I think the hardest part isn’t even the rejection; it’s that I’ve done everything I was “supposed to do”, and it still doesn’t seem to be enough. Despite my academic and professional experience. I graduated with honors, moved out of state, and created passion projects for myself that I’m actually passionate about.

Hi, my name’s Triston & I honestly just wanted to yap a bit about what I’m going through, among thousands of other recent grads and overall professionals.

Watch this article here if you don’t feel like reading

According to an article about the psychology of fear, “Psychologists define fear as a protective, primal emotion that creates a biochemical and emotional response. It alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether physical or psychological”.

How do you keep creating art when the odds are stacked against you?

How do you keep moving forward and keep that creativity alive while you’re struggling? How do you keep that faith with your passion projects?

How do creatives who are just starting or who have done this for decades not throw in the towel? Like at what point does chasing your dreams feel irresponsible?

Girl, I’ve got no clue, but when I look at other creatives who I feel are super talented and worked for everything they have, it’s crazy that we just assume that they never have hard days, or that the industry is never pitted against them.

Tinashe is someone I’ve known about and listened to for a while, ever since her song 2 On came out - but when I was talking about my fears and being in this creative rut with my cousin, she told me to look more into Tinashe’s story.

Tinashe's Story

She’s a trained dancer, a Britney & Janet stan, an actress, producer, and songwriter. Basically anything she touches is absolute magic AND she’s talented so it was crazy to me when I found out that she had gotten dropped from her label in 2019 at RCA Records. She successfully went independent after leaving them, gaining creative freedom and ownership of her masters.

The hard thing about being an independent artist that I feel like no one really talks about is the lack of resources. There’s no label to send your music to radio stations, rub elbows with other artists, or even bring you into that convo, and no built-in relationships with music distributors like Spotify or Apple Music to get you playlisted - and arguably, one of the huge factors in getting your music into more people’s ears is not having a big marketing budget to help you promote your music. Everything you want to happen literally falls on you to make happen, and as you can imagine it gets very costly. You get to keep full creative control, which is what Tinashe really wanted, but she had to sacrifice the built-in system in the process.

She kept releasing music on her own terms, kept building her audience directly, kept creating and it took years. AKA Years of people counting her out but she’s still here, still making music, & growing just on her own terms. All of her work thankfully paid off when her song Nasty took off though.

Now it wasn’t overnight, but she decided that the music mattered more than the validation of a system that had already said no to her, and kept trying, and that’s what I keep thinking of during this really confusing period in my life. Making art during a hard time isn’t a distraction from the struggle - sometimes it’s the only way through it.

To be completely candid here I have soooo many things I love to do and I strongly dislike with a passion when people try and limit someone’s passions and creative endeavors. Now don’t get me wrong, someone might pop off for one thing - like Tinashe or Chloe from ChloexHalle being a singer but they’re both also producers. Just because they’re known for singing, does that make them any less of the latter ya know?

As someone who’s trying to find creative ways to fund her art and interests, I can’t help but feel a bit of imposter syndrome. I feel like a lot of the projects I personally release are rushed and if I pause to take time on it i feel like time will pass me by and I’m worried I’ll miss my idk prime or time i guess (I know this makes absolutely no sense) but I’m just scared because music is something I cherish so much not only as an outlet, but as a friend if that makes sense.

Now, I’m not the only artist or creative who uses my art as a form of therapy, but I'm also finding a way to make an income from it.

There’s a plethora of artists who had flop eras and still created art in the midst of funding it and surviving overall but honestly, to me and I’d like to think a lot of other artists, a part of us would literally die if we don’t create. I guess I can only speak for myself but I think it really is that serious.

As Kelela, the super underrated an talented artist says: “When my peers and I, especially my black women artist peers, get together and figure shit out together. When we talk about our experiences as visible black women—as black women in the world. It helps me survive on the daily. It is the family I have right now. It is those group chats. It is when we see each other at the festivals. It is those moments that give me absolute life. It is the thing that helps me feel confident to create the music that I make.”

At the initial time I wrote the first half of this, I didn’t have a job, and now I have a social media position, and I’m also trying to get my production company, which I started when I was in high school, back up and running. I’m still trying to find ways to balance not burning out creatively while also giving it proper attention, as I still try to support myself out here over 1000 miles away from home.

The best way to deal with it? Girl idk fuck it, just make some.

What I was listening to as I wrote this:

• You by Miagma

• The First Taste by Fiona Apple

• Pan Gloss by Josh Wink

• SLIP AWAY by BLOODY

Resources:

• The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates

• What is fear?

• MAKING IT THROUGH HARD TIMES AS AN ARTIST

• The Fall: What led to Tinashe’s fall from grace with the people?

• Go back and get it: an interview with Kelela

• Tinashe Has Parted Ways With RCA

On Monday, I received an email asking to take a listen & share my opinions on an album called The Cost of Freedom by Koko Love.

I’ll be transparent: this is the first time I’ve ever been asked to cover something in the music space, and honestly, that’s pretty cool, so bear with me. (Thank you so much for even thinking of me!)

Montreal indie alternative artist and producer Koko Love just brought his debut LP, The Cost of Freedom, to streaming after a run of vinyl-only and Bandcamp exclusivity.

