Music Monday: Songs of the Summer

Happy Music Monday my Muses! I hope you all are doing well and feeling well. I, unfortunately, have come down with COVID. So, I’m in isolation from my fiancé (who unfortunately got it before me,) family, and baby….it SUCKS. I’m a hugger and a cuddler, plus I just made nine month postpartum and all I want to do is play with babygirl. But, we got to be safe.

Let’s talk about the Music Monday set for this week and it all got rolling yesterday with this tweet:

First of all, I love her by the way, she’s one of my faves on Twitter. And her tweet sparked an interesting conversation on how we consume music, those that chase the notoriety of charts too much, and how some aspects of social media has ruined people’s ability to just enjoy music. I’m not going to lie, it’s annoying to me how many people (not the original poster by the way,) but how the average music lover doesn’t understand eras and themes. We used to be a proper country!

In my opinion, there is nothing more artistically beautiful than how artists transport us into these worlds of their own making for the sake of their art and their artistic vision. We used to have artists plan out whole eras, themes, rollouts, various media components makeup these different parts in an artists journey. Sadly, it feels like it’s a dying art as many artists chase viral hits, referencing past times (some without studying the time their referencing,) chart data, and copying what’s popping. Some artists have lost the art of individuality and world-building. I blame not only social media but these labels that don’t push artists to be individuals and think outside the box. Bring back artist development. Bring back rollouts, street teams, individuality, and ERAS.

Now of course, there are definitely artists that still commit to eras and such. I do just wish this was more widespread and some releases didn’t feel so rushed.

Anyways, let’s get to the basis of the tweet itself. Summer songs.

Now, y’all know, it don’t feel like summer unless we’ve had that summer smash hit. In my opinion, this year had a couple of good contenders. My main favorites being “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Mamushi” by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Yuki Chiba, “TGIF” by GloRilla, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Nasty” by Tinashe, “Bodyguard” by Beyonce, “Love Me JeJe” by Tems, “Jump” by Tyla featuring Gunna & Skillibeng, “Whatever She Want” by Bryson Tiller, and “Million Dollar Baby” by Tommy Richman. I have some others but those always come to mind first.

So, after thinking about my first favorites, I then decided to explore the quotes and explore my recent plays on Spotify and came up with a banging playlist to share with y’all this week. I don’t know if I told y’all but I come up with this order by hitting shuffle.

Let’s take a look at the tracklist:

“Check” by FLO
“Yeah Glo!” by GloRilla
“TK421” by Lenny Kravitz
“Guess” by Charli XCX featuring Billie Eilish
“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
“DEVIL IS A LIE” by Tommy Richman
“Big Mama” by Latto
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
“Nasty” by Tinashe
“Houdini” by Dua Lipa
“Be Mine” by Jimin
“JT Coming” by JT
“Walk Like This” by FLO
“Mamushi” by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Yuki Chiba
“Wanna Be” by GloRilla featuring Megan Thee Stallion
“Sunday Service – Remix” by Latto featuring Flo Milli and Megan Thee Stallion
“Love Me JeJe” by Tems
“NIGHTS LIKE THIS” by The Kid LAROI
“Jump” by Tyla featuring Gunna and Skillibeng
“YA YA” by Beyonce
“KEHLANI” by Jordan Adetunji
“Alright” by Victoria Monet
“MILLION DOLLAR BABY” by Tommy Richman
“TGIF” by GloRilla
“After Hours” by Kehlani
“FLY” by Quavo featuring Lenny Kravitz
“BODYGUARD” by Beyonce
“NANi” by Saweetie
“BOA” by Megan Thee Stallion
“OKAY” by JT
“HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan
“ROCKET” by Doechii
“Happiness” by Sarz featuring Asake and Gunna
“KEHLANI (REMIX)” by Jordan Adetunji featuring Kehlani
“TYRANT” by Beyonce featuring Dolly Parton
“Angel Of My Dreams” by JADE
“Whatever She Want” by Bryson Tiller
“GIRLS” by The Kid LAROI
“Where Them Girls At” by Megan Thee Stallion

In my opinion, how I classify a summer hit is one that you just can’t escape no matter where you go, no matter what social platform you’re on, and everyone regardless of race, sex, whatever is bopping to it.

