Over the last several years, streaming services have normalized the notion that the function of music, and the algorithms that put it in front of us, is to cater to our moods. Kyshona, meanwhile, has made a thorough study of how music can serve deeper needs and speak to and for marginalized people. Her evolution as a conscious and confessional artist has been entwined with her past work as a music therapist and the songwriting nonprofit that she created during the pandemic. Highly regarded as a singer-songwriter and leader of a vocal trio in R&B, soul, folk and roots circles alike, she’s honed the ability to locate individual distinctness and dignity within the power of community. She created a playlist that spans hip-hop, Afrobeat, New Orleans funk, regal pop-R&B, searching singer-songwriter fare and plenty else, uniting vulnerable expression and rhythmic muscle alike as sources of musical sustenance.

As Kyshona put it, “From profound to swampy, poetic to gospel-esque, these songs allow me to move and embody the messages of self-love, justice, encouragement, and outright swagger. These songs are how I fill my cup energetically, lyrically, and emotionally.“