Introduction

Music has always been a huge part of who I am, and I can’t think of any medium better at setting mood, revealing emotion, and expressing the soul of a moment.

My intention with LEELA is not just to write a series. It’s to create an award-winning television show—HBO anyone?

So I made a decision: I would play pretend and treat LEELA like a show in written form.

That means engineering the world down to the smallest choices. The clothes. The food. The rooms. The music. The rituals. The locations.

The emotional weather of every scene. It means forcing myself to make hundreds of creative decisions and stretching my understanding of the characters as far as I can.

The Music of LEELA is an invitation to play pretend with me…

The Music of Leela

Music has always been part of Leela’s language.

From individual playlists for each of the main characters, designed to give you a sense of who they are and what you might find in their private music collections, to deeper dives into the sounds of the culture — salsa, merengue, bolero, Latin jazz, Miami club music, and songs that carry memory in their hips — The Music of Leela moves with the rhythm of the night.

In this introduction, I’ll walk you through the first four character playlists: Leela, Addy, Tanvi, and Tatum.

Leela

Leela was raised by her Abuela Lucy, a woman who lived on Latin music, old-school romance, and 80s pop. Leela’s own taste was built on that foundation, then charged with Miami club bangers, sexy songs that make your toes curl, and a little sprinkle of longing.

From Willie Colón to Sean Paul, Lana Del Rey to David Bowie, somehow it all comes together in a way that makes Leela herself feel like a beautiful contradiction: sensual, nostalgic, surprising, and impossible to reduce to one sound.

Addy

Addy’s playlist brings a savvy pop energy to the Leela universe.

This is the music of a white girl raised around Hispanics, experiencing the carnival of emotions that comes with first romance. Built to align with the emotional arc of her relationship, the selection becomes a journey: bright, flirty, dramatic, wounded, hopeful, and perfect for a drive through the City of Sunshine.

Bass Mode, Rosalía, Pitbull, Sean Paul, Ray Barretto, Justin Timberlake — Addy’s playlist is polished, emotional, and ready to roll the windows down.

Tatum

Tatum is a bit of a mystery, filled with wonderful surprises for a man who is literally a trained killer.

A mixture of country music and old-school hip hop makes this playlist a box of chocolates that somehow works. “Any Man of Mine,” “Our Song,” and “This Kiss” reveal a side of Tatum we probably wouldn’t get to know any other way, and in my opinion, that is what makes it truly special.

If you are one of those people who likes everything but country, this one may not be for you. But for the rest of us, it’s one hell of a ride.

Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, The Notorious B.I.G., Shania Twain, Will Smith — controlled, unexpected, sentimental, tough, and a little ridiculous in the best possible way.

Tanvi

Tanvi is South Indian, raised on the West Side of Chicago.

She has never fit in and never conformed to anyone, anywhere. The fact that her career never matched the expectations attached to her brilliance is a direct result of that. She is too strange, too sharp, too funny, too inappropriate, and too allergic to authority to be easily placed.

Her playlist is filled with eccentric hip hop spanning decades. In a way, she is the polar opposite of Tatum, with just enough overlap to create delicious tension.

One thing is for sure: she is too smart to be bored.

Baby Keem, M.I.A., LL Cool J, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Clipse — Tanvi’s playlist is restless, clever, profane, unpredictable, and always three steps ahead.

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New episodes drop every Saturday at 10 AM EST.

Leela follows a brilliant high-end escort in Miami who treats intimacy like art, therapy, and a little bit of trouble. It’s erotic, funny, emotional, dangerous, and not the story you think it is.

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