a week of daylists

& a daylist inspired by my new favourite genre ♬

Daylists have existed on Spotify since September 2023, but unfortunately, my access to them was inhibited by the constant notification: “Daylist is currently not available in your country”. On the 15th of March, this finally changed, allowing me the opportunity to critically examine Spotify’s ability to choose music catered to me. Based on the history of personal mixes and the somewhat recent introduction of the AI-based ‘DJ’, Spotify has done well in this regard. What I'm particularly interested in here is the ability of Daylists to “create personalised playlists that change according to the music a user listens to throughout the week, day or hour”. An important characteristic of your Daylist is it changes throughout the day. Does the short time between each update affect the overall playlist quality? I’ll be deciding this based on the examination of my own Daylists from the week of 18th March to 24th March. I’ll be rating them on a 5-star scale because why not, based on the fulfilment of the theme (as defined by Spotify), adherence to my taste, and any new recommendations (because I’d love to expand and diversify my listening).

Monday: ‘peaceful slow r&b monday early morning’

★ ★ ★ .5

According to Spotify's definition of ‘smooth and healing’ being characterised by ‘slow r&b, chill r&b’, you could say it certainly delivered. Monday’s Daylist included the frontrunners of R&B like SZA, Brent Faiyaz, Summer Walker, Jhené Aiko, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. 

From this list of main features my favourite would have to be Brent Faiyaz, though I was not a fan of the last album I fully listened to, ‘Wasteland’, and I prefer his music as part of the group 'Sonder'. In my opinion, if you’re looking for chill R&B, Brent’s soft, electronic vocals combined with Atu and Dpat’s production skills make their group Sonder your best bet. My personal favourites beyond the viral songs ‘What You Heard’ and ‘Nobody But You’ are ‘One Night Only’, ‘Care’, ‘Too Fast’ as well as several others from their 2022 EP ‘Too Late to Die Young’ like ‘Mad Riches’ and ‘Indonesian fantasies’.

On the more contemporary side of R&B, we have Clara La San, an OG SoundCloud artist whose songs ‘In This Darkness’ and ‘Let You Go’ recently went viral on TikTok, as well as Miguel and Beyonce. From the three I only really listen to Clara’s music which Viberate describes as “both reminiscent and novel”, bringing the best parts (contemporary and classical) of R&B together.

Another honourable mention is Montell Fish’s ‘Bathroom’ from his latest album ‘Her Love Still Haunts Me Like a Ghost’, which contains my new favourite by him ‘Pretend Lovers’. New discoveries from this playlist include music by GROOVY and Essosa. Upon listening I can attest to Essosa’s music being peak soulful and chill R&B, and GROOVY’S song ‘Jersey luv’ as Brent adjacent, a good sign for the rating.

Tuesday: ‘cinnamon sweater weather afternoon’

★ ★ .5

Let’s start with the definition, especially because this one’s title is unique. Apparently ‘cinnamon sweater weather’ translates to ‘soul-crushing, art deco, melancholy, poetry’, a Daylist fitting for fall. (I guess Spotify missed the Spring Solstice.)

Based on this, you’d think of dream/alt-pop music by Hozier, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and some indie by Phoebe Bridgers and Cults, and you would be right. However there were still a decent amount of artists that I consider out of place like The Weeknd, Paramore, Childish Gambino, and a recent favourite Artemas, whose latest release ‘I like the way you kiss me’ has, surprise, surprise, already gone viral on Tiktok.

Although, when Spotify said ‘soul-crushing’ it did not lie, with songs like ‘You’re Gonna Go Far’ and ‘Northern Attitude’ by Noah Kahan, ‘Never Felt so alone’ by Labrinth and the iconic ‘Motion Sickness’ by Phoebe Bridgers giving the Daylist an emotional quality. I like that it also included other songs by Bridgers like ‘Waiting Room’ and ‘The Gold-Phoebe Bridgers version’. I also appreciated the features of TV Girl and The Neighbourhood, two of my favourite artists, and a song I love but haven’t heard in a while ‘4 Morant (Better Luck Next Time)’ by Com Truise.

