What a great year for music! This has been the hardest list to make in a while, especially towards the top. I really think the top 15-18 albums are all amazing and are albums that will likely be with me for the rest of my life! But even outside of that, all 51 projects here are great and worthy of a listen, and there were still quite a few that I left off just due to space. It really was a great year for music, and hopefully next year will be just as amazing for music! There was also a late addition from an album that came out on Christmas Eve, so this list is now 51 projects. Just a quick housekeeping rule, artists are allowed to occupy more than one spot on this list, as long as the projects are completely unrelated. So there will be some repeat artists throughout the list. Either way, here are my favorite 51 favorite projects of 2021!
51. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
Besides just being a perfect album title, Cassandra Jenkins delivers a beautiful album of singer-songwriter folk music. It’s a short listen at only 7 songs and just over 30 minutes, especially with the last track being a completely ambient number, but the luscious instrumentals provide a great backdrop for Cassandra’s straightforward lyrics. The songs are written like diary entries that only the author understands, so we have to fill in the details the best we can. For example, the song “Hard Drive” to me feels like someone trying to deal with anxiety and attempting to find meaning in life, but it could mean something completely different to her. The instrumentals on here are really beautiful and is the biggest reason why the album made the list. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature is a patient listen, but a rewarding experience.
50. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
I’ll admit, I’m a bit late to Mdou Moctar and this album as a whole. I kept seeing it talked about throughout the year and just never got around to it until these past few weeks and wow, I’ve definitely been missing out. It’s totally understandable how places like Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Pitchfork have had this album high up on their lists. Mdou Moctar is an incredible guitar player with a style that is way more abstract than you normally find in rock music these days. The same goes for the grooves on here, it doesn’t sound or feel like a normal rock album, and it isn’t. The influence he takes from growing up in Niger is apparent, and the entire album is sung in Tamasheq. But that doesn’t take away from how fantastic the grooves are, or how lightning quick and catchy his guitar licks are on tracks like “Chismiten” and “Taliat”. And please, just listen to the title track if you want a taste of this album, and I bet you’ll be sold.
49. Underscores - fishmonger
It took a while for this album to fully make its way into my life, as that picture of the smiling water tower was everywhere for months, and I’m so glad it finally clicked. Their debut album fishmonger is chalk full of hyperpop and punk bangers. Underscores has taken the hyperpop sound in a similar way to 100 gecs, and turned it into something that punk fans would love. Songs like “Second hand embarrassment” and “Spoiled Little Brat” are some of the best and most well-rounded songs in either one of those sounds this year, while the songwriting on a track like “Dry land 2001” shows them taking on an ambient feel for the second half of the track. Fishmonger doesn’t yet feel like a perfectly formed picture, but it shows that they deserve to be mentioned in the likes of the best of the upcoming hyperpop wave.
48. Navy Blue - Navy’s Reprise
I’m really glad this project grew on me as the year went on because Navy’s becoming more and more prolific as he’s getting older. Bigger and bigger artists are reaching out to him to produce their albums, and his projects themselves are only getting better. Well, maybe, I haven’t decided if Navy’s Reprise is better than his previous work, Song of Sage: Post Panic, but Song of Sage came out 10 days before 2021, so Navy’s Reprise is what makes it onto this list. In terms of pure bars, Navy brings them in swarms with this album. He writes in a similar abstract way that a lot of other underground rappers do, but his vocal tone helps him stand out. Most other rappers can’t make a personal song like “Suite 11” or “Primo” and have them connect like they do either, but that’s what makes Navy Blue stand out in hip hop. And at only 24 years old, who knows where he could end up in only a couple years.
47. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - Haram
There’s no way to really understand what Elucid and Billy Woods rap about without reading the lyrics. They contort words and stories in ways no one else does, and although it does make it extremely hard to understand, it becomes that much better once you do understand. It sounds extremely dense to just put this on and try to dissect it, but the more you dig into this album, the more gems you’ll find. A personal favorite is on “Scaffolds” when Billy Woods says, “I can’t afford to believe in things unseen. But belief’s always been dangerous to me”. There’s no understating the power of The Alchemist’s production here, whether it be on the extremely summer “Falling out the Sky” or the menacing opener “Sir Benni Miles”. This is college thesis level rap, and I’m not sure how much I’m understanding, even now, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
46. Charm La’Donna - La’Donna
Besides being one of the most sought-after choreographers in music right now, Charm still found time to drop her debut EP. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear that she was able to put a lot more money and time into this project than most artists can for their debut, but this is a great project she’s got everything that makes a great rapper. Her charisma on the mic is fantastic, she does multiple different styles of hip hop well, and she’s able to get personal for a little bit. She’s not doing anything different than anyone else, but for now, there’s no denying she can make bangers. “Palm Trees” is the standout personally with her no nonsense flow and catchy hook. I’m not sure Charm will be able to become more well known for her own music and not choreographing the Super Bowl, but La’Donna is a great start.
