The Plug’n Play: July (‘25)
July 31, 2025
Illustration by Malaaya Adams
You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music or Spotify
On the Cover: KOKOROKO is a septet from London. The band’s sound is representative of the band’s diverse background, creating a sonic kaleidoscope of the African diaspora. Earlier this month, the band released their second, full length album, Tuff Times Never Last.
The Plug’n Play is a monthly playlist highlighting new music. Each month, my friend, Kevin, and I select some of our favorite songs from the past month, compiling them into one playlist (usually around 30 or so songs). While our tastes overlap in a lot of ways, they also diverge. Ultimately, these songs represent what has drawn us in, made us curious, or feel something. We hope that these songs can serve as an entry point for you.
Songs 1 - 15 were selected by me, Stanley. Songs 16 - 29 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:
Jordan Rakei — Trust & Add The Bassline - Live From The Royal Albert Hall
Live albums hold a special place in my heart. Compared to their studio album counterpart, live albums are a little less perfect. The studio benefits from a controlled environment, you can stop and start over as much as you’d like (so long as you don’t annoy the engineer too much). What I love most about live albums is the way they capture a moment: between band members, their real-time reactions to each other, the interplay between the performers on stage and the audience. As a listener who was not present for the initial recording, it helps you feel what it might’ve felt like to have been in the room on that day.
On Friday, July 25th, Jordan Rakei — the singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer — released Live From The Royal Albert Hall, a 21-song live album featuring music from his discography, spanning over a decade. Completed in 1871, The Royal Albert Hall has established itself as a premier music venue. Over the course of the 20th century everyone from Jimi Hendrix and Dua Lipa to Cream and Adele have recorded albums at the venue. For Rakei, who primarily built his following via SoundCloud during the mid-2010s, recording an album at the venue represents an achievement.
What I like most about Trust and Add The Baseline is the way you can hear Rakei talking to his band and the crowd; how the rhythm section is listening and responding to each other; how the bass solo at the end of Trust seamlessly transitioned into Add The Baseline. It’s downright funky, and the type of moment that only live performance is able to achieve.
KOKOROKO — Da Du Duh
On Tuff Times Never Last, KOKOROKO draws inspiration from Spike Lee’s 1994 film, Crooklyn and Rick Famuyiwa’s 1999 film, The Wood — films that the band says they saw as reflections on Black life, resiliency, joy, and community. The album’s cover art — attentively drawn by illustrator, Luci Pina — communicates this as well: Black people, in the cityscape, in place, dancing, loving. Sonically, the album blends Highlife and Afrobeat, with Jazz, R&B, and West Indian musics. The album feels good, with plenty of memorable grooves that stick to you. It’s an exciting addition to the band’s growing discography.
