September 1st of this year fell on a Monday. Something that made several people on TikTok and Instagram push the agenda of “The Great Lock In,” a way in which to maximise your potential from September to the end of the year, consciously using every day to its fullest, there are no excuses if September starts on a Monday! You’d better concentrate on whatever goal you may have, and you will achieve it by New Year’s. It was an arbitrary way to get whoever was positioned horizontally and scrolling through vertical clips to jump out of their laziness and realise their potential.

I was someone who saw many videos like this and obviously kept scrolling. Sometimes, I heard them out despite not being susceptible to wellness trends. Mostly, I knew that I didn’t have time for all that. See, I had a new job managing a bookshop, and it wasn’t going well; that was all I could torture myself with at the time. Feeling consistently as if I didn’t belong and trying to mould my clay body into new shapes, to fit whatever they needed from me. I have been working retail since 2020; it cannot be that difficult to adapt here. Despite my denial, it was that difficult, unnatural and wasn’t the right fit for me, no matter how much I loved books. Expecting this job to be a true turning point as I entered my thirties, I couldn’t find any career opportunities with my literature degree, so you would think a bookshop would be a perfect fit. Part of the issue was a cultural gap. This chain bookstore in Germany, where I must communicate more complex things in my second language than I previously did as a fast fashion employee. My intelligence wasn’t recognised or even acknowledged among my now fellow booksellers. I tried to charm myself through and failed; I simply was not one of them. Ultimately, this resulted in me being fired for the first time in my life. I’m not the audience for The Great Lock In, but once I ran out of tears and rage, a change had to be implemented.

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron is a book that intends to help people with creative recovery, “blocked artists” who struggle to understand why they can’t get anything made, who are consistently perplexed at their own depleted spirits. The 12-week programme tackles a different stage of recovering your inner artist each week, ending the chapters with tasks and check-ins. The tools consistently utilised by the partakers are the “Morning Pages” and the “Artist Dates”. The first aspect are stream-of-consciousness diary entries, three pages that you must get done first thing every morning. The latter are dates that you go on by yourself to cultivate your creativity; these can span from a scenic walk to a pottery lesson to a concert.

Morning Pages were what gave me the biggest boost. The combination of the tasks, lessons and taking myself out once a week to do something just for me, were also greatly beneficial. However, the Morning Pages felt like a thrumming heartbeat that existed outside of me, validating my everyday feelings and experience as I went on this journey. “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity,” Simone Weil once stated. I came to this realisation through this practice. True attention, beyond just feeding myself or drinking enough water, but also exploring what rumbled inside of my soul internally each morning before I faced the world, and reflecting that onto a page, unafraid. It was an experience that proceeded in me, approaching each day with a bravery that I had never considered capable of previously. I wrote the pages unapologetically, in front of family members if I had to, and didn’t feel an ounce of shame whilst I explained simply that this is what I do to clear my mind.

Undeniably, there are woo-woo and religious aspects to it, Julia Cameron’s teachings (spiritual is in the title..), there are mentions of God with a capital G, something some people may struggle with, but I urge any atheists or people uncomfortable with religion to get past it, to replace it with a stand-in belief: the universe, your craft or yourself. She makes you analyse every aspect of your life. Your friends, your family, your job, what you do with your time, does your life provide you with the amount of joy or misery that you may think it does? You could end up turning your life upside down simply because a book told you it’s what is best for your creativity, for your inner artist child. I completely understand why all these things are reasons others may walk away or not even begin. The point of my life that I was at in the beginning of September, was already a point of immense disruption. I found myself running towards more, realising that it truly was time to not only recognise myself as the writer I wished to be but also consider what I really want to do with this craft.

“Treating myself like a precious object will make me STRONG.” These are words I scrawled in my childlike writing onto a piece of paper with an oil crayon drawing of lavender bunches placed next to it, to evoke the ease and gentleness I wish to tend to myself with. It looks like it was written by a child, but I had come to a stage where I didn’t care any longer. The feeling of creating within the freedom this book has given me and working towards the pillars that are an inner ease and my passion for writing, made being good and perfect an immensely arbitrary notion. Perfectionism was an enemy to my journey; I would have to eradicate it to achieve my dreams. The mantra is on the wall above my desk, and looks over me whilst I write.

Portraying The Artist’s Way as a magical, instantaneous remedy that provides you with the novel, play, painting, film or other creative achievement that you have always dreamed of making is incorrect. Even when you take the leap, the circumstances of life are there, and your responsibilities still exist. It is considering what it truly means to make space and sacrifices for this newly realised way of life and consistently doing the work. What I can say for myself is that throughout it, I began to write a novel and then scrapped that one and began to write another straight after. A previous me would have thought that once the flow of the first piece wasn’t coming together, the opportunity was over, and I would have thought myself a failure. These aren’t words I care about or even consider anymore.

Now, a couple of weeks removed from finishing the programme, I have found another job that takes up more of my time. I realise how much those three months were necessary to get me to this point and what a blessing my firing was for leading me to the choice I made. I have not suddenly written out a complete pristine first draft of my novel just because I did The Artist’s Way; however, it has given me the building blocks to come back to my true self every time I feel lost within the armour of everyday life and employment. To ultimately finish this novel. I see procrastination not as a fault of my personality but a moment of fear, and then I can go on to ask myself why and tackle my feelings head on. I don’t have to make all my dreams come true between this date and that date because I was told to, but I can be gentle with myself and allow small moments of creativity to be the stepping stones towards my goals. Wonder, curiosity and passion are what the path towards creative and spiritual abundance is laced with.

