The Music of My Life: Shanté
Or introducing a new guest writer series.
Introducing a new series to Sad Girl Nostalgia: This is The Music of My Life, in which a guest writer discusses the music that defined their life (so far, at least). This is edition #1 and is focused on the music of guest writer Shanté’s life.
my name is Shanté and i’m the writer behind things i collected, a newsletter full of musings on music, style, and memorabilia. when Lauren first approached me with this idea, i knew it was destined and aligned with my own newsletter as i often photograph items from my personal music archive, while providing anecdotes and history associated with them.
the process of recalling the soundtrack to my life was made simpler by the fact that i have used last.fm to track my listens from june 2010 onwards. many of the artists i discovered throughout my adolescence remain my favorites today.
follow along as i take you through my musical memory timeline!1
early childhood
Daft Punk – “One More Time” (2001)
as a late millennial, this story begins where so many of my earliest musical discoveries do: with watching MTV. i distinctly remember being in my grandma’s bedroom with the TV on, dancing along with my sister as the animated video for “One More Time” played. it wasn’t until i got much older that i understood the song within the larger context of the album Discovery and the associated film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.
if i could look through the eyes of my six-year-old self again, i think there was an innate knowing of how intimately related Daft Punk’s sound was to my original hometown of Chicago, Illinois (aka the birthplace of house music).
middle school
Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae (2006)
this is a stellar debut album full of poetic, heartfelt music that meets you where you are and grows with you all the same. i never felt that i was too young to grasp the recurring themes of love, empowerment, and yearning. however, my understanding of the album deepened with life experience, wisdom, and maturity.
the lead single “Put Your Records On” recently resurfaced to the mainstream due to a crossover cover. it says a lot about the timeless quality of this song that it could speak to a whole new audience 15 years later. also, i’m pretty sure i can attribute my discovery of Corinne Bailey Rae to VH1’s You Oughta Know spotlight series (you see the pattern).
high school
Solange – “Sandcastle Disco” (2008)
this era of Solange’s music is etched onto my heart and archived in my eternal mental moodboard. it was then that i noticed how iconoclastic Solange is; her impact on me has only grown since. the way that she pulls references from the past and reinvents them is nothing short of divine.
with its retro-soul revival sound, the whole Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams era was truly inspired. “Sandcastle Disco” is the song that transcends time. i played it constantly on my mp3 player, cued it up on my MySpace page, and subsequently used the instrumental as my bump music while DJing in college.
college
Tame Impala – Lonerism (2012)
when Lonerism dropped, i had already been exploring psychedelic music of the past. i was also a huge fan of neo psychedelia courtesy of contemporary artists like Animal Collective and MGMT. yet, Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) opened me up to the world of thought-provoking music from down under. i’ve been on that wave since 2012 and i don’t think i’ll ever get off. “Mind Mischief” remains my favorite song by Tame Impala and it's one of my favorites of all time. of course, it’s the one song that the band didn’t perform when i saw them live in 2013, but all is forgiven.2 production-wise, the panning from left to right around 2:45 (as Parker prepares to sing “Go with Mr. Right just for once”) hooks me every time.
early 20s
Kelela – Cut 4 Me (2013)
i still remember where i was the day Cut 4 Me premiered on the blogosphere — sitting at the desk in my lofted dorm room in downtown Atlanta. i promptly downloaded the mixtape from Bandcamp and proceeded to listen to it on repeat. while it really personified that fall/winter of my sophomore year in college, it stayed with me for years onward. Kelela is truly iconic — she’s always so timely with her releases and philosophically ahead of the curve.
mid 20s
Sault - 5 (2019)
when my boyfriend played “Why Why Why Why Why” for the first time, i realized that this was a song that my soul had been yearning for. so when i listened to the album 5, i fell in love and it’s been in my rotation since 2019. i enjoy every song on this album, but “Masterpiece” is quite literally a masterpiece.
Sault crafts this intricate blend of genres to form a sound that is so uniquely uniform and universal. upon their debut, the musicians took it a step further by cloaking their identities in a shroud of mystery as an effort to let the artistry shine. now, vocalist Cleo Sol ain’t fooling nobody with a voice as rich and distinct as hers. plus, i had already been a fan since watching her COLORS performance. but i respect the commitment to the music and this group keeps all fans on the edge of our seats for what will come next.
now
Bobby Oroza – Get On the Otherside (2022)
the grip that Get On the Otherside has on me is incalculable. i will never stop talking about this album and i’m not sorry about it. leading up to the album’s release, the single “Loving Body” racked up many plays for me due to its sultry flow and intimate lyrics. once Get On the Otherside dropped, i proceeded to play it over and over. i wrote about this album as my favorite of 2022 and i will cherish it for so many years to come.
forever
Gorillaz — Demon Days (2005)
as we steadily approach this album’s 20 year anniversary, it’s safe to say that Demon Days gets so much better with age. most people of a certain age know the single “Feel Good Inc”, considering that the earworm was a mainstay on MTV — it’s a “millennial getting ready for school” soundtrack essential. i wouldn’t actually explore this album until a couple of years later, when i borrowed the CD from the public library and downloaded the mp3s. i would spend so many days on the bus to high school anticipating the exciting, seamless transition between “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” and the title track. now, i revel in the album’s genre-bending quality and how it was so ahead of its time.
while i have opted for a chronological timeline that mainly coincides with each album’s release, these are all forever albums to me.
for instance, the guitar riff was merely used as a transition.
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