On the other hand, I was not happy with the inclusion of Billie Eilish’s song ‘Watch’ because I don’t listen to her, and three Olivia Rodrigo songs because I consider her my least favourite artist. In my opinion, her music does serve its purpose as radio pop music, but it isn’t my style. Not to mention I feel this musical style of mainstream pop has been overdone at this point with how oversaturated it is in the media. Her songs also feel repetitive, like she’s singing about the same story every album. Her voice is of course great, which is why the only song I like by her is ‘Can’t Catch Me Now’ from the recent Hunger Games movie, which is co-written and made her step out of her usual blueprint. She confirms this by saying  “It was a really fun challenge for me as a songwriter because lots of my songs are kind of about my personal life,”

New introductions from this Daylist include ‘Older’ By Isabel LaRosa which I’d only ever heard in snippets on TikTok. Looking into her discography it seems I’ve listened to all her songs on Tiktok only in passing, my favourite being ‘I’m yours’. Her music is angsty and can be considered dark pop. So if that’s your vibe, similar (Tiktok famous) artists are Ari Abdul, Ashley Sienna, Elley Duhé, Shy Smith, and Lilithzplug.

Wednesday: ‘baseball football night’

★ ★ ★ ★ .5

I don’t know why the description for this one is ‘baseball, football, wrestling, hockey, volleyball’ with ‘clean rap’ simply tacked on the end. I don’t know how to judge how well music suits the sports references but if we’re just considering the rap genre, I’d say Spotify hit the mark. 

It’s a lot of the rap I’ve been listening to recently, like ‘500 lbs’ by Lil Tecca, ‘Wet Dreamz’ by J.Cole and ‘Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1’ by Kanye West but also throwbacks to some of the rap I haven’t listened to in a while like Metro Boomin's collaborative song with Travis Scott ‘Trance’ (an old favourite. Refer to 2:40 for the best beat) and several with 21 Savage like ‘10 freaky girls’ and ‘Glock in my lap’. 21 Savage's own song ‘Can’t leave without it’ and Chief Keef’s ‘Love Sosa’ and ‘Hate Bein’ Sober’ also similarly acted as time capsules.

I appreciate Spotify including several songs by Future and Travis Scott, beyond the former's viral ‘Low Life (feat. The Weeknd)’ and the latter's recent popular album ‘UTOPIA', because while I do enjoy their music I wish I listened to them more. 

I think the Daylist comprising mostly Drake songs is a testament to how accurate it is to my taste considering he was my number 1 artist of 2023 (thanks to Spotify Wrapped for the confirmation). It included a range of his songs from across albums like ‘Fancy’ from his debut studio album ‘Thank Me Later’, ‘Headlines’, ‘Practice’ and ‘Cameras/Good Ones Go Interlude-Medley’ from the following album ‘Take Care’(aka his most underrated one), ‘Trust Issues’  from the compilation album ‘Care Package’, ‘Jimmy Cooks’ from ‘Honestly Nevermind’ and finally, ‘IDGAF (feat. Yeat)’ from his most recent album ‘For All The Dogs’. 

Since Spotify managed to include songs from half his studio albums, plus some from a compilation album and the majority from my favourite album, I’d say it aced this one regardless of the odd name and lack of ‘new music’ (plus the revitalised throwbacks count as such anyway). 

Thursday p1: ‘happy indie small town thursday evening’

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The vibe I got from this one was the main character/teenager dream adjacent, and Spotify agreed with this perception through the keywords ‘movie’, ‘crunchy’, and ‘hippie’.

I think every single song fulfilled this theme (common Spotify W) with a lot of music from the indie band ‘The Backseat Lovers’ and from Dominic Fike, whose songs often classify as upbeat ‘teen life/summer’ music, especially his album ‘Sunburn’. I appreciate the included songs of his were some I hadn’t heard before like ‘King Of Everything’ and ‘Wurli’, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed and I’d say adequately catered to my taste. The songs also complimented the general Wallows/Cage The Elephant/Del Water Gap vibe of the Daylist, aka ‘Remember When’ by Wallows and Clairo personified. It feels nostalgic, movie-like with reminders of summer beach days, the perfect tracklist for the idealised romantic teenage life.

This Daylist led to my discovery of Bakar’s music beyond the relatively popular song ‘Hell N Back’ with Summer Walker. I particularly enjoyed the 2023 EP ‘All Night.’ The song ‘Booster Seat’ by Spacey Jane was another new find, along with ‘Oysters in My Pocket’ by Royel Otist, both of which I felt matched the upbeat and sunny vibe of the Daylist.

