Video Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-YWlp14y8qEsHfbTWRlndeGmlPO-IeN/view

I would say that the 2 most influential ideas I learned from my research would be that no one should totally adhere to societal standards and never let anyone dictate who you are. These ideas impacted my research greatly because the idea of colorism completely revolves around society’s standards of beauty as well as people telling you what looks good, or ugly. I hope the lesson from my project is to avoid literature/media that negatively encourages colorism but rather educates on the topic and spreads awareness.

The most important thing I learned about myself, my community, and world is that there are just some things I can’t control. It sounds cliche, but it took me a while to completely learn that and apply it to my life on a daily basis. For future advice to NNHS seniors, I’d say enjoy the time you have. Yes grades, college, and school is important, but balancing that with some you-time and fun is important as well.

For my last blog, I will give you all my final word vomit essay. Not much has occurred since my last blog, but I’ll try and include as much as I can for you guys. First, I wanna say that prom is approaching super fast, and I’m so excited about it! I (and probably a ton of you as well) have been looking forward to senior prom since middle school. Last Thursday, I received a promposal! He had roses, a saxaphone player, and all my favorite candies and it was super thoughtful. For prom, we’re planning on having a “send-off” where both our families can watch us ride off to prom together. We’re planning on having a mini red carpet, fog machine, and a little backdrop so our families can take pictures. Typically black people make prom a huggeeee deal. Red carpet, luxury car, dramatic attire, loud music, the whole shebang. I initially thought we would just rent a limo and go, but then I remembered all the prom send-offs I’ve been to for all my aunts and cousins and figured, why not do the same thing. I’m pretty extroverted, but this is a whole different level, lol. I also bought a dress for Metea’s prom which is happening this Friday, but I really don’t feel like paying my whole life savings for two dances so I don’t think I’ll go. I don’t think I’ll return the dress though, I kinda like it.

On another note, I was able to go roller skating this weekend which is something I loveee to do. Ever since I was little, my dad and I have been roller skating together. Actually roller skating is huge in my family, my grandpa is in a roller derby with his other grandpa friends and so was his dad. So, now we’ve made it a King tradition to go roller skating as often as we can. I also love to go because it’s a huge stress reliever. You’re able to just listen to the music as you skate and it’s always really good energy and vibes whenever we go. Everyone is always happy, and if we go to the late skate sessions there are always really good skaters out there that you can try and mirror to learn how to skate. In Georgia, about an hour and half away from my college, there’s a roller rink in Atlanta called “Cascade.” It’s been featured in tons of movies I love, and they play a bunch of R&B throwbacks (y’all know I love my throwbacks!) But, I’m really looking forward to being able to hop on a train or catch a cab to Cascade on the weekends when I don’t have to study for a test or exam. Plus, I almost forgot my roommate is bringing her car, soooo she might be driving up to Atlanta a lot!

Speaking of prom, that’s only one of the 4 big things I have happening during May. I also have my 18th bday, my grad party, and graduation. My birthday is May 14th (you all are invited to get my gifts!) and I’m planning on just having a fancy dinner with my friends. I don’t know if I want to do TruFoods in Chicago or Buca Di Beppo. I’m super indecisive so I probably won’t know until like the day before but oh well. Also, the six flags thing for school is on my birthday so I can look forward to that as well. For my grad party, I’m planning on having it on May 21st in case my family that’s flying in is able to attend the graduation the next day. It’s kind of weird that I’m having my grad party the day before graduation, but I know a couple of other people doing it as well so I’m not too worried about it. I’ve also been creating my wishlists to include in my grad party invitation. My amazon wishlist has about 200 items right now and I haven’t even started my target one. I know, pretty rough. But, the more the merrier. For my grad party I’m also planning a menu consisting of soul food. Mac n cheese, greens, okra, yams, fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, fried chicken, fried everything. I’m gonna have clogged arteries by the end of the night, but it’s totally worth it.

