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Road Trip Music for the Masses
An eclectic mix of tunes to set your driving mood
I love road trips. As a twenty-something, road trips set the tone of my summers–great companions, amazing music, and an exciting destination formed some of my best post-collegiate memories.
I haven’t taken a true road trip since I left Colorado for Los Angeles, the Sequel: Even Filmier, a decade ago, but I’m soon departing for a solo jaunt to the East Coast. 24 hours alone on I-70…don’t hate the playa, hate the game. I’ll stop to see friends along the way, and I’m generally antsy with excitement about my trip. It gives me time to truly soak in reflective thoughts–to let the lull of the road soothe me.
However, without a great playlist, I’m dead. If I don’t have a soundtrack for this trip, is it even worth taking? Yeah, yeah. Family. Celebrating the memory of my little brother. Reconnecting with old college friends. Those relationships mean a tremendous amount to me, but if I’m relegated to scanning radio stations throughout the drive, I won’t make it past Kansas.
My passion for good music spans multiple genres and vastly different musical eras. I want tunes that set the tone of a road trip. I need music that sparks an exhilarating joy of life–to feel cooler than I am, to let the stress of overthinking melt away. I’ve included five songs to start my playlist, transform me into a cool girl, and transport me to salty air and carefree ocean swims. Each is unique, and each holds a space in my heart.
“They Want EFX,” Das EFX (Dead Serious, Das EFX, 1992)
“So Peter Piper I’m hyper than Pinocchio’s nose
I’m the supercalifragilistic tic tac pro.”
–”They Want EFX,” Das EFX
First up with some old-school, lyrically genius rap…Das EFX. Hip hop duo Skoob and Dray self-produced Dead Serious, the album showcasing the hit single “They Want EFX,” and their gamble paid off. Das EFX wrote raps that made them the James Joyce of the 90s hip hop world. Well, in my opinion anyway. The duo has equal footing in their spitting of rhymes, and somehow, their stream-of-consciousness lyrics work.
