It’s that time of the year again. Picking my favorite albums of the year has been a great way to recap my year over the last half decade. Choosing this years top albums was extremely difficult with a lot of great artists releasing their new projects. This is the first year my favorite two artists have BOTH dropped albums in the same year; so 2021 was a great year for me, music wise. As always, I hope you enjoy and hopefully find some new music you love.
Honorable Mentions:
Jack Kay’s – Mixed Emotions: I heard Jack Kay’s for the first time when he had under 6,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and was immediately hooked. His debut project was remarkable and deserves to be in every single “best of project of the year” lists.
Favorite song: Bottom of the Bottle
Noah Cyrus + PJ Harding – People Don’t Change: Noah Cyrus was my most listened to artist in 2021 and a big reason for that was this project. Noah Cyrus has the voice of an angel and alongside PJ Harding gave me one of my favorite projects this year. It’s a short project and all of the songs are pretty similar, but I love Noah Cyrus and it felt wrong not to at least include this as an honorable mention.
Favorite song: Dear August
5. Tyler The Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost: I’m not the biggest fan of Tyler’s music, but was more than surprised with how much I enjoyed his 2021 album. The sound, style, length, and features on “Call Me If You Get Lost” were great. Hoping to hear more music like this from Tyler in the coming years.
Favorite song: Juggernaut
4. Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue: Top of the morning! Without a doubt, Baby Keem would win my “Best New Artist of the Year” award. He burst onto the scene at the end of 2020 and made every day count this year. While my girlfriend thinks Keem’s album should be higher on my list (she’s a huge fan of “16”) – the 3 albums above this one were just too good to beat.
Favorite song: range brothers feat. Kendrick Lamar
3. Isaiah Rashad – The House Is Burning: TDE’s most mysterious member made us wait over 5 years for a new project; but it was well worth the wait. Rashad pours his heart out on all 16 songs and gives hip-hop a well rounded and all around seamless album. With great features from Lil Uzi Vert, Smino, Jay Rock, Duke Deuce, and SZA, Rashad didn’t disappoint myself or his other fans. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 5 years for the next Isaiah Rashad album.
Favorite song: Claymore Feat. Smino
2. Kanye West – Donda: The world waited years for Ye’s newest album & he finally delivered one of the best albums of the last decade. The music speaks for itself and was a perfect combination of old school Ye bars with gospel/religious inspiration. It would be impossible for me to talk about Donda and not talk about the lead up to it. The Donda rollout was creative & innovative. It changed the rap game forever and signifies why Kanye West is the GOAT.
Favorite song: Hurricane or Off The Grid
1. Silk Sonic – An Evening With Silk Sonic: Coming in at #1 is my obvious choice for AOTY. If you know me, you know how much I love Anderson .Paak & how excited I was for this album to release. It’s one of the most perfect albums to be released in the last few years & is flawless from top to bottom. If you haven’t heard it yet, I’m begging you to go give it a spin.
Favorite song: Leave The Door Open
