Disclosures (vol. 1)- How Many? the Playlist Listening Guide

Disclosures Vol. 1: 

How Many? the Playlist Listening Guide

By: Polyamorous Black Girl/ Urfavfilosopher

Hi. Okay. So. Hi. Um. We did a thing, yeah?

We’d like to welcome you all to How Many? the Playlist. We’ve compiled/curated a list of songs that center a variety of non-monogamies among Black folks in the Americas--the ethical, the unethical, and the situationships in between--and we want to tell you about it!

Okay so the list ranges  from the 60’s (with Mary Wells’ “Two Lovers” in 1963) to present day (yall, heard “Entanglements” right?). It's 14 songs and 56 minutes of non-monogamous gold, by Black Artists across R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul and Funk. Got it? Okay cool.

So, peep the track order. We thought hard about whether we should opt for a chronological order? Thematic? Sonics? What we decided was to split the list based on the gendered perspectives of Black non-monogamy that the song represents. We also tried to achieve sonic cohesion (which is hard to do over 60 years, right?). Let us know if you fucks wit’ it.

On Monday’s we’ll publish Disclosures--a writing series that highlights our rationale for including a particular song on the list. Disclosures are also our social analyses on ethics, gender, race, and non-monogamies. The gag is, song Disclosures won’t mirror the order of the list. Dope, we know.

We hear you thinking, “What’s a song without a fire visual, tho?” Gotcha. That’s why on Saturday mornings we’ll wake up, have our coffee and tea, and meet you all for a discussion about how these songs’ represent Black non-monogamy visually. Something to look forward to on your Saturday mornings--like cartoons and cereal.

Oh, oh, oh,  and before we let you go,  we wanted to leave you with the lyrics for the list. We’ll need em in the coming weeks! Okay. BYE!

 PBG Peace Sign Emoji, and Urfav looking philosophically into the distance.

#TheHowManyCampaign

How Many? the Playlist

Lyrics:

1. The Boy is Mine- Brandy & Monica (1998)

2. My Little Secret- Xscape (1998)

3. Boyfriend #2- Pleasure P (2009)

4. They Don’t Know- Rico Love (2013)

5. The Weekend- Sza (2017)

6. Homegirl- Leven Kali (2020)

7. Entanglements- August Alsina (2020)

8. Song Cry- Jay Z (2001)

9. 3way- Teyana Taylor (2018)

10. Kevin’s Hart- J. Cole (2018)

11. My Girl Gotta Girlfriend- Ray Lavender (2007)

12. B.U.D.D.Y.- Musiq Soulchild (2007)

13. 1, 2, 3, (You, Her, and Me)- Rick James (1983)

14.Two Lovers- Mary Wells (1963)