Life in 10 Tracks with Zenat Begum
Life in 10 Tracks is a new feature series that is all about being injected into a moment in someone’s life through music. In it, passersby reminisce on the tracks that remind them of bad haircuts, breakups, and all of the joyful, poignant moments in between.
Up first is Zenat Begum, activist, and founder of Playground Coffee Shop and its branches Playground Annex and Playground Youth. Together, her organizations support the community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn by providing accessible programming geared towards tackling needs like literacy, food equity, and arts & culture. Music has always played a prominent part in Zenat’s life, and under her umbrella too is Playground Radio, “an independent internet radio station” that provides a platform for artists who are underserved in her community.
♫ listen to zenat's playlist
I listened to this album for about two weeks straight after being heartbroken.
This song has so many dimensions that when I listen back I notice a different layer. “Celebrate sorrow till I can’t tomorrow” — I think about this a lot, if I’m upset, have I been upset long enough? Feeling sad and diving into the depths of it while I can right now before I work through and past this feeling to be a better version of myself, given the pain of going through a heartbreak.
“My feet's tired (see page 108)” by Slauson Malone / Listen to the album Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Self-Released, 2020)
My first experience of listening to MF DOOM dates back to the end of middle school, early high school.
A friend and I would play Rap Snitches over and over again, so that we had something to recite on our walks to Central Park. I particularly love this track because of Stevie Wonder’s “How Can You Believe” sample which is one of my favorites. MF DOOM was a hero to us and one of the greatest rappers of all time (R.I.P.).
“Great Day” by Madvillian / Listen to the album Madvilliany (Stones & Throw, 2004)
This album came out during the beginning of the pandemic which made listening to it more sentimental than usual.
Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald’s “Manhattan,” “Tell me what street compares to Mott Street July,” — this lyric always reminds me of the summer I worked at a bakery on the corner of Prince & Mott Street, everything felt simpler. I dream of a warm summer day in New York, because that is the greatest day on earth.
“Manhattan” by Onyx Collective / Listen to the album Manhattan Special (tmwrk records, 2020)
M.I.A. is a music legend that has shapeshifted my identity.
Her captivating everyone’s attention with her loud aesthetic with an even louder sound made me feel seen. I always draw inspiration from this song to make my work similarly multi-dimensional with cultural crossovers of being a First generation American to a Bangladeshi immigrant.
“aTENTion” by M.I.A. / Listen to the album Matangi (UMG Recordings, Inc., 2013)
A few years ago I met Jasper Lotti, whose music and presence transcends binaries and boundaries.
Lotti has performed at Playground events before and naturally I became a fan/avid listener. This song brings me back to listening to this on full volume with my friends in my car, feeling the world beneath our feet.
“Ur So Vague” by Jasper Lotti / Listen to the album XOskeleton (Jasper Lotti, 2019)
I grew up watching Bollywood movies in my house, sometimes they were the only movies that my family allowed my sisters to watch.
My parents felt challenged by my sisters and I assimilating and losing connection to our Bangladeshi/Desi roots. My sisters and I became fluent in Hindi through these movies and this somehow made us closer with our parents. Saathiya produced one of the greatest musical soundtracks by A.R. Rahman to portray passion between lovers in the most intricate, over the top, style. The multiple harmonies and melodies is the essence of the musical masterpieces that is Bollywood. Whenever my sister and I would visit Bangladesh.
“Saathiya” by Sonu Nigam / Listen to the Saathiya soundtrack (YRF Music, 2002)
This song reminds me of the summer of 2015 when I graduated college.
I just started dating my partner (we went on to date for 4 years) and he brought me to Palisades (R.I.P.) to see Power Trip live. It was our first date and in a crowd of 100 people moshing in a very tiny room, I was the happiest I had ever been. In 2020, the lead Singer Riley Gale passed away and the community was absolutely gutted and devastated. Leaving behind a cult following, this band had everyone in the room going crazy, in and out of the pit.
“Crossbreaker” by Power Trip / Listen to the album Manifest Decimation (Southern Lord Recordings, 2013)
I have a habit of holding up my phone to a speaker when I hear a new song.
I was going through the screenshots in my phone and found this in the rolodex. I decided to revisit this song and just like the first time it delivers chills down my spine.
“Aisha” by Joki Freund Sextet / Listen to the album Yogi Jazz (L+R Records, 1981)
On a downward spiral of missing the club during quarantine, I found myself listening to a lot of techno music.
A friend and I tuned into a techno party and this song came on. I closed my eyes, took a hit of a J I rolled and listened back heavily, trying to envision what the club would look like if the song were to come on. I dream of the day we can all dance together again, but for night now, imagining works.
“Hissy Fit” by Patricia / Listen to the album Body Issues (Opal Tapes, 2014)
My first bootleg album was Mariah Carey’s Emancipation of Mimi (sorry MC!) which gave me so much mentally and musically.
I would insert the CD in my panasonic CD Player that I begged my parents to buy for me, to make my walk to school more memorable. The Rarities album came out during quarantine which was all unreleased 90’s Mariah Carey songs. This song reminds me of my friend Aldo, a member of the Lambly (Mariah’s fan base), who inspires me so much everyday! Mariah’s sound is timeless and effortless even almost 30 years later she knows how to steal the show.
“All I Live For” by Mariah Carey / Listen to the album The Rarities (Columbia Records, 2020)
words and images provided by zenat begum
header image by julian camilo