I have been experimenting with playlists over the last few years, both on Spotify and Apple Music. I always have music playing and figured I would do more than simply depend on algorithms. In the spirit of Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, I have decided to take a page out of the book of one of my favourite writers, Teju Cole, and share some of my playlists here.
As Kleon writes, “If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.”
This will also, hopefully, motivate me to be a bit more deliberate with creating more playlists.
general
an imagined playlist: a playlist of songs that remind me of my father, drawn from his record (vinyl) collection
popping in the eighties: I become a teenager in the 80s and pop music from that era still brings me joy
slow dancing: do people even slow dance anymore?
kwaito bash central: in the 90s, kwaito was birthed and came to life at ‘bashes’ across southern Africa
artist focus
massive moments: massive attack’s music is experienced, not simply listened to
follow the tricky kid: a peek into Tricky’s soundscape
music for the soul: the world of meshell nedegeocello
