The Plug’n Play: May (‘25)
May 31, 2025
Illustration by Malaaya Adams
You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music or Spotify
On the cover: Brandon Woody, 26, is a Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader from Baltimore, Maryland. On Friday, May 9, Woody (along with his band UPENDO) released his debut album, For The Love Of It All on Blue Note Records. Steeped in a host of Black music traditions, and with a strong sense of place, Woody’s music is “simple, honest, and beautiful.”
If you’re looking for new music, this is the place for you! Each month, my friend, Kevin, and I select some of our favorite songs from the past month, compiling them into one playlist. 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.
Songs 1 - 16 were selected by me, Stanley. Songs 17 - 31 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:
We, Ota Benga — Brandon Woody
From 1885 — 1908, The Congo Free State was under the imperial rule of Leopold II, the second King of the Belgians. In1904, while under the rule of Leopold II, Ota Benga — a young Congolese man — was kidnapped, taken to the United States, and paraded across the country as part of ethnological expositions, also known as “human zoos.” During the 19th century, these expositions were popular, in part, because they allowed white visitors (Europeans and Americans) to see exhibitions of African and Indigenous peoples in their “natural” state. Undeniably, such expositions were part of the centuries-long journey to establish race science and further cement racialized beliefs of inferiority and superiority; of humanness and those at its fringes.
On We, Ota Benga, Brandon Woody explores the life of Ota Benga through song. Despite there being no words, there is a strong narrative arc within the composition. The song begins with a somber melody played on the trumpet with gentle piano accompaniment. Then the song shifts, with the same melody being played, this time accompanied by the full band and increased intensity. The tune rises and falls with grace, marking periods of change. This is where Woody shines most as a composer: his ear for melody is strong, each note gracefully attached to the last and a bridge to the next. In the final movement of the tune, Woody introduces a new melody, one that feels of release, with the trumpet soaring over the band. In the closing moments of the composition, as the piano becomes dissonant and the cymbals crashing, Woody’s trumpet becomes soft bringing the song to a close.
Notably, Woody titled the song We, Ota Benga — not “I” or simply “Ota Benga.” There is a sense of collective here. And considering the life of Ota Benga — being kidnapped and paraded around the US as exhibition — I’ve begun to think about the connections between musicians and performers being paraded around as entertainment; how genre is a racialized practice and an extension of race science.