45. Jahmed - Armani
Everything about this Jahmed project is better than his previous EP last year. The beats are more diverse and help him show off the different flows and styles he has. The features add more to the album, which even though the only feature on here is Freddie Gibbs, Freddie steals his track and maybe even the whole project. Even Jahmed’s flows and hooks on here are improved from the previous project, with some of his catchiest tracks ever being on here. I’m still not 100% sure I can see where he’s going from here, but Armani is still an improvement for sure. There’s still a little part of me that’s worried Jahmed won’t improve too much from here, which might become a problem after a few more years, but as of now, I’m still ready for whatever collection of bangers he’s ready to drop next.
44. Shelley FKA DRAM - Shelley FKA DRAM
He may not be making music that could be considered as a joke, but Shelley is putting out some really great R&B music. Especially with how trap influenced a lot of R&B is, Shelley’s music is timeless in the best way. Each song is fully complete and builds nicely throughout, but that build especially helps with a song like “All Pride Aside” with Summer Walker. There’s also a groovy Daft Punk cover of “Something About Us” on here that turns it into an R&B track instead of their classic electronic style. “The Lay Down” with H.E.R. and Watt is over two years old, but it’s still amazing after all this time. Even with the album not being funny, his positivity still shines through all of these tracks in the best way possible. Shelley’s music just makes you want to smile.
43. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8
This was originally an album that made its way past me when it came out. Nala is a composer from London that straddles a line between jazz, ambient, and more with Space 1.8, her debut album. She brings on many jazz collaborators to add their respective sounds to this album, including saxophonist Nubya Garcia on “Space 4”, where she once again straddles the line between melody and solos perfectly. But there are also other standout guests as well, like Edward Wakili-Hick playing the drums on “Space 3” and Lyle Barton playing some beautiful piano passages on “Space 2”. Nala brings in all these people and makes them fit into her vision of a minimalistic, synth-heavy, ambient jazz album. Space 1.8 has definitely become my study album of choice for the past couple months, as it just fits perfectly into the background, while still capturing my attention enough to keep my mind from wandering to other places. Hopefully she has more in store for us soon.
42. Zack Fox - shut the fuck up talking to me
Yeah, this somehow made my list of favorite 50 albums, even though it feels almost like a weird joke. Maybe it’s just because Zack Fox is a comedian first and foremost, so this project still feels like a joke, even though I know it’s not. He could be dead serious though, but having lines about having people calling 12 just like a Karen do make it seem like a joke. Either way, it’s an enjoyable joke though. The southern production fits him really well and while his flows aren’t anything special, they’re still charismatic enough to fulfill the need for these tracks. Having producers like Kenny Beats and The Alchemist producing the final two tracks help make this project a bit more umph as well. Just an enjoyable, hilarious hip hop album.
41. Boldy James & The Alchemist - Bo Jackson
There’s no possible way that Boldy James and The Alchemist were going to make a bad album, but Bo Jackson might be their best collaboration yet! What really makes this album stand above their previous release is the features and the grimier production on here. People like Benny the Butcher, Earl Sweatshirt, and Freddie Gibbs all show up here and absolutely destroy their verses. You can hear Boldy having to up his rapping style and energy for those tracks just to keep up, and Boldy’s not a slouch rapper at all. But The Alchemist’s production is just as important here, whether it be a hard-hitting banger like “Brickmile to Montana”, an airy sample-based beat like “Photographic Memories”, or even something experimental like “Speed Trap”. Boldly and The Alchemist refuse to miss with Bo Jackson, and even released another great follow up project a couple weeks ago as well called Super Techmo Bo.
40. Westside Gunn - Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf
Griselda’s mastermind had a relatively quiet year. And by that, I mean he only released this double album that has 33 songs and is more than 100 minutes long. For Westside Gunn, that’s easy work for him, but putting that extra time into this specific album helped make this arguably his best work yet! He gave fans more of what they would expect on Side A by assembling the underground hip hop Avengers to help him before giving a more bombastic and experimental Side B. Each side has its own highlights, whether it be the Lil Wayne assisted “Bash Money” and “Vogue Cover” on Side A, or the Griselda posse cut “Hell on Earth Pt. 2” and “Forest Lawn” on Side B. Westside Gunn saw how Benny and Conway have started to put out their best material, and he finally stepped his game up with this album.
39. Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3
While this project isn’t quite as easily enjoyable as her EP last year, this still provided lots of entertainment in only 8 songs. It even has some of her best songs ever on it, like the silky smooth ballad “Cashmere” towards the end or the hard-hitting banger “Kim” with Baby Tate. Even though those were both singles, the non-singles on here hit just as hard. “High Beams” lives up to its name with as menacing of a beat as you’ll get on a Tkay album. “So Cold” is also a nice piece of electro/dance pop that proves she’s more than a pure rapper. Nothing Tkay does is very complicated or boundary pushing, but she’s able to put together a bunch of quality tracks that range multiple genres.
