"this life can make you so jaded"

August marked my return to one of the most fast paced and chaotic places in the world, New York.   The apartment hunt proved to more of a struggle than I was prepared for, so I spent most of the month stressing and couch-surfing, with the occasional trip back down to D.C.

Starting off with the undisputed song of the summer "Closer," and wrapping up with the perfectly cool and dreamy "Moon" by newcomer Tysm, August is pretty low-key with mid-tempo jams from Kehlani, Glass Animals, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Ansel Elgort, who released his debut single, "Home Alone" at the end of July.

Below are the fifteen songs that served as my soundtrack to the month of August:

1. "Closer" (feat. Halsey) - The Chainsmokers
2. "I Met This Dude at Coachella" (feat. Rykeyz) - Brezy
3. "Hurts So Good" - Astrid S
4. "Perfect Strangers" (feat. JP Cooper) - Jonas Blue
5. "Let Me Love You" (feat. Justin Bieber) - DJ Snake
6. "For Free" (feat. Drake) - DJ Khaled
7. "Youth" - Glass Animals
8. "Home Alone" - Ansel Elgort
9. "Distraction" - Kehlani
10. "Not Nice" - PARTYNEXTDOOR
11. "Come First" - Terror Jr
12. "In The Name Of Love" - Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha
13. "Lies" (feat. SZA) - Felix Snow
14. "Gone" (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Afrojack
15. "Moon" - Tysm

Happy Listening,

Robert 

"high like amphetamine, maybe you're just a dream"

photo by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga on Instagram)

After a three year hiatus from pop music, Lady Gaga has managed to reinvent herself, yet again, and she's back with a vengeance.

Produced by Mark Ronson, Bloodpop, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, and Gaga, herself, "Perfect Illusion," is a loud, powerful, punk-rock infused banger that explores deceitful relationships with lyrics like "I still feel the blow / but at least now I know" and "it was a perfect illusion mistaken for love."

With its anthemic chorus and bridge, "Perfect Illusion" is destined to become a break-up classic, but this fall, I can guarantee that it will be blasted at ear-drum shattering levels at clubs, in cars, and through headphones across the world.

Happy Listening,

Robert

"shut up i love you, you're my best friend"

I spent 5 and a half incredible months studying in and traveling around Europe. I saw some of the most beautiful churches, bridges, towers, and monuments in the entire world, and I also explored a decent amount of shady underground (literally) bars, clubs, and pubs (shout out to Prague). July marked the end of what felt like a dream, and I was so quickly woken up by the daily grind of my internship and the never-ending process that is trying to find an apartment in New York City.

Per usual, I needed my music to get me through it all and while I often say that my playlists are a roller-coaster, this one is just really confusing. July marked my return to country music, meaning that in a span of fifteen minutes, you will listen to country, pop, and latin music from a wide range of artists like LANY, Sam Hunt, and Alkilados.

Below are the sixteen songs that served as my soundtrack to the month of July:

1. "Tongue Tied July" - Michael Brun x Roy English
2. "Where I Wanna Be" - A R I Z O N A
3. "The Ocean" (feat. Shy Martin) - Mike Perry
4. "Carry Me" (feat. Julia Michaels) - Kygo
5. "Please Don't Go" - Joel Adams
6. "Leave The Night On" - Sam Hunt
7. "Picky" - Joey Montana
8. "Heathens" - Twenty One Pilots
9. "pink skies" - LANY
10. "Gonna Wanna Tonight" - Chase Rice
11. "La Bicicleta" - Alkilados
12. "Cruel" (feat. ZAYN) - Snakehips
13. "Aloha" (feat. Merryn Jeann) - Møme
14. "DonaldTrumpMakesMeWannaSmokeCrack" - Ledinsky
15. "Starving" (feat. Grey & Zedd) - Hailee Steinfeld
16. "Cold Water" (feat. Justin Bieber & MØ) - Major Lazer

Happy Listening,

Robert

"so baby pull me closer in the back seat of your rover"

photo by The Chainsmokers (@thechainsmokers)

Six weeks ago, as "Don't Let Me Down" featuring pop newcomer Daya was rising up the charts, The Chainsmokers posted a picture of them alongside Halsey, teasing that she would be featured on their "next one." 

