I’ve written a list like this every December for three, maybe four, years now to varying levels of depth and obsession, and this is probably the most straightforward it’s ever been for me – I could’ve called two-thirds of my album list before the ball dropped a year ago. This was, at first (and still a bit now) wildly disturbing, partially because it’d be by definition offputting to be confronted by predictability in something that holds so much value for me largely because of its volatility, but also because the reason I’d done this every year was because in the act of composing a long list that I knew at most ten people would read, I was able to retread my last twelve months in the terms of the music that felt perfectly composed for it. In the songs that I played over and over all year, the songs that I’d forgotten about after April and rediscovered, the songs that I’d only really played through like twice or three times but months later still felt undeniably important: in this music I saw my entire year laid out. So to look over these lists and think, well, no shit, was not as cathartic as I’d hoped.
What I did remember, though, was this is the first year I’ve ever been enamored by music that wasn’t rap – not just vaguely entertained as a palette-cleanser in between intense streaks of digging through the Clipse discography, but enthralled. I kept non-rap off my main lists, but truth be told Tame Impala and Jamie xx were probably more important to me in 2015 than any rapper period, both in terms of the minutes they logged on my iTunes but also the degree to which they embedded themselves in and intertwined themselves with my life over the past year.
So even if below is the most textbook hip-hop list I could’ve imagined, 2015 was also a reminder in the face of a lot of shit in my life that there’s a reason I spent more time on The Fader or 2dopeboyz than any of my economics textbooks, or a reason that people sometimes (ill-advisedly) ask me for music recommendations and I text them thirteen songs punctuated by long and confusing captions which my phone splits up into like six texts probably for their sanity, or a reason that there’s a small but nonzero chance I spend my life working in music. And of course this all feels vaguely dumb and illogical (maybe borderline absurd, although that’s a bit more semantic depending on the baseline you accept as normal) at times, but the point is that sometimes I feel like I’m not using the months and weeks and days and hours and minutes and seconds of my life to their full potential but then I hear the first piano chords cut through the chatter of the crowd in “Loud Places” and then I remember that yes, this is probably dumb and illogical and semantically borderline absurd but yes, this is also okay and cool and it brings me lots of happiness and I think that’s enough.
Anyway, my list is below. Each artist gets one appearance on each list otherwise it’d all be Future and Young Thug which would be great for me but boring for the ten people who read this.
albums
15. Fetty Wap – Fetty Wap
14. A$AP Rocky – At.Long.Last.A$AP
13. Mac Miller – GO:OD AM
12. Wiki – Lil Me
11. Freddie Gibbs – Shadow of a Doubt
10. Travi$ Scott - Rodeo
9. milo – So the Flies Don’t Come
8. Cousin Stizz – Suffolk County
7. Dr. Dre - Compton
6. Oddisee – The Good Fight
5. Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
4. Vince Staples – Summertime ‘06
3. Future – 56 Nights
2. Young Thug – Barter 6
1. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
singles
15. M.E.D., Blu & Madlib - “Drive In” feat. Aloe Blacc (Madlib)
14. Kodak Black – “SKRT” (SkipOnDaBeat)
13. G Herbo – “L’s” (C-Sick)
12. Drake – “Hotline Bling” (Gabe Niles & Nineteen85)
11. Jeremih – “Planes (Remix)” feat. Chance the Rapper (Lido & The Social Experiment)
10. Oddisee – “That’s Love” (Oddisee)
9. Vince Staples – “Summertime” (Clams Casino)
8. YG – “Twist My Fingaz” (Terrace Martin)
7. Dr. Dre – “Animals” feat. Anderson .Paak (BMB SpaceKid, DJ Premier & Dr. Dre)
6. Cousin Stizz – “Dirty Bands” (M. Ali & Tee-WaTT)
5. Fetty Wap – “RGF Island” (Yung Lan)
4. Playboi Carti – “Broke Boi” (?)
3. Young Thug – “Mine” (Allen Ritter)
2. Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” (Pharrell & Sounwave)
1. Future – “March Madness” (Tarentino)
best things that weren’t rap
Jamie xx – In Colour
Tame Impala – Currents
Erykah Badu – But You Caint Use My Phone
The Internet – Ego Death
Jeremih – Late Nights
Miguel – Wildheart
Thundercat – The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam
Gallant – “Weight in Gold” (STiNT)
Alessia Cara – “Here” (Pop & Oak & Sebastian Cole)
Neon Indian – “The Glitzy Hive” (Neon Indian)
Nx Worries – “Suede” (Knxwledge)
Jamie xx – “Loud Places” feat. Romy (Jamie xx)
dev09 – “You Made Me” (Stelios Phili)
A.Chal – “Round Whippin’” (A.Chal)
Sorcha Richardson – “Petrol Station” (?)
best songs that i loved but couldn’t justify putting on this list
Kodak Black – “Ran Up a Check” (?)
Jay2AintShit – “PayPerView” (Monte Booker)
Lil Uzi Vert – “Wit My Crew/1987” (Chapo & FKi)
Brandon Tory – “Shine” (FΔDE & Stack Matic)
Donnie – “On My Mind” (D.R.O)
MADEINTYO – “Uber Everywhere” (K Swisha)
Appleby – “Bitter Boy” (Illyand)
best Future/Young Thug songs that were removed to make the playing field somewhat more fair even though they’re both so far ahead it’s still comical
Future – “News or Somthn’” (Nard & B)
Future – “Just Like Bruddas” (Zaytoven)
Future – “56 Nights” (Southside)
Future – “I Serve the Bass” (Metro Boomin’)
Future – “The Percocet & Stripper Joint” (Southside)
Young Thug – “Proud of Me” (Goose)
Young Thug – “Pacifier” (Mike WiLL Made It)
Young Thug – “Again” feat. Gucci Mane (London on da Track)
Young Thug – “Freaky” (WondaGurl)
Young Thug – “Get That Money” (?)