He reminds me a lot of Dominic Fike, and I mean that in the best way possible. Like genuinely a lot. There’s this raw vocal layering happening throughout the whole record, a very indie feel-good energy that feels both loose and intentional at the same time. To me, it’s really obvious on his song “Man I’m Not,” which is easily the catchiest song on the album. The background vocals on that track specifically fill the space in my opinion, so it’s not surprising that it peaked at number 3 on CBC Radio.

There’s a lyric in “Jump Head First in the Fire” that goes “my girlfriend’s making fun of me, cuz I don’t know how to drink” and I think that explains the essence/vibe of the whole album. Quirky, a little cheesy, and endearing - it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I think there should be more songs and artists like that (but his actually sounds pretty good).

It doesn’t sound like it belongs to a specific moment or trend; it just sounds like some chill music - especially music I could hear in the background of some sort of sunny/indie/coming-of-age film. “Caribbean Food to Go” is a great example of that. It sounds incredibly nostalgic, like it could have existed years ago and would have fit just as well, which isn’t an easy thing to pull off.

Overall, the acoustic feel and rawness of the project (what i mean by rawness is an authentic & gritty feel in some of the recordings) is awesome, and I feel that a lot of songs have so much more of an electronic/drum and bass feel to them lately but this feels like it’s leaning a touch back into the early 2000s indie or calmness if that makes sense.

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Is it my favorite album ever? No. Is it groundbreaking? Not in particular. But I could absolutely see myself throwing this on during a sunset drive with my friends and just vibing. Sometimes that’s all you need, and this delivers that feeling effortlessly. Personally, I’ll be adding some songs from this album to my Indie/Pop & June playlist!

The Cost of Freedom is out now on all streaming platforms - lmk what you think about it!

Fav Tracks:

• The Cost of Freedom

• Caribbean Food to Go

• Man I’m Not

• Like a Tiger

Least fav tracks

• Hiding in Plain Sight

• Boundary Breaker

His Info:

Insta

Press

If there’s any other artists who want to send over their work, I’d genuinely love to take a listen to it - I enjoy finding and listening to new music!

Song Recs:

• Middle Curse by Lali Puna

• Stress by Justice

• Fake it by 9090gate

• point blank by Kelela

• Floods by Pantera

What I listened to while I wrote this:

• ketamina - slowed by yaego, KUčKA

• Fire Alarm by Lil Uzi Vert, Snow Strippers

My Socials

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Koko Love Cost Of Freedom Lp

657KB ∙ PDF file

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Intro

A few weeks ago, I went out and bought the physical CD of Demon Days and if you’ve seen my most recent vids, you already know how I feel about this & why you should stop being lazy and actually sit down and listen to albums, but for now I’m telling you this album is something else when you actually give it your full attention.

Hi, I’m Triston and I like to yap… a lot.

To understand Demon Days, you have to understand how Gorillaz even came to exist in the first place.

Origin Story

Damon Albarn, frontman of Blur & artist Jamie Hewlett somehow ended up as roommates in London one night, and as they’re watching MTV, they hate everything they see. It’s just a bunch of manufactured pop stars, & just all things superficial. Out of that frustration, they cook up this idea of a virtual cartoon band that doesn’t technically exist. Four animated characters (Noodles, Murdoc, Russel, & 2-D) who could say what real artists couldn’t and exist completely outside the rules of the music industry.

Each character developed with their own lore and story, running in conjunction with the music, and after the release of their self-titled debut, Demon Days was released on May 11, 2005, a year after I was born!

Why is it good?

So… what makes it a great album? In short, it’s: story, interpretability, visual identity, and architecture & Demon Days has all four of those.

It’s a concept album, which means every song is connected to tell basically one entire story or communicate a central theme. The creators described this album as a journey through the night, where every track is a confrontation with a different personal demon.

You are now entering the harmonic realm

Story:

You begin the album in what feels like a weird, ominous fever dream with the first track, “Intro.” As you progress throughout the album, you get Last Living Souls about humanity going to annihilation, Kids with Guns about the terrible behavior of today's youth, Feel Good Inc about rebelling against big corporations, All Alone about the fact that people spend less and less time with each other, but mainly about depression and the more you move through it and by the time the title track closes everything out you’ve finished a pretty dark hard truth of songs.

Interpretability: Outside of facing personal demons and the darker truths of the world, just like any other great piece of music, you can take these songs and apply them to your own life in ways the creators probably never even intended. I remember the first time my cousin showed me Feel Good Inc. I was young, I didn’t really know what Gorillaz was, and I didn’t have any context for it. And I just remember sitting there watching that music video over and over again. Something about it made me uncomfortable, yet I couldn’t stop watching. I couldn’t stop listening to it. I loved it, and it unsettled me at the same time, and I had no idea why. I didn’t understand what the song was actually about. I wasn’t thinking about isolation or how the rappers in the music video symbolized the music industry, taunting and gloating at how they control the Gorillaz and constantly overworking them to the point that they barely get any sleep. I was just a kid, of course, but the feeling got through anyway, and I remember feeling super sad for 2-D. The music communicated something to me before I had the words for it, and now, after coming back to it as an adult, as someone who’s actually been through some tough things, the song and the entire album hit completely differently.

