My Top 15 Albums of 2021
Honestly? 2021 wasn’t that great for albums. Maybe it’s just me and the brutal year that I had but there wasn’t an album that truly blew me away top to bottom like several records were last year. Sheer volume of mainstream releases took place of the quality and variety from last year. Perhaps that’s indicative of what 2021 was: a disappointment in lieu of a much anticipated brighter future.
But it wasn’t a total waste. The best stuff this year are still saddled with valid criticisms. But, comfort took even more precedence where perfection took a backseat. Usually, I do this with friends but the last handful of months have been brutal for me and I couldn’t coordinate it the way I’d like. I also just didn’t have the mental space to go in depth as I would’ve liked for all these projects. So some blurbs aren’t going to be as long as others. Next year, we’ll do better. For now, I’ll scroll through the best 2021 had to offer alone. A few honorable mentions: Lil Poppa’s Blessed, I Guess, Snail Mail’s Valentine, Men I Trust’s Untourable Album, MIKE’s Disco, Babytron’s Bin Reaper 2, and An Evening with Silk Sonic. With that out of the way, I wanted to talk about DJ Drama tapes.
15. Tyler, the Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost: Working with DJ Drama is a stamp of approval. It’s a mark of legitimacy, an indicator of value to the vast hip-hop ecosystem. They’re also (mostly) great. Some of Lil Wayne’s best mixtapes are all hosted by DJ Drama. Young Jeezy’s Trap or Die. Jeremih’s Late Nights, Pharrell’s In My Mind mixtape, 2 Chainz T.R.U. REALigion, Gucci Mane’s The Movie, Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers 2. The resume is impeccable. Tyler, the Creator getting that cosign was major. But rather than fully immersing himself into DJ Drama’s field, Tyler invites him into his orbit.
Tyler, the Creator’s music is all-encompassing. Anyone who works with him is guaranteed to have his fingerprints over everything. It ensures that it’s just as much his song as it is yours. Snoh Aalegra, Brent Faiyaz, those collaborations were fluffy and filled with Tyler’s specific influences. Even Maxo Kream was saddled with incredibly random daydreamy piano chords tacked on at the end of his verse. Tyler doesn’t make features. He sees where you fit into a very specific set of parameters. Worst cases, it drowns out distinct artist characteristics in favor of Tyler’s palette.
On Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler utilizes DJ Drama as something of a travel guide. Tyler transitions through tracks like he’s on various excursions throughout the globe, noted through the album cover. “Hot Wind Blows” has Drama setting the scene in Geneva (he clarifies “Switzerland by the way”) with his toes out and being fed French Vanilla Ice Cream. Sometimes, Call Me If You Get Lost could use his input to jumpstart clumsier songs. “Run It Up” is stale and hints at triumph without building up to anything so it can pay off. This definitely doesn’t help when “Safari” closes the album, a better record with one of Tyler’s best lines (“The suit was so sharp that it could get Medusa coochie trimmed.) The biggest fault of Call Me If You Get Lost is its pacing, shuffling through different ideas without fully committing to the levity in DJ Drama mixtapes. It still has that breath of Album Mode, its intent ultra serious.
Despite that, the best moments are some of Tyler’s best. The beachside resort setting of “I Thought You Wanted To Dance” is romantic and just the right amount of cheesy where you can’t help but smile. Fana Hues has the best feature, her startlingly perfect vocal tone matching well with Tyler’s raw singing. Pharrell’s G Herbo “Kill Shit” flow and Lil Uzi’s dizzying delivery on “Juggernaut” make for one of the year’s best adrenaline rushes. “WusYaName” is immensely infectious pop R&B; NBA Youngboy and Ty Dolla $ign crooning over H-Town samples is a heavenly match. Call Me If You Get Lost makes for a good entry into Tyler, the Creator’s legacy building.
14. PinkPantheress- to hell with it: PinkPantheress does this impressive trick where she utilizes a vaguely familiar nostalgia that doesn’t feel sterile when artists do it nowadays. It satisfies this very specific urge in my brain to play GTA Vice City Mall music. to hell with it feels incredibly refreshing, the kind of bright beautiful blue you only experience when you’re inside an aquarium. Its brevity makes for a great sampler, something I would’ve played to death if it came out even earlier in the year.