My nose was held up in the sky as I entered these metaphorical doors, consciously aware of a newfound interest in an art form that had always been there. Hollywood always surrounded me, the way it does all of us, and I adored sitting in a theatre chair to be teleported somewhere else. Nevertheless, this was different; it involved adding a figurehead auteur to a group of films and drawing conclusions about his character as a human being through his themes. We talk on the parasocial now constantly, because the access to celebrity is endless, there is a need to remind oneself that this person doesn’t know me, that the person they present could be immensely different from the one we’ve provided shelter for in our hearts through their online presence. I gave something similar to the friendly old man that was being posted on social media by his daughter, not just because I was charmed by how fun and bizarre seeing Scorsese on TikTok was, but because those films that I entered into, nose held high, defined more of my world than I imagined they were capable of. Beyond the gender essentialism that floods our culture and verbiage, worlds that are foreign to me now became familiar through his filmic language.

Rebecca Miller’s expansive Apple TV documentary Mr Scorsese condenses this filmic language and the internal fight and character of Martin Scorsese into five episodes. As a now huge fan, I was provided with a lot of stories I had already researched or encountered through the likes of film podcasts, YouTube or Twitter. I couldn’t help by nosiness and be fascinated by the honesty regarding his personal life, as honest and frank as one can be in a documentary about someone as worshipped as Scorsese is. Miller interviewed all three of Scorsese’s daughters: Cathy (59), Domenica (49) and Francesca (26). He seems to be on good terms with all three, though he admits that he was a more distant father to his two older children. This is something that permeated the corners of my mind. What intrigued me wasn’t necessarily even a parasocial exploration of this man, or a need to apologise for him by implying that the art was worth it in a facetious tone. Instead, I was struck by how the real-life consequences of the art we enjoy are seldom a part of our experiences in consuming them. There is – undeniably – a smoke-and-mirrors essence to the creation of films, and we forget about the haunting personal complexities that may be within that.

I found myself coming back to thoughts on fatherhood and self-mythologising when I sat down to watch Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, an eponymous film about a man (George Clooney), looking mournfully back on his life as a movie star. Skilfully, Baumbach uses the stardom we already associate with George Clooney to make one of his most sentimental films to date. What struck me most wasn’t the meta essence of using Clooney, but the issues of fatherhood that have been explored by Baumbach several times before in his own directed efforts (The Squid and the Whale and The Meyerowitz Stories) as well as what he has cowritten with collaborator and friend Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr Fox). Jay Kelly, co-written by Emily Mortimer, winds up being a story of a broken and lonely man, who is fundamentally a bad father. Signified through his broken relationship with his eldest daughter Jessica (Riley Keough) and the distant relationship with his youngest daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards). We see him flailing whilst attempting to fix the latter, disrupting her on her summer break before she is meant to go to university.

Despite the lack of decades-long age differences that are between the daughters of Scorsese, there is this fumbling that the character of Jay Kelly does, as he tries to fix both relationships with his daughters at a time when it doesn’t seem to matter anymore; neither of these characters receives a settled-down version of their father because that version is an unfamiliar myth. Throughout the movie, Jay Kelly runs from his next film, pulling himself out of the cyclical rhythm his life has taken when confronted by his past. Immense success has an incompatibility with good parenthood, an innate and unavoidable hazard of the Hollywood environment. Once you belong to the world, your inner circle becomes the people who work for you, something explored in the film through the relationship Jay Kelly has with his manager Ron (Adam Sandler).

Women who are successful and/or create things that become mothers often get asked the same question: How has motherhood changed you as a person? It isn’t a question I feel entirely bitter about, a huge life change can cause a huge change in the art. The implication is always that the bodily and emotional transformation of bringing life onto this earth is a feeling that must be put into words, and that if a woman is famous, she owes us that access into her inward life. Men in the arts talk about fatherhood, but they are more likely to talk about being a son. Baumbach’s perspective on fatherhood has often been from the point of view of the son, with the father avatar being inspired by his late father Jonathan Baumbach, a writer who has been divorced three times, and has had his writing and out of print for his entire life. In Jay Kelly, one could argue there is a shift in perspective, and he uses a movie star as a placeholder for his own success, but Baumbach finds a way to make the usually unheard voice of a child shine through, even when the protagonist is the father. This is further signified through Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), the director who gives Jay Kelly his big break and an obvious homage to Baumbach’s mentor Peter Bogdanovich. The disillusionment of the character begins with the death of this father figure, the breaking of an unspoken contract of being there for one another, one which was already half torn when Jay Kelly became too famous to star in his movies anymore.

As a love, passion and devotion for movies reign, and Kelly is left to look back at the career he’s had (a reel that is a supercut of Clooney’s movie star career), I wonder if that sentimentality is the same way in which a beloved director in old age would receive a documentary on his life. While the fictional Jay Kelly asks if it was all worth it, the chronicling of a real-life titan in Mr. Scorsese answers simply: the picture got made.

I must admit, the overall stakes of Hayao Miyazaki’s 1989 film Kiki’s Delivery Service are low. When put up against the animation titan’s other works: the environmentalist epic Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away which is about a girl trying to save her parents and herself, even the more calm My Neighbour Totoro has the looming stakes of a parent’s illness. 

Kiki’s stakes are the utter terrors of trying to make it alone, which as a thirteen year old witch who has now come-of-age, can prove to be deeply difficult. Despite Miyazaki placing the viewer in a world in which it is universally understood that a witch must leave the house at such a young age and that every town must have one witch, there is a magnificent, deeply enchanting regularness to this film that I believe to be its purest superpower. 

Community is at the heart of what makes Kiki a great heroine, at the beginning of the film she is surrounded by family and neighbours to see her off, leaving steadfast for a town near the sea. Her naivete shines through as she first finds the town, physically crashing into it, therefore not greeted with great joy by the locals. Except for our darling Manic Pixie Dream Pilot Tombo, that Kiki needs some time to warm up to. It is not until she finds the bakery and meets Osono, who is heavily pregnant (even though it does not benefit the plot(!)), who offers her a place where soft glimmers of a home make its way back into the young witch’s life. 

