While 2017 saw a fuck ton of global tragedy and bullshit, it also saw one hell of a year in music! You had mega artists like Bruno Mars and Jay-Z release their best albums to date, “24K Magic” and “4:44” respectively, and you had new artists like SZA and Cardi B come out and just crush it.
We also had everyone’s favorite crybaby, Drake, release his newest album “More Life”, and while I really really liked the album, I can’t help but wonder if Drake releases a new album every single year? Like, is that a thing? Anyway…
While Bruno Mars was bringing the ultimate funk and Jay-Z was showing us the gentler, more introspective side of hip hop, we had other artists killing it as well.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Damn” was phenomenal, legendary even, and featured maybe the best rap song of the year, Humble. I mean, imho it was the best rap song of the year, but who am I to say?
SZA broke onto the scene with her album “Ctrl” which was just the album of the fucking summer for me. I mean, that thing had early-90s r&b vibes like a mix of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Fiona Apple or some shit all rolled into one. I haven’t felt this impressed and stoked on a female artist’s debut album since Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die.”
Speaking of Lana, she released her latest album “Lust for Life” which felt like such a return to form for her and is hands down my favorite album of hers since “Born to Die.” The title track featuring The Weeknd is in my top 5 favorite songs of 2017.
Other notable albums include Childish Gambino’s “Awaken My Love!” and Lorde’s “Melodrama” which were just truly amazing fucking albums. I feel like while I’ve been super unimpressed with the world at large this past years, I’ve been beyond impressed with the music this year has given me.