Some of the best music of 2020.
2020 was, well, we don't have to get into that. In fact, I won't even say the C-word this entire ranking.
You're welcome. Let's get right into it.
For extra insight on what went into the rankings and why some projects made it while others didn't check out UNHEARD's year-end breakdown.
Disclaimers: I didn't listen to every project released in 2020. Also, I recognize some projects like King Krule's Man Alive! or Taylor Swift's Folklore have been championed as some of the best this year, but it wouldn't be fair to those projects and others like them if I include them because I can't get into the music and that would hurt their ranking.
Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon III, Playboi Carti's Whole Lotta Red and Lil Durk's The Voice weren't included because of the likely recency bias that would have boosted their rankings.
50.) Tems For Broken Ears
For perspective on how good I think each project on this list is, I post about this project once every two weeks and it barely made the cut. The debut project from Tems is only 21 minutes, but her expressive writing, passionate vocals and the project's lack of features allow the Nigerian singer to show how special she is in a short amount of time.
Favorite Tracks: Interference, Damages
49.) No Cap Steel Human
Every year my friends put me on to a project or two that makes me a fan of a new artist. Last year, it was Lil Keed and Polo G, this year it's No Cap.
I'm not as high on No Cap as I was on Lil Keed or Polo G, but he definitely got placed on my artist watchlist after Steel Human. His subject matter is basic, but his distinct voice and witty wordplay make the most basic subjects like drug use, girls, and street activities worth listening to.
Favorite Tracks: By Tonight, Radar
48.) Flo Milli Ho, why is you here ?
There's something enticing about raw. Maybe it's the fact it's not safe. Maybe it's the unmatched feeling. Maybe it's the surprise of not knowing what comes next. Regardless of the reason, most people would agree raw is fun.
Flo Milli's debut mixtape Ho, why is you here ? is raw. She mainly sticks to the topics of stealing men, her looks and haters but she keeps those topics interesting throughout the project with funny bars and playful deliveries. The project is most comparable to Tay-K's 2017 mixtape SantanaWorld (+)--a mixtape that's so fun and different that you're willing to ignore its rough edges.
Favorite Tracks: Pockets Bigger, May I
47.) Juice Wrld Legends Never Die
Sadly, this is one of three posthumous albums on this year's list.
Outside of Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, BTS and Nicki Minaj, Juice Wrld has the most passionate fanbase I've ever seen. On a night where J.Cole was the headliner and Lil Uzi Vert was performing on the opposite end of the festival, Juice Wrld easily drew the loudest response. So when an artist with that type of fanbase has a posthumous album tied to their name, it's highly unlikely for that album to satisfy.
Legends Never Die satisfied. With tracks like "Conversations", "I Want It" and "Wishing Well", the album has something for every category of Juice Wrld's fanbase. Then there's the interludes and tracks like "Righteous" to bring them all together.
Favorite Tracks: Conversations, Stay High, Screw Juice
46.) Kali Uchis To Feel Alive
2020 was the year of throwaways. Throwaway packs. Throwaway deluxes. Throwaway EPs.
In a year filled with throwaways, Kali Uchis released the one that stuck. A 4-song, 10-track EP composed of leaks and promising demos became one of the rare quarantine EPs worth revisiting.
Favorite Tracks: Honey Baby(SPOILED!), angel
45.) 070 Shake Modus Vivendi
Modus Vivendi has some really high highs and some extremely low lows. Here are my original notes from my January listens:
From the beginning, I hated how this album sounded but I loved the detailed story 070 Shake was sharing. Looking back on the album months later, the album was sonically ahead of my listening comfort zone. While I do think the album shines brightest when it's doing less on tracks like "Guilty Conscience", "Divorce" and "Nice To Have", I now recognize how connected Shake and the electric instruments are.
Favorite Tracks: Divorce, Guilty Conscience
44.) 42 Dugg Young & Turnt 2
From the memes to the features to the whistle to the voice to the verses to Young & Turnt Volume 2, 42 Dugg deserves some type of award for his contribution to hip hop in 2020.
UNHEARD crowned him Rap's Rookie of the Year, and if it wasn't for someone else on this list he'd be the runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year for music in general. It says about the year you had when a top-50 project is the least impressive part of your resume.
Young & Turnt 2 was validation of the special potential 42 Dugg flashed on bigger stages.
