Top 25 Albums & EP’s of the Year: 2020

Ka – Descendants of Cain

Brownsville, New York poet Ka has always delivered dense, intricate and interwoven albums that are heavy with Greek or Biblical mythology among other things. On his 5th studio album Descendants of Cain, the unique and gifted wordsmith came through with a fascinating body of work around the story of Cain and Able. The metaphors, symbolism and wordplay Ka delivers throughout this incredible and intricate body of work has made me return to it throughout the year, and I’ve always got the eagerness to digest it and learn from it. Projects like this, especially from poets like Ka, are usually ones that require me to be in a particular mood to fully focus and digest all the material, but I had time and I was in the mood this year, so it deserves recognition just as Ka deserves all his flowers. Read more

Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist – Alfredo

At this point can we not universally accept Freddie Gibbs as a hip-hop legend? The Gary, Indiana emcee has established himself as one of the very best to touch of mic over the last decade or so, and on his new collaborative project Alfredo with legendary producer Alchemist, he continues to excel as an emcee. The 10 track project features some of Alchemist’s best beats, and some of Freddie’s most memorable verses. They complement each other’s styles perfectly, as Freddie is able to flow effortlessly over Alchemist’s crisp production flawlessly. There’s not one weak track on this project, and they both push each other’s creativity and artistry further than they’ve ever been before. A superb album with a ton of replay value. Read more

MIKE – weight of the world

MIKE’s murky, soulful and fascinating sound has become legendary over the last few years. He’s become somewhat of a leader within this exciting and thriving independent hip-hop scene bubbling out of the US, and on weight of the world, he focused his energy on bringing a varied, dynamic and colourful body of work that perfectly represented his state of mind this year. According to my Spotify Wrapped, he’s my most played artist, with tracks like “no, no” and “allstar” with Earl Sweatshirt being among my most listened records. There’s something hypnotic about the way he’s able to compose his music, as he brings influences from electronic music, Brazilian funk and contemporary hip-hop at the forefront of his sound, while complementing these incredible instrumentals with introspective and revealing lyrics about his mental health. One of the most interesting projects to me this year, and one I will definitely return to, as with most of his discography. Read more

lojii – lo&behold

Released in the earlier months of the year, Philadelphia rapper lojii came through with a gem of a project that I still play to this day. There’s something truly hypnotic about his music. It’s his delivery, spiritual and relatable lyricism and the crazy soulful and hard-hitting production. lo&behold is such a smooth and perfectly sequenced project that as soon as I decide to press play on it, I stay for the journey. And it’s a journey of contemplative thoughts, groovy rhythms and infectious flows that make him such a relatable and interesting emcee. Some of my favourite tracks of the year are scattered throughout this album, and I honestly think this may be one of his strongest projects to date. Read more

Zeroh – BLQLYTE

Zeroh is the real MVP in 2020. For the most part, he has mixed and engineered some of the best music of this year, but the project he did decide to release is one of the most disorienting and psychedelic projects to come out this year. I’ve been a fan of Zeroh since 2013 or so, and with each project he has continued to show exactly why he’s one of the most unique artists of this generation. BLQLYTE is a stunning body of work, with eerie and idiosyncratic production that capture Zeroh’s poetic and artistic aura perfectly. His ability to spook, shock and captivate has never been stronger, and with this project and his other collaborations throughout this year, he will be remembered this year as one of the most important figures within this exciting independent US hip-hop scene. Read more