The visual identity: Gorillaz was doing something no one else was at the time. The cover of Demon Days is just the four virtual band members, close up portraits against a solid black background. Everything from the art direction to the music videos to the character lore is all pulling in the exact same direction. That is what a real visual identity looks like - not just having a cool art style, but having every single visual choice mean something and serve the world you’re building.

The architecture: The beat motifs & overall instrumental ideas that keep coming back and threading the entire project together. Damon brought in Danger Mouse to produce this album and that one decision changed everything. What Danger Mouse brought was this raw texture that runs through the entire record. The whole album feels like one continuous narrartive piece because it was and made to feel that way.

The Future of Gorillas

Now in a recent interview, Damon Albarn was asked about the future of Gorillaz, and he basically said they plan to pass it on to the next generation & hand the cartoon characters over to a younger team. I get it, the whole point of Gorillaz was always that the cartoon is bigger than the humans behind it - the concept can theoretically live forever, but just spent time explaining why Demon Days is one of their greatest projects and why I love it. The story, the world, & the architecture and every single one of those things came from the specific brains and the specific obsessions of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. You cannot pass that on. You can pass the characters but you cannot pass the genius behind it.

So I want to know what you actually think. Are the Gorillaz bigger than its creators? Or is it inseparable from them? Because I have my answer, but I genuinely want to hear yours.

Thank you so much for reading my yap! If you want to watch the lovely YouTube video paired with this Substack, you can find it below :D

3 Song Recs:

• I Live With You by Grizzly Bear

• Modern Guilt by Beck

• Cold Shoulder by Adele

What I listened to as I wrote this:

• Last Living Souls by Gorillaz

• The Number Song by DJ Shadow

• Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz

Resources:

• Demon Days - Gorillaz Darkest Album (Lyrical Analysis and Meaning Explained)

• Gorillaz Demon Days Deconstruction

• https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/demon-days-gorillaz/63925334

More music is available right now than at any point in human history. And somehow, we’re listening to less of it.

Well, I shouldn’t say less music but rather less albums - we're listening to songs individually from those albums & there's a difference.

The funny thing is, I actually used to listen to full albums. I remember being like 5, putting on Beyoncé’s B’Day and I Am Sasha Fierce, and just dancing around my room front to back - just vibing through the whole thing.

And then at some point that just... stopped. Music became something I picked up in pieces from family, the radio, & from stumbling across random songs, not projects - and I didn’t even notice the shift until way later.

I didn’t think it was a problem until I realized I couldn’t name a single album I actually enjoyed from side A to side B anymore.

Now with streaming, you can find almost anything, almost instantly, for like $10 a month. And yet, over half of us are listening to fewer full albums than we were 5-10 years ago. Deezer surveyed 8,000 people and found that 40% of listeners just straight up prefer playlists.

Which, for a long time, was me.

Where did Albums/EPs come from?

A lot of people assume technology predetermined how long releases should be (and kind of, yeah). The vinyl LP held about 45 minutes, but Columbia Records set it that way specifically to fit in a full classical symphony - artists just started filling that space. Eventually, artists like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, & many more started making those 45 minutes actually mean something.

Then the CD came along and held 70-80 minutes. Legend has it that Beethoven’s 9th Symphony was literally used to decide that number. And suddenly, artists felt like they had to fill all of it. That’s basically where the full album was born.

Then digital downloads happened. Then streaming. And suddenly you didn’t have to listen to a project track by track anymore — entire discographies available on demand. For most of recorded music history, buying an album was a commitment, financially and physically. You picked it up, took it home, and listened front to back because that was just... the only option.

Social Media Did Something To Us

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy using TikTok & Instagram. I've found so much music on there and I've put my own stuff out that way too. But it rewires how you listen.

If something doesn’t hit in the first 3-10 seconds, you keep scrolling. So albums end up getting consumed like playlists of songs you’ve already heard out of order, or you just end up only hearing one song from the project, and when that’s the experience, why would you sit with a full project?

I’ve been on the other side of this too. I’ve released single after single because that’s what the algorithm promotes - quick, digestible, & shareable content. You really stop thinking about the full picture and start thinking about what’s gonna grab someone’s attention before they swipe away, never to hear your music again. Social media doesn’t reward patience, and it definitely doesn’t reward albums.

But something gets lost in that. An album isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s a story sequence and a world someone built, wanting us to sit in it.

We just stopped sitting.

What Actually Makes An Album Work

For me, there are four things that make a project feel like a world rather than just a collection of songs:

1. A cohesive story: It doesn’t have to be a personal one, it just has to feel like everything is pointing towards the same thing. A mood, a theme, a world. Something that makes the whole feel bigger than the individual songs.

2. Interpretability: The album or project has to make you feel something. A line, a sound, a moment that hits different depending on where you are in life when you hear it. That sort of nostalgic or knowing pull you can’t really explain but you know it when you feel it.

3. A personal brand and visual identity: The art, the rollout, the aesthetic. Not in a necessarily corporate marketing way, but in a this came from a space or state of being rather. You can feel when an artist builds a world around their project versus when they just drop a bunch of songs with no real correlation, story arc, or sound-wise. (I’ll admit I’ve definitely dropped a bunch of songs myself, hoping one would stick for somebody instead of really fleshing it out.)

