At Home With Brittany Howard: The Playlist

“One of the things that touch me the most about music is how every sound can inform you about what emotion I'm trying to convey in the song,” Brittany Howard tells Apple Music about coming up with ideas or sounds in the studio. “I think God's in the details. So going as far as why I chose to put this much reverb or delay on a snare drum has everything to do with making someone feel lonely or far away.” Howard puts as much consideration into the sequencing of her playlists, just like on this exclusive Apple Music playlist she curated, which features an eclectic mix of classic soul and R&B including Minnie Riperton, Ruby Johnson, Nina Simone, and one artist whom she considers one of the greatest storytellers. “I think Gil Scott-Heron really inspired me to just say what I know and do it the way that feels the most honest,” she says about the politically charged poet, represented here with his track “The Train From Washington.” “He is definitely a writer on the level of the human experience.”