Before you dive into this week's mix, I'd like you to consider taking action (examples here) and, if able, donating some money to the continuing efforts toward racial justice in America. The shooting of Jacob Blake in the back by police officers reminds us again, when a reminder is hardly needed, that we have so much work to do in the United States of America to acknowledge, come to terms, and remedy our racial past and present. These messages will stop when the problem stops. We stand with Black Lives Matter and everyone involved in this necessary work. (Note: we are in the process of cleaning up our Racial Justice Resource Page, but you can still swing by there if you're looking for more education and ways you can help)
I've been a rock and roll boy since my earliest days of hefting my parent's vinyl up onto their turntable, but there's not much of that to go around in this week's mix. Sure, you'll get some guitar work from the "King of Sudanese Jazz", Sharhabil Ahmed, (and, notably, not much of what you might think of as "jazz"), but you really can't keep him to a single genre. The same goes for Janelle Monáe, who makes her second appearance in a row on WQPM (this is where I admit I got on the Monáe train late). The rest of this mix stretches from the sounds of folk and classic country (classic sound, but new music) to hip hop and Afrobeats. Which is not to say you can't enjoy this if you're a rock and roll person. Dig into this one, folks. There is, as they say, something for everyone.
real life is more than just two hours long
WQPM playlists are a collection of ten songs I've been listening to this week, crossing genre, era, and taste. No themes here, just the tunes I've been sticking in my ears lately. The newest Weekly Quick Pick Mix is available on Spotify and Apple Music.
