June & July Playlist | 2020

I remember it being July 1st and me thinking, wow, I have literally three new songs to share for my June playlist and that's about it. June was an absolute blur for me, I spent 80% of my time studying and strictly listening to "Cafe music with rain sounds". It was probably my best music find for that month, but I think sharing a 4-hour long mix of just jazz and rain sounds as a "playlist song" would have been a bit...much? Nevertheless, I decided to postpone the June Playlist and just incorporate it with July, a time when I'll be freer to discover new music and actually enjoy it. And just like that, July flew by and now here I am, in August (???), sharing my music faves from the past two months. Hope you enjoy them!

Sometimes the Youtube algorithm is the best thing ever and a perfect example of that would be Do You Miss Raving? by Everyone You Know. At first, I thought it would be just another short video about quarantine, something like spoken word poetry, but then that beat kicked in and I quickly realized this was way more than that. The remixed sample of Jorja Smith's cover of Lost is A+ and it goes perfectly with the slow build-up for the song. This little discovery left me puzzled and intrigued - who are Everyone You Know? And more importantly, what other music do they have? This led me to their cover of Play God by Sam Fender which is just exquisite. I never knew I was the type of person who would deeply appreciate angsty British music but here I am. 

When I saw that Kaytranada and Lucky Daye made a collaboration I literally screamed because I LOVE THEM, and I sometimes consider myself a psychic when things like these happen haha. And when I first heard the track titled Look Easy, it sounded awfully familiar - and then it hit me! He teased the instrumental version of it at the beginning of his "Need It" music video. I love when musicians leave easter eggs in everything they put out, and I felt even more excited about this song after that realization. 

Ego Death is one of those songs that I was peer pressured by Instagram to listen to. Okay, maybe peer-pressured is too strong of a statement, but I definitely saw a lot of people sharing it and thought, okay, since everyone likes it, let's see what the fuss is about. And my final opinion on the song is one shared with the majority - FKA DESERVED MORE! Her part is absolute FIRE, and I was soo disappointed when I realized it was only 15 seconds. I think we all deserve a three-minute version of this song just with the beat from that part and FKA's vocals only!

My baby Aminé is releasing a new album in a couple of days and I am sooo excited for it, especially because so far the two singles he has released from it are top tier. Both Riri and Compensating are upbeat, with Riri being a tad slower but still a bop. I just love how much he doesn't take things seriously and is a fun visual storyteller as well. If you're looking for upbeat R'n'b this is the guy for you. 

I know, I know. Tik Tok made this song resurface. But honestly, it's well deserved because Wait A Minute by Willow is SUCH A BOP! I love the beat, I love the chill guitar that appears throughout the song, and of course Willow's unique voice. It's just one of those feel-good songs that everyone should listen to. 

Of course, since I already mentioned Willow, there's no way I didn't fall into the Jaden Smith hole as well. Summertime In Paris just gave me major chilled back, gloomy summer vibes and I'm all about it. Both him and Willow are highly underappreciated as artists (IMO) in the music industry and that's really unfair because they're both quite genius honestly. 

I discovered Hair Down by SiR featuring Kendrick Lamar in a random Apple Music playlist (which is something I rarely do) and it was an instant A+ for me. I looove chilled out R'n'b and this one hit the nail on the head - the tempo, the beat, the lyrics. Chefs kiss. 

Another Apple Music discovery was rum•gold and his perfectly chill EP called yaRn (which I would highly recommend) but his single called Cashmere Cage just completely transported me to a land of calm and collected thoughts. A very soulful, smooth and delightful track to listen to. 

As always, to listen to the whole playlist on Youtube, click HERE and if you want to listen to each song individually, click on the titles above. Happy listening!