I'd say 2021 was a huge and weird year for music, Adele finally releasing a new album after years of waiting, that insane Donda album rollout, Lil Nas X giving the devil a lap dance, Drake entering his lover boy era, Limp Bizkit making their comeback to save music, and Arca going nuts and releasing four albums in four days. But most importantly, 2021 was a year that was packed with too much good music that making this list only have 10 albums felt illegal, I mean how can I not mention Tyler's CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, or the headbanging Glow On By Turnstile, the gentle & mellow I know I'm funny haha by Faye Webster or the erotic and sweet Daddy's Home by St. Vincent, or even Sloppy Jane amazing debut Madison that was recorded in a literal cave... well, you get the full picture, anyways, after much pain and suffering, this is the final list
10. Nafs at Peace - Jaubi
I know it's probably the Asian and Islamic sound this album bleeds that caught my attention at first but what kept it is much more than that, drawing out elements from electronic, chamber jazz, and Islamic hindustani classical, Jaubi makes use of every key, every note, and every instrument to create a musical dialogue about faith, spirituality, and a path leading to inner peace, thus the title "Nafs at Peace". Overall, just another piece of work that breaks the barrier of what Jazz can achieve when stretched out.
Favorite 3 tracks: Raga Gurji Todi, Straight Path, Nafs at Peace
9. An evening with Silk Sonic - Silk Sonic
the way collab projects work nowadays, it's more about the selling point and less about the music ( slime language, voice of the heroes, every Dj Khaled album...) which often results in forgettable albums with a terrible replay value that lasts for a few weeks on the charts. There are however few exceptions where the collab brings out the hidden potential in both artists and the result is nothing but a classic: Kids see ghosts, Savage mode, Pinãta... and now, this album joins the gang. I had of course high expectations going into this since the leading tracks were nothing but amazing, and it absolutely delivered. the chemistry between Bruno and Paak is immaculate, no one steals the show from the other, no one outperforms the other, and they both shine like stars from front to back. and to top it all a flawless gorgeous soul & funky production that makes every hook and every harmony sound like a mixture of fine silk and pure gold. The drums on Skate and Leave the Door Open are crisper than a freshly opened bag of Doritos, The bridge on Put On a Smile with all of its horns and bombastic nature beats puts any other sappy song bridge to shame, the outro on Blast Off is as celestial as it is smooth. to keep it short, here are 3 words to sum up this album: sweet, sexy, yummy.
Favorite 3 tracks: After last night, Smokin Out The Window, Skate
8. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert - Little Simz
The album might be called Sometimes I might Be Introvert, yet Simbi shows a lot of personality, styles, and versatility all across its runtime. Her pen game is something I'd like to praise the shit out of, it's mostly treating themes of self-love and empowerment, all without sounding pretentious or corny, rather genius bars that when paired with her unique delivery become entertaining, even funny sometimes, but most importantly, it just makes me so happy. I'd like to mention the wide variety when it comes to beat selection, which is again, as impressive as the lyrical substance, if not more. we get to experience this grand orchestral production in songs like Introvert, Woman, or Standing Ovation, then Simz gives us a taste of some hard-beat UK drill in songs like Speed and Rolling Stone (whose beat switch btw is one of the greatest things I've heard this year), but the songs that stood out for me, are the ones where you can hear the influence of her African Nigerian heritage all over them, songs like Point and Kill, and Fear No Man to be specific. anyways, this is a must-listen, and an album that I can certainly see becoming a classic over the next few years.
Favorite 3 tracks: Woman, Rolling Stone, Point and Kill
7. LP! - JPEGMAFIA
DAMN PEGGY!
throughout the years, JPEGMAFIA was only getting better and mastering his craft more upon each release, and it doesn't seem to stop here. LP! just might be his most consistent work up to date, one of my favorite aspects of the record is the way in which it melds so many different sounds explored in the past into one, with the harsh industrial tones of Veteran, the abstractness, and avant-garde nature of All My Heroes Are Cornballs, and the eclectic feel of EP! and EP2! showing in spades. It's hard to find anything to dislike about this record, and that's not even mentioning Peggy's songwriting, as hilariously cynical & pointed as ever, along with absolutely next-level production (all of the latter, of course, courtesy of Peggy himself). He gets better and better with each record, the absolute madlad
Favorite 3 tracks: HAZARD DUTY PAY! / THOT'S PRAYER! / REBOUND!
