The Required Readings playlist is a collection of recorded poetry - and music that feels like poetry - that has inspired my poetry journey over the past decade, but especially this year in making this book.

With a particular emphasis on Black artists, the playlist features Black women poets new and old from aja monet to the beloved Gwendolyn Brooks and Sonia Sanchez.

Then there’s some of modern hip-hop’s greatest wordsmiths like Kendrick Lamar - a longtime favorite of mine who directly inspired a few poems like “Accountability” and “7-18” - and Chance the Rapper, two artists who’s lyrical genius reads as poetry.

And then there’s the musicians who are poets, like Arlo Parks and Mustafa. The former, Parks, released a book “The Magic Border” comprised of poems and lyrics from her latest album “My Soft Machine”. The latter, Mustafa, most recently wore a vest that read “Poet” instead of the typical “Press” at his Tones x Colors performance as a protest of the genocide in Gaza.

These Black artists have influenced and inspired my work, and maybe they have or will inspire yours too.