that album – what’s not to like! I’m looking forward to seeing if Rejjie takes any risks in his upcoming new project.
Can you by 박혜진 Park Hye Jin
This is my favourite track off Hye Jin’s new EP, an artist born in Seoul who is now living in LA. She merges lots of different genres across the EP. This song includes both Korean and English vocals, which bounce over pulsing drums and smooth synths.
Freeze Tag by Dinner Party feat. Phoelix
‘Dinner Party’, the newly formed supergroup involving Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper and 9th Wonder, combines all of their expertise in soul, jazz and hip hop to make this gorgeous debut project. On this particular song, the summery and enchanting instrumental contrasts with the poignant lyrics about police brutality (“They told me put my hands up behind my head / I think they got the wrong one / I’m sick and tired of runnin'”).
Shine by Joey Bada$$
The soul sample and quality lyricism on this third song from the new ‘bundle’ of tracks released just the other day, harks back to Joey’s earlier work. As a foreword to his upcoming album which he claims will be his best yet, it does not disappoint!
Acid by Jockstrap
Vocalist Georgia and producer Taylor form this UK-based duo. This EP, released with Warp Records, is full of contrasting sounds. The song I have chosen here is on the more melancholic, whimsical side, which starkly juxtaposes the darker song that precedes it on the project featuring Injury Reserve. For a more experimental listen I recommend this EP!
During my first week as a summer intern at Infectious PR, I did a lot of research into how Spotify’s algorithmic playlists work. This highlighted the how the relationship between the artist and mediums through which they release their music can influence each other. For an up and coming artist creating music today, the prominence of streaming services and how they work can influence not just their marketing strategy and how they engage with their fans, but also the music-making process and decisions themselves.
The role of technology in the music industry stretches way back before streaming. When the gramophone record was the standard format of consuming music, it had a capacity of about 3-5 minutes per side. This physical limitation imposed a restriction on the length of a piece of music the artist could record.
Following from this, the 12 inch vinyl record could hold 44 minutes of recording in total across both sides. If an artist wanted to release an album longer than 44 minutes, they could do so via a double album release, but this was often discouraged by labels because it was considered less marketable. This is an example of how the nature of the music technology influenced the artist’s creative output.
Fast forward to today, and streaming dominates the music listening world. Spotify’s algorithms can be used by an artist and their team to boost the artist’s number of streams, translating into overall growth. There are many different elements and models to these algorithms, that all contribute to the user experience.
One example, is that a stream of a song only counts on Spotify if the user listens past the 30 second mark. This may influence the artist’s musical choices in that they may be swayed away from having a long introduction on a song, and towards making the song as immediately engaging as possible within the first few seconds.
Additionally, with access to an almost terrifying amount of music at our fingertips, the listener’s patience may have reduced, leading to them to favour shorter projects, as they don’t have the focus to sit and listen to an album that is over an hour long. The releases of albums produced by Kanye West in 2018 comes to mind, including his own 23-minute album ye, a 21-minute album DAYTONA produced for Pusha T, and a 22-minute album K.T.S.E. produced for Teyana Taylor.
To give another example, one algorithm model that Spotify uses to create the user’s personalised Discover Weekly playlist, is they use all their user’s listening data to identify their tastes, and which users listen to similar artists. Put simply, if two users listen to similar artists, and User A listens to an artist User B doesn’t, then it is likely that artist will appear on User B’s discover Weekly. As well as tracking user activity, Spotify crawls everything on the internet, from social media to blogs to Wikipedia, to identify key words about each artist and which artists are typically associated with which genres and artists. The fact that streaming services operate in this way may encourage artists to create music that is similar to what is already popular, so that they can jump on these trends, make it onto the big playlists, and so on.
Some more avid music fans may feel disappointed at the thought that artists are creatively influenced by the way streaming services operate. Shouldn’t the artist be making the music they want to make, regardless of how it might be received, or how it fits into the current landscape? I certainly wouldn’t want my favourite artists abandoning their own music judgement in favour of pursuing a structure that will get them more streams from the algorithms.
Despite this, as I have shown, technology has always influenced musical creation, going back to gramophones and probably before. So perhaps it’s just one trend that will inevitably morph into another when the next big way of consuming music comes around. I am also hopeful that if an artist is truly creating great music, this will be picked up on, noticed, and loved even if it happens to have a super long introduction, or be very un-spotify-playlist-worthy.
