My Top 20 Favorite Albums of 2020

Welp, here we are again! Welcome to year two of me doing this.

2020 taught me that hip hop is alive and well and that timeliness makes good music great.

You can listen to my favorites on and off this list here (put it on shuffle and pretend it’s curated).

Without further ado, here’s everything I loved in 2020.

#20. New Beginnings: REASON

New Beginnings is a well-executed reminder of everything Top Dawg Entertainment is good at. On his debut album, REASON showcases himself as a solid product of his influences at the label, but for me, it’s the production that steals the show. Definitely some of the best I’ve heard on a hip hop record this year.

Genres: Hip Hop

#19. Ugly Is Beautiful: Oliver Tree

Oliver Tree’s sound is as in your face as his bowl cut. The music on this album is a brash, rebellious, and forward-thinking blend of punk rock, hip hop, and electronic music, where each track competes with the next to be bigger and badder.

Genres: Alternative Rock, Hip Hop, Electropop, Pop Rock

#18. Streams of Thought, Vol 3: Cane & Able: Black Thought

I can’t put my finger on it, but something about these Black Thought solo projects scream “authentically hip hop”. The illest cuts on Streams are old-head approved.

Genres: Hip Hop

#17. UNLOCKED: Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats

In high school, beat-making videos dominated my YouTube time. So when Kenny Beats started The Cave series, where he brought in what felt like all of my favorite rappers to make music and insult each other on camera — I was all in.

What makes UNLOCKED special is how it captures that carefree, competitive energy, and focuses it onto a tight, cohesive project. Both Curry and Kenny draw on their influences and versatility in a way that properly showcases their greatness.

Genres: Hip Hop

#16. 2017–2019: Against All Logic

I’m a sucker for any artist that can take sounds from anywhere — and not just make them work — but make them interesting, too. Nicolas Jaar does that and then some with this compilation delivering a cohesive body of work that ranges from industrial to dreamy to frantic.

The drum patterns on this album are world-class. From the intricate pitter-patter that cushions “With an Addict” to the chaotic clangs that dominate “Alarm”, Jaar uses rhythm to assemble a really captivating soundscape.

Genres: Electronic, House

#15. OBLIVION: Black Noi$e

OBLIVION is a showcase of my favorite rappers and production style of the moment. As a diehard fan of Earl, Danny Brown, Zelooperz, and co, I just had to hear this album, as soon as I saw their names on the tracklist.

Black Noi$e’s sound is booming and ferocious, and every guest feature plays to that expertly. A must-listen for fans of off-kilter hip hop.

Genres: Abstract Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop

#14. Some Day This Will All Make Sense: BOSCO

In late 2014, Fool’s Gold was doing the Atlanta stop of their annual event, Fool’s Gold Day Off. With headliners like Danny Brown and Travis Scott, you bet your ass I was there. I stood through 5 hours of opening acts before seeing Trav run out of breath and Brown rap for 20 minutes and leave.

The show was mostly forgettable, if not for an opening act by the name of BOSCO who stole it with her energy and stage presence. I spent the next several years watching her develop as an artist, deal with setbacks and frustration, and beat on her craft like few do. To see her finally realize her artistic vision made this album extra special for me.

BOSCO’s sound is breezy, groovy, and mad relatable. A constant reminder of what’s made me a lifelong fan.

Genres: R&B, Neo Soul

#13. It Is What It Is: Thundercat

As soon as you begin this album, it’s evident you’re about to hear something otherworldly. If you’re a Thundercat die-hard (like me), this is nothing new, but it doesn’t make it any less amazing.

The music on It Is What It Is is spacey, goofy, technical, and fast — boy, is it fast! Seeing Thundercat play “I Love Louis Cole” at what felt like 300 bpm during a drive-in show was one of the more surreal moments of the pandemic for me. If you’re new to Thundercat, buckle-up.

Genres: Jazz Fusion, Electronic, Funk

#12. how i’m feeling now: Charlie XCX

No one alive is making pop music like Charli. I said something to that effect last year, and it’s worth repeating until it’s not true anymore. how i’m feeling now is a buoyant and introspective daydream that finds a way to shine amid pandemic blues.

Charli invites you to reminisce about what it was like to be a connected human pre-COVID — for better or for worse. It’s the simplicity and timeliness of her work alongside stellar production from A.G. Cook that makes this album so goddamn good.

Genres: Pop, Electropop

#11. Lianne La Havas: Lianne La Havas

Lianne’s self-titled 3rd album walks you through the highs and lows of a lost relationship with the grace of someone who’s lived and processed what she’s written.

