It’s that time of year again when you get to look back at everything that went down and wallow in the highlights. In many ways, the best part about 2018 was the music that filled airwaves. I bring together a mix of a bit of everything that I couldn’t myself from going back to since their release.
Recordar es revivir. Check out my Top 12 list of my favorite albums of 2018 below.
Keeping with tradition, my list is in alphabetical order and it consists of 12 albums, as a nod to the year 2012 when POD was founded.
Albert Hammond Jr – Francis Trouble
If you only know of Albert Hammond Jr as the guitarist for The Strokes, then you’re seriously missing out on a whole body of truly solid work (Yours to Keep is an underrated classic of its era). Francis Trouble was a great addition to his solo catalog. While skipping to tunes with Strokes-ian riffs will guarantee you’ll be left with a good impression of AHJ, but I kept gravitating towards the more melodic tracks. It’s a tough balancing act, so you’ve got to give props when it’s done right. “Set To Attack” is one of my favorite songs of the year with that driving guitar lick that keeps pulling you forward and the repeating “hold on” gets me going every time.
Key tracks: “Far Away Truths,” “Muted Beatings,” “Set To Attack”
Black Panther The Album Soundtrack (Various)
With Kendrick Lamar at the helm, it’s hard to imagine this project wouldn’t be fire… And the Compton rapper did not disappoint one bit. Black Panther The Album boasts a cast as impressive as the one in the movie itself, with contributions from the likes of SZA, Khalid, Swae Lee, Vince Staples, Jorja Smith, The Weeknd and many more. Not only is it a who’s who of the game but this album is chock-full of hit songs with impressive range that includes Pop R&B, Cali Gangsta Rap, Industrial, and plenty else in between. They did the superhero theme justice.
Key tracks: “All The Stars,” “Paramedic!” “King’s Dead”
Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
Cardi lived up to the hype that came with her breakthrough hit, “Bodak Yellow.” If that single was her statement to the world, Invasion of Privacy was proof that she was never destined to be a one-hit wonder. The album brings together all the best things about the Bronx rapper, with boisterous bars and big beats that work for Hip Hop heads and radio fans… AND the Latin community. Cardi is a genuine persona thrust into the international spotlight, and she’s become a bona fide star in the process. She’s just getting started.
Key tracks: “Bodak Yellow,” “Be Careful,” “I Like It”
Grapetooth – Grapetooth
This is one of the most fun albums I heard all year. For Twin Peaks’ Clay Frankel and producer Chris Bailoni’s self-titled debut Grapetooth, the duo pack major New Wave jams driven by bright synths that’ll get you dancing the whole way thru. Listening to this album just feels good, kinda like it did when you were a kid and put on sunglasses that you thought made you look cool.
Key tracks: “Red Wine,” “Death,” “Blood”
Hinds – I Don’t Run
On I Don’t Run the Spanish band have made good on those early promising signs. Their latest effort has a slightly more polished sound but maintains their ability to express raw emotion, which got a great boost thanks to working along with Gordon Raphael to co-produce the album. If you want Garage/Indie tunes about breakups, dealing with wack people, the nightlife, melancholy, then this album’s got you covered.
Key tracks: “The Club,” “Linda,” “Tester”
Joey Purp – QUARTERTHING
Joey Purp continues to excel and QUARTERTHING elevates the SaveMoney product as one of the best this city has to offer today. The follow-up to iiiDrops shows off Joey sharpening his writing skills and bodying whatever kind of beat you present to him, further defining how versatile he can be. Also, his knack for making supremely dope club bangers is a force to be reckoned with… I mean, “Elastic” is just pure fuego. Chicago’s musical renaissance continues on and we got to thank people like Joey Purp for putting out work like this that makes it happen.
Key tracks: “24K Gold/Sanctified,” “Gobody,” “Elastic”
Kali Uchis – Isolation
Kali Uchis is the future. Her music is drenched in a mix of sensuality, badassery, lusciousness, soul, and Latinidad. The Colombian artist cannot be fucked with, not with her money, not with her agency, not with her heart, and she reminds you about that at every turn. You get so much about her from the line “Why would I be Kim? I could be Kanye” off her collab with BIA, “Miami.”
If Saba hadn’t released his album this year, Isolation would’ve been my top choice for album of 2018.
Key tracks: “Just a Stranger,” “After the Storm,” “Feel Like a Fool”
Noname – Room 25
Noname’s simply one of the best rappers around. Her dexterous flows feel like Jazz, complex & layered compositions performed to perfection by only the highest-skilled artists in which every syllable, every punch line, and every rhyme accent the music that’s being created. The live instrumentation across the album is the perfect companion to Noname’s poetic raps about love, being a woman, sexuality, and the politics affecting simply being Black. Noname is an intellectual in the game, and she is a Hip Hop legend in the making.
Key track: “Blaxpoitation,” “Don’t Forget About Me,” “Ace”
Pusha T – Daytona
A year in which many Hip Hop vets released new music, Pusha T dropped a record that destroyed along its way to the top. His notorious past continues to shape the Pusha we know today, bleeding its way into the words he chooses to give you a peek into what it’s like trying to survive and thrive in that chaotic and life draining world. With Kanye on hand to produce, the seven tracks that make up DAYTONA vibe like their own sinister short films executed in musical form.
Key tracks: “If You Know You Know,” “The Games We Play,” “What Would Meek Do?”
*BEST ALBUM: Saba – Care For Me
Care For Me, Saba turned tragedy into art. In response to the loss of his cousin and artistic partner John Walt, the West side of Chicago rapper mourns openly about Walt being taken and the survivor’s guilt that persistently clouds over him. The best song on the album is “PROM / KING” and it’s a powerful one; a tale of two sides of sorts. The first is a tender look at his relationship with Walter, who protected and had his back for everything from getting a date for prom to getting his career started at open mics. The tail end of the track is a recollection of the chaos and anxiety that surrounded the moment when things went wrong. His entire demeanor has been significantly impacted by this event, at times being prompted to feel dejected and angry, other times trying to find the answers in his music, but leaving enough room to remember to “SMILE.”
Key tracks: “BUSY / SIRENS,” “GREY,” “PROM / KING”
Smino – NOIR
Smino is just plain damn dope and he continues to impress. His kaleidoscopic bars and cleaver wordplay makes this man a true lyricist, a classic storyteller, and one like you’ll seldom encounter. The way he strings together lines gets an extra kick of personality thanks to his southern twang, leaving you in awe of how much he loads into everything he expresses. The production is also a prominent figure in the St. Louis artist’s sound, boasting a variety of vibes ranging from the futuristic concoctions to even reggae. Smino always finds ways to keep you interested and exploring the layers of details that beg to be observed.
Key tracks: “KLINK,” “TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD,” “Z4L”
Travis Scott – Astroworld
If the music world had its own equivalent of the Ballon D’Or, this year’s title would have gone to Travis Scott. 2018 was the year Travis Scott reached the upper echelons of Hip Hop thanks to Astroworld, making him one of the biggest artists the genre has to offer today and whose impact can be felt on the charts competing mightily and winning against major Pop acts. You could always depend on the Houston native to churn out bangers, but now he’s advanced his skillset and demonstrates he can put together albums-worth of dope tracks. These are the early signs that we’re dawning on the era of Travis Scott.
Key tracks: “SICKO MODE,” “NO BYSTANDERS,” “YOSEMITE”
