Music

LISTEN | 12 songs that perfectly capture the craziness that was 2020

Casey Delport puts together a playlist of songs, one for each month, to reflect the essence of the dystopian-novel-like year that was

17 January 2021 - 00:00 By Casey Delport
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
A screen grab from the music video for Nasty C's track 'Eazy', which the author feels captures the 'boisterous, braggadocious and optimistic' feel at the start of 2020.
A screen grab from the music video for Nasty C's track 'Eazy', which the author feels captures the 'boisterous, braggadocious and optimistic' feel at the start of 2020.
Image: Nasty_C/YouTube

Last year was tough. Lockdown and loneliness became the norm. But this fever dream year is behind us and we're hoping 2021 will be better.

To capture the essence of 2020, I created a playlist of 12 songs, one for each month, that capture what it was like to fight through what felt like a dystopian novel. Here they are, from January to December:

JANUARY

EAZY BY NASTY C

The new year's energy was boisterous, braggadocious and optimistic, like Nasty C's banger. 2020 was a fresh start, a new decade in which SA and its people could push forward and grow. Ready to take it all on with swagger and street smarts. New year, new decade, new opportunities .

WATCH | The music video for 'Eazy' [WARNING: Explicit language]

FEBRUARY

PARLEZ-VOUS ANGLAIS BY HEADIE ONE FT AITCH

Optimism was high in February as couples, lovers and side pieces scrambled to get the perfect Valentine's gift for their partner. King of UK drill Headie One's Paris-drenched, innuendo-ridden Parlez-Vous Anglais captured the month's sensuality.

WATCH | The music video for 'Parlez-Vous Anglais'

MARCH

DREAM PALETTE BY YVES TUMOR

The shit hit the fan in March when Covid found its way to our shores. Panic-buying and hoarding ensued. The chaos of the world is captured by the manic guitars and drum breakdown at the start of this track.

LISTEN | ‘Dream Palette'

APRIL

DEAR APRIL BY FRANK OCEAN 

With an extension of lockdown and SA at a standstill, it seemed time to make ourselves comfortable. Of the two singles from the elusive Frank Ocean's new album, the soft, sensitive, melancholic musings on Dear April make it my April choice.

MAY

NHS BY SLOWTHAI 

Remember early on in lockdown how people would clap and blow vuvuzelas at 7pm to show support for health workers in SA? Slowthai's NHS captures the feeling of days meshing together as we settled into another month of lockdown level 4: Same old shit, just another day. I was in my head, feelin' dead, feelin' microwaved.

WATCH | The music video for 'NHS'

JUNE

GOOD NEWS BY MAC MILLER

June started with promise as we moved to level 3, but we were still prohibited from seeing family and friends, and that had massive repercussions on our mental health. Pittsburgh MC Mac Miller's excellent posthumous album Circles and the heart-wrenching single Good News reminds us that mental health should be a priority.

WATCH | The music video for 'Good News'

JULY

(DON'T LET THE DRAGON) DRAAG ON BY KING KRULE

By July, 2020 had chewed us up and spat us out. The year felt like it had been dragging us along with no end in sight. King Krule's LoFi meditation exudes that perfectly.

WATCH | The music video for '(Don't Let The Dragon) Draag On'

AUGUST

KHANGELA BY BONGEZIWE MABANDLA

We breathed a collective sigh of relief as SA moved into level 2 in August. Khangela is about searching for love, and in a year in which feelings of loneliness, longing and isolation were rife, Bongeziwe's gorgeous storytelling and voice are food for the soul.

WATCH | The music video for 'Khangela'

SEPTEMBER 

DRAGONBALL DURAG BY THUNDERCAT

September came and with spring in the air, SA was swinging back to a semblance of normality, with precautionary steps still in place. Thundercat's Dragonball Durag was one of the funniest, most enjoyable singles released last year - to capture rising spirits and spring romance.

WATCH | The music video for 'Dragonball Durag'

OCTOBER

HIT DIFFERENT BY SZA FT TY DOLLA $IGN

October brought further relief as we moved to level 1. The energy was back in social spaces - restaurants, bars and shebeens opened. Curfew was eased to midnight so you could have a decent night out without scrambling to order an Uber. Like the title of Sza's first solo single since her 2017 album Ctrl, it just Hit Different.

WATCH | The music video for 'Hit Different'

NOVEMBER

I KNOW THE END BY PHOEBE BRIDGERS

In November, we felt like we were almost on the other side of a year we'd like to delete from memory. Phoebe's I Know The End captures that feeling. The musical progression from morbid ballad to defiant anthem captures a "f**k this" attitude to 2020.

WATCH | The music video for 'I Know the End'

DECEMBER

LOVIN' ME BY KID CUDI FT PHOEBE BRIDGERS

Phoebe makes two appearances here but the harmonies on this track are stunning. Also, let's all be real - we've all wanted to hear Cudi humming again to ease the pain of this year after thousands of memes surfaced about Cudi's humming filling your soul. With SA now in the grip of a second wave, I'm going to have this one on repeat.

WATCH | The music video for 'Lovin' Me'

This article was originally published on bubblegumclub.co.za


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now