A new year is upon us, and with that comes a new chance to renew your music taste. Maybe you’re looking to add something to your repertoire. Maybe you want to find the next big thing. Or maybe you just want everyone to see your next Airbuds report and think you’re the coolest person on Earth. If there are any of these things you want to achieve, the Dragon Tribune is here to supply all of your music-related needs with a selection of songs we think will enhance your 2025-26 school year.
This playlist is my life soundtrack. It doesn’t have one specific vibe, which correlates with my ever-changing emotions. Sometimes I channel my inner Kat Stratford and blast Green Day, leaning into that unbothered cool-girl vibe. Sometimes I need a song that sounds like pure sunshine and makes me dance. Both of which (and some in-between) can be found on this playlist.
This playlist, following themes of change and discovery, encapsulates the most confusing of human emotions. Bouncing between nostalgia and hope for the future, these songs feel like moving on from something familiar and seeing things from a different perspective. Mellow, introspective and ultimately hopeful, this playlist is a great listen for when life feels overwhelmingly unpredictable.
I think that the start of the school year is really enjoyable until it gets really stressful. I really like to listen to sadder music because it helps you get depressed enough to motivate you to study instead of skipping class and daring to have fun. Life will get better in the spring semester.
Music is beautiful to me, and I’d like to think this playlist captures that charm. Whether it’s dexterous bars from the world’s best rappers (think “Gamma (need the <3)” by underground rap luminary Earl Sweatshirt), beautifully layered electronic beats that pulsate within your veins (like “Dubby” by footwork legends DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn), the funkiest jazz, soul and R&B cuts you’ll find (see “MmmHmm” by renowned beatmaker Flying Lotus and illustrious bassist Thundercat) or indie bangers that resonate with any adventurous teen (like “Back and Forth” by Washington D.C. outfit The Dismemberment Plan), there’s one thing that all of the tracks on this playlist have in common, and that’s their ability to make you want to get up and groove, to soundtrack the high points and cope with the low points.
playlist shows the diversity of each person’s music taste, with what they enjoy listening to. Music allows me to focus, whether that is before a soccer game, while studying, or doing school work; it allows me to be present in the current moment. Everyone has a different taste in music, which is one of my favorite ways to get to know someone, because I believe it shows off your personality. I believe I am a very calm person, which is why I chose such slow songs, because I like to take life one step at a time.
Sometimes you just need a playlist to sing to with your friends, and this playlist is it from me. This playlist follows a calm vibe to a more dance vibe to fit my mood in the moment. It is there when I just need to have a sweet and soft vibe, or I need a pump up.
All the songs on my playlist are some of my favorite songs to sit down and decompress. I have so many thoughts throughout the day that sometimes I just need to put my AirPods on, listen to them and relax. This playlist will drift away your anxiety quickly. It’s my own special way of meditating.
This playlist has a lot of focus on the teenage experience and the purity of being our age, in a state of potentially endless freedom and happiness. It sounds like how it would feel to go to a creek with your friends or take stupid Instagram pictures, hugely focused on the small moments we will always miss.
I chose these songs because they remind me of my home in Brazil, they bring me happiness and relax me. Listening to these songs makes my day better. It reminds me of sunny days, at the beach, with family and friends.
I chose these songs because I sometimes stumble upon random songs at like 2 a.m., and I just kinda vibe with them. So I pretty much listen to songs that aren’t well-known, so I want to spread the word of these obscure or lesser-known songs. Sometimes there will be rainy days where you’re feeling Title Fight, sometimes there will be summer nights where you’re feeling Feersum Enjin and maybe there will be some winter days where you’re feeling Abandon Pools.
These songs reflect some of my favorites growing up, as well as the tunes that were stuck in my head this summer. They are all relatively well-known, since most of the music I listen to comes from the radio when I’m in the car–something I have been called out on, but I am in the process of branching out in terms of my music taste.
To hear all of the Tribune’s best picks, go to our Spotify page here.
Playlist graphics by Tatum Stewart
