Life Kit - How to make the perfect playlist

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

So you're planning the perfect candlelit evening — or the perfect road trip, or the perfect afternoon at home. Where do you start? A playlist, of course. NPR Music's Bobby Carter showed us how he crafts them. (This episode originally ran in December 2020.)Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is NPR's Life Kit. I'm Andrew Limbaugh, reporter at NPR's Arts Desk. Remember that movie High Fidelity from 2000? The one with John Cusack that recently got remade into a TV show on Hulu. Cusack's supposed to be this snobby record store owner named Rob. And there's this scene where he's talking about the rules to making a great mixtape. Now the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art, many do's and don'ts. First of all, you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing. I've loved this movie since before I realized Rob is supposed to be kind of a jerk.

And as such, I've long been obsessed with making the right mix CDs and playlists. But in our algorithm-run world of today, it's worth asking why even bother making playlists anymore? I mean, the robots always seem to know the exact right emo songs to get me ready for fall, so why fight them? Don't get me wrong, the algorithm is great at the educated guesses, but no one knows exactly what you like like you do, right? There's no DJ better than yourself to kind of hit those marks. That's NPR's own Bobby Carter, a guy who lives and breathes music.

On top of producing the Tiny Desk concerts for NPR Music, Bobby has performed as DJ Cousin B for over two decades, and he knows just about everything there is to know about curating music. And he says Spotify is great and all, but the act of putting together your own playlist speaks its own language. I mean, a lot of us aren't great with words, so why not let the song tell it, you know? As High Fidelity's Rob says, using someone else's poetry is a very

delicate thing. So in this episode of Life Kit, some tips on how to make the perfect playlist for any occasion, for yourself or for someone else. So to start this conversation, I asked Bobby, big picture, why are playlists important? What do they do for you? In this time we're living in now I mean I know for sure that we listen to music differently so um you want we're going through so much and so many different moods um obviously for me personally I'm listening to stuff that just kind of keep me calm and keep me level um so you want to you want to try to, you lean on music, so you want to make these playlists to kind of ensure that you're not alone.

There's always a song to kind of carry you through things. These playlists just simply help you get through, you know what I mean? And you need that. Yeah. Do you have different playlists for like, doing dishes, or like when're like at the gym?

Like how do you structure those playlists out? My favorite, I want to say my favorite playlist that's never ending, that I constantly add to is my weekend house cleaning playlist. You can go so many places, but music to clean a house is just so essential. What's on it? Personally, oh, my God, what's not on it, man? I like to go high energy, sliding a family stone and a bunch of New Edition and even Alanis Morissette and Jamiroquai and, you know, you name it. Fat Joe, DJ Quint, you name it. The problem with that is the house isn't getting clean if you're busy, like, karaoke-ing by yourself.

But that's the thing. I'm not. I'm getting it done while these songs are playing. You know what I mean? I'm sweeping and dusting in a fren songs are playing. You know what I mean? I'm just sweeping and dusting in a frenzy over here. You know what I mean? So the music kind of keeps my energy up. And then you have your cool down.

Sometimes people ask me for breakup playlists. You know, if they've broken up with somebody. Family reunions. Of course, weddings. So you name it, man. There's so many different playlists dude and i i like to make them all well yeah i kind of want to get into a little bit more because like i think before you start making a playlist like do you have to ask yourself questions because like

i mean i i sort of understand you when you say that you know yourself better than anyone but i'm like ah i i never know what i want want. Like, I didn't have like my wife ordered my takeout. So like, what sort of questions do you need to ask before you start embarking on this journey? You know, playlists, they do a really good job at accentuating the mood and a feeling. So, you know, I ask myself, well, how do I feel right now? What am I going through?

Am I looking to come down from a mood that I'm in am I looking to sort of highlight that and really pull it out you know what I mean it really sort of depends but at the end of the day you're really trying to set a mood or accentuate a mood all right so now that if you have like the mood figured out and like the sort of emotional feel you're going for, I guess the first step is like picking songs, right? Which is like a big step. So how do you start there? You have your ascent, you have your peak where you'll stay there and cruise for a while, and then you'll have your landing. And that arc is kind of like the way you want to build your playlist. So you just sort of think and play, connect the dots. You know, when you really have your musical brain on, and I know I always have mine on, I'm always connecting the dots when it comes to songs. So that song's great. Oh, that reminds me of that.

