This year has been a great year for the music industry. There were huge releases from many different artists such as Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Drake, and others.

David’s Picks:

My favorite album of the year that is now nominated for a Grammy in 2022 is Tyler, The Creator’s album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. Tyler is coming off winning the 2020 rap Grammy for his album IGOR. This album includes many features from other famous artists including Lil Wayne, Pharell Williams, and Brent Faiyaz. CMIYGL debuted at 1 on the Billboard 200 when it was released. Tyler produced this album himself, as he does with his other music, but he also had help from producers Jamie xx and Jay Versace. Call Me If You Get Lost is a great album for people who like all types of music. If you like rap music or just generic hip hop, this album is great for you.

Another big album that was released by a good artist was The Melodic Blue from Baby Keem. It was released by Columbia Records who also release music from other huge artists such as Lil Nas X and Polo G. This is his first studio album. This album included features from artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Don Toliver, and Brent Faiyaz. Baby Keem collaborates with Kendrick on 2 of the songs of this album including “Range Brothers” and “family ties“. The two of them showed their great chemistry on both of these hits. I do not think this will be the last time we see Keem and Kendrick collaborate on songs. Most songs on this album had several different beats to them, which adds nice diversity to the songs. The Melodic Blue reached number five on the Billboard 200.

Recently released on December 7, “I Feel Fantastic” by Riovaz has been very popular on Tik Tok as well as mainstream social media. This is not Riovaz’s first popular social media song. His song “Prom Night” was very popular on Tik Tok during 2020 and is what gained him lots of popularity. I personally think that “I Feel Fantastic” is better than his previous trending songs. It has very catchy lyrics as well as a beat that compliments it very well. It has over 1.2 million streams and it is still going up. That is why it is my favorite single of the year.

Badr’s Picks:

My favorite album of the year would have to be NF’s Clouds. This is my favorite album by a landslide for many reasons. It was released on March 26, 2021. What I love the most about this album is his ability to tell stories. NF exhibits his capability of doing this on tracks like “Prideful” and “Drifting”. The album also includes two features. Hopsin is on the song titled “Lost”, and Tech N9ne partners with NF on the song called “Trust”. I still listen to songs off of this album every single day and memorize almost every single song. Another thing that I really love about this album is the versatility. NF raps fast and has flow switches on some songs, while on others he sings and has a mellow beat. This versatility is what keeps me engaged and keeps his music entertaining.

J Cole’s The Off-Season was my second favorite album this year. This album was released on May 14th, 2021. The production, lyricism, delivery, made this J. Cole’s best project yet in my opinion. I listened to this album from start to finish several times and got more and more impressed by each listen. The album includes some features from top artists such as Lil Baby, 21 Savage, and 6lack. Although I recommend listening to every song off this album to get a feel and appreciate the album for what it is. I would recommend you to listen to “a m a r i”, and “9 5 . s o u t h”. These songs in particular are my favorite due to the delivery and the chill vibe you experience.

Student’s Picks:

Senior Ali Mansuroglu said ¨My favorite album this year was Meet the Woo 2 by Pop Smoke. This was my favorite album because it really gets me hype and gets me going¨. 

Hills freshman, Maddie Wolke said, “My favorite album of 2021 was the re-recording of the album Red by Taylor Swift. This album has 30 amazing and well-written songs that vividly describe both love and loss. The album is amazing both lyrically and vocally which is why it’s my favorite album released this year.”