Best Albums of 2023
As someone who mainly listens to rap music, I was very disappointed by the lack of quality rap albums in 2023. Compared to 2022, 2023 was just a lack-luster year for rap. After a year with incredible albums from JID, Denzel Curry, Joey Bada$$, Kendrick Lamar, and many more, 2023 just could not match the same level. Despite that, there were still some standout projects worth highlighting, both rap and non-rap, just not nearly as many from last year. Below are four excellent projects from 2023.
Let’s Start Here. — Lil Yachty
Lil Yachty surprises everyone with a complete change of pace on Let’s Start Here. No one expected a psychedelic rock record from Lil Yachty, and most people probably did not expect it to be good. Usually when rappers shift to rock it does not go over so well. For example, Kid Cudi with Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven, or Lil Wayne with Rebirth. However this is absolutely not the case for Lil Yachty, who succeeds in making the unlikely and risky transition. Let’s Start Here. is weird, unique, and extremely well produced. The opener “the BLACK seminole.” can best be described as a nearly seven minute sonic adventure, with its powerful guitars, drums, and vocals from Diana Gordon, who makes several appearances on the album. The next track, “the ride-,” is not as ambitious as the opener, but is still fantastic with impressive vocals from Lil Yachty, a great guest appearance from Teezo Touchdown, and more incredible production. Other tracks that deserve to be highlighted include the fascinating, groovy track “running out of time,” and the amazing, gorgeous track “drive ME crazy!,” which is one of the best songs of the year, with its catchy chorus and phenomenal production and vocals. Impressive production is for sure the highlight of this project. Sometimes the production is strange, and somewhat disturbing like on “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!,” and other times it is simply beautiful like on “drive ME crazy!” And “REACH THE SUNSHINE.” Let’s Start Here. is a great, unique project that really changes the perception of Lil Yachty as an artist.
The Estate Sale — Tyler, The Creator
Despite having only eight tracks (one interlude, seven songs), The Estate Sale is easily one of the best rap projects of the year. The Estate Sale is just the deluxe version of Tyler’s 2021 project CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, however the seven songs on this deluxe are just as good as the songs on the actual project. The first song “STUNTMAN,” is a great, energetic, and loud track with a great Vince Staples appearance and a quality performance from Tyler as well. The following track, “WHAT A DAY,” is built on an amazing vintage Madlib beat, and Tyler raps at his absolute best. There is also the groovy “BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND” with YG, and the genius closer “SORRY NOT SORRY,” which sees Tyler creatively rapping over a self-produced beat in the perspective in his different personalities from all his album eras. With the impressive consistency of Tyler’s projects, there leaves a lot to look forward to for whatever he decides to release in the future.
UTOPIA — Travis Scott
One of the biggest albums of the year is also one of the best. UTOPIA is incredible; fantastic production, great features, and all-around great tracks. While the tracklist is a little too long, and some songs are definitely better than others, Travis was still able to live up to the insanely high expectations. The lead single “K-POP” was extremely disappointing, and it really questioned how good this project was going to be. But as soon as the first listen of the epic grand opener of “HYAENA” was complete, all those doubts were thrown out the window. Travis is completely in his element on most of these tracks. The second half of “MY EYES” is some of the best rapping he has ever done, and “SIRENS” just might be one of the best beats and rapping performances on any Travis Scott song to date. The many features on UTOPIA provide so much for the album as well, with a great Future appearance and stunning SZA feature on “TELEKINESIS,” a cold-blooded verse from 21 Savage on “TOPIA TWINS,” and the creative whispery voice from no other than Drake on “MELTDOWN.” Yes there are some bad songs on UTOPIA, like “K-POP” or “PARASAIL,” but they get completely outshined by the many unique and amazing songs on this massive project.
Lahai — Sampha
Six years after his last album, Process, Sampha is finally back with Lahai: one of the most beautiful albums of the year, with stunning vocals from and luscious production. Sampha’s passion and effort leads to there not being a single bad track on the album, starting with the beautiful opener “Stereo Colour Cloud (Shaman’s Dream).” There is also the incredible, angelic track “Suspended,” which is easily one of the best songs of the year, and the lead single “Spirit 2.0” which has one of the many exceptional vocal performances from Sampha. Lahai is stunning, calming, relaxing, but also powerful, like on the outro of “What If You Hypnotize Me?” featuring Léa Sen, another one of the best songs to come out of 2023. Every song on this album is a highlight, and it feels wrong not to mention them all. Lahai is a must listen, and for sure one of the best albums of the year, and even one of the best albums of the 2020s decade thus far.