13. Clairo- Sling: Sling filled the void Taylor Swift’s folklore left for me last year. The coziest singer/songwriter album of the year by far.
12. Quadry- They Think We Ghetto: Quadry is one of rap’s best in how he understands how to create such a visual setting. The intense parking lot where anything can pop off, even on a great night. The thick humidity on “I Can’t Throw Stones.” It’s an album that truly understands what it means to be outside down south.
11. Young Thug- Punk: If you love “Killed Before” off Super Slimey, Punk should be for you. It’s not a perfect album; “Livin It Up” is appallingly bad and Thug leans on lazy instincts that make for boring playlist placement music sometimes. But then you’ll get something like “Die Slow” or “Droppin Jewels,” Young Thug at his most somber tonally. Or you’ll get his strange flows and vocal stretching on “Rich N***a Shit” or “Icy Hot” with Doja Cat. Punk is one of his most interesting creative decisions since Beautiful Thugger Girls.
10. dltzk- frailty: An amalgamation of so many influences culminating into one of the most left field releases I’ve heard this year. Somewhere between sophisticated emo Ke$ha and glitched out Final Fantasy boss battle music. I wish I could get that first listen to the bridge on Kodak Moment again.
9. Mach Hommy- Pray For Haiti: The best Griselda projects since about 2018 with Supreme Blientele. My main critiques with Mach were how his songs felt a little dense, dismissing structure in favor of very wordy, overwhelming raps. At best, it was homework trying to uncover his impressive writing. At worst, it felt like a massive dump of words on soul loops. With Westside Gunn’s natural ear for these kind of songs, he helps Mach Hommy achieve an album that could reasonably contend with his best in HBO and Dump Gawd. They work as songs that really stick in your brain primarily but never sacrificing his stellar ideas as a writer.
8. Grouper- Shade: If I heard this in like June? This might’ve been my most played album of the year. It’s so devastating tonally, freezing to the touch and no chance of sunlight. This year was fucking brutal and Liz Harris understood that grayness very intimately.
7. Pink Siifu- Gumbo’!: Pink Siifu understands every nook and cranny of southern music and he utilizes them with so much love. He alters through Dungeon Family to Soulja Boy to D’Angelo. Even something so disruptive and bombastic as “Roscoe’!” feels very familiar, the kind of distorted bass you’d hear muffled in an old Chevy Impala on 24’s. It’s a loving tribute to this music without ever feeling derivative.
6. Polo Perks < 3 < 3 < 3- Icfm Pt. 3/fortheonesilost: My favorite discovery of the year. While I loved his Punk Drill mashup, ICFM Pt. 3/fortheonesilost is one of the most addicting listens of the year. Yelling “It’s still fuck the cops, I feel just like Chris Dorner” in my car is a daily routine at this point. My friend Meels described “Horses” as the “2021 winner for best and most unexpected dark wave song.” Even the more on-the-nose samples (Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi, Daft Punk, Skrillex) cascade against the drill drums and vibrate off the skull with ease. Really looking forward to more new Surf Gang next year.
5. Topaz Jones- Don’t Go Tellin Your Momma: I remember when I first put my best friend Assane onto this album. He always looked to me as a trusted gatekeeper of great music, a role I cherished and was honored to keep. He’d bounce the occasional Afrobeats record and whatever Serge Ibaka was making as a DJ Khaled of sorts in that field. I’d throw him whatever new discovery I’d tirelessly repeat and share with others.
That time, I’d played nothing but Black Tame, the best song of the year at that point. It’s one of the best depictions of a family reunion setting I’d ever heard; you can smell the hamburgers and hot dogs off the grill, you can see the red solo cups taking up half a folding table. You can see the grown folks yelling over spades, dominos, and beers. You can feel the love of aunties and grandmothers’ hugs. It’s the ideal version of home wrapped all in one song. Assane was ecstatic that he was from New Jersey, emphatically texting “oh he from Montclair too? Let’s gooooo JERSEY. He already better than Joe BUTTen.” He gassed most Jersey content any time he got the chance.
Maybe the thing I loved the most about Assane was how eager he was to support what he loved. It was never passive with him. He loved and he did so wholeheartedly. He loved Don’t Go Tellin Your Momma so much. It was one of his favorite albums before he passed, something I’m so glad I got to share with him. I go back to it whenever I want to feel that sense of home and when I want to feel like he’s still with me. Love Assane eternally.