38. Sault - Nine
This album technically doesn’t even exist anymore. They released the album on streaming services and had physical copies available for preorder for 99 days, and now it’s taken down forever. It’s a weird business model for them to use that I still don’t get the reasoning for, but the music is still as fantastic as ever. This project relies a lot more on grooves than their previous work, especially with tracks like “London Gangs” and “Trap Life”. But when the album slows down with ballads like “Alcohol” and “9” with Cleo Sol providing some heavenly lead vocals, Nine feels up to par with their projects from 2020. All this project does is prove that Inflo is an incredible producer, because this is actually his worst release of the year in my opinion, and the other two are very far up my list.
Listen: Youtube
37. KennyHoopla x Travis Barker - Survivor’s Guilt: The Mixtape
KennyHoopla is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in this new punk revival. This project is for sure not as unique as his EP last year, but this project is more consistent throughout. “Silence is also an answer//” starts the project off with an insanely high energy and it never dips from that over the 8 songs. Granted, the Travis Barker production and drums can become a bit old when the songs themselves aren’t as fantastic, but Kenny’s unique voice pulls up those tracks. The highs on this album are insanely high! Maybe I’m also just slightly biased towards Kenny, since he’s also from Wisconsin and Ohio-born. Also seeing his first ever headlining performance at a secret show in Appleton this summer, and seeing him blow up to even being in the newest Willow video with Avril Lavigne. This is far from the extent KennyHoopla can reach, but it’s another fantastic and easily enjoyable stepping stone.
36. Flying Lotus - Yasuke
Flying Lotus’s musical output has diminished drastically after the first half of the 2010s, but he’s still putting out great material whenever he gets the chance. Even when it’s something like this, a soundtrack to a six-episode anime, there’s clearly a large amount of time and effort going into this project. Because it’s a soundtrack, it does sound different than his previous work, but the production on here is still top level. He incorporates Japanese elements into the percussion and background voices he chooses, but he still keeps the heavy synth-led melodies many of his older material has. He can have everything from funk jams like “Crust” and “Sachi”, to banging trap-inspired instrumentals like on “Kurosaka Strikes!” and “RoBomb”, and still make the album sound cohesive. Definitely the best soundtrack I heard this year!
35. Iglooghost - Lei Line Eon
The soundscapes on this album are still some of the most insane I’ve ever heard! The way Iglooghost was able to be so minimal, but yet make everything sound so full at the same time is nothing short of an amazing feat! Now, there’s still some work to go for it to be an incredible album, but the highlights are still insane. The opening track, “Eoe (Disk Initiate)”, features this long violin solo to start out the track before a cinematic drop that would be perfect for a blockbuster movie. “Big Protector” and “Zones U Can’t See” are both fantastic bangers that show Iglooghost going with that electronic sound and violins together in the best way. Lei Line Eon might not be perfect, but it provides a unique sound that could end up being an incredible project!
34. Madlib - Sound Ancestors
Madlib is one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, of course an official studio album of his was going to make this list. I may not have gone back to it as much as I thought, I’m still floored whenever I listen to this project. “Road of the Lonely Ones” is still easily the highlight on the record with its hauntingly beautiful sample and Madlib’s driving drums. There’s also some subtle guitar and chanting as well that only add to the ambiance. As always, there are some classic Madlib beats on here, like “Two for 2 - For Dilla” and the driving “Dirtknock”, but there are also moments like the title track and “The New Normal” that show Madlib pushing his sound more than before. Madlib just needs to put out as much material as he can, because I’ve never heard him miss yet.
33. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
Even with this project coming out a week into 2021, Heaux Tales still ended the year as one of the best R&B projects! Jazmine isn’t someone that’s going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to anything in her music, but she’s got a beautiful voice that she knows how to use to perfection. Especially when she’s stretching it on a song like “Pick Up Your Feelings”, the way those vocals are layered during the chorus are perfect. She does ballads perfectly with a track like “Lost One”, which also shows her ability to tell a third-person story better than most songwriters. Anderson Paak brings a bit more of a groove to “Price Tags” and Jazmine still works nicely over it. Even H.E.R. shows up for the anthemic final track, “Girl Like Me”. Jazmine Sullivan didn’t falter at all after her six year break, and hopefully it won’t be another six before her next project!
