A haiku for you:
March landed Friday
February flew on by
Peace is in the now
February Gems round-up
Here’s a set of tracks I’ve highlighted as part of my February gems round-up. You can listen to the playlist here.
TiaCorine ft. Zelooperz - Olive
Rapper TiaCorine hails from Winston-Salem, NC. She and Detroit’s Zelooperz teamed up on this super catchy song “Olive” from TiaCorine’s latest EP Almost There. I love Tia’s energy, and I’m excited to catch her live in a few weeks.
ScHoolboy Q - Yeern 101
I’ve been listening to ScHoolboy Q’s new album Blue Lips since it dropped on Friday; “Pop” featuring Rico Nasty and “Back n Love” featuring Devin Malik might be my top favorites from the album although the entirety is pure gold. “Yeern 101” was the first single to drop in February after he announced the album. I’ve missed ScHoolboy Q and am happy he’s back. I’ve been a fan for years, and I remember seeing him at the Warfield in SF with my brother when I was still living in the Bay. It’s also been fun to follow his convos with fans and his personal rankings and reflections of his past projects on Twitter.
GloRilla - Yeah Glo!
“Yeah Glo!” is a hit from Memphis rapper GloRilla, and it’s exciting to see her continue to shine and get the love she deserves. I also love the Chopped & Screwed version of this song.
Cousin Stizz - Puddle Boots
Cousin Stizz is back with his first single of 2024 with the bouncy “Puddle Boots.” This one is up there with “Every Season,” another favorite anthem of his that I like to bump loudly in the car.
Little Simz - SOS
Little Simz recently released her new EP Drop 7 and “SOS” is one of my favorites from it. It’s a fun one with lots of rhythm and Brazilian funk influence that’ll prompt you to start moving.
Audrey Nuna ft. Teezo Touchdown - Starving
Audrey Nuna is a creative force. It was a pleasure to work with her on a film called Message in the Music which is one of the projects I’m most proud of in my career thus far. Audrey has been consistently pushing the envelope especially with her music videos, and I love the alternative leaning direction she’s going in with “Starving” in collaboration with Teezo Touchdown.
Yiruma - non è la fine
Yiruma (이루마) is a Korean pianist and composer whose songs explore themes of nature and emotion that are sure to evoke something within. I discovered him during the pandemic and recently revisited his catalog. “non è la fine” translates to “it’s not the end.” As the title of the track suggests, this is a bittersweet, beautiful song that makes me want to treasure every waking moment.
An ode to Xanga + connecting with people from my early Internet past:
Example Xanga site from another user. Found on https://zine.yesterweb.org/issue-00/index.php?page=9
When I was in high school, I found expression and connection on Xanga and LiveJournal. Xanga was a social blogging platform and community where I met a lot of my pen pals who lived across various cities around the world. I met them through groups I’d join on Xanga called “blogrings.” We would send each other letters and care packages consisting of mixed cds and small trinkets. Sending and receiving these via snail mail would fill me with a sense of comfort and joy amidst the dark teen angst storm I found myself in. These were friends I had never met or grew up with but nonetheless, they were my friends from afar.
There was Joanna in the Philippines who now lives in Hong Kong. There was Liza in New Jersey. There was Elspeth who lived in the Pacific Northwest and later moved to NYC and LA. There was also Andrew who wasn’t my pen pal but lived in my neighboring city. He was also a Korean kid who listened to screamo and hardcore bands like Thursday and Every Time I Die like my brother and me.
Even as Xanga’s demise happened, my Xanga friends and I would still follow each other from MySpace to Facebook and now Instagram. Even though we don’t talk or write to each other as regularly as we used to, I still hold all of them in a special place in my heart.
I was reminded of the power of Xanga because Andrew and I recently got a chance to finally meet IRL, nearly 18 years later because it turned out we both work at the same company. Even though we had never met prior, it felt like meeting up with an old friend due to the nature of Xanga being a place where people found community through their mutual interests. In this case, it was our shared bond of being young Korean kids who found solace in a music scene where we rarely saw people who looked like us.
I have a newfound gratitude for these online communities like Xanga that I was a part of and built friendships through. I unlocked connection and community through writing, a reminder for me to keep going, keep writing, keep sharing. I hope to find a way to access my old Xanga archive and perhaps expand on this fundamental experience of my life even more later.
Were you ever on Xanga or LiveJournal? Have you been exploring or revisiting a piece of nostalgia that’s served as a reminder to keep going?
Best wishes for the Spring,
Jane Shin