Here are my favorite 50 projects from 2020! EPs are included, and only one project (or sister projects) per artist. Don't get too hung up on specific numbers, as everything here is subject to move a few spaces depending on the day. I'll get a bit more descriptive in the second half of the list about 2020 overall, but I still wholeheartedly recommend every project on here! Everything is linked in Spotify and Youtube, and there will be a playlist at the end of part two in the same way as there was for top songs. Without further ado, part one of the list!
50. Liv.e - Couldn’t Wait to Tell You…
Nobody else sounds like Liv.e does. She brings in plenty of jazz and soul into her particular brand of R&B. The songs flow in and out of each other perfectly, especially during the first half of the project. There are songs that sound almost like some traditional R&B, but then others that sound like jazz interludes, or just literally telling a story for a few minutes. She’s also been cosigned by quite a few high profile artists, including Tyler, the Creator and Janelle Monae on social media, and premiering this album on Erykah Badu’s website. There is part of me that thinks it’s a bit too lofi and artsy for its own good, but there’s still so many great songs that I can easily overlook any small flaws.
49. Mick Jenkins - The Circus
Mick Jenkins has always been one of the most underrated rappers out of Chicago, and this is one of his most concise set of tracks yet. There’s so many great rap songs on here with layers of clever bars. “Carefree” is one of the best rap songs of the year that shows Mick detailing an actual experience he had with his friends just hanging out and being stopped by the cops, “It just don’t look like this. If you’ve living carefree then you probably don’t look like us.” Earthgang dominates the slow track “The Light”, and it comes out beautifully with great verses from all three people. “Flaunt” shows that Mick Jenkins can make a catchy, cocky song with the best of them. Hit-Boy continues his legendary 2020 run on the opener “Same Ol” and Mick comes through with lightning fast bars and flows. This project isn’t necessarily Mick Jenkins’ most essential project, but it’s another great addition to his discography.
48. Megan Thee Stallion - Good News
Megan doesn’t bring much new to her style for this album, but it’s arguably the most refined and accessible version of her sound so far. Songs like “Circles” and “Freaky Girls” with SZA both feel like they would be perfect party songs if parties were still safe. She shows just how talented she is at rapping with songs like “What’s New” and “Girls in the Hood”. Her flow and delivery is just so fun and actually hilarious at points. “Sugar Baby” is a great example of a lighthearted, short, to the point track that shows how effortlessly she can make great songs. Hopefully she changes her sound as her career progresses, but as is, this is still a really good project.
47. Pop Smoke - Meet The Woo 2
Pop Smoke’s debut postmorthous album is what most people and publications have been praising the most, but I’ve always enjoyed his previous mixtape a bit more. The official album is a bit more mainstream, but this project shows the grittiness that made Pop Smoke stand out. He was able to help bring back drill music to the mainstream with hits like “Welcome to the Party” and “Dior”, the latter being a bonus song on this project. Almost every song on here contains the traditional drill sound consisting of skittering hi hats, evil synth lines, and thundering 808s. Even with there being a good amount of producers, the project still contains an overarching sound. It’s not perfect by any means, but it helps show what made Pop Smoke a unique artist.
46. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Punisher is easily one of the most acclaimed albums of the year, and for good reason. Phoebe's brand of sad, emo-folk is easily memorable and distinguishable from most mainstream music. Even though the album stays in its sound really well, it really shines when the sound changes. “Kyoto” is easily the most upbeat, catchy, and full track on here, all of which makes it the most memorable moment on the entire project. “Chinese Satellite” has a plethora of ambient noises in the background, as well as a fantastic outro that help it stand out from the rest. Even the first single and full track on the project, “Garden Song”, is just a fantastically written song with a great instrumental and vocal performance. This album may not have hit me as hard as most people, but I can’t deny that it’s still an extremely enjoyable and beautiful listen.
