My Top 5 Favourite Albums of 2021
Going over my favourite albums of the year, and what’s to come for 2022
It’s that time of the year once again. I always equate December as the month to remember, which for me that was trying to remember as much material I can as I prep for finals. It’s also the time to reminisce on everything that happened throughout the year, personally for me this was the year for growth, both professionally and emotionally, and genuinely speaking this has been one of the best years of my life (yes, even considering we are still in this ongoing pandemic).
But enough with the sappy, heartfelt story. You read the title, you know what you’re here for, my top albums of the year. I have to say that 2021 has been a tremendous year for music. It’s evident that musicians took the past year or so in lockdown to focus and deliver some really great music, I can’t quite remember the last time the music scene was so potent with good material, and I say this for almost all genres.
With all that being said, I’ve picked 5 of my favourite albums of 2021. It was pretty difficult widdling it down to just 5, as so many great albums came out, but in the interest of time 5 seemed like the right fit. With that being said, I’d like to give a shout-out to a few honorable mentions, most of which I’ve reviewed throughout the year.
Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever
Baby Keem, The Melodic Blue (click here to read the full review)
Death From Above 1979, Is 4 Lovers (click here to read the full review)
J.Cole, The Off-Season (click here to read the full review)
Idles, CRAWLER (click here to read the full review)
Royal Blood, Typhoons (click here to read the full review)
Silk Sonic, An Evening with Silk Sonic
Slowthai, TYRON (click here to read the full review)
Vince Staples, Vince Staples (click here to read the full review)
With that out of the way, let’s get into my top 5.
5.) Donda | Kanye West
This was a big surprise for me, as I wasn’t fond of Donda when it was first released. In my review, I called the album “lazy” and “bloated”, even though it had many saving graces such as the features and production, overall I was pretty disappointed with the final result. Then the deluxe version was released and it changed my mind entirely, I went back and re-listened to Donda multiple times after, and soon is when everything started to hit.
From a production standpoint, it blends a lot of Kanye’s eras with some tracks sounding like they could belong on his past material. The guest features on here give it their all, Kanye has always been an amazing curator when it comes to collaborations on his albums but I do believe the guest lineup on Donda is possibly the best since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I’m still not over Shenseea’s impeccable verse on “Ok Ok Pt 2", or Fivio Foreign washing Kanye on his song with “Off The Grid”. Don’t even get me started on The Weeknd’s heavenly vocals on “Hurricane” or Kid Cudi and Don Toliver harmonizing together on “Moon”.
Lyrically is where Donda takes the cake, while there are some songs that still feel like off-shoots, overall it’s a genuine and honest album on self-reflection and family. Hearing ‘Ye shed his layers and become his most vulnerable self on tracks like “Come to Life” and bonus track “Never Abandon Your Family” was a welcome surprise and an extremely emotional one at that. Donda took some time for me to fully grasp and enjoy, but once it did it made me regret writing it off back in August.
Click here to read the full review.
4.) Screen Violence | CHVRCHES
While I had heard of the Scottish-synth pop group before in the past, not once did I ever decide to listen to them. What initially drove me to check out CHVRCHES’ new album was its name, but a ton of reviews and comments I read called the album the group’s best (I also saw John Carpenter get name-dropped too so there’s that.).
Gladly, I wasn’t disappointed. What made the album so great for me was how the sound and lyrics work so well to create this atmosphere that’s equal parts dancey, and eerie. Using the major theme of violence as an anchor, thoughts of paranoia and horror film tropes engulf Screen Violence further down. What surprised me the most was how catchy the music was, despite the incredibly dark themes.
Lead singer Lauren Mayberry illustrates these uncomfortable thoughts beautifully. Nightmares of fame and death as a celebrity keep her up at night throughout “Violent Delights”. She looks for ways to stay afloat with the help of Robert Smith in “How Not to Drown”, and contemplates if everything she’s done was worth it all on “Final Girl”. Comparing herself to the lone-female survivor of most horror films.
Sonically the album is amazing. Its use of synth-pop and alternative rock makes it stand out from the EDM heavy style they were using on previous albums. It juxtaposes the lyrical content at times, making me wonder how these dark thoughts meld so well with the upbeat instrumentals. Screen Violence was a great listen from start to finish, and made me fan of CHVRCHES quite honestly.
3.) LP! | JPEGmafia
JPEGmafia (or Peggy as I’ll call him from here on out) has been one of rap’s most interesting figures. Lately he’s been blurring the line between his underground, experimental rap with a more mainstream sound, and I believe he’s found that balance on LP! The beats here still have that distinct, video-gamey weirdness to it, but at the same time they’re way more in line with contemporary rap.
The production plays into the level of creative freedom Peggy has throughout the album, this being his last album on a major label you can tell that LP! takes a lot of liberties, especially the offline version which features a ton of tracks that didn’t get samples cleared. The production here feels much more nuanced than before, and is one of Peggy’s easier albums to listen to (and one I’d recommend for first time listeners.).
