Talking Dope Shit with Annabelle Kline of ThatGoodShit

Words by Matthew Spence:

They love me. They love me not. They love me because they played Amindi. They love me not because they took away my aux privilege because I queued Tierra Whack in the Trap playlist. Oh hey! Didn’t see you there; don’t mind me. I’m just sitting here pondering on my shower thoughts and plucking away at these rose petals [don’t worry, they’re fake]. It hit me just like this thorn; there’s no bond stronger than between a music fan and their music plug. And I don’t mean plug like you’re setting up an MPC or someone that has shit that will get you at least 20 years in jail, but that source who always puts you on to new or old music, giving you a new discovery.

Put your hand up in a bucket full of paper like a raffle, and you can pick out so many avenues, publications, people, places, and faces we all individually have and go to for discovering new music. From an algorithm working a graveyard shift suggesting a gem of talent that barely has any streams but yet deserves more, to YouTube being generous and suggesting a deep-cut Tumblr-era pop song from 2012 to your sibling that always has aux privilege. Hell, you’re probably the friend who plays music for the homies. From platforms like magazines and content creators, many of us honestly have easy access to finding our favorite songs of right now; it’s where the dynamic between the two can get very one-sided, and some people can get a bit unappreciative and very ungrateful for these sources. Remember, finding dope music isn’t always easy; you know why we’re always trying to find Waldo because he’s out and about trying to find a new plug for music. Like business, you got to know people who know people who know the guy down the street, who knows Winston near 4th Ward Avenue, who knows some guy in an old phone book. But when you do find those reliable sources that constantly keep you in the bubble of what’s going on and what to know, we cherish it. Annabelle Kline has become that music plug for many.

 

 

Pick a card, any card, from her deck: music curator, DJ, manager, personality, interviewer. Annabelle is a jack of creative trades who you definitely have or eventually were bound to come across at some point in your algorithm. Many may know her from her DJ sets that have been lingering through your favorite venues and clubs [she’s an eight-time guest on The Lot Radio, Fuck SNL’s 5 Time Club], leaving people with two thumbs up and tired as fuck. But if you’re not much of a partygoer, you most likely know her or have seen her through IG and TikTok due to her consistently growing platform, ThatGoodShit. Showcasing the best of the best happening in hip-hop, R&B, and etc.

You’ve seen her interviewing an up-and-coming artist or with a walking legend among us. Plugging new music or keeping you posted on an event her platform is hosting or is a part of. Annabelle has been making her way through the music industry on her own wave of principles, and why not? If it ain’t broke, why fuck it up? Following her own way and focusing on what she enjoys is what got her to the height she’s reaching as of late. From a college graduate stressed in the pandemic about what’s next in the future, to a couple of years later, in 2023, she’s considered one of the “Top 50 Innovators Shaping Rap’s Next 50 Years” by Rolling Stone. It must do you like being in a dope whirlpool. A happy coincidence.

 

 

Annabelle, a California-born and raised gal, like everyone, grew up with a deep love of music, in part due to her father being a music lover. Ultimately, though, as time went on, she decided to keep her love of music in a realm of reality. Walking the trail between 2010s music and going through teenage life to the young adult world, Annabelle became enamored with music culture as it was doing a 360 loop around her. From hip hop, R&B, indie/bedroom pop, Tame Impala, Frank Ocean, and everything else in between.

Yet, partially due to imposter syndrome, she felt that even though her love ran deep, she felt that there was no place in the industry for her in any way. Opting out and enrolling in college, getting into the University of Oregon, and focusing on something else that also gave her satisfaction: Miss Mother Earth and environmental studies. Wait wait. Sorry… Sorry.

I’m looking for the remote; we’re getting into the 2020 portion, and we know what the fuck happened in the world. Let’s just fast forward a bit……….. Ok… HERE!!

<clears throat> Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Annabelle became a recent New Yorker after college and during the most dire time: pressures up, temperatures rising, difficulty finding a job in your field, and mental health probably on the rocks. But in good spirits and like everyone, she found her ways to stay sane and make the best of her circumstances. Have fun, listen to a s*** ton of music, and make TikToks on whatever she wants. In particular, though, her enjoyment of her favorite music. Little did she know this was the beginning of her story. As her “What His Favorite Artist Says About Him” series starts to go viral. Opening the floodgate of “NO FUCKING WAY” moments for her as cosigns and opportunities start to roll in.  As Time kept pushing forward, her online following grew, and she was getting more requests than a radio DJ for playlists and music recs.