45. Taylor Swift - folklore
I never would’ve expected a Taylor Swift album to be on my list at the beginning of the year, but here we are. And the craziest part is, this could’ve been a lot higher with a few changes. If this project was 10-12 songs instead of 16, it likely would’ve been a good amount higher. Her voice and storytelling fit this folk and indie pop inspired sound a lot more than the formulaic pop sound. Some highlights include “The last great american dynasty”, which features some fantastic storytelling that draws a parallel between Taylor and Rebekah Harkness. Bon Iver and Taylor create this heart wrenching ballad with the song “exile”. “Seven” is a catchy and upbeat track, or as upbeat as they get on this project, about the longly for the innocence of childhood. It’s almost a frustrating listen, as it feels like she’s close to making what would be considered her masterpiece, but just misses the mark once again and now we gotta watch it win album of the year at the Grammys this year. She even released another project a few months later and while it’s still good, it doesn’t have the highs of this project. Hopefully folklore is the turning point in Taylor’s career into this more acoustic, folk inspired direction.
44. Sons of the James - Everlasting
I tend to have a soft spot for the Soulquarian sound, and Sons of the James was somehow able to recreate it 20 years after it happened. Of course, there are still a myriad of differences between them, but the fact that two people from Virginia were able to recreate this sound so well is outstanding. A song like “Happy” sounds straight out of those dirty, smoke infested Soulquarian sessions that are now the thing of legend. They still do some different things though, like on the tracks “Keep Runnin’” and “Things I Should Have Said”. The half hour project just flies by and begs to be replayed over and over again. Both Milton and Harrison provide a thought-provoking, introspective piece of soul that will stand the test of time and hopefully get them many more fans.
43. Jean Dawson - Pixel Bath
Jean Dawson can’t be put into any genre, and that nonexistent place is where Pixel Bath thrives. He weaves through genres and sounds seamlessly throughout the 13 tracks. He goes from a track that sounds like it would take place in an experimental dance club, to one that sounds like it’d be a hit on the alternative radio stations. Later in the project, he has a protest track where half of it is in Spanish, and then goes right into an existential track on the shortness of human life. Jean was even able to put A$AP Rocky on a guitar driven indie track and have it sound perfect. The project may not be flawless, but the 24 year-old clearly has a bright future ahead of him.
42. The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
The Avalanches had the odds stacked against them in 2020, as their album got delayed more than seven months due to the pandemic, With only two albums to their name after 20 years of music, the hype was still extremely high for this new project and they lived up to them. Even though they ended up releasing seven singles before the album dropped, they all came together perfectly and ended up sounding a lot better in the context of the album. All 25 songs feel necessary to create this ethereal experience of an album. Everything flows in and out of each other seamlessly to create another fantastic album from one of the most acclaimed electronic and plunderphonic groups of this generation.
41. Nubya Garcia - Source
Jazz may not be at the front of music in 2020, but it is not dead by any means. Nubya Garcia is one of the top jazz artists coming out of the thriving London jazz scene, which also includes people like Ezra Collective and KOKOROKO, and her debut album lived up to all the expectations. Besides jazz, she still manages to include a lot of reggae and African rhythms that help make this project stand out amongst other jazz artists. Nubya also lets the other instrumentalists on the project shine as well, including keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones and drummer Sam Jones. Even with their highlights on the project, there is no disagreeing that Nubya is the star of the show of this project, and arguably jazz as a whole during 2020.
40. Rico Nasty - Nightmare Vacation
Rico’s aggression is something that almost no artist can match, and this project is chalk full of her trademark aggressive bangers. She does bring quite a few more melodic cuts in the tracklist, but the out-of-this-world bangers are what makes this project arguably her best yet. 100 gecs and Take a DayTrip both bring some fantastic production to songs like “STFU”, “Let It Out” and “Girl Scouts”. Even when she slows it down a bit and makes it more accessible like on tracks “Own It” and “IPHONE”, it proves she can make more than one sound and do so effectively. This definitely isn’t the best project that Rico will ever make, but it’s yet another superb project that showcases what makes Rico unique in hip hop.
39. Black Thought - Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able
Black Thought comes through with some of the best rapping of the year on this project. He pulls off things almost no rapper can pull off in 2020, songs that consist of one long verse. The lead single, “Thought vs Everybody”, is a perfect example of this. The whole song is just Black Thought spitting potent bars for a 2.5 minute long verse. “State Prisoner” is another great example of this, just with this one having a small beat switch in the middle. He also brings on high profile features like Pusha T, Killer Mike, Swizz Beatz, ScHoolboy Q, Portugal the Man, and more. Those first three came together on one song that ends up being a fantastic banger. Streams of Thought Vol. 3 is perfect for people that want to hear Black Thought over different production than The Roots normally have, and hopefully we keep getting these small side projects from him in the future.
