Hey Everbody,
It has been a tough year, but I'm not going to let it get in the way of the tradition of me sharing my favorite albums of the year with you. This time around it is an unranked top 10, including two albums that did not come out in 2020, but were new to me.
JoJo - Good To Know (R&B)
After multiple stays in label hell, the former child star returned with a masterfully crafted, decidedly grown-up R&B album. It is a triumphant start to what will hopefully be a more stable and fruitful second act of JoJo's career.
Elvis - From Elvis In Memphis (Rock/Southern Soul, 1969)
Perhaps in an attempt to escape the horrors of the present, 2020 was the year I finally decided to find out why popular culture once declared Elvis the King. From Elvis In Memphis, the 1969 southern soul album that was widely regarded to be a comeback album, as well as other songs recorded during the same session (among them the brilliant and depressingly current If I Can Dream) made me understand what the hype was and is all about.
Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn't (R&B)
Kehlani released another great, lyrically interesting R&B album, further solidifying her position as my favorite artist to come out of the 2010s. She just doesn't miss.
Benny The Butcher - Burden of Proof (Hip Hop)
This album doesn't do anything particularly new or unique. Listening to it however makes me feel nostalgic for when I was a teenager, riding the train, with my 59Fifty pulled low and my hood up, earbuds in, feeling way cooler than I was. Sometimes you don't need anything more than hard beats and hard rhymes to make you feel larger than life.
Brandy - B7 (R&B)
Late career R&B albums aren't always as good as you want them to be. Luckily, B7 not only meets the high expectations that the name Brandy still brings with it, but even exceeds them. It's a wonderful R&B album that easily claims its spot among Brandy's best releases.
Blu & Exile - Miles
One of the most slept on, but still best Hip Hop groups of all time returned with their first proper album in eight years. They haven't lost a step. Exile's lush, playful beats are still the perfect backdrop for Blu's effortlessly delivered, thoughtful rhymes, many of which - as is always the case when they release an album - will stay with you for years to come. Much like the work of the Jazz legend that inspired it, this album is nourishment for the soul.
The Lawrence Arms - Skeleton Coast (Punk)
With Skeleton Coast, their first album in six years, The Lawrence Arms showed that they are still one of the best, most relatable Punk bands out there.
Makoto Matsushita - First Light (City Pop, 1982)
Maybe it was the weather, maybe it's because I was reading Murakami books I found in my late dad's stash, or maybe it's because this hellish year made bubble economy Japan sound really good, but I listened to a lot of City Pop in the summer of 2020 (and got some friends to do the same). This specific album - although itself still as fresh as an Okinawa breeze - is therefore more of an end year list representative of a whole genre and the way it got me through the summer of 2020.
Listen to Love Was Really Gone
Mariah Carey - The Rarities
After triumphantly closing out her third decade in the music industry with 2018's tremendous album Caution, Mariah decided to start her fourth decade by opening up her vault, treating us to previously unreleased and unheard songs that, collected, serve as both a musical trip down post-1990 R&B memory lane, as well as one of the best R&B albums of 2020.
Headie One - Gang
The Tottenham drill rapper Headie One and pop-ish producer Fred Again joined forces to make a short but remarkable album that is both musical and minimalist, hard and vulnerable, bleak and hopefull. 2020 couldn't have asked for a more fitting soundtrack.
With that, Maike and I wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season. Stay safe and healthy.
One Love,
Marius | 1520