WILTRN 01

What I’m Listening To Right Now 01

I think the idea of an album is something that should continue to be appreciated. Yeah playlists are cool and all and maybe track listing isn’t always everything, but there will always be something about having a cohesive, front to back listening experience to dig into. They’re an opportunity to jump into someone’s world and let it become a part of yours or at least a part of personality for a few weeks. Especially when you can tell the artist put a lot of care into curating something they truly love, it just makes the experience all the more special.

So with that in mind, I’ve listed some of my favorite listening experiences that released this year in no particular order. Feel free to jump around and see what peaks your interest.

Beside each project is a short list of my favorite songs, and you can also tap on the album cover to go directly to Spotify.

Okay then, enjoy!

– p.s, i haven’t forgotten about those monthly playlists lol. i just fell a bit behind and want to spend proper time searching for new music and to make sure i like the selection. will be back soon!

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Doechii is if “Talk Your Shit” was a person. She’s always been able to deliver great punchy lyricism while also having a wide musical range that you’d likely associate with a pop artist. She makes versatility into one of her greatest assets by adding cool vocal riffs, goofy adlibs, neat entendres or even just unique instrumentation moments. Constantly, she’s finding new avenues to bring interesting qualities to her sound and in a way that always leaves you with something to appreciate. I also love how theatrical she can be even when she’s more vulnerable like on “DENIAL IS A RIVER” or especially “BOOM BAP.” No song ever sounds tired or like I’ve heard it before which is pretty tough to do with mainstream rap in this day and age.

As a black woman in hip-hop, she fully exists in the context of all that has come before her. You could make comparisons to her and, let’s say, Nicki, Missy, Lil Kim or even a lot of her current contemporaries who are making a real run for it in hip-hop this decade. But trust, once you really get into this mixtape, a lot of those “similarities” get washed. Some parts even remind me of Tyler or OutKast a little bit, but I’m also not that big of a hip-hop head to know much more than that. My reference points only go so deep. All I know is, Doechii is such an exciting artist. The production here is wonderful and leaves just the right amount of room for some real engaging performances.

Really looking forward to all the places this Swamp Princess will go.

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Love love love Ravyn Lenae. Her overall spacey and alternative RnB sound along with her soprano, Minnie Ripperton-esk vocals has kept me a longtime fan of hers. I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to her entire discography. On Bird’s Eye, she takes on a more acoustic, sometimes playful, and definitely more sentimental approach to her sound. Songs like “One Wish” or “Love Is Blind” I think are great examples of the sweet and almost nostalgic feel this project evokes. It’s a perfect energy I think for the really introspective and honest subject matter of the album.

I think if you’re a fan of the new Sabrina Carpenter or Clairo albums, or just need something to wind-down to, you should definitely check this one out. It’s a perfect end of summer ease into fall type experience.

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I can’t say I’ve heard much mainstream afrobeats that sounds this upbeat, this aggressive but at the same time this consistent and, honestly, I can’t get enough. I love that it’s also coming from an already internationally recognized African artist like Rema. Most of the time I feel like once an artist goes cross-cultural like this, labels force them to keep their sound “palatable.” That way they get more worldwide commercial play and can ride the wave of their last hit, but instead Rema has made a concerted effort to look inward. As he puts it in his recent Apple Music interview, “We’ve got to listen to the voices back home, to keep our roots.” And you can hear and see that, especially on songs like “OZEBA” or “BENIN BOYS.” HEIS honestly leaves “Calm Down” in the dust. He plays with so many styles and maintains his unique hyperactive personality and delivery making it so fun to listen to.

Rema is a guy who will always be carving his own lane with music and it’s been very cool to see so far. If you’re looking for something high energy and a bit different from the usually relaxed afrobeats sound, this is the one.

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TIP’s diverse and colorful production is very nice on the ears and Chlöe’s great vocal arrangements and flow switch ups only add to this, making the album a really addictive musical experience, especially for a pop music fan.

