*Jill Scott voice* Let's take a long walk throughhh the last 7 years of my life from the perspective of my Spotify Wrapped over the years! This ain't a short piece, so get comfortable.
To commemorate Spotify Wrapped dropping this week, I thought it appropriate to finally act on a blog piece idea I wrote down exactly one year and two days ago today: sharing my old Spotify Wrappeds from previous years and my thoughts on the changes (and constants) in my music taste!
Before I begin, I’ll say that I have my summary from every Spotify Wrapped except for 2016 and 2018. I’ve scoured all my screenshots, old posts, even my IG story archive and I, for the life of me, cannot find them. The only thing I have are the playlists and my memory of my top artist which, to no one’s surprise, has been Tyler, the Creator every single year. We’ll come back to that lol.
Anyway, let’s begin our recap! Grab a cup of tea, cuz we'll be here for a minute. The way we’ll peruse through Thalia’s listening history is first with a high-level overview of the stats that are available: listening time, top artist(s), and top songs. Then immediately following each year, I’ll provide some brief thoughts on the verdicts/exposition on what about the Wrapped I found interesting. It’ll be called Thalia’s Thoughts (TT). We'll conclude with my thoughts on some patterns I noticed after reviewing all 7 years.
Top Artist: Tyler, the Creator
Top 5 Songs:
1) Everybody Loves the Sunshine x Roy Ayers Ubiquity
2) Don’t Smoke K2 x Denmark Vessey
5) She Can’t Leave Me Here Alone Tonight x HOMESHAKE
TT: Honestly, 2016 was so long ago, so I’m struggling to formulate many thoughts about that year and the soundtrack I curated for it. What I do recall is that this is the year I discovered Roy Ayers through watching many of Tyler’s interviews on YouTube and became slightly obsessed with “Everybody Loves the Sunshine.” I listened to it literally every morning of senior year. I also distinctly recall “Don’t Smoke K2” being my go-to study song for AP Statistics + Pre-Calc. Idk it just gave math vibes, I guess. As for Tyler, contrary to general criticism of the times, Cherry Bomb (2015) had me in a chokehold.
Minutes Listened: 62,783
Top Artists:
1) Tyler, the Creator
2) mt. fujitive
3) Jill Scott
4) Steve Lacy
5) KAYTRANADA
Top Songs:
1) Happy Thoughts x mt. fujitive
2) Grand New Spin x Gold Celeste
TT: 2017 was a wild year. Second semester of senior year was rough, but I leaned into my art to make it through. I made a documentary with “Happy Thoughts” as the background music. I choreographed a 5 minute piece entitled “This Do in Remembrance of Me” to “BULLETS” for the DeKalb School of the Arts 2017 Senior Dance Concert. “15 Step” is from my ever-present obsession with Twilight. Idk it was a time, honestly. So much transition and forceful grounding. Lots of deep breaths. Tyler was at the top, per usual, but releasing Scum Fuck Flower Boy (2017) right before I started my first semester at Claflin certainly helped him get there.
Top Artist: Tyler, the Creator
Top Songs:
3) After The Storm (feat. Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins) x Kali Uchis
TT: First full year on the Hilltop. Lots of ups and downs. My bestie MIKE snapped on that song and I wore it out, as I should’ve. I’d been listening to The Internet since 2015, but them releasing Hive Mind (2018) finally pushed them into my top songs, I guess. They were probably in my top artists too, but I guess we’ll never knowww. Also they really haven’t dropped a group album since. :(
Minutes Listened: 66,646
Top Artists:
1) Tyler, the Creator
2) Mick Jenkins
3) Matt Martians
4) Jet Age of Tomorrow
5) Steve Lacy
Top Songs:
1) Whoville x Tyler, the Creator
2) A Long Slow Little Wave / Citizen, An Activity x Loving
3) Amandla’s Interlude x Steve Lacy
4) Knock Knock x Matt Martians
TT: Idk how I’ve been listening to Mick since 2015 and it took him 4 years to get to my top 5 (where he’s been ever since). Honestly he was probably there in 2018 but who knows. Very wild that I only saw him live for the first time last year.
Spent half of 2019 in Osaka. Wore “Whoville” OUT in that little dorm room on the Gotenyama campus while journaling about visibility and practicing kanji. Beautiful time in my life for music. Tyler dropped IGOR (2019) and Matt dropped The Last Party (2019) within weeks of each other. I remember listening to both of them straight through on the roof of the Gotenyama library as the sun set over Hiraktashi. It was beautiful. I’ll never forget that.