It has been about a month since I gave a little update on what songs I’m enjoying at the moment, so here are some of the tunes that are stuck on repeat for me.
Rose Rouge by Jorja Smith
Blue Note Records, the legendary jazz label, have announced their Blue Note Re:imaginedcollection. This will feature reworks of classic Blue Note tracks recorded by current and uprising UK talent. This version of the track originally released by St Germain in 2000 (and sampled from Marlena Shaw’s 1973 album), is the lead single for this upcoming collection.
Friday 13th by Gorillaz feat. Octavian
Gorillaz have been collaborating with other artists over the past few months for their ‘Song Machine’ series. They have pretty much been dropping songs with accompanying videos randomly and unpredictably. You never know when they’ll surprise us with another one – a refreshing approach to releasing new music. This is the fourth song in the series, and took me a few listens to really get into. It’s chilled-out dreaminess combined with Octavian’s raspy vocals makes for a great listen.
Lockdown by Anderson.Paak
Paak released this powerful reflection on Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the liberation of slaves on June 19th 1865. It centres around the recent Black Lives Matter protests, and their accompanied backdrop of the virus. The stripped-back yet funky instrumental puts the spotlight on the lyrics. In one poignant line he calls out the media’s focus on looting which distracts from the true important cause: “And won’t you tell me ’bout the lootin? What’s that really all about? ‘Cause they throw away black lives like paper towels.” The music video is a must-watch too – it authentically encompasses the experiences of many right now.
Tape by Starchild & The New Romantic feat. Toro y Moi
I think I found this single because of the Toro y Moi feature, and the full album was released last week. Starchild, A.K.A Bryndon Cook, was a touring guitarist with Solange, no less! It’s a moody, groovy, crossover between indie and R&B. I’m excited to listen to the newly released album and maybe exploring some of Starchild’s back catalogue too.
Catkin and Teasel by µ-Ziq
To throw in a slightly different recommendation, that may not be for everyone, here is a track I found in the middle of my deep essay-writing hole last month. It is from the 1997 album Lunatic Harness released by electronic producer Mike Paradinas under his stage name µ-Ziq. This song has so many intricacies, from the unpredictable drums to the soothing melodies – it’s a journey!
For my next post, I cannot pass over the prominence that the Black Lives Matter movement has taken in the media, as well as on the streets globally, in the past week. Despite coming from a Jewish background, which has ingrained in me a certain level of caution because of my identity (e.g. I won’t wear a Star of David necklace on public transport just in case), this is something I can choose to hide: I benefit in all aspects of my life because I am white. For me, as a privileged white person, the murders of George Floyd & Breonna Taylor in particular has been a catalyst that has prompted a genuine shift to questioning my own biases, as well as educating myself thoroughly and consistently. However, the fact that this shift only happened to this extent last week signposts the privilege that I have, because real people have been facing these very real issues every single day for years and years.
“You cannot enjoy the rhythm and ignore the blues.”
The quote in the title of this post comes from Amanda Seales, and was brought to my attention this week by BBC Radio Broadcaster Clara Amfo. I must not simply enjoy playing Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright‘ at a party having never taken on the uncomfortable task of learning about the pain that led to the lyrics. Music has been used by black artists for decades to voice their experiences, and therefore I want to use this post as a starting point to really dig into some music, to listen, understand, and unpack my own bias.
Of course it is impossible for me to do any song, album, or genre justice in this small space, so I will start by focusing in on 3 songs, 2 of which I have listened to a lot, but this time I will really dive into what they are expressing. The 3rd was released only a few days ago. Each individual has their own unique, complicated experience. This is why I feel that, in tandem with highlighting statistics, elevating individual stories can create a lasting impact, which ripples out ultimately leading to a fairer, more equal world.
Before reading my contribution to the conversation, please take at look at the following resources (and more!) from black voices first:
This song combines a message of hope, with the backdrop of a long history of black oppression that continues in the present day (“And we hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the streets for sure”). When released, it became an anthem chanted regularly at BLM protests. The lyrics, as well as the music video, show Kendrick being weighed down by the painful reality of police brutality (“I can see the evil, I can tell it, I know it’s illegal”).
