Graphic from hhhhappy.com

Anyone who has driven with me knows that my place in the car is not in the driver’s seat, and it’s not just because my driving skills completely satisfy stereotypes about women and Asians. You’ll always find me riding shotgun, manspreading so effectively that the Metropolitan Transit Authority probably has a sketch of me on their walls at HQ, blasting the freshest jams from my iPhone.

Why do my driving friends always bless me with the aux cord? For one thing, I grew up in a cave — otherwise known as Tivoli, New York — and discovered the era-defining tunes of the late 1990s and early 2000s five to ten years late. I tend to pay generous homage to artists such as Alanis Morissette and LFO, which my friends love because they think I’m being ironic. But, more importantly, I stay up to date with a combination of apps and platforms, from YouTube playlists to Spotify and from SoundCloud to 8tracks. The one that yields the juiciest finds — and is also the least well known — is Hype Machine.

When Haley Smith, alumna from the Class of 2015 and founding member of the musical group Savage Darkness — if you’ve never heard their stuff, think HAIM meets Lil Jon — introduced me to Hype Machine last year, I was immediately hooked. Hype Machine’s staff hand-selects top music blogs, and the website and smartphone app conglomerates all of these tunes onto one dashboard. That means that a lot of people who dedicate their professions and passions to music have already spent time researching and curating the latest and greatest sounds, and you can find it all in one place. Their strongest selections are remixes of classic jams as well as hot from the press songs by emerging artists.

Hype Machine could not be easier to use. You just pick what you like, either from the home page or after sorting by genre, popularity or how recently the songs were uploaded, and the site saves these songs as your favorites. Since it automatically keeps the songs in a separate feed, the app saves its users from the tedious tasks of finding songs and compiling playlists, or in my case, the headache of arriving at the gym and realizing that, yet again, my iPhone music library has not been updated since the time I thought Bowling for Soup was cool. The recently played or liked songs are saved and you can listen to them offline — the fact that the app only saves up to 30 songs at a time is no problem if you’ve listened and liked wisely. Though the app now costs $3.99, a website account is free, with no ads.

Hype Machine is where I found gems such as Janet by Berhana, Another Day in Paradise by Quinn XCII and Ridin Round by Kali Uchis feat. Torey Lanez. What? These titles mean nothing to you? Have you been listening to anything besides Ultralight Beam, Work and Hotline Bling this year? It's time to crawl out from under your rock and download Hype Machine.

Let’s be honest: the last time you bought a song on iTunes was when your middle-aged aunt gave you a gift card in 2005. 8tracks is okay, except most playlists are similar, from the G-Eazy song that everyone puts on their rap playlist to that picture of a white girl’s crossed legs, a cup of tea and a laptop that accompanies most playlists tagged chill, indie, smile or cry. Besides, how much faith can I have in a platform on which my playlist titled feelin' slick, which includes 21 songs that sample Slick Rick’s La Di Da Di, has only gotten one like so far? That’s the same number of people I know who have downloaded Tidal.

I get that most of us are fiercely loyal to our apps and irreplaceable libraries. I’m not saying that you have to abandon your other routines for collecting and playing music; Hype Machine is just a great addition. I used to be the kind of person who thought I could hold the shotgun throne with songs by artists like Joey Bada$$ and Kiesza, or, on more flamboyant occasions, Missy Elliott — but that was before I discovered the life-changing Teach Me Chateau Marmont remix or Barks chopped and screwed 2015 into the spine of Work It.

I know, it sucks to listen to or read about people bragging about the most recent and head-banging remixes of a song, even if it is as legendary as Thero & Taylor Wise’s take on Robyn’s sobbing in the shower anthem Call Your Girlfriend. If my preposterous name dropping means anything to you, I hope it’s that I'm way too indie and alt for the music tastes of the mainstream music-listening public. But here’s the thing: so are you. Get wise with Hype Machine and the next road trip, the aux cord will be your crown, not your curse.