Thursday p2: ‘island vibes fusion thursday late night’

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Had to give this one a special mention because it ticked all the boxes. 

Following Yung Filly’s release of ‘Grey’ I got into Afrobeat music a lot more, with Burna Boy as my favourite artist of the genre. This Daylist included plenty by him, like ‘Last Last’, ‘It’s Plenty’ and ‘For My Hand’ from the album ‘Love, Damini’, and ‘Alone’ from the movie soundtrack ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. It also had viral songs by Tems like ‘Higher’ and ‘Damages’ and even some new songs by her I hadn’t heard like ‘Me & U’.

There was also a lot from Ayra Starr like ‘Ngozi’, ‘Bloody Samaritan’, and ‘2 Sugar’. Joining this lineup of R&B and Afro is Chris Brown, whose ‘Call Me Every Day’ has been on repeat for me. Other songs on my recent listening rotation included in this Daylist were ‘Again’ by Wande Coal, ‘No Wahala’ by 1da Banton and ‘Finesse’ by Pheelz.

The Daylist did open me up to some new favourites like ‘22’ by JayO, and ‘I’m a mess’ by Omah Lay, both of which had that floaty vibe I love in Afrobeats. On the same wavelength as those earlier mentioned, I found some more artists like Fireboy DML, Bayanni, and Ckay. The latter’s song ‘Emiliana’ sounds similar to the TikTok viral song ‘Love Me Back’ by Trinidad Cardona and Robinson. So if even small snippets of that song made Afrobeats appealing to you, the recommendations from this Daylist would resonate even more.

Friday: ‘rage scream friday late night’

★ ★ ★ .5

So already looking at the top three I’m hesitant. How does ‘Mess It Up’, by bedroom pop artist Gracie Abrams fit Spotify’s definition of ‘dark pop’? I’m a fan of Gracie’s music, especially her latest album ‘Good Riddance (Deluxe)’, but it's far from what Spotify calls ‘angry, haunting and scratch’.

While the included Olivia Rodrigo songs fit this definition, we’ve already established my stance on her, and music by Landon Barker is a tough listen making me think he is little more than a nepo baby (and not even a good one considering his dad’s music as part of the band Blink-182 is iconic and well-loved). A Tiktokker turned musician featured on this playlist that I do support is Nessa Barrett, ever since her release of ‘I hope you’re miserable until you’re dead’. My top artists from this Daylist would have to be Chase Atlantic, Maggie Lindemann, and Melanie Martinez, all very dark/Alt-Pop. Some artists included like Artemas and Isabel LaRosa are recalled from the earlier daylists of Monday and Tuesday. 

Regardless of her recent popularity, I don’t listen to Reneé Rapp and her included songs ‘Not My Fault’ and  ‘Pretty Girls’ don’t really fit the vibe of the Daylist. I also think it's odd that there are five Tate McRae songs because I only really listen to her as a part of others’ playlists or radio mixes, not to mention her brand of pop is not what you’d expect with a playlist titled ‘rage scream friday late night’. On the other hand, some songs do like ‘RELAX AFTER WORK WITH A DRINK’ by Lilyisthatyou, ‘Irresponsible’ and ‘Scatterbrain’ by Emei (the latter being a catchy new find) and ‘Leave Her’ by d4vd, whose music I do frequently listen to.

There was a decent amount of music I’ve never heard like Jade LeMac’s ‘Constellations’ and ‘Got Me Obsessed’, with the latter matching the playlist in terms of lyrics as well as the music itself. In the same is the newfound Nxdia’s music, whose song ‘She likes a boy’ not only fits the playlist but is a good indicator of how the rest of her music sounds, a new blend of pop using both English and Arabic with personal lyrics. Another thematically similar new find is Véyah’s ‘Better than the boys’ (also about lesbian relationships). My new favourite from the daylist would be the emotionally raw ‘I’d Rather Overdose’ by HONESTAV. I appreciate how in this daylist the lyrics also match the vibe, which gives it some extra points because I do prioritise lyricism in music.

