What Spring Does to Me

During a recent trip to Texas, I realized that I play the same two songs every time I’m on an airplane that’s taking off and landing: Childish Gambino’s “I.Crawl” for our ascent into the sky and Kanye West’s “Blood on The Leaves” as the wheels touch back down. No visit to the Lone Star State is complete for me without an extensive run of BeatKing and DJ Screw songs, and my phone is filled with playlists chronicling moments and memories from time spent in Chicago (Westside Gunn’s “Gunnlib” will always remind me of the record store and cocktail lounge Dorian’s), Virginia (Mutant Academy, 454, and Amerie ftw!) and California (Snoop Dogg’s Blue Carpet Treatment and lots of 03 Greedo). The sounds that imprint on me are almost as important as the new sights and smells I’m taking in. 

I haven’t been traveling out of the tri-state area much these days, but with spring warming things up on the East Coast, I’ve had plenty of time to be outside. Walks in the park are crucial around this time of year—they’re a way for me to reconnect with my community, get some much needed Vitamin D (doctor’s orders!), and to watch mallards fight to the death over pond scum from the rocks. Last week, that third act was soundtracked by Dua Lipa’s “Illusion” (I blame RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 for introducing this fire song into my life) and select cuts from the latest Niontay (“Old Kent road freestyle,” “Triangle offense”) and Billy Woods (“Star87,” “A Doll Fulla Pins”) albums. Music sounds better to me when I’m in motion or outside, whether that’s walking, exercising, or idling on a train platform, and as much as I love the frigid stomp of my winter-centric favorites, nothing hits quite like the ebullient bliss of running music in the spring or summertime.