 

 

Plenty of DMs about getting custom playlists, and their wish was her pleasure.

Like an infomercial, Annabelle had you covered:

Need a playlist for working out? She’s got the hookup.

A place for cooking and cleaning? She’s got you covered more than the average insurance company.

Study playlist? Check.

A playlist for your day in court? She’s probably got that too.

Dial 1-800 Good shit, yo (not a real number, btw; don’t call).

Eventually the bell kept ringing to the point it gave out, and you’d have to say “ding ding” yourself to keep it going. With traction getting pretty heavy on her videos about music, she decided to truly take in her confidence in her music taste and go all in and create her platform, ThatGoodShit, in 2021. 4 years deep in now, ThatGoodShit has expanded and embodies the group chat vibe of sharing music artists’ stupid events back and forth with each other (so to speak, at least). Annabelle built a community of musicgoers who stray away from wearing the capes of “Captain Snob” and masks of “SuperPretentious” but instead garner a following of people who are in it to see music win (shout-out to Zane Lowe). Celebrate the music, not be assholes about it.

 

 

Curating a weekly playlist that consists of what Annabelle and the TGS team are hoping changes your mood and day. To the live events with performances from heavy hitters in the scene or Aux battles in the Discord. Last but not least, the interviews with artists that highlight that if we were all around 20 years ago, Annabelle would have been a perfect fit as a VJ/host for TRL/MTV (fuck Carson Daly). But don’t just ask me; Teezo Touchdown sees the vision too.

 

 

 

 

 

But she wasn’t there for just a skit, but as an opener as well. Not her first time on tour with a legendary artist, and it will certainly not be her last time. Seeing the track list of all she’s accomplished, Annabelle is rightfully being championed to help keep the torch Gen Z has burning. As she keeps pushing forward her platform, and all for the better, transcending and reminding us that whether you play the hands you’re dealt or you change your cards, anything we want can happen, whether you go left, straight, or right, it’s tight to see!

“See,” that’s the secret word. Time for a bonus round.

Now time for a mini eye exam; fun, right?

Follow the red laser beam up and down, left and right. I promise to move it as slowly as I can. Do you see the beam here on the wall? Okay. Do you see it on the ceiling? Good. Follow the beam to the very big pink elephant in the room; she’s a white hip-hopper. Some of you reading this probably said out loud, “No shit, the sky is up,” and others are thinking, “Okay… does that matter?” And to the latter question, no, it doesn’t to an extent.

Now, more than ever, white hip-hop fans are controversial and points of contention when it comes to hip-hop discourse and unfold so many subcategories of conversations: gatekeeping, cultural insensitivity, lack of social and racial awareness, and so much more shit that couldn’t fit in a file cabinet.

 

 

Sure, I myself, and me, have gone on record about my dislike for white hip-hop heads (for the most part) and why I have a point of contention with them. However, if side A was the chapter of confrontation for those who don’t get the memo, then this side B is a chapter for appreciation, as Annabelle is the antithesis of what gives white hip hop fans a bad reputation. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to tell her to her face: nigga was on the clock, she had to get ready for her set, she knows the deal.

With a red pen, she checks off important and great attributes.

-Awareness of your environment and privilege
-Never gets too comfortable and oversteps her boundary/voice
-Accept and take criticism instead of being defensive
-Tries her best to understand and learn from the culture while being aware she can’t completely 100%

Now I’m not going to be phony. Full transparency. When I heard about ThatGoodShit a couple of years back, I thought, “Yay, nothing like a hip-hop and R&B publication ran by a white person.” Annabelle isn’t naive to that reality; in fact, she’s completely okay, understanding, and accepting that that’s going to split hairs with many. In our convo, stating, “I think that any white person profiting off of Black culture and music deserves people to be critical of them, and if you’re going to do it, I think you should do it in the most conscientious way possible, so I’m trying my best.”

But my usual jolt of cynicism wore off after a while, and the more time I spent following the platform, Annabelle, I saw someone with a deep admiration and appreciation for the music and the culture they’re surrounded by and a platform not only honoring that but also attracting different walks of existences to join hand in hand and enjoy not only hip-hop but also all kinds of music. She praises her favs out, not thumbs down her disappointments. “I think that self-awareness extends to knowing what you should and should not speak on.” Continuing, “I think a big part of my platform is I only focus on uplifting music I love and not criticizing because I feel when white people come in and start criticizing hip hop in a certain way and you don’t have that experience of being a Black person…it’s like I think that’s kind of weird personally.” Annabelle is for the cause and not offended if people are cautious of her, cause at the end of the day, everything surrounding her publication, her, and so on and so forth centers around a true connection and enjoyment. Gracious, not malicious.