So, with this whole list, let me breakdown my top contenders for the Summer Smash title. There’s honestly multiple, but I’m going to talk about the artists and the songs.

GloRilla: “TGIF,” “Wanna Be,” & “Yeah Glo!”

GloRilla has had a helluva year. Glo has been the opening act for Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour. Over the course of the tour, I’ve seen Glo really, well, glo-up. She has become an even better performer with her becoming more comfortable performing on the stage. I watched as her confidence really grew over the course of the tour and her sisterhood with Megan is something that is so beautiful to see.

In addition to their single “Wanna Be” and Glo’s solo single “Yeah Glo!” already being out at the time, when she officially dropped “TGIF,“ this more so solidified her spot in the Summer Smash conversation. Everybody has been singing:

It’s 7pm Friday, it’s 95 degrees, I ain’t got no n****, and no n**** ain’t got me!”

It’s everywhere you turn on socials, it’s being played on the radio, it’s being played in the functions, it’s a certified banger! It was stuck in my head before I even heard the rest of the song honestly. Glo’s summer success has been awesome to see, she even performed at the BET Awards two months ago and seemed to really command the stage, again, showing that same comfort from the tour.

Megan Thee Stallion: “Mamushi,” “BOA,” & “Where Them Girls At”

My girl has been having a time and quite the summer with the success of her Hot Girl Summer Tour, her new album MEGAN, a couple of hot features, and her journey to Japan. While I haven’t been able to attend the HGS Tour, I’ve been enjoying the footage and love she’s been receiving from home.

Megan’s album is full of bangers but of course; Mamushi, Where Them Girls At, and BOA have been top hits.

Something I’ve been loving from her lately is her commitment to her visual artistry. Her music videos have been on theme with her era and each more and more visually appealing than the last. One of the things I loved the most about her rollout for her single “BOA,” was the whole retro video game concept. I hate I didn’t get me one but they even came in the little video game packaging which I thought was so on brand for her and so cute!

She’s been thriving since becoming an independent artist and it’s something very beautiful to witness in her next stage of metamorphosis.

Kendrick Lamar: “Not Like Us”

Regardless of what side of the beef you’re on, Kung-fu Kenny’s most popular track of the diss war, “Not Like Us,” is definitely not going away anytime soon. It’s been a staple at several functions this year, danced to across the nation (probably globe,) and he performed it several times at this sold out show at The Forum.

Momentum for the track reignited with the release of the music video that was filmed in Compton shortly after The Forum show.

Also, let’s be real, with football season around the corner, I’m sure this track is going to be used at some point during games. But, most importantly, the way this track is going to be turned every way but loose by HBCUs for marching season is what I can’t wait for.

Tinashe: “Nasty”

I feel like Tinashe should have always had this hype around her. She’s been working hard her whole career for respect and to show what she’s working with in her artistry. This song has been everywhere with a TikTok dance challenge coming with it too. It’s catchy, it’s fun, and it’s been a theme song for many a post online.

Beyonce: “Bodyguard,” Ya Ya,” & “Tyrant”

While Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter broke records and was streamed highly because, duh it’s Beyonce, too many of y’all paid some tracks that should have been summer hits dust on this album!

I get it many people didn’t expect Beyonce to actually go country on an album, however, this album is full of bops. If y’all been around for a while, then y’all should know that I historically haven’t been a country music girlie, however, she made a listener out of me.

