2018 In Music
Ten songs
These aren’t necessarily my favorite 10 songs of the year. I chose to not feature multiple songs from the same artist, and any songs from my top 10 albums.
- Ariana Grande — God Is a Woman
The third single from the former Nickelodeon star’s 2018 project, Sweetener, God is a Woman show’s a sneak peak into Grande’s Artistic ability. The album as a whole was still by and far a pop album not breaking any musical ground, but songs like this which is grandiose in production, and empowering in lyrical content, show Grande’s potential. - Choker — Juno
While Choker’s 2018 project, Honeybloom, has moments of being too experimental and borrowing from Frank Ocean a bit too much, any R&B fan will instantly enjoy this song off of the project. The distorted vocals to start the song give a dreamy, melancholic vibe of a past lover. The song transitions to removing the distortion giving a snap to reality. While imperfect, singles like Juno make Choker an artist to watch for in the upcoming years. - Aminé — DR. WHOEVER
Aminé is an intriguing, up and coming rapper based out of Portland, Oregon. He found mild success in 2017’s “Caroline”, but it felt like he was going to be a one hit wonder. While his 2018 project ONEPOINTFIVE has room for improvement, this opening track had me hooked immediately. A very open and vulnerable look into Aminé’s mental struggles, DR. WHOEVER shows depth in his rhymes and production. - DRAM — Best Hugs
An under the radar single from DRAM, this fun light hearted song shows DRAM still has his buttery smooth pipes with smooth, funky production - JPEGMAFIA — Thug Tears
Lowkey you’ll probably hate this song, but like most of the other songs on Veteran, Peggy throws out insane, abrasive production on top of abstract lyrics that range from politics to flexing. This is definitely a grower for most people if it’s liked by them at all, but this single, as well as the rest of the album is art. - NIKI — Vintage
The lead single off of 88Rising’s NIKI debut project, Zephyr, is an irresistibly smooth tune. The production is a throwback to mid 2000’s sounds, but executed so well. Her influences are worn on a sleeve, but there’s nothing wrong with that if done correctly. I’d like her to push her own sound in her next project but Zephyr was 88Rising’s best 2018 project. - Pusha T — The Story of Adidon
Yeugh. - Sheck Wes — Mo Bamba
Banger of the year behind Kanye West’s Lift Yourself. - SOPHIE — It’s Okay To Cry
This entire album is wild, and experimental, and weird. This song is definitely one of the more easy on the ears. Maybe I should listen to this song more considering the rest of this list is all depression music - Frank Ocean — Moon River
Frank’s only release in 2018 is a cover of the iconic song from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Frank add’s his own flair with his distorted vocals and layered harmonies throughout the song.
Top Ten Albums
In contrast to the previous list, these are ranked. This list might change as soon as I press the publish button but I felt like this ranking was much more concrete than a song list which can change very quickly based on my mood. I put a lot of thought into this and had to make some tough drops.
Honorable mention:
JPEGMAFIA — Veteran
Vince Staples — FM!
SOPHIE — OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S INSIDES
10. Kids See Ghosts — Kids See Ghosts
Musically and lyrically, this album delivers on experimental beats and pushes Kanye and Cudi’s musical genre. There are times when the music is harsh on the ears, and at times hypnotizing. This album explores the inner machinations of Kanye and Cudi’s minds, which are an enigma. That being said, this album was transportative, and endearing.
Top Songs: Cudi Montage, Reborn
9. BROCKHAMPTON — Iridescence
While not at the level of the SATURATION trilogy, BROCKHAMPTON’s first release after the departure of Ameer Vann shows they still have the musical chops. The band is definitely lacking the balance Ameer’s generally darker and deeper sounding verses generally provided however. Bearface’s increased usage did not fill in the void that Ameer left, but provided some nice one liners and verses. (“Boy you know you don’t look fly, them gold chains make ya neck green right?”)
Top Songs: J’OUVERT, NEW ORLEANS, TAPE,
8. The Internet — Hive Mind
The Internet will always provide soulful vibes, and they continue on this album. The instrumentation continues to impress, with funky basslines in Roll (Burbank Funk) which is definitely one of my favorite bass lines of the year.
