Albums of The Decade in An Era of Real Change: A Fan’s Look at Music in The 2010s

The personal experience of listening to music is probably my favorite feeling in the entire world. There is nothing more cathartic, more soul-stirring, or more fundamentally interesting than taking in a great album; it just feels like the most intrinsic and natural form of human artistic heights. Getting into music has been my defining experience over the last decade. The slow movement from the music that your parents leave you towards entirely new directions that allow you to discover the eternally vast catalog of human creativity is something that I feel like defines the adolescence of most music fans. There is so much with music, so much to talk about and to dive deeper in to. Within the past 5 years, I have managed to discover bands and artists who have spoken to me in such distinctly personal ways that it sometimes feels like direct communication. And yet I always feel like I have just scraped the tip of the iceberg. I just know there is so much more out there, so many new experiences, music heading into 2020 looks incredibly bright.

The 2010s were an insanely groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting time in the music industry; the entire experience and market of music has been digitized for better or for worse, and social media and the internet now replace the predominance of the label from the 2000s. Genres were innovated upon in ways that couldn’t even be imagined in 2009; production, sound design, and countless other technical musical aspects are now truly in their golden age of growth and development. Technology has helped musical achievement reach new heights, but these are only the tools. What is even more remarkable is the breakout in the brand new, vastly diverse and unique, and revolutionary voices which were only so rarely accessed in music before. Queer, trans, POC, and all varieties of marginalized voices made their impact and poignancy common knowledge; the 2010s were the decade where the music industry truly lost white heteronormative orthodoxy as its defining trait. So many new genres, new ideas and forms, and even experiments in what music itself is have become prominent. The 2010s were the new apex of musical change and innovation.

After months of subconsciously thinking about how I would order my favorites from this decade, eventually, I couldn’t help but put the time into doing something like this. It felt right to me, and I genuinely appreciate anyone who shares in this experience with me. I really do think these are the best 100 albums of the decade, and I will attempt, with increasing fervor, to offer why I think so. However, the line between “best” and “favorite” is always a strange territory to me; because music is such a subjective experience, all music criticism is personal judgment by its very nature. Thus, I understand how personal this list is, and I hope that, in a way, it maybe helps the project: this is really just one experience of music, categorized just for the sake of it. Thank you for reading.

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100 | Rihanna - Loud (2010) 

Loud is a collection of some of the most undeniable hits to come out of this decade, as well as a bold harbinger of the veracity with which pop as a genre would make itself known in the 2010s. Rihanna harnesses the charisma of her earlier works and melds it into a grown-up, revolutionary pop arrangement that would come to define the latter half of her career. Songs like “S&M” are classic iPod Touch-core and bring forward a strange sense of nostalgia upon further relisten. This album is one of the pop landmarks of the 2010s.

99 | Noname - Room 25 (2018)

Room 25, from Chicago veteran Noname, is a thoughtfully provocative album that takes on patriarchy and racial injustice through the lens of whimsicality and comedic overthrow. Long is the tradition of the subtle protest album, records railing out against a diseased and broken culture just as much as they are at any specific political figure. This album is a rich continuation in this legacy. Noname’s flow is effortless and soaring as she rises and falls across bars about injustice and oppression as easily as if she were reading a YA novel. Room 25 intends to convey the banality of evil and greed in our modern capitalist culture, and how this is rerouted through the lenses of race and gender. Noname, with her technical skill and superb political awareness, is exactly the right voice to do so.

98 | Sidney Gish - No Dogs Allowed (2018)

Sidney Gish creates music that is somehow nostalgic without referring back to any specific era or event. Listening to No Dogs Allowed makes you wistful for a bygone era you weren't actually sure ever existed. The songs on this record have an innately charming and ethereal nature to them, basking them in a layer of familiarity that most music can only achieve after repeated listens. Gish is infinitely likable and constructs well-made songs that play exactly to their strengths. No Dogs Allowed is an amazing look at the later Gen Z experience in America today and strikes a deserved chord with many other queer young people. This record is easily one of the most criminally underlooked of the past five years.

97 | Megan Thee Stallion - Fever (2019) 

Megan Thee Stallion wants you to know that she is bad as hell in every sense of the word. This album is an affirmation of both her badness and skill for delivering fun slapper tracks. The album is a lengthy testament solely to the act and lifestyle of being a pimp. As an album, it represents a new sort of gender equality within the rap scene. It’s a 40-minute-long acceptance and celebration of the fact that women can also make dope, focused, and invigorating tracks about all traditional rap topics with just as much self-importance and braggadocio. Megan is impatient for her rise, but Fever shows that this desire is less immature and more important; her voice is powerful and belongs on the forefront of the contemporary rap scene.

96 | Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) 

A Moon Shaped Pool is Radiohead’s most depressing and mournful record yet, which is a pretty big statement for a band that's made some of the most desolate and unsettling songs ever. Thom Yorke’s voice has ripened even further with age, growing even more ghostlike and otherworldly over the electronic and dream pop-influenced instrumentals. A Moon Shaped Pool is a haunting treatise on impermanence, death, aging, and the legacy we leave behind through art after we are gone. For a band so late in their career, Radiohead maintain a youthful ability to adapt and grow their sound to an evolving musical world, and this skill is one of the reasons they deserve their status as one of the best bands to grace the Earth.

95 | Beach House - Bloom (2012)

Bloom is the ultimate stadium pop album, a dreamy pop piece from an era of oversaturatedness and insincerity in the genre around them. What makes Beach House so honest is their refusal to reinvent the wheel; they may lean heavily on their influences, but they still produce top-notch music which is amazing for what it is. This album, however, is their most original; Beach House delve into the darkened corners of their own sound, breaking the way for their comfortable pace the rest of their discography. This is one of the best dream pop records this decade.

94 | King Krule - The OOZ (2017) 

King Krule creates an incredible exploration into the nature of misery with The OOZ. This record is one of the somberest of the decade, wallowing in depressively lengthy songs and featuring decrepitly introspective songwriting and aesthetic choices. Krule’s deep and rumbling cadence is an enabler of his musical direction, allowing him to truly sell the depth of the misery and depression he reflects upon as fully personal and authentic music. This record, while not essential for every type of music fan, is a poignant and valuable look into the manifestation of depression into art, something those of us with the illness must reconcile with as we seek to create. Krule is authentic, resonating, and triumphant.

93 | DaBaby - KIRK (2019) 

DaBaby is one of America’s new favorite media personalities, in no small part due to the fact that he radiates sincerity in everything he says and does. In every interview, be it in the aftermath of his recent unjust arrest and police harassment in his native Charlotte or on Saturday Night Live, DaBaby is stunningly kind, evocative, charismatic, and hilarious. His music is absolutely reflective of this sincerity, and KIRK is one of the most fun and energizing hip hop records of the decade. His flow remains unchallengably appealing, switching from hit to hit in almost equally bangertastic verses that make you feel like you can run through a wall or punch a cop and get away with it. DaBaby is also unlauded for his ability to bring out good things from others, scoring noticeably above par verses from the likes of Moneybagg Yo and Stunna 4 Vegas which play up from the artist’s usual performance. DaBaby had the epicest 2019 there was.

92 | Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (2011) 

The Fleet Foxes are masters of creating ambiance, and Helplessness Blues is the full realization of this knack as well as the full realization of Robin Pecknold’s vocal talent. Brooding and existential lyrics are veiled in a sash of fluttery strings and naturalistic production. The experience of listening to Fleet Foxes is part of what makes their music good itself; one can’t help but feel at ease when Peckinold is sliding angelically over a sound which can be most accurately described as ‘early Bon Iver but woodsier.’ This album is a key piece of early decade folk and one of the most atmospheric pieces of the decade.

91 | JPEGMAFIA - Veteran (2018)

JPEGMAFIA has recreated the protest song for a new generation, combining leftist liberatory thematic spins and industrial-influenced production to create one of the most political and striking records of the past few years. Internet culture and its influence is absolutely marked on the work, but is nowhere near as saturated and essential to its understanding than his other projects. Veteran is accessible, ravenous, and unforgiving: blame is placed squarely on those who deserve it, and god help those who JPEGMAFIA is able to enact his righteous vengeance upon. Leftist ideology is too rarely directly promoted and understood in contemporary records, and is even more rarely done well; Veteran is this done at its best.

90 | Ariana Grande - Sweetener (2018)

Standing in contrast to the brooding and serious thematic spin of 2019’s Thank U, Next, Sweetener is a treatise on positivity, happiness, and the everlasting energy of the human spirit. Sweetener celebrates the divine nature of budding relationships love, passion, and the emotional ensemble that comes with it. This album also was the first to truly establish Grande as a certified hit-maker, with songs like “God Is A Woman” serving as key set pieces which both advance the album and manage to stand on their own as individual pieces. Ariana’s 2010’s career has been the definition of turbulent, and Sweetener represents an already bygone era and radiating love and positivity which emerged from it.

89 | Blueface - Dirt Bag (2019)

I promise this is not a bit, I really think that Blueface is one of 2019’s freshest rap voices. Blueface is a connoisseur of the dense rap bar and, Dirt Bag hones his ability to deliver biting punchlines into even more memorable choruses following his breakthrough Famous Cryp. Blueface’s lifestyle, worldview, and hedonism are fully celebrated and advertised on the EP: Songs such as “Bussdown” and “Bleed It” represent some of his best songwriting to date. Blueface’s untamed and cascading flow may be off-putting to some, but he carries bars and swings through verses on levels of imagery like no other contemporary artist. This tape is a promising performance from one of rap’s coolest new voices.

88 | Death Grips - The Money Store (2012)

The Money Store is one of 4 Death Grips projects featured on this list; it is reasonable to say that no band had a more consistent, full decade run than the titanic Death Grips. And, although Exmilitary is excellent and influential in its own right, The Money Store is when it all really started; the hype, the bits, and everything tangential to the band’s notorious internet fanbase really began with this album. Completely aside from all that dumb trivial crap, Death Grips can be seen coming into their own throughout the album; harvesting their virulent and pulsating sound, showcasing the flawless drumming of Zach Hill, and creating choruses and hooks which are just as impactful with today’s youth as punk was in the 80s. The Money Store was the beginning of a legendary run.

87 | Toby Fox - UNDERTALE Soundtrack (2016)

I am anti-soundtrack, as a person. I generally don’t love soundtracks to movies or games, and they don’t often stick out to me as independent pieces of work. I’m absolutely a soundtrack Grinch. But I can not even begin to imply that the Undertale soundtrack is nothing other than a work of virtuoso from a man who is just as good of a music producer as he is of a game designer. Undertale transcends its status as the ultimate meme music not by shunning it, but by outshining it through the sheer charmingness and sprightliness of the short songs and the resounding poignancy of the longer-form atmospheric tracks. It is far and away the best soundtrack to any piece of media that I have heard in a long time; it stands as a complete work, and I consider it to be an album.

86 | Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats - Anger Management (2019)

The 2nd shortest project on this list, Anger Management makes its veracity known and leaves its mark fully within the 20 minutes the listener has with it. Kenny Beats is a producer coming fully into his own, and the production on Anger Management reinforces the legitimacy of said rise; there is not one dull sounding moment, and the ferociousness of Rico’s flow never allows for one slow moment. Kenny and Rico are a powerful duo heading into the next decade, and this tape offers hope for even lengthier cooperative projects. However, the album has maintained its status as an energetic festival since release, and will likely only grow more revered with time.

