Three playlist-worthy albums for summer

1“KAYTRAMINÉ”

Aminé and Kaytranada

Debuting on May 19, “Kaytraminé” by Kaytranada and Amine served a lively and summer-like album that can quickly put you in the most up-beat mood, with just 11 tracks. Standout singles, “4EVA” and “Rebuke,” automatically set up the groovy feel with jumpy production and sparkling rap by Aminé. The joint collaboration also features appearances from rap star Snoop Dogg, Big Sean, legendary producer Pharrell Williams, Freddie Gibbs and Amaarae. Through their crisp vocals, hilarious verses and synth production backing up the tracks, the album feels like a hype colorful road trip to the beach. One of the jewels of the album is the track “K&A,” which has a hard-hitting beat and up-beat verses from Amine, where he raps about his fame and success as a rapper while others were putting him down. The track takes a 360 and switches beats with heavenly humming sung in the back to provide the final stretch as the final song of the album. For anyone needing to explore that perfect summer album, Kaytramine will leave you with a sweet surprise.

“LET’S START HERE”

Lil Yachty To everybody’s surprise this year, rapper Lil Yachty released a psychedelic rock album, turning fans’ heads from every genre. On the album, Yachty uses synth-pop beats combined with auto-tune to evoke the emotion packed sounds all throughout the album. Emerging artists Foushee and Teezo Touchdown previously featured on Call Me if You Get Lost and Gemini

“THE ESTATE SALE”

Tyler, The Creator

Rights, can be heard buried into “pRETy” and “the ride-”. They provide beautiful backing vocals that drive a certain elegance and pop feel to the album. Through every track, it feels almost reminiscent of artists like Tame Impala and even ’70s icon Pink Floyd, which can be seen on “drive ME crazy!” The song features Diana Gordon’s harmony that soothes the track into an imagery of love and has the catchiest beat and writing that makes you want to say, “I lose it,” over and over again. Yachty expresses his creative freedom and his true self-expression through this album and deserves to stand with some of the top albums of the 21st century. For anyone wanting to experiment with rap and psychedelic rock, “Let’s Start Here” is the perfect listen. 3

Well over a year after “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” was released, Tyler surprised the world with his seven-track deluxe album, “The Estate Sale.” In his typical fashion from the album, he flexes heavily about his wealth, cars, fancy watches and more of his life, while also making it personal this time around. This behavior can be seen on the track “Stuntman,” where he trades back-to-back verses with Vince Staples, and states how he has “different color chess pieces hangin’ from my necklace” — a clear nod to his bright gold chains he wears daily. Similarly, “Dogtooth” takes a similar approach as he talks about his “Kelly green wagon” and his developing love life. The track debuted at the top of the charts and served as the lead single, proving just how good Tyler can produce tracks and write catchy bars. To dive deeper into his life, the second single, “Sorry not Sorry,” provided his insight of his regrets from the past, his apologies to people he is close to and his music career. His highlights for the album are by far the melodic and mellow production that Tyler has always delivered sonically and continued to provide one of the best albums for those special vacation days.

West Orange Obituaries

HARRELL LEON MURPHY DIED MAY 9, 2023.

Harrell Leon Murphy was born to Alfred and Della Murphy in Wayne County, Tennessee, on Dec. 5, 1940. Known by his family and friends as Harold or “Murf,” he moved to Florida around 1948 and grew up in Winter Garden.

At 19 years of age, Harold married Ellen and lived in Ocoee, where together they had four children. He later remarried Carolyn “Susie” Michels on March 5, 1990.

Throughout their life together, Murf and Susie enjoyed trips to Vegas and spending time with their beloved dogs, TR, Harley and Princess.

Murf enjoyed the outdoors, and doing auto paint and body work, and was last employed as a welder with Florida Metal Craft.

He was proud to have worked on many large welding projects at the Orlando Science Center, Epcot, Downtown Disney and the Tampa Bay stadium. He was quite the handyman and helped many neighbors and friends in their small community.

Harold is survived by his sister Judy Scott; children, Debbie Clark, Lisa Frana, Michael Murphy, Greg Murphy and stepdaughter Kimberly Mullins; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Harold’s memory will be cherished by all those who knew him. He touched the lives of so many people, and his legacy will live on through the memories he created.

Please join family and friends as we celebrate the life of Harrell Murphy. The service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 24, at the Elks Lodge at 700 Ninth St., Winter Garden, FL 34787.

WOHS chemistry teacher retires after three decades

Teresa Yates spent 30 of her 31 years with OCPS at West Orange High.

Amy Quesinberry Community Editor

Teresa Yates experienced two fullcircle moments in her final year of teaching at West Orange High School — from Turner to Turner and from “Climb Every Mountain” to “Climb Every Mountain,” she said — and it eased her mind about her decision to retire.

Yates spent her first year with Orange County Public Schools teaching physical science at Apopka Middle — and then spent the next three decades educating WOHS students on the nuances of earth and space science, integrated science, biology, and chemistry.

Although the classroom topics changed through the years, Yates’ love of teaching and the sense of accomplishment she has felt watching her students succeed remained steadfast. She enjoys seeing her former students flourish — including Lucca Scozzafave Goncalves, who asked her to be his confirmation sponsor at church; Jeanmarie Texier, who now is a local obstetrician and gynecologist; and Courtney Haberman, who was her intern and now teaches chemistry at Foundation Academy.

SOUL SEARCHING

Yates originally chose accounting as a career and was working for her father’s cabinetry company. She decided accounting was too boring and didn’t want to spend her life in a cubicle, so she did some soul searching to figure out what she wanted to do. She also was teaching Sunday school at her church and liked the idea of people learning from her, so she switched her major to education.

Yates began her WOHS career in the previous campus and admits she and her students used to swab the carpeted walls as science lab experiments. She also taught classes at the West Orange Ninth-Grade Center before moving to the current main campus.

She taught under 10 principals — beginning with Sarah Jane Turner and retiring with Matthew Turner — and calls that one of two full-circle moments.

All three of her children, Andrew, Parker and Claire, graduated from West Orange and were involved in the band program.

Yates’ second full-circle moment involved the band. When her oldest son joined the program in 2008, the first song of the marching band performance was “Climb Every Mountain” from “The Sound of Music.” Fast-forward to Claire’s final band performance last month — the end of the program included a medley of “Sound of Music” tunes, and the last song was “Climb Every Mountain.”

SAILING INTO RETIREMENT

Yates and her husband, George, already have booked several trips that incorporate multiple national parks. Their first excursion begins this week in Rome and continues with a 12-day Disney cruise of the Mediterranean followed by a train trip to Paris.

Yates quoted Ecclesiastes 3: “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.” “Your hard work should result in a time of joy,” she said. “I love teaching, and I tell people all the time, I’m not done teaching; my curriculum just changed.”

This time, her star pupil is her 18-month-old granddaughter, Kiera. “She’s my motivation for retiring,” Yates said.