In retrospect, this album was groundbreaking. While we previously had rappers integrating singing into their tracks, I feel like Bryson Tiller’s TRAPSOUL was the first time an R&B singer featured rapping on their debut album and did it well. I will argue that “Exchange” is one of the best R&B songs of this millennium so far, and “Don’t” was an amazing first single. I even got to interview Bryson for Paper Magazine, so this album holds a special place in my heart.
2016 Chance The Rapper-Coloring Book
I remember counting down the days for this album to come out; it was that level of anticipation. I don’t often describe rap albums as beautiful, but literally seeing this album performed live made me tear up. It mixes religion, living it up, childhood, and love so beautifully. A masterpiece.
2017 Kehlani-SweetSexySavage
The title fits this album perfectly. An opening up the album with a spoken-word piece set the tone for how Kehlani was going to approach her career. The album is both vulnerable and strong. Also had an amazing tour.
2018 Drake-Scorpion
I liked the duplicity of this album, one side being a hard rap album and the other being smooth R&B. Also, this album features the best pairing of two songs “Summer Games” and “Jaded.” The tour for this album also had one of my favorite set designs I’ve ever seen, with a huge screen on the floor.
2019 Tie Ariana Grande-thank u, next Carly Rae Jepsen-Dedicated
It was hard to pick between these two! Both played a major role in 2019 to me. Literally songs like “Needy” and “No Drug Like Me” were on repeat for me. I was able to see both of them live that year and were two of my favorite shows.
2020 Dua Lipa-Future Nostalgia
This album was the bright spot of 2020. While I feel like a lot of the music released in 2020 was either sad or introspective, this was the pure fun that I needed during the beginning of the pandemic.
fresh pair of iis 