85 | Jeff Rosenstock - WORRY (2016)

Jeff Rosenstock is the definitional cool old head, in no small part because he is still making music that whips ass about 10 to 15 years after the high-point of his career. WORRY, besides being an undeniably charming and endearing record, is some of the best garage rock/ska-influenced rock that’s been released this decade. Rosenstock has a knack for constructing surprisingly wholesome and poignant love songs and lyrical arrangements, and guitar work on this album is fabulously technical. This record represents the best of a genre creating music as they do best.

84 | Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial (2016) 

Teens Of Denial is one of the best conventional rock records to be released in a long time. While it lacks the artistic vision and grandiose thematic construction of Twin Fantasy, Will Toledo’s incredible lyricism is even more the centerpiece of this album. Lyrics that are as common as they are poetic, like my personal favorite, “I did not transcend, I just felt like a piece of shit in a stupid looking jacket,” strike a chord because they are funny, relatable in some way or other, and somehow still incredibly poignant. Will Toledo’s voice is amazing (as it always is), and Teens of Denial was an impressive reflection of a band about to truly come into stride and hit their peak.

83 | Deakin - Sleep Cycle (2017)

In the 2010s, synth-pop titans Animal Collective maintained a steady yet comparatively uninspired pace, choosing instead to develop their solo careers. Sleep Cycle is the best of these solo projects and is notable for being a vocal-based album by a member of the band who was not a primary vocalist. Deakin’s voice is soothing and distant, ushering in the otherworldliness and kindness which caused Animal Collective’s work to resonate with so many. Additionally, Deakin establishes his prowess as a solo artist with his own artistic vision.

82 | Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City (2013)

Vampire Weekend permanently toe the line of bourgeoisie corniness and perfectly made yacht rock, and Modern Vampires Of The City is the band at their most creative and genuine. Ezra Koening and crew will always sound like a song made for Kia commercials, although if Neo Yokio is any indication, the band operates with this fully in mind. However, this doesn’t mean the music is bad in any sense of the world; Vampire Weekend produce music that is so insanely well crafted that it wraps back around to feeling inauthentic in some way. The band manages to make this sincerity known with heart-wrenching songs like “Hannah Hunt,” and as always Koenig’s smooth and reassuring voice is a highlight of the album and a treat to hear. Despite everything, Vampire Weekend slaps and will continue to slap. Ezra’s grand design is beyond our mortal plane of understanding.

81 | Denzel Curry - ZUU (2019) 

I hate to nuance positive reviews with negativity, but it needs to be said; I thought Denzel Curry was pretty crap before ZUU. I still think that “TA300” or however it's spelled is a cornball-bonanza, and I thought there was no way the follow-up would be anywhere close to good. I was dead wrong. Denzel Curry managed to harness all the good, endearing parts scattered in his previous work and congeal them into a 30-minute banger fest based on South Florida pride. ZUU works extremely well because it is a catchy, non-assuming record that seeks only to deliver the highest possible frequency of kickassishness it can within its short running time. And for the most part, it succeeds, forming a lasting contribution to the 2010’s rap canon.

80 | (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket (2017)

(Sandy) Alex G is the most relevant voice in neo-folk to emerge this decade, doing so largely by constructing a sound that is warmly inviting and understanding of the difficulties of the modern rural/suburban experience. Although there are experimental tracks like “Brick” scattered throughout the record, the core of the album’s arc is a story of the warmth of domesticity, the ethereal nature of family, and the wistful beauty of a domestic existence. (Sandy) Alex G’s music is charming to its core, unassuming about the listener, and a completely self-contained experience that is somehow also universal in its messaging.

79 | Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015) 

Courtney Barnett possesses a knack for bitingly real lyrics and sound songwriting, which has rightfully allowed for her to be recognized as one of the best singer-songwriters this generation. Songs on Sometimes I Sit and Think are morose, relevant, familiar, and loving all the same; it is an insanely smart testament to the strangeness of the modern human condition. I would also be remiss to not mention how hard the bass lines and guitar choruses hit on this album. The ability to combine such fierce songwriting with powerful music is all too rare in rock today, which is why Barnett’s breakthrough was such a breath of fresh air when it first released and still remains so to this day.

78 | Slowdive - Slowdive (2017) 

Reunion albums always pose a risk of severe disappointment, especially when said band is as relevant to the development of a genre and music internet tastes as Slowdive are. Instead of wavering under such expectations, Slowdive soared, delivering one of the best shoegaze albums of the decade and a highly worthy addition to the Slowdive canon. While not a revolutionary reimagining of their previous sound, the eponymous album continues the band’s uncanny knack for creating dreamy, refreshing soundscapes, which are the sonic equivalent of the eternally pleasant feeling of the cold side of the pillow. Many shoegaze bands have come and gone since Souvlaki’s release in 1994, but with their 2017 return, Slowdive proved that their ethereal magic is eternal. 

77 | Tame Impala - Currents (2015) 

Kevin Parker’s follow up to the breakout Lonerism establishes him as one of the most influential and prominent producers and sound designers of the century. The sleek, techno-rock filtered production aesthetic so carefully created by Parker more than carries famously maligned weak points such as “Past-Life.” Meanwhile, the high points of the album such as “Let It Happen,” and “Eventually” stand as some of the most sonically pleasing songs of the decade. If Rihanna thinks that Tame Impala songs sound good enough to be on the masterful ANTI, I trust that judgment.

76 | alt-J - Relaxer (2017) 

I went to an alt-J concert shortly after Relaxer was released. Every bandmember stood amongst their synthesizers on stage, harmonizing and doing what they do while thousands of tranced-out/high teenagers danced rabidly to the music. The concert, much like the band and this album, was not a repudiation of their critics or reimagination of their style, but a celebration of their particular approach to indie music. To this day, the show’s pure, simple, and positive essence remains one of my fondest live music experiences. Similarly, the group’s third effort is an unassuming yet remarkable record if only for its sheer dedication to the craft of creating enjoyable, layered psych trance-pop. alt-J focuses not on pretenses, but on making pleasant and thoughtful music, and Relaxer is their best work yet.

75| Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana (2019) 

Although their first collaboration produced the renowned Piñata, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib found their true sound on Bandana. Madlib proves that, as we all know, he is still one of the forefront producers in the world; it feels canned talking about Madlib production at a certain point (what hasn’t been said?), but it really is that good. Gibbs continues his incredible post-wrongful-arrest hot streak into 2019 with this record, delivering fierce and firm bars with little breathing room from top to bottom of the tracklist. He even drops an anti-vaxxer line and it still kinda hits, that’s how hard this record is. “Classic” style rap records made in the 2010s were rarely ever non-derivative, yet Bandana feels wholly original and self-created.

74 |  Lil Peep - Come Over When You’re Sober, Part I (2017) 

The story of 2010’s rap is impossible to tell without the inclusion of Lil Peep. One of the original artists to become popular off of Soundcloud following and an originator of the rise of “emo rap,” Peep's music reflected the bitter realities of his life with the same kind, soft-hearted emotionality which continues to resonate with fans of his work long after his death. The music itself exists on the fringes of misery, a world full of painful break-ups and the all-encompassing horror of drug addiction. Yet somehow, his outlook and talent shine through this misery, delivering songs that are empathetic yet empowering. The music scene and the world is a darker place without him.

73 | Bon Iver - 22, A Million (2016) 

22, A Million came at a critical juncture in Bon Iver’s career. The album represents a move completely in the experimental direction, abandoning the comfort zone of guitars and understated ballads for an intriguing and admirable voyage into the dregs of Justin Vernon’s psyche. This album is primarily about feelings, and thus the music is designed mostly to procure an emotional and wistful response above all else. The detached sort of imagination I am placed in whenever I listen to this album is a testament to its success in this objective. The longer songs on this album are striking in their permanence and their emotional impact. I have listened to very few albums which so effortlessly throw me into introspection, and the cascading beauty of this album has been a comfort many times in my life.

72 | SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl’s Uninsides (2018) 

SOPHIE is one of the seminal producers and most visible trans musicians in the industry today. Her debut album, a techno-influenced dream pop extravaganza, is a triumphant reflection on both existing as a trans person, a woman in the music industry, and an isolated being in the cold and expansive universe. Sometimes, this is done through erotically biting distorted bangers such as “Ponyboy” other times through distant, ethereal angelic pleading like on “Is it Cold In The Water?” Diversity and confusion is a key aspect of SOPHIE’s existence, and this album manifests this into an artistic avenue and a bold exploration that is immeasurably valuable for those unversed in her experience.

71 | Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap (2013) 

Before Chance became the ambassador for cornballs nationwide, he was an up-and-coming rapper who rightfully broke into the mainstream consciousness with his excellent tape, Acid Rap. A product of an early 2010’s hip hop scene which was largely devoid of new ideas and fresh talent, Chance was able to establish himself as a master of fun, catchy hip-hop/ R&B fusion tracks that inspire emotions of youthful revelry and a world full of wild possibilities. Chance also uses his album as a platform for other Chicago artists yet to break into the public consciousness through fabulously crafted features from Saba and Noname. While his public image has shifted more towards Chance the Capper, Acid Rap is still an excellent record from a now bygone era of hip hop.

70 | Young Thug - Jeffery (2016) 

Young Thug’s dynamic follow-up to the equally-strong Barter 6 is a reintroduction of his true self to a hip-hop scene that still was not ready to accept his talent. And, unsurprisingly to his fans, he reaffirmed his status as one of trap’s most eccentric and imaginative voices, constructing a genre-bending fusion feast which holds its originality and fire to this day. Jeffery operates as a Young Thug’s “Self Titled” of sorts, describing the vast, bright majesty of his lifestyle and the connections in life that he has made. Young Thug albums, when they are at their best, are joyous celebrations of humanity and the ties we can make, be they sexual, romantic, platonic, or any of the weird sorts of bonds in between. Jeffery is a fantastic collection of songs with this spirit fully imbued into them, coming out from the seams to explode into one of the most empowering albums of the decade.

69 | Beyoncé - Beyoncé (2013) 

Self-titled albums, as a concept, are about the musicians themselves and the lives they lead. Beyoncé’s self-titled work, from the height of her popularity and the beginning of her cultural indomitability, is focused squarely on her. Beyoncé has developed a voice, an important and valuable voice, and she intends to share it. The thematic focus on women’s empowerment and emboldenment, often through means of wealth and fabulousness, are equal parts reflective of a bygone Obama era neoliberal optimism and a powerful statement rooted in generations of struggle. This album is a testament to the conflict which is black existence in America in the 2010s, and it is executed marvelously. Also, “Partition” bears one of the best beat switches of the decade.

68 | Ariana Grande - thank u, next (2019) 

Songs on thank u, next sound organically cool. Ariana crafts it to seem like she isn't really trying when she makes her lyrics; they're just about how boss she is and the boss life that she leads. However, a close listen reveals that this blasé veneer is just as purposeful and well done as anything else the pop star has ever touched. The emotional reckoning with the highly public nature of her turbulent love life combined with the death of a loved one came together to form a profoundly sincere and thoughtful piece. Ariana is a badass still, and wants you to know it; songs like “7 rings” and “Break up With Your Boyfriend, I’m Bored” are so good that you won’t soon forget that fact. But, as humans are eternally complicated and internally conflicted, Ariana also relays and grapples with sentimentality, romance, loss, and their coexistence all at once. Additionally, the structural tracklist choice of putting the singles exclusively at the end of the record is a bold and rewarding selection, which fits amazingly within the organization of the album.

