Today, The Root launches its new weekly podcast, “It’s Lit,” that centers Black literature and will feature some of the culture’s best and brightest authors. The podcast is hosted by The Root’s editor-in-chief, Danielle Belton, and The Glow Up’s managing editor, Maiysha Kai. To celebrate the launch, we’re dropping a playlist full of our favorite storytelling jams. Because why? Because it’s lit. Get it? Of course you do.
“It’s Lit” (9/25/2020)
Maiysha Kai
Sarah Vaughan “I Could Write a Book”
Oddisee feat. Nick Hakim “Book Covers”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions “Every Day I Write the Book”
Love “My Little Red Book”
Slick Rick “Children’s Story”
Prince “Ballad of Dorothy Parker”
Angie Stone “Life Story”
Stevie Wonder “As If You Read My Mind”
Jerry Butler “I Could Write a Book”
Gladys Knight “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”
Earth, Wind & Fire “I’ll Write a Song for You”
Danielle Belton
Amerie “1 Thing”
Luther Vandross “Never Too Much”
PJ Rickards
Scarface “Now I feel ya”
Calypso Rose “Calypso Blues’
Johnny Cash “The Mercy Seat”
Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”
Jay Connor
The Notorious B.I.G. “Warning”
Nas “Rewind”
Redman “Soopaman Luva 3”
Kendrick Lamar “How Much a Dollar Cost”
Pharaohe Monch “Queens”
Anne Branigin
A Tribe Called Quest “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo”
Aretha Franklin “The Weight”
Outkast “West Savannah”
Mos Def “Ms Fat Booty”
Elton John “Rocket Man”
Lauryn Hill “Zion”
Lost Boyz “Renee”
Panama Jackson
Lupe Fiasco “Alan Forever”
Father John Misty “Ballad of a Dying Man”
Wyclef “To All The Girls”
Jidenna “White Niggas”
Pete Rock & CL Smooth “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)“
Geto Boys “Minds Playin’ Tricks On Me”
Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day”
Mobb Deep “Trife Life”
Michael Harriot
Ice Cube “Gangsta Fairy Tale”
Bill Withers “I Can’t Write Left Handed”
Gladys Knight “You’re Number One In My Book”
Jay-Z “The Story of O.J.”