Through the titular delivery service, similarly to Jihiro working to regain her life back in Spirited Away, Kiki is positioned to be of use to the community and town she wants to be the witch for. A pointed theme for Miyazaki is for kids to know what it takes to be a part of something bigger. Unlike the more fantastical stories, this film asks what is it to be of use to society and can you be of use to those around you if you are at your limit. The answer is pointedly no. Though this is a coming of age story, to resent what your life is so much that you lose your gift, is a deeply adult experience. What is to truly not be of value anymore and how do you regain the will to exist on, once you’ve reached that stage? These are questions that I feel aren’t poised or articulated cinematically in other Ghibli pieces. 

There is a huge strength to the way in which Kiki is not punished for her burnout, or how it is not swept under the rug, the way a lesser filmaker might have done. Immeasurable devastation is what I feel when she first loses her powers, my heart drops in bitter harmony with the sharp plop onto the floor as she attempts to fly on her broom after realising that she doesn’t understand her fabulous cat Jiji anymore. The movie leans into the doom and heartbreak of a young teenage girl that feels so thoroughly all consuming.

Through her friendship with the cool older artist lady Ursula, our young witch goes on to learn that art is not so dissimilar from flying, that the key is to release yourself of the expectations of others. She lost herself, she may have even decided that she failed, but all this just means it’s her own destiny to find herself once again. Despite Kiki’s job being for the wellbeing and benefit of others, it is for herself that she must find the love to fly again. It continues like this, you are your best self for both you and your loved ones. The film is ultimately a piece about a young girl learning not to put everything on her own shoulders, so that she can continue the cyclical nature of human reciprocity. 

I wouldn’t know if Miyzaki would refer to himself as a humanist but I know that I would. My favourite of his works are those that remind me to be kind to the people, creatures and the nature that surrounds me, which is what makes Kiki’s Delivery Service so special, since it’s a movie that makes me want to add myself to that list.

I did not expect much of a list from myself this year, but here we are. I listened to a lot of older music, as always. I had a huge Mariah Carey phase that engulfed my Spotify Wrapped. I just did not feel a huge sense of enthusiasm at the thought of the music of 2022, until looking back on it and seeing just how much I still consumed without realising, maybe my listening wasn’t as obsessive with some of the stuff that came out in 2022, but there was much more quality music than I had previously thought. When I look at music at large this year, it is still strange, the biggest song of the year was a Kate Bush song from 1985, so I’m obviously not the only music fan that has a wavering connection to contemporary music and the way in which we consume it. I think it’s also important to be aware of how much nostalgia, or the made-up nostalgia we create around the times we didn’t even live through, affects our musical consumption. It felt like a year in which the biggest stars did the unexpected and the newer stars stepped up to the plate. I hope this list brings everybody some new favourites or reminds you of something that got lost in your library many playlists ago.

As always, I don’t rank or rate shit.

a bunch of singles

Bree Runway – Pressure

She really put the Runway in this one because this had me walking to do my little adult errands like I was Naomi Campbell, IMAN and Tyra Banks before the talk show all wrapped into one. Had me feeling BAD.

Baby Tate – Slut Him Out

I love girly rap. I love it when it’s obscenely sexual it just is fun, vibrant, ridiculous. You’re captured in Baby Tate’s world with this song, I definitely had it on repeat at the beginning of the year.

Benny the Butcher (ft. J. Cole) – Johnny P’s Caddy

As someone who was once deeply in love with J. Cole as a teen, to a degree that I’m embarrassed to put into words, I haven’t kept up with his output since that deep obsession and intend to catch up one day out of curiosity (something I started this year with the other embarrassing love I had at the time, Drake, until he pissed me off again). So, it came as a surprise to me when he was one of my favourite feature artists of the year, between this song, Smino’s 90 Proof, BIA’s London, he has been tapping into making a variety of audiences within the rap fan space remember his capabilities. A strong enough single to make me think I’d enjoy the Benny The Butcher album more than I did in the end.

Imane – Envoie Un Message

Why is French R&B so good? I don’t understand. Whatever they have going on over there in the baguette nation they can keep it up because I was deeply obsessed with this tune. In a sea of bangers and bops, this is a pure unadulterated jam that stood out to me this year.

Labrinth, Zendaya – I’m Tired

I love Zendaya. I hate Euphoria. I love Zendaya making music again, I think she has the capabilities, capacity and style to be a standout musician/pop star and actress simultaneously but if she doesn’t want to do all that right now I’ll take my crumbs and if the crumbs are a gorgeous emotional song about a show that lacks depth produced by an outstanding producer I’ll take it.

Dave – Starlight

I LIKE MINE OBSESSED, CLINGY. There is something innate to Dave songs that makes you want to rap along, and Starlight very much captures that magic once again.

Suzy - Satellite

Yeah ‘Suzy Drops a Shoegaze Single’ wasn’t on my 2022 bingo, but I sure am thankful. This style suits her vocal tone perfectly I would love an album full of similar songs from her.

Ice Spice - Bikini Bottom

Ice Spice asks a question > she goes on to answer said question in a Point Evidence Explain format > She comes to a conclusion. My kind of essay. I think since this song came out I only had one week where I was absolutely tired of it and then I bounced right back into Bikini Bottom where Ice Spice and the Spongebob cast where waiting for me. This girl is so much fun, I hope she continues to have fun and enjoys her journey.

Joyce Wrice, Kaytranada – Iced Tea

It is absolutely fascinating how much of a cheat code Kaytranada has been for years on end. There is no denying his abilities, his distinct style without ever overdoing or sounding over-saturated. I’m sure Joyce Wrice has been compared to all the 2000s Pop-R&B girls but I can’t help but see the spirit of Mya so distinctly in her, I remain excited to experience more and more from her.

Unknown T – Often

Unknown T doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the best, most palatable UK Drill rappers of his time. There’s an undeniable charm and aptitude he brings consistently to his music and this is easily one of my favourite beats of the year.

Rachel Chinouriri – All I Ever Asked

I wish for her to be the next big indie pop star. This song feels like a spring day where you decided to take yourself on th eperfect solo date, a time in which you decisively poured into yourself. It makes you feel full and alive.

HANRORO – Let Me Love My Youth

Very much a song for when you need to go to your mind chamber. This Korean rock ballad embraces you and shakes you up all at once. The guitars personally carry you through your very own coming of age film.