On first listen, it’s so fun to hear all the surprising twists and turns Chlöe takes you on. Her great ear for music allows her to curate something so polished and intricate that also still feels effortless and easily digestible. It’s the type of project that could only be made by someone who trained under Beyoncé, without question, “Favorite” being on the clearest examples.

I’ve always had the opinion that some of the best summer music comes out when it’s just about over and this no exception, so tap in! Play this on your good speakers.

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This is the deluxe to the album they originally released July of last year and I’ve still managed play it on a regular basis.

You can tell almost immediately from the first couple of tracks that this is going to be something different.

As they put it their beans + bars interview, this is grouptherapy. at their most creatively obsessed. Constantly striving to make something different while at the same time lifting one another up to their highest, most mutli-hyphenated selves. You can really hear this throughout the whole project with songs like “FUNKFEST,” “Peak,” and “DYSBF!,” for instance. I always got the sense that they were really stretching themselves while also holding space for each other to have fun and just be weird, but like good weird. This album is honestly equal parts posse cut as it is a joint counseling session.

I truly do love all the unconventional directions grouptherapy. takes on this album. The world they make on it is comforting and has become a creative happy place for me.

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This a great mix of lush rnb-soul and afrobeats. Tems has such a rich and distinct tone to her voice and delivery that is truly like no other. Her debut adapts the unique sound she established early as an Nigerian Alté artist and takes you on a sweet yet somber journey of her finding confidence in herself and learning to embrace her abilities. All of this while proving to nay-sayers, and more importantly to herself, that she deserves and should enjoy her successes. I also love the echo-y and expansive sound the album has as a whole, almost like you’re hearing her perform live in some big auditorium.

Tems is really something special. I’m honestly so ready for it to be cold again so I can really get in my feels and enjoy Born In The Wild even more.

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Dazegxd is an exciting underground DJ-producer and junglist from Brooklyn. He’s also Jamaican and Ghanian-American so he sits at this really cool and unique intersection of rave music that touches on many parts of it’s overall past and honestly it’s future.

This is some quality electronic music that I think is emblematic of the current underground club scene in NYC and in general. Everything on here runs at a pretty fast pace, sounds computerized, and often has a bit of chip-tuning to it. Dazegxd does a good job of toeing the line between giving you classic dance rhythms and just going off the wall crazy and completely unhinged with production. With how online culture has bled into our world as a whole, I can’t think of anything that would be more appropriate. Worth a listen for sure.

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This definitely took some time to grow on me. Rachel’s voice has this raw but also delicate feel to it and I love how it sits on the production, especially the more emotional and or acoustic bits. I also really respect and appreciate her pen game, songs like “Robbed,” “So My Darling” and the album’s title track really offer us a good deal of her perspective on relationships and her overall sense of individuality. This album is also a slight tone shift from her previous work but still holds onto many aspects of Rachel’s style that I really appreciated from her 2021 EP, Four In Winter.

She’s also been very outspoken about being respected as a pop/alternative artist as a black woman in Britain. In interviews she notes the struggles she’s had with always being labeled as rnb regardless of how she evolves her sound or image. So the purposeful turn with this album was also a way to leave people with zero questions nor misconceptions. I really think she knocks it out the park with this one.

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My Goat.

This is Kaytra’s most polished and lowkey most expensive sounding project so far. I’m talking 50th floor, pent house suite, sippin martini’s type shit. I don’t really know what that means lol but it sounds nice I guess.

He’s honed in on his sound a lot, and appears more comfortable with making bold statements in production but also as an artist and DJ. TIMELESS is a body of work that embraces his ability to deliver a unique and wide ranging listening experience. Everything is still giving calm, cool, collected and catchy, but I also get the sense that being considered just a “cool vibe” doesn’t cut it for him anymore, especially it being over a decade into his career. So by referring to this as a “classic” it’s simply him speaking truth to form about how valuable he believes he his for music and especially for black culture. I really like how he’s elevating things lately.

I’ll also forever be jealous of the people who saw his All Points East set in London last month. Even he said it was one the best sets of his life… and I… I just don’t know if I’ll ever emotionally recover from not hearing it. Still though, this a must hear album for sure.

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