I want to ask you a question.
If you had to pair a classic album with one of your favorite books, what would your choices be?
Do you have it? Good. How did you choose?
Did you just go and pick your favorite book and favorite album Or did you pick two pieces of works in which you saw some connection?
Did you think of similar names like "The Color Purple" and "Purple Rain?" Or “Songs in the Key of Life” with “Song of Solomon?”
Maybe you went deeper, looking for thematic tissue or DNA that revealed a kinship between the two works. Perhaps in reading the “Autobiography of Malcolm X,” you hear the inner city blues and personal turmoil reverberating through “What’s Going On." Or, in hearing India Arie’s soulful tribute to self-love and black beauty in “Acoustic Soul,” paired with “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
If you think you haven’t read enough books or listened to enough albums to make a choice, you’re most important.
I founded Lit.Spins when I realized the power and thrill in recognizing recurring themes I experienced whenever I picked up a book or album. Reading Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” not too long after graduating college and moving all the way to California from NY inspired me, but that wasn’t the “A-Hah” moment. It was when I listened to Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” for the first time soon after and how vividly I envisioned “The Alchemist’s” messages self-worth and perseverance, which strongly shaped how I perceived the album.
With Lit. Spins, I want others to have a similar experience.