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We asked Darlene Campos to curate a Spotify playlist for her book, Behind Mount Rushmore and she selected 21 incredible songs featuring David Bowie, Madonna, Judas Priest and a bevy of Native American artists.
You can listen to the entire soundtrack below or on Spotify.
Behind Mount Rushmore will be available everywhere books are sold on May 19.
We asked Adrien Julious to curate a Spotify playlist for her first book, Brownish Green Female Sheep, and she selected 24 incredible songs featuring Rihanna, Whitney Houston and Mary Lambert.
Hall & Oates - "Sara Smile"
“This is a song I grew up listening to because my mom’s name is Sarah. The song, like my mother’s smile, is something I reach for when I need a quick self soother.”
Rihanna - "Love Without Tragedy"
“It’s the perfect blend of screwed up relationship. Love shouldn’t be tragic, but tragedy can be sexy.”
Mary Lambert - "Body Love (Parts 1 & 2)"
“‘Love your body like your mother loved your baby feet’ is such a strong body positive statement. For years, I had that quote on a Post-it note on my mirror. It helped me love myself.
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You can listen to the entire soundtrack below or on Spotify.
We asked T.J. Love to curate a Spotify playlist for his first collection of poetry and he selected a super-sized list of songs with 26 songs and almost two hours worth of music featuring Michael Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lenny Kravitz and Musiq Soulchild.
You can listen to the entire soundtrack below or on Spotify.
Pre-order Speaking In Tongues: Love In Five Languages here.
So last week, we asked D.A. Alston to curate a Spotify playlist for her novel The Unlikely Tale of The Royal Elite Squad and she dropped off an incredible list of tracks. This week, A.A. Redd does the same for her book of poetry, A Body Held Still By Fear And Loathing. The playlist features songs from Sia, Frank Ocean, Tame Impala and Frederic Chopin.
Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"
“This has been one of my favorite songs for nearly a decade. Brand New merged their own lyrics with some lines from Rudyard Kipling’s “If” to paint a sorrowful soundscape, resulting in an ode to watching your life destruct before you and being forced to reassemble it under the worst circumstances. Both “Learning Curve” and “Underground” share the themes of failure and struggling to recover from it, and the same somber tone.”
Frederic Chopin - "Nocturne no. 2 Opus 9"
“I fell in love with Chopin in middle school because his music embodies the era of classical music he lived through. It is utterly romantic in every sense of the word and it manages to do that with only a passionate piano to carry the listener from gentle start to sweeping finish. Some of the poems in this book are about toxic love, but quite a few are just love poems, like “Honeyed” and “Overboard.” When reading those, the lilting keys of Chopin would be the best accompaniment in my opinion.”
Chaos Chaos - "Do You Feel It"
““Dependency Dance” was what drove me to choose this song. Toxic love is something I can’t seem to stop writing about. This is one of those songs that broke my heart as soon as I heard it, because the relationship it portrays is blisteringly desperate and incredibly fragile, something that feels very familiar to me.”
Motion City Soundtrack - "Everything Is Alright"
“Last year, a lot of things started to make sense after I was diagnosed with OCD. One of those things was why I loved and identified with this song so much. Justin Pierre, the lead singer, penned the song about his own struggle with severe OCD. I’m starting to feel more comfortable writing about my disorders and other neurodivergencies (“Split” and “Dissociation Dreams” are two poems that deal solely with those topics) and that’s partly thanks to music like this.”
You can listen to the entire soundtrack below or on Spotify.
A Body Held Still By Fear And Loathing is available now on Amazon, Kindle, B&N and Vital Narrative.
We asked D.A. Alston to curate a Spotify playlist for her novel The Unlikely Tale of The Royal Elite Squad and she dropped off an incredible list of tracks. Featuring 20 songs from Chance The Rapper, Logic and Mali Music, D.A. was sure to select music that was true to her writing.
Mali Music - "Royalty"
“If I had to choose a theme song, it would definitely be this. Mali Music personified exactly what I was thinking while I wrote this book. I believe we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood. I believe when you know that, you walk a lot higher and with purpose. You wouldn’t let people call you certain things if you knew you were a king or queen - that’s why I’m so big on reminding people about the king and queen within. Even in the midst of the darkness, you are called! You are royalty.”
Meghan Trainor - "Me Too"
“As someone who suffered from low self-esteem growing up, this song was such a triumphant moment for me. I love myself and I’m no longer looking for validation from anyone. God took his time making me and I am going to fully embrace that.”
JoJo - "Music"
“I’ve been a huge JoJo fan since I was a little girl. Through all her classics, this is one of my favorites. It’s her love letter to music and I honestly feel like she was reading my deepest inner thoughts. She asks “Where would I be without you (music)?” and music has always been such a huge part of who I am. I grew up singing before I even knew what singing was. My family comes together to harmonize every holiday before we eat dinner, so music has been a universal theme in my life. It’s helped me through break ups, gave me theme music to help celebrate my major victories and pulled me closer to the amazing God I serve. Music is life.”
Kamau - "Jusfayu"
“Have you ever had a song that you love, but can’t quite understand why? For me, this is that song. This is my get-ready, it’s-the-weekend, I’m-finally-done-editing-and-I’m-so-happy song! Everyone needs a feel good song and this is it for me.”
You can listen to the entire soundtrack below or on Spotify.
The Unlikely Tale Of The Royal Elite Squad is available now on Amazon, Kindle, B&N and Vital Narrative.
