TurningPAGES Rationale (May ‘23)
Turning PAGES Playlist
Quarter II, Issue II
Curated by: Nannearl
Playlist: Listen on Spotify
New songs this issue:
feel good x Tierra Whack
LOGOUT x Saba ft Chance The Rapper
DRINKING GOOD x BLK ODYSSY ft Eimaral Sol
Fool Me Twice x Dave B. ft Sango
LIMB x Planet Giza
Rainforest x Noname
A.W.O.L. x EARTHGANG
Maybe I Should x Sylvan LaCue (formerly known as QuESt)
Sicily’ Box x Venna ft Yussef Dayes, Marco Bernardis & Rocco Palladino
These next nine songs are a drastic change from what I came out the clip with on our first round with this playlist. Clearly, I’m a smut/erotica lover, so it only made sense to start with tunes that would set the vibe up front. But now that we got that outta the way…
We’re in our sad girl bag™ with this drop.
I’ve had about twelve significant mental shifts over the last eight years. Needless to say, it’s been almost a decade of life-altering revelations for me which, of course, would not be complete without a hefty dose of depression. One of those mental shifts happened when I started to get my hands on Black feminist texts and since then, I’ve made it a goal to read more books in this genre, as well as Afropessimism and other aspects of Black studies this year. Naturally, the mood of this playlist & my genres of focus for 2023 fit perfectly together. (If you’ve never had the pleasure of reading any books of this kind, check one out and you may or may not thank yourself for it after).
I zoned in on the lyricism this time around (for obvious reasons, i.e., emotions), so unlike the previous list, the dominant artform here is rap. However, in very true airy Gemini form, the escapism soundscape is still very present. I wanted this to be a serious listen that was still easy to sit, work and/or read to, so there was much intentional effort put into each song choice and its order in the playlist (yes, I’m a ‘listen to this shxt in order for *this effect*’ kinda person). I purposefully stayed away from the topic of love in this one.
We’re opening this bag with my girl T Whack with a track that has been a MOOD for the past couple of years for me. 2021 was the year I more clearly/openly recognized and began to tend to my depression. I often have thoughts akin to the lyrics but most especially “but somehow I can’t seem to find happy Whack, where did she go?”
I get into my critique of the tech industry and how we exist in it with Saba’s LOGOUT. I’m grateful he gave me something to work with, ‘cause I been wanting to get those thoughts off for a while. Much of what we’ve dealt with over the years re: police brutality and just life shxt as a Black person living in the U.S. is touched on through Noname, BLK ODSSY and a few others.
I close out the lyricism with Sylvan LaCue’s Maybe I Should. It might appear to end on a hopeful note but for me, this hope is more rooted in a will to go on vs being hopeful for things to come. That sounds dark, and maybe it is, and yet it is a reflection of how I realistically experience the world. The list itself closes with some smooth jazz sounds that kind of represent this will to persist personally and also with the list, foreshadowing where I may be going for the next drop. 👀
I wasn’t necessarily looking to stick to a certain geographical region but it so happens that there was a decent amount of east coast representation (Miami, ATL, Philly, NJ), along with Chi-town, the west, Canada and the UK.
Catch the vibe & enjoy.