The next one's with this beauty ❤️ @iamhalsey 📷@rorykramer

A photo posted by The Chainsmokers (@thechainsmokers) on Jun 11, 2016 at 8:22am PDT

Today (July 29th), after a very long six weeks, their collaboration was finally released and it has the potential to be their biggest song yet.

"Closer" tells the story of a couple who are rekindling their romance after a four year break. Spliced with the narration of their reunion are references to memorable moments from their relationship.

With Instagram caption worthy lyrics like "so baby pull me closer, in the back seat of your Rover" and "we ain't never getting older," "Closer" is destined to be a viral sensation and it's low-key, synth heavy production makes it better suited for long drives and late summer nights than jam-packed clubs.

The Chainsmokers are currently working on a full-length follow up to their 2015 EP, Bouquet.

Happy Listening,

Robert

"so take a deep breath and let it go"

photo by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber on Instagram)

With "Light It Up" infiltrating airwaves and dance floors around the world this summer and "Lean On" becoming the most streamed song of all time on Spotify with over 800 million streams, Major Lazer is having a pretty great year.

Their year may have just gotten even better with the release of what will become the undisputed song of the summer, "Cold Water," an all-star collaboration with vocals from Justin Bieber and Danish singer MØ, who was featured on "Lean On," and writing credits from Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran.

Falling in line with this year's trend towards more mid-tempo bops instead of first pumping powerhouses, "Cold Water" mixes dancehall, house, and europop elements to create the perfect pop song in just over 3 minutes (a Top 40 radio DJ's dream).

In less than a week, "Cold Water" has managed to ascend to the number one spot on Spotify's Global Top 50, racking up over 5 million streams a day.

I look forward to seeing "Cold Water" being featured in everyone's story on Snapchat and hearing it being blared through the speakers at every pregame, party, family cookout, and club for the next few months. 

Happy Listening,

Robert

"can we make the most out of no time"

photo by Alessia Cara (@alessiasmusic on Instagram)

Last month, singer-songwriters Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara teamed up on the re-release of Sivan's dreamy love song, "WILD."

Over the weekend, Sivan released the video for "WILD" and it is simply a cuteness overload that will make you want to vomit rainbows and glitter all over your acid wash jeans and oversized denim jacket. 

Unlike the original version's video, which depicts a love story that never has the chance to fully bloom, the re-release is more of a celebration of love, friendship, and identity set in the most Tumblr world possible. Troye, Alessia, and their squad float between lush green fields, bowling alleys, empty suburban streets, and waterfront parks taking instax's, dancing, and just being cute.

Happy Listening (watching),

Robert

"that big wall is the new frontier"

photo by Ledinsky (@ledinsky on Instagram)

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a super catchy song with an extremely long title about about one of the candidates running for president in the United States. 

The song, "#DonaldTrumpMakesMeWannaSmokeCrack," was released just before the Republican National Convention where the Republican Party in the United States selected reality television star and real estate tycoon, Donald J. Trump, as the party's candidate in the race for the presidency.

In the annotations of his lyrics on Genius, Ledinksy said that his song is about "what capitalism has done to [the United States]" and that Donald Trump does not make him want to smoke crack, but that the title is "more a symbol of your desperation...than actually smoking crack."  

Clearly Ledinsky has struck a chord with many around the world as his song is now a viral hit. "#DonaldTrumpMakesMeWannaSmokeCrack" has over 1 million streams on Spotify and currently sits atop the Viral Hits playlist on the streaming platform.

In addition to his viral hit, Ledinsky also dropped an EP, "High Society," that can purchased on iTunes and streamed on Spotify.

Happy Listening,

Robert