The year is now in full swing and there have been amazing artists from mainstream and underground artists. As the year goes on my list just keeps expanding. After much consideration here are my top 16 albums from March.

16.

Kool Keith is one the strangest and most singular figures in rap. With too many alter egos to count he has been making unique and conceptual hip hop albums since the 90s. I think his uniqueness is why he fits so well with the modern boom bap production of Real Bad Man. He’s always changing and adapting so isn’t stuck in the past like some 90s artist. Real Bad really steps up to the plate and makes great moody and sample based beats throughout the album. The best beat on the album is the infectious choir vocal samples on the song Jungle Fever. Over all these modern beats Kool Keith sounds as fresh as ever with a smooth vocal delivery with abusrd lyrics. Features from ICE-T and Atmosphere fit well with the Kool Keith and Zelooperz brings more modern flows and youtful energy. Kool Keith continues to show himself as one of the most unique and versatile rappers and Real Bad Man shows how he can change his beats to fit rappers from all different styles.

15.

100 gecs are probably the biggest names in hyperpop. It had a cult following on Soundcloud but with 100 gecs releasing their debut album 1,000 gecs in 2019 it brought the genre to more ears. For anyone who doesn’t know what hyperpop is, it’s like blending pop and electronic music until you can’t recognise either genre. Their first album was short, insanely produced songs with robotic vocals. This spawned a plethora of artists trying to copy their insane and fast-paced style. On 10,000 gecs they still have their insane production and comedy but they take lots of influence from a variety of 2000s music including pop punk, pop, rock and ska. All these influences create an even more varied tracklist with oddball ballads like Frog On The Floor, alt-rock influenced tracks like Doritos & Fritos and songs with punk-like vocals like I Got My Tooth Removed. All these sounds are still filtered through gecs chaotic production and robotic vocals. 100 gecs continue to show their comedy and playful style and expand their influences to great success on 10,000 gecs.

14.

Grammy-nominated Dutch band Altin Gun release their 5th in only 6 years. Despite being founded in the Netherlands they play Anatolian rock – a fusion of Turkish folk and rock. Dutch bassist Jasper Verhulst became enamoured with Anatolian rock and put an ad on Facebook looking for Turkish musicians. Eventually, he formed a band with two Turkish vocalists. Altin Gun combines Anatolian rock with modern production and psychedelic guitars and funky rhythms. All these elements combine to create groovy and jammy songs. All the tracks on this album have infectious energy with distinctly Turkish grooves and rhythms. The male and female vocalists bring a nice variety to the album with passionate and catchy melodies from both singers. This whole album feels like it is one big jam session with energy close to a live performance. Altin Gun provides an excellent modern look at the oft-underappreciated scene of Turkish folk and rock music during the 70s.

13.

After a 5 year gap since their last album Unknown Mortal Orchestra release their most ambitious album yet – a double album clocking in at an hour in length. The breadth and ambition of this album feel like a culmination of all the band’s music up until this point. Across the 14 tracks, UMO creates one of their most distinctive and specific moods. Both the instrumentation and vocals here are lo-fi and minimalistic creating a delicate and tender feeling to all the music. The vocals specifically are mixed to have a 70s psychedelic feel which imbues the album with a sort of pre-emptive nostalgia. With the simple grooves, tight playing and delicate arrangements this music feels timeless. This album has received a mixed review with many people feeling like it’s just background music. While it is very relaxed I think works to create a smooth and chilled listen that doesn’t require a great amount of effort or focus to understand. UMO creates their most definitive work yet and manages to make a double album feel interesting throughout.

12.

Lonnie Holley is one of the most unique and inimitable figures in the art world. He’s claimed he is the 7th of 27 children and was once pronounced brain dead after being hit by a car. The lore surrounding Lonnie is deep including the fact the has 15 children. He began his artistic career in 1979 when he carved two tombstones for his sister’s children who died in his housefire. This inspired him to make other artistic sculptures mainly from junk and assembled them in his backyard. Eventually, his artwork went on display and he widened his artistic vision to include various forms of art including painting. After a long career in the arts, he began recording music in 2006 at the age of 56 and released his first album at 62. Now at the age of 73, he releases Oh Me, Oh My a strange album to match a strange man. The album is hard to define with elements of soul, ambient, spoken word, and jazz, but most of all experimental. His voice feels weary like an old traveller. There is still a great amount of soul in the vocals just with a dejected feeling. The instrumentation feels above anything ambient but with an avant-garde and surreal edge to it. The most impressive part of this album is the modern and varied features he gets on it. This includes fellow labelmate Bon Iver, Malian singer Rokia Kone, experimental hip-hop and jazz artist Moor Mother, and indie singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten. Moor Mother’s a cryptic spoken word/rap style fits perfectly with the eclectic instrumentation while Rokia, Bon, and Sharon bring more beauty and melody to contrast with Lonnie’s dejected singing. Lonnie creates one of the most unique albums of the year working with some of the most interesting modern musical minds, and he does all this well into his 70s.

