According to Spotify’s statistics, in 2023, I listened to a total of 52,887 minutes of music, which is equivalent to almost 40 days straight of music playing. My top artist was The Weeknd, which has been a consistent statistic ever since I’ve had a Spotify account, however, my top song was unusual. It was from the score of Oppenheimer, the song “Can You Hear The Music” by Ludwig Göransson. This did not come as a total surprise to me because ever since I saw Oppenheimer, I was obsessed with the music in the whole film, but particularly this one. If you’ve seen the film, you would know that this song plays during a sort of montage when J. Robert Oppenheimer is transforming into a man who is completely different from his past, he is “hearing” the “music,” the music that gives him what he needed to potentially destroy the world. I could talk about this film forever, I’ve seen it over ten times all the way through, but this song is incredibly meaningful to me. I don’t even really know why, but the characteristics of it are so fascinating to me, and the song itself has been on repeat well into 2024. In one of my supplemental essays for a college application, I wrote about this song and how it connected to my life and it is probably one of my favorite things I have ever come up with and translated into the written word. Anyway, now let’s talk about what I’ve been listening to for the past four months.
2024
Since last year, my music taste has evolved significantly, specifically with the inclusion of more genres of music. I began to like jazz, lounge, and bossanova music in January, as well as more soul and R&B. Sonder, Sade, The Weeknd, and Piero Piccioni have been my favorites recently, as seen in my music receipt from the past month.
I have come to like jazz-based music so much because it is the type of music you can play anytime and anywhere. Whether I’m driving, reading, getting ready, or doing any activity, it is always on in the background. Also, if I watch a movie and love the score, I will play it on repeat for weeks, and the scores are almost always jazz-themed. My favorites are the scores of Taxi Driver, La La Land, and Whiplash, among others. Taxi Driver has quickly become my favorite score (with Oppenheimer as a close second).
For my birthday in February, I went to NYC and one of the first things I booked was a reservation at a jazz club in Tribeca because I knew I wanted to see that type of music in a live setting. I’ve only ever been to arena and stadium concerts, so seeing live musical performances in such a small, intimate setting was an amazing experience.
Components of my music shuffles that have remained stagnant are artists such as Drake, Kaytranada, Lana Del Rey, Frank Ocean, SZA, Brent Faiyaz, Amy Winehouse, Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Daniel Caesar, Don Toliver, Tame Impala, and Suki Waterhouse, all of which are my go-to’s.
I like to think that my “music taste” is always evolving and that I will always find new songs, artists, and genres to love.
Thank you for reading!
May 2nd - New Month, New Favorites
April 21st - Finding Your Creative Outlet (click to read)









- Lily
I didn't know you could get a Receiptify - that is so cool! Awesome recap!