67 | Carly Rae Jepsen - EMOTION (2015)

Carly Rae Jepsen is a the master of the chorus. One of my closest friends and I have spent many hours discussing *exactly* what makes EMOTION such a fabulous pop project, and we couldn’t help but settle on the chorus writing as one of the primary reasons. Carly creates extended, heart-wrenching, cascading choruses as if it were the easiest thing to do in the world, and loads the album (and B-sides) full of them. Smart pop songs are very often outwardly enjoyable and inwardly miserable, and Carly writes lyrics and songs which are the perfect embodiment of this phenomenon. This album has helped to define a generation of pop and is one of the most influential records on this list.

66 | Blueface - Famous Cryp (2018) 

What makes Blueface good? This is a question many of you are probably wondering at this point in the list; I am here to preach the gospel of chasing a bag and worrying not what others are doing. Blueface songwriting exists in a comic-book universe, where gangbanging heroes pull up and bleed it in broad daylight. Crypping and bravery are the currency of this universe, and our protagonist is rich. Blueface lyrics are densely layered with humor and otherworldliness: from the insanely Freudian extended metaphor of people’s piece being directly referred to as their “second dick”  to the bars about owning a minivan and dealing with romantic partners who don't understand object permanence. In this universe, rapping is storytelling and the beat is a suggestion that can be played with and hopped in and out of. Blueface is a master wordsmith and one of the best musicians in the game when it comes to ‘worldbuilding’ through music; his aesthetic vision and artistic representation of the life he leads and the debauchery he participates in is highly developed.

65 | Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) 

So much has already been said about this album, and how could that not be the case? My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy redefined what hip-hop albums were supposed to look like, sound like, and be structured like in the new decade; no album has been a bigger trendsetter and cultural pariah as this one. The production still holds up after almost a full decade, creating the first true Kanye West masterful soundscape and making an album about being an irredeemable asshole sound like it came from a gospel choir. I won’t dwell on how fantastic this album is; this has been done by better music reviewers than I many times over. But to omit it from this list would be a staunch disservice.

64 | Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory (2017)

Vince Staples is very good at rapping. Technical, concise rapping and flows are done better than Vince by few in the music scene today. Such talent and technicality is the thematic basis for Big Fish Theory, an album with a clear focus as a showcase of the insane talent of Staples and to claim his rightful place at the forefront of contemporary rap. This album achieves this not only through sole reliance on Staples’ revelry, but the eclectic hip-hop production of SOPHIE, creating an Avengers-tier collaboration on “Yeah Right” with Kendrick Lamar. Lyrics on this album are also notably poignant for their strong and powerful political messaging, all coming together to form an excellent rap record.

63 | Jai Paul - Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) (2013) 

The Jai Paul story is a tragic legend, recounted on music message boards and leak websites for years. That is, until he returned from the shadows with a heartfelt and memorable twitter post and then released the formerly leaked work officially, not in its intended final form but as it was, as Bait Ones, which in spite of everything is still fantastic. Jai Paul has one of god’s chosen voices; something about it daunts you and hangs over the soundscape in your head like an eternal musical poltergeist. The songs are mostly either unfinished or demos, but they are fantastic and imaginative and a completely novel approach to pop nonetheless. The album’s incompleteness is part of the mythos, a work permanently hampered by time yet resilient through all of that nonetheless. Also, in a major upside, he kept the really cool cover which is one of my favorites of the decade. Cool ass album.

62 | Taylor Swift - RED (2012) 

This album comes from a beautiful midpoint in Taylor Swift’s career, the juncture between her earlier pop-country act and her future full-on arena pop direction. What is left in the middle is a sprawling and revolutionary pop record, the best she has ever released and her essential contribution to the 2010’s pop canon. Swift employs her skill for catchy songwriting and earnestness found in her earlier albums, and refines it into a mature and developed pop sound; her artistry comes into its own with this album. All the things Taylor Swift has been praised for for years, be it her fabulous songwriting and riveting orchestration and arrangement, is best on RED. The album is a feat of Americana and one of the best traditional pop albums of the era.

61 | Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010) 

The Suburbs is the swan song of the first era of Arcade Fire’s sound; a wistful and optimistic reflection on life in the endless American cultural wasteland which is the suburbs. Those of us who grew up where all houses looked the same for hours on end can have something specific resonate upon listening to this album. Win Butler knows how it feels to exist as a young person in this marginal suburban experience, and the band is able to transpose this feeling across an epic of a rock album. The Suburbs is not the peak of the band’s songwriting, and really that's not an insult considering how Arcade Fire has written some of the best songs of all time, but it still delivers its message with enthusiasm and vitriol.

60 | Tierra Whack - Whack World (2018) 

I feel like, because so much (rightful) attention has been given to the conceptual arc of Whack World as a 15 minute/15 song album, many have failed to commend just how structurally good songs and Tierra Whack’s rapping are themselves. Every blurb on this record manages to be catchy and memorable, creating a rich, cultured soundscape that lingers in your memory for days after listening. Tierra Whack sought to identify the base and concise components of what makes music good, and she absolutely succeeded. It is one of the most imaginative projects of the decade.

59 | Tame Impala - Lonerism (2012) 

On this record, quite unscrupulously titled to its thematic focus on loneliness and isolation, Kevin Parker was able to synthesize 60’s era pop patterns with cutting-edge production. The result is something that is most accurately described as “The Beatles Through A Sepia Instagram Filter”: the sound is breathtakingly familiar yet surprisingly new. Tame Impala’s music is as much original as it is a reimagining of previous sounds. On this album, Parker is more lucid and honest about himself and his life than on any other Tame Impala effort. It is the best album from a band that makes good albums, and the one with the tightest thematic focus and actual positive factors that don’t hinge solely on production.

58 | Snail Mail - Lush (2018) 

Lindsay Jordan is one of the best voices in rock today, and Lush serves as a fantastic debut and introduction of her talents. Aside from her angelic, haunting voice, the songwriting and arrangement skills of Jordan are sublime. Songs on this album are never too short, nor do they overstay their welcome; and when they are playing, the lyrical density and metaphorical motifs inserted into the record are phenomenally deep. This album is well-written, well-made, well-realized, and well-executed, and rarely are debut albums all of these things. Lush is an essential part of the 2010’s rock canon, and Snail Mail will be a core part of the 2020s rock canon.

57 | Mitski - Be The Cowboy (2018) 

Mitski’s popularity exploded with Be The Cowboy, partially as a testament to the excellence of her earlier career, but largely because the album is a culmination of her journey and her most polished and researched sound to date. She has found her songwriting niche as the master of vagueness and subtlety; lines like the choruses of “Two Slow Dancers” and the lines about venus and global warming which manage to be heart-wrenching and desolate despite being trivial at a surface level. Mitski challenges you to understand the struggles she faces and her reckoning with past abusive relationships through the same lens that she does. She executes this challenge by creating compelling, haunting, and universally appealing music that is even more rewarding to those who relisten and attempt to dig deeper into what the album has to offer. It is one of the most layered releases to be put out in years and is a testament to the power of songwriting and poetry. Oh, and her singing is still, like, top 5 in the business right now. That helps a lot too.

56 | Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising (2019) 

Titanic Rising is one of the best chamber pop/singer-songwriter records of the decade, an astounding latecomer of this decade that also serves as an introduction to one of the industries’ most promising figures of the next. The lyrics on this album are phenomenal, some of the best on this list: eternally wise and striking mantras such as “true love is making a comeback” are so commonplace on this album that it feels ordinary in its excellency. So many great records came out in 2019, and this record is reflective of a completely unique vain of this fabulousness; Weyes Blood have returned to the sounds of mid-70s under-recognized artists, such as Joni Mitchell, and completely refined it for a beautiful new sound.

55 | KIDS SEE GHOSTS - KIDS SEE GHOSTS (2018)

Out of the most bizarre and disappointing era of the Kanye West arc comes the collaborative project with Kid Cudi KIDS SEE GHOSTS, a bottled-lightning record, and a testament to the maintained dominance of West as the world’s forefront producer and audio technician. Kids See Ghosts is Kanye at his inward and polished, a digital sandbox of songs constructed with his favorite collaborator on his own terms. While the context of Kanye’s horridness at the time of this record’s release can not be removed from the albums aesthetic, the magnificent and empowering songwriting and high-effort contributions from Cudi are able to exhibit profound beauty also within the confines of the 24-minute work. This album is musically infallible, intense, and a key testament to the new heights of production capable in the modern era. Kanye West has never produced better than this album.

54 | Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz (2010) 

The Age of Adz is Sufjan Steven’s wildest sound to date, a cacophony of noise experimentation and electronic riffing that comes together with his genteel singing to form a reflective, brooding, and stunning album. The album opens with what is probably the masterwork of Sufjan’s conventional style and ends with a 27-minute-long sprawling opus of a song that could easily be qualified as an EP in and of itself. The kicker is that everything in the middle of “Futile Devices” and “Impossible Soul” is completely distinct from the ideas and sound of the opener and closer. The sounds and motifs on this album are experimental yet well-considered, a combination so rare in forays into the unknown. Sufjan had a plan for this album, all the twists and turns which it goes through and decisions it makes, and it is executed immaculately.

53 | Death Grips - No Love Deep Web (2012) 

No Love Deep Web is a snapshot of Death Grips at the high point of their visceralness and intensity; few records released this decade contain the raw untapped power created in some of these songs. Zach Hill, who I personally believe to be the most paramount member of the band, is unstoppable with his drumming on this album. Few have managed to drive the entire arc of songs and be at the forefront of the musical ensemble quite like Hill has, especially on this album. Although the band has evolved into something newer and greater, No Love Deep Web is an essential look at the peak of the band’s first wave.

52 | Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (2015)

Josh Tillman has one of the sweetest voices in all of music today, and he takes this indescribable talent all the way to the bank on his brilliant sophomore album. Misty’s bitter pessimism and misanthropy are disguised and even enhanced by the divine beauty of his voice; the contrast of the bitterness and resignation of his songwriting and his singing cadence is the essential crux on which this album succeeds. Songs on this album are empathetic and tender just as much as they are condemnations of human misery. The press cycle around Father John Misty and his uber-eccentric public profile often fails to account for just how good the music really is.

51 | BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation Trilogy (2017) 

The “Brockhampton Moment” meant a lot to a lot of people, including myself. I was really, really into the Saturation albums when I came in to contact with my queerness and realized I wasn’t straight. If anything, I can say that Brockhampton acted as a really refreshing and cool way to reflect on the common anxieties and motivations of queer people in today’s world and the internal struggle of queer American existence. It feels amiss to consider the 3 separate works; for me, Saturation is an extended, magical musical slide across three wonderful albums. However, the Ameer sexual assault situation and his subsequent removal from the band have permanently marred and estranged the albums for me personally; it is hard to erase the mark of the man who is literally on the cover of all 3 albums, and his evils seem to hang over the work. Brockhampton’s 2017 was an insane and eventually tragic moment, but the albums themselves remain important, yet sullied, statements on queer existence.

50 | Black Dresses - Love And Affection For Stupid Little Bitches (2019) 

Devi Genetrix and Ada Rook’s chemistry is as tangible as the unending fleeting distortion on every track on this album. The duo explore the trans and -wlw experience through brilliantly layered choruses, early 2000’s nostalgic yet existentially miserable songwriting, and a completely unique sound that relies on the balance between beauty and convolutedness and toes the line everywhere from pop to industrial. Black Dresses make music that is completely their own, an encapsulation of their own journey through queer and trans existence in a hostile and ignorant world. The sound of the band is borderline indescribable and is one of the coolest things I’ve been introduced to this year.

