Why does it feel like more music was released this year than ever before? Is it because I was home more? More glued to Bandcamp and Spotify? Is it because everyone put their album(s) on hold in 2020 and dropped them in 2021? Either way, it was a bountiful year of music releases and I’m not complaining. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order.
[shameless self-plug: here are my favorite music releases of 2020. And 2019. And 2018. And * feels old * 2017]
El Michels Affair
Yeti Season
The Abominable EP
An international drum circle, dancing with myth and hypnotizing beat breakdowns. An album full of community and timelessness and life.
"Fazed Out" might be the toughest instrumental I've ever heard.
afternoon bike ride
Afternoon Bike Ride
Skipping Stones EP
With an acclaimed debut and a killer EP, indie lofi-folk act afternoon bike ride quickly climbed the ranks in my highest listens this year, a year where it seemed the tender-hearted Canadian trio were just getting started.
J.U.S.
GOD GOKU JAYZ
GoFundMe Corvette
Bruiser Brigade Records launched its prolific and acclaimed Bandcamp in January of this year alongside the debut release by rapper J.U.S. His 10 song, 20 minute album, GOD GOKU JAYZ, is full of minute-long raps over dusty loops, an album that sounds that much better once night falls. He followed this up with December's GoFundMe Corvette, opening and closing 2021 with heat, further proof to look out for J.U.S. in 2022.
Fog Lake
Tragedy Reel
The loneliest album of the year in the best of ways. I play it late at night when I'm writing and it feels like keeping company with ghosts. Beautiful in its quiet haunts.
Mach-Hommy
Pray for Haiti
Balens Cho
Mach Hommy was 2-for-2 in 2021, continuing his rampage of no weak verses. It's nice to see him getting some proper and much deserved public attention (and seeing his albums available to the masses instead of $444 on his website).
Isaiah Rashad
The House is Burning [homies begged]
With four bonus tracks as a 'homies begged' deluxe edition, I don't think you can find a better hour of hip-hop this year. It has something for everyone while never losing its sideways haze. Some of my favorite rap songs period can be found on this project ("True Story", "THIB", "RIP Young"). In regards to Rashad’s body of work, find me a better three album rap run.
YUNGMORPHEUS
States of Precarity
Thumbing Thru Foliage w. ewonee
Affable with Pointed Teeth w. Eyedress
YUNGMORPHEUS was a new name for me in 2021, grabbing my attention with Thumbing Thru Foliage (one of the best album titles ever). Alongside that collaborative album (produced by ewonee) and his solo LP States of Precarity, the NY rapper ended 2021 with a yet another album: a collaborative release with Eyedress, one that seamlessly blends weed rap with bedroom lofi and soulful loops. Heat heat heat.
REASON
No More, No Less: Demo 1
This EP took me by serious surprise. With Isaiah Rashad on two tracks, Benny the Butcher on a track, and other guests coming and going, the short and sweet three song project feels like one long, aggressive posse cut.
Holy Hive
Holy Hive
Holy Hive's debut album, Float Back to You (2020), was one of my most listened to projects in 2021. It soundtracked our drives on vacation so I'll always associate that album with paradise. They followed this up with their sophomore self-titled LP, continuing with vintage soul, pristine grooves, throwback jazz. With this and Yeti Season (and many others released this year), Big Crown Records continues to be one of my favorite music labels.
Obijuan x Philanthrope
SAXRED GIN
Buy an ounce and loop this album and when the ounce is gone listen to this album and this single and repeat until this rapper/producer duo drops something else sometime soon.
Tasha
Tell Me What You Miss the Most
A meditative and tranquil album by Chicago's Tasha, blending ambient with folk and organic poetics throughout. Earlier this year, I played this album followed by Karen O’s Crush Songs (2014) and it felt right.
Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra
Kôrôlén
This is one I throw on when I need to write. It feels like smiling. The applause at the ends always surprises me, always takes me out of the trance, always reminds me to press play and start again.
Jon Hopkins
Piano Versions
Music for Psychedelic Therapy
Blessings to Jon Hopkins. I didn't share my Spotify Wrapped because it was just Jon Hopkins Asleep Versions and Piano Versions. Thank you for helping me sleep. And write. And think. And dream.
