Dope Rock: A Dissection ft. Vikram Mohan

The following guest post is written by 4th year U of T student, Vikram, sharing one of his favourite playlists - Dope Rock.

This playlist consists of 108 songs that represent my favourite songs that may fall into the rock & roll/alternative rock category. This playlist was created in 2016 after my first year of university. I was always a fan of alternative rock and punk rock, but never got into rock & roll legends like RHCP, Rolling Stone, The Beatles, etc. I listened to some of their songs in passing over the years. However, during 2016 I wanted to further explore the vast depths of the genre that dominated the music industry for decades. This playlist covers a vast range of artists that may be categorized into the broad genre of rock.

GOATS (Greatest Of All Times) on this Playlist

1. The Scientist - Coldplay

2. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

3. Cigarette Daydreams - Cage the Elephant

4. Feels like We’re Going Backwards - Tame Impala

5. Falling Down - Lil Peep, XXXTENTACION

There are several other songs that I love on this playlist, but these were some of my top five songs that I have been bumping to the most for the last few weeks. You can listen to this playlist when you’re driving in the car with your family, chilling with friends, or even by yourself when you’re commuting.

One of my favourites that was recently added to this playlist is Falling Down by Lil Peep & XXXTENTACION. It’s ironic that I really started listening to XXX and Lil Peep only after their passing and realized how accurate XXX was in saying “It's unfortunate because when people die, that's when we like 'em, you know? 'Cause your remorse kinda makes you check 'em out.” This is exactly how I felt when listening to this song for the first time not too long ago.

Turning the clock back, my favourite oldie added to the playlist is Imagine by John Lennon. It truly captures his wish and hopes for the future where there is peace, love, and harmony in the world. Simultaneously, he also suggests various ideas that were controversial and deemed dangerous to the way of thinking for American people and other people around the world.

“It's unfortunate because when people die, that's when we like 'em, you know? 'Cause your remorse kinda makes you check 'em out.” -XXXTENTACION

While the genre that I listen to the most is hip-hop, tracks from this playlist have always been some of my favourite music that I’ll ever listened to. This playlist has been a very important part of my life in the last few years as I can listen to different songs depending on the mood of the day and I hope you can too.

Hope you enjoy this playlist!