A Year of Great Music if Nothing Else
By Israel Gutierrez
When bringing up the best albums of 2020, there’s bound to be a lot of disagreements due to everyone having their own unique taste in music. It is hard to choose favorites because of the sheer number of albums that were dropped last year. It’s almost like the music from 2020 was trying to make up for the bogus year in general. Here are some of my personal favorites, as well as some fan favorites of the year.
As a big hip-hop/rap fan, 2020 presented plenty of albums to listen to. One of my favorites was Lil Uzi Vert’s “Eternal Atake.”
This album was the long-awaited release that showed just how versatile Uzi can be on a track. An album full of hype songs like “Celebration Station,” some songs for vibing like “Bigger Than Life,” and of course a few songs for when you’re in pain like “I’m Sorry.”
Uzi first teased this album in 2018. For fans who had to wait two years, it was definitely worth the wait. I was very excited when it dropped. I even tweeted about it and the legend himself Lil Uzi Vert retweeted me.
My favorite album of 2020, though, was none other than “Legends Never Die” by Juice WRLD (rest in peace). The entire album is full of music about love, loss, heartbreak, self-reflection, growth, and just plain being honest with yourself.
It is hard for me to single out a favorite song because the whole album is a 10/10. It included fan favorite leaks like “Blood On my Jeans,” “Bad Energy,” and “Wishing Well.” The album served as a final message from the late rapper to the world to keep pushing forward, allow yourself to change for the better, and stay positive.
The most streamed album globally on Spotify was “YHLQMDLG” by Bad Bunny. [1] The Puerto Rican artist has been in the spotlight since his song “Soy Peor” became popular in 2016. Since then, he has maintained the spotlight with many hit singles and albums.
Another popular album released in 2020 was “Folklore” by Taylor Swift. It gave Swift fans, or “Swifties,” songs like “cardigan” and “exile (feat. Bon Iver).” Side note, I know I can’t be the only one who thought Bon Iver was a person. It turns out Bon Iver is the name of a whole band.
2020 saw many other popular albums. Megan Thee Stallion’s “Suga,” Lil Baby’s “My Turn,” Polo G’s “THE GOAT,” The Weeknd’s “After Hours,” BTS’s “BE,” Pop Smoke’s (rest in peace) “Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon,” and many more.
Overall, 2020 brought us a ton of great and diverse music, giving everyone something they could vibe to.
Citations
- Spotify. (2020, December 1). The trends that shaped streaming in 2020. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2LABt6F.
