The Good & The Ugly: 2013

After a much needed mini hiatus, I’ve found myself looking back at 2013, a year that takes the strange intricacies of 2012 and amps them up by a million. Considering the incoming influence and accessibility of the internet, the gateways for weirder nonsense was more accepted than ever. Therefore, with the oddities like “Harlem Shake” — I didn’t have enough to say about it to crack the list — the balance would reset itself with bland, cheery nonsense like Katy Perry’s “Roar”, another dishonorable mention. By no means is this a bad year, the gems are truly phenomenal, you just had to wipe the crud away and treasure the greatness. Ultimately, 2013 marked a seismic shift in the pop landscape because of how the internet transformed the consumption of music and what it could be.

Before I get into the list, here are some honorable mentions: Justin Timberlake- “Mirrors”, Miguel- “Adorn”, Zedd- “Clarity”, Capital Cities- “Safe & Sound”, Bruno Mars- “Treasure”, J. Cole- “Power Trip”, Mumford & Sons- “I Will Wait”, Wale- “Bad”, Mariah Carey- “#Beautiful”, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- “Thrift Shop”, A$AP Rocky- “Fuckin’ Problems”, Of Monsters and Men- “Little Talks”, fun.- “Carry On”, Emeli Sande- “Next To Me”, and Kendrick Lamar- “Swimming Pools (Drank)”. Now, I’ll discuss the transition of an artist from their flavorless origins to their expeditions in retro pastiches.