4. Architecture: The beat, motifs, the little instrumental ideas that keep coming back. A motif is basically musical DNA - a short recurring melody or rhythm that threads through the whole project and makes everything feel connected. When it’s done right, you don’t even consciously notice it. You just feel like the album holds together.

   When a project has all four of these characteristics, it stops being something you listen to and starts being somewhere you go.

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DON’T BE DUMB deserved more time

Upon reflection on recent drops, A$AP Rocky’s DON’T BE DUMB -

The hand-drawn aesthetic, the messiness, the fact that it didn’t feel polished or optimized for any particular moment. I mean, he even had a Pinterest board just for the album. A Pinterest board.

How often do you see artists or their teams building a world and inviting people in, and it doesn’t feel forced? (Ik this isn’t explicity super album focused but it’s definitely world building and my marketing brain loves it).

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Albums I actually sat with:

Now just for funsies, if you’re curious here are some recent albums I’ve listened to front to back - either for the first time, repeat, or just as a combined project instead of individual tracks.

• Two Dreams by Circa Survive

• Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

• DON’T BE DUMB by A$AP Rocky

• Broken Bells by Broken Bells

• American Football by American football

• The Mating Game by Bitter:Sweet

• The Divine Feminine by Mac Miller

I don’t need more music

I used to think I wanted my favorite artists dropping constantly. Now I’ve come to this conclusion that I’d rather wait and get something intentional than just be fed all the time. Some albums are meant to live with you and sit for a few years. Music isn’t an app update. (I ATEEEEEE)

And that same Deezer study found that 94% of people said they’d reconsider listening to a full album in higher quality audio. Which tells me the desire is still there. People aren’t done with albums. They just need a reason to slow down.

Closing thoughts

I’ve actually been working on another project of my own. I’m trying to do more collabs and further enhance the next biome in my story!

So for fun, I decided to sample something from DON’T BE DUMB and flip it into a beat. Albums don’t die when formats change. They die when we stop giving them the time they deserve.

Thank you so much for reading my yap! If you want to watch the lovely YouTube video paired with this Substack, you can find it below :D

Also, here’s the lil rough beat I made sampling DON’T BE DUMB

3 Song Recs:

• STOLE YA FLOW by A$AP Rocky

• 3:15 (Breathe) Russ

• Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

What I listened to while I wrote this:

• Pittsburgh by Wilco

• Medicated by Wiz Khalifa

• Don’t Look Back by Miguel

• I Caught Myself by Paramore

• Take Ü There by Jack Ü

Resources:

• Modern Listeners Shifting Towards Playlists Over Albums, Study Shows

• School of rock: What makes a great album?

  

I know it’s been a while - been navigating a bit of stressful & unmotivated times BUT with that I wanted to share some artists and songs that have been lifting my spirits and just new music I found that I think you’d enjoy!

Introducing - Y.A.P.S. — “Your Artists Perfectly Selected”

1. Dirty Art Club

North Carolina duo Matt Cagle & Madwreck started in 2011 as a one-off project to celebrate a friend’s book release, Heavy Starch. What began as a beat tape has since evolved into the solo project of Matt Cagle, crafting intricate, genre-bending soundscapes that blend instrumental hip-hop, trip-hop, and experimental electronic music.

3 songs to start with:

• Soul Eater

• Queen Persephone

• Undertow

Dirty Art Club is perfect for reading a good book and just hanging out. The vocal chops and layered samples nod to old-school instrumental hip-hop without ever feeling forced.

Their Bandcamp

2. Jai Paul

Jai Paul is an influential British-Indian singer, songwriter, and record producer from London, known for his pioneering, lo-fi “electro R&B” sound. He gained significant recognition for his 2011 debut, “BTSTU,” a demo posted to his MySpace page, and for 2012’s “Jasmine,” both of which influenced modern pop. Despite a 2013 leak of his music causing a long hiatus, he returned in 2019 and performed his first live show at Coachella in 2023.

3 songs to start with:

• Crush (Unfinished)

• Zion Wolf theme (Unfinished)

• All Night (Unfinished)

I actually started listening to Jai Paul’s music in GTA V, but I got back into it recently. Definitely recommend playing his music while you’re driving around on a nice day or at the beach with friends. His origin is actually wild because before his EP had even been officially released, in 2011, a new version of the song was released on Halcyon indie label XL Recordings, adding the weight of a heavy-hitting label, which had previously made savvy bets on Adele, MIA, and many more artists, to an internet sensation.

His Website

3. Sault

I’ve also been listening to a bit of SAULT without realizing it. They’re a UK collective that blends old-school soul and R&B with more modern aspects and socially conscious lyrics. The production is lush but never overdone or really overstimulating.

3 songs to start with:

• God, Protect Me from My Enemies

• R.L.

• Son Shine

Sault is perfect for cooking around the apartment and just hanging out with friends (also a nice drive). Shoutout to TikTok & my roommate for putting me on to some of these bangers.

Their Website

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Libraries are one of the few indoor environments where people are not required to spend money, produce content, or justify their presence.

They exist to collect, preserve, and share knowledge, but they haven’t always sounded the way they do today.

