Freshman Year

Song: "Molasses"

Artist: Hiatus Kaiyote

Story: At the end of my freshman year studying music in LA, I met up with a friend to hang and play music in one of the small brightly lit practice rooms provided for us by the school. My friend and I had become close over the year, bonding over many things, including our love for R&B and artists like Prince, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. After spending some time catching up, singing and playing, he asked me if I'd heard of a group called "Hiatus Kaiyote." I immediately said no but that it was the most interesting band name I'd ever heard. He then quickly grabbed his computer opening up Spotify and searched for a song called "Molasses," a song that went on to define the rest of my time at school and began a serious obsession with this incredible group. As soon as I heard Nai Palm's voice I felt like a whole new world of music had opened up for me. Never had I heard such a complex, interesting and soothing song like this. I didn't fully grasp what the song was even about lyrically, yet there was so much energy and emotion I felt in the instrumentation and her voice. As the song worked its way through the breakdown and then into the final chorus, I was fully entranced by all of Nai Palm's riffs, ad libs and interesting rhythms. As she made her way through the song's final line, I felt out of breath and completely stunned by what I'd heard. And I couldn't wait to hear it again.