38. Jockstrap - Wicked City
There’s no one in music that sounds like Jockstrap. The duo from London met in university, Skye in the electronic music program and Ellery a violinist. It’s crazy that these two sounds can come together in beautiful harmony to create this extremely unique project. The basis for almost all of these songs is on piano and Ellery’s voice, but Skye adds the experimental electronic music that helps make the project something special. “The City” features these beautiful vocals from Ellery that prove how unique her voice is, but the song then transitions from a piano ballad to an experimental club banger. “Acid” shows the violin making its appearance for the first time on this maximalist tune. This project shows how unique and the potential that Jockstrap has to make something truly genre-altering.
37. Jahmed - THEBOOFMOBILE
Jahmed proves himself to be one of the best up and coming rappers with this project. Even at only five tracks and three interludes, he shows that he has all the basics that make up a great rapper. His flow is very aggressive and malleable over every beat on the project. His delivery is full of confidence and bravado that is normal for a seasoned veteran. The project flows perfectly from track to track in a cohesive, 13 minute collection of bangers. He also plays with his voice to the point where he can sound like completely different people on the same song. He’s already teasing a new project for early 2021, Armani, and the single with Freddie Gibbs shows Jahmed leveling up once again.
36. Drake - Dark Lane Demo Tapes
Even though this project is just a collection of loosies, Drake still comes through with a very enjoyable project that’s perfect for some easy listening. Are there the incredibly catchy and earwormy hits that are on his other projects, no. But the shorter runtime and amount of styles he used in only 14 tracks more than makes up for it. There are still some organic hits outside of the pitiful attempt with “Toosie Slide”, like the extremely catchy “Time Flies” and the soulful hip hop track “Chicago Freestyle” with Giveon. During the few months between this and his official studio album, Certified Lover Boy supposedly releasing next month, this provided a good amount of entertainment.
35. Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas
With how crazy and genre bending music has become over the past few years, sometimes we forget that an album can just be great with a bunch of great songs. This is the album that reminds us how simple, but astounding music can be at its simplest form. “Bittersweet” shows that Lianne’s vocals are up there with the best of them. “Can’t Fight” is an upbeat song that sounds like something that could fit in perfectly with alternative radio. “Paper Thin” is a beautiful ballad that is worthy of it’s six minute runtime. Lianne’s cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” is easily one of the best covers of 2020. This project shows that songwriting isn’t dead and music doesn’t need to be complicated all the time for it to be entertaining.
34. KennyHoopla - how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//
There’s a lot of people that are a part of this indie rock, genreless revival, and this KennyHoopla project immediately puts him near the top of that sound. The title track to the project is the hit and deservedly so. It’s easily one of the most anthemic choruses of the year and the passion behind his voice is infectious. “Plastic door//” is another catchy indie rock track, this time being a bit more mellow. But Kenny’s more than just indie rock, there are elements of electronic, punk, hip hop, and even experimental music. The intro to the project, “thinkingoutloud//”, is full of these fast paced electronic drums that drive the entire song. “The world is flat and this is the end//” contains these experimental drops throughout the entire track and Kenny even experiments with some autotune. If this project is indicative of KennyHoopla as a whole, he’s got a long career in front of him.
33. Slingbaum - Slingbaum One
Easily the most mysterious and high profile project of 2020. It’s impossible to find online, only available through a $40 vinyl, premiered with secret solo listening parties in a fancy studio above a Chinese restaurant, and is only 3 songs long with a 16 minute runtime. But even with all these caveats, this project still lives to expectations. “Behoove” with Erykah Badu and D’angelo is this outlandish and otherworldly opener. FKA twigs highlights the Questlove drummed “Strangers” with this haunting, but slick groove. “Morphine” gives an unforeseen combo of Damon Albarn and Syd singing back and forth with each other over this ever mutating jazz track. This will be the ultimate crate digging album to stumble upon in a couple decades, but for now, it’s the internet’s best kept secret.