Favorite Tracks: Y&T 2, Been Turnt, Hard Times
43.) Jay Electronica A Written Testimony
Look past the years of silence from Jay Electronica and view Jay-Z as a collaborator rather than a cheat code and you'll look at A Written Testimony in a completely different light.
At least that was the case for me.
I killed this album for months for not living up to expectations and over-relying on Jay-Z only to play it months later and realize the expectations made me nitpick. And who wouldn't lean heavily on Jay-Z? Almost every critique I originally had for the album was drowned out months later by the quality of Jay Electronica and Jay-Z's rapping over great production.
"Flux Capacitator" is the only reason this project isn't about 10 spots higher.
Favorite Tracks: A.P.I.D.T.A, Ghost of Soulja Slim, The Blinding
42.) Young Nudy Anyways
Young Nudy is criminally underrated.
For years Nudy has been the rapper that everyone knows is nice but no one really gives him his flowers because it's common knowledge how nice he is. But if everyone has the mindset that screaming Nudy's praise is unnecessary then his talent goes unspoken.
His official debut album is no different.
Maybe it was the start of quarantine or maybe it was because of the aforementioned reason, but I didn't even know this album existed until months after its release. The way he flows on tracks like "No Go" and bodies beats that others would pass on like "Blue Cheese Salad" and "Cap Dem" deserves to be championed. Combine those common Nudy aspects with the evolution of his storytelling on "A Nudy Story" and Anyways is another good project added to Nudy's already criminally underrated discography.
After the SlimeBall series, Nudy Land, Sli'merre, and Anyways, No Atlanta rapper conversation should go without mentioning Young Nudy.
Favorite Tracks: No Go, A Nudy Story
41: Trippie Redd Pegasus
I said it last year and I'll say it again.
When Trippie Redd announces a project, it's either going to be one of the best of the year or the worst of the year. That might seem like a backhanded compliment, but I respect the fact that no Trippie Redd project feels safe despite his first release being considered a borderline classic.
Pegasus isn't as good as that first project, but a case can be made for it being number two. "Love Scars 4" and "Excitement" are great examples of Trippie's progression of his trademarked sound, "The Nether" shows his talent as a rapper, and "Weeeeee" is a hit.
If it weren't for tracks like "Good Morning" and "Pegasus" sounding like Playboi Carti and Roddy Ricch impressions, Pegasus may be a few spots higher.
Favorite Tracks: "Weeeeee", "The Nether"
40.) Benny the Butcher Burden of Proof
This one might get the same treatment as A Written Testimony in a few months. My expectations for this project were St.Vincent St.Mary LeBron James-level high.
My actual expectations/thoughts:
Benny the Butcher's only solo project of the year? After what Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine did before him? And Griselda added another rapper with a couple of crazy projects already this year? Oh yeah, Benny's about to drop the hardest rap album in years.
Burden of Proof isn't the hardest rap album in years, so I was disappointed and that disappointment may have contributed to the album's relatively low placement. "Famous" combined with Freddie Gibbs and Lil Wayne outshining him on "One Way Flight" and "Timeless" are examples of Benny not living up to the near unreachable standard I hold him to.
Those standards are insane and Benny the Butcher managed to meet the mark for about half of the album; that's good enough for a spot among the top projects of the year.
Favorite Tracks: One Way Flight, Sly Green, Over The Limit
39.) Jackboy Jackboy
Jackboy is Devonte' Graham.
For those unfamiliar with the starting point guard of the Charlotte Hornets, Graham had a very forgettable rookie season, averaging less than 5 points per game and barely seeing the court due to Kemba Walker's star power. The next year, Walker left and Graham exploded to nearly 20 points a night and was widely considered as the Most Improved Player in the NBA.
For years Jackboy was Graham, backing up Sniper Gang's version of Kemba Walker in Kodak Black. With Kodak Black in prison, Jackboy stepped up and showed out with his self-titled album. Similar to the way Walker's game shows in Graham, Kodak's style shows in Jackboy as he bounces back-and-forth from street subjects to love subjects and from singing to rapping.
Favorite Tracks: Pressure, Freedom of Speech, Love is War
38.) G Herbo PTSD
Through its first seven tracks, PTSD was a rap album of the year contender.
From the flows to the features to the bars to the theme, G Herbo was hyperfocused on painting the picture of PTSD and each feature complimented him perfectly. Lil Durk had one of the best features of 2020 on "Party in Heaven", Durk, Juice Wrld, Chance the Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert all combined to make "PTSD" one of the best singles of 2020, and even A Boogie was a highlight on "Glass in the Face".