11.

The Record is the debut album by the indie supergroup Boygenius, made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. They are some of the biggest names in the sad girl indie scene – a specific 2010s subgenre of indie with female artists singing about personal issues and topics over melancholic indie-pop/indie-folk instrumentation. They had already combined forces on their 2018 self-titled EP but with a full-length album, their full talents are on show. They have a few more upbeat and anthemic songs like $20, Satanist, and Anti-Curse but the majority of this album is their signature style of sad girl indie. Songs like Emily, I’m Sorry, Revolution O and Letter To An Old Poet are some of the most melancholic songs of their career. Sometimes the album feels slightly disjointed with three singers and songwriters across 12 tracks. Still, it does bring variety but I find myself coming back to the songs heavily featuring Phoebe Bridgers the most. The opening song Without You Without Them is a great way to start the album with all three singers singing in tandem over extremely minimal production. Overall, if you’re a fan of this music scene and artists like Mitski and Soccer Mommy this album is a must-listen.

10.

Big Ghost Ltd. continues his production hot streak after last month’s Wasn’t Build In A Day this time teaming up with grimy and vivid lyricist Che Noir. Big Ghost Ltd. tones down his beats on this release by him swapping out cinematic and grand soundscapes for grimy and nocturnal beats. This works perfectly for Che’s personal and vivid lyricism describing how she grew up, everybody who doubted her and where she is now. Across the tight 22-minute run time of this album, Che continues to show herself as one of the fiercest and most constant emcees right now. The features here are fairly standard for an album Buffalo boom bap lane with verses from Flee Lord, Planet Asia, D-Styles, Skyzoo, Ransom and 38 Spesh. Fellow female emcee 7xvethegenius is a particular standout here with her unique flow and high energy which brings a battle rap energy with Che Noir. Che Noir continues to show why she is one of the most underrated emcees out there creating a focused and exciting release with Big Ghost Ltd. If you’re interested in this album I suggest checking out Professor Skye’s video review which provides an interesting analysis on the limitations and dichotomy forced upon female rappers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTjrNRAPgM&ab_channel=ProfessorSkye%27sRecordReview).

9.

I had high hopes for this sequel to 2018’s Notorious Dump Legends. I was nervous about the quality of this project after my slight disappointment in Mach’s last two albums. But, Mach and Fahim knock out of the park again on this album bringing a worthy following up to Notorious Dump Legends. The beats here are consistently great with beats from Denmark Vessey, Nicholas Craven, Sadhugold, Fortes and Fahim himself. Highlights on the instrumental end include the stretched and compressed vocals on Pissy Hastens, the delicate looped piano on N*ggas Sooooo Good and the uplifting sample on Wellness Cheques. Mach’s vocals are abstract and humorous on this album with him easily switching flows and languages between English and Haitian Creole. Tha God Fahim contrasts this with his direct flows and lyrics. The only feature on this album that works perfectly on the track Wellness Cheques. Left Lane Didion and Big Cheeko bring motivational and positive verses to the upbeat instrumental creating the most cohesive song on the album. The song also features the memorable line from Mach, “You think dog shit is chocolate ice cream,” in one of his most absurd and comedic metaphors yet. The duo of Mach and Fahim sound like them in 2018 again when they released amazing project after amazing project.

8.

