The Round-Up: The Best Albums of 2016 So Far

Kanye West
The Life of Pablo
G.O.O.D. Music
Hottest Jams: “Ultralight Beam” / “Father Stretch My Hands 1 & 2” / “Real Friends”
Is it an album? A living, breathing performance art piece? An ad for another shitty streaming service? Whatever you want to call it, Kanye continues to be this generation’s greatest musical innovator and a guy who is working completely in his own space. At his MSG record release show, West quipped that people were flocking to the arena to see him play “one on none,” and it’s true. He’s not competing against other artists, rappers, or musicians anymore; he’s stretching his hands (I mean…) in ways we’ve never seen.

The Life of Pablo is an album that only Kanye could have made — a sonic manifestation of what life is like inside one of the world’s most creative minds. This thing shifts from the divine halls of the Sistine Chapel to an Atlanta trap house (I’m talking Metro, not Desiigner, btw) to sitting shotgun in a convertible speeding down Lincoln in Marina Del Rey… and that’s only the first 13 minutes. Though it’s not perfect, there are too many great moments to cover here, but he sums up where he’s at on the Weeknd feature, “FML.” “I’ve been living without limits. As far as my business, I’m the only one that’s in control.” That’s the Kanye mission statement in a nutshell, and we are goddamn lucky that we get to experience it.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Rihanna
ANTI
Westbury Road
Hottest Jams: “Close to You,” “Yeah, I Said It,” “Love on the Brain”
Rihanna albums tend to feel huge — packed with big ideas, massive stylistic shifts, and A-List guest appearances. However, for her eighth album, the 28 year-old decided to scale things back, crafting an album that feels intimate, emotional, and 1000% hers. She left off recent smashes “Bitch Better Have My Money” and “FourFiveSeconds” and only gave out two features.

By stripping things away, the focus is fixed on the artist, her writing, and that fucking voice. That criminally underrated voice. She’s never mentioned alongside the Adeles and Beyonces of the world, but her versatility and powerful vulnerability are untouchable. She effortlessly shifts from the raspy, upper-register soul of “Love on the Brain” and “Higher” to the restrained, smoky sensuality of “Needed Me” and “Yeah, I Said It.” She caps off her virtuoso performance with the pure, heartbroken closer “Close to You,” which is still one of the best songs of the year.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Lontalius
I’ll Forget 17
Partisan Records
Hottest Jams: “It’s Not Love” / “Glow” / “Selfless”
One of the many interesting aspects of TheFader’s must-read Kaytranada feature was his struggle to move from a Soundcloud producer/remixer into a full-fledged artist. It must have been a similarly strange shift for 18 year-old Eddie Johnston, who rose to digital fame a few years ago with emotional, stripped-down covers of his favorite R&B and pop songs. While his debut maintains his early work’s confessional nature, I’ll Forget 17 is a massive step forward, both in construction and composition. His signature Casio keyboard is mostly replaced by loose, strummed guitar chords and subtle electronic dynamics, which add depth and variation to his arrangements. Songwriting-wise, he’s light years ahead of where he was, crafting a record full of relatable, insightful looks at growing up, falling in love, and moving on when young love invariably lets you down.

Kamaiyah
A Good Night in the Ghetto
Self-Released
Hottest Jams: “How Does it Feel?” / “Break You Down” / “I’m On”
More than anything, the Oakland newcomer’s debut tape is a celebration. It’s a celebration of her humble past (“I’m On,” “How Does it Feel?”) and exciting present/future (“Out the Bottle,” “Fuck it Up”). But this is far from just party music. Cuts like the slithering slow jam, “Break You Down,” and the reflective, “For My Dawg,” highlight her rare versatility and keep the collection balanced. Kamaiyah’s vocals are a throwback to the sound of the 90s: clean, relentlessly melodic, and likely to appeal to those suffering from auto-tune fatigue. It’s an exciting first statement from an artist with massive potential, and it’s yet another win for an East Bay scene that is thriving right now.

Hear the whole thing, here.

