Young P.
Eight decades. Two rankings. One river. This is what a library looks like when a person, not an algorithm, has been building it on purpose. I am sure all of us have a hole in our profile. This was born out of that problem: through losing 2-3 different phones I learned the hard way that getting a clear record of your taste back is nearly impossible. Receipts below.
Playlist by P
The head says The Beatles,
the heart says Kanye.
GRAVITY is what you like ambiently, there the Beatles win: inheritance beating the algorithm. DEVOTION is what you build, there Kanye is #1 by a mile: 190 tracks, most living in one hand-sequenced 248-track monument. The deepest loves skip the like button. They get architecture.
Numbers that survived three broken phones and more vinyl listening than you could possibly imagine.
Real mass in every decade since Elvis.
The 1970s out-hold the 60s and 80s combined: the grandma canon, the dad rock, a '99 Ford Ranger that blew up while its playlist survived.
Three brand-new builds, still warm.
The Britpop Conversation
Oasis argues with the Beatles for 27 straight tracks. Then the descendants take the floor. 79 tracks · 5 hours.
Needle-drop preview
- Morning Glory · Oasis
- Cigarettes & Alcohol · Oasis
- Parklife · Blur
- Eleanor Rigby · The Beatles
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps · The Beatles
- Talk Tonight · Oasis
The Country Round-Trip
Ride out on Luke Combs, hand the wheel from Hank Sr to Hank Jr dead-center, ride home on Alabama. 47 tracks · 2.8 hours.
Needle-drop preview
- The Way She Rides · Luke Combs
- The Kind of Love We Make · Luke Combs
- Brand New Man · Brooks & Dunn
- Play Something Country · Brooks & Dunn
- Who's Cheatin' Who · Alan Jackson
- Gone Country · Alan Jackson
The Foundation
Neil Young opens on the question and closes on the escape, the 70s bedrock under the whole ear. 32 tracks · 2.2 hours.
Needle-drop preview
- Tell Me Why · Neil Young
- Down by the River · Neil Young
- Walk On · Neil Young
- Roll Another Number · Neil Young
- Sweet Baby James · James Taylor
- Long Ago and Far Away · James Taylor
The full breakdown of how a build holds together ships with your own.
Wrapped shows the songs. It never tells you 2023 was the heartbreak year, and that you came back from all of it, still singing.
Kendrick, Frank, DOOM, jazz-rap deep dives. The backpack era.
SOS dominates. R&B goes #1. Valence craters to 0.45, the data says it so the person doesn't have to.
Fastest, most electric year on record. Country enters. The Kendrick↔Drake war, followed live.
Hozier, D'Angelo, Common. Valence climbs back to 0.53. The grown, reflective turn.
The anchors that never leave: Lil Wayne in all four years. Frank's "Nights" and "Lost," three each. Illmatic, three each. Phases change, Wayne, Frank, and Nas hold the floor.
Elvis is in country, and country is the blues. Rock and roll is the blues. Pop's the blues. Geographically and culturally they grew up hand in hand, and they root everything you get to enjoy today. That's how I feel about music.
This is my library. Imagine what I'd find in yours.
Every report read by hand, twice. Every playlist built by hand. Send your archive, get back the thing Wrapped can't give you: what it all means.