Brief History of Silence in Libraries

In the early 17th century, Sir Thomas Bodley established strict rules for his library at Oxford, requiring readers to swear an oath to study with “modesty and silence,” not deface books, and obey all regulations. Readers still lowkey take a version of this oath today, preserving the historic emphasis on quiet and reverence for knowledge.

Silence as Status and Control

Historically, Western libraries were not public spaces. They functioned more like private clubs & formal institutions built for the upper class. Reading was treated as a refined, individual activity. In many Western cultures, silence is associated with order, discipline, and civility. Libraries inherited these values, becoming spaces where knowledge was treated as sacred.

By the mid-1800s, libraries began shifting toward public access, as tax-supported libraries rose in the United States. However, while access expanded, behavioral expectations remained unchanged.

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Silence as Privilege

Silence is often regarded as a matter of etiquette or even control, but it can also be understood as a form of access.

Not everyone has a home environment that allows for uninterrupted focus. Many people live in crowded spaces, share rooms, or exist in constant noise. Silence, for them, is not a given; it’s a rarity.

When libraries provide quiet study spaces, they aren’t enforcing behavior so much as offering a resource. Silence becomes a form of public infrastructure.

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Today, libraries serve as community hubs, third spaces, and creative centers. They host events, offer job assistance, provide recording rooms, and still, the expectation of quiet persists.

76% of Americans say it’s “very important” for libraries to provide quiet study spaces. Silence remains valued, but libraries today are also places to gather, create, collaborate & connect. They host events, record music, teach classes, and build community.

Closing Thoughts

I recently went back home and picked up a library card so I could read audiobooks on my Kindle via apps like Libby & hoopla. I haven’t really stepped into a library in at least 6 years. When i was really little I’d go to the local library and check out my fav mangas like yotuba and ponyo and fire comics of course. If you’ve seen the last vid I did, which, if you haven’t, you should watch it after reading this, because I talk a bit about nostalgia and getting back into physical media I used to love and engage in every day before and after school!

BUT just because you’re supposed to be quiet in the library doesn’t mean there isn’t any noise. Here’s a lil beat I made with library sounds!

Thank you so much for reading my yap! If you want to watch the lovely YouTube video paired with this Substack, you can find it below :D

3 Song Recs:

• Man Research by The Gorillaz

• Ox1 by Tommy Four Seven

• The Boy Who Cried Love by Alex Isley

What I listened to while I wrote this:

• My Love by Maye

• Constant Surprises by Little Dragon

Resources:

• Medium publication

• Pew Research

• https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/03/quiet-spaces/

• The Washington Post: It’s okay for libraries to be loud! Take it from me, a librarian

• The evolution of libraries to the 21st century (Infographic)

• Pop Culture Library Review

• https://youtube.com/shorts/4YWpJBZ4WSg?si=xSCxYayydxscMUqs

• https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=33#:~:text=Together%20with%20its%20mission%20of,05%2D27%2D2015.)

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I’m now a recent college grad, which we may or may not talk about another time, but for now… you’re here to hear me yap about one thing:

The 5th-generation iPod Touch:

The iPod Touch was basically the last iPod Apple ever made after they killed the Nano and Shuffle in 2017. They tweaked storage and pricing a bit, but in 2022, Apple finally laid it to rest (may she rest in peace). iOS 15 is the last version it supports, which basically means its a fossil.

Problems

Bluetooth Compatibility: I tried connecting my AirPods, but they disconnected every other millisecond.

Getting Quality Music: Do you want good-quality music? Good luck. ytmp3 converters, drag & drop into iTunes…

Battery Life: The battery life on the iPod was comparable to that of an insanely overcharged 2016 MacBook.

Stuff i already had on the iPod from middle school (if you were curious):

• Distraction by Kehlani

• Stranger by Jhene Aiko

• LOOK AT ME by XXXTentacion

• NEVER by XXXTentacion

• KING by XXXTentacion

• T-Shirt by Migos

• Sorry by Beyoncé

So, why is everyone moving to analog?

In a world full of AI, automation, and algorithms, I think we not only want control over our lives, but also generally crave more autonomy. Dare I say we’re starting to recognize how much the internet has shaped who we are as a whole - especially for generations like ours (gen z/millenials+) whose entire lives are basically documented online. We yearn for the kind of environment older generations once had: a genuine sense of community. Not just loyal story-likers or passive observers, but actual experiences where we get to connect with others authentically.

So I don’t continue on my social media rant, on top of that, companies track us 24/7, we see a million ads a day across streaming services and social feeds, & digital spaces feel exhausting. We’re simply just burnt out. As one Fortune article put it:

“The current digital age of music is fantastic, […] but there’s nothing like the personal aspect of going into the record store and thumbing through a bunch of albums while making small talk with some of the other patrons to find out what they’re listening to.”

I’ve been personally diving back into things I loved as a preteen and in high school (which honestly doesn’t feel that long ago, but it was). Mangas, old Batman comics (Court of Owls is still so good), & listening to vinyl - stuff that doesn’t require constant scrolling. Hell, I’ve even considered getting a dumb phone at this point.

Even though mindless, scroll-free music experiences can be easier and brain-rotting in a comforting way, it kinda feels better to deliberately choose what you consume, manually interact with it, and actually feel it. And that’s kind of why I decided to dust off my 5th-generation iPod Touch for a week.