To whomever is reading my blog, I wish you the best with college, your future, errythang. I’m gonna miss u guys 🙁

-Jordan 🙂

Hey guys! A lot has occurred since I wrote my last word vomit essay, and I figured I should just write another one! I know it’s going to become even more surreal as we approach graduation, but I just can’t believe I’m about to leave high school. I feel like I say this in every single blog, but I know everyone else is feeling exactly what I’m feeling. Speaking of college, I was able to take a trip to the college I’m committing to! There was an event exclusively for accepted students, and it gave us a chance to conversate and get to know one another. It was such a great experience with really great food, and I met some amazing people… including my roommates (I’ve included a pic of us above)! And yes, I do mean roommates with an “s.” I have 2! We met each other during a “speed dating” segment of the event where we rambled on about our major’s, personality, and what other colleges we had considered/gotten into. What was even better was that all of our parents got to meet each other as well, which was super cute. I’m planning on heading to Mercer University in Macon, Georgia to pursue a degree in biology on a pre-med track. Most people have never heard of Mercer and that’s what I love about it! It’s an awesome school for my major, super diverse, and I love that I’ll be going to a college where I know absolutely no one. I loveeeee meeting new people.

I also want to say that after I got home from the college trip, I watched 10 episodes of this show called “American Greed.” It is SO GOOD! The show is about people who may take advantage of others for money, power, status, ect. I watched one episode about a man who dropped out of college and sold fake drugs to people through the dark web, and made a HUGE profit. Only problem was that he was selling the drugs with too high of a dose of fentanyl, and people would overdose with just one pill. But, he kept selling them because he was living a lavish lifestyle off of his profits. He ended up going to jail for many charges, including murder! Another episode was about a woman named Elizabeth Holmes who also dropped out of college at Stanford in order to start a business called, “Theranos.” The purpose of the business was to make healthcare cheaper and more efficient for people. Holmes claimed to have invented a way to take miniscule amounts of blood (like a pin-prick blood test) to be tested for cancer, pregnancy, ect. But, she didn’t know what she was doing. She was taking money from investors, would get on the news and not know how to answer any questions about her product, and people who worked for her were ordered to stay quiet about any malfunctions of the product. And there were MANY malfunctions. She ended up going to jail and her business was terminated permanently. I started watching “American Greed” with my dad when I was 8 and it’s always been one of my favorite shows. It surprises me just how crazy people can become over money and power.

Anywho, when I got back from Georgia, I also went to go buy my prom dress. Now, I had a lot of requests for a prom dress. I didn’t want just any dress, I wanted it to be completely how I envisioned it in my head. I wanted a trumpet bottom, backless, gold, kinda scandalous, bodycon dress. And I got ittt! I ended up paying less than 200 for it and the alterations were free! I tried on multiple dresses at Peaches in the city, but I saw so many girls walking out with the same dress, so I decided that wasn’t for me. So I went instead to the flea market/super mall, about 10 minutes from Peaches (it’s on Pulaski Road if any girls still need a dress) and there were so many handmade, uniquely styled dresses for much lower prices. Plus, I had mine back done with alterations within a week. I totally was not expecting to find my dress in a flea market, but it’s super pretty! I don’t regret a thing 🙂 If you want the exact address of the market, feel free to ask!

I was looking through my blog page and realized that I had forgotten the key part of what I had initially wanted this blog to be. A bunch of word vomit. It even says on the home page of my blog that it’s supposed to be just a plethora of word vomit. So, I will give you all a little glimpse into my mind and thoughts for this blog 🙂

Starting off, I want to wish everyone a happy Melanin March! Now, don’t go and try to look this up, I made it up. As a black person, I felt that Black History Month was too short, so I extended it through the rest of the year and made up a name for each month. While Melanin March is an extension of BHM, it is also put in place to recognize all my beautiful melanated people of the world. I also want to add that the playlist you hear over the PA system at school was made by yours truly, me! Since freshman year, with the help of BSLA, we’ve come up with songs to put over the PA system made strictly by Black artists during the month of February. It honestly is one of the best feelings to hear songs I’ve grown up on while running to class. Anyways, as I said, I made a name for each month. While some months have names that aren’t school-appropriate, I can reveal some others to you. For example, next month is “Abolitionist April” and December is “Desegregation December.” At first, this calendar started out as a joke but now I lowkey like it, lol. So, be sure to wish all your melanated friends a happy, happy Melanin march!

What’s next is completely off-topic, but I just want to talk about how upset I am that I loaded up my schedule for senior year. My WHOLE schedule is weighted. Now, if you really know me, you know that I pile up tons and tons of things onto my plate to feel productive. It’s what I’ve done since middle school. But this whole senioritis thing isn’t really helping me. All I can think about is that if I had lessened my load a little bit, I could have enjoyed my senior year a little more. But here I am, taking three-day AP Calc Tests, memorizing anatomy terms, and trying to watch shows in Spanish for AP Spanish. Guys, I was late every day last week. Monday THROUGH Friday! I literally got to school late on our late start day. Like, that’s pathetic. But, your girl is still thriving. Not really. But I’ll be fine.