"By Any Means", "Shooter" and "Feelings" throw the project off course and keep it from reaching the potential of those first seven tracks, but those are rare slipups in an overall good album.
Favorite Tracks: Party In Heaven, Intro, Lawyer Fees, PTSD
37.) Skepta, Chips & Yung Adz Insomnia
Insomnia is up there with Spilligion for Hip Hop Sleeper Album of the Year. Chip hadn't released an album in two years and Insomnia is technically Young Adz debut, yet the two go stride for stride with Skepta like it's nothing.
There's no dropoff between the three artists and each artist has a different sound, making each song an in-house who's who of competition. Each song makes you excited for who's doing the hook and who's going to have the best verse. It's comparable to what made The Migos so special in their prime; every hook and verse feels like a tug of war between the three for who's performing the best.
Favorite Tracks: Waze, Demons, High Road
Eternal Atake was one of the most highly-anticipated albums in recent memory, and for the most part, it lived up to expectations, selling almost 300k first week and creating a new cheat code in music.
But how did it sound?
Saying Eternal Atake sounds like Lil Uzi may be a cop-out answer, but that's the best answer. It's addictive, energetic and fun. For months I didn't want to snap out of that fun feeling by looking too deep into the album, but eventually, that had to happen.
When you take a deep look at Eternal Atake, it's Uzi's worst album. The lyrics reached a new level of irrelevant to the point where they feel like filler, there's no common theme across the album despite the emphasis on creating this planetary experience, and there are random skits scattered throughout with the sole purpose to trick the listener into thinking the project is cohesive.
It's not cohesive or revealing. It's actually frustrating if you stack it up against old Uzi albums.
So don't. On its own, Eternal Atake is one of the most fun albums of an overall grim year.
Favorite Tracks: Chrome Heart Tags, Prices, Bust Me, I'm Sorry
35.) Lucki Almost There
Post-Freewave 2, Lucki's been on an insane hot streak since.
Almost There is the point in the hot streak where everyone just laughs and shakes their head in disbelief. A mixtape that was supposed to be nothing more than a holdover was one of the best projects of 2020 and grew Lucki's fanbase.
Lucki is still very much Lucki."Sippin syrup 'til I die, cause it's fuck Lucki anyway right?" This is how Lucki opens "Pure Love - Hate"; it's the same vice-first mindset he's displayed throughout his career, but Almost There shows Lucki at a different stage in his vice viewpoint. If Freewave 3 was Lucki battling his vices and Days B4 III was Lucki leaning into his vices, Almost There is Lucki swimming in his vices, fully convinced they're for the best.
Favorite Tracks: Unlimited, It's Bool, Prada Tune
34.) Chris Brown and Young Thug Slime & B
Slime & B could've been one of the biggest projects in the world if Chris Brown and Young Thug went with a traditional release. Instead, the project dropped on a Tuesday as a SoundCloud exclusive, leading to only 13,000 first-week sales and the release being overlooked.
But it's Chris Brown and Young Thug. This project has legit hits.
"Say You Love Me", "Go Crazy" and "City Girls". "Go Crazy" has been on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 33 weeks and is in the top-25 at a time when that space is reserved almost exclusively by Christmas singles.
Then there are the songs like "Help Me Breathe", "Trap Back" and "Big Slimes" that'll never chart on Billboard, but are just as good as those aforementioned certified hits.
Favorite Tracks: Help Me Breathe, City Girls
33.) Boldy James Real Bad Boldy
Boldy James cracked the code.
On each of his four projects this year he locked in with an individual producer to unlock something different in his sound. Manger on McNichols with Sterling Toes sounds different than The Versace Tapes with Jay Versace which sounds different than Real Bad Boldy with Real Bad Man which sounds different than The Price of Tea In China with The Alchemist.
It's impressive enough to make four distinct projects in one year but for all of them to come out high quality is a testament to Boldy's beat selection and rapping ability. Real Bad Boldy was the last of the four to release and the second best.
The project is filled with Boldy effortlessly rapping bars like, "He thought he had a pint of Wok, bought some Nyquil" over engaging production like that of "Light Bill".
Favorite Tracks: Light Bill, Failed Attempt, On Ten
32.) Doe Boy & Southside Demons R Us
You’ll notice a common theme on a lot of this year’s top hip hop projects—one producer collaborating with one rapper to make some of the best work of the year.
