This might have been my favorite year of music since 2015. And yet, I can’t remember a year with so few hip-hop albums near the top of my list. There were a solid number that I dug, but very few that I loved. Maybe I’m just growing old and out of touch? Lastly, the 20 year old me would be ashamed at all the pop (in one form or another) on this list.

Tier 1 (Masterpiece):

1. Fiona Apple: Get the Bolt Cutters [singer / songwriter]
2. Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia [pop, disco]
3. Deftones: Ohmm [alt metal]
4. Run the Jewels: IV [hip-hop]
5. SAULT: Untitled (Rise) [neo-soul, jazz]
6. Grimes- Miss Anthroposcene [indie electronica / indie pop]
7. HAIM: Women in Music Pt. III [indie rock]
8. The Avalanches: We Will Always Love You [neo psychedelic, electronic]
9. Gorillaz: Song Machine Season One: Strange Times [alternative pop]

Tier 2 (Excellent):

10. Sevdaliza: Shabrang [trip-hop, world]
11. Porridge Radio- Every Bad [post-punk, indie rock]
12. Phoebe Bridgers: Punisher [indie folk]
13. Caribou- Suddenly [electronic]
14. Marilyn Manson: We Are Chaos [rock]
15. Yaeji: What We Drew [hip-house]
16. Perfume Genius: Set My Heart On Fire Immediately: [art pop / indie rock]
17. Katie Pruitt: Expectations [singer / songwriter, indie rock]
18. Yves Tumor: Heaven to a Tortured Mind [psychedelic rock]
19. Charlie XCX: how i’m feeling now [experimental pop]
20. Bartees Strange: Live Forever [indie rock]
21. Moses Sumney- grae [r&b, art pop]
22. Kelly Lee Owens: Inner Chorus [techno, pop]

Tier 3 (Great): 23) Moses Boyd- Dark Matter [nu-jazz / acid house] 24) Samia: The Baby [singer / songwriter, indie rock] 25) Jessie Ware: What’s Your Pleasure [art pop, disco] 26) Car Seat Headrest- Making a Door Less Open [indie rock] 27) Medhane: Cold Water [hip-hop] 28) Sorry: 925 [art rock] 29) Allie X: Cape God [pop] 30) R.A.P. Ferreria: Purple Moonlit Pages [hip-hop] 31) Lianne La Havas: Lianne La Havas [singer / songwriter] 32) Roisin Murphy: Roisin Machine [deep house, nu-disco] 33) Adrianne Lenker: songs [folk] 34) Armand Hammer: Shrines [hip-hop] 35) Soccer Mommy: Color Theory [indie rock] 36) Shabaka and the Ancestors: We are Sent Here By History [nu-jazz] 37) Westside Gunn: Pray for Paris [rap]

Tier 4 (Good): 38) Open Mike Eagle: Anime, Trauma and Divorce [hip-hop] 39) PVRIS: Use Me [pop rock] 40) Helena Deland: Someone New [art pop, indie rock] 41) A.A.L: 2017-19 [techno] 42) Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony [hip-hop] 43) Nicolas Jaar- Cenizas [downtempo, ambient] 44) Pottery: Welcome to Bobby’s Motel [post-punk / funk] 45) A.A. Williams: Forever Blue [post-rock, singer/songwriter] 46) Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist: Alfredo [rap] 47) Laura Marling: Songs for Our Daughter [folk] 48) Jarv Is… Beyond the Pale [art rock] 49) Haley Williams: Petals for Armor (art pop, new-wave) 50) I Break Horses: Warnings [dream pop] 51) Four Tet: Sixteen Oceans [downtempo, ambient techno] 52) Royce Da 5’9: The Allegory [rap] 53) Fleet Foxes: Shore [indie folk] 54) Idles: Mono [art punk] 55) Sault: Untitled (Black Is) [neo-soul]

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