These 8 Playlists Will Help You Survive the Coronavirus Quarantine
The coronavirus has devastated the globe and flattened a multi-billion dollar live music industry. Venues are empty, crew members are displaced, and performing artists are losing a steady stream of income. With any economic setback comes a disproportionate effect on communities of color.
Millions of people have turned to social media for hope and connectivity. Artists like Talib Kweli are hosting live sets (Jadakiss popped in last week), DJ iMarkkeyz produced instantly-viral content with Cardi B’s voice, and people everywhere are curating Corona-themed survival playlists.
With an abundance of content available right now, I’ve gathered eight of my favorite jazz and hip hop quarantine playlists from SoundCloud, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. Rally your friends for a virtual listening party and send me your feedback. What’s your favorite? Which songs would you add if you could? Lay it on me; the comment section is below.
Where applicable, tap the artist name, song or timestamp to jump to the track. And don’t forget: vibe-curators are essential workers. If you have the means, please consider contacting them to pay them for their labor.
SOUNDCLOUD
REMEMBER WHEN
(HIP HOP 2020 QUARANTINE MIX)
by DJ Chuck Mac
From Rakim to Jeru the Damaja and Queen Latifah, Remember When is a go-to mix for hip hop heads on an 80-90s binge. It doesn’t kill time with disjointed transitions, and maintains a consistent, lively tempo across a melting pot of classics. Click on the artists above to jump to their selected tracks.
Duration: 01:42:58
SOUL FUNK HIP HOP
- FUCKING COVID19 #MIX03
by Franky4Fingers
It’s the kind of joy you’d find at a long-gone park jam or friendly BBQ. That’s why James Brown is doing the splits.
A warm pace and celebratory tone will satisfy listeners of most ages – except at 00:28:47. An uplifting version of Biggie’s “Can I Get Witcha” is still too raunchy for little ears, but the older ones will enjoy a good bounce.
Duration: 00:44:08
COVID JAZZ
by Will Caine
The iconic anime-girl-studying gets a relevant medical mask for Will Caine’s lo-fi, jazz hop playlist. (Chilled Cow, one of YouTube’s most popular lo-fi stations at 4.83M subscribers, popularized the character through their live radio stream. She studies on loop 24/7.)
This slow-burning selection escalates at 00:43:34, but anything worth listening to will require your patience. Do some power yoga, reorganize your closet (again), and let it build.
Duration: 01:12:20
APPLE MUSIC
COFFEE
by Radio LTD
Radio LTD is an audio space curated by Let’s Talk Daily The Podcast. Coffee is their unquestionably current rap and R&B playlist.
It delivers what Gen Z and millennials want in a smooth, digestible order – so it sounds like working from home plus pausing to twerk. I finished this article listening to “Heartless” by The Weeknd, which is halfway through the playlist.
Follow LTD on Instagram, check out their podcast on Spotify, and find more of their playlists via Linktree.
Duration: 01:38:00
SPOTIFY
COVID-19: A HIP HOP PANDEMIC
by Tom Bransby
This playlist combines clearly viral innuendos – “Polluted Skyline” by Brothaz Bent or “Disaster Strikes” by Busta Rhymes – with otherwise dreadful and therefore relevant lyrical content – “Put A Curse on You” by Quasimoto or “Sick to My Stomach” by The Dopplegangaz.
It’s clever, and a quality ride for any occasion. Show some respect and get this playlist to more than 3 followers.
Duration: 03:01:00
COVID-19 HIP HOP + R&B
QUARANTINE PLAYLIST
by Sarah Fradillada
Eight hours of Hot 100 hits from the 2000s to present. That’s it – that’s the caption.
If you’re looking for a playlist to finish in one sitting, move on. This one is full of fun, recognizable music and plays in an order that feels delightfully shuffled. Sometimes that’s all you need when you’re cooking, working out, or deep-in-thought showering.
Duration: 08:00:00
YOUTUBE
STAY AT HOME
by Grau Selection
Grau Selection is a deep house and (newly) lo-fi YouTube channel with over 15M channel views. They’ve blessed us with the multi-genre quarantine playlist of our dreams. Put this on and get work done at 5x the speed.
Bronx natives are allowed to skip to 00:21:22. There’s a continuous “from the Bronx” chant in Jessie Bru’s song, “I’m One Of You.”
Duration: 00:57:05
CHILL BEATS TO QUARANTINE TO
by Will Smith
Hear me out.
Inspired by ChilledCow’s 24-hour live stream (and the iconic anime-girl-studying), Will Smith took a detour from the vlogs to develop a playlist with his production team. If your thoughts are in disarray, this collection is as “chill” as the title suggests. Put this on for help sleeping or to accompany your reading.
Periodic ads are a momentary buzzkill, but the Type-A tracklist organization and disgustingly kind comment section are redeeming qualities.
Duration: 01:30:00