Like the DJ Akademiks snippet on “Neva Froze” suggests, a lot of people wrote Doe Boy off as a funny rapper. Southside’s seasoned production helps Doe Boy shine in a new light.
He’s still funny, rapping bars like “all black hellcat, Doja Cat mad at me,” but bars like “I don’t beef with rappers but this chopper beatbox” resonate on Southside production.
Favorite Tracks: 7 Days A Week, Bussin
31: Spillage Village Spilligion
Spilligion is one of the biggest sleepers of 2020.
A conceptual project by EARTHGANG and JID with great features from 6LACK, Ant Clemons, Ari Lennox, Jurdan Bryant, Lucki Daye, Mereba and Chance the Rapper was relatively swept under the rug. Maybe the religious association caused people to write it off, but Spilligion is a high-quality work from great artists nevertheless.
JID steals the show with verses like the ones on "Mecca" and "Baptize", but the project is simply an easy, enjoyable listen. That's both a pro and a con, as a tracklist this talented could've probably pushed the boundaries a lot more than they actually did.
With DiCaprio 2, Revenge of the Dreamers III and Spilligion, JID is the only artist to be named in SoundSports' Top Projects of the Year each year.
Favorite Tracks: "Baptize", "Oshun", PsalmSing, Cupid
30.) Don Toliver Heaven or Hell
Don Toliver is 100% from the field.
In my initial review, I harped on how Heaven or Hell feels more like a mixtape than an album, and that feeling still persists, but I didn't give Toliver enough credit for that first sentence.
Don Toliver has never released or been apart of a bad song. He was the lone member of Cactus Jack to show up on JACKBOYS, he turned a producer project single into one of the biggest songs in the world, and through two projects, no song has disappointed.
Favorite Tracks: Euphoria, Spaceship, Had Enough, Wasted
29.) Lil Durk Just Cause Y'all Waited 2
If Lil Durk isn't on your list of rappers who performed the best in 2020, you lose all credibility.
Durk performed on every level. Mainstream success? "Laugh Now Cry Later". Label success? OTF has become a rap staple. Individual success? Through two solo projects, he barely missed.
One of those projects is Just Cause Y'all Waited 2. Throughout the project, Durk proves that he's really the voice, hopping from love songs to songs about messing around to the street songs effortlessly.
Favorite Tracks: 3 Headed Goat, All Love, Internet Sensation
28.) Chloe x Halle Ungodly Hour
The next Chloe x Halle project will show this project for what it is, the bridge to an unapologetically adult album.
The Kids Are Alright was a good, promising project in 2018, but it was a few notches above Kidz Bop. No explicit tracks, a J.C. Penny's family photoshoot album cover and the title literally referring to the two as kids pointed towards an overly family-friendly project.
Compare that to Ungodly Hour. "Kids" vs. "Ungodly". No explicit warnings vs. three explicit warnings. A shot of just their shoulders and above hugging vs. a full body shot of the two holding each other's waist in tight black dresses.
You can not listen to a second of Ungodly Hour and still recognize the most important objective of the album--to let the world know Chloe and Halle aren't kids anymore.
Grown woman songs like "Forgive Me", "Tipsy" and "Wonder What She Thinks of Me" are when the project shines brightest, and if Ungodly Hour is the bridge that I think it is, those tracks are just the beginning of a new era of Chloe x Halle.
Favorite Tracks: Tipsy, Do It, Wonder What She Thinks of Me
27.) THEY. The Amanda Tape
A 10-track project was a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, The Amanda Tape feels extremely refined. From “The Moment” to "Conclude", it feels like THEY. is sharing their best work. The closest thing to a skip on this album is "STCU" and that only feels like a skip in comparison to the other tracks.
The curse of a 10-track project is that it feels like an appetizer. For the duo's second project ever and first project in three years, 10 tracks don't do much to satisfy the hunger, especially when the tracks make you want more music.
Favorite Tracks: On and On, All Mine, Count Mine, The Moment
In my initial review of this project, I compared Polo G to young Derrick Rose and 2Pac.
Many months and relistens later, I feel the same way. So instead of reiterating what's already been said, I'll explain how an artist and album with such high praise is outside the top-25.
The only thing holding this project and Polo G back is when he forces the writing. For example, "Beautiful Pain (Losin My Mind)" is a great love song thanks to the verses about how fame and temptation may have cost him a great girl, but the hook plays it so safe that verses don't pop like they should. It was like Polo G knew he had a hit and didn't want to ruin it with a bad hook, so he made it as simple as possible.