Now, let’s talk about college. I must admit, I’m so happy the whole applying stage of this process is over. It really took a toll on me last semester because my stress levels were through the roof. But, now I have a little more to worry about and that’s financials. Recently, I’ve organized all of my colleges into manila folders and have been writing down each school’s financial plan they’ve provided for me. It’s exciting, but also really nerve-wracking. I don’t have much word vomit on this topic, but all I can say is, the idea of student loans scares me, lol. That’s it.

Okay, we’re still on the idea of college but shifting gears a little bit. I’m super excited about the amount of independence I’ll have in the next couple of months. Now, I may be saying this because I’m a Taurus, but I’m truly ready to take the reigns on my own life. It’s exciting that I’ll be in a whole new place, meeting new people, and on top of that, by myself. That is what made me want to apply to a college far, far away from here. I know I’ll probably suffer from homesickness, but I don’t think it’ll last that long. Hopefully. Is “homesickness” a word? Okay, yea it is. Grammarly just confirmed.

One of my favorite shows right now, other than Euphoria, is the show “House.” I used to see it come on all of the time when I was little because my dad would watch it every once in a while. I love Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and NCIS, but a couple of months ago I wanted to add a new show to the mix. I asked my dad for some suggestions and he suggested the show, “House.” So, I started with the first episode and ended the 1st season within 3 days. Just for your reference, there are on average about 23 episodes per season which are all an hour long. But, my binging was totally worth it.

“House” is about a diagnostician in New Jersey who solves medical mysteries that no other doctor can tackle. Patients come from far and wide to see Dr. House because, well, he is a medical genius. He works at the hospital as the head of the diagnostics department and manages a team of doctors under him. While he is a medical genius, he’s a horrible person. He’s brutally honest, hates people, is most definitely a narcissist, and an addict to Vicodin. But, he earns respect from the hospital for his incredible gift of saving people’s lives. What I love most about this show is that it explores the relationships that Dr. House has with the other doctors in the hospital, as well as the relationships he forms outside his place of work.

What makes the show great is who works around House as well. There’s the dean of Medicine, an oncologist who is friends with House, and the doctors who work with him. My favorite relationship in the show would have to be the one between House and Dr. Wilson, the oncologist. While this is House’s only friend, the show explores the complexity of the relationship, as well as how opposite their personalities are. While Wilson can be perceived as House’s babysitter, especially with his addiction, the love they have for each other is undeniably strong and is one of the best parts of the show. Of course, the best part of the show is the medical mysteries. They’re super extreme, and pretty gory, but very interesting. Sometimes, even House gets stumped by the cases he has to solve, but always ends up solving them in the end.

If you’re looking for a new show to watch, I highly suggest you check this show out! It’s on Peacock 🙂

Robert Koertge’s “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out,” suggests following a path in life that mirrors that of a child’s perspective. In short, Koertge urges the reader to never grow up. One of Koertge’s most prominent symbols throughout the poem is childlike, which helps to solidify the meaning of the poem as a whole. 

In the first stanza, Koertge indicates to the reader to “Give up sitting dutifully at your desk. Leave / your house or apartment” (Koertge, Lines 1-2) – In the first two lines, Koertge already assumes that the reader adheres to one, work all of the time, and two, stay in the comfort of their homes. By assuming and by using the second person, Koertge starts the poem by making the reader reflect on their own lives, and ponder if they do in fact regularly sit dutifully at their desk, or bask in the comfort of their homes. To finish off the stanza, Koertge urges the reader to “Go out into the world.” (Line 2) – Once Koertge has urged the reader to look into their own lives, he encourages them to take a different approach; to try something new. This is the first step to finding a new path in life that Koertge is preaching. In addition to this, the stanzas as a whole contribute to the arbitrary structure of the poem. Each stanza has a varying number of lines, and there is no particular pattern. This also helps to indicate the spontaneity of life and its unknown twists and turns. 

The second stanza begins with Koertge mentioning the idea of writing. He states, “It’s all right to carry a notebook but a cheap / one is best, with pages the color of weak tea” (Lines 3-4) – By talking about writing, the author is implying the importance of memories and the remembrance of the good things in life. The mention of a cheap notebook helps to prove a point that memories, in whatever condition they’re in, are still cherishable and important. To finish off the stanza, Koertge mentions more aspects of the notebook including, “on the front a kitten or a spaceship.” (Line 5) – This is Koertge’s first use of childlike symbols, a kitten and a spaceship. With the use of this symbol, Koertge is saying that life shouldn’t be taken so seriously, that life should be approached from a child’s perspective. The author is urging the reader to enjoy life instead of worrying about it. 

