Mixtape Theme: Aspects of Love in a variety of ways

 Mixtape Theme: Aspects of Love in a variety of ways

May 1, 2025

Amaryia Adams

Dr. Harris

ENGL 65125

Introduction 

This mixtape focuses on aspects of love, meaning betrayal within marriage and  friendships, marriage in general, infidelity, karma, and  friendships. This mixtape's primary text is “Sula” by Toni Morrison, which is about a friendship of 2 girls who grow into women, and their friendship is tested in many ways. They grew up in a society that was very traditional and had expectations of men and women. Sula would be the one to go against the norms, but Nel goes along with societal expectations. Each track is a different representation of either love,betrayal, infidelity, marriage, etc. Not only do I talk about the love within friendships, but also the love from a mother. These topics tie into the overall message and key takeaways from the book.

Track List and Connections

“Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys

Connection– Alicia's point of this song is about female empowerment and her ability to be resilient and overcome adversity in a world where she felt like was on fire. I connect this song with Sula because she was in a world where she didn't want to conform to their expectations they had for women. If you think about this on a deeper level, you can see that Sula got talked about because of her decisions, but that shouldn’t have happened all because she didn't want children and a husband. She was basically the only one who made it very clear that that life was not for her.

“Jesse’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

Connection- This song was about  2 friends and one of them sexualized the other person's girlfriend. Sula didn't feel sorry or bad for what she did.  Just the thought of sleeping with your best friend's husband should make you uncomfortable.

“There for you” by Star Davis

Connection- This song focuses on Nel’s point of view because she was there for Sula through everything, even when Chicken Little died. Nel’s thoughts were why would Sula do this to her only friend, best friend at that. Star is in a group where another group member, Alex, got into a relationship with Noah. This basically is a diss track about how Star was with him first and when she found out they had relations, she felt betrayed and hurt.

“Friend of mine” by Kelly Price

Connection- Kelly sings about the betrayal from her best friend and her man, soon to be husband. The best friend had sexual relations with her man and she finds out, obviously this broke her. The lines “tell me why” and “hung with her through thick and thin” makes me think of Nel because Nel never thought that Sula would do this. Towards the end of the book Nel asks Sula why she did it, but Sula just gave off the impression that she didn't care.

“Not gon’ cry” by Mary J. Blige

Connection-  This song is for Nel. In the book, Nel was one of those people who just went with the flow. When Jude explained his situation, Nel was okay with getting married. She married him due to his story and for him to just sleep with her best friend was a slap in the face. Mary sings “besides the kids i have nothing to show”, that line explains Nel’s situation because they had kids and when he left that was all she had to show for. 

“I’m a mess” by Anthony Hamilton

Connection- The verbal take from this song would be that he was a mess when the love of his life wasn’t in his life anymore. Towards the end of the book, Nel expressed her feelings about how she felt about everything. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but couldn’t. She felt empty and hurt, this song betrays her feeling ‘a mess’ because they had destroyed her.

“To be Loved” by Adele 

Connection- Nel took a leap and married a man named Jude. She chose to love him and have kids with him, sacrificing her life and choosing to be a wife and a mother. Despite her lacking love from her parents as well, she did something that never crossed her mind before. Adele sings about choosing love 

“Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson

Connection- This song is about parental neglect and how she was longing for love. Sula doesn't want to love no one because she doesn't know how to properly love anyone. I think Sula lacked the parental love and that's what turned her into the woman she is now. But to me that's still no excuse for her actions.

“Possession” by Sarah McLachlan

Connection- Sula was with Ajax, but they didn't want to commit to a relationship. Sula wanted to be possessive over Ajax and he didn’t like that. This song just reflects a woman trying to possess a man.

“Have You Ever?” By Brandy

This song is about a love that hurt her. Looking deeper into Sula’s actions, she wants attention. The attention her mother never gave her. Longing for love, a relationship, but she was forced to act the way she acts. They always say it starts at home. 

“Karma” by Summer Walker

Connection-Sula’s karma for her actions was her getting sick, in my opinion. When she was sick, she didn’t have anybody because she had done everybody wrong in her life. Even after everything Nel still went and saw her. Summer talks about a man doing women wrong and getting karma in return.

“Dear Mama” by Tupac

Connections- In the book, Eva’s husband left her and she had to sacrifice a lot. In the song, Tupac talks about a mothers love and the sacrifices she made. Eva had to let her kids stay with a neighbor until she got on her feet, which i'm sure it was hard. Eva, also, killed Plum. Some say to put him out his misery, but others say she just didn’t have a heart. Me personally, i think she just put him out his misery because she would rather him be dead than to be suffering. 

“Abandon” by Rod Wave

Connection- Rod Waves talks about being abandoned and him loving people hard. I think this describes Sula because the lack of love from her mother caused her to lack love and feelings for others.

Conclusions 

This mixtape is an overall message of Sula. It explores the concepts hurt, love, infidelity, friendship, marriage, etc. Overall, Toni Morrison did a great job writing this book. She explores the concepts of societal norms, the complexity of friendships and relationships, and many more. Creating this playlist allows for you to understand the themes through my music taste. I’m glad that I chose the music route because I feel like you can feel the pain or the love in a song.

Mixtape