49 | Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (2010)

Have One on Me by the incomparable Joanna Newsom is an amazing avant-garde work of folk and ambient music that pushes the borders of album definition and creativity itself. The longest album on this list, Have One On Me is a lyrical stunner; Newsom is a wordsmith like none other who can elicit nostalgia and dread in the blink of an eye. The album has troughs and lulls that bring the listener in to a sort of meditatively catatonic state which is both pleasurable and intense. Her art engages you in a way other music doesn’t, almost as if she is challenging you to think critically about the concept of the song and album themselves.

48 | Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) 

Billie Eilish is the harbinger of Gen Z, and with her comes a reimagining of poptimism style sounds with highly apparent ASMR, YouTube, internet, and countless other musical influences. Eilish’s artistry is defined by her youth and her otherness and separation from a world that has doomed her generation; the music produced through this attitudinal lens is a whirling, sharp collection of songs. Her natural virtuoso is unmistakable, and her synergy with her brother’s production is a boon to the playout of a lot of her songwriting. I like Billie so much because she makes incredibly honest, youthful, yet wise pop for a generation that is only now finding its voice. Many of the anxieties and absurdities of the album and her public persona strike a sort of familiarity with younger people, who have been faced their entire lives with terrifying existential threats such as climate change and never-ending war. This album is a manifestation of this dejectedness, this anxiety, and the coolness harnessed from it.

47 | Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (2019) 

All Mirrors is a wonderful hybrid of a multitude of styles and genres from chamber pop to shoegaze to noise and everything in between. Yet, instead of being disoriented and unfocused, Angel Olsen’s vision and clarity shine throughout the record, acting as a beam of light that splits a prism into a complex and beautiful rainbow. Songs on this album are so sonically built and well made they can be almost overwhelming; Angel Olsen is a savant of conveying the emotionally subtle through sonic veracity. This album is one of 2019’s finest because the importance and scope of the project are so visibly apparent in the craftsmanship and tonality of the work; Angel Olsen very visibly put in an excess of time to convey her vision and artistic merit through a prismal artistic lens.

46 | Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) 

good kid, m.A.A.d city is Kendrick Lamar’s finest work, a universally poignant yet personally disorganized album that which is just as much about Kendrick himself coming to terms with his own life as it is about us, the listeners, learning about it. This album is entirely narrative-based, containing discussional interludes and sections which serve perfectly to keep driving the story, and tells an important story on the interplay of race, poverty, and violence within America today. Overall, good kid, m.A.A.d city is hopeful despite the depravity and evil faced within it. Despite the death of a close friend and the injustices of gang violence and the conditions which cause them, Kendrick finds hope in religion and in himself. This album prescribes hope to the hopeless and voices to the voiceless and is a key part of the early 2010’s hip-hop Mount Rushmore.

45 | Freddie Gibbs - Freddie (2018) 

Born out of the fires of Kenny Beats’ production refinery and molded in the heat of Freddie Gibbs’ cadence comes one of the hardest and most underlooked projects of the decade. Gibbs is a veteran who constructs appealing flows and bars like its nothing; part of what makes Freddie so appealing is how effortlessly it feels like the words are falling out of his mouth. This album also encompasses some of the best work Kenny Beats has put out thus far, matching Gibbs’ fierce energy with bouncy and intense production, which even comes to outshine the flow of Gibbs at times. It is a shame this album never took off in critical or commercial circles because it absolutely stands shoulder to shoulder hits-wise with some of the most revered music of the day. Also, this album has an excellent 03 Greedo feature, which got me into him as an artist.

44 | MGMT - Congratulations (2010) 

My all-time favorite bit is how ridiculously often people on /r/indieheads will tell you that MGMT’s Congratulations is the “hidden gem” album of the 2010s. It is non-exaggeratedly every daily music discussion thread. While this is an insane circlejerk, the undercurrent to the sentiment is undoubtedly true - Congratulations is one of the coolest psych-pop records of the 2010s and a seminal album from the earliest part of the decade. The synth work on this album is absurdly good, the best the band has achieved up until this point. MGMT harnessed the might of their youthful energy from Oracular Spectacular and blended it in to form amazingly spacey and exquisite-sounding hooks. This album is the closest musical equivalent I can draw to a powerful shrooms trip on a beach in Malibu, and it is nuts.

43 | Rico Nasty - Nasty (2018) 

Simply put, Rico Nasty delivers some of the staunchest heat known to man on this album. I wish there was a better adjective to describe her flow style than ‘annihilating,’ but going in is really what she does best. This album was a breakthrough in her career, a filtering of the raw energy hidden beneath her previous work, erupting into a sound that is refreshingly insane. Flying over production from Kenny Beats, Rico delivers empowering anthem-esque tracks with the same veracity as she does all-out flaming bangers. This album is a core part of conventional modern hip hops’ environment and has received far too little attention overall.

42 | Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2 (2014) 

Run The Jewels 2 is a testament to the power that those with artistic vision can achieve with immaculate album organization and construction. Although it feels almost impossible to not find Run The Jewels a little corny, they are so good at the act of creating a rap album that they manage to overcome this predilection towards cornballery and even use it as a charming badge of honor, a testament to their cartoonish lyrics and electronic production. Killer Mike and El-P have undeniable charisma formed very apparently through years of friendship, and it is exuded through every inch of the album. The two of them exchange bars and lines seamlessly, rapping as an integrated machine with their stylistic differences complementing each other instead of hindering. They are both very clearly in their element working together, and the album succeeds because of this.

41 | Danny Brown - XXX (2011) 

With this mixtape, Danny Brown delivered the starkest artistic piece on drug addiction to be released this decade. XXX is a thoughtful, angry, and pulsing album, conjuring up imagery of OD’d rockstars as choruses and illustrating how pervasive and encapsulating drugs can be on one’s life. Danny Brown doesn’t celebrate addiction in any way, but he also does not exclude what he sees as the fun parts of the lifestyle; what results is an incredibly honest rap album which is both influential for its lyrical content, its sound design, and its bangers. Danny Brown’s flow is biting and striking, both because of the high pitched and nasally sound of his cadence and the starkness of the lyrical content..

40 | Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer (2018) 

The interplay of gender, race, and identity in America is a complex web of interaction that many strive to capture and grapple with in their art. None this decade have done a better job than Janelle Monáe, whos’ Dirty Computer is one of the most expressively conscious and dialectically important albums to be released this decade. Monáe is authoritative in her defiance of the capitalistic order which defines our everyday lives and celebratory of her own identity and her rightful and insanely poignant passion. “Dirty Computer” is a sprawling work, taking the listener down all the twists and turns felt in Monae’s experience with gender and race in evocative and eternally relevant ways. Nonbinary identity, blackness in America, grappling with the pressures of both the past and present, and countless other experiences are the underpinning of this fantastic and important album.

39 | Future - Monster (2014) 

Before there was DS2, Monster was the breakout success for Future and is the active host to some of his finest material, which manages to sound just as cool and groundbreaking as it did when it dropped as a mixtape over 5 years ago. Future is a virtuoso of versatility, employing so many varied cadences, flows, and singing styles which all manage to be emotionally provocative and equally entertaining. “Wesley Presley” is one of the hardest songs of his career, “Codeine Crazy” is still his most emotionally gut-wrenching, and “Radical” remains to be one of his most rousing anthems, contesting stellar songs such as “Groupies.” Future delivers consistently, and he delivers amazingly. This album also begins his trend of having only one, insanely high profile feature; in this case, a fantastic verse on “After That” from Lil Wayne that is reminiscent of the peak of his artistry. Monster is an incredible hip hop record and one of the finest works of one of the decade’s forefront artists.

38 | DJ Rashad - Double Cup (2014) 

Double Cup is the forefront of the footwork genre and is an amazing noise project from an artist that was taken from this Earth far too soon. DJ Rashad is a master of production, sewing together samples and beats like a master tailor into one of the most sonically interesting musical endeavors of the decade. Part plunderphonic influenced, part conventional beats, and part classic footwork are the bases upon which Double Cup is built, besides of course just being a cool-ass record at its core. This is the closest album I can qualify as the spiritual successor to the magic of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing…; the ambiance and ethereal whimsicality that are the central aesthetic choices of both albums. However, Double Cup is also an experience all its own, and the talent of DJ Rashad will be sorely missed.

37 | Young Thug - So Much Fun (2019) 

Young Thug’s insanely creative and powerful decade is topped off by So Much Fun, his best work yet, and a showcase of the voluminous Atlanta talent in trap music today. This album is stacked to the brim with fabulous features from fellow contemporary Atlantian visionaries such as Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Future, Gunna, and many more. However, none are quite as in tune as Thug himself, who has completely come into his own with this album. He is completely unapologetic for his idiosyncrasy, both personal and artistic, and it radiates off of him as he slays track after track with the most polished flow and catchy production he’s had in years. Seeing him rap alongside those popular, younger rappers he directly influenced (including an amazing feature from the stolen far too early Juice WRLD) and create a new generation of insane tracks is a warming feeling for any Thug fan, and I am more optimistic than ever for the directions he will head in 2020.

36 | Everything Everything - Get To Heaven (2016) 

The wistful etherealness conjured on this album by British band Everything Everything is a uniquely powerful aesthetic. This is experimental pop at its finest, pushing boundaries yet keeping things massively enjoyable. Choruses linger and cascade in to overtures, motifs reveal themselves and then re-emerge when you least expect them, and the instrumentality of the guitars and drumming is nothing short of immaculate. In a decade where group pop releases were not at the forefront of critical acclaim, Everything Everything stand above the rest as the landmark of group-based experimental pop.

35 | Beach House - 7 (2018) 

Beach House’s 7 stands for something in and of itself; it is an incredibly well-defined celebration of the genre and one of the most technically sound and auditorily appealing albums to be released this decade. 7 is the band’s opus and the culmination of their decade-long exploration into their own sound and the sound of dream pop in and of itself. The songs on 7 are intensely beautiful, almost overwhelming the listener at times; the catharsis put in to the creation of this album from every single member of the band is palpable. These are some of the sweetest sounding, lush, and expansive songs I have had the pleasure to experience from this decade. Beach House are transcendental.

34 | Tay-K - #SantanaWorld (2017) 

At the age of 16, Taymor McIntyre was facing trial as an adult for a gang-violence related murder in the particularly litigious state of Texas. He decided to take matters into his own hands; he cut his ankle monitor and ran for it, jumpstarting in popularity one of the most short-lived and unique hip-hop careers of the decade. While his notoriety helped Tay-K gain popularity independently, many have correctly identified his tape #SantanaWorld, released while on the lam, as one of the most essential pieces of cloud trap ever released. Tay-K slides over majestic, in-your-face beats with an untamed, sincere, and terrifying flow. Although there are only 8 non-remixed songs on the tape, he manages to make every track important: even back-tracks such as “Lemonade” and “Saran Pack” deliver the fun-loving, renegade-ish feeling that smash-hit “The Race” is most famous for delivering.