“Bodyguard” was one of my favorites from the jump and to me, it gives driving around in the hot southern heat with the windows down. I know that song completely now, you hear me?! “YA YA” is one of Beyonce’s that girl songs and you can’t convince me otherwise! I love that song so much and it even became one of the songs for Team USA during the Olympics as she introduced Team USA to the world during the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony:

And baby, “Tyrant” is one of the ones for me. If y’all don’t agree, I don’t know what to tell you. *shrugs* I even heard it in the middle of Walmart last month and folks were dancing.

Sabrina Carpenter: “Espresso”

You can’t deny this track’s place in the Summer Smash conversation, it’s not only been EVERYWHERE but it’s been loved on by EVERYONE. I’ve seen some grown ass men loving this song.

I don’t believe that music that’s poppy or “girlie” in nature can’t be enjoyed by everyone. It’s just a fun track and as someone who was introduced to Sabrina back during her days on Girl Meets World (The Disney Channel spin-off/sequel series to Boy Meets World,) it’s awesome to see how she’s grown in her artistry and talent — and just in general! I was like where did this little girl go?! Which, I tend to be saying a lot these days.

I hate I was so late coming to the party to be honest. By the time I got hip, she was releasing the music video to “Please Please Please,” which I also enjoy as well.

Tommy Richman: “Million Dollar Baby” & “Devil Is A Lie”

Love him or hate him, Tommy Richman’s biggest hits out right now are viral, social media hits.

I’ve seen and heard many a dissertation about Mr. Richman’s two hits that are circulating around and honestly, I’m all for just having fun sometimes. Not everything has be a deep song, super meaningful and what not. Sometimes I do just like vibing and having fun and dancing around my room. Tommy’s two entries here do just that and that’s the vibe I be going through the summer with.

Muse Mixx Vol. 1: Spotify Unwrapped + Faves of 2023

Now that we’ve talked about the main playlist, with it being August, I can’t just leave y’all with that, I also have a D-Sides this week as well.

I’m keeping to the summer theme but I’m sharing some of my all-time favorite summer hits. These are songs to me that when I think of summer, I immediately think of these songs, no matter the year, they are simply ageless and timeless.

Of course, like I said, your opinions on the songs my vary. Let me just also say, that “I’m going to stick to 16 songs” turned into “oh…that says 36” really quick.

Let’s take a little look:

“Work” by Rihanna featuring Drake
“Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas
“Beautiful” by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams and Charlie Wilson
“Say So” by Doja Cat
“Nice for What” by Drake
“Ride Wit Me” by Nelly featuring City Spud
“Frontin'” by N.E.R.D. featuring Jay-Z
“Low” by Lenny Kravitz
“Slide” by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos
“Dang!” by Mac Miller featuring Anderson .Paak
“Along the Coast” by Azealia Banks
“Cake By The Ocean” by DNCE
“One Dance” by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla
“Back On 74” by Jungle
“Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
“Big Pimpin'” by JAY-Z featuring UGK
“Mi Gente” by J Balvin & Willy William featuring Beyonce
“Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore
“Rollin” by Calvin Harris featuring Future and Khalid
“Where the Party At” by Jagged Edge featuring Nelly
“DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher featuring Pitbull
“Feels” by Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Big Sean
“I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin
“Why Don’t We Fall In Love” by Amerie
“Kickin’ Back” by Mila J
“HOT HOT” by Bree Runway
“Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato
“Hot in Herre” by Nelly
“Unforgettable” by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
“Tints” by Anderson .Paak featuring Kendrick Lamar
“Happy” by Ashanti
“Baby Boy” by Beyonce featuring Sean Paul
“Dance Tonight” by Lucy Pearl
“Country Grammar (Hot Sh*t)” by Nelly
“Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Go Crazy” by Chris Brown & Young Thug

Music wise, your girl loves Summer, but when it comes to temperature and vibes, Fall me please!

Before I head up out of here, I want to give some flowers to the albums I’ve been listening to lately plus the new albums that have dropped that I’ve been enjoying as well.