soundscape 005
imminent heat
i guess the month of May had somewhere to be, considering that it went as quickly as it came. June is already proving to be full of goodies and surprises, so i’m embracing the change. as i look ahead to my mid-year favorite music feature, i’ve got quite a backlog of albums to listen to. so that’s what i’ll mainly be catching up on for the foreseeable future.
i nearly added some releases i listened to this past weekend to the current playlist, which was a definitive sign that i needed to share this edition of soundscape ASAP. enjoy!
music i missed last year
AKA finding out about tunes that might have made my 2025 year-end lists had i heard them earlier. after this installment, this featured section will be phased out until next year. any new plays i feature outside of the current calendar year will be listed under “tracking my listens.”
Starchild & The New Romantic — Beauty of a Black Cauldron, Vol 1 & 2
transport me to the ‘80s ASAP
Ariel Kalma, Asa Tone — O
meditative new age ambience
Aaron Taylor — Yours Always (EP)
optimistic, yearnful crooning at its peak
JONES — In The Moment (EP)
JONES + Aaron Taylor = a divine pairing
IBI HAN — An Acquired Taste
RIYL: Lizzie Berchie, Ego Ella May, Tanerélle
Debit — Desaceleradas
desolate industrial droning juxtaposes sunny days
The Amours — Girls Will Be Girls
modern R&B with dusty soul tendencies
new releases
tracking music from the current calendar year, which will help me build my mid-year and yearly roundups in advance. most albums include a summary of up to seven words (think: esoteric word associations, standout lyrics, similar artists, descriptions of how i experienced the music, etc). my #1 play of the month is often explored with more depth.
Rockie Rode — Rockie
RIYL: Smerz, Okay Kaya, Jockstrap, Faye Webster
Baby Keem — CA$INO
mostly playful with soul-baring moments
Ego Ella May — Good Intentions
sophisticated jazzy soul for many occasions
TheArti$t — DND
RIYL: PHABO, Ambré, Isaia Huron
Wesley Joseph — Forever Ends Someday
RIYL: Ragz Originale, Barney Artist, Bakar
IDK — e.t.d.s. A. Mixtape by .idk
a testimony of epic hip-hop proportions
April + Vista — Traditional Noise
a formidable debut with experimental reference points
Romeo + Juliet — Roller
a collection of film-inspired love songs
Isaiah Rashad — IT’S BEEN AWFUL
reflects the ebbs and flows of humanity
Token Pony — Stay Inside (EP)
Portland got soul!
an indie ode to girlhood and late adolescence
Namasenda — Limbo
“body on heaven, prettiest weapon”
JWords — Sound Therapy
stream-of-consciousness monologues over chill beats
Lynae Vanee — Sundays In The Overflow (EP)
poignantly potent Black femme spoken word
Little Simz — Sugar Girl (EP)
a candy-coated girl power moment
Yuna — THE VALOUR HOUR (EP)
sultry, slow-burning R&B for intimate nights
bLAck pARty — Work In Progress: Instrumental Album
an aptly-titled soundtrack for working
The MerKaBa Brotherhood — The MerKaBa Brotherhood
sacred mystical jazz that permeates the soul
Black Nile — Indigo Garden
jazz at center and on its fringes
BRTHWRK — 1.blurry (EP)
a reminder to return to the breath
GLDMAZE (THE.MAZIST) — MANDO FILES:: VOL. 1
abstract bespoke hip-hop paired with personalized mythology
$WVNK — Proof of Life (EP)
for fans of raw and brash trap music
Lava La Rue — Do You Know Everything? (EP)
read between the lines!
Leonie Biney — When You Turn Around (EP)
acoustic, folksy heartfelt indie pop
Smerz — Easy (EP)
easy, breezy transitional weather music
Nappy Nina & Swarvy — Sow & So
“well-versed, ain’t saying too much at first”
Genesis Owusu — REDSTAR WU & WORLDWIDE SCOURGE
the singles come alive in album context
Dua Saleh — Of Earth & Wires
a passionate tug-of-war with vast influences
aja monet — the color of rain
the preeminent jazz poet of the decade
August Gladstone — The Golden West
beautifully theatrical “Western-themed antifascist folk-rock poetry”
Wakai & Luke MacKenzie — Brief Laughs
second favorite play of the month
Momo Boyd — Miss Michigan (EP)
sassy and classy—she’s really that girl!
