How I Wrapped Up 2018 With Spotify
Each year ‘Spotify Wrapped’ summarizes it’s users’ musical history for the year & shares interesting stats & wtfacts you didn’t even know were generated, let alone tracked for your viewing pleasure. This is an interesting & fun time for everyone to analyze how their musical palette has developed over the short span of a year. I found my own year-end wrap up to be surprising & oddly safe. According to Spotify I didn’t stray too far from my musical anchors & favs.
I started my year off by revisiting “Supernova” featuring Kanye West, a gem from Mr.Hudson’s very underrated debut solo album, Straight No Chaser (2009). I remember being so excited the first time I’d discovered Mr. Hudson’s solo project, after being heavily featured as a supporting vocalist on Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak. With the exception of “Stiff Upper Lip”, a track accompanied by a lonesome banjo & “Time”, a piano assisted ballad, this CD sounds like something from the 80s. Heavy electronic production, super synth-heavy, deep bass & crazy 808s. Mr. Hudson has a retro-cool essence about himself & his music, minus the hairspray. If you’re tired of the over-produced pop hits of today & want to have a stellar dance party in your underwear at home, this album was made for you.
Later that same month, I “discovered” The Isley Brothers. This is confusing cause this is never a go-to band for me, even when I’m in the mood for oldies. I can only be left to assume, in a brief detour from the Spotify app, I reminisced & listened to Drake’s So Far Gone mixtape. If you’re familiar with this project, you know there’s an Isley Brothers sample included that’s now entered hip-hop-sample-inception. Ok, let’s just start with the bottom tier & work our way up…The Isley Brothers made an amazing love ballad in 1983, entitled “Between the Sheets” which since has been sampled 18 times! Most notably on “Ignorant Shit” by Jay-Z & Beanie Seigel from American Gangster (2007), “Ignant Shit” by Drake & Lil’ Wayne from So Far Gone (2009), a screwed sample of the original sample was then used yet again on “A Night Off” by Drake & Lloyd on the same project, the sample of that sample was then sampled YET AGAIN, this time by Mac Miller on “Good Evening” from KIDS” (2010), then later by Pusha T on “Numbers On the Boards” from My Name Is My Name (2013). Anytime I hear any of these songs, I often find myself baffled all over again at how great production can make a song timeless & so desirable that it lives on over 20 years later.
I listened to roughly 39,000 minutes of music. That’s the equivalent of listening to music nonstop for 27days straight. My younger self (who was never NOT listening to music) is doing a bratty chuckle at my current adult self, who works 60–80hr work weeks. 45hrs of this was solely dedicated to The Neighbourhood, with whom I’ve been obsessed with for the past 4yrs now.
The Neighbourhood, Pusha T, Jesse Rutherford (of The Neighbourhood), Travi$ Scott & Ty Dolla $ign dominated my top5 artist spots, due to all having insanely amazing projects this year. I couldn’t think of better artists to champion at the moment. This directly explains why my top genres were Pop, Hip Hop, RnB, Rock & Indie.
The oldest song I enjoyed this year was “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday, released in 1939. While Holiday’s vocals are trembling & beautiful, you can easily hear the pain & sadness she feels for our African American ancestors, describing haunting sights of people of color hanging from trees for all to see. Besides the many remakes the original has spawned, Kanye West most brilliantly sampled the song on “Blood On the Leaves” from YEEZUS (2013).
The only podcast that made it’s way into my year end stats is “The Brilliant Idiots” by Andrew Schulz & Charlamagne Tha God. This was the first podcast I ever heavily devoted my time to & although I’m still a fan & will love it forever, it would’ve easily been eclipsed by “The Bodega Boys” by Desus Nice & The Kid Mero, had they chose Spotify as a streaming partner. Both podcasts have hilarious hosts & free-format hosting styles, which I appreciate cause it mirrors real life & everyday conversations that are easily relatable & easy to follow. Neither takes itself too seriously & gives hilariously refreshing takes on on pop culture & current world issues, without preaching. If you’re ever in need of an escape from the day to day bullshit, these are your best bets.
If there’s anyone i’m musically missing out on or even podcasts i’m depriving myself of, put me on! My handle’s the same across all social media platforms. Peep it below.
STORY BY: Trevor Thompson (@interwebTREV)
