It’s a cool early summer evening. The moon is glowing, the stars are shining, and I’m taking advantage of this peaceful night by scrolling through my phone. This is the life I always dreamed of…and it’s quickly interrupted by a Snapchat notification from “Connor Q ” popping up on my screen.
“Heyyy what’s up!!! It’s been a while haha / I started making music from home a few months ago / and you listen and give me your HONEST thoughts!!”
I sigh. Surely there had to be a good reason for this? For a guy to reach out eight years after we graduated middle school (his last text was from 2017 asking for Spanish homework answers) to hit me up not for a MLM scheme, but music?
Maybe I can forgive him. Not just for this text, but everything else: the way he always ignored me, the way he only wanted homework answers, the way he used to yell “KOBE!” every time he threw a crumpled-up paper into the trash can. People change, right?
I take a deep breath, then I pause my perfectly curated mid-late 2010s underground hip-hop Spotify playlist to open Connor’s audio files and press play.
#$GW)@&$(p)
LYRICAL SPIRITUAL MIRACLE INDIVIDUAL
HORRIBLE MORAL ORACLE CORAL
H??3DRTGHETHOW(%T
AFFORDABLE DEPLORABLE COMFORTABLE
SOCIETY VARIETY PROPRIETY ANXIETY
$Q%MRW#$
…
…
…
Where’s the block button again?