Or sometimes you'll say, OK, well, that song's great. Oh, that reminds me of that. Or sometimes you'll say, okay, well, that song's great. I love this artist. Let's pick another song from this artist. There's so many different angles you can come from or go through. Yeah. Okay. So it's like a flight. All right. I like that. Let's belabor this metaphor a bit and take us on a quick trip from takeoff to landing. Let's see. That's a good question. To take off, I like, I'll play something like, I'll start with like some chill R&B, like a song like Whoa from Snow Allegro or something really smooth to kind of build up. You know what I mean? And then as you kind of go through, you'll play like, you'll ramp it up a little bit

more. You'll play something from Snoop, something like that. And then as you slowly start to build up, depending on where you are, you'll play like, you'll really kind of set it off with Beyonce, Before I Let Go, into like some Candy by Cameo. And then turn it up some more with some Suave Mente. Really, really turn it up and go in. You know what I mean? Yeah.

And you stay there for a little while. As you come down, some Marvin Gaye to bring it down. Some Bruno Mars. Some Outkast. Something like that. Of course, you got to throw in some Drake. And then you come down with like some Daniel Caesar or Redbone from Childish Gambino, kind of bring it down, get them close together.

You know what I mean? And then you send them on their way, man. Yeah. Nice. Can't stay here, but you got to leave. How do you balance like the surefire if you're making a playlist for somebody else, right? Yeah. Or a group of people. How do you balance the surefire hits? You know, people are going to rock out to this versus trying to introduce them to something new. Right. Because I think some of the mistakes I've made

in making playlists for other people is like I try to feed them too many vegetables, you know what I mean? As opposed to feeding them like some candy in between. So how do you balance that too? Well, I mean, you said it. I mean, I think the big song, the big hit is the hook. The big song and the big hit is the candy. The big song and the big hit is the candy.

So once you hit them with a couple of hits, that kind of gives you more leeway to kind of then go in with something new. That's when you start with your music discovery, I think, because you have them. They're more open now. They're more receptive to other things. So that's where you sort of hook them in. It doesn't even have to be a hit song, but something that they're more receptive to other things so that's where you sort of hook them in it doesn't even have to be a hit song but something that they're super familiar with once you hit them with a couple of those that's when you go on with the music discovery that's when you go in and try things now they're liking what you're playing let me put them on to something new i'm curious like

in in your head um if you listen to new songs are you constantly putting them in your brain file folder under different playlists? You know what I mean? For sure. I'm like ready to go. It's like, oh, this would be good for cleaning the house. It's like, oh, this is good for the gym. For sure. I think that for me, the music, the music discovery is the most important aspect to any playlist, any set you're spinning i'm always looking to sort of uh put somebody

on to a new artist or a brand new song nothing's more satisfying than than someone coming to you and saying hey i never heard that before what is that that's great how can i get it you know who's the artist um so i that's that's probably highest on my list other than keeping people dancing and smiling is is music music discovery and really kind of uh opening people up to new sounds and new artists do you write this stuff down or like have a like a formal system of vlogging okay i only ask because there's been a couple of times where i've been trying to make a list or a playlist. And then I've been to a section, it's like, oh, I heard that one song like a few weeks ago.

It was by, and then it's gone. I'm like, oh. And then I try to go into my browser history, be like, I think it was a Thursday. I think I heard it, whatever. So do you have any sort of formal organizational system? I said that as a joke at the beginning, but now I'm curious if you actually do. Well, Shazam is your friend. First and foremost is Shazam, right? And if Shazam can't pick it up, I just, I try to listen a little closer and I'll type, I'll just type in a lyric. And from there I'll go to Google and type in that lyric and do a search, a lyric search. I go crazy with this type of stuff.

You know, back when I was DJing in clubs, I would always catch people in a corner Shazam and stuff while I'm playing. It's the greatest thing ever. Oh, nice. Oh, that must feel so good. It's like, yeah, you liked it. It's the best. It's the best. Are there any cliches to avoid?

Just songs that have played out that, know you as a dj can't like just like oh i could never like play that it's it's so like passe well i always say that it's it's subjective right but i you know depending on who i'm spinning for they'll say hey uh absolutely no line dances right um for for the love of god please do not play the cupid shuffle or some people may say hey play play some line dances you know some people love them some people don't some people will say hey whatever you do don't play the macarena right so there's some songs like that where you where they'll get it played out or YMCA. Don't play YMCA. I want it to feel fresh.

I want it to feel all ages but surprises. So there are a few cliches out there. Line dance has come to mind. Anything where it's kind of like you have to sort of gather a group or try to get a whole group of group together to do the same thing. Some people just don't like that. Mm hmm. Yeah. So when it comes to going from one song to the next and like getting that flow right and not breaking the rhythm, do you have any like tips or tricks that you use that you think you can impart to some people who may be not as musically nerdy? Yeah, I do these things where when you think of classic drum patterns,

I think of stuff like Funky Drummer by James Brown, which is one of the most sampled drum patterns in music, period. It's been sampled by hundreds of songs. You can literally make an entire playlist that samples that same drum pattern. So imagine 50 songs with the same drum foundation. You could do that. Or when you think of a song like Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen and you put it together with Pharrell's Happy and Bruno Mars'

Locked Out of Heaven or Take On Me by A-Ha that's the same exact drum signature or time signature so it's all going to flow perfectly. Same goes with Outkast's Hey Ya. Those few songs right there, those all sit in the same time signature.