In the third stanza, Koertge is encouraging the reader to avoid “sameness.” He mentions in the second line, “Avoid any enclosed space where more than three people are wearing turtlenecks.” (Lines 6-7) – Turtlenecks in this sense have a couple of meanings. One, the turtlenecks further indicate that aspect of seriousness (in regards to being worn in work or business spaces), similar to the first stanza. The author is encouraging the reader to stay away from making life so serious and stressful. Another meaning of the turtlenecks comes from the fact that there are 3 people wearing them. Because there isn’t just one, the author is implying to also avoid an aspect of “sameness” in life. In other words, Koertge wants the reader to recognize the importance of individuality and to embrace becoming your own person. Throughout our lives, we should be unique and maybe even start some of our own trends. Koertge repeats this same idea by mentioning to “Beware / any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks across the muffled tennis courts.” ( Lines 7-9) – By mentioning deer tracks, the author is making a reference to avoid “sameness” again, and create their own path rather than following somebody else’s. By mentioning a snow-covered chalet with tennis courts, Koertge is also mentioning those who adhere to a standard that you have to have the best things to live happily and well. Typically Chalets are used as vacation homes or as a means of displaying wealth, quite the opposite of his mention of a notebook with cheap pages. Koertge wants the reader to understand that the biggest and most expensive things in life may not be the best for you and don’t necessarily makeup who you are. It is truly important to find what makes you happy and contributes to your life in a positive way, whatever condition that may be. 

Next, Koertge brings up the idea of writing for the second time in the poem as well as children. In the 4th stanza, Koertge brings up that “libraries are a good place to write.” (Line 10) – By mentioning a library, Koertge reiterates his point of getting out of the house, as well as finding a place to truly embrace yourself and what’s important to you. By also bringing up the child in the aisle across from the reader, it makes that message even more personable for the reader. Koertge mentions that the two-year-old in the library “will pull books from the bottom shelf / The title, the author’s name, the brooding photo /  on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray /  book on brown, he builds a tower.” (Lines 14-17) – There are many important symbols throughout this stanza, one being the books. The author mentions that the books are put in random order and mean nothing, further implying the innocence of the child but the arbitrary aspects of life as well. He’s reiterating that life shouldn’t be taken too seriously and that there is no specific pattern or path to life. The author also mentions a tower that helps to indicate personal growth and improvement, something that will come with following your own path.

Koertge ends the poem by once again mentioning children. He urges the reader that “When the tower/falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody / in the world frowns.” (Lines 19-21) – Of course, while the tower does symbolize growth, the author wants the reader to know that there will in fact be setbacks. But, like a child would, laugh off those setbacks and try again, as the last line of the poem states. 

Although I wanted to, I didn’t do anything too exciting over break. Usually my family and I are on a plane right after finals and headed to Arizona to visit my mom’s side of the family. But of course, Covid kind of got in the way of that. However, I did do a little traveling. After Christmas, my family and I visited Saint Louis. I expected it to be as cold as Illinois, but I learned it is always about 10 degrees warmer there than it is here. The first night, we went to get sushi at a restaurant called Sushi Ai. It was bomb let me tell you. In the middle of the restaurant they had a little station where you could watch them make the sushi, and then they brought it to your table. My sister and I ordered some salmon skin rolls which were super good, california rolls, and a rock-n-roll which has red snapper, salmon, and crab tempura. If you’re ever in St. Louis, I highly recommend Sushi Ai. What was also nice was that we stayed in a hotel right next to the arch, which is smack dab right in the middle of the city. That way we had a nice view of the arch from your hotel room, and we were a 5 minute walk from all the good eats in the city.

Our second day there, my dad wanted oysters for breakfast. I don’t know why, he’s just weird like that I guess. But, in the end it was super good. We ended up ordering raw oysters and oysters rockefeller. If you don’t know, oysters rockefeller just come with butter and a bunch of herbs on top. Super good! We also had some alligator bites (which just tasted like chicken), and we all got an order of shrimp and grits as well. That night we visited a nearby theater to watch a production of Cats. In my opinion, all I got from it was that there were a bunch of grown people in cat makeup singing and dancing, but I’m glad my mom enjoyed it. Our third day in St. Louis, we were all craving some soul food. Lucky for us, there was a soul food restaurant that was 3 minutes from our hotel. We got all the staples. Fried chicken, yams, greens, dressing, mac-n-cheese, fried okra, and fried green tomatoes. I know, a lot of fried food. But who doesn’t love fried food? After that we saw Saint Louis University which was super nice, visited the City Museum, and went up the arch! The arch has this small bubble shaped elevator/escalator type of thing that takes you up the arch so you can get a birds-eye view of the city. Once you get to the top, you’re able to see the Illinois side and the St. Louis side. Super cool! Overall, I’d rate our St. Louis trip a 10/10. Primarily for all the good food we ate!

