Put Me On: August 2021
From Mall Grab to King Princess to Teezo Touchdown, let me put you on.
First of all, I refuse to believe that summer is almost over, thus marking the last of my summer playlists. And what a summer playlist this one is - as usual we start off softly: a bit of Mereba, a bit of Swimming-era Mac Miller (RIP), and some new Lorde. Then, we get into a middle that’s a swath of genres: everyone from Prince and Future to Skillibeng and Vybz Kartel. Finally, of course, we end with the hip-hop that’s spoken to me this month, which includes classics from JAY-Z and N.W.A. as well as a balance of up-and-comers like Yeat and chart favorites like Trippie Redd and EST Gee, who might actually be the most-featured artist on my playlists this year. As usual, you can check out the full playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. Enjoy!
“i.v.,” Soft Hair, LA Priest, Connan Mockasin
Let me start by saying - this song was always going to be first on the playlist because it is…an experience. I say this a lot, yes, but the song feels remarkably cloudy - the musical equivalent of smoke slowly filling a room and swallowing you up in it, or being dropped into a pool of water and slowly drifting off. Soft Hair, both the album and the group, is the product of a 2016 collaboration between LA Priest and Connan Mockasin, and if you’ve never heard it before I highly suggest you do because this entire project is a trip. The first time I listened to it was just two years after its release when a friend showed me “Lying Has To Stop,” which singlehandedly made me a fan and kept me coming back to the project years later, collecting other favorites.
“Catching Feelings,” Mall Grab
If you like music that sounds like it might play faintly in the background of an HBO show about twenty-somethings living in LA in the midst of a scene where they just arrived at some exclusive party (specific, but bear with me), then you’ll like this track. I’ve been a fan of Mall Grab, since I heard “Liverpool Street In The Rain,” which lured me in with its infectiously catchy, light background instruments and sent me down a rabbit hole of his discography. “Catching Feelings,” off his very appropriately named 2017 project, Pool Party Music (you see why I gave that scenario now?), delivers something similar - light, catchy vocals that make you feel good but also are unobtrusive enough to shift your mood without you even realizing it. And after a friend played this for me in the car on the way home after a night out, all I could do was play it again and again and again and again…
You know when you hear a song and you immediately feel like you’re the star of some #relatable teen drama, staring out the window as the rain falls slowly against the windowpane outside? Yeah, that’s what “Holy” feels like. It’s the chorus that really gets me - there’s a slow but equally intense buildup that contrasts perfectly with the airiness of her vocals, at which point the heaviness of the piano really just HITS. Despite the fact that King Princess has had a hold on the lesbian community for the last few years now (in fact, she first appeared back on my August 2020 playlist as the very first song), I wasn’t really that well acquainted with her discography until this month - and “Holy” was the song that really reeled me in.
“Social Cues,” Teezo Touchdown
Teezo Touchdown is truly one of the most creative and unique artists out right now. Point blank period. I first heard him last summer with “SUCKA!” (and real ones know this was actually on my August 2020 playlist) a song so biting that it’s impossible to listen without also watching the music video. “Social Cues,” whose music video aligns with “SUCKA!”" is the perfect example of his artistry - it’s not a totally new sound, it’s giving very much new age punk rock in a way that’s been done before, BUT it’s new both in terms of what’s being made right now and who’s making it. Because not only is he doing something new, but he is being unapologetically himself on every single track and in every single music video - and that kind of passion and originality you don’t get just anywhere.
I spent a lot of time this month consuming media centered around 90s music - whether that be punk, metal, grunge, nu metal, you name it, I was into it. From the Woodstock ‘99 documentary to the beautifully done Kurt Cobain documentary to the metal film Decline of Western Civilization, this month sent me back in time when it came to music. As a result, I listened to a lot of Nirvana to really get in the spirit of it all, and while every track on Nevermind is a certified classic, “Lithium” was the one that really spoke to me. Of course, Kurt Cobain’s genius goes without saying, but let me tell you that I now have a newfound love for that man and the music they created. This was cemented about 37 seconds into this song when I was hooked by the melody. And I mean hooked. I played that section alone back countless times. It takes TRUE musical know-how to say “Yeah, yeah” over and over again and make it sound melodic, passionate, and earth-shattering all at once but of course, Kurt makes it happen.
“Unlock It,” ABRA Feat. Playboi Carti
Despite the fact that I religiously follow as many Playboi Carti fanpages, meme accounts, and subreddits as I can, I had no idea this feature was coming. So you can imagine my excitement when a friend sent this to me and I eagerly pressed play, looking forward to whatever garbled verse Carti was giving (we love a baby voice!), but instead I was greeted with the warmness of ABRA’s voice and that was all I could focus on. I’d never heard her before, but now she’s all I want to hear. “Unlock It” is simple enough in theory, but in practice her vocals take it to the next level. Don’t get me wrong, Playboi Carti did his thing, but for once he was not at all the main event, merely a welcome addition to an already beautiful song.
The best part of compiling these playlists and searching for new music every month is finding an artist or a group I’ve never heard of before - and this month SURF GANG was one of those. They’re a New York-based collective whose music sounds exactly like what you’d expect a group of New York kids in this day and age to make - it sounds like a next generation A$AP Mob making music for a post-SoundCloud music world and I love it. Their project SGV1 had my attention for the entire 27 minutes, but “Mosquito P2” was one of many that made me stop and replay it before continuing. SURF GANG’s project seems to encompass so many of the sounds popular in this new era of rap right now, and makes me excited for what’s coming up next in the future.
That’s all for this month’s issue of Put Me On. As usual, you can find the full playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.
This newsletter is completely free to read, but each month I highlight a different community organization, charity, or foundation for you to consider donating to if you can. This month, I’ve been thinking a lot about my family’s country of Guyana, and I invite you to check out Blossoms of Guyana, a nonprofit organization that provides educational support to the public schools and orphanages of Guyana. If you’d like to learn more or donate, you can check out their page here.
See you month!
Tia