B. Cool Aid is the musical duo of hip-hop genre benders Pink Siifu and Ahwlee. Individually, this is probably their most R&B and neo-soul inspired and as a group is definitely their most ambitious with 16 tracks and 1 hour and 7 minutes of music. To create this lo-fi and abstract fusion of hip-hop, R&B and neo-soul they enlist. This includes alternative R&B and neo-soul singers like Foushee, Liv.e, Jimetta Rose, and Melanie Charles, legacy hip-hop figures like Big Rube, and Ladbybug Mecca formerly of the Digable Planets, and fellow alternative rappers like Denmark Vessey, Butcher Brown, and Quelle Chris. None of these features have traditional verses or hooks like most albums but rather are layered into the many sounds and elements of each song making each contribution to the album not overtly clear. All these artists come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. The instrumentals here are layered, and complex but bring a mellow and soothing atmosphere. Pink Siifu’s raspy and high-pitched vocals bring another unique layer to this album. The biggest strength of this album is the production on this album handled primarily by Ahwlee. He blends neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop to create a smooth and mellow blend that feels nostalgic and modern at the same time. All these elements come together perfectly on the penultimate track Brandy, Aaliyah. The beat is slightly boom-bap inspired but still has the same soothing feel as the rest of the album. The singers bring another layer as Pink Siifu raps a fast and complex verse about R&B legends Brandy and Aaliyah. The cherry on top of the hip-hop cake is two great verses from Denmark Vessey and Quelle Chris. Another highlight of this album is three verses from Ladybug Mecca who sounds just as conscious and thoughtful as she did in the 90s with the Digable Planets. Pink Siifu continues to show himself as one of the most ever-changing and creative minds in hip-hop and Ahwlee brings amazing simultaneous throwback and modern production.

7.

Masego is a multi-talented R&B artist who can sing, produce and play the saxophone. He’s currently most famous for work with other artists like Kaytranada, Kehlani, Spillage Village and most recently his track Navajo being sampled in the Certified Lover Boy opening track by Drake. On his second solo album, he combines contemporary R&B with trap production to create catchy beats and melodies. The first track Black Anime is the best showcase of Masego’s ability to create a fun and catchy track. The song builds up with whispered vocals and sound effects then breaks into a lilting trap beat with Masego almost rapping over it. The next track Sax Fifth Avenue shows his talents with the trap beat of the song being punctuated by elongated sax notes played by Masego himself. Despite Masego’s clear talents the album never feels pretentious or flashy for the sake of being flashy. The album is simple, catchy and perfect for the modern era of trap and R&B relevance. If this album doesn’t catapult Masego’s solo career into the mainstream, then I don’t know what will.

6.

Rapping has never been the main focus of Sage Elsesser. He has been sponsored by skater fashion brands and began skating professionally in 2014. He also models for clothing brands and ran the art direction for Earl Sweatshirt’s album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. He started rapping under the name Navy Blue in 2015 and started his own label in 2020 where he’s released three full-length albums. The rap game has never been for money or acclaim for Navy Blue but for having an outlet. His albums have always been authentic, conscious and deeply personal. On Ways of Knowing, his major label debut on Def Jam, he is just as genuine as ever. The production here is less experimental than on previous projects. The beats here are jazzy and lush with many samples using soul samples that are pitched up. In comparison to other chipmunk soul beats like early Kanye West these beats are mainly drumless. This makes the beats very minimalistic and means the quality of the beats relies greatly on the samples used. Luckily for this album the samples here a soulful and memorable with highlights being simmering emotions on Embers and the vocal chops on The Medium. These minimal beats mean there is a greater focus on Navy Blue’s lyrics. His lyrics are as personal and poetic as ever with much of the album feeling like diary entries or poetic self-reflections. The features here add to the feel of the album with verses from Budgie and Zeroh and soulful choruses from Kelly Moonstone and Liv.e. On Navy Blue’s major label debut, he shows his continued ability to make personal and authentic art.

5.

With the success of her 2018 album Isolation and her two huge collaborations with Tyler, the Creator Kali Uchis has been catapulted into the mainstream as one of the biggest names in R&B. This album further cements this position with the album debuting at number 4 on the Billboard charts and the single for the album Moonlight blowing up on Tiktok. She continues her blend of soulful and smooth R&B with catchy pop melodies and production. Her vocals across this album are irresistibly smooth and sultry. The opening track I Wish You Roses has one of the most catchy melodies and choruses on the album. She has some more smooth soul and funk influences on some tracks All Mine and Blue. All Mine has one of the most vocally impressive choruses on the album with Kali reaching into an extremely high register in the chorus. Blue feels like a homage to 70s psychedelic and smooth soul with groovy drums and more mysterious and deeper vocals. She switches into Spanish to great effect on this album on the tracks Como Te Quiero Yo, Hasta Cuando and Moonlight. Her ability to switch seamlessly between languages and make them sound smooth and purposeful shows her supreme vocal talents. The closing track Happy Now feels like the biggest summer jam on the album with an immediately catchy chorus, call and response vocals and summery, funky production. The features on here are well thought out and placed with her picking some of the best fellow R&B vocalists. Omar Apollo, Don Tolliver and Summer Walker all bring their own unique vocals and chemistry with Kali. Kali Uchis continues to show why she deserves to be one of the biggest names in R&B and makes probably my favourite mainstream album from the year so far.

4.