These are rare occurrences across a great project but just enough to keep it from ranking higher than other albums.
Favorite Tracks: 21, Be Something, 33
25.) Lil Baby My Turn
Lil Baby made the jump from star to superstar in 2020. That may sound simple but think about how large the ocean of rap stars is and compare that to the dozen rappers that can be considered superstars or megastars.
It‘s a difficult, high jump to make. About 4 billion streams, 12 charting songs and a two-times platinum album high.
My Turn isn’t as good as Harder Than Ever. It’s cleaner and adversely a lot more formulaic than the project that shot Baby to stardom, but as the stats suggest, that formula worked. And for as much as I killed the album for being a lot of the same, I recognize Baby's insane amount of music staples in one year.
You can’t mention Hip Hop in 2020 without mentioning "Grace", "Woah", "We Paid", "Emotionally Scarred" and "Sum 2 Prove", and you can’t mention music in 2020 without mentioning Lil Baby.
Favorite Tracks: Emotionally Scarred, We Paid, We Should
24.) Teyana Taylor The Album
If I had a genie that granted three music wishes, one of my wishes would be to give Teyana Taylor an unlimited budget and complete autonomy. Taylor is that talented.
The Album was as close to my wish as we’ll ever get, and the result speaks for itself. No one else is making songs as heartfelt as “Bare with Me”, “Shoot It Up” or “Wrong Bitch”. And if you can think of someone else capable, I guarantee they can’t make those songs and make videos like “Bare With Me”.
If the project was a little more focused, The Album would be a top-10 contender.
Favorite Tracks: Bare with Me, Shoot It Up
23.) Tame Impala The Slow Rush
Imagine having to follow up Currents. There’s no surpassing that project. The best Kevin Parker could do is hope to replicate its success, but then you risk the criticism of dropping a Currents 2.0 instead of a new album.
So how do you successfully follow up one of the biggest albums of the last decade?
The Slow Rush.
The Slow Rush directly addresses the elephants in the room—Parker’s prime coming to an end("It might be time") and the past("Tomorrow's Dust")—while maintaining the same production standard throughout the album that Tame Impala has made fans grow accustomed to.
Favorite Track: Lost in Yesterday, Tomorrow's Dust
22.) Kehlani It Was Good Until It Wasn't
Kehlani is second only to Chloe x Halle in terms of quarantine creativity.
The music is great, but the music alone didn’t get It Was Good Until It Wasn’t a top-25 spot. It was the at-home effort of Kehlani and her team to not let the album’s great music be an early album causality to a global pandemic.
The videos to “Can I”, “Bad News”, “Toxic” and “Open” were all recorded alongside a full album virtual performance during quarantine at the height of hysteria. Without that visual effort, who knows if this album stays relevant.
Favorite Tracks: Toxic, F&MU, Everybody Business
Yes, Barnacles is top-25 good. It’s borderline great.
After my fifth time audibly laughing from a bar, I realized I had to take Sahbabii's talent seriously even though he didn’t take a single track on this album seriously.
To come up with as many funny bars as Sahbabii does on Barnacles while keeping it serious enough for the listener to not feel childish while listening is a real talent. For example, he starts "Giraffes & Elephants" melodically rapping "I don't support the zoo, free my apes up out the cage". He then goes on to perform a hook consisting solely of him repeating the words "giraffes and elephants" and "we fucked giraffes and elephants". It's not until the final verse of the song that he was talking about girls with long necks and big butts.
This type of wordplay goes on the entire project. And that’s perfect. Barnacles is just the right blend of goofy and street. It’s SahBabii.
Favorite Tracks: Trapezoid, Giraffes & Elephant, Purple Umbrella, Poppin Shit
20.) Jhene Aiko Chilombo
Next to Eternal Atake, Chilombo was the hardest project to review this year.
The first seven tracks of Chilombo scream classic then the midway mark of the album strays from the narrative of the first seven tracks to set a mood only to end up combining both approaches towards the end. It the same confusing template that has people torn about Playboi Carti's Whole Lotta Red, but I like it from both artists.
The first seven tracks are evidence that Jhene could've created a narrative album that would've received widespread critical acclaim. Instead, she sacrificed that surefire praise to create an atmosphere that only she could.
And it works.
