Tag: tyler the creator (page 1 of 1)

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December 19, 2021 / 0 Comments

Better Than I Imagined – My Year in Music 2021


My most listened to music artists of 2021 including Sault, Hiatus Kaiyote, Tyler the Creator, Silk Sonic, Ariana Grande, and othersMy most listened to music artists of 2021 including Sault, Hiatus Kaiyote, Tyler the Creator, Silk Sonic, Ariana Grande, and others

In Better Than I Imagined, Meshell Ndegeocello fashions her spoken word portion of the song as a voice mail to her lover. Many parts of it stop me in my tracks, but in February of this year, as I waited impatiently for my name to be called in the vaccination lottery, I most appreciated her closing lines:

“I hope you’re okay. Staying inside. I hope you’re not lonely.”

It’s a prayer. It has been my prayer as we continue to navigate the pandemic. In the past, my hope for others was that they were thriving. As we entered month 12 of the pandemic (and now in month 22), my hopefulness had not waned, but it has become more grounded. I hope you’re safe. I hope you’re making good choices. I hope you’re finding joy in small things.

Better Than I Imagined by Robert Glasper and remixed by KAYTRANADA featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello is my song of the year because it represents how I’m feeling as 2021 comes to an end. It’s bold and reflective. There’s a lilt of melancholy, but it feels bursting with possibility in many ways. It’s grateful for even the challenging experiences. They are worthwhile in memory. The present, even as a new variant and rising cases will wreak havoc on our best-laid plans, is better than imagined.

The rest of my 2021 mixtape is like my Spotify music aura for these last 365 days: happy and bold. There are explorations into jazz (classic and modern), Nigerian pop, hip hop that made you want to nod your head and move your feet, and singers whose voices were infectious. It closes with Charlie Parker’s April in Paris: rekindled hope for the new year.

I didn’t explicitly write about Tyler, The Creator’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST in my HOT WIND BLOWS post this past July, but it was on heavy repeat throughout that month, and I have returned to the full length again and again.

In a time when popular rap is so depressed or grim or vapid, the whole thing is a wake-up. It’s ENERGY! It’s clever. It’s Tyler at his best, most sure, and most whole, and I can’t help but grin while listening.

The other albums that brought me great joy and comfort this year weren’t all released in 2021 but were essential nonetheless:


My most listened to albums of 2021 including Call Me If You Get Lost by Tyler the CreatorMy most listened to albums of 2021 including Call Me If You Get Lost by Tyler the Creator

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July 25, 2021 / 0 Comments

The Summer of Uncertain Vibes

“Soon you’ll find the answer.”

— The Polyphonic Spree

Apparently, July is for binging The Polyphonic Spree. The last time I decided to pull up the albums I love from the Texas-based psychedelic pop choir was this same month six years ago. I don’t remember what sparked that session, so let’s mark this one.

I bought airplane tickets to Paris, France, this week. The anticipated travel feels both imminent and precarious even though it’s a couple of months away. Trying to live in the age of COVID-19 continues to be like this: having the courage to live life to the fullest in unsettled times.

A tweet that Ann Friedman referenced in her most recent newsletter defined this well:

It is the summer of uncertain vibes! On the night I bought those tickets, I also chose not to go to the gym because I couldn’t find my preferred mask for working out. Those tickets were purchased weeks later than I intended because I struggled to work past my fears that something might derail the adventure before it even got off the ground. Will my passport renewal return in time? Will the variants change border and travel rules? Will the anti-vax fervor in the states continue its expansion across the globe? Will some yet to be known threat grip us anew?

As I fought through those thoughts to click a big blue button to confirm purchase for two on a rocket that will cross the Atlantic, Section 14 (Two Thousand Places) shuffled up into my ears.

“You gotta be good.
You gotta be strong.
You gotta be two thousand places at once.
And I know there’s a lot outside the window.
It seems a lot for you and me.”

— The Polyphonic Spree

This was the vibe. It’s a lot but you gotta do it. So I went down the rabbit hole. First, playing all of Together We’re Heavy and then moving on to The Beginning Stages of…

I’d already been thinking about making a playlist for this summer in which, internally, I am two thousand places at once. Mostly, there’s joy here. There’s sun on my face and in my heart as I get back to all that is outside my window. But, there’s also trepidation and anxiety as we mask up and fires burn, and dudes with too much money go to space while the neediest of us sleep under those same stars hoping to make it through the night. I’ve been bopping around between the latest from Hiatus Kaiyote and Tyler, The Creator sprinkled with productions from Adrian Younge and the mysterious folks behind the artists associated with Sault but it was Tim DeLaughter’s box of oddities that brought it all together.

I bought plane tickets. I bought some new masks. I’m grateful this week for my good fortune and the sun and courage.

And I’m grateful for this music that is soundtracking one weird-ass summer.