Illustration by Lucia S.

This playlist is dedicated to my mom! The songs I chose are a mix of some of the music we both enjoy. My mom and I are both fans of Sade and I got her a CD copy of Sade’s No Ordinary Love this past Mother’s Day. Whenever my mom and I are driving anywhere, we listen to this CD, humming along to the lyrics of every song from start to finish. It’s a loving and therapeutic experience to see my mom chill out and get down to the music she loved when she was my age.

Soon after I gave her that CD, she mentioned her and my dad’s giant CD collection. These binders full of CDs had always been in the background when I was little. They were a permanent fixture in our home but never had I looked inside them. My music tastes evolved, but never consciously included the music my parents had loved when they were around my age. When I finally looked through their archives, I found music I knew and loved. Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Mos Def, Janet Jackson, and of course, more Sade CDs sat before me.

I introduced my mom to Solange, and she introduced me to Anita Baker. Our tastes have been influenced by each other. This music is my mom’s past and my future, but in the car with Erykah Badu songs and in the living room dancing to Roberta Flack, we are together in the present.