Her voice is sweet and intoxicating, and the warmth each song carries makes you fantasize about how incredible this would sound live. “Read My Mind” is a charming, almost desperate, plea for a love interest she’s fallen for to literally read her mind. We’ve all been there. Every track on here is written with a poise and elegance that leave you wanting more.

Genres: Neo Soul

#10. Innocent Country 2: Quelle Chris & Chris Keys

Innocent Country 2 is both a celebration and reflection of what it means to be a black person as told by black people.

The fireside keys laid down by the aptly named Chris Keys provide the perfect backdrop for Quelle Chris and co to give their uninterrupted takes on the black experience. A therapeutic breath of fresh air given the year we’ve had.

Whether it be a rebuke of performative allyship on “Bottle Black Power Buy the Business” or an internal plea for growth on “Horizon” — if you’re black, it’s easy to see a lot of yourself in this album.

Genres: Lo-fi Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop

#9. Man Alive!: King Krule

King Krule writes about working-class mundanity like no one you’ve heard before. Man Alive! wanders through loosely connected scenes where the protagonist relies on faint glimmers of hope just to keep going. This hope can take shape in anything from a soulmate to an airplane flight away from the city that has him slowly sinking into madness.

Krule’s vocal performances shine brightest when Man Alive! is at its darkest. “Stoned Again” paints a vivid picture of internal disgust born out of substance abuse. “Theme for the Cross” meanders through how desensitized one can become from the inescapable barrage of shittiness we’re fed by the media.

On paper, Man Alive’s subject matter might seem a lot less dire than the music leads to you believe — marijuana, propaganda, GMOs, big whoop! But when picked apart, it’s a bleak reminder that in today’s society, our sanity rests on a knife’s edge.

Genres: Art Rock, Alternative

#8. What’s Your Pleasure?: Jessie Ware

I don’t know a damn thing about the 70s — or 80s for that matter. I’m just a wee 90s baby. But for my money, What’s Your Pleasure sounds like the closest thing you can get to disco fever. How Jessie Ware built a soundscape that gave me nostalgia I wasn’t alive to experience is beyond me.

What’s Your Pleasure is epic in big and small ways. On “Adore You”, Ware doesn’t need swelling strings or galactic synth pads to deliver sky-opening awesomeness, but you best believe she’s got that arrow in her quiver, and the closer, “Remember Where You Are”, is a brilliant reminder of that.

Genres: Disco, Pop

#7. Alfredo: Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

In these uncertain times, you can put your fucking house on a monster Freddie Gibbs project. Gibbs’s consistency is unparalleled, and once again, he’s hit nothing but net with this album.

Alfredo is a compact war chest of relentless flows and downright mean instrumentals. Alchemist’s direct, sample-heavy production paired with Gibbs’s surgical penmanship is a lethal combination.

Genres: Hip Hop

#6. Circles: Mac Miller

What a gift to leave behind, huh? Circles is both a remark on the cyclical nature of life and a clear-eyed look inside the mind of Mac Miller.

The theme of cyclical beginnings and endings shows up frequently on this album, and Mac explores it with charming warmth and simplicity. On “Everybody”, Mac sings, “Everybody’s gotta live/ And everybody’s gotta die”. Lines like these say everything they need to without much garnish.

This album plays a lot like watching Mac sort through scattered memories, piecing them into a scrapbook bit by bit. All his missteps, successes, and failures loosely organized and presented as they are. An absolute gem. RIP Mac Miller.

Genres: Alternative Hip Hop, Alternative R&B

#5. Set My Heart On Fire Immediately: Perfume Genius

Mike Hadreas has a knack for making deeply thoughtful, awe-inspiring music. The most majestic moments on Set My Heart On Fire resemble the experience of stepping into an ornate cathedral — and my God, the song-writing is heavenly. I am forever floored by how lush and direct Mike’s storytelling is.

“Describe” is a washed-out shoegaze ballad that explores the terribly gripping concept of being so depressed you forget what goodness feels like. “Jason” is an innocent and vulnerable account of Mike consoling an insecure lover. With songs like these, this record is as much about what it says as it is about how it makes you feel.

Genres: Art Rock, Pop, Progressive Rock

#4. Àdá Irin: Navy Blue

Àdá Irin is a poetic representation of what coming of age looks like. Throughout the album, Sage Elsesser aka Navy Blue is basically grappling with getting older in real-time.

