Five on Friday: Comedian and writer Anwar Newton

By Anwar Newton

I have an abusive relationship with music. When I say I can only listen to songs that make me feel something, that "something" is often not joy. I get a dopamine rush from listening to songs that remind me of the most brutal and emotional periods of my life. At 41, I have kind of enjoyed crying just as much as I love dancing unbound on a house music dance floor. So I wanted to share a few tracks that get me deep in my feelings. Some of those feelings somber; some of them based in nostalgia. I guess I enjoy reflecting with these songs playing in the next room.

'Come Back To Earth' by Mac Miller

The first track of an album comes with so much expectation. There's a tension and release as soon as the first seconds of an album's opening track begin. As far as album opening tracks go, Mac Miller's "Come Back To Earth" might be my favorite opening track of all time. A simple melodic opus to overthinking. It's something I come back to that feels like it's giving me permission to take a deep breath. The entire album "Swimming" is one hell of a final record for the late great Easy Mac. Kind of chilling as the final record, the posthumous albums are okay, but this, to me, feels like the real series finale. The later drops are like when Arrested Development came back for a 3rd season. Cool, I guess, but missing something magical.

'Cooties' by ScHoolboy Q

Quency Hanley, aka ScHoolboy Q, echoes the deeply intrapersonal struggles I always feel like I'm fighting in the opening verse of "Cooties". I always come back to this song because it very clearly comes from a place of persistence in the face of immense grief and feeling trapped by it. One of my favorite lines from his opening verse is "I know the feeling of being trapped by all the things that you build". I mean, the line alone makes the entire song. I feel like I get trapped in a limbo state when I hear it.

'One More Time' by Daft Punk

This goddamn song would come on in the Ultrazone arcade at Eastpoint Mall in Baltimore, Maryland, and it would make me freeze in place. I had to know what it was. And I'm in my 40s, so there was no fucking Shazam. You had to just remember a song and hum it at a Sam Goody cashier, hoping you could find it again. Or walk around with a tape recorder? And why would I walk around with a tape recorder? I was sixteen, for god's sake. It was impossible to find the name of a song in public, is what I'm saying. I would hang out at the music video TV until this song came on, and that's when I discovered Daft Punk, no pun intended.

'Massage Situation' by Flying Lotus

I have Adult Swim to thank for putting this song into my life, as well as countless other abstract, against-the-grain music that I love to this day. Yet another song that I had to scramble to discover who was behind it; the Shazam smartphone years were still half a decade away for me. I suppose this track helps transport me back to my cousin's kitchen table in Washington, DC, drawing while Adult Swim played in the background. It was a time when I created for myself, free from the shackles and nagging demands of social media and godforsaken monetization. I made shit for myself. I was the only person who mattered. Sometimes I forget that. This song is like a lighthouse that helps me return to myself.

'Devotion' by Earth, Wind & Fire

Ok, back to the tearjerkers. This song reminds me of my older sister who died in a car accident in 2022. She was not just a devout fan of EWF; she was a devotee of her own pursuits, always working herself to the bone to accomplish whatever she set out to do. She rarely got the help she deserved, and she left this stupid planet impoverished and struggling. So, I listen to this song not just to remember how much I miss my sister, but to remember that this world is actively trying to kill me if I let it. (Also, Maurice White was letting the pipes rip on this track, holy moly).

About Anwar:

Anwar Newton has been performing stand-up, writing and creating and hosting comedy events and storytelling in the Valley and beyond for a number of years.