"Mourning Doves", "Surrender" and "Love" are examples of Jhene creating the atmosphere that becomes Chilombo, and while those tracks may not be as successful as tracks like "B.S." or "P*$$Y Fairy(OTW)", they're pivotal for the tone of the album.
Favorite Tracks: B.S., None of Your Concern, Pray for You`
I was ready to type how Brent Faiyaz is the future and if he adds better production he'll be scary good, but he's already scary good.
The days of saying Brent Faiyaz is the future died with Fuck the World. He can never upgrade his production and still be one of the best R&B artists with his songwriting and vocal talents alone. Faiyaz uses his vocal talent to deliver lyrics that only he can.
Normally the lyrics are top-notch stuff like "Just cause I fuck you, that don't mean I trust you, I don't, You got some high hopes," but sometimes his voice is a crutch to deliver questionable lines like "Wanna fuck the world I'm a walking erection".
When his lyrics match the standard of his vocal delivery, it honestly doesn't matter what his production sounds like--Brent Faiyaz will have some of the best music you'll hear.
Favorite Tracks: Rehab(Winter in Paris), Bluffin, Clouded, Been Away
18.) Sufjan Stevens The Ascension
A sad trance is the best way to describe The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens.
The album has vocals, but it feels like Stevens barely want them to be noticed, as he mostly keeps his voice slightly above a whisper throughout the project and makes heavy use of repetition. "Die Happy" is over five minutes long and it's only lyrics are "I wanna die happy."
Stevens' lyric and vocal choices add to the sad trance that is The Ascension.
Favorite Tracks: Tell Me You Love Me, Die Happy
17.) Omar Apollo Apolonio
A nine-track, 26-minute project feels unfair ranking this high, but when each track is vastly different and you go 9-for-9, the quality makes up for whatever the quantity lacks.
Apollo shapeshifts from song to song, effortlessly hitting high vocal notes on "Want U Around" to basically rapping on his "Bi Fren" verse. No two songs sound alike because Apollo treats every song like it's an opportunity to try a different sound. It keeps Apolonio fresh and makes the short tracklist fulfilling.
Favorite Tracks: Bi Fren, Stayback, Kamikaze
16.) Kacy Hill Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again
This is the weirdest album I've ever liked. And I like it a lot. Like top-5 on my [streaming service name redacted] wrapped list a lot. I hate Pop, but I love this project.
The appeal of Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again doesn't come from the instruments or the delivery or the writing. The appeal is the feeling of freedom that comes from listening to it. Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again is the first project from Hill since leaving G.O.O.D. Music to become independent, and you can feel that freedom, as she produces all but one song on the album.
Songs like "To Someone Else", "Porshe" and "Everybody's Mother" are all incredible tracks on their own, but the overall feeling of freedom and self-recognition that Hill creates throughout the album is what makes the project special.
Favorite Tracks: To Someone Else, Porshe, Everybody's Mother
15.) Freddie Gibbs Alfredo
There's no short review for this one. I'm just going to cape for myself for putting Freddie Gibbs at 15.
Freddie Gibbs exists in a rare space.
He may never sell over 40k first week, but every project he drops contends for rap album of the year, and every verse he delivers make you question who really is the best rapper alive.
For context into how much I respect Freddie Gibbs's projects, his ranking at number 15 feels disrespectful to me as a fan. It's the LeBron James MVP effect. LeBron could and probably should win MVP every year, but he's so consistent that his greatness gets taken for granted. I wouldn't be shocked if in a few months I look at Alfredo and think no way 14 albums were better.
Favorite Tracks: God Is Perfect, Scottie Beam, Something to rap About
14.) Mac Miller Circles
A posthumous album this good can't be done justice in a few sentences, so check out my full review on the project if you want my perspective on Circles.
Favorite Tracks: Blue World, Good News, Woods
13.) Pop Smoke Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
Favorite Tracks: Snitching, Creature, What You Know Bout Love
12.) Lianne La Havas Lianne La Havas
I view Lianne La Havas the album the same way I view Brent Faiyaz the artist--the production is underwhelming at times, but the songwriting and vocal talent are strong enough to carry.
"Bittersweet" proves that right away for La Havas, as she sings about moving on from a relationship and feeling both excited for the future and sad about the breakup. "Bittersweet summer rain, I'm born again, No more hanging around" sounds like something Frank Ocean scribbled and forgot about. It perfectly captures the feeling La Havas describes in her verses in the simplest way possible.