Jeshi, Obongjayar – Protein

Between this chorus and his album Obongjayar is easily one of my GOATs this year. Absolutely obsessed with the contrast between this funky chorus literally stating that he is unstoppable and the depressing, borderline miserable verses from Jeshi.

Megan Thee Stallion – Plan B

I’m beyond grateful that through all of her countless suffering this year, Megan still provided us with music we were not at all worthy of. I felt personally catered to with this obvious ode to Lil Kim and the women of 90s rap, Megan slides and fits so naturally on this style, it might be my favourite style on her other than when she dips into her regional rapper bag. I also like it when she pushes me in the music video.

Lizzie Berchie – Pass Time (Ft Kofi Stone)

Lush R&B song about realising you just aren’t in love with somebody. Lizzie Berchie is capital S Singing on this song in a way that has become rare in contemporary music. I’m extremely excited to hear more from her.

PinkPantheress – Do you miss me?

Yeah, remember when I said Kaytranada is a cheat code? PinkPantheress had an undeniable run this year, growing bigger and consistently providing us with quality earworms.

Glorilla, Cardi B – Tomorrow 2

Glorilla is absolutely my breakout star this year, she really is so cousin but beyond that she is so good at what she does. There is no such thing as listening to this song or FNF and feeling a lack of excitement. Cardi’s verse here might be my favourite rap verse of the year, her delivery is undeniable and stellar, makes me slightly feel like I’m on fire and the only way to save myself is to reap

NAYEON – POP!

An incredible pop song called POP! Not everybody has that. I’m obsessed with how much she went for exactly how I always pictured a Nayeon solo to be, full of colour, unapologetically pop in a way only Twice is capable of. There’s few people I would say were destined for pop-stardom, the Britneys, the Janets, and I truly believe that Nayeon belongs amongst such names.

Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, Young Thug – Potion

I heard this album was forgettable and I didn’t care enough to check it out honestly. There is something about this song. Dua Lipa and Young Thug compliment each other more than I expect from any random contemporary pop/hip hop match up that coudl easily otherwise feel forced.

Mura Masa, Pa Salieu, Skillibeng – blessing me

I do feel like my brain explodes, in the best way, when I hear ‘bless me baptise mi cocky’. These two compliment each other greatly on the track, there’s something so infectious about it. I love the way Pa Salieu has spent the year focusing on collaboration and enjoying his craft, I’m really excited for whatever he brings us next year.

Oxlade – KU LO SA

The Colors version of course, a viral hit I somehow never got sick of. An absolutely addictive rhythm, Oxlade whine-singing the words making you want to sing along, attempt what he achieves, until you sound completely unintelligible.

Doechii, SZA – Persuasive

Already loved it when it was a Doechii solo track, but the second this version came out I was gone. Absolutely anthemic, I’m deeply in love with everything Doechii is capable of, her spectrum seems to be never ending and she approaches music as if it’s a performance art and for every release the audience and her are in one room, and she is letting us know: this is me and the possibilities of what I can do are endless.

WSTRN, Dexta Daps – Influence

WSTRN are very much the unsung heroes of the UK music scene. Teaming up with dancehall singer Dexta Daps on this colourful instrumental, they created something that sounds like pure summer and joy.

Mariah Carey, Brandy – The Roof

A remix of my most played song of the year (big Mariah year for me), the two most important voices in R&B came together for the 25th anniversary of the 1997 album Butterfly. Providing us something we were beyond unworthy of. Brandy is very much the standard, referred to as a ‘the voice’ within her genre, so this collaboration just felt so beyond overdue, and a personal catering to me. The riffs, the way you can hear the fun they had in the studio, talent like this is rare so it’s beyond a pleasure to see this come to fruition this year.

RIMON, Tiggs Da Author – Build Me A House

A gorgeous, soothing, transparent song about not belonging. Rimon serenades you and pours her own heart out simultaneously on this track. Tiggs Da Author’s verse provides us with a reflection on chaotic upbringing that matches the message of the song perfectly.

Paramore – This Is Why

If you need any proof beyond Renaissance that choruses had a BIG comeback this year, I will point you towards this long-awaited Paramore return. Hayley Williams reminding me why among all the men who can’t sing that she came up with, she will always be above them, she will always be beyond them. What she can make someone feel with her delivery isn’t an easy feat and I found this to be a great and worthy comeback for one of my favourite bands of all time.

Headie One, Abra Cadabra, Bandokay – Can’t Be Us

Will Smith commentary was something we all got deeply tired of very fast early this year, however: ‘See a man get slapped like he just went and made a G.I. Jane joke on G-A-N-G’ IS one of my favourite lines of the year. I may have screamed the first time I heard it. This song simply slaps severely.

PinkPantheress – Boy’s a Liar

I fought myself to put this on here because I didn’t want two songs from the same artist on this list, it would be ridiculous though, to deny what PinkPantheress has achieved this year. Boy’s a liar is infectious She has undeniably created her own canon of music with her UK garage and house influenced sound.

Skiifall – Fam Without Blood

Montreal based, Saint Vincent born rapper Skiifall has a sound influenced by soca, dancehall and R&B that makes him stand out beyond his peers. There is a certain freshness to his sound that you don’t come across everyday. This song caught my ear as I was listening to one of my favourite spotify made playlists ‘Pollen’ in which I always seem to find something interesting, he has been bubbling up since 2020 though so I might just be late.

Kelela – On The Run

No PS5s were harmed in the making of this absolute weapon of a song!!! Kelela is one of my favourite, most treasured artist. Those five years with no music from her felt like an absolute drought but I’m grateful for her artistry, the time she takes and to grow with her art. In this she references one of my personal favourites from her All The Way Down on this. She once again enchants you into a world you can’t find anywhere else, her album is the one I anticipate the most next year and I cannot wait to carry it throughout the year with me.