The video, showing life in a Californian neighbourhood, is both harrowing, as well as empowering when looking to the future. In response to the claim that anti-police lyrics just make things worse, Kendrick responded “the senseless acts of killing of these young boys out there… This is reality, this is my world, this is what I talk about in my music.”
This song encompasses the severe pain faced by black communities, but Kendrick wanted to make an uplifting anthem that reminds these communities how strong they are.
This song is from Solange’s 2016 album, A Seat At The Table, and explores a common micro-aggression in which someone asks to touch a black person’s (especially black woman’s) hair, which is usually masked as a compliment. This action is intrusive, disrespectful, and denies black people agency over their own body.
Discrimination and black hair has a long history. The texture of black hair was used to justify the enslavement of Africans between 16th and 19th centuries. In 18th century Louisiana black women legally had to cover their hair. Black women today are still discriminated against because of the way their hair looks (“They don’t understand / What it means to me / Where we choose to go / Where we’ve been to know“). For example, black women in the UK have been subject to colleagues and bosses viewing their natural hair is ‘unprofessional’ for work.
By picking out this experience, Solange declares enough is enough. She will not be an object of fascination. She rejects white-centric standards of beauty and refuses to be ashamed of her own body.
Released just a week ago, the narrative in this song is all the more chilling to listen to in the context of George Floyd’s murder. Killer Mike’s discussion of police brutality that so many people only experience in a desensitised way, through watching events on the news, feels like he is describing last week’s events exactly: “And every day on the evening news, they feed you fear for free / And you so numb, you watch the cops choke out a man like me / Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, ‘I can’t breathe”.
This verse was recorded towards the end of 2019, and Mike is alluding to Eric Garner’s last words, who was choked by a policeman, trying to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes, nearly six years ago in New York City. This serves to show just how common this narrative is. Even if, up until recently, I have only really been aware of the cases that are highlighted in the media every so often, this systemic oppression of black people has been happening every single day. Whether it is extreme police brutality or more subtle micro-aggressions. This is a horror that is not just experienced through the TV, it is inflicting suffering daily.
In the opening verse of the song, El-P asserts “Funny fact about a cage, they’re never built for just one group / So when that cage is done with them and you still poor, it come for you / The newest lowest on the totem, well golly gee, you have been used / You helped to fuel the death machine that down the line will kill you too“. These lines stood out to me personally because they express a similar message to the famous post-war ‘First they came…’ poem that is often used in Holocaust education. It calls for collective action. Even if you are not being directly affected by certain issues right now, we all have a responsibility to make a change. We must stand up for our fellow human beings, simply because they are our fellow human beings.
Myself and my fellow final-year students are on the home stretch to finishing our degrees. It is not ideal that we can’t all be together right now to cross the finish line as one, but this hasn’t stopped us from reflecting on the past three years and how amazing they have been. Music has been a constant throughout my time at Bristol, whether it’s through my earphones to get me through endless hours in the library, or being blasted through our student home. Everybody has their own personal relationship with certain songs, and music can often transport you to a particular time or memory.
So, I have collaborated with some pals from uni to create a sort of time capsule of musical memories. Each person has picked one song that reminds them most of being at uni, accompanied with a small reflection on why. Enjoy!
Olly: Good Night by Denzel Curry feat. Twelve’len & Nell
“Little did I know when I first heard this way back in 2017 that it would go onto become a song that is synonymous with my university experience. The song transports me back to a late Monday night in a packed flat 5; surrounded by unfamiliar smiles, awkward laughter and the smell of cheap alcohol. Denzel captures this ‘pres’ mood perfectly with the lyrics “Everybody have a good night We gon’ make it to the daylight” and as soon as I hear those lines, my head floods with memories of all the intoxicated fun we’ve had. The song has all the ingredients for the perfect trap banger; a stank-face-inducing beat, an infectious hook and the lyrics aren’t too bad either! In conclusion, this song slaps.“
Saskia: Crazy Dream by Tom Misch feat. Loyle Carner
“This track was released about a year before we started uni and this was the time when Tom Misch and Loyle Carner were increasing in popularity. This song is very versatile, which is demonstrated by the many different situations I remember listening to it in: it was big feature of our 1st year ‘pres’ playlist, we listened to it during afternoons spent on The Downs in the sun, at afters in Hiatt Baker flats. Finally, it reminds me of when the girls and I saw Loyle Carner and were right at the front.”