"Bittersweet" is the most passionate vocal performance on the album, but the entire project is Alicia Keys-esque vocals paired with open and descriptive writing.
The only factor keeping this album out of the top-10 is basic production.
Favorite Tracks: Paper Thin, Weird Fishes, Bittersweet, Please Don't Make Me Cry
11: Burna Boy Twice as Tall
The last non-religious album to get a compliment from my mom was Bruno Mars' 24k Magic in 2016.
"I like this," admitted my mom 11 tracks into Twice as Tall.
Amazed at the rare compliment, I had to ask why.
"It makes you feel good," answered my mom.
My mom was right. Burna Boy knows how to make music that makes people of all backgrounds feel good, and he does that throughout Twice as Tall, but that's only a part of what makes the album special. Burna Boy combines that ability with deeper storytelling on tracks like "Level Up (Twice as Tall)" when he discusses how not winning a Grammy last year made him feel and where he came from.
Favorite Tracks: Onyeka (Baby), 23, Level Up (Twice as Tall)
10.) Conway the Machine From King To A God
From King To A God is a compilation of verse of the year and candidates.
And he knows it. "Every single verse is a verse of the year contender," he raps on a potential verse of the year on "Dough & Damani". And that's the lone issue with From A King To A God.
Conway the Machine may be the best rapper in the world right now. He takes no verses off, never gets bested by features and delivers more verse of the year candidates than anyone, but great rapping can only take you so far.
For most rappers, great rapping alone would leave them in the underground project territory. For Conway, his great rapping alone was enough for a top-25 album.
Favorite Tracks: Dough & Damani, Fear of God, Front Lines
9.) Orion Sun Hold Space For Me
One of my biggest blessings of 2020 was not pressing skip when [streaming service name redacted] suggested Orion Sun.
Hold Space For Me was so good to me that my fandom got to the point where I was actively reaching out to people campaigning for them to "just give the album a chance". I reached Jehovah's Witness-level belief in Orion Sun and Hold Space For Me, which is ironic considering Orion Sun challenges God on "Trying" for making her love a crime and allowing her brother to die.
Favorite Tracks: Lighting, Trying, Ne Me Quiette Pas (Don't Leave Me), Coffee For Dinner
8.) Kali Uchis Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
When your throwaway EP is one of the top projects of the year, there's a high chance your album will also make the cut.
With Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ranking 8th this year and Isolation ranking 10th in 2018, Kali Uchis is the first artist to have multiple top-10 projects in the history of SoundSports rankings. Yes, that's a random stat, but it should also shine a light on how bold it is for Uchis to switch to Spanish after knowing she can achieve success with an English LP.
The switch was justified. Sin Miedo is better than Isolation because it feels more like Kali Uchis. She's able to bounce around freely from Spanish to English to combinations of the two all while doing her patented hypnotic R&B sound to perfection.
Favorite Tracks: fue mejor, //aguardiente y limón, telepatía
I was wrong about Wunna. Well not really, I did say it was flawless album.
But I was wrong about Gunna. While he is a large beneficiary of the system Weezy’s production laid out, Gunna was more than just a system quarterback.
He was the system quarterback.
Gunna flowed on each track like he had full knowledge of the playbook from front to back. He didn’t draw up any plays on his own or audible without Weezy’s co-sign, but he executed each song as well as any rapper could.
As a result, Wunna is one of the top rap albums of the year, one of the most enjoyable listens of the year, and the easiest relistens of any project on this list.
Favorite Tracks: NASTY GIRL/ON CAMERA, DO BETTER, DON’T PLAY AROUND, DOLLAZ ON MY HEAD
6.) Westside Gunn Pray For Paris
Pray For Paris was so heavy in my rotations I started thinking Westside Gunn ad-libs randomly throughout the day. Not a catchy hook or a crazy bar. Ad-libs.
Pray For Paris is more of a testament to Westside Gunn’s executive producer ability than his rapping ability, as he combines his charisma, some of rap‘s finest, skits and production to create a rap project that is just as technical as it is charismatic.
For example, a stellar Griselda track like “George Bondo” is able to transition perfectly into a “327” track that features Joey Badass and Tyler thanks to a seemingly random skit of two older men freestyling.
Make no mistake, Westside Gunn is getting verses off throughout the album and doing more than just holding his own against some of the best rappers on the planet, but it never feels necessary to compare him against his features. He sacrifices the individual battles of rapper vs. rapper by never rapping more than his features, and it results in top-notch lyricists providing top-notch bars.