6. Promises - Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders
One thing I admire about music, in general, is how easily you can change your opinion about a certain record or album, you can easily get bored of something you liked initially, as you can grow fond and appreciate a piece you didn't like or get the appeal of over the first few listens. and this album is one of the latter cases. Basically, this is a collision of jazz, electronic and classical music, which is not that hard to decipher when looking at the names on this project. The album sort of revolves around this single idea, and slowly develops it with each movement, adding different instrumental palettes to explore each time, which not only helps the record feel fresh and unrepetitive but also adds to the beauty of the sound. the harmony between Pharoah's saxophone, the keys, the cello, and the violin solos generates its own sense of orbit in a kind of celestial musical universe. Overall, just an incredible piece and a mesmerizing experience
Favorite 3 tracks: Nope you better listen to this one all at once, please <3
5. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready
Picture yourself in the medieval time, you're inside a church, on a dark gloomy day, and someone is aggressively playing the darkest and most haunting tunes with the organ, while the head nun, who happens to have a long beaming white hear and wear a black victorian dress, recites and screams with her majestic and scary yet captivating voice some biblical like verses, and the choir back her up every now and then, that is exactly the imagery the pops up in my head whenever I'm listening to this masterpiece. To just sit there or lay down with your headphones on, while this album engulfs you as you submerge in the atmospheric dark brooding melancholic soul-stirring soundscape that comes with it, is a feeling beyond describing, a feeling you'll have to witness and feel yourself.
Favorite 3 tracks: THE ORDER OF SPIRITUAL VIRGINS, REPENT NOW CONFESS NOW, MAN IS LIKE A SPRING FLOWER
4. Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B - Westside Gunn
Westside Gunn was very generous to his fans this year by dropping the eighth installment of his Hitler Wears Hermes series, split over two albums because of how massive and bulky it is, and as much as it pains me, I'll have to only include the side B on this list, as I enjoy it slightly more than the first one, nonetheless, It's worth checking out as the gap of quality between the two projects is too tight, especially on tracks like RIGHT NOW and Westheimer... anyways, back to the main dish now, who comes with your usual features on a Griselda project, Benny the Butcher, Mach-Hommy, Conway the Machine, Armani Ceasar, Stove God Cooks... alongside some new names, and as usual, they go so fucking hard. I seem to never get bored of Westside's unique vocals, and of course, his iconic adlibs that make every track ten times better, the production is everything you'd want from a Griselda record and more, your classic grimy aggressive boom bap with a modern touch beats. In short, just another top-notch hip-hop record added to the Westside Gunn catalog.
Favorite 3 tracks: Forest Lawn(feat. 2 Chainz & Armani Ceasar), RIP Bergdorf (feat. Mach-Hommy), Big AL (feat. Rome Streetz)
3. For The First Time - Black Country, New Road
Out of all the British loud men post-punk albums that came out this year, and believe me they were a lot (Cavalcade, Bright Green Field, Seek Shelter...), this one right here was my favorite, well now that I think about it this one is the most unique one too, whether it's Isaac Woods silly yet packed with meaning lyrics, or his emotional and nothing alike vocals, or the huge Post-rock influence here. I mean yea surely a slow and rich and textured build-up of instrumentation is always a turn-on for me but what BCNR is doing here is not as simple to describe as that, in fact, imagine if Slint and The Clash made an album together, yeah that paints a good imagery of what to expect going into this record, and their closing track Opus is very much reminiscent to the legendary Good Morning, Captain by Slint
Favorite 3 tracks: Instrumental, Sunglasses, Opus
2. Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern - Lil Ugly Mane
Prior to this album, the only Lil Ugly Mane project I was familiar with was his grand influential, and acclaimed Mista Thug Isolation, a cult classic in the underground hip-hop scene that gave Memphis rap and Horrorcore a much-needed new fresh breath, so its only fair to expect at least somewhat of a similar sound in this album, well, that's where I was wrong. This thing right here goes in the complete opposite direction, taking elements from shoegaze and other genres such as neo-psychedelia and hypnagogic pop, in such a unique and innovative way that makes it very hard to classify under a specific genre. The amount of creativity displayed here is just too ridiculous, so much so that with every re-listen you're guaranteed to discover or notice a new detail. Worth pointing out that sampling kids' lullabies is my favorite thing about this record, it does nothing but contributes brilliantly to one of the overall feelings I think Lil Ugly Mane is trying to evoke in the listener during the runtime of this album, Nostalgia.
Favorite 3 tracks: Human fly, Cursor, Porcelain slightly
1. Smiling With No Teeth - Genesis Owusu
This is one of the few cases where I can't tell what I like more about an album, whether it's the incredible lyrical substances about depression, facing one's demons and personal growth that just hits my sweet spot, or the multi-layered production that brews elements from funk to soul to R&B to hip hop that only reflects how much Kofi masters his craft, or his very roomy comfortable zone of singing, as he keeps changing his delivery to match the mood the songs convey, sounding like an angry rebellious MC Ride at times, and a sweet loving D'Angelo at others. Well, whatever it is, it's all these aspects combined that not only make Smiling With No Teeth my album of the year but one of my all-time favorites.
Favorite 3 tracks: Waitin' on Ya, Don't Need You, A Song About Fishing
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