Last year was nothing short of a disaster. There were many failures, losses and undesirable surprises around each corner. Despite everything that happened in 2016, it was a great year for music, which is what I used to cope and it made the year seem a little less awful.
Kanye West blessed us with his album, "The Life of Pablo." Beyonce gave us the female empowering anthems from her newest album, "Lemonade." Other truthfully great albums were released throughout the year like, "Coloring Book," by Chance The Rapper, "Blackstar" by David Bowie, "Blonde," by Frank Ocean and "22 A Million," by the resurfaced Bon Iver.
All of these new albums stayed at the top of the charts and were widely promoted when there were several other albums out that were just as good. These hidden gems didn’t necessarily go unnoticed, but they could’ve received more attention and promotions.
For starters, a relatively new artist, 6lack, released his first album titled "FREE 6LACK." The fact that this mix of classic trap soul and R&B isn’t played everywhere is puzzling.
The singer’s warm raspy voice croon while the repetitive bass line and synth remains timeless. “Ex Calling” may seem familiar, but do yourself a favor and listen to the whole album in one sitting and you’ll love the flow and somber disposition.
It’s hard to pin this album in a genre, but it’s full of all the things that make it a crowd pleaser and appears on the typical ‘indie’ playlists on Spotify like, “Ultimate Indie.” This New York based singer and music experimentalist created his title as Two Feet and released his first EP called "First Steps." The heaviness and dynamic sound make up for there just being four songs, as well as the fact you can’t find anything else exactly like this. This guy uses dense bass and energetic, catchy guitar riffs and soft vocals soaked in harmonies to capture his sound.
If you’ve heard of the artist Banks, then you’ve heard of her first album, "Goddess." It’s hard to make something better, or just as good as this album.
In September 2016, Banks released yet another emotional album, "The Alter," that shares her perspective on heartbreak, assertiveness, and desire. Each track collectively sounds like Rihanna’s "Anti," and any album by The Weeknd made a baby and that baby knew how to write its own romantic lyrics.
“Mind Games” and “Lovesick” are full of warm strings and experimental bass that capture this mysterious and moody sound that you can either dance to or workout to.
The rap duo, Run The Jewels, did the same thing that many hip-hop artists have been doing all year; dropping albums unexpectedly overnight. Run The Jewels released their third album, "Run the Jewels 3," as an early gift on Christmas Eve. What’s eye catching is Danny Brown's feature in this album is rare. This is easily one of their heavier albums that’s full of rage, political views and examples of their success especially on the track, “Legend Has It.”
You can undoubtedly work out to this, party to this, or simply just drive to it.
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