Ethan: Touch by Hybrid Minds feat. Tiffani Juno
“For me, university (2 East, 2 Royal York Villas, 12 West Park, Bristol, home) was the place I went to be free. Whether I was running around brazen drunk in the corridors of Manor Hall, watching The Chase in Clifton Village or chatting shit in a small kitchen off Whiteladies Rd., I will always associate Bristol with fantastic experiences that taught me a great deal. I’ve chosen ‘Touch’ by Hybrid Minds because it’s the sort of song I’d hear at Motion, swallowed by a pulsing crowd alongside JP, or at Tokyo World with 12 West, exhausted with sun-stroke. It’s also not a song I’d have discovered by myself and that’s the other thing: Bristol and the people I met there showed me things I would not have experienced or learnt on my own. I’ll always cherish those lessons and will remember them fondly whenever I hear this song.”
Simrah: Caroline by Aminé
“Hearing this song takes me right back to my first year in Bristol. I hadn’t even heard of Aminé before uni, but my flatmate in first year (@Max) played it so much that I now know most of his songs off by heart. This song was a big feature of ‘pres’ in 1st and 2nd year and always gets everyone in a good mood.”
Lukas: Passionfruit by Yaeji
“An upbeat, pure vibes bop with an element of nostalgia, a perfect representation of the university experience. I have listened to this over 100 times in the last 6 months and can’t get enough, and this is similar to how I feel about uni: if only it lasted longer!“
Ella: Temperature by Sean Paul
“I don’t know when and I don’t know why, but at some point during the first year of our uni experience, this song just became synonymous with the happy times. We now all know this song so well that within hearing the first half a second of the intro we know what’s coming.Whenever this song comes on it is inevitable that big grinning smiles and highly energetic dancing will follow.“
Lewis: Barking by Ramz
“This song came out in December of first year and was played all the time everywhere. It was a good pres song that set the right vibe. Anytime I hear it, it just reminds me of first year, being in halls, meeting new friends and having fun!”
Max: Chill Bill by Rob $tone feat. J. Davi$ & Spooks
“From the first listen on a Daily Mix whilst walking from the U1 bus stop to Durdham in Freshers week, I became addicted to the haunting whistle sample leading into a cold trap beat. Attempting to highlight my individuality, I played this song consistently at every pres in Flat 5 (I realised much later that this song has over 250 million plays on Spotify). This song will always act as a place marker on a happy time in my life.”
Me: Ghost Town by Kanye West feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR
“This song frames my university experience, having significance both in my first and final year as a student. The album, ‘ye’, came out about a week before the end of 1st year, and it was played A LOT during that window of celebrations. 070 Shake’s beautiful echoing singing is at the forefront on the outro, and the lyric ‘we’re still the kids we used to be’ takes on its own personal meaning for me in this context of reflecting, moving on and getting older. This song also takes me full circle through my uni experience, as we got to see 070 Shake perform this song live during our final year of university.What a song!”
I hope you have enjoyed delving into some personal snapshots from our past three years. It’s been quite healing to reflect and think about all this, since we weren’t able to experience the grand goodbye that we had hoped for.
We may be moving on to a new stage but these memories aren’t going anywhere!
Being as I’ve been sitting at my desk every day working, I have been putting in the hours when it comes to listening – according to spotify.me, I’ve listened to 1,438 minutes on spotify in the last 6 days! Having looked at my recent posts, I realised I haven’t done a more recent review of what I’m liking. So for the first post of the month (sorry for the mini-hiatus), I’ve gathered the five songs that have indeed been stuck on repeat.
Click here to be taken to a spotify playlist containing these 5 songs.
1. Lyk U Use 2 by Moodymann feat. Andres
This is in no way a new song, it was released in 2014, so I am very much late to the party on this one. I heard it for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I was listening to a sort of online festival that was broadcast on NTS Radio. It is super upbeat and I love the vocal delivery, definitely one to dance away lockdown to.
2. claws by Charli XCX
I have definitely over-played this single. The heavy-hitting beat carries Charli’s playful voice. It was one of Charli’s singles which teased the released of her quarantine project, which was released a few days ago. I recommend the whole project, it definitely didn’t disappoint!
