Harper's Bazaar: The Playlist

If fashion and music go hand in hand—and of course they do—then think of playlists like a wardrobe, personally curated and deeply reflective of the wearer’s lifestyle, outlook and more. This particular one shows the eclectic stylings of singer-producer-instrumentalist Dev Hynes, also known as Blood Orange, the musical director of the November issue of iconic fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, which is producing a series of playlists with different musicians, available only on Apple Music. Here, Hynes highlights cuts by a wide range of icons and iconoclasts, from 1970s R&B legend Minnie Riperton to 1980s house pioneer Mr. Fingers to Duke Ellington collaborator Billy Strayhorn. “I’m pretty erratic,” he says of his tastes. “I've been really jumping all around.” The playlist features a subtle theme of firsts, which Hynes says he “really tried to touch on [from] every angle I could think of”, whether boundary-breaking pioneers, new beginnings or first-time feelings. “I picked ‘Behold That Star’, by Marian Anderson, because she was the first Black opera singer to solo at the Met,” he explains. “‘Blue Sky and Yellow Sunflower’, by Susumu Yokota, feels like spring, or a new day. And ‘It Must Be Love’, by Labi Siffre, feels like first love.” With each issue of Harper’s Bazaar, this playlist will update with picks by their latest musical director, so stay tuned.