For Brooklyn-born and raised artist Justine Skye, summer is when her city comes alive. From the bustling bistros in Soho and the West Village to the neighborhood BBQs with unmistakable scents and joyful noise, Skye knows that New York is at its best when people are in the streets soaking in each other’s energy.
To celebrate summer and the release of her new Timbaland-produced album Space & Time, Skye is planning to perform on Billboard’s Facebook page live at 6pm ET Friday, August 6. Moonlighting as your favorite mixologist, she’ll also walk viewers through a step-by-step tutorial to make a classic Aperol Spritz, her summer drink of choice.
And that’s not all, Skye also created a summer playlist that speaks to her Jamaican roots as well as her eclectic set of influences ranging from hip-hop, to R&B, and indie rock. Skye spoke with Billboard about her favorite summertime activities, why it was important to include Jamaican artists in her playlist, and why choosing the right song for a summer cookout depends on where you are. Read the Q+A and listen to the playlist below, and tune in on Facebook to catch her doing acoustic renditions of “We,” and “In My Bag,” exclusively for Billboard.
What are your favorite things to do during the summer? Do you have any favorite spots in New York?
I love to visit restaurants now that it’s summer and you can sit outside and really grab the essence of New York. Some of my favorites are Sunday in Brooklyn and Cipriani, that’s a classic. And then there’s an Asian-fusion cuisine spot called Thursday Kitchen as well as Fish Cheeks — oh my gosh. I guess my favorite summer activity to do is eat food.
There are a couple tracks on your playlist from Jamaica-born artists ($NOT; Shenseea; Rvisian) and you have Jamaican roots. What does spotlighting Jamaican music and artists mean to you?
I grew up listening to dancehall and reggae, so when I think of summer I think of very tropical vibes. When I was making this playlist I was heavy into dancehall and discovering new Jamaican artists as well because I felt like I wasn’t up on it as much. So in creating this I did some more research and found artists like Shenseaa who is blowing up in Jamaica right now. I’d love to work with her one day.
What’s one song that always gets a summertime BBQ going?
It depends on what city you’re in. But if you’re in Brooklyn, “Summertime” by Vybz Cartel goes up every single time. But if I’m in LA — even though we didn’t get a summer last year — Drake always has a summer smash. This summer though, the smash is “In My Bag.”
What else do you want people to know?
The video for “In My Bag” is here and it’s definitely giving summer vibes. There’s so much more coming as well: So many more performances and visuals. I’m just getting started. Go stream my album Space and Time.
Listen to Justine’s Summer Spritz Hours playlist below.
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