I am addicted to Spotify. No matter how many times people extol the value of Apple Music to me, Spotify Premium is my baby and I’m never gonna give it up, let it down, run around or desert it.
Last week, Spotify sent me a nice e-mail informing me that they created a “Time Capsule,” a playlist designed to “take me back.” Take me back to what? To my junior high music phase to where I pretended to like metal to impress a boy? To early high school where I only listened to sad indie music? To over the summer when I listened to The Great Comet soundtrack on repeat? I was terrified and excited at the prospect of being “taken back” by Spotify.
I’ve been listening to my personalized playlist over the past week and have some thoughts and feelings about the tracks they included for me. The playlist is 55 songs deep and that’s a lot to do a review of each song, so I have divided them up into categories in order to discuss them as a group.
Rap by White Boys
Includes: “The Real Slim Shady” and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem; “Donald Trump” and “Knock Knock” by Mac Miller; “Cake Boy” and “Eighteen Cool” by Hoodie Allen
I definitely eased myself into listening to rap music in junior high and early high school by listening to rap by white men because it is what my white female friends who listened to rap listened to; thus, it was the most accessible to me. And while I still legitimately enjoy Eminem and Mac Miller is definitely a guilty pleasure, Hoodie Allen has definitely been left in middle school.
Junior High/Homecoming Dance Staples
Includes: “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Erase Me” by Kid Cudi; “Stronger” by Kanye West; “SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake; “Hey Ya!” by OutKast; “Buzzin’” by Shwayze
As I transitioned into junior high and high school, I definitely stopped listening to a lot of Top 40 radio and my tastes moved more towards indie and alternative music. However, I was definitely still indoctrinated with the music that played at junior high formal and my first couple of homecoming dances. Most of these are legitimately good songs that I will still get incredibly hype to when they come on today.
Dancing in My Room – Lyrical Discovery
Includes: “A Drop in the Ocean” by Ron Pope; “Hurt” by Johnny Cash; “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver
Junior High was the time when I discovered what lyrical and contemporary dance were and would spend endless hours watching dance videos on Youtube and choreographing in the limited space in my bedroom. All of these songs are ones that I definitely created solos for myself. Considering my biggest playlist on Spotify is now my 200+ song deep “Dance” playlist, a lot of my taste in music can be traced back to these early discoveries.
Cringe 7th Grade Faves
Includes: “Trouble” by Never Shout Never; “Damned If Do Ya (Damned if I Don’t” by All Time Low; “Come On Get Higher” by Matt Nathanson; “Drops of Jupiter” by Train; “Fer Sure” by Medic Droid; “Carry Out” by Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
It would probably be impossible to get through a time capsule of my musical tastes without someone cringe-worthy choices. I think we all remember being fully in love with Never Shout Never and All Time Low, infatuations that I look back on and think “but why?” Although some of these songs, like “Come On Get Higher” and “Carry Out” carry a certain sense of nostalgia for me, most of them, I wish I could just forget ever liking.
Theatre Kid Hits
Includes: “A Part of That” from The Last Five Years; “Secondary Characters” from {title of show}; “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde; “Bet On It” from High School Musical 2; “Better” from Little Women; “It’s A Privilege to Pee” from Urinetown; “The Lamest Place in the World” from 13.
I would say I seriously got into musical theatre in around 8th grade, at which point I became obsessed with knowing as many musicals as I possibly could. I continue to listen to a lot of musical theatre, especially as new shows hit Broadway, but I ate up all the broadway I could from about 8th grade through junior year of high school. I also noted that pretty much all of these songs besides the iconic Troy Bolton hit are songs that I used for auditions in high school back when I was actively auditioning for musicals.
“YAS QUEEN!”
Includes: “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani; “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child; “No Scrubs” by TLC; “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton; “Disturbia” by Rihanna
To this day, the only like new music I actively seek by pop artists is Lady Gaga. So throughout high school (especially when I started driving and had XM radio in my car), I didn’t listen to a lot of pop music, but when I did, it was throwback hits. And all of these songs still bop and I certainly listen to them when I’m putting my makeup on.
Singin’ on the Freeway
Includes: “Shake Me Down” by Cage the Elephant; “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; “Pressure” by Paramore; “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5
When I started driving, it gave me a venue to sing without annoying my parents and brothers. Outside of musical theatre songs, these four songs sort of encapsulate the type of music I like to sing. It also allowed for me to try and fail and eventually succeed at harmonizing without being embarrassed. And even though singing in the car is technically bad for your voice, there’s nothing quite like belting your face off while driving on the freeway late at night.
The Rap Enlightenment
Includes: “Bonfire” and “V. 3005” by Childish Gambino; “Yonkers” by Tyler the Creator; “Sloppy Seconds” by Watsky; “Blood on the Leaves” by Kanye West; “Swimming Pools (Drank)” by Kendrick Lamar; “Bad Religion” by Frank Ocean
Towards the end of high school and into freshman year, I went through what I call The Rap Enlightenment™. Starting with George Watsky, Kanye West and Childish Gambino, I began to explore rappers outside of my like pop/hip-hop white boy bubble. Rap is now a genre I truly enjoy and I’m pretty sure To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick is one of the best albums produced this decade. I also definitely find myself more drawn to artists like the ones I mention here who tend to bring a level of songwriting to their lyrics. I still can’t really get into some of the more hard beats, “talk about my women, money and drugs” artists (though I will say “Man of the Year” is a true guilty pleasure.)
Who I Am: 90s/00s Alt Vibes
Includes: “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard, “Float On” by Modest Mouse, “Gives You Hell” by the All American Rejects, “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, “Electric Feel” by MGMT, “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand, “Island in the Sun” and Beverly Hills” (my fav song of all time) by Weezer, “Someday” by the Strokes
The first CD I ever remember picking out to buy was Green Day’s International Superhits! at a Borders in Kalispell, Montana when I was five or six years old. And I honestly think Green Day’s influence has carried out into the main genre of music I have gravitated towards my whole life: indie/alternative rock. Most of these songs and bands are really formative to the type of music I love, especially The White Stripes and Weezer.
So what did I learn?
When I look at my Daily Mixes on Spotify, which are created based on what I am listening to the most, I have a lady jams mix from the 1990s up through today, an indie pop mix, an alt-rock mix, a rap mix with artists like Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean and Kanye on it and a musical theatre mix. (I usually also have like a mix of “dad music” but I’ve been slacking there recently.) All of these genres and groupings have roots in the music I have been listening to ever since I started using Spotify. I can trace my interest in really amazing and beautiful rap music back to my early exposures to Mac Miller and Hoodie Allen. When I listen to my Discover Weekly, I can probably add one half of it to my Dance playlist and the other half to my alt-rock playlist (called “dorkwood”) due to early exposures to lyrical competition dance music and bands like Green Day and The Killers. (Thanks, Dad.)
Music is a really important part of my life. I love discovering new bands and songs. And tracking this progression of my musical interests throughout the last 7ish years has been a really gratifying experience.
Image Credit: Feature, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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