Best Rap/Hip-hop Album
Billy Woods / Kenny Segal – Maps
Maps, one of the best hip-hop albums of the year, features Billy Woods on vocals and Kenny Segal on production. The primary theme in Maps is traveling and touring, as is evidenced by the lyrics, the album art (which resembles an airplane safety brochure), and the fact that he wrote and recorded much of Maps while on the road. Segal’s production fits with Woods’ flow perfectly, and their sound together is very fluid. Woods and Segal have collaborated before in 2019 for Hiding Places. Maps features guest appearances from Elucid, his longtime collaborator under Armand Hammer, Danny Brown, Samuel T. Herring and others.
Favorite track: FaceTime (with Samuel T. Herring)
Honorable mention: Danny Brown – Quaranta
Compared to Atrocity Exhibition, Quaranta is a much more serious album about Brown’s issues with drug abuse, gentrification and social issues. However, the production is a little odd and sounds unfinished at times.
Favorite track: Tantor
Best Pop Album
Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift has released yet another album in the Taylor’s Version “series” in which she rerecords her older albums to retain the rights to her music. These also often feature bonus tracks (labeled “Into the Vault”) that were not on the original album. 1989 (TV)’s five bonus tracks were immediately well-received, and they are some of the best songs in the album. Swift’s original 1989 is one of the best albums she’s ever released, and the Taylor’s Version rerelease certainly lives up to its reputation (no pun intended).
Favorite track: Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)
Honorable mention: Mitski – The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We
Singer-songwriter Mitski’s seventh studio album TLISAW is an excellent follow-up to her previous work and her most emotional and raw album to date.
Favorite track: My Love Mine All Mine
Best Rock Album
Sufjan Stevens – Javelin
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter whose musical career has spanned more than two decades. His latest studio album, Javelin, sitting at 10 tracks and 42 minutes long, is one of the best albums of the year. It received widespread acclaim from critics and internet users alike. Stevens’ Javelin is an indie folk album with beautiful instrumentals, raw lyricism and vocals, which shows Stevens’ prowess as a singer-songwriter. Javelin was dedicated to his late partner, Evans Richardson. His style on Javelin is similar to previous albums of his such as Carrie & Lowell.
Favorite track: Will Anybody Ever Love Me?
Honorable mention: what is your name? – My Name Is…
The artist what is your name? followed up 2022’s excellent album, The Now Now and Never with a more indie rock-focused collection of songs. They show a lot of potential for a more mainstream and more polished release in the future.
Favorite track: 21 and lonely