Saturday: ‘revival punkish afternoon’

★ ★ ★ ★

Here’s one I was super excited for. Controversial but Machine Gun Kelly is one of my favourite artists and has been since 2021. His music and lyrics mean a lot to me and based on this Daylist’s definition of ‘punkish, rock star, new age rock, rock-ish’ I’m expecting it to be dominated by MGK songs.

Safe to say my expectations were fulfilled with songs like ‘maybe’ which features the rock band Bring Me The Horizon, ‘twin flame’ for an emotional touch, ‘more than life’ and ‘last november’ from the deluxe edition of the album mainstream sellout as well as collaborations from the album like ‘emo girl’ with Willow, ‘fake love don’t last’ with Iann Dior, ‘make up sex’ with Blackbear. A lot of these artists’ songs were also included in the Daylist like Iann Dior’s collaborations with Travis Barker ‘Obvious’ and ‘Sick and Tired’ and Blackbear’s ‘the idea’ and ‘@ my worst’ which I particularly appreciate since the latter’s 2020 album ‘Everything means Nothing’ is so nostalgic and considered one of my favourite albums of all time, even though I don’t listen to him as much anymore. 

Other common artists were Tiktokkers turned musicians jxdn and Huddy and I guess technically their music is rock but not by my definition, making them misplaced. However others like Nothing, nowhere, Avril Lavigne, Tommy Lee, and the earlier mentioned Bring Me The Horizon with their song ‘Die4u’ make perfect sense.

Surprisingly there was only one new song for me in this one and that was ‘I Hope You’re Happy’ by Games We Play, which suits the playlist but doesn’t feel like authentic punk rock. When I think of punk rock I think of new age stuff like MGK and Bring Me The Horizon, but I also think of Blink-182, The Killers, Three Days Grace, and Nickelback. Some others that weren’t on the Daylist that I feel should be included; ‘Choose Life’ and ‘Love spells’ by POORSTACY, ‘Death by Rock n Roll’ by The Pretty Reckless and anything by my favourite, heavily gatekept band Broadside, especially from their album ‘Into The Raging Sea’.

Sunday: ‘hypnotic badass sunday late night’

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This daylist inspired a hyperpop playlist (linked above) that matches the explicit ‘scenecore and nightcore’ genre, with frontrunners like Ayesha Erotica and Kim Petras. I think it’s best described as phonk music but for the girls. It’s quickly become my favourite genre, with its energetic, distorted vocals. A lot of the songs in this genre are slowed, sped up, and remixed multiple times creating a unique futuristic sound. In this sense and because of the ‘out there’ lyrics songs in this genre don’t conform to usual pop music.

It usually references the 2000s internet culture and the Web 2.0 era. In modern media, it is also often called ‘slut pop’ after Kim Petra’s 2022 album (hence the playlist name), and many of the songs often go viral on Tiktok. A lot of these songs were on this Daylist like MISS LUXURY’S ‘TIPSY’ and ‘ALL AROUND THE WORLD’,  Ayesha Erotica’s ‘The Boom Boom Doll’ and ‘Big Juicy’, Bug Brain’s ‘THE FIRST LADY OF JUICY COUTURE!!!!’ and multiple variations of the song ‘Hands up!’ by 6arelyhuman, whose music is also getting increasingly popular with the viral ‘XOXO (kisses hugs)’, ‘ecstasy’, ‘toxic’ and ‘Like a G6’ in the day list. Another major mention of the genre is Odetari, with songs like ‘ME N U DATE’, ‘DOOR TO DUSK’ and collaborations like ‘level up’ and ‘GMFU’ with earlier mentioned 6arelyhuman, as well as ‘WET DREAMS’ by Nimstarr. Britney Manson and Cade Clair’s music is also included, which is a plus considering their music also fits this genre to a T.

Regardless of being familiar with this genre, I still found some new artists like SAINTLYSILAS, Chase Icon, and kets4eki and songs like ‘i can’t do this’ by K3NT4!, ‘p.m.s’ by BJKL BNT75, and ‘Tongue Twister (cash cash)’ by Hilzu, with the best ones making it to the playlist above. In case you’re looking for more, Spotify has it’s own called ‘hexxed’ with ‘music from the underworld’.

This was longer than I initially intended but to be fair, Daylists are long and change multiple times a day so I had to keep up. Regardless I hope there were some insights into my music taste as well as recommendations for yours.