BING BONG! What’s happening my good people?! Happy holidays!
No way did I imagine doing yet another Top 50 list in a pandemic. I really can’t believe Covid is still an issue but then again, I’m not surprised. But hey, “outside” opened up and we got concerts and festivals back. A few months back I was able to attend my first Tame Impala concert with my guy Ben and it was easily one of my personal favorite music moments of 2021. Truly an EPIC moment. I think that word, “EPIC,” is the perfect word to describe 2021 in Music.
Maybe your favorite artist didn’t drop an album. Maybe, they didn’t put out projects that were as good as their best projects. Regardless, this year was still a great year of music across the board. This Top 50 has been the biggest challenge for me since my first list 5 years ago. With that being said, let me showcase the albums that didn’t make my Top 50 but deserve all the recognition in the world.
Honorable Mention
Man, I left off some good-ass albums. Forgive me! (LOL) What’s not pictured up top is Jim Jones & Harry Fraud’s “The Fraud Department.” SMH UGH.
Anyways, this Top 50 list ranges between December 1st, 2020 – December 25th, 2021. The key criteria that I looked at in ultimately deciding on what 50 to go with were of course CONTENT, PRODUCTION, IMPACT, COMMERCIAL SUCCESS, and REPLAY VALUE.
If you aren’t familiar with an album listed, I highly recommend that you check it out, or feel free to ask me what I’d recommend. I’m vouching for every album on this list! So without further adieu, let’s see what artist rose to the occasion to put out some of this year’s best albums.
TOP 50
50. G Herbo – 25
49. Lil Nas X – Montero
48. SahBabii – Do It For Demon
47. Karol G – KG0516
46. Myke Towers – Lyke Myke
45. Justin Bieber – Justice
44. Willow – Lately I Feel Everything
43. Khalid – Scenic Drive (The Tape)
42. Young Thug & Young Stoner Life – Slime Language 2
41. Wale – Folarin II
40. IDK – USee4Yourself
39. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
38. Yebba – Dawn
37. Pink Pantheress -To Hell with It
36. Polo G – Hall of Fame
35. Ransom & Rome Streetz, – Coup De Grace
34. Moneybagg Yo – A Gangsta’s Pain
33. dvsn & Ty Dolla $ign – Cheers to the Best Memories
32. Maxo Kream – Weight of the World
31. Central Cee – Wild West
30. Ghetts – Conflict Of Interest
29. Conway the Machine, ‘La Maquina’
28. Dave – We’re All Alone in This Together
27. Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under
26. Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
25. Boldy James & The Alchemist – Bo Jackson
24. Young Thug – Punk
23. Cleo Soul – Mother
22. Nas – King’s Disease II
21. Snoh Aalegra – Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies
20. Benny the Butcher & Harry Fraud – The Plugs I Met 2
19. Westside Gunn – Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf
18. Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue
17. Don Toliver – Life of a Don
16. Slowthai – Tyron
15.Nas – Magic
14.Silk Sonic – An Evening With Silk Sonic
13. Isaiah Rashad – The House Is Burning
12. Russ – CHOMP 2
11. Vince Staples – Vince Staples
10. Mach-Hommy – Pray For Haiti
9. Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
8. Kanye West – Donda
7. Drake – Certified Lover Boy
6. Summer Walker – Still Over It
5. Doja Cat – Planet Her
4. J. Cole -The Off-Season
3. Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales
2. Adele – 30
1. Tyler, the Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost
…AND THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
SHEESH. I’m so relieved to have gotten this list out of the way. I did my best trying to “correctly” rank these projects and I’m not mad at how it turned out. This year’s list easily was the hardest to construct.
What makes this process so difficult for me at times has to be the fact that I listen to damn near everything genre-wise. I easily have a far more diverse listening spectrum of music than most of my peers and probably major publications. The easier route would be to put out multiple lists per genre but what fun would that be?? I did realize that I completely forgot about two “great” albums I showed no love to. If you guess those two albums right, I’ll buy your first work week lunch in 2022 or your hangover cure pack post-NYE.
Anyways, there you have it. 2021’s Top 50 albums brought to you by yours truly. I can’t wait to hear the feedback. I’m expecting plenty of it and probably a few Twitter debates I don’t plan on losing. Thank you all for taping in with me for yet another year. It’s been a blessing & I’m super thankful for all the support!
Happy holidays & happy New Year!
Suave is the creator of In Suave We Trust & a contributor to Ratings Game Music. When he’s not blogging he can be found on Twitter…. Still ranting about music.
Twitter: @Suavemontana
