My Favorite Music of 2020

Welcome to my third year-end list of music from the past year and beyond. This year more than ever, music was a very important part of my life. These songs were the soundtrack for everything from get-togethers, car rides, gym sessions, and of course, the seemingly endless quarantine during the peak of COVID. Below, you will find my winners and runner-ups for “Album of the Year”, “Song of the Year”, “Best Hip-Hop Track”, and “Best Underrated Song”. Additionally, after that I included some of my favorite performances from the year, as well as songs from past years that were important to me this year. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you find some music in this list that you enjoy. Attached right below this intro are Spotify and Apple Music playlists including all of the music I mentioned in this article. Happy reading and listening!

After it became evident that the COVID shutdown would become more than a two week hiatus and prevent touring and festivals from taking place for all of 2020, many labels and major artists decided to delay projects that were scheduled for release this past year until a more opportune time. The Weeknd, however, had already begun his album rollout, with the release of chart-topping lead singles “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless” in late 2019. On March 20th, After Hours was released as the first full length project from The Weeknd in four years. Not only is this my favorite album to come out this year, it is also the album that most embodies 2020 for me. I’m sure we’re all tired of hearing how crazy this year has been, but After Hours, which dropped days before what would become a multi-month quarantine, was the perfect soundtrack for that time.

With phenomenal vocal performances across the project paired with excellent production, the entire album feels intentional with no track that appears phoned in or tacked on (which tends to happen more often than not in the modern streaming era). At almost one hour, and with no features to assist, The Weeknd shows why he deserves his spot as one of the most popular artists of this decade. On top of a stellar album, The Weekend also released a deluxe with one of my favorite songs in “Nothing Compares”, in addition to many remixes including “Heartless” with Lil Uzi, and “In Your Eyes” with Doja Cat.

A consistently impressive project throughout, After Hours is one thing that I am glad came out of 2020.

Best Tracks: “Hardest to Love”, “In Your Eyes (feat. Doja Cat)”, “Scared to Live”, “Nothing Compares”

There were many other great projects that were released that could very easily have been my album of the year, not least of all being this one. With this project, Polo G solidified himself in my mind, as one of, if not the most promising young rap artist of today. Polo G first rose to prominence last year with his breakout hit “Pop Out” alongside Lil Tjay. With THE GOAT, Polo G shines over a variety of beats, and with an array of flows. Throughout this project, he proves that he is able to create everything from hard hitting bangers (“Go Stupid”), to thoughtful story-telling (“I Know”), and everything in between. Polo G shows his versatility on this project and I believe he has a bright future ahead of him.

Best Tracks: “Martin and Gina”, “I Know”, “Wishing for a Hero”, “21”

With the release of Tickets To My Downfall, MGK secured his first Billboard 200 #1 album, and rightfully so. After years of being a semi-relevant rapper, Machine Gun Kelly leaned into his grittier side, releasing the biggest pop-punk record in recent history. While some critics found it shallow and not genre-advancing, I think it’s an excellent ode to a genre which hasn’t had much at all to celebrate over the past decade. Paired with contributions and production from Travis Barker, of Blink-182 fame, this project has multiple addictive tracks which are among my most played songs of the year, even though this album was released in late September. Atop the list would be “my ex’s best friend (feat. blackbear)” which I played countless times, throughout this fall. The deluxe of this album also brought perhaps some of the best songs on the project, including a phenomenal cover of Paramore’s “misery business”.

While this album does have some tracks I really don’t care much for, the highs on this project more than outshine the lows.

Best Tracks: “my ex’s best friend”, “misery buisness”, “body bag”, “bloody valentine (acoustic)”

Until this summer, Dominic Fike had released just about everything possible except an album. A few years ago, he dropped his debut EP which included his breakout hit “3 Nights”. Following the success of that song, he earned a major label deal, and collaborated on songs with Kenny Beats (“Phone Numbers”), Omar Apollo (“Hit Me Up”), and lended his vocals to one of my favorite songs of 2019: Kevin Abstract’s “Peach”. Undeterred — or perhaps encouraged — by the lack of touring to be had this summer, Dominic Fike released a very impressive first full-length project. He shines similarly to how he has through the start of his career with smooth vocals, catchy hooks, and melodic verses across the entire project. Fike generally sticks to what he does best, but he does venture out into new territory on some tracks on the project; sometimes it pays off and leads to a great song (“Florida”, “Vampire”), but sometimes it does not (“Joe Blazey”, “Come Here”). However, I would much rather have an artist, especially a young one, try something new rather than output the same type of music over their entire career.

Much like Polo G, I think Dominic Fike has superstar potential and this album could be the first of many excellent ones from him.

Best Tracks: “Double Negative (Skeleton Milkshake)”, “Vampire”, “Why”, “Florida”

Like most of Kevin Parker’s albums, The Slow Rush is a sonic wonderland from start to finish. Shaking conventional track lengths and styles, Parker’s experimental and innovative side shines through. Whether it be through songs that cascade and feel like jam sessions (“Posthumous Forgiveness”, “One More Hour”) to more traditional, groovy tracks (“Is It True”, “Lost in Yesterday”), Parker showcases his ability to create a masterpiece unlike any other artist. This album however, is not without faults, as I think some songs (“Breath Deeper”, “Instant Destiny”) do enter a realm of repetitiveness that feels more annoying than musical, personally. However, Parker’s latest album is a very worthy successor to his 2015 masterpiece Currents, which was no small feat.

