I make so many playlists. Going for a long drive? Playlist. Hosting brunch with the girls? Playlist. Cleaning my apartment? (shoutout to all the Latine homies who were woken up every Saturday morning at 6AM by your mama’s “a limpiar” songs) Playlist! I even conned Sharifah into letting me make a playlist for this 2021 episode of SFF Yeah and this one from 2022. So of course I make them for reading and thought it might be fun to share a few of the ones I’ve curated or discovered over the years.
I’ve got some summer tunes, coffee house tracks, songs to make you feel things, and excessive reliance on mood (or the vibes, as the youth would say). A quick note: even though I’m a huge fan of hip hop and reggaeton, these playlists are low on those genres (not to mention stuff like salsa, merengue, dembow, cumbias, or even a ton of pop). For reasons of having a shorter attention span than I once did (thanks, pandemmy!) and being easily compelled to dance/sing/stage an imaginary rap battle to songs that go hard on the beat or lyrics, I tend to go for a more laid back vibe in my reading playlists that I would for other occasions.
And lastly, all of these are Spotify playlists.
My Playlists
By “emo” I mean music that gets me all in my feelings, and by “fireside” I mean “a fireplace YouTube video playing on my TV.” This is the playlist I throw on when I’m reading something I just know will make me cry or feel big feelings. Some of these are love songs, some are heartbreak ballads, some are somewhere in the middle. All the tracks are ones I could see playing in a movie scene where the main character has a big reflective moment, possibly in the rain while a montage of their life’s pivotal moments flashes before their eyes.
I want to point out that I was either going through it when I put this together (it was 2020), or I accidentally added a song to this list intended for another, because in between the cool, raspy falsetto of Banks and the tragic, throaty beauty of Mon Laferte’s voice is Victoria Monet’s “Ass Like That.” It’s a great song and beautifully sung but not really an emo cut, ya know?
This is what I put on when I’m reading on a blanket in the sunshine. It’s all chill vibes with mid to upbeat tempos and a mix of genres but leans heavily into funk and R&B. We’ve got some Marvin Gaye, some Gap Band, some Beyoncé, some Lucy Pearl, some Mariah. It’s a shorty but goodie at just 30 songs and 2 hours, which HEY is the recommended sunscreen reapplication period (AKA the max amount of sunshine your girl can expose herself to before turning into a Mexican lobster).
Bonus: this also works as a carne asada playlist (or whatever you call a cookout)
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