By Alexis Dalton
Junior Cleo Wynn “couldn’t tell you” what her first favorite song was, but she thinks it could have been River Lea by Adele.
On the other hand, she had no trouble telling me her top five favorite songs of all time. Cleo smiled as she took a deep breath and said, “I’ve been waiting all my life for this question.”
Seconds later she’d rattled off:
Self Control – Frank Ocean
Come Back To Earth – Mac Miller
Congratulation – Mac Miller
Always – Daniel Caesar
Good Days – SZA
Though she discovered most of the songs on her own, her friend Jamison’s dad is her music mentor. “He plays music at his house 24/7 and I have to [use] Shazam to know [the songs],” Cleo said. Cleo’s dad has also introduced her to some songs, like Smile by V. Bozeman and Timbaland.
When she isn’t jamming out to oldies in Jamison’s house, Cleo listens to most of her music in her room, using Spotify to play Frank Ocean and Brent Faiyaz out loud. Sometimes she likes to go old school and listen to one of her six vinyls, but she doesn’t veer away from her online music often. “My brother kinda stole them from me,” referencing her vinyls as she explained why she sticks to Spotify.
Frank Ocean is a constant in her musical life. Cleo and I are good friends, and whenever she has aux in the car, I’m always prepared for at least five “Frank” songs (apparently they are on a first-name basis).
Cleo’s music taste leans toward R&B, but there is one exception: Country singer Zach Bryan. “I love Zach Bryan,” she said. “I have a weird obsession with his music.” Her top favorite songs by him are Dawns and I Remember Everything.
Cleo’s musical soul sisters (or brothers in this case) are Talen Frett and CJ Cooper. They were sitting with us while we were talking and they agreed that the three of them “like the same stuff” as it pertains to music.
As you can imagine, Cleo has been to a plethora of concerts. Her favorite ones were Kendrick Lamar, The Lumineers at Shaky Knees music festival, and, her most recent concert, Brent Faiyaz. “It was life-changing,” Cleo told me and my friends the next morning at school. We all laughed at the video on her Snapchat story of her crying while singing to his songs at the concert.
To finish our conversation, I asked Cleo if she had any final thoughts about anything music-related. She thought for a second and said, “I would sell an arm to bring Mac Miller back… wait no, a leg,” she corrected herself. “I need my arms, I don’t need legs.”