33 | Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch (2018) 

Year Of The Snitch is a victory lap for one of the decade’s most illustrious careers. Stefan, Zach Hill, and Andy Moranis are fully in control of their artistry and their legacy and chose to deliver a booming and diverse meditation on their existence as a band and one of their best works yet. Deriving a considerable portion of its sound from “Steroids,” a brilliant pre-album gabber I am choosing to lump in with this album for list space’s sake, Year Of The Snitch is a self-titled album and exploration of the Death Grips legacy. This album is a smart look in to the experience and musical psyche which are wrought from years of constant touring, internet pariah status, and other compounding factors. This managed to reignite the anger of the group, and ushered in what can be seen as a return to their origins, forming the most complete encapsulation of their sound to be released in album form.

32 | Charli XCX - Pop 2 (2017) 

Pop 2 is the textbook definition of an unproblematic favorite; bringing together of dozens of incredibly cool and musically-influential people under the guidance of the visionary Charli XCX. Converting her momentum from Vroom Vroom and Number 1 Angel into pure bliss, Charli constructs insane songs which are as remarkable for their memorability as they are for their sincerity. It is obvious that this album was in the hands of many people and is the passion project of a collected effort; Pop 2 feels too diverse and well-thought-out to be sincerely pinned down as one conceptual work. Charli is stunning in her delivery, maintaining a sort of piercing optimism and dedication to happiness that it is hard to not be won over by. “Track 10” is one of the most essential pop songs of the decade, to tie it all together and top this release off.

31 | Cardi B - Invasion Of Privacy (2018) 

Cardi B can really rap. Her flow is biting and raw yet always completely rhythmically in-check and her adlibs and charisma manage to sell her stylistic choices even more. Invasion of Privacy is a kickass album which has mastered the fun song, pulling in fabulous features from some of rap and R&B’s best. Even Cardi’s slower and more R&B-influenced songs are seasoned with anger and aggression. She is a woman who grew up in unjust conditions and continues to live an unjust existence due to factors outside of her. Her anger, ferocity, and resistance of this world and the hand she has been dealt is the chief underpinning of her music and the source of her artistic authenticity. Because of this, her successes feel like actual victories and her celebrations of them are even more striking; a song like “Bodak Yellow” is hard to sell to an audience and even harder to make good, and she does both. 21 Savage and the Migos both deliver their features excellently and deliver bangers, meanwhile SZA and Kehlani exquisitely complement Cardi’s anger with melody and emotionality.

30 | Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (2016) 

Atrocity Exhibition is Danny Brown’s most polished work, an incredible achievement in sound construction and working to the strengths and talents of individual rappers. Brown is especially notable for his multiple cadences and flows and ability to swap between them with ease, and Atrocity Exhibition makes sure to make the most it can out of these talents. Rapping on this album is rarely consistent in any factor except for its solidness; cadence, flow, and all other sorts of technical matters are constantly played with and manipulated in order to achieve the best possible sound. What is consistent, however, is the strength of his delivery in an artistic sense. On top of all this, the cohesion of his features add a particularly strong finish to this magnificent record.

29 | Earl Sweatshirt - Doris (2013) 

Doris is, far and away, the best of the early Odd Future efforts and is emblematic of an era of a group which would go on to create their own subculture and music genres. Earl’s flow is insanely developed in comparison to his experience on this album; songs with Vince Staples are some of the most technically precise and contrite tracks put out this decade. The album is ripe in the way of good features; Tyler The Creator drops his early obnoxious public persona and delivers his most endearing bars from the era, Domo Genesis has his only good verse maybe ever, and handfull of the less-recognized voices in the Odd Future extended universe make some of their best contributions. Earl Sweatshirt, even at a young age, was fully-cognizant of the depths of evil and destruction felt by those living in capitalist societies, and his music reflects a sort of youthful jadedness and anger which has become the political fuel for generations of leftist young people. He was one of the first to tap into this feeling in our generation, and the one who probably still does it the best.

28 | 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin - Without Warning (2017) 

Without Warning is a superb conventional trap album that harnesses the internal spookiness and terror of Metro Boomin’s production and ramps it up to 11 in a vaguely Halloween-themed carnage festival. Offset and 21 Savage trade verses with genuine chemistry and excel on songs on their own, delivering radio smashes such as “Ric Flair Drip” and lower-key scary tracks such as “Run Up The Racks.” Offset is an amazing ad-libber, and that skill is deployed in full-force on this album; his verses feel like his best Migos contributions but more focused and featured appropriately within a well-constructed setting. Additionally, features on this album from Travis Scott and Quavo are notably above the artist’s usual mark, coming together to form the extended universe of Atlanta’s main trap justice league.

This album stands above other traditional trap albums due to its mastery of technical aspects, thematic strength, and just proclivity for making the songs good. It is one of the defining mainstream rap albums of the last five years and provides a key definitional album for the trap genre in the age of cloud trap ascendancy. Also, the cover dog is really cool, I want to pet that guy. ;]

27 | Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo (2016) 

The Life of Pablo is Kanye West at his emotional peak. This album is (and is entirely self-described as) the workings of an insane genius at the height of his power and production capability. What results is the most feature-dense, well-imagined, and ideologically expansive Kanye West album that there ever has been. This album, too, can be seen as the closing of an era, the last ramblings of pre-Republican and pre-billionaire Kanye West, as well as the last album before a major stylistic change heading into the Wyoming Sessions. This album is a panacea of talent that is, in a way, paying tribute to Kanye’s influence. Acts like Chance The Rapper, Sia, Young Thug, Sampha, and many other visionaries who are powerful Kanye-influenced voices turn in fantastic features for this record. All in all, The Life of Pablo is a stunning album that speaks for itself as far as scope and power.

26 | Tyler, The Creator - IGOR (2019) 

IGOR is a fascinating sonic project, a reimagination of the synth as an instrument and a testament to the goodwill and artistic genius with which Tyler, The Creator has come to operate. The narrative of this album is stunning and stark, a non-chronological heartbreak story that serves Tyler more as a means of reckoning with his own identity than with a broken heart. The influences on this album range from Playboi Carti’s adlibs to 80’s synth bands to Pharell beat construction; IGOR is a fusion and amalgamation of all of Tyler’s influences and a reconciliation of them within his own sound. This record contains sounds which will no doubt inspire a generation of artists heading into a new decade, and is a special album with an intrinsic coolness which is undoubtable.

25 | 100 Gecs - 1000 Gecs (2019) 

As much as I am tempted to just write the word “gec” 1,000 times for this blurb, it would be a disservice not to talk about how forward-thinking this album is and how genre-defining it will come to be. Laura Les and Dylan Brady have created the best Bubblegum Bass album to exist yet, and it would be a good world if the sounds and bold new choices made by the duo came to define the genre. Equal parts a child of early 2010s internet culture and early 2000s nostalgia, 1000 gecs is a celebration of the complexity of queer existence in a dystopian and confusing modern-day world. There are poppy poignant love songs which embody this queer experience, such as “Ringtone” and “gec 2 Ü,” just as much as there are insane otherworldly nether dimension bangers such as “800db cloud” and “money machine,” which feel as if they were born from the bottom of a pirated 2004 version of GarageBand gone rouge. 1000 Gecs says a lot, and it says it in all 23 minutes. Even more than that, it feels like they got across what they wanted to say, in their own Gectastic way. 1000 gecs is also impressive because it has the best Ska song of the decade on it, and that's nuts.

24 | The Avalanches - Wildflower (2016) 

It’s hard to imagine how Wildflower, made by the most revered plunderphonics act in the world, could be seen as vastly exceeding expectations. Yet The Avalanches managed to turn in a nearly-flawless, eternally summery work of Americana-themed noise and plunderphonics tracks after their 15 years of absence. The group manages to incorporate other legendary hip-hop voices, not the least of which include Biz Markie rapping about cereal and the best MF DOOM verse this decade, into a soundscape in which they sound reinvigorated and fully at home. Wildflower is a sprawling work of an album, bouncing off of summer barbecues, eternal subway systems, and the energy behind lovers’ eyes in a beautifully paced and never boring odyssey. Danny Brown has two incredible features on this album, one of which is on the lead single, and inspires hope for a future filled with The Avalanches-produced hip-hop fusion tracks. I have absolutely heard this album being played in the lobbies of Chipotle, but it's so good that it even bops there.

23 | Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (2012) 

At the onset of her career, before the limelight and public profile helped her form into one of today’s foremost pop stars, Lana Del Rey had a mystifying knack for conveying personal emotions incredibly effectively. Lana Del Rey, whose name was originally Elizabeth Grant, is an encapsulation of walking contradiction: adjacence to wealth with intense disdain for it, a complex relationship with drugs that changes from song to song, underlying meditations on abuse hidden behind childlike, Lolita-referencing lyrics. However, it is the infallible whole that Lana brings together which defines her as an artist, and this album was her first grand and stunning show of that power to create and construct emotion. This album’s songs were pervasive for a generation of teens, and reflect a youthful sort of outlook that undoubtedly helped to inspire and form many creative tastes. This album is synonymous with the story of 2010s music.

22 | Godspeed You, Black Emperor! - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (2012)

No band makes post-rock sound more angelic than Godspeed, a fact readily proven with the band’s comeback album and modern genre masterpiece 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!. They return seemingly uninterrupted as far as creative vision is concerned, delivering a beautiful reimagining of their own classic sound with an album that builds on lyrical and thematic motifs of their previous works. This album feels like a relic of the past, a too good to be true find that gives you modern access to some sort of hidden and ancient musical knowledge. The best description I have of it to this day, no matter how gross it is, is to imagine if Swans made beautiful and cohesively imagined music instead of their own work. This album is one of the genre’s essentials.

21 | Arcade Fire - Reflektor (2013)

Reflektor is Arcade Fire’s most imaginative and off-the-wall work; a complete departure from their previous sound and aesthetic on The Suburbs, and a brave and successful foray into dance and alternative sounds. Although one can see the legacy of the band as innovators of the entire rock genre, it is still stunning that Win Butler and company manage to make music this diverse and encapsulating over a decade after the seminal Funeral. This album goes on eternally within itself, diving into the corners and complexities of the immaculately curated sound and revealing the deepest oddities of the band members’ musical psyches. Reflektor even offers contributions from David Bowie, who was initially highly instrumental to the band’s popularity and is a figure that is still sorely missed by those in music today. This album is a fascinating look into the power of legacy and innovation.

20 | Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me 

Nothing is more impossible to understand than death and the sorrow that it brings. Nothing that I say here would be better said than Everlum himself; I can’t come close to even suggesting I can understand his emotions or where he came from in the production of this album. I feel like quantifying it as a rateable and reviewable in itself can be seen as a disservice, but it felt wrong to not put it on this list. This record stands on its own.

19 | Future - Dirty Sprite 2 (2015) 

DS2 continues to serve as the premium model for the exemplary and successful mainstream trap album. Everything about the album feels fully within the control of the Future and Metro Boomin grand alliance. “I Serve The Base” has a beat that sounds like a helicopter viciously approaching, Future raps with a borderline speaking-in-tongues flow on “Stick Talk,” the intro to “Freak Hoe” sounds like The King Of Limbs-era Radiohead, and “Slave Master” is so good that Future felt the need to sample his own song 4 years later. So many little things are done correctly, and done so correctly, that they circle back around to being big things. Future is a master of working within his production and styling himself to it; it is how he’s able to create such diverse yet musically-sound titles such as Save Me and HNDRXX. In my opinion, there is no better production to fit within and work with than 2015-era Metro Boomin, and DS2 executes this masterfully.