Favorite Tracks: 327, $500 ounces, Euro Step, George Bondo
5.) Wizkid Made in Lagos
Made in Lagos makes you feel two things throughout.
Wizkid makes you want to dance and be in love, preferably at the same time. Similar to the Burna Boy's Twice as Tall, Made in Lagos makes you feel good. In a year as grim as 2020, an album that makes people feel good, want to dance, and fall in love is incredible.
The entire album creates these feelings, but "Essence", 'Smile", "Piece of Me", "Mighty Wine" and "Ginger" make those feelings burst to new levels. Notice that's over a third of the album.
Favorite Tracks: Essence, Piece of Me, Ginger
4.) Headie One EDNA
Do you know how good an album has to be for a Drake feature to be its lowlight?
Drake’s verse on “Only You Freestyle” was great, but when an artist is performing at the level Headie One is on EDNA, any long period of time without hearing them feels like a waste.
“Apparently all I talk is prison, but I don’t know no different,” raps Headie on “Ain’t It Different”, summing up the tone of his entire debut album. No, it’s not all prison bars, but it is all Headie rapping from the heart as if that’s all he knows.
“My mind is a war zone, I can never tell those secrets, how can those nightmares share the same space that I’m supposed to dream with,” raps Headie on “Psalm 35” before reciting a prayer that he said helps him with those aforementioned nightmares.
EDNA is filled with Headie doing what he knows and being himself, and it resulted in arguably the best rap album of the year.
Favorite Tracks: Psalm 35, 21 Gun Salute, Triple Science
3.) GIVĒON TAKE TIME
Remember when I said if it weren't for someone else on this list, 42 Dugg would be music's undisputed Rookie of the Year? Well, Giveon was that someone else.
The beauty in Giveon is that the world discovered him at the same time. As he tends to do, Drake introduced the world to a future powerhouse artist by featuring Giveon on "Chicago Freestyle". Some people will say they knew about Giveon before "Chicago Freestyle". They're lying because it's been proven that anyone who listens to Giveon tends to let others know.
Less than one month after his global introduction, Giveon capitalized on the attention by releasing what will one day be looked back on as the start of a special career.
The entire EP performs like an album, as Giveon takes the listener through the final days of a relationship and the actions that led to its end. "FAVORITE MISTAKE" is one of the best cheating songs I've ever heard, and "Vanish is one of the best rough breakup songs I've ever heard.
When you have two of the best songs I ever heard on the same EP, you earn a top-3 spot.
Favorite Tracks: VANISH, FAVORITE MISTAKE, LIKE I WANT YOU
It's nearly impossible for an artist of The Weeknd's size to make all his fans happy in a single project. It'll be too Pop for the Trilogy fans or too dark for the Starboy fans or not enough hits to retain megastar status or too many hits to tell a memorable story.
With all these odds stacked against After Hours, The Weeknd delivered.
"Snowchild", "Escape From LA", "After Hours" and "Repeat After Me" is enough to keep the early fans happy. "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights" are global hits that dive into the Pop bag but just enough to serve their purpose. And all this is achieved while telling a captivating story about losing himself.
After Hours is as good of an album as The Weeknd can make at this stage of his career, and when his career comes to an end, it'll be viewed as the essential album that sums up his generational talent.
Favorite Tracks: After Hours, Scared To Live, Faith, Nothing Compares
1: Boldy James & The Alchemist The Price of Tea in China
With two projects making the Top 50 in the same year and two more solid projects under his belt, Boldy James had the best year of any rapper. The Alchemist also has two spots on this year's Top 50 with both Alfredo and The Price of Tea in China being in the Top 15.
What happens when the artist having the best year collabs on a project with the producer having the best year.
An instant classic and the number one project of 2020.
Alchemist's daring yet familiar production paired with Boldy James' never-ending rhyme schemes and layered storytelling makes for a listening experience that makes you rewind 10 seconds, lean back and laugh at how good each song is. On "Carruth" he raps "Grandma cussin' me out, quit runnin' in and out the house, what's all the fuss about? It's either cut me in or cut it out."
James raps bars like this casually to the point where if you're lost in the production which you will be, you'll miss it, creating an endless amount of hidden gems scattered across 12 masterfully produced tracks.
Favorite Tracks: Giant Slide, Surf & Turf, Speed Demon Freestyle, Pinto
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