With the arrival of summer comes road trips, BBQs, beach days... and the special brand of anxiety that comes with being appointed the DJ for any of these activities.
Being put in charge of the playlist can be more stressful than a poorly-timed jandal blow out. You can't just chuck your whole music library on shuffle - what if 'Circle of Life' from The Lion King soundtrack starts playing?
You've more than likely exhausted that 'Chill Vibez' playlist you got sent by that friend of yours who went out with that music producer for a week, and it's already well into December.
What to do?
Ask JessB, of course. Exuding an effortless cool and free-flowing style - much like the perfect playlist should - the Kiwi rapper knows a thing or two about curating tunes. She's been smashing the festival circuit in Aotearoa and abroad for several years now, as well as dropping two EPs and her latest mixtape, 3 Nights In Amsterdam.
Hear that? Mixtape. She does this stuff for a living.
As part of Apple Music's Summertime Sounds playlist collection, JessB has put together her Out and Bad playlist, which she describes as "a blend of Afrobeats, dancehall, reggaeton, some of my favourite vibes to listen to in the summer".
In other words - musical salvation. Chuck that one on next time you're panicked at the party, and your friends will be so impressed they'll forget about that time you thought dropping an entire S Club 7 album at NYE pre-drinks was a good idea.
If that wasn't enough, Six60 has also provided their Summer Tour Backstage playlist to Apple Music for your listening pleasure. Haven't you ever wondered about the correct song choice to get hyped to play to 50,000 people at Western Springs?
Now that you've got some inspiration, you're probably ready to piece together your own playlist to wow the crowds of your back lawn. Or at least, you will be, once you've taken note of JessB's dos and don'ts:
Don't clump songs together
"Space them out through the playlist."
Don't make it five songs long
"We need at least an hour, surely, of music playing time."
Don't make the vibe too jumpy
"If you're gonna do a chill playlist, keep it chill. If you're gonna do a turn up playlist, go all the way."
Do give it a good name
"I feel like this is key. If you give a playlist a good name, it's fun to share, it's fun to listen to. You can get super specific. I'll be like '5pm BBQ on a Tuesday Night on the 25th of November'. Mine's called Out and Bad from a Stylo G song that I like."
Do crank the volume!
"Let's go. We wanna hear music loud. Be confident, say it with your chest, turn it up."
