“Electric” by Alina Baraz (ft. Khalid)

Alina Baraz is a singer-songwriter from Cleveland, OH. This specific song was Baraz’s first released song as a solo artist and was featured in the popular Netflix original, “On my Block” which is how I discovered her. When I saw it featured Khalid – someone I’ve been a fan of for awhile now – I decided to listen to the entire song and more of her music.  I fell in love. The only way I can personally describe her voice is that it’s that of an angel. This song makes me want to go stargazing with people I love.

“Dreams” by Bazzi

You may have heard one of Bazzi’s songs two or three years ago with the blow-up of “Mine” on social media. Featured on the same album — “Cosmic”— “Dreams” is one of my favorites. Bazzi, or Andrew Bazzi, is a pop/contemporary R&B singer from Canton, MI. All the songs on this album are definitely on the shorter side – all less than three minutes – which leaves the listener wanting more. Bazzi’s been one of my favorite artists, if not my favorite, for almost two years now. He released a new single in March, “Young & Alive” which means (hopefully) a new album soon!

“Haunt You” by Social House

Social House, a pop musical duo composed of Michael “Mikey” Foster and Charles “Scootie” Anderson, is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While they’ve been making music since 2015, they gained a lot of their following from being featured in Ariana Grande’s “boyfriend” in 2019. This song is lowkey in its music, soft in its vocals, and holds such a vulnerable message in its lyrics about unrequited desire and moving on. As they’re fairly new to the music scene and currently on tour, they don’t have as much released content as some of these other artists, so I definitely look forward to new drops.

“Angels” by Khalid

Khalid Donnel Robinson, or Khalid for short, is a contemporary R&B/pop/soul artist from Fort Stewart, Goergia. He released his ballad, “Location” in 2016, just out of high school. He immediately attracted a huge following with his down-to-earth messages and raw vocal style. “Angels” is featured on his album, “American Teen,” which was released in 2017. This song just showcases his vocal range in such a spectacular way and if had to be described in one word: beautiful. Khalid has since grown to be one of the most popular artists in the world, with over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

“Trial by Fire” by Marc E. Bassy (ft. Bibi Bourelly)

Marc E. Bassy (Marc Griffin) is a popular R&B/rap artist from San Francisco, CA. He began making music in 2010 and has since grown to having a following of over four million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. This song is featured in his latest album, “PMD,” which was released in 2019. After listening to the entire album, I found myself skipping songs until this one came back on; it just has a funky, kind of retro feel to it that made me want to put it on loop.

“Crush” by Souly Had

Souly Had, otherwise known as Harrison McQueeney, is an R&B/hip hop artist from Duanesburg, New York. I first heard this song on my “Discover Weekly” playlist on Spotify in 2019 and immediately found myself adding it to some of my playlists. Seeing as it’s now McQueeney’s most popular song with nearly 26 million streams, it seems others have done the same. This song also has a sort of retro feel to it. The message and lyrics are nostalgic and cute – everyone’s had a crush before.