Riding Up The Coast With You On My Mind | A Playlist

There's something magical about traveling to a familiar location with the perfect playlist as background music. Ever went cruising to the beach on a cool summer night and the drive up always reminds you of "that particular song?" If you're like me, and you set your vibe with the most fitting tunes, this beautiful feeling may be familiar to you. But if not, and you're constantly searching for just the right song to set the mood, I might be able to help you with that. Imagine the late summer temps outside are equal parts cool and sultry. You're heading to (or from) that beach town you haven't visited since your undergrad years with the windows down and the winds blowing through your hair. The smell of salt is heavy in the air and it gives you all types of nostalgia. All my southern North Carolina folks know the vibes.  What songs are you playing? What music instantly comes to mind?

Alternative R&B vibes are some of my favorite types of playlists to make.  And because I've been enjoying late night beach rides this summer, I'm writing with some of my favorite riding tunes as background music. A friend of mine asked me to share this playlist publicly, so I thought I'd share it tonight with you guys! 

Recommended Reading: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

 "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions.

There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who has a crush on the preacher’s wife. At forty-two, Lyra realizes that her discomfort with her own body stands between her and a new love. As Y2K looms, Caroletta’s “same time next year” arrangement with her childhood best friend is tenuous. A serial mistress lays down the ground rules for her married lovers. In the dark shadows of a hospice parking lot, grieving strangers find comfort in each other.

With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be."