[Also for kicks & giggles, here’s a rough of a beat I made sampling the vinyl Radio Retaliation by Thievery Corporation. ]

My Overall Experience/Final Thoughts

Using the iPod for a week was a wild experience. Did i feel cooler not participating in algorithmic chaos and actually choosing what i listen to? Short answer: Yes 😁

Queueing songs manually eventually became somewhat enjoyable, if you believe it (I'm not sure if this is me feeding my control issues, but whatever).

I had to untangle old JBL earbuds after every use, which was tedious but somehow charming. It all just reminded me of my youth, which I now feel I didn’t appreciate enough, and that is fleeting with time. Ahh, to be an early 20-something. Joy.

Will I be doing this again, but not on a consistent basis? Most likely. Was it annoying sometimes? Yes. Did it make me feel weirdly nostalgic and a little happier? also yes.

There’s something about manually curating music, physically interacting with it instead of just relying on a repeated playlist - untangling wires, waiting for songs to load… It’s human.

3 Song Recs:

• Carrion by Fiona Apple

• REMYND by Cities Aviv

• Road Head by Japanese Breakfast

Complete side note, as I mentioned earlier, I’m a recent grad and still jobless, so if you know of anyone who’s ironically hiring in the social media/content space, let a girl know (please).

Watch the video for more on this topic here :D

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Thank God they got rid of the AI podcast from last year’s wrapped. That shit was so creepy.

What is Spotify Wrapped?

Wrapped captures your 2025 listening journey from January until mid-November, just a few weeks prior to this year’s launch on December 3. In the simplest terms, they combine data from millions of people worldwide for every single user, examining over 100 million different tracks (excluding podcasts). They in turn, use that data to present to you super personalized recommended playlists, songs, artists, etc. It was originally launched in 2016, and they focus more on the stuff you listen to more near the end of the year.

They can attribute the amazing concept of Wrapped to Jewel Ham, a former intern.

“To clarify, for those of y’all unfamiliar with #SpotifyWrapped — it used to be an email and a playlist,” Ham explained. “Since 2019, it has become an interactive user experience, and that right there — was my idea!”

According to Refinery29, at the time, Ham was a 21-year-old senior studying at Howard University. Although she mentions her presentation of the concept near the end of her internship was “received really well,” she was never asked to stay on the team to see it come to fruition.

“I was a person who had Spotify and loved Wrapped, but it was just a link they would send at the end of the year,” she explained. “It was just something that you personally knew about. When I gave the presentation at the end of my intern project, it was received really well. They liked the idea. That was my last day.”

Statement From Spotify

On the other hand, Spotify disputes any claims that they stole her idea.

“Spotify is proud to provide young talent from all backgrounds with the opportunity to create, contribute, and learn alongside some of the best teams in the business,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “Since Spotify’s Wrapped concept was first introduced in 2013, hundreds of employees have contributed ideas and creative concepts that have made the experience what it is today. While ideas generated during Spotify’s internship program have occasionally informed campaigns and products, based on our internal review, that is not the case with Spotify Wrapped. It’s unfortunate that things have been characterised otherwise.”

My Spotify Wrapped:

(Before you come for me, I listen to a lot of my own music to make sure it’s ok and I simply overthink its release ok)

Besides the overall marketing genius of Spotify Wrapped, its game-changing personalization, emotion-driven marketing, and listener data for both artists & audiences are pretty awesome. It encourages individualism & makes people feel a bit of fomo if they don’t participate.

But with all good things, uhhh (i don’t remember how the saying goes) but no company or thing is free from being subject to countless memes, satirizations, and or failures.

New Features

The newest feature they launched for it is called Wrapped Party. This new interactive feature lets you enjoy your year in music live with friends and can be found at the end of your personalized experience, in the Wrapped hub in the Spotify mobile app, or by searching “Wrapped Party.”

I don’t get it; it just feels like a decorated jam sesh, but you know that could just be me!

Spotify Boycott:

On a more serious note, as some of you may have seen, some people are boycotting Spotify, but why? Daniel Ek, the current CEO of Spotify, also runs an investment company that invests in Helsing, a European defense tech company developing AI-based software for battlefield decisions and its own military drone. Helsing says its tech is used only for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. Spotify has repeatedly said they’re completely separate companies with separate operations.

However, both artists & consumers felt uneasy about their streams indirectly benefiting someone investing in weapons technology at all (rightfully so). Because the boycott conversation overlapped with the ongoing war in Gaza, some listeners assumed Helsing’s tech was being used there, though there’s been no evidence, and Helsing publicly denied exporting anything to Israel.

Even with all of these clarifications, outrage persisted in other countries. The band Massive Attack (the creators of Twilight’s banger song & many others) have even removed their music from Spotify to protest against the CEO, Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military, according to The Guardian.

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Now, Ek is stepping down as CEO in January 2026 & yes, Spotify swears that this has nothing to do with the controversy. It does feel like the pressure from boycotts and criticism played some role, even if they won’t just flat-out say it. Hopefully, whoever steps in brings a little more transparency… right, right.

On a personal note Spotify is just so expensive and I’m graduating soon, so I’m definitely looking for a cheaper alternative.