CRIMEAPPLE
YDFWC?
YDFWC?2
Cartagena w. DJ Muggs
Sancocho
CRIMEAPPLE had one of the most prolific and consistent runs of the year. The bilingual MC turned heads with DJ Muggs fully produced Cartagena, while also releasing three (3) other tapes, including the recent Sancocho. Don't sleep. "Throw the Rice" is a top track of the year.
Kent Loon
Bittersweet
Eyes low, plotting, in your face every step of the way. This album demands good speakers and ideally a really fast car. Press play and feel like a king.
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
Haram
An untouchable rap duo links with a hip-hop producer goat for a rewarding, dense poetic journey. It’s on everyone’s year-end list and it damn well should be. “Wishing Bad” into “Chicharonnes” is A+.
Yann Tiersen
Kerber
Yann Tiersen is back on his relaxed piano shit and I am here for it. Fall asleep to a playlist of this and Tabarly (2008) and EUSA (2016) and wake up slightly more healed.
Fat Ray
Santa Barbara
Fat Ray's LP was the second drop of the Bruiser Brigade 2021 Takeover and this album is full of heaters, where some of the finest moments are the two-for-one tracks (“Flight Risk / Plea the 5th” and “Bar Smithing / Off Safety”).
Alexander Spit
Basement Shit 2
Fasholy EP
Alexander Spit has been quietly plugging away at his studio, churning out some of the finest instrumentals ever. While his Mansions series remains a classic, Basement Shit is just as hot, not to mention his EP Fasholy, where he raps some of his finest lines. Lyrically sharp yet laid-back and cool. I could listen to “Echelons” forever. Spit's one of the greatest.
Westside Gunn
HWH 8 (Side A&B)
If you are the company you keep, then Westside Gunn is one of the finest curators in the hip-hop game. Two of his full-lengths (of which he had many) include features like Jay Electronica, Stove God Cooks, Benny the Butcher, Conway, Tyler, the Creator, Boldy James, Lil Wayne. Legendary.
Pink Siifu
GUMBO'!
$mokebreak w. Fly Anakin
Siifu's GUMBO'! sounds like no other rap album I've heard and because of that, I can't stop spinning it. His $mokebreak release, a second collaboration with Fly Anakin, is icing on the cake - full of that soulful weed rap haze. A comfort zone. A home.
Boldy James
Bo Jackson
Super Tecmo Bo
After having an MVP 2020, Boldy James returns with two top tier albums alongside The Alchemist. Every loop is a bon fire. Every verse is a captivating fireside fable.
Mick Jenkins
Elephant in the Room
Quite possibly his most cohesive yet, Mick Jenkins continues to finely-tune his craft (and incredible ear for beats) with Elephant in the Room, cementing him as one of the best MCs doing it right now. “D.U.I.” is something mean.
Puma Blue
In Praise of Shadows
A Late Night Special EP
Puma Blue’s two releases kept me company through many late nights, hushed mornings, meditative afternoons. I play his music when I want quiet but still want company. In Praise of Shadows comes complete with a deluxe edition (and a beautiful cover of Radiohead’s ‘All I Need’) and A Late Night Special is actually a film/live performance.
Joe Nora
Sleep Racer
Between Dunes w. Shrimpnose
Friendship Seven w. Heather Gray
Rainfall EP
Joe Nora remains a favorite producer, dropping (yet again) my favorite producer album of the year with Sleep Racer (smoked out cruising music), as well as two collaborative releases and another EP. His body of work is building into something serious and sometimes you just need to throw them all in a playlist and hit shuffle and feel the bounce in your step hitting that much harder.
RAP Ferreira
bob's son
the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures
One of hip-hop’s finest graced us with two full-lengths this year. First, Bob’s Son (at the very start of 2021) which came complete with an interactive cafe, and later with the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures, an album as dense and dazzling as its title.
imagiro
Threads
I wasn’t aware of imagiro until this album came out. Featuring a number of familiar lofi producers (middle school, aso, delayde), Threads somehow manages to be isolated and lonely while comforting and connected and warm. It’s a stunning project, one that comes and goes too quickly each time. I can’t wait to hear what imagiro releases next.
