Rishi Giri
Timeline of Music In My Life

Over time, my taste of music has drastically changed. Iā€™ve spent my childhood listening to the songs on the radio and tape recorder, most of them were awesome Hindi songs, and only a couple of them were English, for example, Smack That and Dangerous by Akon. I think it was 2008 when I first listened to it.

Iā€™ve got a Playlist on YouTube where I add hindi songs from the past (2003 - 2011) which are probably long forgotten but comes to my mind once in a while. Spotify doesnā€™t have all the songs, so I moved to YouTube for this playlist - Bollywood 2003-2011

In around 2012-2013, I mostly listened to Punjabi and some Hindi songs, at that time Honey Singh was a sensation, and his songs were extremely catchy. Let it be Dope Shope, Jatt Soorme, or High Heels etc, nearly all the songs he made before 2013 were addictive, and you could listen to them all day. I didnā€™t care about the lyrics. I enjoyed his songs. Thereā€™s one great thing about Honey Singh - his music is never trash. I wonā€™t say the same thing for the lyrics as the quality of his work gradually deteriorated over time, but you can literally dance on vast majority his songs.

Time passed, and taste changed. Between 2013-2014, I donā€™t precisely remember what I used to listen. The glimpses Iā€™ve in my mind tells me that everything was a mix, probably a little bit of Hindi, English, and Punjabi. A few songs that are coming to my mind right now are - Applause, Just Dance, Emptiness, Satisfya, Animals etc.

I shifted from songs to raps in the almost-mid of 2014, during the summer vacations. Iā€™m not sure how it happened, but I somehow found The Way I Am by Eminem, and it changed everything.

During this phase, I also discovered some legit rappers from India, and Naezy was one of them. My favourite. I memorized the verses of his Rastey Kathin, Aafat, and Sabse Hatkar so that I can rap along. Meanwhile, I wrote down the lines of The Way I Am in my copy so that I can memorize it, as well, and I did. ā€œI sit back with this pack of Zig-Zagā€™s and this bagā€¦ā€

Slowly, I started to lose my touch from Hindi music. Itā€™s not that I didnā€™t like listening to it, but I enjoyed rap music way more than anything. I just used to listen to Eminem, and I stuck with him for a long time, then, somehow I found Speedom, through which, I got to know about Tech N9ne. I tried listening to Tech but always felt like Iā€™m missing something. World Wide Choppers and So Dope are the only two songs of TechN9ne other than Speedom which Iā€™ve enjoyed.

Speedom was so hardcore that I tried to memorize its lines, and I did. Although my flow was nowhere close, but it felt good to rap along.

Listening to Eminem opened another portal, and in 2015, I came to know about Tupac (via Black Cotton), Royce Da 5ā€™9 (via Bad Meets Evil Album), Yelawolf (via Twisted), Lil Wayne (via Drop the World), Drake (via Forever), 50 Cent (via You Donā€™t Know) etc.

I did not listen to all the artists for a long time, but I listened to the vast majority of their songs, I still have their discographies, but I occasionally play their songs to refresh the memories. During this time, I was extensively listening to Linkin Park, as well.

Royce Da 5ā€™9 was extremely underrated back then. Iā€™m not sure about the current time. Heā€™s one of the rappers I genuinely like. Iā€™m not a fan of Drake, Lil Wayne, or 50 Cent.

2016 happened, and I was deeply in love so I donā€™t remember what I listened used to listen, but I was definitely stuck on rap music. Later, my ex introduced me to Sia, and I played Titanium on loop for a week. Tried to sing it as well, as I was asked to, but it was a big mistake. Iā€™m a terrible singer, but she could sing though. She was a good singer.

During the winter of 2016, I stumbled upon Empty by Ray LaMontagne, and I loved it. The reason for my affection towards this song was its lyrics and Rayā€™s voice. Itā€™s so beautiful and poetic that you can imagine the characters, the environment, the time, and the whole song in your mind. I had no idea that Ray will become one of my favorite artists.

" She lifts her skirt up to her knees
 Walks through the garden rows
With her bare feet laughing "

In 2017, I got introduced to NF through Paralyzed. Downloaded his 2014ā€™s EP which had songs like All I Have, Wake Up, Hands Up, Just Being Me etc. Then I moved to his other albums like Mansion (Intro, Turn the Music Up, Notepad) and Therapy Session (How Could You Leave Us, Intro 2, Grindinā€™), both albums were masterpiece. If I remember correctly - Mansion had 12 songs and Therapy Session had 14, and all the songs were absolutely genius. I loved NF, his style, and the way he talked about everything. I still listen to him. Later he released his new album Perception, and I donā€™t think it disappointed anyone. NF is a genius. He can not make bad songs.

Hopsin was another hardcore artist I listened to in 2017. Found him through TechN9ne, and the song was Rip Your Heart. Let it be the Proud Syndrome, No Shame, Raw, Haywire, or Knock Madness, Iā€™ve listened to all the songs from all his albums. Ill Mind of Hopsin is a genius series. The Seventh part is my favorite.

Music-wise, 2018 was a year when I listened to the variety of bands and artists. I donā€™t precisely remember how I found them, but it was worth it. A few names that are coming to my mind right now are Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Guns Nā€™ Roses, Rolling Stones, and AC/DC.

Iā€™m sure there were more, but I at this point, Iā€™m not able to recall the names.

Coming to 2019, a year which tried to kill me almost every day. I have no idea what I did in 2019. An unproductive year with no actual progress, at all. It was the first time I hated myself. Iā€™ve written everything here. Itā€™s just one of the few things that Iā€™ve talked about that made my life miserable.

Along with the disease, I was dealing with a lot of stress, anxiety, panic attacks, terrible dreams that made me wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, and long-term headaches. Iā€™ve never talked about these things to anyone, and currently, I donā€™t feel alright talking about it in detail. The reason I mentioned it is that miserable time brings good music in life, and they get to stay for a long time with you. The same thing happened to me.

Iā€™m going to try my best to remember the bands and singers I listened to, and Iā€™ll mention their songs which comes first in my mind.

Category I

Category II

Category III

These are the names that just came to my mind. Itā€™s obvious that the list is not limited to these bands/singers, but itā€™s hard for me to remember all the names, as I listened to 100s of other artists. What Iā€™ve mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg.

Finally, coming to 2020. Music-wise, this year has been incredibly fantastic. I started listening to the vast majority of singers/band whom I had almost forgotten. Along with that, I also discovered tonnes of outstanding artists.

Iā€™m not going to mention all the artists and their songs. Iā€™ve put the links to all of my Spotify playlists down below. To stream directly, visit the Music page on Zen.


ā–³


Writing this post was a roller coaster ride of emotions. It was not easy for me to think of all the music that has been part of my life, but Iā€™ve tried to do justice with what Iā€™ve mentioned.

Iā€™m 1000% sure that Iā€™ve missed a lot of songs from the past, but itā€™s okay. Hopefully, if something will hit me again, Iā€™ll add it to the playlist. There will be no further updates on this post anytime soon.