#PlaylistOfMyLife

Hey everybody!! It is nothing new that music reaches people on a personal level.  Regardless, of what type of music you like to listen to, there is one song that can take you back in time.  While doing my summer reading, I have decided to read ?uestlove's new book, Mo' Metta Blues.  Not only is it a memoir but also gives a little bit of history of hip-hop.  Another cool feature of this book is that
?uestlove describes these playlists that reminds him of different periods of his life. 

Reading his playlists got me to thinking about music that means something to me.  The following are songs/albums that take me back to a special time in my life:

• OOOOOOOOOOOO On the TLC Tip: TLC's first album This was my first cassette tape as a child.  This whole album describes what the 90's were: fresh and different.  I was only 4 when I got this tape but I spent hours listening to it.  At that point in my life, TLC was everything.  They were these cool women that had these independent attitudes. They were not the typical girl group wearing tight clothes.  They were wearing baggy clothes with condoms used as accessories.  I remember I wanted a haircut like T-Boz and her raspy voice gave me life before I even knew what giving me life meant.  Later on, I realized that I probably should not have been listening to this tape at 4 years old.  But when I listen to it today it takes me back to that childish period of my life. 
• I Miss You: Aaron Hall Every time I hear this song, it takes me back to being at my sister's house in Memphis, TN.  Another reason this song clings heavily to my memory is because I actually remember the video.  In the video, Aaron's girlfriend is pregnant and he's all excited.  Unfortunately, in the end she dies from giving birth but the baby lives.  I remember thinking that was the saddest video ever.  To this day if this song comes on the radio, I will think about this video. 
• Everything Brittney Spears did in the early 2000s I was a Brittney Stan when I was in middle school.  She was my Beyoncé.  I watched all her Making the Video episodes and tried to learn her routines.  I cannot explain why Brittney's music hypnotized me.  I remember singing Lucky, Oops, I did it Again, Stronger, and Drive Me Crazy over and over again.  It was crushing for me to see her going through her infamous breakdown.  It was difficult watching that talent waste away.  It has done my heart good to see her do better in these last few years.
• I Will Wait Mumford & Sons: Even though this is a recent song, this song for some reason takes me back to college.  I think because this is when folky/indie music started to hit the mainstream.  You heard it on every commercial and trailer for a rom/com movie.  This might sound cliché but during this time in college I was learning who I was: listening to new music, developing my style, trying to figure out what interest me.  Listening to music from this genre helped me to meditate on things going on in my life during that transition period where you are kind of an adult to becoming a working adult.   To this day I like to listen to indie/folk pop when I just want to think. 

Does this song not take you back to a warm place?

 



I have always loved how music can take you back to a familiar place.  Nothing is better than being on a road trip and a song from the past comes on and it makes you think of your first crush, Friday night football games, or hanging with family.  What songs take you back to your past?