Minutes Listened: 81,069
Top Artists:
1) Tyler, the Creator
2) Matt Martians
3) Mick Jenkins
4) Spencer.
5) The Internet
Top Songs:
1) Whoville x Tyler, the Creator
4) Under the Moon x WAYNE SNOW
TT: "Whoville" came in at #1 for the second year in a row?? A Christmas song??? Matt took a swing at Mick for my number 2 spot?? Who woulda thought! Especially since Mick dropped The Circus (2020) that January?? Granted, I only liked two songs off the album lmao, one of which, as you can see, was “Flaunt.”
Idk how I discovered Spencer. (probably Discover Weekly lol), but I’m glad I did and fell in love with pretty much his entire discography. Very, very similar sound to early Steve, but it’s something mad unique and enticing about his voice. Also if you ever wanna hear me harmonize with precision like my life depended on it, throw on “bbybbybby.” 65 seconds of perfection. Minutes listened was up, like probably everyone else’s that year. What a time.
Minutes Listened: 72,329
Top Artists:
1) Tyler, the Creator
2) Mick Jenkins
3) The Internet
4) Spencer.
5) Matt Martians
Top Songs:
2) Sixty Second Commercial 1 x Mmig
3) I’M BROKE BUT EVERYTHING’S OK AND LIFE’S GREAT x Linden Jay
4) CNT U SEE - Remix x Jamie Isaac
5) RUDEBWOY (feat. Joey Bada$$) x CJ Fly
TT: The same Top 5 artist lineup, just a little shuffle lol. Found “The Blues” on Apr 5, 2021 and didn’t let it go all year. So simple and bare and ugh, sometimes you just find a song that is YOUR SONG and it’s like mmmm wow thank you. Sorry @ Carla + Emersen for playing this song hm, idk like every time we got in the car.
This was clearly the year of songs in all caps lol. My favorite Tyler album of all time, Call Me If You Get Lost, dropped on June 27, 2021. I thought Cherry Bomb had me in a chokehold?? Baby, it’s Dec 4, 2022 and I still get goosebumps on “RUN IT UP” and “SAFARI” as if I’m hearing them for the first time. Mick also dropped my fave album of his, Elephant in the Room, in October and in TWO MONTHS regained his #2 spot. As he should.
Minutes Listened: 67,338
Top Artists:
1) Tyler, the Creator
2) Mick Jenkins
3) Steve Lacy
4) Beyoncé
5) The Internet
Top Songs:
1) Cabin Days x The Sweet Enoughs
4) Gum In My Mouth x Butcher Brown
TT: First let’s hear it for “She Moved On” finally making it to the Top 5 songs! I added this song to my library on Apr 3, 2017 and after a full 5 years and nearly 8 months of consistent listening and showing up in a range of spots on my Wrapped playlist every year, it finally got the recognition it deserved. It’s a banger of a song, truly. Never gets old.
And while we’re at it, let’s also hear it for “GOD’S WITH ME” making a comeback to the top 5 after being my #1 song in 2018! That’s how you know a song is YOUR SONG. It stays with you. There for you when you need it. Does what it needs to do every time. Ole reliable, if you will. I use “Cabin Days” for focus time. I get so much work done to this song. And Beyoncé’s place on this board was hardly surprising considering what she blessed us with on July 29, 2022. It’s just wild that Matt didn’t make the cut. I still love you bestie, never forget that <3333
What I find so fascinating about my listening habits, as Lucas pointed out to me the other day, is just how loyal of a listener I am. Not just to Tyler, for whom I will fly (and have flown) anywhere to see live and who is my Pisces twin and ugh love him forever, but also to the rest of my top 5! Mick hasn’t left the list since he showed up in 2019 (very likely 2018).
The Internet as a band and/or a member of their band have been in my top 5 at least since 2017, starting with Steve (which also reveals to me just how insane it is that people are calling Steve a new artist like I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS MAN SINCE BEFORE I COULD VOTE YO LIKE HUH??? NEW TO WHO??? Like baby if you wasn’t there for “C U Girl” just say that.) But yeah, Tyler, Mick, someone from The Internet have been in my top 5 for forever. Love them tho. They have a sound that I clearly can’t get enough of. Each of them have put out music over the years that I can directly point to and say have helped usher me through crucial moments of my life. I am thankful forever to them.
