In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are modern musicians who champion an art form more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.

Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It,” where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.

“Rinse, Repeat, Regress” — Justy

Listen On:

• Spotify
• Apple Music

How We Found It

Staten Island songwriter Justy landed in our SubmitHub inbox with a piece of brilliance. Having started writing music at 12-years-old, Justy has evolved into an artist capable of displaying sharp lyricism next to soulful vocals with expert cohesion. In 2020, she released her debut EP, Soul Food, the Precede, and is currently plotting the release of her debut album. With help from producer Pieper Beats, engineer Ryan Pearson, pre-mixing from Micole Johnson and artwork by Kale Sheppard, “Rinse, Repeat, Regress” was born and marks a step forward towards that full-length project.

Why We Like It

Interacting with the self is hardly baked into our daily routines. We begin to understand ourselves based on how we’re seen through the eyes of our peers. Far from healthy, but necessary in a fast-paced consumer environment that discourages introspection. Basing your self-image on the opinions of others is destined for doom. As relationships disintegrate and people grow apart, a piece of your identity leaves with them.

On “Rinse, Repeat, Regress,” Justy documents the post-relationship process as she faces herself for the first time. Dealing with the hypocrisy of showing love while not understanding what it truly is, she raps “The irony of loving love / But I don’t know the meaning / Cuz when I say I love you / Swear to God I really mean it / But all my actions and reactions / Just demean the meaning.” Justy’s introspection brings an immediate pain, the pain of realising the falsehood of her ways.

This dim view of our lives we can conjure causes a jerk reaction to put these ideas in a box in the furthest corner away from our consciousness. It is hard to see the benefits on the horizon when the journey to them is undoubtedly dolorous. For Justy, she seemed to have run out of space to escape her feelings and ended up seeing the reward of confronting them. As she sings “Now I’m single and I got nowhere to / Run unless I’m running / To myself / (Check, one love) / I was looking for the answers / But I never thought / I’d ask myself for help” it becomes clear that Justy has abandoned the need for outside validation. The ad-lib “one love” carries the significance of the entire track, the simplification and clarity that comes with trying to love yourself.

I could write essay after essay analysing Justy’s mastery of vocabulary on this track, but I need to express how wonderfully composed “Rinse, Repeat, Regress” is. Despite the dark tones that jump out from the song on the first listen, the instrumental on “Rinse, Repeat, Regress” remains hopeful and bright. Justy repeating “When I love myself again / Maybe I could love again” over bright keys and punchy drums can come across as oxymoronic. However, making sense of the instrumental is a reward for playing the song back countless times.

As you study Justy’s lyrics and uncover the hope that truly lies within them, the beat starts to feel even brighter and more powerful. A song dedicated to the benefits of persevering through darkness displays that message in genius lyrical fashion, and wordlessly too. “Rinse, Repeat, Regress” is a masterclass in manifesting a mental journey as Justy shows us the power gained from delving deep into the abstract.

From Justy

Writing absolutely helps with the process of loving myself because in writing these things I am fully able to acknowledge where I fall in terms of self-care and thus I can hold myself accountable to do better. When I first started writing this track it was very much a-okay I’m going to give myself closure from this breakup and move forward, but then it became this euphoric moment where I realized, this isn’t even a song for that person this is a song for myself and it’s the first time I’ve written a love song for myself.” – Justy for CentralSauce

More From Justy

I heartily recommend diving deep into Justy’s array of singles available to stream and I suggest you pay specific attention to the aforementioned Soul Food, the Precede EP. With Justy still working on her debut album, be sure to keep track of its release by following her on Twitter @justysmusic.

More to Discover

Subscribe to the CentralSauce mailing list so you never miss out on the freshest sauce. Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Ryan has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.