If you’re in your mid-30s, you may have spent at least some of your youth partying to Lil Jon—anthems like “Let’s Go” with Trick Daddy or “Turn Down for What.” Given those raucous tunes, perhaps you were surprised to see the artist’s new release: Total Meditation, an album of soothing tracks filled with affirmations for personal growth, self-development, and manifesting abundance.
Of course, Lil Jon isn’t the only artist to journey into the transcendental. André 3000’s recently released album New Blue Sun—his first solo album in 17 years—features mostly flute music; one song in particular was recorded after an ayahuasca experience in Hawaii. Personally, I’ve found myself gravitating to similar music—songs by Jhené Aiko, which feature mantras for protection and gratitude, and by Awarë, a duo that creates ephemeral sounds based on responses in the concert setting in which no two songs are ever the same.
It seems that this type of music is becoming more and more mainstream—and aside from the apparent increasing demand, there may be a deeper reason more musicians are called to create sounds at the intersection of transcendental meditation and popular music.
We are what we listen to, and music has long served as a way to connect with the divine, from the rhythmic drumming of First Nations cultures across the United States to the ancient mantra chanting of India. This form of healing is more accessible than similar psychoactive rituals, such as those induced by plant medicine. However, according to a study published by the National Library of Medicine, it has the power to elicit a similar euphoric effect that can reduce feelings of tension, anxiety, and depression. In fact, researchers at Stanford University have found that listening to music can engage brain regions involved in paying attention, making predictions, and updating memory, while another study concluded that music may even have the ability to change what we observe. “In other words, how we perceive the world does not only depend on what we know of the world, but also by how we feel,” the study finds, noting that our mood and mindset—especially when enhanced by music—really do have the power to shape our view.
Spiritually speaking, the word transcendental comes from the Latin word transcendere, meaning to climb over, to ascend, or to surpass. Perhaps the reason why so many people love this growing body of music is that it elicits a subconscious response in the listener, which research shows can shift the brain’s default mode network into a state of waking rest to trigger pleasure centers that release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel happy. Transcendental sound literally has the power to lift us up—to help us “ascend.”