She doesn’t just talk about it; she tries to be about it, ultimately showcasing an overall love of the art, winning the respect of many. From her countless interviews of music’s finest: J.I.D., Doechiii, Westside Gunn, Leon Thomas, Saba, etc., and upcoming artists. From her TikToks/videos showcasing related discoveries and her fandom of samples to managing talented hip-hop artist Diz to her ever-progressing DJing career and getting the party turnt up and out… Cause that’s what it’s all about. Luckily for me, I got the chance to meet, chat, and ask Annabelle questions in a rare in-person interview in New Haven, CT (because, motherfucker, I don’t be going outside like that) before a DJ set for OnandOn Radio. Asking about her stuff. Cool shit, dope shit, fun shit, meaningful shit. ThatGoodShit you could say? Am I right?

 

 

Since time is passing and a lot of our favorite albums we were around to witness are officially turning 10, 15 years old, etc., what’s it like aging with music, and how do you feel about it?

I think aging with music is really cool because I feel like even music you’ve been listening to for 10 years—I feel the context of it changes as you get older. Like there are so many albums that I listen to now, maybe 10 years after the release, like, for example, Currents by Tame Impala, and it means so many different things to me versus then, when I first heard it when I was 16, so yeah. So I think aging with music is beautiful because new meanings can be revealed as you get older, you know, so I think it’s cool.

How do you balance and give all your creative priorities equal attention without neglecting the others?

For me, it’s very important. I have a far from perfect balance. I’m always working on trying to perfect my balance. I really just try to follow my intuition and my natural energy levels and my natural inspiration, like whatever aspects of my work are most interesting for me, I lean into it the most, and I’m trying to be better at, like, if there’s something I need to put on the back burner a bit. I just have to learn to be okay with it because I’m only one person; I can’t do everything. So yeah, for me, I think that that balance looks like knowing what my priorities are. Being very organized when I’m juggling a lot of different things and just making sure I have a good schedule and to-do list and allowing myself to just lean into what I’m feeling most inspired to do at that particular time and trusting in that I’ll be able to get everything I need to get to in time as long as I’m focused and disciplined

How much of ThatGoodShit do you keep for yourself? Are there any moments where you prefer to just enjoy and keep your discovery to yourself? “Gatekeep,” for lack of a better word.

I wouldn’t say I gatekeep for myself because if there’s music I’m excited about, I’ll probably want to share it, but there is music I listen to that I just feel might not be a fit for ThatGoodShit, like a lot of my listenings are nostalgia stuff from my childhood that I don’t think ThatGoodShit wants to hear. “Oh, Sugarland music I used to listen to, corny country pop I used to listen to when I was growing up.” I wouldn’t say I necessarily gatekeep. I think ThatGoodShit has a specific voice that I try to adhere to when I share, but I want to say I keep it. If there’s music I listen to that fits in for ThatGoodShit, I’m going to share, but there’s some listening that’s just personal to me that I don’t think really fits the voice of ThatGoodShit.

When touching grass and embracing reality, finding Peace of mind: does the music stop, or do you keep it playing?

I feel like I never get tired of listening to music. Even when I’m taking a vacation or when I’m in nature, I always love having a soundtrack, but especially in recent years, I always love and appreciate some good silence. I’m in this era of trying to consume less media and dig deeper into my own mind and kind of just find more comfort and silence and comfort in my inner monologue, so I do have times where I wake up in the morning and be in silence for an hour, or I’d go on a hike, and I do it in silence sometimes. I’m not listening [to music], and I listen to a podcast, so there aretimes where I turn off the music.

With that in mind, how long in the morning do you go before looking at and checking your phone?

I go through different phases. At my best, I try to go like 30 minutes to an hour in the morning without going to my phone. I think Kanye was the one who said, “It’s been the first hour of your day off your phone; that’s when all the creativity happens,” so I tried to keep to that, so I try not to scroll when I wake up, but realistically, on an average day, it’s about 15 to 20 minutes after I wake up is when I first be on my phone.

What’s been your philosophy in life as of late?

My most recent philosophy has been to dig deeper; that’s been a revelation I’ve had as late. I was really depressed for the last couple of months, very low energy, and not feeling it, and then I had this revelation that I need to dig deeper in everything I do. I feel like I want to find deeper meaning in my life, deeper meaning within all aspects of my life when I’m trying to find joy in the time of absence of joy. I try to dig deeper in myself and everything I’m doing, so that’s my philosophy as of late. It’s helped me feel so much better.