Thee Marloes — Di Hotel Malibu
visceral classic soul record with pizzazz
Anaïs Cardot — Map Of Her Shadow (EP)
RIYL: Fana Hues, anaiis, Leonie Biney
Boards of Canada — Inferno
ambient, spacey, oft-meditative collage with found sounds
reggie — UNDRA
been anticipating this, and it’s highly impressive
Kenny Mason — BULLDAWG
this is my #1 play of the month—if XXL’s Freshman Class List was still worth the salt of its heyday, Kenny Mason would have BEEN on the cover. from where i stand, he deserves to be in the conversation when it comes to innovative hip-hop artists. with BULLDAWG, the Atlanta rapper proclaims that “he’s bringing rock back” and he definitely exceeded those expectations.
my seven-word summary of BULLDAWG is: an energetic alt-rap adventure with genre-defining features.
music to look forward to
Wiki — Ancient History (6/12)
Good Girl — Sugar Honey (EP) (6/12)
Debit — Potpourri (6/12)
Devin Morrison — SAKURA (6/18)
Dreamer Isioma — Quantum Entanglement (6/18)
Tierra Whack — WHACK’S MUSEUM (6/19)
Ibeyi — Offering (6/26)
Tasha — You Are Spring! (6/26)
Baby Rose — YEARNALISM (7/10)
Eartheater — Heavenly Body: If I’m The Bottle You’re the Message (7/14)
Syd — Beard (7/17)
Steve Lacy — Oh Yeah? (7/17)
WILLOW — The Thread (7/24)
Love Spells — LOVE IS THE LAW (7/24)
Cautious Clay — The Hours: High Noon (7/31)
Ravyn Lenae — Blue Island (8/7)
Francis Chang — been thinking about confession (8/21)
let’s run that back
Lianne La Havas — “Green & Gold”
Lykke Li — “Complaint Department”
Cults’ self-titled debut album, which celebrated its 15th anniversary on 6/7 (vinyl in my personal collection)
Lava La Rue — “Push N Shuv”
AG CLUB — “A Bitch Curious” ft. Sam Truth
Paris Texas — “AREA CODE”
New Wave Black Naturalism™️
check out the following playlist i curated for Lux Films Mag by Taylor Lewis.
sights to see
SLATROP, a virtual exhibition courtesy of Blacks of Are.na Newsletter
introducing hood femme fabulous 💅🏾
one thing about me: i’m gonna coin a new phrase. enter hood femme fabulous 💅🏾, a descriptor for the visual language of women in hip-hop. i came up with this terminology while attending a 6-week self-guided study hall for culture critics and creative nonfiction writers. i chose to study The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop by Clover Hope.
this experience culminated in a virtual teach-in, where we each had 5 minutes to present what we learned. shoutout to Amber J. Phillips and Tia Oso for facilitating this space. and big up to all who participated! such fruitful wisdom and a beautiful example of community building that i will carry with me forever.
the Milanote board i displayed during the video meeting is linked below.
The Handguide to ALT-R&B (2010-2015)
i had the honor of being a guest writer for the latest Shatter the Standards handguide on alt-R&B from 2010-2015. i mused about Feel Good by The Internet1, Solange’s True EP, Cut 4 Me by Kelela, and shared a quote from my February collectible feature on nostalgia, ULTRA by Frank Ocean.
soundscape 005: the playlist
the notes: spoken word, blueberry cobbler with swirls of cream, disco balls, eccentricity, collaboration, seminal texts, the next stage, renovation, new terminology, Thai basil, sparkling water.
CD in my personal collection
Loved this as always. Hoping to listen to Isaiah Rashad's and Dua Saleh's latest albums this month. I'm also really excited about Steve Lacy's, Syd's, Ravyn's releases✨️✨️
Thanks for including me! I too am excited for the new Wiki project you mentioned towards the end. Great coverage!