Lyrically, LP! is the standard affair of trolling and internet culture laced bars, but here Peggy seems much more angrier than before. Whether it’s his dissatisfaction with major labels and naysayers, Peggy leaves no stone unturned.
I had nothing but praise for this album when it dropped, it truly felt like the most “JPEG” JPEGmafia album, and one I find myself revisiting more so than his other acclaimed albums like Veteran. I’m excited to see where Peggy takes his music now that he’s an indie artist, if LP! is an indication then we might be in for some of Peggy’s best music.
Click here to read the full review.
2.) The House is Burning | Isaiah Rashad
As his first album in 5 years, Isaiah Rashad made his return to rap, but it’s almost like he never left. Attempting to follow up on the 2016 classic The Sun’s Tirade is no easy feat, but The House is Burning managed to live up to my expectations.
THIB hones in on Rashad’s signature, laid back sound, he’s a master at capturing a vibe. For the most part, the album doesn’t stray away from his relaxed southern sound, save for a few bangers like “Lay Wit Ya” and “From the Garden”. The features here too are great as well, with verses from Lil Uzi Vert, Smino as well as TDE cohorts Jay Rock and SZA.
Rashad reflects on the past 5 years throughout THIB. Focusing on aspects like his mental health, family, and future, while still finding time to have some fun. It’s such a joy to hear Rashad overcome his personal demons and stand tall, he sounds so much more confident and in control than he as ever before.
I also loved how the whole album ties into it’s title: The House is Burning. If your house was on fire what would you do? Would run back in and risk your life to save what’s already gone? Or would you regroup, and start over again with a fresh mind? Rashad tells us how he chose the latter throughout the whole album, which may have been the best choice he’s ever made.
Click here to read the full review.
1.) Call Me If You Get Lost | Tyler, the Creator
If you know me personally, then you’ll know this was a no-brainer. I’ve been playing this album damn near religously since it dropped in June, similarly to how I was overplaying The Weeknd’s After Hours last year (my number 1 fave of 2020). Tyler, the Creator has managed to outdo himself once again, a feat I didn’t think was possible considering how insanely good Igor and Flower Boy were. Yet, he somehow he did.
On Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler reminds his listeners that he’s still that rapper. Don’t let his heartbroken, pop persona Igor fool you, Tyler lets his braggadocious side out (known as Tyler Baudelaire) throughout the entire album. Wheter it be his handful of guest features he did throughout 2020, or just missing out on rapping, these are some of Tyler’s best bars to date.
Conceptually, CMIYGL explores this more lavish, eccentric side of Tyler. He’s bold and brash from start to finish on tracks like “CORSO” and “LUMBERJACK”. As the album unfolds we do get some notions of a failed romance that seemingly drove Tyler to materialism and boldness. It also features Tyler dropping nuggets of wisdom like on “RISE!” and “MANIFESTO”, the latter being my personal favourite song of the year for its subject matter alone.
Production-wise, I said in my review that Tyler takes us on a world tour of sounds, and that statement couldn’t be any more true. You get hints of boom-bap, trap, old school R&B and even reggae throughout the entire album. All of which was self-produced by Tyler himself, further proving himself as this generation’s Pharell Williams.
Simply put, I love this album. Every time I give it a listen I’m always finding something new, or I’m hearing a new sound I didn’t pick up on before. I might be in the minority but I believe Call Me If You Get Lost is Tyler’s best album to date. To me, this feels like his first fully realized album he’s made, and one that I’ll cherish for a very long time.
Click here to read the full review.
A Little Thank You and Going Forward
Firstly, I just would like to thank everybody and anybody whose read my reviews and other pieces throughout the year. I began writing on Medium here and there last year, but this year I tried my best to pump out as much articles as I could. Writing music reviews has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and thankfully with the community here on Medium I’m always finding inspiration to keep on writing.
I’d also like to give a shout out to Josh Herring. Ever since he asked me to join Modern Music Analysis way back in January I felt like I got the drive to really focus and talk about the music I love and artists I follow. Writing for MMA has been a blast and I’m grateful for being able to share my stories on this platform.
Secondly, as most of you know MMA is going to be on hiatus for a bit. With that, I will most likely be taking a bit of a break too. With the start of second semester for my post-grad as well as my job, I won’t be as active as I was for a little while. I’ll try to post every now and then (I’ve already got my first review for 2022 planned for Underoath’s Voyeurist) but as for other articles, that’s up in the air right now.
There is also the notion of other ventures I’m planning, such as my own music/movie related podcast, which is still in the very early brainstorming phase, but it’s an idea I would like to follow up on throughout 2022. As far as that, that’s everything I’ve got to say. As always thanks for reading, have a happy holidays and stay safe!