KING
We are KING
King Creative
Hottest Jams: “Hey – Extended Mix” / “The Greatest” / “The Right One”
The Los Angeles trio’s debut is a quiet storm of breezy, electro soul in the tradition of Sade, Prince, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Though their influences may be from yesteryear, love never goes out of style, and there are plenty of modern touches in the group’s warm, languid style. We are KING is meant to be consumed whole, and it feels reductive to pick out key tracks from a record with such a consistent vibe and quality. From the soft sashay of “The Right One” to the lush closer, “Native Land,” the disc simply glides along, its songs simultaneously bleeding together and standing out. That dichotomy is probably the most impressive part of the album as a whole, as there are precious few artists who can focus so intently on one sound without repeating themselves.

Listen to it on Spotify.

PnB Rock
RNB3
Atlantic
Hottest Jams: “What U Want” / “Ballin” / “Feelin Like Diddy”
I completely whiffed on the Philly native’s incredible RNB3 when it dropped last November, but I haven’t listened to any albums more than it in 2016. If there’s any justice in the world, the 25 year-old’s hyper-melodic street rap will be the soundtrack of the summer, picking up where fellow tri-state native Fetty Wap left off. What he lacks as a lyricist, he makes up for with hooks, dropping a earworms aplenty over syrupy keys and uncompromising trap drums. I’m fascinated to see where his career goes from here. He’s already got the tracks, now he just needs a break.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Kendrick Lamar
untitled unmastered
Top Dawg / Aftermath
Hottest Jams: “untitled 05 | 09.21.2014.” / “untitled 06 | 06.30.2014” / “untitled 08 | 09.06.2014.”
Part of what makes Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly so special was the scope of it. No matter how many times you listen to it, there’s always something new there. For that reason, this 8-song collection of B-sides feels especially digestible — a light dessert after a massive, five-star dinner.

Of course, this is Sir Kendrick Lamar, so proceedings are far from straightforward. For example, the 8-minute epic, “untitled 7,” is three songs in one. It starts as a buoyant, damn-near radio friendly number. Then, it shifts to a free-form, drumless rap clinic before finally landing as a lo-fi, blues jam. In the rest of the disc’s 34 minutes, the 28 year-old touches on countless genres and styles, ducking in and out of his signature melodic flow and underrated signing voice with the ease and mastery of a genius at his peak.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Esperanza Spalding
Emily’s D+Evolution
Concord
Hottest Jams: “One” / “Ebony and Ivy” / “Unconditional Love”
Jazz fusion hasn’t exactly been burning up the charts in recent years, but that didn’t stop the Portland native from going deep down that rabbit hole on her exquisite fifth album. Emily’s D+Evolution defies characterization, combining virtuosic musicianship with razor-sharp songwriting. While there are bits of Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, and Prince in here, it’s one of the most original albums I’ve heard this year, and she seamlessly weaves jazz noodling with pop hooks and prog-rock grandiosity to craft a sound that is challenging yet accessible.

Listen to it on Spotify.

David Bowie
Blackstar
ISO
Hottest Jams: “I Can’t Give Everything Away” / “Dollar Days” / “Lazarus”
It’s fitting that someone who gave us so much in life would leave us one more gift in death. The great man’s 25th and final studio album is a glorious curtain call, full of the kind of insight and truth that only a lifetime of experiences can uncover. And while it will be years before anybody can place into any kind of proper context, it certainly feels like a fitting bookend of one of the greatest careers in music history.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Alexandria
Promise EP
Awful
Hottest Jams: “You Ain’t Gotta Lie” / “Last Thing ” / “Complement”
While I’m still not totally convinced by the men of Awful Records, the Atlanta crew boasts two of the most promising young singers around in Abra and Alexandria. The latter’s third project is a lean, six-song set that is probably her strongest yet. Without ever raising her voice, the Atlanta native takes complete control of Ethereal’s sparse arrangements, delivering sharp lyrics about the feeling of being liberated from a shitty relationship. Standouts “You Ain’t Gotta Lie” and “Fly” are gleefully savage, reminding us that sometimes the softest voices can cut the deepest.

Listen to it at Bandcamp.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto
The Revenant (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Milan
Hottest Jams: “Church Dream,” “Discovering River,” “The Revenant Main Theme”
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Oscar winning 12th feature is all about mood, and it wouldn’t have had nearly the impact without Sakamoto and Carsten “Alva Noto” Nicolai’s stirring, pensive score. Whether you’ve seen the film or not, the soundtrack’s 23 songs chart a fascinating journey that’s equal parts despair and beauty. The soundtrack is the first from the legendary Japanese composer since his 2014 diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer, and you’d have to imagine that the process of sickness and recovery — which is also central to the film — played a massive role in how the score played out.

