As summer progresses and quarantine continues for many of us, I find myself listening to more music these days. Whether I have background songs on as I work from home or crank the volume up and have a solo dance party in my room, I’ve been using some of my quarantine time to discover more artists and songs.
Though many of my favourite artists have typically been creators coming from diverse backgrounds, lately I have been trying to make more of a conscious effort to discover more BIPOC LGBTQIA+ voices, and discover more art created by marginalized groups in general. It’s imperative that the momentum from the #BlackLivesMatter protests and presence on social media is continued and does not die down, because we are nowhere close to being finished fighting the fight.
Though we should always be inclusive in the way we discover art, the aim of focusing on amplifying melanated voices is to actively make more space for and lift up marginalized voices who are sharing their personal, emotional, and cultural experiences. Music has always been an excellent platform and art form for that: but like anything else, the industry has been heavily whitewashed and built to primarily benefit white people, despite the fact that Black artists and cultures have been such a massive influence in the music world.
So, I’ve created a “Summer Jams” playlist on Spotify that predominantly includes songs from some incredible BIPOC and queer musical artists. For me, summer has always been a great time to just soak up the sun and listen to an array of powerful, relaxing, invigorating, and inspiring music. Many of the songs included have been on constant repeat for me, whether they are by artists that I’ve been listening to for a long time or have just discovered recently.
By the way, this playlist is collaborative! So, I encourage you all to add some of your favourite summer jams to the list as well, and especially encourage you to include songs by Black, PoC, and queer artists so that we can all continue to discover and lift up artists who are coming from diverse backgrounds!
The Summer Jams Playlist, which was created on Spotify, can be found below. Be sure to let us know what your favourite songs are, and add them directly into the playlist!
And if you’d like to discover more Black musical artists but don’t know where to start, I would personally suggest checking out the Black Lives Matter, Insecure, and Hip-Hop Central playlists on Spotify.
~ Z ~
Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash
