bad boy love interest

he's way more than meets the eye

May 28, 2025

imagine that this is a movie trailer and you’re getting a new angle of a filmless score. so far, we’ve established that 1) this is a coming-of-age story and 2) we’ve been introduced to one of the main characters, the femme next door. now it’s time to meet her companion: bad boy love interest. this is the essential playlist to gather backstory on our next main character as he and the femme next door form a union. this relationship will be his catalyst for metamorphosis. part of this character’s destiny is to overcome the circumstances he was born into. through the sounds of bad boy love interest, we learn more about his friends, family, former relationships, environment, and worldview. each song offers a different lens to understand this character more deeply.

i initially built this playlist around songs like “Troubleman” by Electric Guest and the extended version of “Make Out in My Car” by Moses Sumney. these songs rank highly among my favorites from the 2010s. the first track is a sprawling tale of love that’s too good to be true, sung and strung across eight-and-a-half minutes. i get lost in this song every time i listen to it, often looping it on repeat. one of the most compelling parts of “Troubleman” is the narrative switch from the singer’s male perspective to “hers.” as the song reaches its conclusion, the lyrics of the chorus shift from “she’s got it bad for me” to “he’s gotten bad for me.”1

on the next seminal track “Make Out in My Car,” Moses Sumney (a dreamboat of a singer!) serenades his paramour and doesn’t mince words regarding his intentions:

“I'm not trying to
Go to bed with you
I just wanna make out in my car
And though I'm dying to
Fall in love with you
I just wanna make out in my car” 2

meanwhile, the aforementioned songs are preceded by two diverse standouts from the current decade: “Cherry Blue Intention” by Special Interest and “ILY” by Free Party. i have a lot of modern favorites catalogued in my mind and in a decade-spanning playlist. tracking my listens helps me understand the recurring themes, moods, and sentiments of my personal soundtracks. with “Cherry Blue Intention,” the grungy textures of this character’s world become more palpable. although i don’t have his persona and life story completely worked out, i have considered the possibility of him being in a motorcycle gang (or the descendant of relatives in one such predicament, so he’s being tempted to join).3

by comparison, “ILY” is the tale of a man who’s unable to admit he’s in love (or that he even believes in it) since he’s been hurt before. he holds loyalty in high regard without being able to fully offer it himself (a dating paradox if there ever was one). energetically, i’m putting this song in the same universe as “Suede” by NxWorries. both are thematically aligned with this idea that the character could be a recovering f***boy. more to come on that phrase later. if “Suede” comes from the bad boy’s perspective, then “Red Flags” by Brittany Howard may reflect the inner monologue of a past lover (main girl or side chick? TBD).

this playlist also has an air of loverboy energy: Connan Mockasin’s album Caramel, one of my favorites from the 2010s, fits within this universe. it would be perfect for a film set in the 1980s that has anachronistic music (where have i said this before?). the single i’ve added to the playlist is “Do I Make You Feel Shy?” the video reflects a moment where we find the character slightly out of his element…doing karaoke, coyly yet seductively.

“Tell me the way that you need me
Whip me the way that you'll please me
Do I make you feel shy, when telling you why?
I'll be the boy of your dreams
My love is waiting for you now
My love is waiting for you now
Don't be afraid”4

the bad boy love interest playlist wouldn’t be complete without last year’s standout R&B hit “MUTT” by Leon Thomas. the song’s visualizer finds Thomas surrounded by numerous beautiful women and being chased by the canine he proclaims to be. on one listen preceding this write-up, this song played just before “I’m Really Changing” by Duckwrth featuring Sherwyn.

this is where i’ll circle back to the f***boy. Duckwrth recently dropped a conceptual album called All-American F***boy, featuring narration by LaKeith Stanfield. like Thomas, Duckwrth also sings about being a dog. but instead of being fated to stay that way, he’s open to the possibility to change, as the video for “I’m Really Changing” features a revolving carousel of two different Duckwrths in hues of cyan. on a film-related note, i enjoy how Duckwrth teased the album’s tracklist using the spines of VHS tapes.

there were so many interesting coincidences throughout this drafting process. for instance, i have two songs called “Fool” on the playlist, and they once played back-to-back on shuffle. i also made a serendipitous discovery while replaying “Chloroform” by Phoenix, one of the best songs i’ve ever heard in my life. during one drafting session (old-school style with pen and paper), i felt this divine, seasonal urge to add the album Bankrupt! back into my rotation. shortly after hitting play, i discovered that day was the album anniversary (April 19th). the “Chloroform” video features girls crying from the seats of a theater as they watch the band perform on stage. the refrain “my love is cruel” acknowledges the character’s awareness of his player tendencies.

next, Adi Oasis and Kirby sing about “Adonis,” referencing the classical male beauty of Greek mythology. his story is one of death, rebirth, and change, which is fitting for the ego death that the bad boy love interest will experience throughout this narrative.

elsewhere on the playlist, we can imagine that the video call motif used in “ice” by Erika de Casier and They Hate Change reflects a FaceTime sesh between the bad boy love interest and his last lover(s).5 when i think of bringing a filmless score to life, i like the idea of incorporating different camera angles as if the characters are filming themselves (a visual element i focused heavily on with the femme next door).

the lyric video for NoMBe’s “Boys Like Me” bridges a nostalgic gap between this video motif and the past by using Windows 95-esque designs and AIM chat windows. on first glance, you think you’re witnessing a youthful romance full of frolicking and play. then, the story is revealed to be a bit of a love triangle as NoMBe participates in the same acts of care with another woman and sings of his inability to be the guy to settle down with.

romantic choice also abounds in “Co-Star” by Amaarae, where the singer hosts a Zodiac sign pageant competition with various women personifying the signs.6 the models are showcased in a video game-style loading screen intro, while flaunting next to matching cars. Amaarae embodies a player with endless options as she struts around and poses with each model.

the recent R&B ballad “i’m in love with a lesbian” finds Melvin Knight crooning about his propensity to fall in love with queer women. both this song and “Co-Star” reassert the queer possibilities of the overall narrative.

some songs are simply decor to highlight the bad boy love interest’s surprisingly diverse taste. Joy Crookes’ “Two Nights” would be one secret weapon he pulls from his memory bank for aux privileges (or the reluctant karaoke night).

“Just 'cause I'm afraid of lovin'
Don't mean I don't wanna love him
Runnin' circles with no shame
But always comin' home to nothin'”7

similarly, “JUNO” by BLACKSTARKIDS broadly captures the effervescence and angst associated with classic coming-of-age films. it’s featured here for the following lyrics:

“Who needs another thing to be sad about?
Thing to be mad about?
Thing that'll stress you out?
That's why I wanna know if I can take you out
Maybe we can dance around!
We can get the pressure out!”8

on the theme of classic films: Malcolm Todd’s dramatic viral hit “Chest Pain (I Love)” has an equally dramatic video, featuring a reenactment of The Notebook. think fair rides, flashbacks of young love, analog photography, a retro setting. amusement parks also appear in the claymation video for Sad Night Dynamite’s “Smoke Hole,” albeit in a more sinister way. it’s pre-determined that this story will be an emotional rollercoaster, no matter what shape the dialogue and scenery take.

casting-wise, i think some of the artists on this playlist would make great cameos for the film. for instance, i could definitely see Baby Boy and Jody Fontaine of AG Club being in the bad boy love interest’s friend group. the title of their 2022 song “Mr. Put It On” speaks for itself, but the video resurfaces a visual concept that appeared earlier in this playlist: the magnifying glass. in both this video and “Make Out in My Car,” the protagonist hovers a magnifying glass over their lips, bringing intrigue and emphasis to their words. the second song by AG Club is “A Bitch Curious,” one that i couldn’t get enough of when i first heard it a few summers ago. i could see it playing over a cookout scene when the characters lock eyes, or later in the relationship as they cruise to the beach in a convertible.

so many songs on this playlist contribute to the overall hues, essence, and feel of a filmless score because the story accelerates once we’re introduced to the bad boy love interest. before i conclude this playlist exploration, i’m taking it back to 2016 to mention “roulette” by denitia and sene. man, everything this duo touched was so sensual. this is a memory-based inclusion; the sultry feeling i had when i saw them perform live would be invoked the moment that these characters decide to pursue each other.

i chose Nick Hakim’s “Farmissplease” for a similar reason. seeing him perform this song, among others from his album Green Twins, is a standout memory of mine, and i think these characters would feel similarly. there’s an ache and yearning in his vocal delivery as he sings of wanting relief.

“Just give me substance, that'll fix me good”9

i’ll wrap up with “No Strings” by Paris Texas and return to this idea that the bad boy love interest is really trying to change. as the story develops, we’ll see just how much of his old self he’s willing to shed.

“No strings attached
I can't go back
To the man I once was, baby
I can try (I don't wanna)”10

below, you can check out the entire bad boy love interest playlist and see where your imagination goes regarding the narrative i’m crafting.

(Apple Music)

(YouTube)

prior sync placements

according to Tunefind, only two songs on the playlist had existing sync placements in film & television. check out each link to see which shows or movies they appeared in.

BONUS: opening credits

i found an earlier draft for this series where i intended to lead with a playlist called opening credits. although i like the direction i’ve taken the project in, i still want to leverage this playlist within the series. many of the songs are instrumental or have a grand opening. quite a few tracks sound like the start of a new day.