In scattered moments, Sage reveals poignant examples of what grieving can look like behind closed doors. “Shoulders ain’t for crying on, my brother know/ Hold him close, privately we cope,” he raps on “Simultaneously Bleeding”. One of many moments on the record where Sage puts on a brave face for those closest to him.

On “Hari Kari”, Sage learns to let go putting his worries and inner demons to death over a skittering drum loop. And on “Love Is..”, Sage realizes, “love is everything I am”. A real-time epiphany with no clear thought process that came before it.

How representative this album is of being a 20-something — in all its confusion, self-doubt, grief, and sporadic growth — is what makes Àdá Irin extraordinary.

Genres: Abstract Hip Hop

#3. græ: Moses Sumney

I say this without exaggeration: Moses Sumney has a voice that could part the heavens. grae is filled with some of the most incredible vocal performances you might ever hear, and trust me when I say it’s just as breathtaking live.

As the title might suggest, Sumney thrives in the gray area. Throughout the album, he explores how “gray” shows up in everything from relationships to masculinity to gender expression. Contrary to the color, græ is vivid, detailed, delicate, precise, gorgeous — man, græ is everything. A near-perfect body of work with a bleeding-edge sound. Absolutely stunning.

Genres: Art Pop, Art Rock, Jazz, Classical, Folk

#2. Descendants of Cain: Ka

Given hip hop’s current direction, well-thought concept albums have more or less become cherished relics. I don’t entirely hate that, but I have a special place in my heart for brilliant storytelling.

Descendants of Cain uses the parable of Cain and Abel to speak on issues plaguing black communities in a way that none of us have heard before.

As the story goes, Cain gets jealous of his brother Abel and murders him, so God punishes Cain and his entire lineage. Ka uses this allegory to shed light on complex issues such as mass incarceration and inner-city violence. The way he’s able to weave it all together is remarkable.

There is a reoccurring theme of cyclical violence and turmoil mirrored in the open-ended sample loops used to set the stage for every clever bar and punchline Ka delivers.

“From the ‘Ville, still payin’ for the sins of my father/ From the Island, still payin’ for his sins, he was wildin’” he laments on “Sins of the Father”. For Ka, the never-ending plight of black men is ill-fated. It’s a stark reminder that there are systems put in place built to sow generational discord.

Genres: Abstract Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop

#1. Heaven To A Tortured Mind: Yves Tumor

In order to truly appreciate this album, you need to pay Tumor’s previous work a visit. You’ll soon realize Heaven To A Tortured Mind barely resembles any of it.

As far as I can tell, Tumor developed this new sound overnight and was immediately good at it. That kind of artistic growth is worth its weight in gold for me.

Heaven To A Tortured Mind is a magnetic blend of psych-rock and experimental music with mind-blowing moments at every corner — none more exceptional than the album’s 2nd single, “Kerosene! ”

On “Kerosene!”, Yves Tumor and Diana Gordon’s musical chemistry is electric. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, they find a way to up the ante with show-stopping flair.

To put it bluntly, “Kerosene!” is a fucking masterpiece. This album is a fucking masterpiece. If you only listen to one album off this list, do yourself a favor and make it this one.

Genres: Psych Rock, Experimental, Art Rock

Honorable Mentions:

• b7: Brandy
• A Written Testimony: Jay Electronica
• KiCk i: Arca
• No Pressure: Logic
• 3.15.20: Childish Gambino
• Magic Oneothrix Point Never: Oneothrix Point Never
• Detroit 2: Big Sean
• RTJ4: Run The Jewels
• Purple Moonlight Pages: R.A.P Ferreira
• Shore: Fleet Foxes
• farawayfromeveryoneyouknow: altopalo
• NEGRO: Pink Siifu
• Starz: Yung Lean
• BUBBA: Kaytranada
• Whole Lotta Red: Mario Judah
• Ideas/Demos/Songs From 2013: Jon Bap
• TAKE TIME: Giveon
• Ultra Mono: IDLES
• My Agenda: Dorian Electra
• From A King To A GOD: Conway The Machine
• Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon: Pop Smoke

Songs of The Year:

• “Kerosene!” by Yves Tumor
• “In Bloom” by Moses Sumney
• “Mo(u)rning” by Black Noi$e & Earl Sweatshirt
• “Describe” by Perfume Genius
• “Unconditional Oceans” by Brandy
• “2” by Zelooperz
• “KLK” by Arca
• “Bih Yah” by Mario Judah
• “Grounds” by IDLES
• “Spin Blocks” by Machinedrum & Father
• “In n Out” by Mulatto & City Girls