Yves Tumor’s latest album, which challenges Fiona Apple for the longest album title, can be simplified to PALWCBWDNC(OSHBW). Yves Tumor has established their name as one of the most inimitable and talented figures in rock. In an industry with bands like Imagine Dragons getting labelled as rock Yves Tumor’s success has stood with their experimental blend of psychedelic blend of rock, punk, dance and funk music. This album is their most complete yet with the album blending glam rock, post-punk, psychedelia and art rock seamlessly. The album opens with God Is a Circle with a propulsive bassline and vocals chopped up to sound like someone breathing in and out rapidly. These elements create a groovy instrumental pallet that sounds like a twisted version of dance-punk. Another highlight from this album is Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood which uses dynamics to great effects. It starts with spaced-out guitars that cut turn into a slow and resonant bassline when Yves Tumor’s high-pitched vocals come in. The song builds up with a heavy classic rock-inspired guitar riff. The song repeatedly switches between these intense and delicate elements keeping the song ever-changing. Yves Tumor’s lyrics on this album create this otherwordly feeling that fits perfectly with instrumentation. They often refer to themselves in the first person but mix in elements of normal reflections and situations with otherwordly situations and mystical elements. This creates an interesting feeling that feels somewhat relatable but still creates a unique musical world. The biggest highlight on the album comes on the final three tracks on the album which is my favourite three-track run of the year so far. They are all so varied but flow effortlessly between each other and mix various elements of rock and psychedelia into funky and memorable tracks. Yves Tumor creates by far their most impressive work continuing to experiment and show themselves as a bastion of rock music.

3.

I was concerned for Black Country, New Road when their lead vocalist and songwriter, Isaac Wood, left. He had been so crucial to the mood and success of their last two albums. With emotive singing and songwriting, he set apart BC,NR as one of the most complete and exciting bands in the British indie rock scene. They were catapulted to success with their first album and when their second album took more elements from chamber pop and art rock their mainstream appeal and their popularity grew even more. This album is a live album of brand-new songs by their band. The vocal and songwriting duties on this album are shared between three members of the six-piece band. Despite concerns about how the loss of their lead singer would affect the band this album is emotive and beautifully written and arranged as ever. They lean more into the chamber pop and theatrical sounds of their second album. Tyler Hyde who sings on 5 of the 9 songs on this album still has the emotive tones in her voice that BC,NR had with Isaac Wood. The instrumental elements that make BC,NR so special are also here flute, violin and saxophone solos throughout the album. One of the highlights of Tyler’s singing and songwriting is the opening track Up Song. With saxophone buildups that lead to propulsive drum sections, Tyler sings through these sections with ease. This song has one of the most powerful choruses of the album with all the band members singing for the pre-chorus then Tyler singing powerfully alone in the chorus. Across The Pond Friend shows how sad the album can get with the song written and sung by Lewis Evans. The song is about a friend the narrator has met overseas that seems like it may have romantic implications. When they have to go they feel unready to leave their friend with the line, “How could I be ready to say goodbye?” In the chorus, he imagines meeting up with this friend again and them running to him and hugging him. The most ambitious and impressively arranged song on this album is the almost 10-minute-long Turbine/Pigs. The song shows the strength of subtlety in BC,NR’s music with a majority of this song being subtle piano with more subdued and melancholic singing by Tyler. The buildup of this song is only instrumental with a glorious cacophony of saxophone, guitar and piano ending the song. The strength and subtleties of these songs are even more impressive considering the whole album was recorded live. It will be interesting to see how many ideas and songs from this album make their way onto BC,NR’s third studio album. This band continues to show the strength of their sound and manages to capture a unique time in the band’s history in a beautiful and passionate live performance.

2.