32. Yves Tumor - The Asymptotical World
Yves’s music is still really hard for me to fully get into, but this short EP is making it a lot easier and is definitely the project of theirs I enjoy the most! “Jackie” starts off the project with a rock banger that sounds pretty accessible and probably fits perfectly into the rock playlists, while the next track, “Crushed Velvet”, likely fits into the indie-rock playlists perfectly. This track has likely the catchiest chorus on the record, and Yves’s voice is emphatic. “Secrecy Is Incredibly Important To The Both of Them” is the weird, electronic influenced stuff I didn’t love from their work previously, but it works nicely on here. Even the outro, “Katrina”, has this fantastically dark buildup and nihilistic lyrics from Yves that ends the project nicely. No one is making music like Yves Tumor, and I’m excited to see where they go from here.
31. Brockhampton - Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine
Roadrunner is still easily Brockhampton’s best major label album, even if this album didn’t stay in rotation as much as I expected. The bangers still hit really hard, especially the crazed opener with Danny Brown called “Buzzcut”. The fact that they didn’t feel the need to cram every rapper and singer in the group onto each song really helped make this album better. Especially when something like “What’s the Occasion” comes on with Joba taking the entire track except for one verse. It brings this rock-element to the album with these blaring guitars that help make this track stand out among the rest. I haven’t even talked about the confessional “The Light”, the Chad Hugo produced “When I Ball”, or the amazing JPEGMAFIA feature on “Chain On” yet. Brockhampton feel like they’re almost done as a group, but they’re still putting out great material.
30. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
This album may not have hit as hard as her debut, but it shows an improvement in the timeless parts of the album. When We All Fall Asleep was a very timely record that introduced her to the public in a dramatic fashion, but Happier Than Ever is an album that is more timeless and will likely grow on people with time. Songs like “my future”, “Your Power”, and “Happier Than Ever” all feel like they could’ve come out any time in the past 30 years. Even the deep cuts like “I Didn’t Change My Number” and “Oxytocin” are fantastic tracks that help separate her from one landmark album, to an artist here to stay for decades. The album might be a little too long, and the long interlude doesn’t have to be that long, but Happier Than Ever is still easily enjoyable months after it came out.
29. Maxo Kream - Weight of the World
Maxo manages to be uncomfortably personal and extremely fun on the same album. Mentioning your brother being murdered, your cousin committing suicide, and your grandmother being in a coma due to COVID all on one song is actually insane, especially since the song is just nice to listen to on top of all of that. The features on here all add a lot to their songs, especially Tyler the Creator and Freddie Gibbs. Even someone who I’ve never heard of, like Monaleo, absolutely slays her verse on “Cee Cee”. Maxo’s beat selection is fantastic, once again, and having someone like Reggie executive produce the album makes the cohesive feeling of the album work really well. Weight of the World is up there with Maxo’s best work.
28. Poppy - Flux
Going from an internet cult meme to becoming a well-respected musician within the industry in under 5 years is something few have accomplished, let alone by switching genres as many times as Poppy. Flux is by far her most accessible project in three years and in turn, it’s her easiest to enjoy. This album is one to put on at any time, whether it be in the background while writing a paper or walking home from class. The infectious chorus of “So Mean”, the heaviness of “Lessen the Damage”, and the lyrics of “Never Find My Place” are some highlights that stand out on deep listens or as background music. The live instrumentation all over the record is apparent as well, and poses a nice change compared to the heavy processed instrumentals of her past albums. Here’s to hoping she continues to release great music that combines pop, grunge, and metal.
27. Mach-Hommy - Balens Cho
Balens Cho only dropped a few weeks ago, but it still absolutely destroys the vast majority of hip hop albums this year. At only 8 actual tracks and under 25 minutes, Mach manages to pack in a plethora of bars, flows, and subject matters. The project starts out just reminding you how talented of a rapper he is with the tracks “Labou” and “Separation of the Sheep and the Goats”. But where this album really stands out compared to his other album this year is songs like “Wooden Nickels” and “Self Luh”. The former is a storytelling track on how his grandfather helped people better their lives and the latter is one about how we need to both physically and spiritually love ourselves. It can be a little corny at points, but he still manages to do it justice. Haiti’s greatest came back again with another great body of work that keeps him up there with the underground’s best.
26. Arca - KicK iii
Experimental electronic producer Arca released four albums in four days early this December, and KicK iii is easily the one that stood out to me the most! The production on here is extremely aggressive and noisy, but she manages to still throw in moments of peace in the chaos. But it is the chaos that’s the appeal of this album. “Fiera” is a personal favorite and sounds like four minutes of noise, but it transitions plenty of times that keeps it extremely interesting. “Intimate Flesh” has a groove that reminds me of Flume’s recent mixtape, but Arca still makes it unique to her own sound. But even with the chaos of songs, it really is the moments of the songs themselves that help this album be great. Whether it’s the techno breakdown in the track “Senorita” or the opening drop of “My 2”, this album will constantly have you on your toes for whatever great thing is coming next.
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