I got into listening to mixes/mixtapes at the beginning of 2021, when I was working from home, home following the announcement of the third lockdown in England. You see, normally I don’t listen to music  when working as no work gets done when your busy having a sing-a-long or dancing in your seat. However, there are certain situations which call for a bit of music like when I’m feeling:

-Drowsy and need something upbeat and loud to wake me up

-Or when the task I’m doing doesn’t require my full attention and the music is just a pleasant accompaniment in the background

For the first six months of 2021, I was listening to the trilogy of ‘Love The Free’ mixtapes from DJ, Kitty Cash who I first discovered many years ago through another fave of mine, Kilo Kish. Kitty Cash’s Love the Free mixtapes are sensational. If you don’t believe me, you can listen to Volume I on Youtube, whilst Volume II and Volume III can be streamed on SoundCloud. With each successive volume they seemed to get even better (although now after listening to Volume I, it is pretty hard to pick a favourite) and got progressively longer much to my delight. Also judging by the artists she collaborated with she undoubtedly has a great taste in music (Kilo Kish, Yuna, Willow Smith, Little Simz, SZA, Doja Cat, Lion Babe, Kali Uchis, Sampha). And some of these artists are now household names and have achieved mainstream success.

More recently, the mixtapes that I’ve had on repeat are the Kaytranada mixtapes that have been curated by ‘Franky Len’ they are brilliant!
-Kaytranada Mix 3:
(Got It Good – Kaytranada ft. Craig David, Go DJ – Kaytranada ft. Sir, Look Easy – Kaytranada, Lucky Daye, The Recipe – Kaytranada, Aluna, Rema, DYSFUNCTIONAL – VanJess, Kaytranada)

-Kaytranada Mix (Best of Kaytranada):
(If – Kaytranada – Janet Jackson, 10% (Original Mix) – Kaytranada ft. Kali Uchis, One Too Many – Kaytranada ft. Phonte, You’re The One – Kaytranada ft. Syd, Leave Me Alone – Kaytranada ft. Shay Lia, Vex Oh – Kaytranada ft. Eight9Fly, GoldLink and Ari PenSmith)

-Kaytranada Mix 2:
(Be Your Girl (Kaytranada Edition) – Teedra Moses, The Worst In Me (Original Mix) – Kaytranada ft. Tinashe, Taste (Original Mix) – Kaytranada ft. VanJess, CHANCES (Original Mix) – Shay Lia & Kaytranada)

What mixtapes have you been obsessed with this year?