Albums/EPs/Projects

Little Simz – NO THANK YOU

‘Introvert, but she ain't timid / My art will be timeless, I don't do limits’

Simz is a once in a lifetime talent, no doubt. To come back with no promotion at the end of the year and make it on so many lists, it’s evident that she is something special. Thinking about NO THANK YOU alongside S.I.M.B.I is fascinating, because you’d expect a surprise album to be an understatement alongside a career-defining one, however, I find this project to be a reminder from her and her producer Inflo that she is here to stay, that she can shake things up whenever she feels like it. Gospel influences are sprinkled heavily throughout the project, creating these grandiose pieces that one can’t help but be absolutely overwhelmed by. A musical match truly made in heaven as she flows effortlessly and comfortably, as if she’s built a home in the music.

fav songs: Gorilla, Sideways & Control

The Black Skirts – Teen Troubles

‘Think we're slightly touching hands / Blasting Deftones, cuz they are your favorite band’

Picture this. Jo Hyu-il being like ‘What if I made a 90s/2000s American Mall Rat album?’ and me eating the plate clean before he could even finish his sentence. That’s what the first listening experience was like. Every way in which he delved into a concept of being this particular teenager, from this particular place, at that time was so fascinating. Exploring a sense of nostalgia that I have never even felt first hand to create true nostalgia out of, a second-hand haze was created through his storytelling, emotion, and delivery. Weaving in and out of his comfortable genres of rock, pop-rock, indie rock, and straight up ballads seamlessly and inviting you into the world he has created. Passion and softness come together in a way that only a teenager can experience in this album.

fav songs: Flying Bobs, Sunday Girl, Electra & Our Own Summer

Flo Milli - You Still Here, Ho?

‘You say I’m the one you pray for / But I ain’t nobody’s angel’

Girly rap, pussy rap, whatever you want to call it, Flo Milli has evidently and undeniably mastered it. This album makes you feel like the baddest in the room. Introduced by reality television and meme legend Tiffany Pollard, the tone is instantly set by Flo Milli. We’re dragged into her world as her signature and iconic high pitched tone dances on these 808s. She shines throughout, making her Lil Kim influence evident by sampling Junior M.A.F.I.A’s ‘Get Money’. Unexpectedly, there’s also such a great strength in songs where she showcases her singing.

fav songs: Come Outside, Hottie & Big Steppa.

Mitski – Laurel Hell

‘Sometimes I think I am free / Until I find I'm back in line again’

After the release of her fifth album Be The Cowboy, Mitski claimed that she now only needed to deem music she felt was necessary to make. You feel that throughout Laurel Hell, an incredibly vivid indie pop record, laced with Mitski’s consistent and masterful song writing. Like many other albums made by artist during the pandemic, Mitski purposefully stated that she needed to make something that would make people dance. That the sadness that has been stamped on her, as if the emotional devastation of her lyricism can only be labelled as ‘sad’, seemed to become a burden. The decision feels incredibly correct and important for this point in her career, the music sounds fantastic, and her words cut you as much as they heal you back up again, because you feel understood.

fav songs: Working for the Knife, Heat Lightning & Love Me More

JID – The Forever Story

'Oh shit, "it's getting weird"/ Nah, shit is weird, what the hell is heaven on this hemisphere?’

JID approached this highly anticipated project with several agendas. One is to prove himself as a standout amongst his peers, something anybody in that has wanted to last previously in Hip Hop must do. The other is to truly show his audience and any newcomers who he is, what makes him special and frankly, why, in a world where there is such a variety and abundance of rappers, we should give a fuck. The Forever Story is packed with ambition and bravery, there is an innate storytelling aspect as JID lets us into his family life, but that doesn’t mean the whole album is the audience being spoken at, there’s conversation constantly between him and his collaborators, him and his family. Most importantly, there is conversation between us, the listener, and JID, the speaker. There is variety and excess in the way it needs to be done within an LP such as this one, JID impressively builds a new building with each beat, as if he knew what tools he was going to receive long before, it feels planned without being formulaic. This is an album I see ageing and blooming beautifully as the pages turn and the years fly by.

fav songs: Raydar, Can’t Punk Me (ft. EARTHGANG) & Lauder Too (ft. Ravyn Lenae & Eryn Allen Kane)

Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loneliest Time

‘After all the clouds have dried / Here’s a jar of tears I cried / Keep it in a sacred place / Hold me in your humble grace’

CRJ was like fine I mastered at making the perfect pop song(s) about falling for someone, having a crush, being obsessed with your crush, really really really really liking your crush. Guess I’ll master the other relationship shit too. And that she did! I have always sensed intention in her music choices, but very specifically her writing style. On the Obect Of Sound podcast she states that: ‘We all feel loneliness, and loneliness feels like a solo-thing, but there’s this connection I was excited about and really digging for’. You hear her bonding with you through loneliness, through romantic mishaps, this album is a hand reaching out for another. The musicality is beautiful, idyllic pop, that embraces you with her own gentle vigour.

fav songs: Talking to Yourself, Sideways, Beach House & Anxious

Beyoncé – RENAISSANCE

‘Dimples on my hips / Stretch marks on my tits.’

I mean, obviously. I think the most interesting thing about RENAISSANCE and where Beyoncé is within her career is the fact that, throughout the album, it is so deeply clear that she is still an enthusiastic student of black music. Delving into the pool of dance subgenres in what is her best album to date, she provides banger after banger and creates a sequence of songs that purposefully feel like a DJ set, so whether you make it to the club or not, you’re celebrating. After isolation experienced at large, to create something that sounds communal, that sounds like togetherness laced in joy, it feels necessary. From beat selection to outstanding vocal performance, it is palpable celebration, undeniably melting each song into each other, this album creates a gorgeous haze where the only thing you can see clearly are the smiles plastered on the faces of those around you.

fav songs: VIRGO’S GROOVE, AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM & HEATED

Nilüfer Yanya – PAINLESS

‘Silent leaves / I walked / In your forest / But there’s no roots / I am not sure I got this’