So when you make those transitions, it sounds so smooth because before you know it, you realize you're dancing or you're moving, you know, in the same rhythmic pattern. And it can flow. I mean, you can go forever with something like that. I'm trying to play these songs in my head, be like. Yeah, take some of those songs. I'll send you some of those songs. But you'll realize, like, of course, you know, Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Yes, of course. The quintessential Carlton song was It's Not Unusual, right? And his famous dance they call The Carlton.

A friend of mine did a mix called The Carlton where he played a bunch of songs in 2-4. And basically you can do The Carlton for an hour straight. You can go for days with a mix like that. How do you know when you're done? That's a good question, man. I think of it sort of two-tiered again when it comes to playing for a live crowd. I know I'm done. When you have the last call and the lights come on and people are hunched over, sweating, gasping for air. That's when you know your job is done. If you're playing in front of a crowd for playlists, I don't think your job's ever, ever completely done.

You know what I mean? I think you sort of if you're if you're putting together a playlist for an event, you sort of find out from the from the host you know what the event is and and and what they're looking for how long the event is you do the math determined to determine how many songs you need to play and just hope for the best man you always want to you want to add a little bit but um you just hope for the best and I said, lean on your experience as a true music lover and for myself as a DJ and just sort of hope and have the confidence that you're doing your job. It does. It's almost when you're and maybe my heart is on my sleeve a little bit too much here. It's like I find it's a very sometimes it's an intimate thing when you're making a playlist specifically for somebody else i mean that's like my own maybe personal biases

well well well i i know what you mean man a playlist or a mixtape it's a love language i you know when i when i courted the woman who eventually became my wife i want to say almost weekly she got a playlist for me or just a set of songs. I was, you know, back, this was 18 years ago now, so it would always be mix CDs. And I made them weekly. And I would like to think that helped. Yeah, that's sweet. Yeah.

I proposed to my wife through a mix CD. See? Yeah, exactly. In the liner notes, I wrote like a... It was like a collection of songs from my relationship and stuff like that. And bands we'd listen to in college. And then I made in the liner notes a question mark. Like a check yes if you want or a check no if you don't want.

Let me know. Bye. Who knew Andrew was a player? I did. I know now. That's the lamest thing possible dude but but it works man these are little things that just work man i i i can relate i mean nothing nothing speaks that language like music dude i you know when we got married uh i created a whole mix that just sort of told the entire story of our 10 years at the time. You know, we were 10 years. We were together for 10 years before we got married.

And I just sort of through each songs sort of told a story about something that we went through in our relationship. And you can do that through music. There's a there's a story for any any relationship through a song i think okay let's recap here are bobby's steps for creating your perfect playlist first and foremost you want to figure out what type of mood you're trying to set what are you looking to accomplish with this playlist right second you immediately start to think about songs that come to mind so if when the you know when they say hey i want a cocktail hour playlist you start jotting down the first few songs that come to mind and then from there you sit down and you do your research and listen you could cheat a bit. There's no set rules to this. So if you need to go to another playlist and pick a few things, there's nothing wrong with that. Know your crowd. You have

to know your crowd. If you don't know your crowd, then you're lost. And finally, surprise people. Squeeze in something that they've never heard of that you know is great the element of surprise is always welcome in a playlist it's almost essential for more Life Kit check out our other episodes we've got an episode on how to appreciate poetry and another on how to up your coffee game and lots more you can find those at npr.org slash life kit.

And if you love Life Kit and want more, subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org slash life kit newsletter. And as always, here is a completely random tip, this time from listener Alex from Brooklyn. Hi, Life Kit. My tip is for the last couple of years, I've been doing something called No Debt November. That means that for the entire month of November, I cannot use a single subscription service. I don't use a single Uber or Lyft and I block Seamless and Grubhub from my phone and computer so that I am only using the money that is in my bank account. And all the money that I saved that month from not using any subscription services. I saved that money and I tend to make a nice big deposit to my student loans on January 1st as like a new year gift to

myself. But I have friends who use that money for other things. That's my tip. Bye. Do you have a random tip? Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us a voice memo at life kit at NPR.org. This episode was produced by Andy Tagle. Megan Cain is the managing producer. Beth Donovan is our senior editor. Our digital editor is Claire Lombardo and our editorial assistant is Claire Marie Schneider. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Thanks for listening.