I also just don’t want to lose all the playlists I’ve been curating since middle school. And transferring them for free?? Please. I’m broke. If anyone has hacks that don’t involve paying a gazillion dollars, drop them immediately because I’m trying to switch & not lose my emotional support archives 😭.

(UPDATE: I used TuneMyMusic to transfer most of my playlists from Spotify over to Tidal)

And to be fair, there are a few other reasons people are leaving Spotify, too:

• They pay artists literal crumbs. Spotify pays artists fractions of a cent per play ($0.003-0.005 per stream) which is barely $3k-5k for a million streams before labels take their cut (and if you’re independent like me it’s even less)

• Spotify is raising its subscriptions & pushing AI-generated music (we can honestly yap more about how annoying this is another day)

What you can do:

If you’re feeling weird about Spotify (or just tired of selling your kidney to pay), here are a few things you can actually do that make a difference:

• Go back to analog: I’ve personally been listing to vinyls/cds more + you actually own the music

• Use Bandcamp: Support & listen to artists for free on Bandcamp where 85-100% of revenue goes directly to artists

• Listen On Soundcloud (the OG): Still one of the best platforms to find new artists & niche genres

• Switch Music Platforms: Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube Music - all have their own pros & cons but some pay artists better and have cheaper plans

• Support Pro-Palestine Artists: Stream their music on another streaming platform & support them if you can

Questions 4 Y’all:

​Lawd, that was a lot of information, but thank you for reading my TED Talk on Spotify for the year. Now I want to hear from you 🤓:

1. Do you actually enjoy sharing your wrapped with others or on social media or do you keep it private?

2. Who were your top artists on Spotify?

3. Are you changing your music subscription service? - and if so what to?

3 Songs Recommended:

1. OX1 by Tommy Four Seven

2. Black Nails by Pictureplane

3. Oysters In My Pocket by Royal Otis

My December 2025 Playlist

(Merry Christmas ya filthy animal)

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So the other day I went to a TikTok concert in LA and it went no where near how I expected it to go. For some reason, I thought it would be this larger crowd performance for the low. Now, some of you may say I should’ve gathered it wouldn’t be big based on the ticket price on Posh: $16. To you I say go to hell (I didn’t know bruh).

I never want to shit on an artist, especially younger (actually that doesn’t even matter if they’re older or not). In no way am I saying I’m this performer ready artist at this moment in time or am I talking down on the youngins who I watched perform last night.

Out of respect for the artists & not wanting to be perceived as some bully, I won’t disclose the artists’ names. A few of the performers had a decent following (anywhere from 11k to 50k on social), but once the DJ began their set, you could feel & see their nervousness. Some did admit it was their first time performing, which made sense. It honestly made me realize how much of the crowd’s energy depended on the artist. You could tell instantly who could hold attention and who couldn’t but what surprised me most were the ones who’d performed before. I could feel that facade - the “fake it till you make it” essence and it made me wonder, how long do you keep faking it until you actually make it? (I’m praying this makes sense.)

Throughout the show though, I caught myself watching with this slightly make believe A&R lens, imagining I was scouting talent. Out of everyone, only one artist really stood out to me because they felt real. There was this originality and honesty about his nervousness that the story he was trying to convey (even bringing his own prop on stage) that made me lock in for a second.

Then of course the headliner came out near the end who we had all been waiting for. To me he’s your classic heart throb and fully is trying to embody and regularly uses those colorful swirly graphics that are from the early 2000s era to draw you in. Besides embodying young JB and one of the songs I knew him from

He makes a bit of hyper pop meets early 2000s music that most of us have come to be obsessed with since 2020 (ah yes the dark ages). Now remember, at this time I fully have my A&R/music exec hat on. Throughout the night, I continuously thought to myself if any of the 6 artists performing that night was an “ear pick”.

According to Donald S. Passman, author of All You Need to Know About the Music Business, a wildly recommended music business book on the industry - on the rare occasion, artists get signed because they are “ear picks” which means there’s minimal or no buzz, but someone at a label hears your music and falls in love with it.

With that in mind, without the ego of actually not being a music exec or the catalog to back it, I unfortunately don’t think anyone at the concert was an ear pick for me except for the one I mentioned earlier.

Besides definitely feeling like the oldest person in the room for the first time ever (I swear I genuinely saw someones mom walking around), it’s safe to say this will be my first & last TikTok artist concert 😅.

I’ll end by saying that as a minuscule artist myself, I know I have a lot to learn in & a lot of growing to do. It was just really cool to view the artists from a more exec role perspective & then put myself in their shoes as well as an artist.

Music I was listening to while I wrote this:

• 16 by hachigatsu_news

• We Dem Boyz - Louis Futon Remix

• obsessed with luxury by dedrite

• Windhorse by Of The Trees

• Test & Recognize by Seekae (HWLS Remix)

this time to tell all my friends what I been

listening tooooo

Made a October playlist just for youuuuu

(I apologize) ANYWAYSSS I’ve been recently getting into vinyl. That means I made an impulse purchase and got the Audio Technica AT-LP60X-BK Turntable. I’ve been sampling records directly from the record player to my SP404mkii and it’s genuinely made me a better sampler.