This singer-songwriter’s album is nothing short of consistent and outstanding. Yanya brings together her eclectic tastes and tender lyricism to create a masterful indie pop record. After her songwriting, what stands out is her gorgeous voice, going from a croon to a gorgeous falsetto throughout. A space is created for vulnerability and honesty, with instrumentation reminiscent of shoegaze.

fav songs: the dealer, stabilise, chase me & midnight sun

Knucks – ALPHA PLACE

‘Mumsy prayin for me / but there ain't enough beads on the rosary / Raised by the wolves from young / but still in the jungle like Mowgli’

Knucks is easily currently the rapper to watch in the UK. He confirms how in control he is of his own rhymes and sound with this project, named after where he grew up. Immersing himself in lush jazz instrumentals and telling us about his stories in a way that makes you feel like you are being spoken to personally. The rapper is very much wearing his heart on his sleeve whilst still maintaining an innate coolness, a suave nature that comes both naturally to Knucks as a rapper and is a given with the bossa nova, jazz and drill instrumentation.

fav songs: Alpha House, Leon the Professional & Three Musketeers

FLO – The Lead

‘Looking so sensational that / My braids go down to the floor / I walk 'round like a phenomenon’

It feels very insane that FLO’s ‘Cardboard Box’ only came out in 2022. I remember seeing that song everywhere and being too lazy to properly take it in, not realising just how much FLO are catered to my R&B girl group loving sensibilities. Graduated fresh out of Destiny’s Children University, the FLO girls are bringing fun and gorgeous vocals back to the genre and showing so much promise on this EP. Beyond excited for what’s next.

fav songs: Summertime, Immature & Feature Me

Weyes Blood – And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglo

‘Mercy is the only cure / for being so lonely’

This gorgeous, elegant project makes me think of sitting in a gondola and being chaperoned through dark waters that would normally terrify you, but in this instance they’re beautiful and you become fearless. This album easily has some of the most lush and rich soundscapes of the year, fantastical yet serene instrumentals are created and matched up with lyrics that cover the existentialism that she also addressed in her previous record.

fav songs: Grapevine, God Turn Me Into a Flower & Twin Flame

j-hope – Jack In The Box

“I asked myself dozens of times /Am I really like that? / Hopeful, optimistic, always with a smile on my face”

This twenty two minute long album was created with such palpable care, caution and intentionality; it’s difficult not to appreciate. It’s evident that j-hope had a statement to make with his official solo debut album, it feels the most this-is-me out of the recent BTS musical efforts. By exploring his personal experience through the metaphor of pandora’s box, the concept from which he originally got his stage name, we’re taken to both the past and the future of the artist’s journey. Questions are asked, flows are experimented with and musical multiplicity is presented throughout the project. Stylistically, it is incredible that something this succinct can prove an artist’s capability so undoubtedly.

fav songs: Pandora’s Box, What if… & Safety Zone.

Syd – Broken Hearts Club

‘Maybe we'll see a new dawn, my love’

Easily one of my favourite R&B efforts of the year, where her debut album leaned more into the darkness of alt-R&B sounds, this one goes straight for vulnerability and honesty. You hear Syd fall in and out of love in this album, as it begins we’re in dizzy-love, delight vibrating is through us with tracks such as Right Track (great Smino feature, by the way), by the time we reach the end of the album the relationship has also come to a close. Syd’s growth as an artist is very much displayed throughout this project, she masters her own sensitivity and emotions.

fav songs: Fast Car, Right Track (feat. Smino) & Out Loud (feat. Kehlani)

Arctic Monkeys – The Car

‘Put your heavy metal to the test / There might be half a love song in it all for you’

There is a beauty and a grace to doubling down. When Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino came out I was very much one of the fans who were like this is it? This is how you follow up a career-changing album? I still hold some of those sentiments when it comes to that project close but I’ve grown an appreciation for it in it’s own right. The Car, though, is them not necessarily trying something new, but mastering that previous effort instead. This album is sentimental and soft, but it is not soppy or boring. The soundscapes are lavish and soulful, there’s a detection of maturity that does not feel as two children in trench coat as the previous album did. Alex Turner’s beloved wordplay is sprinkled throughout the album and it feels like an old friend, a thrilling familiarity overcomes me as I listen to this.

fav songs: There’d Better Be A Mirrorball, Jet Skis On A Moat & Perfect Sense

Vince Staples – RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART

‘Hate to see her beg, she don't want me dead / Posted on the block, when it's war, ain't no warning shots’

RPBH is Vince Staples’ most creative and authentic body of work to date. The rapper has stated that this album is the final anthology of his past that he’ll ever release, you can really tell that he intended to make the project as authentic and special as possible. The project is both lyrically personal and honest, but very ambitious in creating a sonic universe for these lyrics to live in, these are easily some of the best beats of Staples’ career and he glides on them effortlessly. As a rapper consistently categorised as being nihilistic based off his interviews, he paints us the largest and alleged final picture of the world that created him. It’s a vivid yet scary one, but you just can’t look away.

fav songs: WHEN SPARKS FLY, SLIDE & ROSE STREET

Koffee – Gifted

‘Night's dark, but it's a new day / Might get caught up in a new wave’

The Jamaican wunderkind’s debut album is gorgeous and easeful to the ears, beautiful crooning over a variety of reggae, dancehall, R&B and pop inspired instrumentals. Authenticity and positivity seem to shine through with Koffee, her voice naturally makes you feel better and safer than you must’ve felt previously.

fav songs: Gifted, Where I’m From & West Indies

Santigold – Spirituals

‘Hiding from all things unknown / From each other in our homes’

Santigold has managed something that plenty of her peers during the indie-sleaze era did not, and that is keeping consistency and growth. On her first album in six years, she provides us with introspection on a record she claims to be a necessity for her to make, a certain stability within her own personal experience with motherhood and the pandemic. Throughout the album, there are genres speckled everywhere but there is a specific celestial mood, creating an irrefutable beauty and life force.

