Favorite songs: summer 21

Gabriel Lai
3 min readSep 1, 2021

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The release of Kanye West’s “DONDA” at the end of August promptly wraps up a packed summer release schedule. Here’s a compiled list of songs I have been listening to throughout the summer.

40 songs in no particular order. enjoy

tldr: link

“Miami 2 Ibiza” — Swedish House Mafia

SHM officially returning in 2021 with new music coming up

“The Prophet Who Saw Fire” — Sanction

New York Metallic Hardcore

“Hard 4 Me 2 Love You” — Sinead Harnett

passionate piano ballad

“Wild and Lethal Trash!” — Goldlink

Goldlink’s signature bounce beats and smooth delivery

“Add It Up” — Migos

underrated track from their mixtape days

“CORSO” — Tyler, The Creator

cementing his legacy this summer

“Karma & Friends” — Cautious Clay

strong debut album, delivering smooth and consistent vibes

“Love is Only a Feeling” — Joey Badass

need some new Joey asap

“Stay Close” — Barney Artist ft Tom Misch

just vibes

“Butterfly” — Pi’erre Bourne

“WHAT U WANT” — Lancey Foux ft Skepta

my favorite discovery of 2021

“Say Cheese” — Poppy

mixing multiple genres, Poppy’s music is no longer a meme

“Decode” — Paramore

one of my favorite Paramore made it back to streaming again

“BAD DAY” — Diverseeddie 舵

surprising chinese rap find #billingualsadboi

“All I Do” — Logic

classic mixtape tracks making way to streaming

“成都Chengdu” — Masiwei马思唯

sitting at the top of chinese rap

“Mind Your Business” — Sunami

beat down hardcore

“Wasting Time” — Brent Faiyaz ft Drake

they were floating on the production

“川渝陷阱” — 谢帝 ft L4WUDU

throwback early 2010s trap music

“SHOOT MY SHOT” — IDK ft Offset

super catchy

“No Regular” — Lil Gnar

s/o to spotify algorithm

“Murder Scene” — Stupid Young ft Lil Durk

heard a remix from a chinese rapper and remembered the original

“Thank you, God. For it all.” — Childish Major

consistently underrated.

“The Promised Love说好的幸福呢” — Jay Chou周杰伦

mandarin ballads really connected with me this summer

“One Watch” — Gunna ft Young Thug

i relistened to Gunna for the first time

“Nothin 2 Me” — Jazz Cartier

he always sounds the best on dark beats

“称抖SWAG” — 邓典果DDG

solid album full of bouncy beats

“Waiting For The World To End” — Rakim

classic boom bap

“Ukraine Freestyle” — Lil Toe

s/o to algorithms pt 2

“Luv Is Dro” — Jack Harlow

static major really makes this song

“Super Cell” — Trippie Redd

trippie fits these hyper trap beats so well

“Sittin’ Sideways” — Paul Wall

texas classic

“24” — Kanye West

choir music sets you in a different headspace

“Keep My Spirit Alive” — Kanye West

2 songs for Kanye West straight from the release hype

“Where I Wander Reimagined” — UMI

smooth, intimate and impactful

“Bouncin” — Tinashe

wish she had more mainstream success

“Reverse Faults” — Sampha

i’ve slept on this man for way too long

“The Heretic Anthem” — Slipknot

rip Joey Jordison. here’s a clip of Slipknot in their prime.

“Vanilla Sky” — Sosmula

disappointed this didn’t make it to the album, it would’ve been the best song

“Urban Assault Vehicle (Rollin)” — Limp Bizkit

RIP DMX. The rap remix of Limp Bizkit’s hit “Rollin” produced by DJ Premier

let me know your thoughts and share your favs —

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