Recent Vinyl Pickups

• Halo 2 OST

• Sade

• Eternal Sunshine

Idk call me whatever but I feel so connected. I fear I’ve become one of those people who’d rather actually buy the record. Shocker. There’s just something about having the physical piece. Plus, I’m glad I don’t have to rip things off YouTube anymore using some converter site that tries to give me an ad every two seconds.

Coda Documentary

A few days ago, I came across Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, this beautiful documentary about his process and relationship with sound. The film follows his daily life after Japan’s nuclear disaster, while he’s also dealing with a throat cancer diagnosis.

I really like this one scene where he goes to the North Pole with some friends and records with a mic underneath a layer of ice. When he gets back to his studio and plays it back, he notes it as this purest sound of water (don’t quote me on that I watched it at 3am - he said something along those lines ok).

I mean really think about it. Imagine traveling all the way to this quiet, frozen place just to capture a sound most of us would never even think twice about. It kinda made me think about how sometimes we treat sound/music like a product & don’t really focus on the experience anymore or how it truly makes us feel.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been so into vinyl lately and sampling. I mean you could argue I’m not really being “original” and I’m just using someone else’s hart. To that I rebuttal, if someone can take a sound and reshape it so differently that it becomes unrecognizable isn’t that a new form of creation too?

There’s also this other scene where he talks about and plays this piano that survived a tsunami. When Sakamoto plays it, it’s not tuned in the way that our ears are used to hearing. Instead of fixing it, he says something along the lines that nature itself tuned it. I loved that perspective. This idea that even destruction or distortion can create its own kind of harmony. It made me think about how not everything needs to be “fixed” or perfectly mixed. Sometimes the cracks & the hiccups are what truly makes something beautiful and creates this raw feeling.

3 Artists you should be listening to:

1. Galimatias: I’ve been listening to him since 2016 & when his Urban Flora album dropped with Alina Baraz. It’s just really nostalgic listening to the album and some of his music because I remember when I first discovered it, that was my first introduction to a more alternative/downtempo approach genre. Two songs I’ve revisited and that I’d recommend for you to check out from their joint album are: Unfold & Make You Feel.

2. Acidgvrl: A COMPLETE vibe switch up from the genre above. If you’re into hyper pop (and I think a little bit of sigilkore) you need to listen to Acidgvrl. My personal favs are LOSER!!! & Let Me In.

3. Ichiko Aoba: Legit found them today. While I do my internship, I’m usually always listening to my thievery with a twist playlist (the songs on it give off Sex in The City vibes). Today I decided to hit the shuffle play on Spotify (which I do time to time because occasionally they will play bangers) & I came across this gorgeous piece. I just really like her voice and how sparkly the song Dawn in the Adan sounds.

That’s it for now... BYYYYYYYE have a nice day :P

What I was listening to as I wrote this: (plz judge me lightly)

• Where My Money by Chris Travis

• Dawn in the Adan by Ichiko Aoba

• Element 20 by Lofty305

• Give Me Order by Two People

More music & yap

Anyways i’ve been wanting to create a chill space where I can share the artists, songs, and random obsessions that have felt like 300mg of caffeine for my brain lately. Think of this as my running note of what’s in my music rotation, who you should keep an eye on, and the little side quests I’ve been doing outside of music. Basically, it’s my yaps on the record each month (or week we’ll see how often I do this).

1. Here’s 3 Artists you should be listening to (or at least checking out)

1. RM47: I found them on TikTok (where I find most of my music tbh). They’re this duo who kinda makes electronic indie? Idk I’m not the best with navigating genres BUT their sound is really good and I personally would love to see them collab with Kaytranada. Two songs I’ve been blasting and that I’d recommend for you to check out from their new album are: KNOCK KNOCK & D.W.U.

2. Placard: Once again, another artist I found on TikTok. He first popped up on my fyp from his song ivy league bound. It samples the song Young by Vacations. Placard’s flip is pitched down and it somehow adds a sadder feel to it (in a good way). If you’re into indie music, definitely give him a listen.

3. Nick AM: Last but not least, I present to you an artist who I’m actually doing a school project on. A peer told me about his music and I thought I’d give him a listen while I did my random anxiety exposure therapy of the week (walking alone in the mall). I don’t typically listen to EDM on a regular basis but I do enjoy it on occasion and a couple of his songs got added to my September ‘25 playlist. Some songs I’d recommend are bala, Die for You, & Fatale.

Personal Jams:
This month in my personal life, there’s been a mix of experimenting and spiraling (in the best way). I’ve been really playing with my new purchase that definitely put me in credit card debt, the SP-404MKII. Do I fully know what I’m doing? Absolutely not. But I’ll get there. I think it’s more fun that way though. If you wanna hear more about my experience with it I have a YouTube vid about it coming out in the next week.

Outside of music, I’ve been obsessed with watching Sims 4 content from Dey’s YouTube channel. It’s the perfect background noise when I’m working on homework or need to decompress honestly.

And because I promised myself I’d be honest here, one of my biggest wins lately is slowly conquering my anxiety in new places. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m really proud of myself (y’all have no idea it used to be diabolically bad).

Anyways that’s it for now. BYYYYYYYE have a nice day :D

What I was listening to as I wrote this:

• Paz by Troubleman & Nina Miranda

• No Place Like Home by Vacations

• Moments by MOIO
  

More music & yap: https://beacons.ai/tristonscales