I fall into these nostalgic wormholes sometimes with music (okay all the time, damn).
It always begins with a trigger. Hopping into the shower on Sunday evening I needed some tunes to keep me company and I wasn’t feeling too picky about it so I put on Spotify’s The Newness playlist and let it ride.
Just as I’m finishing my skincare routine (applies 5th and final product) I’m listening to a new DVSN track, He Said, which features Miguel for the first time and I’m intrigued. It’s been a while since I heard Miguel’s voice grace a new song and my senses are piqued. The song is nice, I recall that DVSN did just release a fresh body of work and I mark it with the heart as a reminder to swing back around to it.
In this moment, I needed to fulfill that Miguel craving so I mentally thumbed through his discography, while my fingers did the same, to the album I regard as my favorite, Kaleidoscope Dream. Suddenly I’m transported to Fall 2012 as I submerge into this fantasy meets reality.
Kaleidoscope Dream is the album that solidified Miguel as a certifiable star by blessing us with a wedding classic, Adorn, and a smooth, party mainstay, How Many Drinks? all in one shot. If you’re a fan of this album you probably also recognize that the deep-cut cult classic Arch & Point should have been a single. All the while, songs on the project like Use Me introduce us to just how agile Miguel will prove to be lyrically, vocally and sonically.
On a Friday afternoon, just as I closed my laptop to signal my “leaving work” and “entering home” I receive a text from a friend with a link to Arlo Parks’ 2021 album Collapsed In Sunbeams. This friend never misses on the music, plus he ignited my desire to press play with two short sentences: “She’s next… The next Lianne?” La Havas that is. He was referencing my favorite Black British girl to do it and knew that would make me take notice.
So right before I dove into a sink full of dirty dishes hands first, I placed my earbuds in and let Arlo’s voice join me in the room. The poet and singer/songwriter crafts stories that unfold clearly, linearly, across tight jam sessions that perfectly venn diagram funk, jazz, rock and R&B into a space that young Arlo absolutely owns throughout this 39 minutes of artistry. She folds poetry into the landscape seamlessly rendering the talent in its spoken form rather than sung when she needs to. I’m thrilled by the entire thing. I must note that I am a complete advocate of listening to an album top to bottom, in order before skipping around but if you’re gonna force me to pick one, start with Too Good.
(Speaking of Lianne La Havas, when will I take Please Don’t Make Me Cry? from her 2020 self-titled release off repeat? Never? Oh, okay, cool.)
Somehow I missed the release of Lonr.’s 2020 album, Land of Nothing Real, but I’m grateful that Make The Most featuring H.E.R. fell into my lap a few weeks ago, I’ve been obsessed since first listen. It comprises a few of my favorite things: 1. Male/Female duet (faints), 2. Lyrical declarations of commitment and love that feel thoughtful and organic, not manufactured, but still polished 3. A damn good bridge that adds depth and complexity to the story. Overall, this song is a lyrical masterpiece. It’s the one you fire off to your person when you can’t figure out how to say it yourself but you know it’s real and you’re down for the life ride, together. Listen and don’t cry, I dare you.
My weekday mornings get started at 6am. I suit up in workout gear. Get my daughter ready for school and dash out the door to catch the B38 towards Downtown Brooklyn. She scooters, I kind of skip-walk behind her to her school building. Kisses goodbye and then, most mornings, I head one block over to Fort Greene park where I get in a cardio workout.
Workout music for me has always been whatever makes me feel like I’m the star of a music video. In my curated playlists I’ve tucked away tracks from Drake, Beyonce, City Girls, Kanye, Britney Spears and many more that make me want to move. As of late, the track that’s been powering me up and down those infamous Fort Greene stairs has been Freaky Girls by Megan Thee Stallion featuring SZA. The production here borrows from a 90s ladies sexual empowerment anthem by the great Adina Howard, Freak Like Me. The lyrics of the hook belted by SZA hint at the melody delivered by Ms. Howard in the chorus of her original track.
Together Meg and SZA freely express the prowess and liberation they own and exude in pursuit of someone new to satisfy their desires. Get it ladies! Now that’s how you start the day, ow.
Happy listening.
— Michelle Suzette