fav songs: High Priestess, Shake & No Paradise

Ethel Cain – Preacher’s Daughter

‘But in the end, if I bend under the weight that they gave me / Then this heart would break and fall as twice as far’

Ethel Cain tackles identity, change and her relationship with religion on her debut album. This album feels very full, as if made to played in a space such as a cathedral, the different sounds from pop rock to ambient pop swell around you in a gothic-tinged Americana haze. The singer-songwriter presents herself to the music world officially here, proving her musical colour and capabilities, her palpable emotional writing booms in your body long after you’ve listened to the LP.

fav songs: A House In Nebraska, Family Tree & Gibson Girl

Danger Mouse, Black Thought – Cheat Codes

‘My name in the Quran like the kingdom of Suleiman / You done lost your mind trying to call me a moulinyan’

It is so satisfying to hear something substantial come to fruition out of undeniable chemistry between a rapper and a producer. An undeniable dad-rap favourite for anyone tapped into hip hop right now, if I wasn’t already a self-proclaimed oldhead I’d be embarrassed about how much I adore it. Black Thought’s undeniable rapping ability, that has never truly faltered after decades in the industry, glides effortlessly throughout the project over gorgeous instrumentals. Despite not doing anything specifically new, the album feels incredibly accessible to a new generation of rap fans. The funky and psychedelic beats create a world your mind feels comfortable wandering through, even if the territories are unfamiliar.

fav songs: Sometimes, Belize (feat. MF DOOM) & Aquamarine (feat. Michael Kiwanuka)

DIXSON – 004DAISY

‘Don’t you want to be immortal? / Happy endings and beginnings on this ride’

DIXSON’S 004DAISY is a gorgeous and interesting alternative R&B album. The project feels very sure of itself and all the things it wants to represent, starting specifically with a song like DAY-OFF that is sonically reminiscent to African funk and psychedelic music, there is an obvious intention to embrace different colours of his musicality. With features from artists such as Tinashe and credits from Steve Lacy, there is an impending sense that DIXSON is one to watch in the industry at large.

fav songs: DAY-OFF, HEAT ft Tinashe & Sweeter

Luna Li – Dualit

y

‘I’m too young for my age / Too shy for the stage, too careful to be brave’

The multi-instrumentalist’s debut album is a window into the young artist’s experience and world. Elegant and varied dream pop swells, the album’s biggest strength easily being the instrumentals and their progression. What comes to mind when listening to Luna Li, is how undeniable her potential is and I can’t help but anticipate what she brings us next as her journey continues.

fav songs: Afterglow, Silver Into Rain & Magic

SAULT – Air

‘Don't waste time ’cause time is precious / It's your only time you've got here / Life will always bring it’s pressures / Use it wise and keep those treasures’

UK music collective SAULT released several projects this year, most I still need to catch up with, but I did catch the first of the bunch. Air is the mysterious collective taking a departure from their previous styles and delving into modern classical and choral music. It was absolutely fascinating to hear what they were capable of, these majority instrumental songs are enrapturing and all consuming, they twirl you around and throw you into thin air, as the title implies.

fav songs: Air, Heart & Time Is Precious

Obongjayar – Some Nights I Dream of Doors

‘You walk through life just like a dancer / If I had my way everyday would be your parade’

Obongjayar’s sonic style is so distinctive and transcendent, it shimmers brightly during the course of this album. The Nigerian singer switches between his deeper rough tone and a twinkling falsetto, creating a myriad of emotions in the listener. The album contains multitudes of emotions, anthems of resistance and protest such as Message in The Hammer and soft intimate love songs such as All The Difference encapsulate the artist’s incredible range. The album is a brave and tender kaleidoscope of sound, unlike anything else released this year.

fav songs: Message in a Hammer, Some Nights I Dream of Doors & Tinko Tinko (Don’t Play Me for a Fool)

Ari Lennox – age/sex/location

Young Black woman approachin’ 30 with no lover in my bed / Cannot settle, I got standards’

The first lady of Dreamville’s second album is luscious, sexy and tongue in cheek experience. Ari Lennox is an undeniable singing talent, vocals made of velvet that charm you in an instant. Her sometimes-hilarious musings on love, dating and romance make for an incredibly pleasant and endearing listen.  The humour does not overshadow that voice though, nothing can, heavenly vocals are scattered all over the album.

fav songs: POF, Boy Bye (feat. Lucky Daye) & Queen Space (with Summer Walker)

MUNA – MUNA

‘Hit me so I know I can feel something / You said I'd regret it when I was leaving / Funny how a fall could feel just like flying’

Despite the washed-out cover, the trio’s self-titled album feels celebratory, bright and luminescent. There is a specific intention to not prioritise melancholy, synth pop is sprinkled all over the project with some more delicate moments to balance out the sounds. It feels like a statement from the band, an implied freedom is presented to the listener as they step into a newfound radical, raucous, and unapologetic joy.

fav songs: Runner’s High, Solid & Anything But Me

Dylan Sinclair – No Longer in the Suburbs

‘I'm in new places but really in my mind / Hope you find me with eternity’

Young Toronto native Dylan Sinclair provides us with a gorgeous R&B EP that I expected to listen to passively but had me fully engaged. The project feels passionate, earnest and as if Sinclair got an XRAY of his heart tattooed on his sleeve and decided to present that to us through these songs. The project feels like a coming of age grounded in authenticity, reality and showing the singer’s potential as he steals your heart with his sublime crooning.

fav songs: Open, Too Soon? & Lifetime

Orion Sun – Getaway

‘I sent a note from the opposite coast / Read, "I love you the most" / Could we try to make it better for real?’

