Besides coming back to Newgrounds, I think this was a pretty good year for me in regards to music, both producing and listening.

On the producing side of things, Nekoshi was born in the very first month of the year. Me and my good friend, sakuraVN, had created this duo specifically for one purpose, but then it became much more than that. Sakura started this duo because she had emailed a content creator and streamer that she enjoyed watching, Kirbizoid, about making music for the channel. She asked this because she had me in mind and thought that I could make something for her. They responded, saying that they would love for her to make something for them, however they were in a bit of a financial situation so they couldn’t pay her. She insisted that she would do it for free and then they allowed her to do it. I was totally ok with doing it for free. What they wanted her to make was a song inspired by their favorite OST, Mario Super Sluggers, and so that’s what we did. There is a video on their YouTube channel with our song (named Out of the Park), so if you want to go see what we came up with, you can go check it out!

After that, we decided to keep the Nekoshi duo, since Sakura had a lot of fun producing alongside me. She even started to make songs by herself. She does have a Newgrounds account now, which is @nekosakuraVN so please go check her out if you’re interested in what she makes. I also have her YouTube and Newgrounds linked in my profile. We kept making songs together, such as Moonlight, Flower Dance, and even an entire EP entitled Our Story. Both of us have also been inspired by art, both human and AI, when we make our songs together or apart. It lets us tell more of a story whenever we do so. Nekoshi will definitely be sticking around for another year, or even more since there’s no signs of us stopping.

For myself, I got into my phonk phase, both listening to it and producing it… sort of. Phonk, krushfunk, and Brazilian funk took up a lot of my Spotify Wrapped for this year, whereas last year I wasn’t into any of that and it was much more varied (it was also my first year using the app). It’s also hard to make when you only use GarageBand, so I had to basically come up with my own style of producing it. Next year, I really have to get out of this phase.

Here is a comparison between my Spotify Wrapped for 2023 and my Spotify Wrapped for this year.

WRAPPED 2023:

Number of minutes listened for: 29,355

Biggest listening day: October 17 with 448 minutes

Number of songs played: 2,453

Number of artists listened to: 1,211

Top songs:

1. MIMI - Kuninaru (feat. KAFU)
2. KIRA & Heartbreaker - B.B.F (feat. Hatsune Miku & Kagamine Rin)
3. Trivecta - Ghost in the Machine
4. Osanzi - MOViNG ON (feat. Hatsune Miku & Kagamine Rin)
5. Novva Skylar - E-girl (feat. Hatsune Miku & GUMI)

Top artists:

1. MIMI
2. Waterflame
3. Hatsune Miku
4. KIRA
5. Creo

WRAPPED 2024:

Number of minutes listened for: 44,288

Biggest listening day: February 19 with 474 minutes

Number of songs played: 3,317

Number of artists listened to: 1,966

Top songs:

1. KUTE, killanoia, & Tokyomane - KRUSH GIRL
2. _Nani_ - WRAITH
3. LXNGVX, DJ FKU, & DJ OPPA - ATHENA
4. Nanatsukaze (duo feat. PIKASONIC & nakotanmaru) - Replay
5. Cosmograph & LEVEL NINE - You’ve always got me

Top artists:

1. blueberry
2. NF
3. KUTE
4. Hatsune Miku
5. Nanatsukaze

So yeah, phonk ruined my Wrapped this year. But that’s ok because next year’s Wrapped is gonna be different. I also hope that some of my songs will be different as well. I want to get back into the swing of things regarding contests such as NGUAC, NGADM, and AIM too. And I want to try out Jamuary when it starts too! There’s a lot of things I want to do. We’ll see what 2025 has to offer. I’m looking forward to it. :3