It’s hard to believe that Joshua Karpeh only started performing under as Cautious Clay less than two years ago. From the moment his soulful debut “Cold War” dropped on Soundcloud in 2017, his star power was evident. A classically trained musician that had been quietly producing for years before debuting his own music, the Bandsintown Big Break artist has shattered expectations, and collected a fair share of accomplishments along the way.
Earlier this year, Clay dropped Table of Context, the follow up to his 2018 EP, RESONANCE. Meanwhile, “Cold War,” which has racked up over 30 million streams on Spotify, continues to bring in new fans and was featured this summer in the film Booksmart. More recently, Clay revealed that “Swim Home,” his chilled-out, infectious contribution to the 13 Reasons Why season three soundtrack will be featured in episode 10 when the show hits Netflix today!
The general takeaway? Cautious Clay is on fire. Last Friday, tickets went on sale for his Context Tour, which will hit the US after a run overseas and extend into the winter. Before he takes off, we caught up with the Brooklyn resident for exclusive access to the playlist he’ll be bumping while he’s on the road. Below, he clued us in on why a few of his favorites made the list!
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"The production on this record is so creative and immediate to me. It's super heavy and messy but that’s what I love about it. Ronny J production and X on the verse just works."
"This track was produced by Dexter Wenzel who is one of my favorite producers from the 60s and 70s. A lot of his arrangements and production choices are immaculate and have very much influence how I look at music."
"AJ Tracey is one of my favorite UK rappers right now. His flow is just super interesting and his hooks are super memorable."
"I first heard this song because my Mom played it when I was a kid and I rediscovered it recently after hearing it in an Uber. I love the vocal arrangements and melodies in this song a lot."
"This artist is actually a friend of mine and I feel like he's so underrated. There are some really interesting melodies and production on this track, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing new music from him."