3. Time (You and I) by Khruangbin
Disco, summer, groovy. This is the lead single for the album Khruangbin are releasing next month. It features vocals which makes a change for this band, who’s previous music has been heavily instrumental. I also recommend the music video!
4. Hurts Me Too by Faye Webster
I literally only listened to this album for the first time yesterday (having seen a recommendation on YouTube channel ‘Deep Cuts’), and I think I’ve listened to it at least 6 or 7 times already. It’s a slight departation from the more electronic stuff I’ve been listening to recently, as it centers around more folk/country influences (but it still has hints of soul which is probably partly why I like it). Found it hard to pick one song, the whole album is gorgeous and I’m bit addicted to it at the moment.
5. You’re Too Precious by James Blake
James Blake again, not a big surprise here! It took a few listens to get into this new single, but it is a really interesting, soothing, lovey dovey song. According to my spotify stats I’ve listened to it a lot recently so made sense to include in this month’s collection.
Click here to be taken to a spotify playlist containing these 5 songs.
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Got a few post ideas up my sleeve and am aiming post a bit more frequently in the coming weeks 🙂
The following post was written in order to procrastinate from writing an essay – enjoy!
Reporting in from my writing cave
I have been thinking about the topic of ‘aesthetic appreciation’ (which is essentially admiring beauty in things like art and nature) in my philosophy course. This includes questions like: ‘are all aesthetic judgements valid?’; ‘can we be objectively wrong about judgements of beauty, or about opinions on art?’; ‘is an opinion backed up by knowledge more valid than one that isn’t?’.
These sorts of thoughts can translate nicely into a discussion on music. Music critics, review websites, and YouTubers are held of high authority for a lot of music-lovers. If a new album receives a rating of 5/10 on Pitchfork, a lot of people may be deterred from giving it a listen. But do these sorts of numerical ratings actually make any sense? How possible is it that you could listen to an album that was slated by critics yet you end up absolutely loving it?
I think it’s really interesting to think about the process of a consumer listening to a song/album for the first time, and how their interactions, preconceptions and understanding of context affects their judgements about what they hear.
Music, as well as art in general, is such a personal experience, both for the creator and the consumer. I’m not too sure if it’s ever conceivable that somebody could objectively judge a piece of music, removing all of their personal preferences, life experiences, and even musical knowledge from the equation to judge what they hear completely as it comes. I guess, just as the listener enters into a music moment with an inescapable bias of preference and personal experience, the artist themselves created their music in the midst of a web of their own preference and context. Subjectivity is simply part of an aesthetic experience for both creators and non-creators alike.
Despite all this, we do trust certain people’s opinions on music. I am more likely to listen to a hip-hop recommendation by a world-renowned hip-hop DJ who was around during the birth of the genre, compared to a recommendation by a 12-year-old who has found an album they like to dance to. But what really grounds this preference? I think what is at the core of this is the added appreciation someone can get out of listening to some music when they have some sort of added knowledge about the historical, personal and artistic context. There are certain things you can never know about the ins-and-outs of an album just by listening to it. Something like the ‘Dissect’ podcast series is a great example of how much more you can appreciate an album having learned more about it.
At the same time, it is equally valid to digest a piece of music and love it, simply because of how it makes you feel, or because it reminds you of a memory. Unfortunately, I don’t really have a clear cut conclusion here, or solid answer (typical philosopher!!!!!).
So, to finish off for today, here’s some bits and bobs I’ve been listening to this week:
‘1988’ by Knxwledge, ‘Dumb Doubt’ by Nappy Nina, ‘Body Wash’ by Mndsgn, ‘What Kinda Music’ by Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes
The final part… I actually found this to be the most difficult to compile of all three.
Day 21: A song you like with a person’s name in the title
JOHNNY by BROCKHAMPTON
Quite the bop, clever lyrics, banging production.
Day 22: A song that moves you forward
After The Storm by Kali Uchis feat. Tyler, The Creator & Bootsy Collins
I always go back to this song and never get bored of it. The empowering lyrics particularly on the chorus (“If you need a hero, just look in the mirror”) made it a good candidate for this one.
Day 23: A song you think everybody should listen to
Iron Sky by Paolo Nutini
An emotive song with extremely powerful lyrics. Includes an audio clip from a famous Charlie Chaplin speech, and is definitely worth a listen if you haven’t heard it.
