What I Listened To This Week 2025-02-28
The February Playlist, "Protest music", Is a Soundcloud resurgence happening?
Congratulations for making it through the second month of 2025, in which we celebrate Black History, pay the same rent amount as every other month but get 2-3 days less in return, and thaw from winter hibernation (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere).
I’m on the radio twice in the next 28 hours: tonight (Feb 28) on Street Sounds 10pm-1am PST and tomorrow (Feb 29) doing a Weekend Variety mix 12pm-3pm PST.
●▬▬▬▬▬▬๑۩|●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|۩๑▬▬▬▬▬▬●
A playlist of songs shared over the last month here. Also on Tidal and Apple Music.
●▬▬▬▬▬▬๑۩|●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|۩๑▬▬▬▬▬▬●
In the Wild
IRL, outside of the Seattle Federal Building on a Friday afternoon, I listened to the testimony of the undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic, the affirmation from the crowd, the car drivers honking in solidarity, the recurring chinga la migra chants, the rain falling, the rappers who energized the crowd, the laughter of the child who grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the music. If there was anyone, in the crowd or passing by, who supports the dehumanization of deportation, I heard their silence.
Not IRL, I keep seeing this lamentation: where is the protest music? To which I respond: obviously not where you’ve been looking, and probably not there anytime soon. The protest music is at the protest itself. In its purest form, protest music is the protest itself.
●▬▬▬▬▬▬๑۩|●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|۩๑▬▬▬▬▬▬●
In the Cloud
Is Soundcloud starting to pop again? Is a migration off the major streaming platforms happening? Is this TikTok’s fault?
I’m part of the wave that has seen it die and resurrect several times, from being a first-release demo platform for established artists, to being the actual release platform for noobs without DSP accounts (the “Soundcloud Rapper” era), to becoming the main source of DJ/producer-dominant song remixes.
I haven’t posted my own music in years, mostly using it lately as a DJ looking for new songs to play that can’t be found on major DSPs. Gradually over the last couple years, the frequency and quality of new material in my feed has grown 2-3x.
Let’s go.
DJ Hybrid - Old Gang
When I fill-in on Overnight radio shows (1am-5am), at some point I’ll throw a long Jungle (the genre, not the band) joint on. It’s usually when I need to take a breather and/or want to zone out. I’ve been digging deeper into the genre lately, which is part of a bigger trip I’m on coming full-circle with where I was musically twenty years ago. Fellow KEXP DJ Mike Ramos, who breaks a lot of new cuts for the first time on the station, played this one on his weekly Overnight show (Tuesdays). No surprise, it’s not available anywhere (as of now) outside of Soundcloud.
Gyasi - On That Note
Lately everywhere I turn, young Seattle rapper Gyasi pops up. We were on the same rap concert bill last month, I recently played his songs on the radio, and he performed at the protest I wrote about earlier. I heard him on a stage before I heard him on a stream, and in both settings I’m impressed with the natural ease of his delivery as a poetic storyteller with an intense fire disguised as nonchalance. There’s something distinctly Seattle, across generations, about this approach, and he embodies it.
Nasty Nes - KCMU Rap Attack Best Of ‘94 Megamix
Still grieving Kuya Nes’s passing, especially with an upcoming fill-in spot tonight on KEXP Street Sounds. My bro Daps1 wrote a tribute post and shared this 25-minute continuous mix from 1994. It was a tradition back then for the show to close with a live continuous mix, which always ended with Nes signing off with his signature, “peace, love and hip-hop unity.”
Jon Reyes - Goin’ Again (mix)
I was in a old-school, sappy slow jam mood a couple weeks ago. The nostalgia trip was fun, but there’s a quiet renaissance is happening in post-pandemic contemporary R&B, which sounds like a hybrid of mid 1990s and early 2010s R&B. Jon Reyes put together a great tasting menu, which he dropped on V Day a couple weeks ago.
●▬▬▬▬▬▬๑۩|●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|۩๑▬▬▬▬▬▬●
