March 3, 2014. Do you know what happened on this day?
Well, yeah, three police officers were killed while trying to break up anti-government riots in Bahrain, but that's not what I'm referring to. Instead, this date marks the creation of Sugaplayalisticadillacmuzik (shoutout to Andre 3000 and Big Boi), my very first Spotify playlist.
Originally titled "G.O.A.T.", Sugaplayalisticadillacmuzik (I'll just call it "Matt's Playlist", for the sake of brevity) started out small. Matt's Playlist consisted primarily of tunes I inherited from my older brothers. Bands such as The Mountain Goats, Nirvana, and Titus Andronicus featured heavily during the early stages of Matt's Playlist.
As someone who'd previously been a hip-hop head, I was trying to branch out into other genres at this time but inevitably decided to include rap songs closer to my comfort zone. Despite its slow start, Matt's Playlist began developing more rapidly as time progressed.
By June 2017, the end of my senior year of high school, Matt's Playlist had grown significantly. Compiled of 1,146 songs and being just over three days in length, I was proud of what Matt's Playlist had become, but knew that it had the potential to be even better.
It's now September 2018. I just started my sophomore year of college, and Matt's Playlist is now over 90 hours long. People often criticize me for the playlist's lack of organization, but I couldn't care less about what the haters have to say.
I love me some organized chaos, and that is exactly what Matt's Playlist is.
Whenever I encounter a song that tickles my fancy, I don't hesitate to throw it in my playlist. I listen to Matt's Playlist so much that I'm able to recite every word to a majority of its songs. My friends are impressed by this, or maybe they're scared. I'm flattered nonetheless.
Over the past few years, music has become an integral aspect of my life. I don't have an attention span long enough to endure a drawn-out television series or movies lasting more than two hours. Music, however, has the ability to deliver heartfelt messages in a transient manner and therefore serves as an entertaining alternative for someone such as myself.
I've had my fair share of personal struggles in recent years. Without getting into the specifics, let's just say I've had to overcome adversity more than once to get to the point where I am today. I'm fortunate enough to have loving family members and supportive friends, but sometimes I have difficulty discussing emotions with them.
Matt's Playlist and music, in general, have provided me with an outlet for expressing myself. Whenever I don't feel comfortable engaging with those around me, I know I can lay down, plug in my earbuds, and enter another universe highlighted by angelic vocals and sick guitar riffs.
My biggest fear is losing Matt's Playlist. Not only would all my progress vanish, but I'd lose a piece of my well-being. When I find myself in times of trouble, Matt's Playlist comes to me. Shitty wordplay, phenomenal song. At least I tried.
Even if you don't dig my corny Beatles references and think the music I listen to is garbage, please check out Sugaplayalisticadillacmuzik. And if you don't already have a moshpit playlist, go make one.
Just make sure there's no Coldplay or country music on it.