A couple of days before school started, my family and I decided to do a staycation in Chicago, and spent the night in the city. We also decided to take the CTA to our hotel which was fun. I’m guessing you already know what we did when we got there. Yes, we ate! This trip was a little more laidback, so there wasn’t much sight-seeing. But for dinner that night, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, True Foods. Most of its food is vegan and gluten-free. I decided to get steak tacos, my mom got squash lasagna, and my sister got a vegan pizza. For desert we had my favorite, squash pie. Trust me, I know it sounds gross. But you have to at least give it a try if you ever find yourself at True Foods. In the morning, we got some walking in and then decided to head back, nothing fancy. I’d also rate our Chicago trip a 10/10.

This past semester has been a rollercoaster to say the least. I decided to load up my schedule with AP & weighted classes (why I did that I will never know), and on top of that was the task of college applications. To be honest, I think this was my most stressful semester of my entire high school career. Coming out of online classes, I was super excited to start classes totally in person this past August. That made my motivation at the beginning of the year the best I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, that motivation started to run out come October. I must admit, I wasn’t trying as hard as I could have been toward the end of this semester, and that’s something I regret. If I’ve learned anything about myself over the past couple of months, it is that I have to find time to do things that make me happy and keep me motivated. Oftentimes I stress myself out about everything and overthink – this semester put those aspects of my personality in overdrive. Life is all about balance, and that was something I lacked this semester. Either I did too much work, or I was doing too little. There should always be some type of healthy balance in between where I can keep my same level of motivation throughout the entire year, but have some fun as well. This is something super important for college as well, so while this semester may have been super difficult, I’m grateful for the lessons it has taught me. 

In regards to my perspective and mindset after these last 6 months, I’ve realized that I’m starting to think a lot about this next chapter of my life. Now all of a sudden it is starting to hit me that I’ll be moving on to a whole new environment, meeting new people, and becoming self-sufficient. While my mind is telling me I’m just a senior, everything and everyone else around me is telling me I’m going to be an adult. Just thinking about that scares me so, so much. Naturally, I’m a super independent person and value time for myself. But my perspective on that has changed a bit because I’m scared to leave my family, my friends, and those aspects of my life that are familiar to me right now. If you know me, you know how much I preach the importance of a change in scenery and to venture outside of comfort zones, but to be honest, I’m scared to venture out of my own comfort zone. A little part of me just isn’t ready to accept that the life I have right now won’t be the one I have in another couple of months. I guess I’d say that my perspective has changed in the fact that I’m transitioning from being comfortable with what I have now, and getting ready for what is about to come. 

Based on my own experiences, I definitely have some advice for rising seniors. There were many times this semester where I started to fall behind with my school work and even with my extracurriculars especially with the stress of college apps. If I had to give any type of advice, I’d say to start early. Starting your college apps, college search, college application, and scholarship search early is something that you will thank yourself for later during the semester. This is especially beneficial if you plan on loading up your schedule like I’ve done. I did write my college essay early, but I didn’t do a thorough job on my college applications and search. On top of that, I’m super indecisive which doesn’t help, and I ended up second guessing the choices I was making for schools. I probably removed about 5 colleges, added 5 more, deleted 2, and ended up with 20 choices. It definetely helps to get a head start and that is with regard to anything. Waiting until the last minute is something we all do, but for first semester senior year, I’d definitely advise a rising senior to avoid that as much as possible. 

A big thing I think I’ll carry with me from this semester into next year would be the lesson I learned on protecting my energy. I often had to remind myself how important it is to prioritize myself. That sounds selfish, I know, but I found myself giving my time to people and things that didn’t deserve it. I’m a huge people pleaser and I struggle with saying no. This semester, I learned how to take control and say no and start prioritizing my life, my aspirations, while of course being there for others as well. I want to take this lesson into the next chapter of life, because I know it will serve me well in the long run. While this semester had its ups and downs, I’m appreciative of all the experiences that came with it. I grew a lot these past 6 months, and I hope to grow even more next year. 

