There is a kind of music that asks you to listen with more than just your ears. It seeps into your skin, coils around your heart, and somehow rearranges your whole internal weather. When certain artists start talking about frequencies they are pointing to something deeper than melody or rhythm, they are talking about the spirit of the music. It is quite easy to forget that music is not only an art, but an energy. It moves us in the literal sense of pushing air to our eardrums, but also emotionally and spiritually. It stirs parts of ourselves we don’t always have a language for. Some music doesn’t just entertain, it elevates, heals, and realigns us.
In physics a frequency is simply the rate at which a vibration occurs, but for thousands of years, different cultures have understood frequencies in broader more poetic terms. Ancient philosophers spoke about the “music of the spheres,” where celestial bodies moved in harmonic patterns. In spiritual traditions, it is believed that every object, thought, and emotion carries its own frequency. Joy vibrates higher, fear lower, love they say is the ultimate high frequency. Music, in this way, becomes the language of frequencies, a conversation between energies. Certain tones, chords, and textures can feel like an invitation upward, as if they are nudging your spirit into a new territory. Other times, the right song meets you exactly where you are, offering comfort without asking you to change. When Badu says she vibrates on a different frequency, she is acknowledging that the way she creates and receives music isn’t about taste, it is about energy alignment. And when we find music that matches or uplifts our own frequency, it is like finding a missing piece of ourselves.
The idea of sounds as healing is ancient and cross cultural. Indigenous drum circles, Gregorian chants, Sufi whirling with music. these traditions understand that sound is not passive entertainment. It is medicine. Modern wellness trends have reignited this knowledge through things like sound baths and frequency healing. Tones lie 528 Hz are called the “love frequency” said to promote DNA repair. Lower frequencies are sometimes used to ground anxious minds; higher ones to open up emotional blockages. This is why some albums feel like home.. Why certain songs become rituals. Why the right music at the right time feels like a blessing.
Some artists move through this world like frequency workers tuning, lifting, balancing often without ever announcing it outright. When speaking on this you can’t leave out the master herself Erykah Badu. Her music floats, stretches, and folds into itself. This often creates more feeling than clear lyrical messaging, her music doesn’t rush to tell you a story they vibrate within you, softening your edges and slowing your breathing. She once said in an interview “I’m a frequency. I’m a healer.” And when you listen with your whole body, you know exactly what she means. Lauren Jauregui has spoken about tuning her music to specific frequencies to help amplify healing energy. In solo work like “Colors,” she explores emotional resonance as her vibrational feels, aiming to create soundscapes that sooth and empower. Jhené Aiko is another artists who explicitly incorporates healing frequencies into her music. Her album Chilombo was built around the use of crystal alchemy sound bowls. She has said that she intentionally embedded these frequencies into the production to help listeners activate and balance their energy centers. Akae Beka is revered in roots reggae not just for lyricism but for intentional use of spiritual vibration. His music is grounded in the belief that sound itself is sacred, and he often described his songs as coded with healing messages and frequencies to aid in spiritual awakening. One of the most influential figures in Afrofuturism and free jazz Sun Ra was speaking about cosmic frequencies long before it entered the mainstream consciousness. He believed music had the power to realign human beings with the cosmic order, often stating that sound could heal, liberate, and even transport the listener to higher planes of existence. Through layered improvisations and atonal soundscapes he crafted sonic rituals meant to shift the energy not just the individuals, but of entire communities. These artists aren’t making vibes in the casual sense they are intentionally crafting sonic environments that can heal, realign, and elevate. They treat music as medicine. And when you listen with that awareness, you can feel the difference: the music doesn’t just entertain you, it changes you.
In a world obsessed with categorizing music by genre, chart placement, or algorithmic similarity, it is revolutionary to listen differently. When you choose music not just by sound but by frequency, you are choosing what you want to invite into your body, your mind, your spirit. You are saying I want to feel nourished. I want to be elevated. I want to be held, cracked open, reassembled. It means paying attention to how a song actually makes you feel beyond the obvious markers. Not just is it catchy, but does this uplift me, calm me, energize me, ground me, set me free? It also means honoring the music that meets you in your lower frequencies without judgement. Sometimes you need songs that understand your sadness, your rage, your exhaustion. And those songs are sacred too. Healing isn’t always about pushing yourself upward, sometimes it is about honoring where you are with tenderness. As you move through your playlist, your memories, your late nigh scrolls for something that feels right, you are tuning your own instrument. You are shaping the frequencies you live in. Choose wisely. Choose with your spirit Listen for the songs that don’t just fill the room but that fill you. And remember the highest frequencies aren’t loud, they are not desperate for attention. They move like water, like wind, like breath. Soft but undeniable. Invisible but unforgettable.
Just like you.
