By Kai McMillian
As someone who has listened to countless albums, I have my fair share of albums I have listened to from many genres and languages. I have compiled five albums I have listened to many times and all the times I listen to them, it always feels like the first listen.
CTRL by SZA
SZA’s debut album, CTRL, released on June 9, 2017 by the label Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records. The album consists of 14 tracks with 7 additional tracks for the deluxe version which was released on June 9, 2022, 5 years after its initial release. The album has features from Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad on the songs “Love Galore,” “Doves In The Wind,” “Wavy Interlude,” and “Pretty Little Birds.” The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. The main genres of this album are alternative R&B, neo soul, hip hop, pop, soul, electronic, and indie. This album is very diverse with its writing style and melodies. My favorite songs are “Drew Barrymore,” “Prom,” and “20 Something.”
mono. By RM (of BTS)
Mono is the second mixtape by South Korean rapper RM who is also in the K-pop mega group, BTS. Mono was released on October 23, 2018 and was written and produced by RM through Big Hit Entertainment. This album consists of genres of alternative/indie and hip hop. RM also produced and wrote every song. Mono consists of 7 songs with features from eAnon on “Badbye” and Nell on “Everythinggoes”. It was ranked 6 on Billboard’s Top 20 Best K-pop Albums Of 2018. My most favorite songs are “Forever rain”, “uhgood”, and “everythinggoes”.
IGOR by Tyler, The Creator
IGOR is the 5th studio album by Tyler, The Creator. It was released on May 17, 2019 through Columbia Records, and was fully produced by Tyler himself. This album has 12 songs with features from Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, Kanye West, and Jerrod Carmichael. Since Tyler, The Creator is bisexual, this album follows the story of a love triangle where Tyler is in love with a man who is also dating a woman who is pulling him away from Tyler. This album ranked 7 on Billboard’s 50 Best Albums of 2019. This album consists of genres of hip hop and rap. My most favorite songs are “Puppet”, “Running Out Of Time”, and “I Think”.
To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp A Butterfly is the third studio album by Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015 by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. It has features from Thundercat, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Snoop Dogg, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, and Rapsody. This album consists of Hip hop, Rap, Funk and jazz. It was ranked 19th on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. My most favorite songs are “Wesley’s Theory” and “King Kunta”.
Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars
Unorthodox Jukebox is the second studio album by Bruno Mars. It was released on December 7, 2012, by Atlantic Records. This album consists of genres ranging from R&B, pop, reggae, rock, disco, funk and soul. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, and sold 192,000 copies in its first week. It was later certified platinum 6 times by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2016, it sold six million copies. “Locked Out Of Heaven”, which was the album’s lead single, gained 1.6 billion streams world wide. My most favorite songs off this album are “Moonshine” and “Natalie”.
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