Jasika Nicole’s playlist

The end is here. After 5 seasons, Fringe, J.J. Abrams’ mind-blowing sci fi series, will bow out on its 100th episode.

The Emmy-nominated saga followed an obscure branch of the FBI known as the Fringe Division, a mad scientist and his son, as they investigated the weird and unexplained.

Alabama native, Jasika Nicole, starred as agent Astrid Farnsworth alongside Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble.

While this is good-bye for Astrid, here is an opportunity to get better acquainted with the woman behind the role through her playlist.

“I steered away from including my favorite popular artists like Erykah Badu, Frank Ocean, Miguel, and St. Vincent, because so many people know how amazing their creations are already,” Jasika says. “Instead I thought I would focus on some of my all time favorites in addition to some more obscure musicians.”

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Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe – Kendrick Lamar

“I have never been interested in much hip hop or rap, because my biggest joy in listening to music is being able to sing along with it, and you are not afforded that ability much with this particular genre of music. However, Kendrick Lamar’s album Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is an exception to the rule, and was one of the first rap albums in a long time that made me want to pay attention to every single lyric. He is an incredibly gifted story teller, but the beats of his music are just as prolific and his words, and sometimes pretty haunting. It was hard to pick just one song from this album, but this one was my mantra for 2012.”

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Every Part – Emily King

“This woman’s voice has been one of my favorites for so long, and if I was a good songwriter, I would want to write songs like the ones on this from her EP titled Seven. I have never had the privilege of seeing her perform live, but I hope I get a chance someday. So far, I have never been able to successfully listen to just one of her songs by itself. When one rolls up on my iPod, I have to go back and play the entire EP, without fail.”

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It Goes Deep – Debra Jean and the Means

“I got to see this Canadian woman perform live with her band while I was living in Vancouver. Apparently she used to be a member of a pretty successful band called Mother Mother, and then she broke out on her own and I am so happy that she did. Debra Jean has one of those voices that knocks you backwards when she lets it go all the way, and I am so impressed by people who have such strong voices with enough control to keep it from overpowering the rest of the music. As intense as Debra Jean’s voice is, her band is equally unbelievable. They had a hard rock/jazzy/psychedelic vibe going on when I saw them live, and I played this short album repeatedly for weeks.”

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Anew – Little Dragon

“Choosing just one song of Little Dragon is like asking me to choose my favorite cast member from Fringe. Every song is so unique and complex and perfect that they can’t even compete with each other. But I chose this one because I saw them perform live, and they played a 20 minute version of this song that remains to this day one of the most mind blowing musical experiences I have ever had. I don’t have many cathartic experiences like that with music because I am usually singing too hard to pay attention to what else is happening, so this stands out for me. Every time I hear it, I get goose bumps cause I remember how shocking it was to see and hear Yukimi Nagano wailing to this, and she has a drummer that destroys everything he beats on. In a good way. Such a good band that performs such great shows!

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The Book I Read – Talking Heads

“This is another band with music that is pretty impossible to whittle down to just one favorite, but I recently alluded to it in a comic I am writing, so I thought it would be a good place to start. I grew up listening to Talking Heads because my dad was such a big fan. I listened to pretty much everything they made from the mid to late 80s and after, including that weird album where they just wrote songs and got other bands to sing them not as well as they would have, and some of David Byrne’s solo stuff, which I really love. But anyways, it was only as an adult that I stumbled across this album 77, an album I had either never heard before, or had heard and forgotten because I was too young. It blows me away mostly because it’s got such a different production quality and vibe than some of their other stuff that I was more familiar with growing up. 77 is kind of ground down to the purest sound they have, and it is so excellent. I am glad I was an adult when I heard this album for the first time because it was kind of like being reintroduced to them.”

Posted by Marc Andrew on Jan 18 2013. Filed under Celebrity Playlist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.