With the exception of 2020, for obvious reasons, I generally spend about the same amount of time listening to music: between 62,000-72,000 minutes/year. I find this mad fascinating, especially since the way I spend my time has changed so much over the years. But I suppose it makes sense, as the needs generally remained the same: motion music (driving, flying, walking, etc), focus music, ambient music, and workout music.
The surprisingly consistent absence of rock from my top 5 songs/artists is actually pretty astounding, I’m ngl. The fact that Franz Ferdinand nor OK GO have NEVER touched a Top 5?? Insanity. This is also super odd considering my top genre in 2021 was Indie Rock! Perhaps I simply don’t listen to it as much as I thought I did, but I just love how Radiohead was the first and only band to make an appearance and, again, that is purely because of Twilight. Idk maybe more bands will surface in the coming years. I doubt it though since many of the bands I listen to just don’t drop music very often.
And while we’re talking about absences, I’m truly astounded at the absence of Earl on any of these Top 5’s. He probably was #2 on my 2016 one, honestly, but again, we’ll never know. I just think it’s wild cuz I listened to him before I ever listened to Tyler. Doris (2013) was the first album I ever downloaded on Spotify. Followed by I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (2015). Earl was my first rapper crush and he not even up here. That’s super wild. But we talkin no-skip albums?? Them two right there. Nothing more to be said.
Anyway, I love music and this was super fun to walk down memory lane to see what story my Spotify Wrapped could tell me about the last 7 years of my life.
Can’t wait to get put on to more music in the futureeee. You got a song you wanna share? Send it to meeee! Or listen to The Disco — Newsletter playlist on Spotify to keep up with my fave songs as the weeks roll by.
Minutes Listened: 64,838
Top Artists:
1) Butcher Brown
2) Matt Martians
3) Jamiroquai
4) Tyler, the Creator
5) Mick Jenkins
Top Songs:
1) Waiting For x Matt Martians
2) I Can Say to You (feat. Vanisha Gould) - Single Edit x Butcher Brown
3) Peace x Butcher Brown
4) That's How the Good Lord Works x Sunday Service Choir
5) Calibre x Lô Borges
TT: First of all, for Matt Martians, our favorite College Park native, to be in my top five for three consecutive years, fall off the list completely the fourth year, and then to come back at the number two spot the year after???? That's love, you hear me? I truly couldn't get away from that man if I tried. And let's be serious here: he only released TWO SINGLES this year. I'm obsessed, clearly.
The other obvious shocker, of course, is Tyler being dethroned as my top artist after SEVEN YEARS of holding that number one spot in my ear. From that to number four is quite the jump, but when there's a band like Butcher Brown and they drop a project like Solar Music, there's really little else I can do. And for the record, I'm in the top 0.005% of their listeners. Of 1.8 million people, I'm top 90, baby. DPWM.
This year certainly didn't take me off guard; I knew who the lineup would be, I just wasn't sure the order. The one shocker, perhaps, is there's no jazz representation in my top artists and Calibre is the only one to speak for my mid-century jazz obsession.
Minutes Listened: 63,403
Top Artists:
1) Butcher Brown
2) Steve Lacy
3) Tyler, the Creator
4) Mick Jenkins
5) Jamiroquai
Top Songs:
1) Donchano x Steve Lacy
2) Slowdown x Brad Stank
3) Ghostride x Crumb
4) GOAT FARM x Clark D
5) I Will Call Upon the Lord x Benita Jones
TT: Another unsurprising year. The same top artist line up from last except a few shifts towards the bottom and Matt being switched out for Steve. What I do notice is that my second top artist for this year and last year is likely there because they made my number 1 top song.
The song lineup is interesting, but I think just indicative of where I was emotionally this year. January is always my fast which tend to land at least one gospel song on the chart. GOAT FARM was the song of the summer when it came to my triathlon training. Ghostride, Slowdown, and Donchano are all like late Q3, Q4 finds and vibes. I needed to slow down, I was grappling with feelings of not being/looking/behaving like I felt Black women are expected to, and Ghostride was just really soothing during a period of stress and transition.
Interesting to see Tyler still on here. I don't know if he'll be on there next year considering how I felt about CHROMAKOPIA. I'm confident Butcher Brown will retain their crown considering the boys have been in the studio which means more music coming sooooon. Also seeing Jamiroquai with the family next year, so I'm confident he'll still be on here as well.
Still no jazz representation. Fascinating indeed.
I'll update this as the years go by, but tl;dr, I love music.
