Warning: Some of the albums and songs contain explicit lyrics. Reader discretion is advised.
I always enjoy going through music sites (Pitchfork, NPR) as well as personal lists at the end of the year to get a glimpse of what people are listening to. It is a great feeling fun to know what albums and songs soundtracked this year.
For a good part of the year, I made an effort to listen to artists and genres I was not as familiar with. It honestly started by going through songs someone may have posted on Instagram or Twitter and going from there.
This spread out to albums. Here are 25 albums I enjoyed as well as 75 songs that captivated me at some point during the year. If time permits, I provide a list of songs and albums that missed the cut that I had enjoyed in 2021.
25 Favorite Albums from 2021
1. Turnstile – Glow On
2. Mach-Hommy – Pray for Haiti
3. Tyler the Creator – Call Me if You Get Lost
4. Cleo Sol – Mother
5. Little Simz – Sometimes I Might be Introvert
6. Charlotte Day Wilson – Alpha
7. DJ Seinfeld – Mirrors
8. Vince Staples – Vince Staples
9. Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales
10. Native Soul – Teenage Dreams
(Don’t Sleep on Amapiano music from South Africa)
11. Mr. Twin Sister – Al Mundo Azul
12. Dave – We’re All Alone In This Together
13. Yola – Stand for Myself
14. Sault – Nine
15. DJ Manny – Signals in My Head
16. Sey/Noza – No Place Like Home
17. Mariah the Scientist – Ry Ry World
18. Injury Reserve – By the Time I Get to Phoenix
19. Topaz Jones – Don’t Go Telling on Ya Momma
20. Brandee Younger – Somewhere Different
21. Xenia Rubios – Una Rosa
22. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
23. Bruiser Wolf – Dope Game Stupid
24. L Rain – Fatigue
25. Georgia Anne Muldrow – VWETO III
70 Favorite Songs from 2021
1. Dawn Richard – Mornin/Streetlights
2. Jazmin Sullivan – Pick Up Your Feelings
3. Charlotte Day Wilson – Mountains
4. Turnstile – Don’t Play
5. Tyler the Creator/Ty Dollar Sign/NBA Young Boy – Wusyaname
6. Little Simz – Two Worlds Apart
7. Mach-Hommy – The 26th Letter
8. Earl Sweatshirt/Navy Blue/The Alchemist – Nobles
9. Cleo Sol – Don’t Let It Go to Your Head
10. Olivia Rodrigo – Brutal
11. Baby Keem/Kendrick Lamar – Range Brothers
12. DJ Seinfeld/Tiera – The Right Place
13. Valerie June – Within You
14. Fousheè & Steve Lacy – Candy Grapes
15. J.Arr/Che Noir – 2020
16. Sey & Noza – I’m Real
17. Sault & Little Simz – You from London
18. Benny the Butcher/2 Chainz/Harry Fraud – Plug Talk
19. Kanye West/Playboi Carti/Fivio Foreign – Off the Grid
20. Yaksta – Ambition
21. Adele/Errol Garner – All Night Parking
22. Brandee Younger – Reclamation
23. Brent Faiyaz/Tyler, the Creator/DJ Dahi – Gravity
24. RXK Nephew – 9 Mins of Hell
25. Mach-Hommy/Melanie Charles – Au Reviour
26. Injury Reserve – Knees
27. Turnstile – Underwater Boi
28. Crimeapple – Free Enterprise
29. Tyler, the Creator/Domo Genesis – Manifesto
30. Cynthia Erivo – Momma
31. Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis & Heather Headley – Maybe I’ve Changed (Or Did You)
32. Tierra Whack – Megan Good
33. Young Dolph/Key Glock – Rain Rain
34. Mickey Guyton – What Are You Gonna Tell Her?
35. Yola – Dancing Away In Tears
36. J. Cole/Bas/6Lack – let.go.my.hand
37. Beach Bunny – Nice Guys
38. Japanese Breakfast – Be Sweet
39. Myke Towers – No Salen
40. Mac Miller – Colors & Shapes
41. AZ/Coway the Machine/Lil Wayne – Ritual
42. Fredo & Dave – Money Talks
43. Jack Ingram/Miranda Lambert/Jon Randall – Ghost
44. Bruno Mars & Anderson Paak – Silk Sonic – Put on a Smile
45. Richard O’Toole – 17 Wild Horses
46. Lucy Dacus – VBS
47. Rx Papi/Boldy James – Bird Box Part 2
48. Danny L Harle/DJ Danny – On a Mountain
49. Big Red Machine/Taylor Swift –Renegade
50. Yeat – Sorry About That
51. RP Boo – All Over
52. Ol’ Burger Beats & Vuyo – Summer of George
53. Jawson Dell – Moving On
54. Leon Bridges – Sho Nuff
55. Grace Weber – Parachute
56. Rochelle Jordan – Dancing Elephants
57. Raheem DaVaughn/Apollo Brown/Westside Boogie – Just Fall in Love
58. Chris Renzema – Get Out of the Way of Your Own Heart
59. Snoh Allegra – Just Like That
60. The Shindellas – Volcano Love
61. Adele – My Little Love
62. Rod Wave – Blame On You
63. Ausar/Thelonious Martin – Paradise
64. PinkPantheress – Just for Me
65. DJ Seinfeld – Walking with Your Smile
66. Smino/monte booker – Rice N’ Gravy
67. Nas & Lauryn Hill – Nobody
68. Kanye West & Andre 3000 – Life of the Party
69. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Another Life Goes By
70. James Blake & Sza – Coming Back
The Typecaster 