My word for this semester: Balance. 

Considering how cold it is outside, I felt it was right to write about my favorite activities (well mostly favorite things to eat) during winter. On a side note, I hate winter. It’s too cold, I have to shovel snow, sometimes my car doesn’t start, the list could go on and on. But, there is a silver lining to all of this; the things I love to do during the season I despise the most. See below:

1.) Eat Pho

I tried pho for the first time about 2 years ago and automatically fell in love. All the flavors go together so well, and it’s the best to eat on a super cold day. This may be weird, but my dad and I have made a tradition where we only go for pho once winter starts. It’s just the best time to do it. Our favorite place to go for pho is a restaurant in downtown Naperville called “Green Basil.” Honestly, if you haven’t tried pho, PLEASE GO TRY IT. It’s so good!

2.) Eat my dad’s Chili

Okay, this is another dish my dad only makes during Winter. I don’t have any pictures of his chili, so I just decided to include a picture of us together, lol. But, let me tell you. Paul makes the best chili. He says his chili is just “average” but I’ve tried so many times to use the recipe he uses and it never turns out the same. To be honest, my dad is a really great cook. He’s my go to for good recipes, especially ones passed down in the family, and he’s the best person to try new foods with. Whenever my dad decides to make his infamous chili this month, I’ll be sure to save a bowl for whoever wants to try it!

3.) Watch the Sound of Music

“The Sound of Music” is my favorite movie to watch during Winter, especially on those days when we may be snowed in. It’s a long one, so I’m able to gather up my favorite snacks, my coziest blankets, and put on some fuzzy socks to watch it. This is a tradition that acutally started when my mom was little. She would watch it every Christmas with my grandmother, and now my younger sister and I watch it with my mom every Christmas. As you can tell, my family is very fond of creating traditions. Trust me, we have several I can’t even keep up. But, if you haven’t seen the sound of music, I suggest you check it out this Winter! I know all the songs by heart.

Okay, it’s time to settle this now and forever. I know some of you idolize Taylor Swift and her music, and yes, I was once a swiftie myself. But I’ve matured, and you all should as well. Now, I may be a little biased. R&B became my favorite genre after my swiftie days, and it’s honestly the best change that has ever happened in my life. Along with Taylor’s newly released album, Summer Walker (my FAVORITE R&B artist) released a new album as well. I’ve been listening to it on repeat ALL WEEK, YA’LL. It’s called “Still Over It” and is the culmination of songs describing her last relationship. Best. Album. Ever. Summer Walker is notoriously known for making music that you can cry to, and let me tell you, the cry sessions this week have been wonderful. In addition to this new album, I figured I’d provide a list of my other favorite R&B albums. Who knows, you may fall in love with this genre of music like I did. 

1.Victoria Monet – Jaguar

Fun fact, Victoria Monet wrote most of the songs on Ariana Grande’s last album. She is an AMAZING singer/songwriter and creates songs that release tons of serotonin. I just started listening to her a little while ago and I love every single song on this album. I would say that if you love music that has a little bit of a throwback feel, she is definitely for you.  I’ve started listening to her old music as well, and it turns out that those songs are even better. My favorite songs from this album include “Moment,” “Dive,” and “Touch Me.” If you have the chance, take a listen to some of her songs and let me know what you think!

2. John Legend – Get Lifted

Okay, most of you know today’s songs by John Legend, but in the early 2000’s John had some BANGERS. I don’t listen to any of John’s new songs, just the old ones. In my opinion, the newer songs mimic other artists too much. His songs back in the day were much more unique and incorporated different aspects of his vocals that we don’t hear now. I’ve been listening to this album since I was in 5th grade, so I definitely recommend this one to you guys. My all time favorite songs from this album include “I Can Change,”  “Used to Love U,” and “She Don’t Have to Know.” Give these a listen!

3. Summer Walker – Over It

Last but not least, Summer Walker. Her other amazing album “Over It” (not to be confused with “Still Over It”) is also an album that I wholeheartedly love. Warning: this one is a tear jerker as well. If you’re someone who likes slower R&B songs, this album is definitely for you. Every song is amazing. When I say that I really mean it. Every. Song. My favorites from this album would be “I’ll Kill You,” “Body,” and “Stretch You Out.” Listen to this album all the way through!

Runner Up Albums: 

• Bryson Tiller – Anniversary
• Kehlani – It Was Good Until it Wasn’t