18 | Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015) 

Carrie & Lowell is the culmination of Sufjan Stevens’ brilliant career; the full maturation of his sound, resonation, and honesty with his individuality and identity, and the absolute peak of his vocal performance. This album is starkly personal and completely unreckonable with upon first listen; emotions inspired by this album feel just as poignant and inner reaching as the absolute peaks only reached by Sufjan once before on Illinois. This album deserves the hallowed praise it continually receives and is a deserved member of the pantheon of singer-songwriter work for the rest of time. It, again, feels hollow to reflect on such a personal and grieving work’s lyrical content; Carrie & Lowell conveys emotionality in a way that few ever works of art ever have. 

17 | Death Grips - Bottomless Pit (2017) 

Bottomless Pit is the absolute peak of the Death Grips’ songwriting arc, an album which is quite easily their most consistent work to date and serves as a shining example of everything the band stands for. Death Grips has one of the most consistent discographies to ever exist, and this album is the group at the peak of their newest and most compelling arc. The songs on this album are perfectly-ordered, excellently paced, and quickly delivered. There is absolutely no doubt that this album is the closest representation of Death Grips’ ultimate vision for themselves as a band. This vision all comes together in the title track, a brilliant closer which infuses all of their previous styles and motifs into a blood frenzied celebration. This album is the peak of the Death Grips discography.

16 | Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (2018) 

Some Rap Songs is a live look into the inception of a completely-new genre being crafted in real-time. There are incredibly few and far between instances for the listener to be able to witness someone cracking into a completely new, completely off-the-wall way of approaching music. Earl Sweatshirt, with Some Rap Songs (and the also-brilliant follow-up EP Feet Of Clay), is doing precisely that; messing with time signatures, avant-garde jazz riffs, freeform production, and monotone depressing lyrics, all of which come together in the cauldron of creativity to brew up an entirely new musical concoction. The sound of this album, whose roots can be seen on the more somber parts of Doris such as on “Chum,” is eternally distressing; something about the way this record resonates through your mind feels off, almost otherworldly. However, long after you finish listening to the album, this unease and lack of understanding turns into motivation to listen even more. From this repeated listening, the absolute genius of the production, flow, lyrical content, and the sound of this album manage to imprint themselves on your brain. Some Rap Songs is the definition of a groundbreaker as well as the definition of a grower; I can’t imagine any album I’d say more benefits the listener with repeated listening. This album is meditative yet jaded, cynical and depressed yet whimsical. Some Rap Songs is a victory for artistry and will come to be one of the most influential records of the century.

15 | Lil Uzi Vert - Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World (2016) 

Lil Uzi Vert is a visionary when it comes to crafting bangers, and with this release, he delivered a classic trap tape full of nine incredible songs that imbue the listener with energy and power upon every listen. Lil Uzi Vert is emblematic of the early Soundcloud rap era for many reasons. Sure, there’s the abundance of brightly-colored hair, the bootlegged-looking album covers, and space-age production choices, but Uzi succeeded in this field because he’s also the most musical and artistic of this early wave of rappers. “Money Longer” sounds like no song I have heard before or since, “You Was Right” features the incredibly rare double Metro Boomin producer tag, “Ps and Qs” manages to make manners fun, and “Scott and Ramona” is a starkly saddening love song that caps everything off. There are so many impressive things to list about this tape and its construction that I could go on indefinitely. Uzi is a naturally cool and visionary dude, and his music sounds groundbreaking innately; he caught-on to a sound and a style long before others did and was able to put a stamp on it before anyone else was even able to comprehend it.

14 | Pusha T - Daytona (2018) 

Every word in Daytona, from the striking first verse of “If You Know You Know,” to the demolishing finish that is “Infrared,” feels as if it's part of a long-form poem. Songs flow in and out of each other astoundingly, focusing on narrative over track listing. Kanye West’s production is as immaculate as it has ever been, inspiring hope that a transition to a production-focused role may cease the eternal Bruh Moment which is post-2017 Republican Kanye West. Pusha T said that he named the album after his favorite wristwatch, the Rolex Daytona, because he had nothing but time while making the album. This is absolutely confirmed through listening, as this record is one of the best-organized and well-crafted short-form media pieces of the 21st century, as well as the best conventional/classic rap album released this decade. Pusha T is a savant who takes his time with his work and does things right, and Daytona is the ultimate realization of his vision as the best dealer turned rapper in the world. Every repeat listen of Daytona is a treat, and “The Story of Adidon” serves as an amazing unofficial 8th bonus track, given that it’s probably the best diss track of the decade.

13 | Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy (2017) 

Flower Boy is the defining rap album for reckoning with queer identity, a brave and stunning exploration made by the queer communities’ most unexpected member and ally. Tyler, The Creator built a career and legacy off of his creation of the Odd Future clique and subculture; an anarchistic and offensive viewpoint to combat an unfair and oppressive world. This album is striking proof that artistic and personal growth are not only possible, but that they can also lead to some of the highest creative peaks. No one has since made an album more honest in its encapsulation of youthful alienation and malaise, nor has anyone come close to relating queer identity so strongly to blackness and self-identity as a black man. Flower Boy is a beautiful panacea to all sorts of lovesickness and pain. Many young people in my generation who felt the same sort of anger and disenfranchisement championed by Tyler in his earlier work with Odd Future have since come to find a sort of peace and self-understanding with the help of Flower Boy.

12 | Lorde - Melodrama (2017) 

Melodrama is a masterwork of heartbreak. This album is fully immersed in the loneliness and dread which curse post-break-up psyches, the pain of loves come and gone, and the mental processes that come out of nowhere and allow one to begin to sniff the inroads of emotional progress. The production on this album fits the enigmatic and brilliant Lorde like a comfortable wool sweater; she sings from within the music, reaching out to the listener through her poignant displays of lyricism and the relation one can feel with her universal pain. Jack Antonoff, to the surprise of just about everybody, has separated himself as one of pop’s most notable producers and sound designers (indeed, this is a far cry from the ‘fun.’ days for him). Melodrama is fascinating, partially because it is the continuation of an already beautiful discography which takes Lorde’s compelling ideas and spins them in a new and rewarding direction. Above all, her music retains its supremely empathetic quality; Lorde is a master of reaching into the emotional fountain within everyone’s soul.

11 | Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti (2017) 

Jordan Terell Carter is one of the most visionary artists of this generation, and the Playboi Carti Self-Titled is not only an insanely powerful introduction to the music world at large, but an unparalleled celebration of his worldview, and one of the tidiest, most diverse collections of songs that have been put out this decade. Every song on Playboi Carti is completely distinct in both sound and content from its album mates. Somehow, Carti was able to select 12 completely disjunctive, yet insanely polished, song ideas and meld them into a completely realized work. Carti’s self-titled is the perfect embodiment of the Playboi Carti lifestyle, brand, sound, and general approach to the world. Humans are multi-faceted and complicated, so on an album whose concept is himself, Carti captures these differences and personal oddities so well that to listen to this album feels like knowing Carti himself.

Not only is the construction of this album immaculate. Carti is a master of remembering to make the songs good above all else. He exhibits this virtuoso by delivering tunes that never tire, keep on plodding, and even manage to grow on you despite being so out of touch with each other. “Location” has some of the spaciest production I’ve ever heard in a rap song, and it's absolutely cathartic and beautiful; from this track, he moves seamlessly to “Magnolia,” a pop radio hit which feels scientifically designed to be his ‘popular’ song. The songs with Lil Uzi on this album are the peak of the two’s collaborative work, and “New Choppa” with A$AP Rocky elicits terrifying late-night horror carnival vibes. Even deep cuts like “Half & Half,” “NO. 9,” “Kelly K,” and “Yah Mean” are all so creative and charming that you can't help but be won over by Carti and his infallible persona. This is one of the most spirited and well-crafted trap tapes to ever be released and is a landmark of personal achievement in the realm of the self-titled album.

10 | Rihanna - ANTI (2016) 

The phrases ‘sprawling’ and ‘expansive’ are often thrown around in music criticism where they don’t apply. Music writers use these words to define albums that are incredibly well-put-together and long, yet not diverse or epic enough to fit said adjectives. ANTI is the closest definitional album that I can find for those terms that are thrown around far too often; a sprawling pop masterpiece that permeates across all borders and genres of music and comes together under the vision and seemingly god-given natural talent of Rihanna. No album this decade achieves as many different things, and does them all as fantastically, as ANTI does. This record is so consistent that even the 3 bonus tracks are not only essential but worthy of consideration as actual album tracks (I don’t want a world where “Goodnight Gotham” isn’t considered part of the main ANTI canon). This album is truly something special and all too rare in the music scene today; an album that is great largely because of how fully it encapsulates the base definition of great albums. ANTI is a primal exercise in album composition and a test of the limits of diversity and style brought together under one roof of musical genius, and it succeeds more than is possible to describe.

9 | 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - Savage Mode (2016)  

Savage Mode is the magnum opus of the most important producer of the decade and a testament to the power that fantastic production can have and the heights to which it can carry an album. Metro Boomin’s beats on this album are the most masterful we’ve ever seen in his career; the culmination of his efforts from 2014 onward and a striking reaffirmation for him as the best producer on the planet. There are very few albums where the artist is more in-tune with the production than the brilliant and haunting 21 Savage is with Metro’s direction. Every word that leaves his mouth is exactly in tune, exactly on time, and strikes even harder than the one that came before it. This is the most technically crafted trap tape that I have ever heard. This tape set the direction for a half-decade of both trap and pop rap and very well may be the peak of the genre.

21 doesn’t need to convince you that he is a hard motherfucker. As soon as you hear the brilliant first two tracks, “No Advance” and “No Heart,” his badassery unquestionably oozes from every pore. As far as innate believability of the lyrics because of the rapping flow, 21 pales only to maybe Pusha T as far as genuineness in delivery. 21 Savage is a fantastic rapper who was able to put behind the amateurishness of his early work on this album, crafting what is far and away a top 10 rap performance for the decade. Savage Mode is the best of every world; lyrics, production, flow, sound, and everything else you could possibly want in a rap album is consummately taken care of by the artists. Metro deserves to have his name on the album, and 21 deserves his place in the pantheon of great rappers of our time.

8 | Mitski - Bury Me At Makeout Creek (2014) 

Bury Me At Makeout Creek was my high school breakup album, my personal anthems of a young love lost, and the acute pain felt at the time that it occurs. However, to pigeonhole this album as being a breakup record (or even a romantic record) would be a disservice; Mitski is an artist who approaches music from countless different pathways and to define her work as only one thing is wrong. Part singer-songwriter, part rock, and part everything else, Bury Me at Makeout Creek is a stunning record that gets more done in 30 minutes than other artists manage to do with 2-hour efforts. If you’re looking to experience catharsis embodied fully in music, you will find it on this album. If you’re looking to uncover the rawest and most base release of emotion communicated through shredding guitars and heartbreaking vocals, you will find it on this album. If you want precise guitar work, immaculately constructed motifs, and directions you never knew a guitar could go in, you can find it on this album. Regardless of why you find yourself drawn to music as a medium, you will find something positive and wondrous contained in the walls of this brief yet stunning work.

Rock as a genre has historically been hostile to voices that are not from the white male perspective, and Mitski’s music is a complete repudiation of this sadly-persistent attitude in the music community. With Bury me At Makeout Creek, Mitski made a better rock and roll album than 99.9% of the rock bands this decade, and it isn’t even really a “full” rock album. Talent is prescribed entirely on bases not related to gender and race, and too long have rock and roll voices and exposure been defined by these archetypes. Mitski’s music is internally defiant of these gender roles and racial definitions of genre, and her music is a full rejection and complete defeat of such patterns of thinking.

