The List V012 By Uncle Loco

Before we dissect v012 specifically, we need to understand the genesis. Uncle Loco—a mysterious DJ, producer, and tastemaker based somewhere between Berlin and Brooklyn—started “The List” in 2018 as a personal monthly newsletter. The concept was simple yet revolutionary: 20 songs. No skips. No filler. No ads.

Each “version” (v001 through v011) acted as a time capsule. Uncle Loco’s talent lies not in creating music, but in connecting it. He finds the perfect lo-fi hip hop beat to follow a gritty East Coast rap verse, then transitions into a haunting instrumental from a Japanese jazz-hop artist you’ve never heard of. The lists are famous for their “flow score”—a fan-made metric rating how well the tracks bleed into one another emotionally.

The List v012 dropped on a quiet Tuesday night in late September 2024. Within 72 hours, links to the tracklist had been shared over 50,000 times on independent music platforms. Why? Because v012 is widely considered "The Rebirth List."

The final block of The List v012 is all about energy and conclusion. Uncle Loco famously said, “A great list leaves you better than it found you.”

13. Little Simz – “Mood for a Day” A triumphant, string-laden banger. Simz raps about self-confidence. The beat switch at 2:15 is considered one of the best moments in List history. the list v012 by uncle loco

14. Yussef Dayes – “Rust (feat. Tom Misch)” A live drum masterpiece. This is the track you play when you need to remember you are alive. The bass solo will ruin your headphones (in a good way).

15. Boldy James – “Slow Roll” The only “street” rap on the list. It’s gritty but calm. Uncle Loco places this here to ground the euphoria. Life isn’t perfect, but we keep rolling.

16. Hania Rani – “Unexpected” A modern classical piano piece played on a prepared piano (with screws and rubber wedges on the strings). It sounds like rain on a tin roof. A fan-favorite “wind down” track.

17. Miso Extra – “Best You Can Do” UK garage meets pop. It’s bouncy, light, and infectious. This is the track that gets stuck in your head for days. Before we dissect v012 specifically, we need to

18. Sam Gendel – “Alice” A solo saxophone piece. Just one minute long. It serves as the final moment of reflection before the closer.

19. Fly Anakin – “No Dough” A head-nodding, dusty boom-bap track. The drums are crunchy. The samples are obscure. This is Uncle Loco paying respect to the old school.

20. Kelsey Lu – “Pull the Rope” (Acoustic Outro) The list closes with just a voice and a cello. No beat. No effects. Lu sings, “You made it / You’re still here.” The final chord holds for 12 seconds, then silence. The list is over.

Before we dissect version 012, we must understand the ecosystem. "The List" is not a music playlist or a simple bullet-point blog post. It is a curated, cryptic, and highly influential digital dossier released periodically by an anonymous curator known only as Uncle Loco. The List v012, however, is different

Each iteration of The List contains a mixture of:

The List v012, however, is different. It has broken out of the underground and is now being leaked into mainstream TikTok and X (Twitter) threads.

If you get your hands on the original PDF or encrypted note (hint: it is never posted on Instagram or LinkedIn), do not read it like a magazine. Uncle Loco’s formatting is deliberate.

Newcomers often mistake The List v012 for a shopping guide. It is not. It is a map of collective consciousness.

No list is perfect. Some purists argue that The List v012 leans too heavily into “sad boy jazz” and not enough into underground rap. Others criticize the inclusion of GENDEMA (#9), calling it “jump scare curation.” Uncle Loco, true to form, responded to these criticisms with a single tweet (now deleted): “v013 will be louder. Stay mad.”