This year has been great for music. It was a lot harder than I thought trying to come up with a solid top five for the year. But, somehow, I was able to do it. Do keep in mind this list is coming from someone that primarily listens to Hip-Hop/Rap. So if there’s an album that didn’t make the list that you think should have, chances are I never heard it. With that being said here is my list of the top five albums of 2023.
Now I know I just talked about mostly listening to Hip-Hop/Rap, but I never said it was all I listened to. In all honesty though, this is an album I most likely would not have listened to last year. But my taste in music has expanded this year and I’m very happy about that because this album was great. Even though this is a basic answer because it’s the biggest song on the album, “From The Start” is definitely my favourite song off this album.
The perfect summer vibe. That is the best way to describe this album. To be honest, after they released “4EVA”, I was expecting every song to have that same signature KAYTRANADA bounce in the beats. Of course, that was not the case. And while I was disappointed about that at first, I realized the album we got was still prenominal. If you’re ever looking for an album to throw on and just vibe too for half an hour, this is the one for you. My favourite song off this one is ‘Rebuke”.
This album was an unexpected late addition to my top 5 list. I had heard of CZARFACE before because of their collab albums with MF DOOM, but this was my first full CZARFACE album. And I think it’s safe to say I will definitely be checking out more of their music. I love when rappers talk about nerd stuff and this album was a great example of that. But I’m not surprised because mixing rap with comic book characters is what CZARFACE is all about. Yet they still songs talking about their real life issues, and how they used comic books as an escape from reality. I couldn’t choose just one song as a favourite for this one. It’s a tie between “Mama’s Basement” and “Gatecrasher (ft. Logic)”.
I discovered Sampha through his many amazing features on songs with artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar. So when I heard he was dropping an album I was very excited to check it out, but had no idea what to expect. And after listening to the album I am very happy I went into it blind because it was a fantastic listening experience. In a 41 minute album, he was able to blend the genres alternative R&B, soul, electronic, jazz, and jungle. It was a different album then what I am used to, but after listening to it I want to get used to this style of album. “Suspended” was my favourite song.
Me with my vinyl of the 2023 album “College Park” by Logic.
Before I get to my favourite album of the year, I wanted to take a moment to list some honourable mentions that I still loved, but didn’t quite make the cut:
Let’s Start Here – Lil Yachty
The Patience – Mick Jenkins
College Park – Logic
Voir Dire – Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist
Quaranta – Danny Brown
For All The Dogs – Drake
Utopia – Travis Scott
And Then You Pray For Me – Westside Gunn
And now for my favourite album of 2023:
Different. If I had to describe this album in one word, that is the word I would use. This album is definitely an acquired taste. I’ll never fault anyone if they say they don’t like it. But – as you can probably tell considering it’s my top album of the year – I loved it. This album was my introduction to both JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown and I think it was a great place to start. The sampling used on this album is super unique and really shows how good of a producer JPEGMAFIA is. If you feel like listening to something outside of your comfort zone I highly suggest giving this album a try. It changes all the time, but at this very moment my favourite song off this album is “Kingdom Hearts Key (ft. Redveil)”.
