Raise your hand if you have a hype song. You know, the kind of song that pumps you up, makes you feel good, confident, grateful, and motivated. Professional athletes are known to listen to their personal hype song before game time or have it blasted through arena speakers for spectators to hear and get hyped up, too.
I’ve been joyfully discovering my own hype songs to create a personal hype playlist. The bulk of the playlist consists of re-discoveries that have been around for years or decades. Some are top 40 songs that I mostly ignored unless I was in a nightclub dancing my heart out in my 20s. Others are songs that I sang along to while sitting in LA traffic (also in my 20s) but had long forgotten.
Then some songs are brand spanking new, and the connection is immediate. This was the case with the latest addition to my hype playlist: “End of the Road” by Noga Erez. Its rotation is strong, and I am so close to rapping along.
I was instantly captivated by her voice and dance-inducing beats and then swept off my feet when the song, led by her vocal styles, took me on different journeys between the chorus. I love the chorus…
"I don’t know what really, really happens at the end of the road
But my trip is mad
I ain’t finished, I got loads"
This song is all about hype, to me, at least. She owns her own hype, her destiny, whatever it holds. The unknown is just a starting point, or rather, a continuation of the ride she’s already on. And she’s doing it with a bit of humor, in her own style, and seemingly on her terms. I fell even harder when I saw the music video for it.
I shared with my husband that if I were in the fourth grade right now and watched Noga Erez in this video, I would think she was the coolest person in the world. It’s precisely how I felt when I first saw Gwen Stefani do her thing in “I’m just a girl.” Talk about a hype song! My mom can attest to the many hours I spent in my bedroom jumping around, belting my heart out (and feeling empowered as hell) to one of Southern California’s anthems of the year. So I suppose "I'm just a girl" is my original hype song.
It’s amazing how music can connect us to ourselves, transport us, and hype us up to have great moments and days. Great lives, even.
So listen closely. You might be listening to your next, or long-forgotten, hype song.
*** photo for Port of Raleigh of Lexon Tykho FM Radio and Bluetooth speaker.***