Dig deeper in what way, may I ask? With that in mind, how did you manage to keep working while depressed, and how did you overcome it?

Luckily, even when I’m struggling with depression, I still love what I do, and it’s one of the few things in my world that brings me true joy, and I have to make money, so I’ll be even more depressed if I can’t even pay my rent. So I’m still going to get up and do this fucking work, which usually means I’m working a little less and sleeping a little bit more, putting things off and being a bit behind. I’ve always been a naturally driven person, so even when I’m struggling with those kinds of things, I manage to get some level of work done.

[Question B] I’ve been wanting to consume less media and dig deeper in my mind, so like, okay, “I’m getting ready to eat this meal,” and instead of watching YouTube videos, look out the window and eat and think. When I’m writing out interview questions like “Ok, I have these questions, but can I take it a step deeper, analyze deeper, and think deeper?” I just wanna reach a new level of intentionality.

 

 

You lived in Cali, lived in Oregon for school, and now you live in New York. Will you complete the geographical map and live in the south?

Yeah, I think I can live in Atlanta. I’d love to live in Atlanta at some point; it’s one of my favorite cities. I think it’s the only place in the South I’ve lived, though.

If you want to make a TGS compilation album, who would you want on it, and who would you try to get on it?

I feel like it would have to be a roster of artists part of the ThatGoodShit community. I definitely want to involve artists who showed love to the platform, definitely artists like Ovrkast, Vayda, WHATMORE, Kaicrewsadle, etc.!

Selfish or selfless: get an exclusive TGS interview with Frank Ocean, and he exclusively plays you his TBA album, or get all of Odd Future to reunite to play Oldie one more time?

I’ll pick that Frank Ocean out for sure, absolutely! I’m going to be selfish; I need that so bad, and no one would ever know it happened. Like, I wouldn’t even tell my best friend or my boyfriend; I’d keep it so under wraps.

With TGS constantly growing, how do you navigate being a good white hip-hop head, and what are some mental notes you’ve taken over the course?

Yeah, I thought about this a lot. Since the beginning, being very aware of my position as a white woman in hip-hop. I think it comes down to a few things that are very important. One is being open to criticism, not taking it personally, and just learning from that and getting better, constantly educating myself as I can on, like, history and what’s going on now, and in general, like, being as kind as I possibly can and just being understanding. Yeah, I definitely had moments in my career where I may have misstepped or made a mistake, and I’m very grateful for my community, who’s always good and holds me accountable when it does happen, so I can learn from it next time. Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve seen my work, and my love for hip hop is incredibly pure and has been part of my life since I can remember, so I tried to be as responsible and respectful as I could but also know I have room to grow as well.

How have you grown as a creative and overall person since this journey?

I feel like this work has forced me to grow a ton. I feel like I’m such a different person from when I started. I feel like I’ve learned a lot of self-awareness. I feel like I’ve learned what it means to have integrity and stand on business and stand on your morals. I feel that’s an important part of my journey that I’ve grown with a lot. I also think another big lesson I’ve learned is just patience, and know when to let go. At the beginning of my journey, I was grinding so hard and wanted to make every opportunity happen. I didn’t want to drop any balls or make mistakes, but I’ve learned that it’s okay to make mistakes and fall behind. It’s okay to fail. I actually got this book, “No Straight Road Takes You There,” that’s like the biggest lesson I’ve learned about the ups and downs—things aren’t going to be perfect.

What DJ transition of yours makes the crowd pop?

A transition that’s been really going crazy for me recently is the JT “Ran Out” (Kaytranada remix) into Shake It to The Max with Long Way to Go by Cassie.

Doing TGS, who are you the most starstruck by?

Doechii!!! I freaked the f*** out when I met her; it was such a surreal moment.

Future plans

There’s a lot of future plans! Me and the team are trying and thinking of doing a small West Coast tour at the end of the year, which could be cute. I’m definitely going back to Camp Flog Gnaw to cover for ThatGoodShit; it’s my favorite time of the year teaming up with my friends at this company, “BigAssKids,” for this top secret project we’re rolling out, but I can’t share it now, but you’ll see soon! Then tons of cool artist interviews are on the way. ThatGoodShit is thinking about launching a Patreon, which will be cool; more content; working on launching a podcast; and lots of more cool, fun stuff on the way!

 

Add more to your variety pack and follow ThatGoodShit and Annabelle if you want a bomb ass rotation!