7 | Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019) 

Norman Fucking Rockwell is a fabulously introspective and stunningly beautiful exploration of womanhood in America. The record is a love letter to Americana and a testament to the atmosphere that enabled the culturally pervasive Lana Del Rey to grow into the woman and artist she is today. Del Rey’s voice is as good as it's ever been, growing even sweeter and more daunting with age; as a result, NFR is one of the most stunning vocal performances of all time. Lana kills it, and she kills it on every track. It is impossible to not feel some kind of way while listening to “Venice Bitch,” or really any song on this album for that matter. Whether it’s the strength of her voice as both an artist, or the strength of her voice as a singer, something about these songs has the power to place you directly in Lana’s viewpoint. This allows you to experience the emotions, feelings, and experiences Lana has with more clarity than any other piece of media I have ever engaged with. I first listened to this album while stranded on a bus after waiting for six hours following an accident. The record was so transformative that it immediately pulled me from the annoyance and triviality of my own situation into the real, expensive, and complex problems that Lana Del Rey grapples with in her life. Norman Fucking Rockwell is a masterpiece of empathy as much as it is of singer-songwriting. I can only hope my experience with this album continues to evolve in the way it has in the short time since its release.

6 | Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (2012) 

The fact that Fiona Apple takes the title of this flawless work from her own poetry is abjectly unsurprising given the composition of the album. The Idler Wheel... is prosaic and poetic at its core and all the way through its existence; Apple is a master of the subconscious blend of poetry and music, and it is the most apparent on this album. A product of 13 years of work, this album is the strongest narrative musical work this decade by a solid margin. This album contains better poetic content than most poetry collections and better narrative content than most novels. Fiona Apple is the single most magnanimous singer-songwriter on the face of the Earth, and this album is her reintroduction to a new generation with her most heartbreaking work yet.

Fiona Apple captures the feeling of disconnectedness and loneliness caused by depression and general ennui better than any other artist I can think of. She is blazingly aware of her own faults and beats herself up for them more than she beats up others for theirs. This consistent dejectedness and loneliness that she espouses makes you long to only see good things for her and her life. The lyric “How could I ask anyone to love me, when all I do is ask to be left alone” is easily one of my favorites of the decade, and it isn't even the best lyrical selection from the album. Even past the lyrical and thematic content, this album *sounds* great too. She is able to incorporate percussion and strings with more versatility and vivaciousness than I have ever seen. Fiona Apple is an indispensable voice.

5 | Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (2018) 

Twin Fantasy is the best rock and roll album of the decade. Even if you were to remove the stunning, beautiful, and poignant content of this album’s thematic motifs and lyrical content, you still have a band that has completely set themselves apart from other rock acts thanks to their ingenious evolution of the rock and roll sound for a new generation. Much like Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound revolution, Car Seat Headrest have made rock a 21st-century genre through the sheer widening and complication of sound. Songs on Twin Fantasy are never repetitive or tiring in the slightest even though the record clocks in at an hour and a half long. If anything, the album feels short given the scope of its sonic achievement, masterful guitar work, stellar production, and far-reaching lyricism.

At its core, Twin Fantasy is a love story and statement on queer existence in this new generation. The record weaves the tale of a dying relationship made and developed through the internet with dazzling sound design and lyrical excellence. It highlights the contradictions that things like technology, being queer, distance, family, and emotionality can have on love and the emotional fallout that happens when these things seem to conspire against you. I can’t describe how relevant Twin Fantasy was for me personally in the coming out process. This album’s lyrical content, subdued humor, and the resignation of Will Toledo were some of the first things that truly helped me understand my own queerness, and I know I am far from alone in this. This is a special once in a generation sort of album.

4 | Beyoncé - Lemonade (2016)

Beyoncé’s immaculate Lemonade represents the ultimate triumph of the concept album as a valid media organization. Never before and never again will there be a better effort to capture one’s own pain, sense of loss and abandonment, and anger at unfaithfulness than there has been here. Although many among us can relate to the fierceness of the lyrics, the intensity of her sentiment, and the graceful nature of her forgiveness, it is impossible to say any of us have truly felt Beyoncé’s pain. The overarching motif Lemonade is that relationships, no matter how public, are inherently personal; therefore, the reactions and emotions caused by their twists and turns are entirely personal. Nobody can understand exactly what it is like to be you, and thus nobody can really ever 100% feel how Beyoncé felt during the construction of this album. However, one of the many reasons this record is flawless is because so many people relate to it so personally. Beyoncé managed to construct an album that is both wholly personal and universally relatable. What began as an entirely subjective experience has transformed into an objective battle cry for womanhood and black identity in America, and this is an altogether unique artistic occurrence.

Lemonade brings in talent from all genres and musical heritages. Beyoncé is able to create classic White Stripes era riffs with Jack White with the same ease as she manages to deliver a fantastic Kendrick Lamar set piece. So many people contributed small parts of themselves and their own pain into the creation of this record, and Beyoncé immaculately fused it together under the hood of her own experience. This album is starkly beautiful sounding, and it feels amiss to not mention the production given how insanely consistent it is from the front to the back of the record. This album is truly something special.

3 | Playboi Carti - Die Lit (2018)

Die Lit is trap’s best album and an absolute tour de force of cloud trap. Playboi Carti carried the momentum of his self-titled work more successfully than anyone could have imagined, forming a machiavellian treatise on life, a penning love letter to Atlanta trap, and completely revamping an entire genre in the process. Die Lit is massive, sprawling, and expansive in both its sound and ideas. Pierre Bourne has emerged as a new saint in the pantheon of all-time producers, bringing his completely fresh and insane sound to a genre already filled with dozens of other visionaries waiting to help develop it. Carti’s flow rests somewhere between that of a goblin and a pop singer, a tense sort of duality that slaps hard and remains unchallenged in the rap game today. It is absolutely unprecedented how an album with this many tracks manages to deliver essential songs at such a high ratio; consistency is one of this album’s biggest selling points. Carti continues to be a visionary both musically and culturally, and it has become increasingly evident that he is in the middle of constructing a new vision of punk trap while also on one of the best album runs of all time.

Die Lit is cool, sleek, and long-lasting, but above all, it manages to be pervasively fun. This album is one of the most joyous and pleasant listens of the decade, a work of absolute eternal happiness and aesthetic jubilation. It is impossible to overstate how much this album means to me and how much I have listened to it. The spirit of this album remains undefeated despite injustice and pain, Carti holds an indomitable spirit that he successfully projects out into the world.

2 | Kanye West - Yeezus (2013)

It is absolutely impossible to overstate the impact of Yeezus as a record; from its lasting and entrenched influence on the future of rap and hip-hop production to the emotional wrath and disquiet it immediately released in the souls of the music fans who had years to reckon with it. From the hundreds of artists who have taken pieces of this record into their own to the monumental meaning it has to artistry as a whole, the shadow of Yeezus looms large over the music industry even today. This album will continue to be regarded as one of the decade’s most classic and influential works, and it is without question that this analysis is deserved. Yeezus operates on the same thematic and aesthetic wavelength as The Great Gatsby; it is an album about the depravities of wealth and success, and the failure to understand oneself as a human in the light of drug abuse and moral depravity. This is all a byproduct caused by a predatory culture that feeds upon those human relations that offer the only hope of escape from this bleak and wretched world. These messages are packed into a compact 40-minutes where no two songs sound alike. “Black Skinhead” is one of the best rock songs of the decade, “Bound 2” is a completely unrivaled love song, and “Send It Up” is a drill-infused genre-bending masterwork. Every song on this album accomplishes a different goal but works toward the same end, all coming together to form one of art’s mightiest achievements.

1 | Lorde - Pure Heroine (2013) 

Pure Heroine captures the essence of pure, unadulterated young love, more brilliantly and perfectly than any other album has ever even come close to. Pure Heroine is a victory for the pop genre and an undisputed top 2 or 3 pop album of all-time. Such isolated works of transformative genius, works that contribute to a completely different and compelling direction for a genre as varied and diverse as pop, are once in a lifetime opuses. The fact that Lorde managed to compose such a work on her DEBUT album at the age of 16 is unequivocal proof of her genius. I can’t even remember what I was up to at 16 besides gaming. This album would feel like an anomalous showing if Lorde has not also released another one of the best albums of the decade. And really, how anomalous can this perfect of an album be? The talents of Lorde and her truest, completely ungarnished inner-self are present in every pore of this album.

Pure Heroine is an album about love; love that shockingly persists in spite of the wasteland of suburbaness and apathy which has long been at war with the psyche of the youth. It feels wrong to even discern between analyses of songs on this album given how flawless every minute of this record is and how the miraculous whole speaks for itself better than any particular partition of the music. This album is a work of sublime thematic genius, an absolutely infallible artistic achievement completely lacking a single bad moment, error, or lapse in thematic judgment. “Royals” is one of the best hit songs of the decade, and “Team” is even better; there’s no part of this album that doesn’t completely break the mold. It is impossible, once introduced, to stop thinking about the stark utopia of suburban love that Lorde has generated on this album. Pure Heroine is, quite simply, one of the best albums of all time.

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If you want more thoughts on this decade of music, follow Jack on twitter @tedcruzcontrol.

Universal Melodrama: Lorde and Medea

“We told you this was Melodrama.”

Lorde’s Melodrama is a shining pop masterpiece, but as new as the album sounds, the story that it tells is one as old as humanity. Autobiographically-told, it follows Lorde as she grapples with heartbreak and fights to free herself from the intensity of young womanhood. Beloved by both fans and critics, Melodrama is a record that perfectly captures what it’s like to be in love. From the initial feelings of being “wild and fluorescent” to the shift of wondering why you’re dancing alone, the album tracks love as its vibrance slowly fades.

However, to say that Melodrama is merely about romance would be missing the point. The record also addresses what it’s like to be a young woman, transitioning into a world full of expectations and contradictions. In her own words, Melodrama follows the story of a house party, from the euphoric highs of “The Louvre” to the dark intricacies of “Liability,” each song depicts a different stage of the evening as Lorde searches for peace in the aftermath of a breakup. In an album filled with complexities and confusion, the line between heartbreak and freedom becomes blurry, and the party rages on while Lorde tries to keep up.

About 2,000 years prior to Melodrama, Greek playwright Euripides wrote a tragedy called Medea that touched on many of the same topics. The plot focuses on the heartbreak our heroine Medea faces and her plan to get revenge on her adulterous partner. But more than that, it follows a powerful woman who struggles with the expectations placed on her by society. Lorde and Euripides’ works bear a striking number of similarities to each other. Both of our protagonists become obsessed with their lovers, and find themselves willing to betray friends and family. The two narratives posit that love often leads to heartbreak, but it can also lead to freedom.

Part 1 | The Lover

At the beginning of Medea, our main character falls in love with Jason when he visits her island of Colchis on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece and take his spot on the throne. Compelled to help her lover, she feeds Jason tips and helps him attain the fleece through the power of her wizardry. After the current king blocks Jason from taking the throne, Medea hatches a plot to take the kingship illegitimately by tricking the king’s daughters into chopping him up. When her plan is uncovered, both Jason and Medea are banished from the island, chased away by Medea’s own family. In an attempt to escape by sea, Medea devises a plan to slow her father down by killing and chopping up her brother’s body then throwing it to the sea, knowing that her father will stop to collect the individual body parts.

