1. I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You-Quadeca

Quadeca has released his greatest album yet with “I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You”. The album tells the story of a ghost struggling to move on following his passing, constantly looking over his family from beyond, full of sorrow and regret. The entirely self-produced album has a large stylistic difference from anything else in his discography, possessing a sound which is much more of a niche acquired taste. Despite this, Quadeca manages to offer amazing and haunting vocals and production, utilizing every ounce of musical ability he has to create an amazing album which encompasses everything he sought out to accomplish. Not a single song is not full of a plethora of incredible aspects which help elevate it to the position of Album of the Year in my mind.

Favorite Song(s): “Sorry4dying”, “Tell Me a Joke”, “Don’t Mind Me”, “Picking Up Hands”, “House Settling”, “Fantasyworld”, “Fractions of Infinity”

2. Gemini Rights-Steve Lacy

Former guitarist for band The Internet, Steve Lacy has released another LP under his solo discography. Featuring amazing production mainly done by himself, the album sees Steve telling a story of a relationship and its cycles of toxicity he must endure. His crisp and beautiful vocals coupled with the acoustic instrumentation featured on every song help make this album a beautiful listen with a plethora of catchy songs.

Favorite Song(s): “Static”, “Helmet”, Mercury”, “Buttons”, “Bad Habit”, “Cody Freestyle”, “Amber”, “Sunshine (feat. Fousheé)”, “Give You the World”

3. learn 2 swim-redveil

Artist redveil has created another masterful album to add to his discography. His newest LP sees him deliver sleek and tight flows with great lyrics across the entire album. To top it all off, the top notch production borrowing elements from soul, blues and jazz helps elevate the album to even greater heights. This all goes without mentioning his surprisingly good vocals which allow him to make catchy and sonically amazing hooks throughout the project.

Favorite Song(s): “Diving Board”, “Better”, “Sky”, “Mars”, “Working On It”

4. SOS-SZA

After a long five year wait, singer and songwriter SZA has finally released her new album to widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike. With much more experimentation and variation in genres and techniques implemented on songs, SZA manages to craft some of her best songs across her entire discography. Her beautiful vocals coupled with the great production  help make an incredible album with virtually no bad songs on it.

Favorite Song(s): “SOS”, “Kill Bill”, “Blind”, “Used (feat. Don Toliver)”, “Gone Girl”, “Smoking on my Ex Pack”, “Conceited”, “Shirt”, “Open Arms (feat. Travis Scott)”, “I Hate U”, “Good Days”

5. Melt My Eyez See Your Future-Denzel Curry

Florida based rapper Denzel Curry continues his hot streak of great albums with his latest this year. Expanding his musicality, this album sees Curry attempt a variety of musical styles on this album, dabbling into tracks with elements of soul, R&B, along with many others. Curry as an artists helps to curate his albums and make everyone apart of them better, whether that be the guest artists or producers, resulting in a great album from him this year.

Favorite Song(s): “Melt Session #1 [Feat. Robert Glasper]”,  “Walkin”, “Troubles [Feat. T-Pain]”, “Ain’t No Way [Feat. 6LACK, Rico Nasty, J.I.D, Jasiah, Kitty Ca$h]”, “Zatoichi [Feat. slowthai]”

6. FLAWLESS LIKE ME-LUCKI

LUCKI delivers yet another great album filled with his signature vocal performances, droning and spacy production, unique flows and lyrics. His style lends itself well to easily digestible and catchy music which can be played over and over again, with this album perhaps being his best example of this. His sophomore studio album, LUCKI clearly has gained a bigger budget detailing all songs on this album with better production and great features such as Hip-Hop legend Future on the song “KAPITAL DENIM” and Babyface Ray on the song “WHITE HOUSE”.

Favorite Song(s): “MADE MY DAY”, “GEEKED N BLESSED”, “KAPITAL DENIM”, “Y NOT?”, “13”, “VVS KEYSKI”, “MY WAY/ CODEINE COWBOY”

7. 2 Alivë (Geëk Pack)-Yeat 

The deluxe edition of the album “2 Alivë”, the “Geëk Pack” adds nine new songs to what was already a great album by my standards. Yeat’s unique vocal performances coupled with his great and already discernable beat selection sees the California rapper deliver some of his best performances. His energetic verses coupled with his memorable melodic hooks help to craft a great album where each song hits just as hard as the last.

Favorite Song(s): “Poppin”, “Nvr Again”, “Rackz Got Më”, “On Tha Linë”, “Rollin”, “Gëek High (feat. Ken Carson)”, “Big Tonka (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)”, “Dub”

8. WASTELAND-Brent Faiyaz

Brent Faiyaz delivers yet another great album this year. With a star-studded cast of features such as Drake, Alicia Keys and Tyler the Creator, Faiyaz creates a dark and mysterious atmosphere all throughout the album. With slick and smooth instrumentation across the entire LP, Faiyaz delivers great vocal performances incorporating a variety of runs, pitching and vocal layering techniques, doing so to great effects ultimately allowing him to enhance the quality of music provided on the album.

Favorite Song(s): “GRAVITY (FEAT. TYLER, THE CREATOR)”, “ROLLING STONE”, “DEAD MAN WALKING”, “JACKIE BROWN”

9. Luv 4 Rent-Smino

With Luv 4 Rent, Smino delivered an eclectic and warm experience, balancing soulful production with clean vocals and great lyricism. Ultimately, his use of his apparent musical ability creates an incredible album with a great concept to go with it, the album being made to represent the different types of love, whether it be bad, obsessive or familial. With a great tracklist from start to finish, it was an obvious choice to make my list.

Favorite Song(s): “No L’s”, “90 Proof (with J Cole)”, “Ole A** Kendrick”, “Blu Billy”, “Modennaminute (with Lucky Daye, Phoelix)”, “Pudgy (with Lil Uzi Vert)”, “Curtains”

10. Few Good Things-Saba

Chicago rapper Saba has delivered yet another great album following his two releases in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Having a roll-out with breathtaking visuals to go along with the music crafted based on his life’s experiences and hardships such as losing family members and friends while growing up in a death-filled and poverty stricken area, a theme heavily reflected throughout the album. This aspect of the album allows Saba to use his strength in storytelling to great effect, crafting yet another great album

Favorite Song(s): “Free Samples (feat. Cheflee)”, “Survivor’s Guilt (feat. G Herbo)”, “Still (feat. 6LACK and Smino)”