Two of the biggest names in the underground hip-hop scene collab for the aptly named Scaring The Hoes. Danny Brown has been relevant since the early 2010s and has been known for their experimental production and his absurdist lyrics and crazy lyrics and flows that often feel unhinged. He’s had some mainstream crossover including hopping on the huge posse cut 1Train. JPEGMAFIA or Peggy on the other hand is the new blood of the underground hip-hop scene. He produces all his own music and has been implementing singing into some of his more recent albums. Bringing these two artists together is a fantasy for fans of the experimental hip-hop scene and this album lives up to the hype. Peggy produces the whole album and this may be his craziest production yet. Most impressively he produced the majority of the album without using modern technology. Rather than using the current industry standard of Pro Tools the SP-404 and manual sampler released in 2005. The fact that some of these beats like the particularly insane Garbage Pale Kids and Run The Jewels. Gargabe Pale Kids samples a Japanese ad from 1985 throughout the song and goes from glitchy electronic beats to grand guitar riffs throughout the song. Run The Jewels is barely over 1 minute long but samples one of the most insane horn solos I’ve ever heard. Because of this production style the album is mixed very uniquely with much of the album feeling very lo-fi and Danny Brown’s vocals sometimes being mixed very low. The rapping here matches the insane energy of the beats. Both of their rapping styles contrast well here to keep the album consistently interesting throughout. JPEGMAFIA has a great ability to change his flows and sound comfortable on any beat. His flow is fast-paced but his rapping sounds much more controlled. In comparison, Danny Brown has a much more wild delivery with his high-pitched vocals contrasting with JPEGMAFIA’s delivery. The song Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up/Muddy Waters shows their differing styles perfectly. Danny Brown raps over the first half of the song then a beat switch halfway through brings JPEGMAFIA’s more controlled flows and deeper vocals. This album truly lives up to the title with two of the most experimental artists in hip-hop teaming up to create one of the most insane hip-hop albums ever. Showing this album to a hip-hop fan in the 90s might legitimately kill them. And who knows what would happen if you showed this album to one of the aforementioned hoes.

1.

Throughout slowthai’s music, he has always shown he has bigger than just grime and trap-inspired UK hip-hop. His first album had more standard production but dove deep into political issues in Britain. His next album was split into two halves. In the second half, he gets personal and dives deep into his own mental health issues and experiments with R&B including a track with James Blake. On his 3rd album, UGLY, these ideas are fully realised. This album feels like the sonic representation and even deeper dive into the mental health themes addressed in the second half of his sophomore album. On the production, he recruits Irish post-punk Fontaines DC to help. The album is a unique blend of post-punk, dance and hip-hop music. Across much of the album, slowthai isn’t even rapping. The album opens with Yum which perfectly set the sonic and lyrical themes of the album. Over frantic production including recording over staggered breathing slowthai raps about sex addiction in the first verse then drug addiction in the second. The song ends with slowthai claiming he’s going to self-destruct. The fourth track, Feel Good, brings an interesting contrast to the album. Over anthemic guitars, slowthai sings about being happy and trying to see the best in life. Slowthai creates a post-punk motivational jam and it is by far the most positive song on the album. By itself the song is uplifting but in the context of the album it takes on a darker meaning. It feels like a temporary respite where slowthai temporarily feels positive before he goes back to his addictions and feelings of self-hatred. This self-hatred is exemplified on the track Fuck It Puppet. In the song, he talks to a manifestation of his own self-hatred and doubt. He raps about imagining dying in various ways and relapsing on his drug addictions. In the second half of the track, this manifestation of his negative thoughts talks back to him in a darkly comedic fashion. When he says at least my mum loves the voice responds that she’s biased, then when he says he wants to kill himself the voice claims he couldn’t do it which is then immediately contrasted when he says he wants to live and the voice offers him cocaine. On the track Never Again slowthai shows his ability to craft a story. The song is about someone who was in a relationship with a woman and after they broke up he is still clinging to the memory of her. In the first verse he runs into his ex’s parents who tell him that she’s now pregnant and dating someone called Stuart who she argues with frequently. In the second verse, he runs it to his ex with her newborn baby. She is immediately angry at the narrator and blames him for her issues. She then switches up and says she is proud of what he’s now achieved and wants him to succeed then immediately leaves. In the devastating final verse, he hears rumours of a girl murdered by her husband. He calls her ex’s brother is distraught and can’t speak. He then sees a memorial for his ex-girlfriend who has been killed by Stuart. The picture used for the memorial was one of them together at Winter Wonderland where the narrator was cut out. The whole song is an excruciating build-up of tension that shows slowthai’s songwriting ability to create a devastating song. My favourite song on the album is the penultimate track, Tourniquet. The song is made up of simple elements that pair together to create a tortured and complex song. In the chorus, he uses the metaphor of a tourniquet used to cut off his arm to compare to him cutting off the toxic people and aspects of his life. The chorus is sung angrily over a melancholic guitar line and slow and menacing drums. The refrain explodes in rage with slowthai yelling about breaking his bones and trying to find an escape from his pain. The bridge after the refrain breaks into lightly strummed acoustic guitar as he dives deeper into his self-doubts. With these simple elements, slowthai creates a complex song about his own struggles. This album is one of the most personal and introspective looks into mental health I’ve listened to and uses sonic ideas, lyrics and metaphors to explore these complex ideas. Overall, this is my favourite album of the year so far.