32. Poppy - I Disagree
A creepy internet personality turned nu metal musician doesn’t seem like it would work, but it does. This album shows Poppy going even darker and more unique than ever, and it ended up as her best album yet! The heaviness of songs like “Bloodmoney” and “I Disagree” pair nicely with the beautiful moments like “Sick of the Sun” and the outro of “Don’t Go Outside”. “Concrete” might be the most outrageous opener of the year, but the three completely different genres somehow come together to make it work. Just like her internet personality, this album won’t be for everyone. But for people that want to listen to something unique that blends a bunch of seemingly random genres together, this is here for anyone that wants that experience.
31. Smino - She Already Decided
Smino was finishing up his next album when the COVID pandemic hit and sidelined the project indefinitely. So in order to stay inspired, he decided to just try and make as much music as possible. The result of it is this mixtape and because it’s Smino, it was released at 4:20PM on 4/20. He goes full mixtape style with a few freestyles over the hottest songs at the time, including “Savage” and “The Box”. Many of the songs are short as well, as the project both feels unfinished and finished at the same time. He even brings on T-Pain for an amazing remix of his 2018 hit “Klink”. This project shows Smino at his most unfiltered and straightforward, but still some of his best work and shows what makes him unique.
30. Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder - Dinner Party / Dessert
This supergroup of hip hop producers and jazz artists came together to drop not only one full project, but another one full of remixes. The original flows together better, as the only people on it are these four and another hip hop producer and artist, Phoelix. On the other hand, the remix project contains great features from Cordae, Rapsody, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, and many more. It also has probably better individual songs because of these features. “Freeze Tag" was already a really great song, but a personal and socially conscious verse from Cordae makes it that much better. “Sleepless Nights" was already a fantastic opener to the project, but adding Buddy and Phonte makes the song feel complete. These two projects go hand in hand with each other, which is why I can’t pick one over the other, but both are great pieces of work by these extremely talented individuals.
29. Ego Ella May - Honey For Wounds
Honey For Wounds is perfectly encapsulated with the album title. Ego’s voice helps create this almost trance-like state that makes the listener feel at peace for these 11 tracks. It’s almost like a meditation of some sorts. It leaves the listener feeling more at peace with the environment around them; leaving them ready to take a nap, fight for equality, or whatever else you want to do. This doesn’t mean the music is all about peaceful topics though, the track “Girls Don’t Always Sing About Boys” is the biggest example of this. She sings about how women are almost always forced to sing about boys, but she instead wants to sing about everything from the cycle of following in your parents footsteps without second guessing it to equality for everyone. Ego Ella May brings a capsule of peace to a 2020 that has been anything but.
28. HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III
Even after being delayed multiple times due to coronavirus, Women in Music Pt. III arrived just in time for the warm weather. If we were able to go out and actually hang out around people frequently this summer, this project deserved to be played every time. It’s full of these fun, accessible indie rock tunes that immediately stick in the listener’s head. Songs like “The Steps” and “Don’t Wanna” are some uplifting earworms, while “Gasoline” and “I Know Alone” are some slower ballads that help balance out the project nicely. The tight runtime of 41 minutes and the phenomenal closing track make you want to play the project again. HAIM created a project that will long be in the rotation for summer get-togethers for years to come.
27. Kali Uchis - Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
Kali showed a completely new side of herself with this project, and she came through with flying colors. Going from having a vast majority English audience and giving them an album almost entirely in Spanish could’ve gone poorly, but she was able to pull it off with some of the best vocals of her career and a wide variety of sounds. She has some great Latin pop like on songs “telepatia” and “quiero sentirme bien”, but also some super jazz inspired tracks and covers like on “la luna enamorada” and “que te pedí//” respectively. It not only shows Kali taking her sound into new directions, but is also introducing a lot of her audience to these sounds. Kali has proven once again that she can’t be boxed into any sound or style, and I’m sure she’ll continue to work outside the confines of any particular genre.
26. Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour
After being noticed and signing with Beyonce while still teenagers, this album feels like the coming of age for the sisters. This is more mature, catchier, and contains better harmonies than any of their previous work. They cover all different types of R&B on this project. “Do It” is the accessible hit made for TikTok dances, “Forgive Me” brings the trap influenced sound R&B has started to go into, “Don’t Make it Harder on Me" and “Wonder What She Thinks of Me” cover the traditional R&B sound, the latter being nominated for a Grammy. After dropping their best album yet, Halle being cast in the upcoming live action remake of The Little Mermaid, and the incredible live performances they’ve done during quarantine, Chloe and Halle are well on their way to becoming stars in the near future.
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