Want something warm to vibe to? Music that’s easy to move to, but mellow? Sounds like Danny Davis’ Tropical tracks. A bit of paradise in a playlist, with a mamba mix.
Or, there are the fast-paced, rebellious, full-of-attitude songs that makeup 9ers, Davis’ selects from the 90s. As his childhood was a product of the 90s, these songs certainly hold a special place near the angsty part of his heart.
Skuuuuuurt, in contrast, is code for a hip hop twist on easy-listening tunes. At times reminiscent of R&B, but it still feels classically gangster. The underlying theme of lyrically heavy tracks on ultra rhythmic beats keeps this list consistent.
Davis is a man of many tunes and a man of many words. Like all of us, he has many moods, each of which evokes a different taste in music. The four playlists he offered up here only reveal a small sample of what he is putting in his ears.
“Every day is different. Some days you have a lot of energy and you need to be brought down a little bit. You are over-pumped. Too much coffee, maybe. Who knows what. Maybe you chugged two Dews instead of one. Who knows. Sometimes I cool it down, sometimes I pump it up.”
As you can imagine, there are plenty of days when Davis needs to get the adrenaline going in order to compete in superpipe or cruise monster lines in the backcountry. In those situations, he looks to the kids for a little bit of hype music.
“Anything Kendrick [Lamar] I have been running a lot for pump-up music at contests, or in the car on the way to a sled zone. I do a lot of Gucci Man when I need to get pumped up—the kids give me the hype music.”
Davis has all kinds of sounds to snowboard to, but on occasion, he forgets his gear. Those days, Davis says, can be the absolute worst. “I’m listening to music all day when I’m on and off the hill. When I forget my music player or I don’t remember to have headphones, it’s a whack day. It’s just more fun to have music.”
“Sometimes I cool it down, sometimes I pump it up.” — Danny Davis
Listening to music all day has its downsides, too. Davis explains the practical need to always find new things to listen to. The most practical playlist to have, then, is the one made up of ‘likes’ from random online radio stations he listens to. When he likes what he hears, he hits ‘like’ on what his list displays. Simple.
“All kinds of stuff. I’m always searching, and trying to dig,” said Davis. “I’m always looking in other people’s playlists, following people on Spotify and this other thing that my friend made called EarBuds—it’s for real-time listening.”
So what other kinds of stuff can you expect to find in Davis’ catalog of unexpected collections?
“The daily cruiser is all of the random stuff that I find. A ton of psych-rock. Even old stuff like South African psych-rock, been listening to a lot of that lately. There is this band called Witch, it is old school South African psych rock that is super dope.”
Interesting, but not odd. Some mysterious. Danny Davis really is a man of many musical tastes.
“I also play soul music a lot. I have always loved soul music. I don’t know if it is from my mother or what it is, but that is always a go-to for me.”
On Rotation is a new weekly series that shows off a sample selection of what the world’s best athletes are listening to. Each week a new playlist will drop on the Dew Tour’s Spotify account along with a few words from the riders themselves, giving you personalized insight from the pros while you turn on their customized selections.
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