Map of the Soul: Persona Version 01 /// BTS

When I was younger and super moody all I wanted to listen to was sad hipster bands with acoustics and a lot of indie voice. At some point in my adult life, I realized that I’m not always in the mood to listen to sad music that depresses me. I’ve always been a huge pop music fan, no matter what my friends had to say about it, and now I am 27 and the majority of music I listen to is Pop, R&B, and even more lately its been expanding into K-Pop and Country(thanks to that yeehaw queen, Kacey Musgraves), so I thought now would be a great time to share my favorite albums.

Here’s a list of my top 5 albums that I’ve shamelessly listened to too many times to count. At the bottom there will be also be a playlist with some tracks from said albums, and other great songs that didn’t make it to the top 5 albums list, but would have definitely make it to the top 100 songs list….

Also the playlist below isn’t 100 songs… but lets get into it!

Cuz I Love You - Lizzo

Sometimes you hear a song, and it is so perfect that you can’t wait to hear the entire album, and the song Juice did this for me. I was already on a pretty big Lizzo kick before Cuz I Love You dropped, mainly because I just love that Lizzo is so unapologetically herself! I guess Minnesota claims her, but I think that before I knew she was local, I used to hear her on the Current, and I just thought she was so badass. (Now I go to Autotune Karaoke once a month, which I guess she used to MC back in the day?) Pre-Cuz I Love You, I always loved Truth Hurts, and my “100% That Bitch” enamel pin speaks to that! JUST LISTEN TO LIZZO OKAY?

My favorite tracks: Soulmate, Like a Girl, Cuz I Love You, and Tempo.

Dedicated - Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen just… gets me, guys. She’s just writing great songs and coming out with incredible albums where every single song hits just as hard as the one before. Before Dedicated, the album E.MO.TION was literally on repeat daily. I have tickets to her upcoming Minneapolis show, and I just knew from the songs she released beforehand that I was going to be in love again.

My favorite tracks: Automatically In Love, No Drug Like Me, and Happy Not Knowing.

[X X] - LOONA

Okay, so I bit the K-Pop bait, and I am all in, ride or die, fully dedicated to K-Pop as a genre. I always knew that if I watched a single music video I would be a goner. I have never been a person to avoid artists just because they aren’t singing in English. As a child I listened to Selena and wished I could speak Spanish so I could understand it, and as a teen I listened to J-pop and J-rock even though I couldn’t speak Japanese, so when I finally fell to K-Pop I knew it was only a matter of time. I wanted to pick a BlackPink album, but their albums are fairly short, and not all of my favorites by them are on one album. LOONA however is so pretty sounding, and their album [X X] is nothing but hits! It reminds me of Ariana in some ways, but they really have their own style and sound, and the whole album is perfect!

My favorite tracks: Where You At, Satellite, and Butterfly.

Thank U, Next - Ariana Grande

To anyone who knows me in person, this is an obvious choice, and it probably seems crazy that I listed this so far down… BUT this list is actually going in some sort of order of importance, so this album is my 2nd favorite at the moment. Though these albums all get the same amount of playtime, really…

I’m a huge Ariana Grande fan, and though this album isn’t Sweetener, or even a Dangerous Woman, its definitely list-worthy! I don’t know what I was thinking before Thank U, Next, but I certainly know what I am thinking now. When something isn’t worthy of your time, don’t waste your time on it. I love the whole album, but the front half of the album is my personal bias. If she dropped a mini-album of just Imagine, Needy, NASA, Bloodline, and Fake Smile…. That’d be it, guys. Like no other songs necessary (obviously until you hear the second half of the album, which also slaps, at least in the last 3 songs.) Anyways, I will shut up about how amazing this album is now, simply because I could go on forever.

Favorite Tracks: Needy, Fake Smile, 7 Rings, and obviously… Thank U, Next.

MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA - BTS

This just goes without saying, but BTS was the band to finally get me on board the K-Pop train. I can’t even begin to express the inspiration that this band has brought me. I’ve been going through a pretty rough year, and this album came just at the right time to keep my head up! When I am feeling down, or need positive inspiration, I listen to BTS, and this album is new, so I have had it on repeat since it released!

This may be crazy, but this is the first album in probably 2 years that I bought a brand new physical copy of. It actually comes in 4 different “versions”. Same album, just different covers, all separate shades of pink. Each includes a photo book, additional collector cards with photos of the members, and a poster… SO… I watched youtube unboxing videos to find out which photo book I wanted (version 01), and that’s how I made my purchase.

Favorite Tracks: Mikrokosmos, Boy With Luv, Intro: Persona, and Make it Right.