I know taste in music says a lot about personality, so I'm excited to start sharing curated Spotify playlists on my blog for each month, holidays, and special occasions!
I had so much fun making these- it would've been even better if I had DJ equipment and could actually mix the tracks, but I did the best I could with ordering them. I'm posting two playlists in this entry: one for this month and one as an introduction to my taste in music.
This month's playlist is "November Mood". Lately, I've been gravitating towards music with impressive, extravagant productions and soulful sounds that I can listen to while curled up with a cup of Chai tea. I'm always feeling nostalgic this time of year, so there are a lot of dated hits there.
The second playlist is a sort of broad but abbreviated walk-through of what I like. I said I would stop at 30 songs, but it was so hard to choose that I ended up with 32.
I can be pretty all over the place in naming musicians that I like. Overall, I'd say my taste in music is dominated by Rap and R&B (Side note: it's an honest peeve of mine say Rap/Hip-Hop. I don't consider Hip-Hop to be a genre of music... it's a term that encompasses culture, of which Rap music is a huge part of). I really didn't expand my taste in music beyond that until I started at boarding school, but now I enjoy many other genres of music as well. I also have a close friend of mine to thank for the appreciation I have for so much - he's a DJ for a very famous musician, and he does gigs with every type of crowd from 1Oak to Hakkasan or Hard Rock. When we end up in the same city at the same time, I love going to his shows because the energy is insane. Occasionally, I'll hit him and ask new music to refresh my library and he's always two steps ahead of what's trending. It's so nice to always know what the next big hit on the radio is before it's thrown into heavy rotation!
I have shitty headphones so I can rarely enjoy music when I'm mobile, but hoping to change that with a pair of Beats Solo 3 headphones on my wishlist. At home, I have a nice speaker set up and I almost always have music playing because I don't watch TV often and feel very uncomfortable lounging around without background noise. I play lots of R&B from the early late 90s and 2000s to now, oldies, jazz, reggae, blues, and soul. Most of it is emotional music because I'm secretly very introverted and always in my feelings LOL. This isn't an all inclusive list, but think Amy Winehouse, Usher, Faith Evans, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Dido, the Chi-Lites, slower selections from Pearl Jam, Sia, Clifford Brown. Of course, like many ladies in this particular line of work, I love Lana Del Rey. I'll mix in a little bit of Rap music from people like Kendrick Lamar, Drake (duhhh!), J. Cole, Pharrell, Common, Big Sean, Jhene Aiko, Kanye West (especially heartbroken and drunk Kanye - that time from Graduation to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), and some "Rhythm & Gangsta" where rappers are crooning about cuffing the baddest chicks in the game - i.e. 21 Questions by 50 Cent, Aston Martin Music from Rick Ross, That's That by Snoop Dogg, and anything from Future's Hndrxx album.
In the bedroom, I love slow tempos and cool, smooth sounds. Jazz is usually safe for everyone, so I have it in the playing in the background through by Beats Pill+ speaker when I'm hosting for incall - especially new friends. If I'm curating the playlist, I'm usually going to have artists like Miguel, Ginuwine, Adina Howard, Trey Songz and Jodeci on. The Dream, SZA, H.E.R. are great as well. Some Ty Dolla $ign and PND if you get down like that.
When I'm getting ready to head out on the town, of course I need a beat that's super dope so I'm ready for the hot hits on the radio. That's when I'll pull a playlist that any one of my DJ friends have posted on Soundcloud. I'm pulling up to the club blasting Gucci Mane past and present, Yo Gotti, Future, Project Pat, Three 6 Mafia, and Lil' Wayne in his prime. Right now, of course Travis Scott, Cardi B, Migos, and Lil' Uzi Vert have to be on the aux cord at least once or you can't really get the correct vibes. I can dance in just about any club, but I have a preference for those that play Rap, R&B, or EDM. I love being in the middle of the dancefloor when Kaskade, Zeds Dead, or Machine Gun Kelly are playing.
I'm really limitless when it comes to music and I love when my friends introduce me to what they like - at least one song is going to end up on my playlist most of the time. In the past couple of months, I've had clients introduce me to Florida Georgia Line, Carolina Chocolate Drops (I love Hit Em' Up Style) and The Glorious Sons. My girlfriends Natalie Dubreuil and Victoria Rose love Metal music, so I'm listening to that when we are crowded in the bathroom trying to get ready to go to dinner in New York. Candice Carter and I have pretty much the same taste in music. Bre Jolie is the designated DJ anytime we are hanging out because she has the most amazing taste in music of all my friends.
Hoping you love what's flooding your ears through these playlists - let me know what you think next time we meet!