Best Tracks: “Lost in Yesterday”, “Posthumous Forgiveness”, “Is It True”, “On Track”

The only artist in this section who was entirely new to me this year, Kota holds his own across this project, which dropped at the start of summer. Kept short, at around 30 minutes and 9 tracks long, Kota wastes no time in this thoughtful project that is a phenomenal vibe, whether it be accompanying a late night drive or a long day at the beach. While features from Kyle and Joey Bada$$ aren’t necessarily bad, they do get surprisingly outshined by contributions from more unknown artists like Kaiit and Hello O’shay. Overall, I think this album is consistent, and works well as a summertime drop.

Best Tracks: “Away Park”, “Long Beach”, “Summerhouse”, “Everything”

Earning the top spot in this category is the melodic, upbeat collaboration between musical genius Jacob Collier and phenomenal vocalists Mahalia and Ty Dolla. Catchy and beautifully arranged, Collier blends three great performances and outputs a song that is fun to listen to and continually enjoyable every time you hear it.

Pop Smoke has had one of the biggest and most tragic years in hip-hop this year. Weeks after releasing Meet the Woo 2 and shortly after gaining mainstream attention off of “Dior”, Pop Smoke passed away. Unbeknownst to him, he would have one of the most commercially successful albums of the year in Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. This project held a slew of hits, one being this song which is Pop’s most different stylistically from his usual drill sound. Pop Smoke shows his ability to make a smooth, love ballad. This unique move, paired with great production, leads it it to being one of my favorite songs of the year.

Like most years, 2020 was pretty quiet for Frank Ocean. However, the tracks he dropped this year were both excellent and the remixes on the vinyl editions were also great. I personally prefer the “acoustic” version of “Cayendo”, while the Justice remix of “Dear April” adds a lot to the track. While some might find this version a bastardization of a sad song (reminiscent of the “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” dance remix), the production enhances the emotion and the drop on the remix adds so much to the track. The pairing of Frank’s vocals with Justice remixing the track is stellar.

While Brent’s newest project didn’t vibe with me all the way through like 2017’s Sonder Son did, it does start off very strong with “Skyline” serving as an ethereal opener and “Clouded” showcasing Faiyaz’s vocal prowess as one of R&B’s best young prospects.

Rounding out this category is Dua Lipa’s “Love Again”. There are many tracks from Future Nostalgia that I could have put here, as the highlights of that album almost earned it a spot in the previous section. “Love Again” is my favorite out of all of them, with upbeat production, catchy lyrics. I’m a sucker for a well made pop song, so its no surprise I loved this song and its album so much.

While deciding what songs to put on this list, this was one that I almost removed all together. I won’t lie, this is probably because I tend to favor songs that show me as a more “refined” listener or songs that were released more recently. Given that this song was released in February (and leaked before that) and that Lil Mosey is not anywhere near anyone’s “best rappers of all time” list, I was hesitant to keep it at the top or even on the list. However, considering that this was my most played song of the year (after “my ex’s best friend” and “I Think I’m OKAY” by MGK), I can’t deny how enjoyable of a listen it is or how catchy it is, making it my Hip-Hop song of the year.

Reuniting the trio from the iconic “How You Feel?” freestyle from last year, DJ Scheme provided a minimalistic production that lets the artists on the track shine. All three rappers deliver great verses that are catchy, memorable, and distinct. If you like this song (or even if you don’t), I highly recommend checking out the other collaborations (“Thor’s Hammer Worthy”, “Soda”) between Scheme with Ski on his recently released project: FAMILY.

Two very different sounding songs, both among my favorite of the year. The only thing connecting them is Travis Scott’s existence on them, and the fact that he delivers a verse towards the end of the song that is outshined by the excellence of the feature on the track. This song was my introduction to Pop Smoke and probably still one of my favorites to this day. Meanwhile, the production on “OUT WEST”, paired with my favorite Young Thug performance since “pick up the phone”, earn it it’s spot on this list.

After a drought of music from Uzi, 2020 brought a year of plenty. Dropping at the start of March, the long awaited Eternal Atake and its “deluxe” LUV vs. the World 2 brought over 30 new songs in less that 8 days. While the lack of consistency across both of these projects keep either of them from making my Album of the Year list, the high points on the album are some of my favorite songs to be released this year. The space-inspired, fast-paced production found on the opening tracks of each song and on bonus track “Futsal Shuffle 2020” are where I believe Uzi shines the brightest.

Sitting at the tail end of the collaborative EP, Texas Sun, between indie rock group Khurangbin and soul singer Leon Bridges, “Conversion” is easy to miss and is the least listened to on this 4-song EP. It’s my personal favorite, and shines on this EP which really doesn’t have a bad song among it. Vocals from Bridges perfectly complement the style that Khurangbin puts forth on this project, and this unlikely collab is one I highly recommend you check out.

More unconventional than most music I listen to, yet I find “Fitness” a great experience to listen to from start to finish. The best part of the song is the instrumentals yet thats not to detract from the vocal performance which definitely isn't bad and in fact complements and enhances the song in many parts.

A largely forgettable EP from Vic Mensa was well worth the listen considering I found the gem in the rough that is “2HONEST” in the middle of it. Vic delivers raw, emotional verses and Saint JHN contributes a chorus that ties the song together perfectly.

No album art, no song titles, and a surprise album drop. It’s no surprise that 3.15.20 was Gambino’s least commercially and critically successful album in a while. “19.10” is a standout song however, with funky production and catchy hooks (and an outro that sounds like a kettle boiling) found in this five minute song.

If you made it all the way down here, I want to thank you for reading. Don’t forget the playlist at the top if you want to check out any of the songs listed above! I hope 2021 brings you much joy and more great music. Cheers!

P.S.) If you have any music recommendations I would love to hear them. Hit me up or reply through this post. Thanks and happy new year!

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