4. Playboi Carti- Whole Lotta Red: There’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been said to death about Whole Lotta Red. Vivian Medithi and Paul Thompson’s reviews cover the magic of the album better than I ever could. Numerous artists kind of missing the point of what it great and making it their own, for better (Yeat) or worse (Trippie Redd). Besides that, though, I love WLR because it dared to be different. In a year with very safe (Certified Lover Boy) and rushed, occasionally half baked (Donda) projects, Carti subverted expectations. He would’ve satisfied plenty opting to release leaks. But instead, he doubled down on the more chaotic textures on Die Lit with hypnotizing vocal acrobatics and hyperactive ragers. It’s as catchy as any other Carti record but challenging to the casual ear. Some parts actively stink, sure (Go2DaMoon, Cudi on M3tamorphosis, being forced to hear DJ Akademiks). But the good outweighs the bad by a lot and the bad wasn’t dreadfully boring like so much bad music is nowadays. I can’t imagine what it feels like to hear JumpOutTheHouse in person.
3. FLEE- RatedStar: The most effective bubblegum music of 2021. Whether he’s eurostepping all over a spare Cashcache beat (“I Really Be Walkin) or crooning over spacy Plugg&B production (“Brinks”), Flee is a limitless supply of hooks. He also never fails to have the most flagrant lines possible — the last line on the last verse for “Kobe World,” Flee says “Nut in her contacts, now she can’t see-see” into a Kobe adlib transitioning into the hook. It’s so confusing and out of pocket and I never question it because I immediately rap the chorus with him. RatedStar swirls in my head whenever I’m itching for an escapist album.
2. Isaiah Rashad- The House is Burning: Talking to Isaiah Rashad, I really got to understand his intent in making the album, even if he wouldn’t outright sell it to me. “I just make these soundscapes that are in my mind and they’re basically like soundtracks to certain times of day and certain things that are going on in my life, with the real intention that you should listen to this album at night while driving on a dark road, you should really feel that.” Ultimately, he succeeded, an album destined for countless cruises when the street lights come on. It balances the push and pull of being at the function while also not totally being all there. He throws heavier lines on his most catchy records like “THIB”, “I don’t even like Henny, fuck it.” The sadder undertones on The House is Burning make for an album that properly reflects what it’s like to live nowadays.
1. Vince Staples- Vince Staples: Shocking right? For anyone that actively follows me, Isaiah Rashad not topping this list might be surprising. The House is Burning meant so much to me and I’ve played it to death. I got to experience it at the album’s listening party. I got to interview Zay and understand the intent and comprehend what makes the album tick. There’s an unbreakable attachment. And still. It wouldn’t have been totally honest if I made Zay #1 by default. It’s not the album that defined this year for me. It was something far grimmer.
Vince Staples is my best album of 2021 because its grayness is something I’m intimately familiar with. This has been the most brutal year of my life. For every blessing, for every goal I achieved, I met a newer low. Pits I didn’t know existed were unearthed. I had emotional breakdowns in moments I was supposed to be happy. Worthlessness increased tenfold with every passing week I didn’t have a job. Depression set in. Burnout ensued. My best friend, one of the few people who truly knew me and truly accepted me died. There was nothing I wanted more than to sink into my bed and to grieve forever. But life wouldn’t allow it. I had to brave the public and pretend I was okay for people that didn’t know my spirit was withering. I used up the reserves of charm and smiles I had to make sure people didn’t ask too many questions. I wasn’t okay but I didn’t want to be bothered about it.
In Vince Staples, I had music that reflected how truly dejected I felt. Kenny Beats can be incredibly hit or miss, especially with artists with a ton of regional flair. His mantra to not overthink shit leads to half-baked ideas without proper nurturing of what he curbs from. But LA burnout is something he’s familiar with living out there. He understands how exhausting life can be out here and he channels it into overcast production. It makes for an album that acts as somewhat of a subversion of Earl Sweatshirt’s I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. Rather than retreat into solitude and sanctuary, Vince lifelessly stares into the void in front of his family and friends because life continues in spite of any mental health deficiencies or the vicious cycle of death. Tired of life but always persistent, even if you don’t want to be present. In the most turbulent year of my life, Vince Staples was one of the only albums that made sense to me. I can only hope next year is better.