Day 24: A song by a band you wish were still together
Buggin’ Out by A Tribe Called Quest
I’ve interpreted ‘band’ loosely here.
Day 25: A song you like by an artist no longer living
You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse
Not much explanation needed here!
Day 26: A song that makes you want to fall in love
High off This by Emmavie
Emmavie is a singer and producer from London who makes beautiful soulful music. This selected song is a groovy one literally all about falling in love!
Day 27: A song that breaks your heart
Birmingham by Blood Orange feat. Kelsey Lu & Ian Isiah
This song is a tribute to the four children killed in a white supremacist bombing in Alabama in 1963. It is simply heart-breaking.
Day 28: A song by an artist whose voice you love
Green Eyes by Erykah Badu
She’s had an absolutely massive influence on a lot of music, and I love her voice – could have chosen any song from this album.
Day 29: A song you remember from your childhood
Black & Gold by Sam Sparro
This song came out in 2008 (I was 9 nine years old) and for some reason I absolutely loved it. I have to confess I have not heard about or thought about Sam Sparro since 2008 when I was listening to this song on loop from my iPod Nano – but it’s an undeniably good song nonetheless!
Day 30: A song that reminds you of yourself
Damselfly by Loyle Carner feat. Tom Misch
Yes, I have overplayed this song, but it reminds me of myself at a very certain time in my life. It will always have a special place in my heart and it’s such a lovely feel-good one.
The song challenge is complete! More stuff will inevitably come soon, subscribe to get an email when I publish a new post 🙂
Time to tackle days 11-20 of the song challenge, have look at my last post for part one!
Day 11: A song you never get tired of
Prototype by Outkast
The song begins with gorgeous layered vocals, and I will never get tired of that moment the instrumental comes in. One of my favourite songs ever.
Day 12: A song from your preteen years
California Daze by Peace
This song came out when I was 13 years old. It’s one of the songs I am not embarrassed to say that I loved back then, because I still think it’s an incredible song now!
Day 13: A song you like from the 70s
You Don’t Have To Change by Kool & The Gang
In the middle of the 1974 album, Light Of Worlds. It’s introduction builds for a long time before fading out to the sound of a single guitar. The drums come in and a classic soul journey begins.
Day 14: A song you’d love to be played at your wedding
Best Part by Daniel Caesar feat. H.E.R.
I got to see Daniel Caesar live last year, he has the most incredible voice, and he fits together so perfectly with H.E.R.’s vocals on this lovey dovey song. This is the perfect song to belt out in the shower too.
Day 15: A song you like that’s a cover by another artist
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
Having looked into this song turns out there was a lot of contention as to who should be attributed with the original version: Lori Lieberman released her version in 1972 but it didn’t chart, then Roberta Flack’s 1973 version hit no.1 in USA. Flack’s version has a very different sound to Fugees, so it’s amazing to see how the song has been adapted over the years.
Day 16: A song that’s a classic favourite
Waterfalls by TLC
An undeniable R&B classic, love it! Also a very socially conscious song too. Just found out it was the first number one to ever reference AIDS, a particularly prominent issue in the 90s, in one of its verses.
Day 17: A song you’d sing a duet with someone on karaoke
Monster by Kanye West feat. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver
I admit this is an extremely ambitious choice, and I am only capable of performing the Nicki Minaj verse without looking at the lyrics. But hopefully one day I’ll find a group who can take on the other verses too. It’s a great song from a great album so wanted to include it 🙂
Day 18: A song from the year you were born
Ms. Fat Booty by Mos Def
A hip hop classic born the same year as me: 1999.
Day 19: A song that makes you think about life
Come Back To Earth by Mac Miller
A beautiful album opener that reflects on personal growth and optimism conflicting with mental health struggles. The strings behind Mac’s heartfelt vocals sends me into a sort of a reflective daydream myself, hence why I thought it would be a good choice for this day.
Day 20: A song that has many meanings to you
Purity by A$AP Rocky feat. Frank Ocean
An incredible, and dare I say, underrated song. It ingeniously samples Lauryn Hill’s ‘I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind’, which I love too. Gotta love Frank as well.
The final part will be coming soon – remember to subscribe to get emails whenever I post a new entry 🙂
Stuck On Repeat with Leah 