Every year, one of my favorite topics is the best music of the year. For many, including myself, music this year has been the light at the end of the tunnel or a sense of relief. Music is always a powerful thing to me the way people are able to tell stories of their life, pain, love, and etc, but this year a lot of the music I listened to hit me differently. It helped give me a sense of happiness and comfort. Instead of being extremely long-winded like I can be, I decided to make a list of some of my favorite albums, EPs, and songs of the year. I have call outs for some of what I included, but you can find everything on this playlist as well.
I am curious to know what were some of your favorite albums/EPs or songs of the year. Let me know in the comment section below:
First, let’s start with favorite albums or EPs of the year. I spent a lot of time listening to some really good albums and EPs this year. Here are ten of my favorites from the year. Keep in mind - this is in no order in particular, and clearly shows why my mom says my car sounds like an Express clothing store.
Hablot Brown - Opaque
Justin Bieber - Changes
Cleo Sol - Rose in the Dark
John Legend - Bigger Love
Westside Gunn - Pray for Paris
WizKid - Made in Lagos
Oddisee - Odd Cure
A Midsummer’s Nightmare - GQ
SAULT - Untitled (Black Is)
Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas
Favorite songs of the year - I’m going to do 20 here vs. 10. Two of my favorite songs of the year featuring Durand Bernarr which is not a surprise because both are a mood. “Freefall” makes me get up and dance in the mirror while “minding_my business” is literally my face and spirit on pointless Zoom calls.
Freefall by Kaytranada ft. Durand Bernarr
minding_my business by Knxwledge, Durand Bernarr and Rose Gold
Slow Down by Skip Marley featuring H.E.R
Don’t Leave Your Girl by Kirby
Famous by Benny the Butcher
Positions by Ariana Grande
Pretty Please by Dua Lipa
Tuesday by Duckwrth
3AM by Haim
Break My Heart by Dua Lipa
Velvet by Kirby
Shoulda by Lucky Daye ft. Babyface
Fallin by Toni Braxton
Gold by Jojo
Distance by Yebba
$500 Ounces by Westside Gunn featuring Freddie Gibbs and Roc Marciano
Love is Gangster by Dom Kennedy
Deep Reverence by Big Sean featuring Nipsey Hussle (RIP)
Set It Up by Kamaiyah featuring Trina
He Say She Say by Mulatto
I added songs from all of the above to a Spotify playlist plus other music I loved this year.
In addition to my own picks, I did ask two of my music-loving friends about some of their favorite songs or albums of the year, and here’s what they told me:
Ali (Be sure to watch his show Tacos & Tastemakers here)
The Rona times have provided everything in a tumultuous year that could be delivered: uncertainty, chaos, trauma, and countless other things that none of us had for our 2020 mood boards. The picks I have here is a reflection of what 2020 did to our collective psyche.
Open Mike Eagle “Everything Ends Last Year”
Homeboy Sandman “Trauma”
Shabaka & The Ancestors “We Will Work (On Redefining Manhood)”
Fiona Apple “Under The Table”
Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist “Something to Rap About (Feat. Tyler, The Creator)”
Oddisee “Shoot Your Shot”
Conway the Machine & Alchemist “Shoot Sideways (feat. Schoolboy Q)”
Clipping “‘96 Neve Campbell (feat. Cam & China)”
Run the Jewels “Yankee & The Brave, Pt. 4”
The Weeknd “In Your Eyes”
Via my Sister Friend Mareesa
I can start by saying Ungodly Hour by Chloe x Halle was in rotation a lot earlier this year at the start of the pandemic. Queen of the South by Mulatto and Sault’s Untitled (Rise) album for balance kept me in good spirits. When I’m trying to tap into my inner stripper, the P-Valley soundtrack is 🔥🔥🔥... And last but not least “Lockdown” by Anderson.Paak and my favorite “Fkn Around” with Meg the Stallion and Phony PPL.
Here are a few other things I thought were worth sharing this week:
Barack Obama has been on a tour promoting his book The Promise Land - which I now have in print, on my Kindle and in audible. Two of my favorite tour stops as of late have been his interview with Desus and Mero and his interview with Brene Brown for her Spotify podcast Dare to Lead.
Love the fact that Dionne Warwick is on Twitter now. It makes me want to get my grandma on there because she’s a riot. Here are two cute articles about Dionne being on Twitter first from the NYTimes and the other from Oprah Mag.
How Do We Find Joy Again: Loved this article written by our next VP’s niece Meena Harris. I would just like to say, Meena is also part of the October 20th birthday gang which includes myself, her aunt Kamala Harris, Snoop Dogg, Sunny from the View, Tom Petty and Jennifer Freeman from My Wife and Kids *gang gang* I loved this part in particular:
So, despite everything 2020 has thrown our way, when I think about the future, I feel a burst of joy. It feels strange after the year we’ve had. But what’s stranger still is that I feel this joy more deeply because of the year we’ve had. Because of this year, I learned more than I ever thought possible about how to build a reservoir of joy and how to access it.
I also really loved these articles about how Nadiya Hussain isn’t trying to blend into the food world anymore, a good read to show me clearly why my mom has loved Barbara Streisand forever - she even had a picture of her on her desk, a great profile of the legend and icon Regina King who deserves ALL her flowers, and this interview with Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham on their new book, Black Futures.
That’s it for this week and this year.
Thank you so much for reading my newsletter this year - I appreciate you all! In the new year, expect a few tweaks in true Libra fashion. Please have a great holiday however that looks for you. I pray that you and your loved ones are safe and that you have a good meal — preferably Gumbo or Black Eyed Peas for good fortune in the new year. I will also be making my first Gumbo so I would appreciate your positive thoughts and well wishes.