Top Songs: Hold On, Roll (Burbank Funk)
7. Travis Scott — Astroworld
If Drake put as much effort into Scorpion as he did on Sicko Mode, maybe Scorpion would be on this list (but probably not still). This long awaited album is easily my favorite mainstream album (unless you count the GOOD FRIDAY releases). Travis shows that he’s still on the right track creatively after releasing some duds in Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, and a bunch of features and loosies.
Top songs: CAN’T SAY, SICKO MODE, YOSEMITE
6. Kanye West — Ye
Feeling more like an extended play than a full album, this album feels like a window into Kanye’s life. How’s Ye doing? He’s surviving. He’s fighting his own demons.
Top songs: Ghost Town, I Thought About Killing You
5. Noname — Room 25
Noname’s sophomore project shows why she’s the queen of rap right now, and is one of the best rappers period, without qualification. Noname has infectious flow such as in Blaxploitation. All the beats in this album have amazing production, but the bass is generally the standout instrument. Noname easily could have been overshadowed by her beats but she does everything to complement them and enhance them rather than using them as a crutch.
Top songs: Blaxploitation, Ace,
4. JID — DiCaprio 2
Former XXL Freshman class member JID seems to finally break into the mainstream of hip hop with this project. Choosing my favorite songs was kind of hard as I didn’t want to just put every track on here. From promotional singles and previous projects, it was clear that JID could spit bars, but this project shows his versatility as well. His ability to weave multiple flows across complex beats is astounding. Track by track, we wait for a break, but JID delivers time and time again, never getting boring and repetitive.
Top Songs: 151 Rum, Off Deez, Workin Out, Skrawberries
3. Blood Orange — Negro Swan
Devon Hynes 2018 project is all about self identity, self love, and self worth. From that description this sounds like a happy album, but Negro Swan is a very realistic portrayal of what it takes to love oneself and to find self worth. While Hynes specific portrayal of finding self worth is from the perspective of a black man, the pains and struggles can translate to anyone’s story. It’s an extremely tough process: it involves a lot of hard to swallow pills, a lot of unpleasant self examination, and oftentimes cutting off relationships to friends and loved ones.
Top Songs: Charcoal Baby, Smoke, Hope,
2. Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs
At face value, Some Rap Songs may seem more like Some Rap Verses, with its single verse tracks and raw, unpolished production. But upon multiple listens, it’s clear that in actuality, it’s a pure expression of pain. Every facet of this project projects the pain and depression Earl has been through. The short, single verse songs are akin to how memories through depression are more short hazy vignettes, which one can’t really tell if it happened or not. Earl will slightly throw in a slight glimmer of hope, but there is never a resolution. Even if there was a happy side, it becomes a fog of haze in the mind and will never truly take hold. The lo fidelity production adds to the rough edges of depression. Lyrically, there are memorable one liners such as “Why ain’t nobody tell me I was bleedin’? Please nobody take me out this dream.”. By the end of this fairly short record (15 tracks, 24 minutes), we experience a painful account of Earl’s life, hoping that not only that Earl’s ok, but if we’re ok too.
Top Songs: Azucar, Riot!, Ontheway!,Nowhere2go, Shattered Dreams
1. Denzel Curry — TA13OO
Denzel’s 2018 project shows the tremendous amount of growth from his previous projects. While previous projects he seemed to begin to only show his ability to rap more aggressive and in your face songs, TABOO is all about versatility. Everything about this project shows his ability to pair different things together musically. His cadence and rhyme schemes complemented his beats perfectly. Denzel would give out bar after bar, with different rhyme schemes over and over, and none of them felt out of place. He still has his aggressive delivery in songs such as SUMO, but shows he can slow it down with tracks like TABOO or BLACK BALLOONS. The topics Denzel raps about range from mental health, the current state of music, drug usage, and personal problems. With serious issues like this, Denzel manages to throw in some fun one liners still. It would be extremely easy to mess all of this up and come up with a project that felt like Drake’s “More Life” which felt more like a collection of tracks rather than a cohesive project. All of these seemingly conflicting ideas come as one on this project, putting Denzel as one of THE artists to look out for in the coming years.
Top Songs: THE BLACKEST BALLOON | THE 13LACKEZT 13ALLOON, CLOUT COBAIN | CLOUT CO13AIN, BLACK BALLOONS | 13LACK 13ALLOONZ, SUMO | ZUMO