Listen to it on Spotify.

The 1975
I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
Dirty Hit
Hottest Jams: “She’s American,” “Somebody Else,” “A Change of Heart”
Ambition is in short supply in modern guitar music, but nobody told the 1975. They’ve spent the last few years setting fire to teenage hearts and withered blogger keyboards with their 80s-influenced jams and impish disregard for their arena rock forefathers. Annoyed as a certain sub-sect of over-30 music writers may be with them, the Manchester quartet simply has the tunes, and their second album is full of watertight, big-room pop-rock singles that are in short supply in 2016. “She’s American” sounds like the best song Huey Lewis never wrote, while “A Change of Heart” and “Somebody Else” are A+, ‘arena full of lighters’ ballads. And while not everything works (“If I Believe in You.” Yikes.), the disc is full of ideas and takes real stylistic and lyrical risks, breathing air into an increasingly lifeless genre.

Listen to it on Spotify.

DJDS
Stand Up and Speak
Body High
Hottest Jams: “Darling Cheryl” / “You Don’t Have to Be Alone” / “In the Flames”
There are good months, than there is DJ Dodger Stadium’s February. Samo Sound Boy & Jerome LOL dropped their second (and best) album together and found time to contribute to five songs on THE LIFE OF FUCKING PABLO. While the LA duo is known for their emotional, repetitive vocal samples, they used live vocals and organic instruments more than ever on SU&S. Though they’re often still looped like samples (“You Don’t Have to Be Alone,” “I Don’t Love You”), on tracks like “Something to Believe In” and “Darling Cheryl,” they use them to create the closest things to streamlined, verse-chorus pop songs of their career. That shift gives makes the record the most balanced of their impressive careers.

Listen to it on Spotify.

CFCF
On Vacation
International Feel
Hottest Jams: “Fleurs Laissés Dans Un Taxi” / “Pleasure Centre” / “Lighthouse on Chatham Sound”
Michael Silver’s music tends to have a palpable sense of place. His first LP, Continent, feels like getting lost in nature, while Exercises explored urban life. Outside felt like being in transit, and Music for Objects was all about the home. It doesn’t take a sleuth to decipher what his second project for International Feel is all about. On Vacation takes you from the Far East (“Sate Padang”) to the East Coast (“Vermont), but it’s most natural home is to the famous Balearic Islands just East of Spain. At just over 30 minutes, it’s a perfect little jaunt, leaving you refreshed and relaxed.

Hear the whole thing, here.

Mssingno
Fones
XL
Hottest Jams: “Fones” / “Scope”
In the Internet era, few artists prioritize quality over quantity, refusing to bend to the pressure to staying in the 24-hour blog cycle. The London producer is one of those rare ones, putting out precious few remixes since genre-defining, lone EP back in 2013. But when he does drop something, you can bet it’ll be a banger. And Fones is no let-down, featuring four hyper-melodic, R&B influenced club tracks. Nobody handles pitch-shifted vocals like Mssingno, and he wraps the warped voices of Clara La San (“Fones”), Justin Timberlake (“Inta”), and a couple of unknowns around rumbling sub-bass, warm synths, and adhesive, upper-register melodies. The disc’s thrilling sound is all his own, and it continues to be difficult to define and ever harder to replicate.

Listen to it on Spotify.

Mikey Dollaz
Picture Me Rollin’
Self-Released
Hottest Jams: “Commas,” “Flat or Molly,” “Hot Boy”
The Chicago MC’s sound has always defied genres, and on the excellent Picture Me Rollin’, Dollaz takes on drill, bop, Atlanta trap, and even bits of grime to devastating effect. Featuring a wide-ranging, intercontinental stable of producers, he easily shifts from bellowing street rap (“Commas,” “Ready to Eat”) to melodic party music (“Flat or Molly,” “Now”) to auto-tune bedroom crooning (“Fuck me Right,” “Girl I Want You”). It’s an exciting, versatile compilation from a young rapper who can is capable of going in a bunch of different directions… often all at the same time.

Hear the whole thing, here.