If I had to pick the Album of the Year...
I love Bruno Mars. But Album of the Year?! Really?
Someone should really protest that this Grammy's category should have multiple winners. Or at least come up with a better voting process/selection criteria. Because just like every other industry award show, the Grammy’s is now a just another glitzy self-serving popularity contest. And after looking at this year’s winners (and losers), I was inspired to reflect on my own personal favorites of 2017. (Note: this is a PERSONAL list. Don’t @ me.)
CTRL - SZA
The fact that this album wasn’t actually nominated in the Best Album category is infuriating. CTRL set off a new wave as deep as the ones in my girl’s hair. Her dreamy, melancholy voice speaks for every girl who’s been gypped by love, who both recognizes and overlooks her own potential. And just as her melodies twist and turn and bubble at the most unexpected moments, her own confidence beams up and down in every song - my girl is so real, as unsteady and unsure as the rest of us. And that sense of genuineness is rare in music. This album was not “produced,” it was born from a place of real emotions and raw talent.
I’ve been bumping this album for half a year since it came out in June, and it still doesn’t get old. I've been following her since her Soundcloud days and I can't wait to see where she goes. “Genius is saying what’s in your heart, because it’s in everyone else’s hearts.”
blkswn - Smino
The only thing more unique about Smino’s name is his flow. It reminds me of jumping rope on a hot summer day. Drinking cold OJ out of a glass jar. No one can replicate this guy’s style. Every song is filled with tongue-in-cheek, pseudo-suggestive bars and tangy nursery rhyme melodies that always feels like they’ve delivered on tiptoes, all over the bounciest of beats. I was an instant fan ever since discovering blkjptr, his 2016 EP, but blkswn made me an absolute stan.
Smino’s confidence as an artist and ability to create and completely own such a unique sound completely shines throughout this project, and it’s what makes him such an inimitable artist.
Pretty Girls Like Trap Music - 2 Chainz
My favorite rapper’s favorite rapper really should be everybody else’s favorite rapper. Man, this was a beautiful album. It found the perfect intersection between trap and pop, and arrived at the perfect time of the year to make it a highlight on every summer playlist. Every song was a banger. Every feature made perfect sense. And lyrically, 2 Chainz is only getting better and more fun, delivering his iconic off-the-dome, DGAF bars better than ever.
The best part about this album wasn’t even the music - it was the marketing stunts this man did both before and after the album’s release. Collaborating with popular “pretty” girls like Karrueche and Cardi B to create and promote “the best of trap music” playlists? Relevant AF. Putting up “Trap Salons” where girls got their nails done for free in support of the album’s release? Genius. Setting up a pink “Trap House” in Atlanta identical to the one on his album cover and revealing that it’s actually a free AIDS testing facility for people who normally don’t have access to medical care? Absolutely iconic and commendable. This man doesn’t deserve just a Grammy. He deserves a third chain and a damn humanitarian award.
Mr. Davis - Gucci Mane
I am convinced the real Gucci Mane is hiding out somewhere and this new cloned version of him is programmed with an unreleased LIFE operating system that Apple is beta testing. It doesn’t bug me that this could be a cloned Gucci, because cloned Gucci has never sounded better (literally, the production of this album is incredible). If trapping was a white-collar executive job , I imagine this would be the album playing in the office every day.
But Gucci makes it clear he makes clean money now, and he’s never been happier. And happiness suits the man well. I can’t help but love this entire album, not only because of its cohesion as a full bodied piece of work, but simply because I’m so impressed by the fact that Gucci found a way to “sell out” his image and style, without selling out at all.
SATURATION II - BROCKHAMPTON
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS AND MOVE IF YOU HAVE TO AND DO NOTHING BUT MAKE SHIT THAT COMES FROM INSIDE YOU AND DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE. TALK ABOUT REAL SHIT AND SAY EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO SAY BECAUSE SOMEONE OUT THERE WILL HEAR IT AND IT WILL MAKE SENSE TO THEM. TALK IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE THE WORLD IS TOO BIG TO NOT SHOUT. DEFY GENRES. BREAK CLASSIFICATIONs. BE GAY. BE STRAIGHT. BE BROKE. BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU WANNA BE, BE PASSIONATE.
That’s what this album said to me. And I think that’s all I need to say about it.
Freudian - Daniel Caesar
You can be in love on a sunny summer day in June or heartbroken in the dead of winter in February, and Freudian could serve as the perfect soundtrack for either situation. That’s how perfectly timeless, uniquely transient, and wonderfully crafted every song on this album is. I don’t know who Daniel Caesar is or where he came from, but I really hope he and his funny looking face sticks around for a long time. It’s not often music can make you feel both indescribably full and utterly melancholy all at the same time, but Caesar managed to do with simple piano melodies and a little backup choir what every other romance artist has been trying to do since Beethoven composed “Moonlight Sonata.”
Best believe, I’m playing this album at my wedding. My divorce party. My second wedding. My ex-husband’s funeral. Dammit it’s gonna be the soundtrack to my own funeral.
Tell Me You Love Me - Demi Lovato
I am not a pop fan by any means. And I would not consider myself a fan of Demi Lovato. But this album made it into my favorites because 1. this girl can SANG, and 2. this girl is REAL. I’ve always been a firm believer that all music (read: art) is good music (read: art), as long as it comes from a place of honesty. And for that to be true for a pop album is incredibly rare and commendable.
The mark of a good album is when you can use it as a mark of growth for its artist. I can see Demi in every song on this album. I hear her emotions and her own voice in the lyrics, and I can’t help but sing along with her (poorly, because this girl’s range is out of this world).
Don’t smile at me - Billie Eilish
This girl is 15. 15!!!!!!!!!!! And this album is so incredibly mature and put-together for someone so young. Just by her blond hair and small frame, you wouldn’t expect half of the lyrics that come out of her mouth, to come out of her mouth. But the jarring honesty of her songs combined with her style and personality tells me she’s not just a musician, but an all-around artist guaranteed for a lifelong successful career.
This girl is the pop equivalent to the wave of emo Soundcloud rappers like XXXTentacion and Lil Peep (RIP). She’s able both embrace the genre that classifies her, and completely upheave said genre's foundational elements to create her own space and lane. Incredible.