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- AMF Music | March '24
AMF Music | March '24
Back with updates and playlists!
Khalil Flemming
March 10, 2024
Hey friends, thank you for riding with me and with AMF these past couple years! I’ve spoken to a lot of you about what you’d like to hear from me in a newsletter - if anything at all 🥴 - and I’m excited to be back with something I think you’ll like. If you’ve changed your mind and would prefer not to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe down at the bottom, but you shouldn’t want to do that at all. If you’re reading this and not yet subscribed, it’s not too late to hit the button below:
So what’s in the newsletter now? Playlists! My music journey in recent years seems to mirror many of yours - it’s harder to find albums I want to listen to, harder to discover artists I’m compelled to follow, and harder to find playlists that feel “meant for me.” There are plenty of reasons for that, some we can explore here when relevant, but the clear solution for me is consistent curation and a good network for sharing. Creating and maintaining a relationship with the music that makes enjoying it feel like less of a chore. In fact, that’s how I’ve grown closer to many of you. We’ll have 3 main sections:
W33KLY - this is my curated playlist that combines established, popular musicians with developing acts who deserve the same attention because they’re that good. That’s the theory I had in mind when I made the first one years ago, and It’s a mission worth continuing as long as I can. Each time, I’ll feature a few of the artists and let you know why you should show love.
FEATURED PLAYLIST - every week I get texts from a few of you, either sharing a unique find or asking me to send something inspiring, new, weird, under the radar, etc. In this section, you may get a famous artist’s playlists featuring their personal discoveries, or you may get a “Wow Cleaning?!” playlist made by an artisanal soap brand. The point of this section is to dig into the universe of playlists and find ourselves some unexpected new favorites.
DJ/INSTRUMENTAL MIX - next to playlists, mixes tend to be another ideal way to stumble onto your next favorite song, sound, or artist. Sometimes they hit even harder than playlists since the curator is also a musician. But they’re often in corners of the internet we don’t all frequent for music, like SoundCloud and YouTube, so I’ll help.
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w33kly #16
Click image to listen to w33kly on Spotify
mal sounds - “Touch”
Mal’s been busy putting the final touches on his upcoming album, STILL IN NEW YORK, which is set to roll out at the end of summer. He recently celebrated the release of his latest single “TOUCH” with fans at Café Kitsuné in Brooklyn. Attendees were treated to new music, live DJ sets, and exclusive CDs of unreleased singles.
Slic - “Nave”
Slic is always busy, so I wasn’t surprised AT ALL to find out “Nave” is just the beginning of a Spring/Summer EP rollout. Slic has been hosting shows all around the city, and getting remixed by producers around the internet. Their sound has been finding a wider audience, and I’m excited to see how listeners respond to the new output.
Jay Lonzo - “Sign Me Up” ft. Ari Aum
It’s probably an exaggeration to say there aren’t any real rappers left, but it’s true that Jay Lonzo is one of the few. He’s a New Yorker who wears it on his cap, and you can hear it in his songs. Here he enlists his frequent collaborator Ari Aum, who recently joined him for a Brooklyn Sofar Sounds set premiering some of the new songs. Jay’s upcoming album is not a debut, but it is a homecoming of sorts. He’s back to remind us what he’s here for on “Sign Me Up.”
In the future, these highlights will include acts outside of the AMF world, like Beyonce or Ray J. First I had to show love to just the OGs, the reason we have anything to talk about here at all. I want w33kly to be a platform for listeners to discover music while feeling a sense of familiarity to it.
Featured Playlist:
The first featured playlist comes from a partner that AMF is lucky to have already. Without Warning is a music discovery and news platform that lives most of its life on TikTok and Youtube. The founders are Albany, NY natives who found an opportunity to champion hip-hop from their region, and to shine a light on underground acts and lesser-known gems around the internet. Their content typically includes pop culture news and opinion, concert vlogs, and interviews with up-and-coming artists. Their recent string of live events in NYC proves that their audience is real, and that their fingers are right on the pulse. Just in time for this newsletter, Noah told me their most popular playlist of 300 songs just got a refresh - give it a spin!
Featured Mix:
Shoutout to JB for sharing this one - I don’t know MURIELLE, but I hope we meet her before she blows up. I’ve always listened to DJ mixes (see: Kaytranada c. 2013), but I’ve found a new appreciation for them in recent years. I see them in person pretty often, and I know people who make them for a living. One thing that hasn’t changed is that every time I hear a mix there’s a song in there I’ve never heard before. If that’s not true for you, then damn you listen to a lot of mixes. You must be a great DJ 🎧️
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Other AMF News
One of my goals for AMF is that its catalog can find success out in the world of music, curated alongside songs by artists I grew up on. I actually owe Without Warning because the most-streamed song published by AMF Track Club (“Tiny Lies on a Night Drive” - mal sounds, Soho Decatur) owes the majority of its streams to inclusion on their most popular playlist.
Since dropping that EP in ‘21, we’ve continued to publish originals that I want to highlight before I let you go. The first is an album released in Nov. ‘23 for a rap duo from Boston I’ve known for years, HighKeyRandom and Jovian Martian. The second is the debut instrumental album for me and my production partner Julian, and a project I’m really happy we were able to get out into the world just last week. Any opportunity to generate listeners or business for these projects is a win for AMF 📈
 SAMETHANG 2 - Samethang |  End of Season - Soho Decatur |
Last update is that the podcast with Jake is going strong! Track Club: an AMF Podcast will actually hit 100 episodes in a couple months, and if you’re interested in Formula 1 the show is definitely for you. The ‘24 season just started so it’s a great time to join us - we keep the episodes fun and not too technical, just hoping to grow our community of casual race fans.
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If you have a friend or A&R who would like these emails, please do send them the link and have them subscribe. I returned to a newsletter platform to properly organize my communication with you all, but also for the realistic options like opting out or inviting other contributors down the line. For now it’s just me here listening for new inspiration, and I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to be involved.
Bye 👋🏾
P.s. - every time you listen to the albums it’s just like giving us a small amount of money, so feel free to stream it literally any time of day/night!
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