The Plug’n Play: January & February (‘26)
March 5, 2026
Illustration by Malaaya Adams
You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music or Spotify
On the cover: Jill Scott is a singer, poet, songwriter, and actor from Philadelphia. On February 13th, Scott released To Whom It May Concern, her sixth studio and her first album in over a decade. Over the course of the album’s 19-tracks, Scott poetically explores themes of love, lineage and ancestry, Blackness and womanhood, and place. Sonically, the album’s meticulously crafted, drawing from rhythm and the blues, jazz and hip-hop, go-go and funk. It’s an excellent body of work and an exciting entry into an already stellar catalog.
The Playlist
We’re doing things a little differently this year. Rather than releasing a playlist every month, we’ll be posting them bimonthly. This new schedule is mostly because, well, sometimes things get a little hectic and having a longer on-ramp can help with preparing the playlist. We both enjoy sharing music, and want to make sure the playlists are representative of us.
The Plug’n Play is a monthly playlist highlighting new music. My friend, Kevin — he’s on Instagram again, for now. Catch him before he floats away! — and I select some of our favorite songs from the past two months, compiling them into one playlist. While our tastes overlap in a lot of ways, they also diverge. These songs represent what has drawn us in, made us curious, or feel something. We hope these songs serve as an entry point for you, and that you feel something, too!
Songs 1 - 24 were selected by me, Stanley. Songs 25 - 42 were selected by Kevin. We hope you find a song you like and check out the larger body of work, whether it’s an EP or an album. Below are a few words on some of my favorite songs from the month:
Never Fold — DJ Harrison
ElectroSoul— DJ Harrison’s 11th studio album — is a sonic journey in tradition. It’s hard to place his latest album in any one category; any such means of classification would shortchange its offering. Of course, there’s rock, there’s jazz, there’s hip-hop, there’s funk, but, for the Richmond, VA native, the music, and how we might categorize it, happens all at once.
On NeverFold, the album’s 13th track, Harrison tells a story of resilience, to know one’s worth in the face of adversity, and not succumbing to circumstance. Listening to the album, this song caught my ear because of the acoustic guitar. The strumming and chord progression are propulsive giving the composition a feeling of ascension (the chords, as I hear them, are E | F# | Ab, which move up the scale, so the feeling of “ascension” can be felt as the notes raise in scale degree). I’ve been a DJ Harrison fan for some years now — and interviewed him for this site — but this feels like the album I’ve been drawn to the most of his.
Offadaback — Jill Scott
Offadaback — the fourth track from Jill Scott’s latest album — is quintessential Scott. There’s a jazz-y intro, featuring an electric guitar playing a descending melody, swinging drums, and a faint acoustic piano played at a mid-tempo. It’s the type of sound that sits somewhere between R&B, jazz, and neo-soul that Scott’s become a champion of. The song’s verses are built around a subtle, yet groovy chord progression in E Flat minor (for those curious, the same key as Scott’s He Loves Me Lyzel in E Flat). In addition to the song’s musical composition, what struck me was Scott’s narration of genealogy. Scott uses the the back — the human back and the back as a metaphor for holding weight — as connective tissue to her ancestors, naming specific family members who have made ways for her. In the song’s final stanza, and using her speaking voice, Scott narrates the seemingly mundane (e.g., going to the bookstore) and the spectacular (e.g., traveling around the world) that have been made possible by her ancestors. She uses an interesting device here. As she lists these blessings, privileges even, another voice periodically appears, whispering a name: “Uncle Lonnie,” “Ella,” “Tina,” and so on. Here, the second voice operates as an additional narrator, an internal voice for Scott that the writer offers the reader/listener.
Chow Mei Funk — ZEEK (Featuring Ki’ANDRE)
Over the past few years, ZEEK — the pianist and producer — has built an online following. He’s become known for his viral videos, playing an upright, slightly out-of-tune piano at a small, Delaware Chinese store. In his videos, ZEEK will flip a popular song (his mashup of Leon Thomas’ Mutt and Roy Ayers’ Everybody Loves the Sunshine is a favorite of mine), sometimes inviting other musicians to jam. During the video clips, you can see the proverbial lightbulb go off when a musician offers something musically exciting. Community Chow, ZEEK’s latest release, distills his Instagram videos into a 6-song EP comprised of original material. For the most part, the project works — in that he can compose beyond the IG reel. On Chow Mei Funk, ZEEK invites Ki’ANDRE to join him for a jam. It feels organic and unrehearsed; familiar to anyone who’s spent time in a jam session or the Black church. It’s antiphonic and vibrant; the singing doesn’t sound “great” but its unrefinedness is what makes it exciting.