Meanwhile, on Melodrama Lorde finds herself experiencing the same intoxication of love on “The Louvre” where she feels ready to betray friends and family for her lover much like Medea did. At the start of the song’s third verse, she recounts “Blow all my friendships / to sit in hell with you / But we’re the greatest / They’ll hang us in the Louvre.” While she obviously doesn’t go as far as killing, Lorde is still obsessed with her lover in the same way that Medea was, willingly destroying all of her friendships in favor of newfound love. Earlier on in the track, she bottles up that feeling of infatuation with the lines “I am your sweetheart psychopathic crush / Drink up your movements still I can’t get enough.” Both women experience the electrifying fluorescence of new love and succumb to the rush that it fuels.

Part 2 | The Betrayal

After escaping her homeland, Medea and Jason relocate on Corinth, a remote island where they settle down and have a number of children together. Eventually, Jason finds himself enamored with another woman, Creusa, who also happens to be a princess on the island. Drawn to Creusa’s beauty (and her social status) Jason abandons Medea, leaving her stranded on a strange land, alone with no standing as a foreigner and as a woman. Her time in love with Jason was ultimately quick and intense, and they fall apart just as quickly as they were drawn together.

Lorde also finds herself grappling with a similar situation of new and unfamiliar love on “Homemade Dynamite” where she opens the song with some scene-setting lyrics: “A couple rebel top gun pilots / Flying with nowhere to be / Don’t know you super well / But I think that you might be the same as me / Behave abnormally.” Intoxicated with the feeling of fresh love, Lorde is inspired to act irrationally, jumping into a relationship with little foresight or evidence of compatibility.

Within the same song, we witness the relationship’s quick end as it devolves into a spiteful and violent split. Lorde ends up with someone else despite seemingly still being attached to her original lover. “See me rolling, showing someone else love / Dancing with our shoes off / Know I think you’re awesome right?” Right after asking that, Lorde transitions into a vengeful chorus of “our rules our dreams, we’re blind / blowing shit up with homemade dynamite.” The rapid transformation within the song highlights how quickly the intense feelings of love can retreat and metamorphosize into equally-passionate emotions of hate or violence, just as they did with Medea.

Both Lorde and Medea find themselves impassioned by their unfaithful lovers in different ways. While Lorde finds herself partying and wanting to “blow shit up,” Medea’s emotions come out in the much more biblical form of a speech. Tied to her husband by law, Medea is left feeling powerless once he abandons her for someone who will lift his status in society. Men, she claims, lead an easy life and can leave their woman whenever they want. Meanwhile, women are the ones who suffer as divorce is reprehensible, women are the ones who have to give birth, and powerful women are feared. Abandoned by Jason, Medea shares her frustration, orating to the women of her city, she claims that even death is preferable to marriage.

“In my case, however, this sudden blow that has struck me has destroyed my life. I am undone, I have resigned all joy in life, and I want to die. For the man in whom all I had was bound up, as I well know—my husband—has proved the basest of men. Of all creatures that have breath and sensation, we women are the most unfortunate. First at an exorbitant price we must buy a husband and master of our bodies. And the outcome of our life’s striving hangs on this, whether we take a bad or a good husband. For divorce is discreditable for women and it is not possible to refuse wedlock. And when a woman comes into the new customs and practices of her husband’s house, she must somehow divine, since she has not learned it at home, how she shall best deal with her husband. If after we have spent great efforts on these tasks our husbands live with us without resenting the marriage-yoke, our life is enviable. Otherwise, death is preferable. A man, whenever he is annoyed with the company of those in the house, goes elsewhere and thus rids his soul of its boredom. But we must fix our gaze on one person only. Men say that we live a life free from danger at home while they fight with the spear. How wrong they are! I would rather stand three times with a shield in battle than give birth once.”

After the outward destruction found on “Homemade Dynamite,” Lorde tries her best to find peace in her own company. She confesses her own experiences of being isolated in “Liability,” the emotional centerpiece of the record in which Lorde finds solace in her own self-love. No longer dependent on someone else for her happiness, she focuses on her relationship with herself. “So I guess I’ll go home into the arms of the girl that I love / The only love I haven’t screwed up / She’s so hard to please, but she’s a forest fire.” In these lines Lorde admits that love has shaken her up, but begins to realize that happiness can (and must) come from within first. She goes on to depict a scene of her evening alone, revealing that she’s indeed talking about herself. “I do my best to meet her demands, play at romance / We slow dance in the living room, but all that a stranger would see / Is one girl swaying alone, stroking her cheek.”

Part 3 | The Revenge

Betrayed by Jason, Medea plots her revenge, eventually deciding to kill Creusa, and the children she’s had with Jason. By taking Jason’s fatherhood and social status, she hopes to harm him in the most painful way possible. Medea eventually decides to kill Creusa by sending her a cursed crown and robe delivered by the children that Jason had with Medea. At first reluctant to accept the kids into her house, Creusa immediately becomes amicable when she notices the beautiful gifts they are offering. Once put on, the crown takes a moment before it latches into Creusa’s skull while the robe burns her skin into a waxy substance. Before she is killed, Creusa is given a chance to admire herself in the mirror, only to watch her beauty that was so treasured be torn away.

In Melodrama Lorde is at her most vengeful on “Writer In The Dark” where she warns her ex of the mistake he made. Instead of remaining heartbroken, she turns her ex’s departure into something empowering. Just as Medea hurts Jason and Creusa in the most personal way possible, Lorde defies her ex by achieving superstar status off an album partially about the empowerment of being alone. “Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark / Now she’s gonna play and sing and lock you in her heart.” The chorus portrays Lorde at her most vicious as she bares her fangs through flashes of love-infused threats. “I am my mother’s child, I’ll love you ‘till my breathing stops / I’ll love you 'til you call the cops on me / But in our darkest hours, I stumbled on a secret power / I’ll find a way to be without you, babe.” Eventually, she lands on the self-reliance detailed above in “Liability” and explains that she found her own way out of the darkness of heartache.

Part 4 | The Escape

After having achieved her revenge, Medea leaves the Earth and disappears into the sun on a chariot given to her by her grandfather Helios, the sun god. By giving her the chariot, Helios is also sanctioning her actions and is giving Medea a chance to escape the world that has caused her such pain. This is a moment of triumph, as Medea is now free of her lover and all the actions that came in the aftermath of his betrayal.

Melodrama also includes a reference to disappearing into the sun on “Liability” when Lorde whispers “They’re gonna watch me disappear into the sun / You’re all gonna watch me disappear into the sun” on the track’s outro. In Melodrama’s context, disappearing into the sun is the final act of an incredibly dark and intricate song, yet this disappearance, like the rest of the record, isn’t easy to reckon with. She’s leaving behind her lover in favor of her success, much like Medea left her world behind after achieving revenge. It’s not the choice either would have made in a vacuum, but rather a step that is necessary in order to fully attain the freedom from their past lives.

On Melodrama’s closing track“Perfect Places,” Lorde is confronted with the reality that perfection is impossible, despite the bliss partying seems to bring. To start the song, she details her attempts to get lost in the ecstasy of an average night out. “Every night, I live and die / Feel the party to my bones / Watch the wasters blow the speakers / Spill my guts beneath the outdoor light / It’s just another graceless night.” Checking to make sure her company is as immersed in the party as she is, Lorde asks “Are you lost enough? / Have another drink, get lost in us / This is how we get notorious.” She quickly turns around and explains why she feels the need to party in order to be free, offering that she is ashamed of herself and is afraid of facing the fact that her heroes are disappearing around her. “All of the things we’re taking / 'Cause we are young and we’re ashamed / Send us to perfect places / All of our heroes fading / Now I can’t stand to be alone / Let’s go to perfect places.” After trying to avoid her pain through partying and drinking, Lorde finally comes to realize that life will probably always be an unavoidable mess, and distractions won’t help her deal with her issues despite providing a few hours of escape. She sends the album off with an anthemic chant of “All the nights spent off our faces /  Trying to find these perfect places / What the fuck are perfect places anyway?”

Universal Melodrama

So how did these two works of art end up with such eerily-similar arcs? Well, they are both centered around universal themes that are always relevant to the human experience. While love and heartbreak will always be relatable topics, Lorde has admitted that she designed Melodrama to emulate the feeling of a Greek tragedy. In an interview with Vanity Fair she elaborated:

“[Melodrama is] a nod to the types of emotions you experience when you’re 19 or 20. I had such an intense two years, and everything I was feeling—whether it was crying or laughing or dancing or in love—each of them felt like the most concentrated version of that emotion. I also have a love of theater and I love drawing a parallel with Greek tragedies. But there’s definitely an element of tongue-in-cheek; it’s very funny to title your record Melodrama.”

Lorde clearly invokes classical ideals in her record, as she emphasizes the unity of time, place, metaphor, and action. This makes for a more concise album, and as a result, everything is condensed and easy to follow. Similarly, she employs unity of metaphor with repeated references to the sun and fire, ribbons tying her to someone, and the feeling of being used in a relationship. All the imagery is meant to connect, spawning echoes and reflections across the album.

On “Sober II (Melodrama)”, Lorde cautions “We told you this melodrama / Our only wish is melodrama.” Much like the Greeks used to pen cautionary tales of being swept away in a fit of emotion, Lorde’s cry acts as a claim that the listener got exactly what they came for, just as she presumably knew that heartbreak often follows love. Despite the suffering caused by the disintegration of her relationship, Lorde knows every part of her life will be amplified in her transition to womanhood, even the highs.

The upside to these stories is that both Lorde and Medea turn their cautionary tales of heartbreak into stories of self-success. Thinking less about the specifics of what Medea did and more about the concept, we see two women who successfully seized opportunities to take control of their lives when they could have easily blamed the world for what was happening to them. Without discounting the fact that they both did take a moment to acknowledge the pain of their situation (“Liability” in Melodrama, Medea’s speech in Medea), we can see they were both more interested in accepting the challenge the world had given to them than they were in wallowing in self-pity. That can be a scary concept to tackle, and one that is even harder to realize in actuality. But as Lorde sings in “Liability,” her forest fire-like passion is what enables the wild fluorescence of love, the following crash of being alone, and the ability to embrace a new life. And the unique confusion that comes from that mix of feelings is worth it to have her strength and passion.

Another metaphor that unites both Lorde and Medea is the idea of disappearing into the sun. Lorde does so in “Liability,” a song about feeling used and retreating into yourself. Medea disappears into the sun literally as the final act of the play, leaving behind Jason to join the gods. They both do this as a way of showing heartbreak is not only something that can be overcome, but that the lessons learned from it and the resulting actions might have a more positive and permanent impact than loving someone else did. Lorde and Medea both understand that they can be better off alone and that the empowerment that comes along with their actions allows them to defy the usual feelings of heartbreak.

In many ways, the human experience will always be the same. We will always search for connection, we will always find heartbreak, and we stumble into relationships that change us forever. The fact that these two vastly different works, in two disparate mediums, from two artists centuries apart can both feel equally valid speaks to this. Viewing these universal truths through different lenses is how we evolve and connect as humans. It gives us an outlet to reflect on our own experiences, and (hopefully) grow as people through them. Whether it’s a murderous sorceress ascending into the sun or a New Zealand teenager dancing in her room by herself, there is truth, experience, and life to be gained through both of these pieces of art.

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Studying at Boston University, Grant loves writing about all things music. From Jeff Rosenstock to Bleachers, you can see what he his is listening to here. To stay up to date on more music thoughts, follow him on Twitter here.