Harry James
Buy the Numbers
This album was recorded in the South Side of Chicago with only a few instruments and one constraint: every song featured had to be started and finished in the same day. A beautiful instrumental album.
Fatboi Sharif x Roper Williams
Ghandi Loves Children (Deluxe)
Bars on bars on bars. Fatboi Sharif could rap over a woman snoring on a park bench, a pile of nails rolling down a hill, a quiet wind. Thankfully, he has an ear for beats and Roper Williams provides. Ambitious and dense and surreal and strange, Ghandi Loves Children is one hell of an attention grabber.
For more insight, check out my interview with Fatboi Sharif from back in August.
Femdot
Not for Sale
It’s been great seeing Femdot grow as an artist and deservedly receiving his flowers in 2021. With a high-caliber full-length and a Colors performance, Femdot’s future’s looking bright. I also had a blast seeing him on Saba’s Twitch freestyle sessions earlier this year, something I hope they revitalize in 2022.
Zelooperz
Van Gogh’s Left Ear
Zelooperz is at the top of my list of most inventive MCs. Most unpredictable, most diverse, most wild. Van Gogh’s Left Ear is full of talent and high energy and heart and originality. He also painted all of the Bruiser Brigade covers and stole the show on their collaborative album TV62.
Lord Jah Monte Ogbon
Beautifully Black
Too Little, Too Late
After grabbing my attention in 2020, Lord Jah Monte Ogbon continues to remain high on my list of current active lyricists. His newest, Beautifully Black, fully produced by Navy Blue, is so damn smooth.
MfnMelo x squeakPIVOT
En Route
After MFnMelo’s impressive Everybody Eats (2019), he followed it up by working directly with one producer: squeakPIVOT. The two dropped the eight song En Route shortly before squeak’s untimely passing. A relentless year, one that is held up higher by timeless music like this.
Bruiser Brigade
TV62
After releasing an onslaught of strong solo albums, Bruiser Brigade released this collaborative compilation, featuring posse cuts, solo takes, and outside features. You also get to hear Danny Brown master the imitation of ODB.
Conway the Machine
If It Bleeds it Can Be Killed w. Big Ghost Ltd
La Maquina
Find me a harder posse cut can “Kill All Rats”. Ransom and Rome Streetz and Conway go in. That’s merely one song that Conway released this year, one featured on his album fully produced by Big Ghost Ltd. It’s heat front to back and compliments nicely La Maquina, his other LP alongside big names like 2 Chainz, Ludacris, and J.I.D.
//
Other great albums from 2021. So many others.
Menahan Street Band - The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band
Madlib - Sound Ancestors
Alexis Taylor - Silence
Defcee x Messiah Musik - Trapdoor
Clbrks x Dweed - The Library of Babel
Kings of Convenience - Peace or Love
greenSLLIME - monk.
Adrian Younge - Jazz is Dead Series
The Alchemist - This Thing of Ours 1 x 2
DJ Muggs x Rome Streetz - Death & the Magician
DJ Muggs - Winter 2
Jetson - Throwed Tapes
Alaskan Tapes - The Sky Sings its Chorus (For Us Alone)
Chester Watson - 1997
Mother Nature x BoatHouse - SZNZ
Nils Frahm - Old Friends New Friends
Zero 7 x Lou Stone - Shadows 3 EP
FKJ - Just Piano
Lord Apex - Smoke Sessions 3
Tree - Soul Trap
Figmore - Jumbo Street
Navy Blue - Navy's Reprise
Qari - I Got Problems EP
Liam Bailey x El Michels Affair - Ekundayo Inversions
Fabricio Paterlini - The Studio Sessions
Solarfive - Selfmedicated
Ransom x Big Ghost Ltd - Heavy is the Head
Smoke DZA - Thanks Again
bitter blossom x another silent weekend - sun petal
ALEX - Flow
Maxo Kream - Weight of the World
DA$H x Ankhlejohn - honey sweeter than blood
Feverkin - Up Til Dawn EP
The O'Mys - No Swimming
Blundetto - Good Good Dub / Gang Stories
mommy x tender spring - Locust
Conrad Mundy - Flying Man
Vinyl Slim - Super Slimtendo!
Masakatsu Takagi - Marginalia 3