Gorgeous storytelling, sublime melodies and velvety vocals make up this Orion Sun EP. The multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter proves herself on this project, showing us just a hint of her capabilities as she takes you on the back of her motorbike for the ending credits scene of your coming-of-age movie.

fav songs: pressure & dirty dancer

Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future

‘Then go to every hood on this side where they can see crime / And let them know that we can't recline, they planned our decline’

The rapper examines himself and his shortcomings on his most adult album to date, cinematic and all-encompassing instrumentals walk hand in hand with his enigmatic raps in this project. Regardless of genre, Denzel Curry is beyond capable of painting a vivid and fascinating picture for his audience. There is a certain maturity and growth to this sound, not only in the self-reflection, but specifically in the leaning into jazz-rap, he creates a space for himself to grow and to also be timeless. The song still very much still has its bops, but they are crafted differently to what his hits previously have been. There are no trends being chased, references to anime and cinema keep the record true to the artist, and the impressive and varied raps keep the audience engaged.

fav songs: Walkin, Troubles (Feat. T-Pain) & Ain’t No Way (Feat 6LACK, Rico Nasty, J.I.D, Jasiah & Kitty Ca$h)

Ravyn Lenae – HYPNOS

‘There are times I fear you, I confess / 'Cause you are, you are, you are my only nest’

HYPNOS is a grown-woman version to the sound Ravyn Lenae first pioneered at the beginning of her career, it feels moody, mystical, and her fairy-like vocals dance on gorgeous production made by the likes of Monte Booker and Kaytranada. Channelling Neo-Soul and R&B legends while still walking the lane she created for herself, HYPNOS feels like a grand statement after the singer’s four year hiatus. She croons, she comforts and she seduces you into a world where sometimes you sway and sometimes you dance harder than you ever expected to. She explores the problems of anybody her age without getting too existential, providing us with music that will play as you find peace and affirmation within solitude.

fav songs: M.I.A, 3D (feat. Smino) & Light Me Up

The Weeknd – Dawn FM

‘We broke up in the club / And I almost died in the discotheque’

This was definitely the year I was like fine… I’ll stop pretending like The Weeknd isn’t one of the biggest popstars living. Where After Hours was a record to dance to when we couldn’t dance among each other, this album is also for dancing, but you can feel the singer lean back into the darkness within this retro pop concept. This is the album from him that feels the most like he is wearing his own face as a pop star (ironic as he’s in old man prosthetics but you know), leaning into the weirdo dark shit slightly reminiscent of his haunted strip club sound that he seems to like so much, yet still giving us undeniable pop excellence.

fav songs: Gasoline, Out of Time & Is There Someone Else?

Ronisia – Ronisia

‘Ça devient chelou, c'est compliqué’

The French R&B girls are doing something right, I couldn’t tell you what specifically but the way this album flows is immaculate. Bops are scattered throughout, the twenty-three-year-old sings with a sureness on all of them, hints of afrobeats and dancehall influences create for a delightful listening experience.

fav songs: Money, Beaucoup & On s’emballe

Earl Sweatshirt – SICK!

‘We got us a fire to rekindle / Redirect the fight where it's meant for / Triumph over plight and immense loss’

Earl’s journey is a deeply interesting one, he very much feels like an artist I’ve grown up with, and seeing how intelligently and poetically he articulates his journey on this project is such a rewarding listen. This album feels the most balanced album the rapper has released yet. As he reflects, you hear hints and specks of personality of the person we heard on Doris but with the maturity, introspection and genre-play of Feet of Clay and Some Rap Songs. You grow up faster when you’re a teen prodigy, we’ve seen it proven countless time and Sweatshirt is truly no exception, but this current version of him that he’s let the audience have access to feels the most well-adjusted yet.

fav songs: 2010, Titanic & Fire in the Hole

Alex Isley, Jack Dine – Marigold

‘Jumped right out a plane without a parachute / Nothing beats the view or the thought of you’

Alex Isley is easily one of my favourite vocalists of the past decade, voices that lush and warm are an absolute rarity. Jack Dine’s exquisite production give her voice a cushiony and perfect home. The mellow tones carry through the album, creating a pleasant and comforting atmosphere that I always seem to feel receptive of when Alex Isley is singing to me.

fav songs: Love Again, Square Zero & Under The Moon

Beabadoobee – Beatopia

‘I paint a picture on my wall the other night again / I have a feeling that I'm losing all my oldest friends’

Ms. Bea Kristi’s second album comes with a huge childlike wonder, named after an imaginary world the singer came up with as a child, we escape with her and the child that she once was into her sonic space. Delving into a pop nostalgia world from the 2000s, providing us with wide-ranging singing tones, the singer puts the edge of her debut record on hold for a second. Softness is in, again.

fav songs: Sunny day, the perfect pair & fairy song

redveil – learn 2 swim

‘I was pouring when I weeped, or wept / Wallowing in sorrow, I was seeing loops of my regrets’

The young Maryland rapper’s sophomore album has shifting tones of desolation and triumph, as he explores his process with his listener. Even though the learning process seems to be so transparent, the amount of control he has at only eighteen is incredibly apparent. Lavish beats are the soundtrack to his growth, creating a charming and enriching experience.

fav songs: diving board, morphine (da ways) & home

Raveena – Asha’s Awakening

‘Take me in the temple of your mind / I think that she's from another world / Way she speaks of loving is so pure’

To call Raveena’s sound hypnotic would be a huge understatement, her soft pillowy vocals help you drift away to another realm, which is probably why she chose for this album concept to be in the perspective of a Punjabi space princess. Raveena has never been artist to shy away from her heritage, and here she embraces it fully through this concept, using gorgeous R&B sounds to facilitate her journey. Stunning, mesmeric, and psychedelic sounds flow throughout the album.

fav songs: Secret (feat. Vince Staples), Kismet & Asha’s Kiss (feat. Asha Puthli)

Heo Hoy Kyung – Memoirs

‘Closing your eyes like that / Falling asleep like that / Living like that’

Beautiful, charming, and warm folk songs and ballads are what emerging K-Indie singer Heo Hoy Kyung provides us with on her debut album. With a voice that swells ethereally in any space you put it she fills up your heart, heals you as she sings her way through her own woes, with rich and textured instrumentation throughout.

fav songs: All Alone, My Dear Love & Our Forgiveness.

Amaria BB – What’s Done in the Dar

k

‘Don't tell nobody cah nobody has to know, baby’

Deeply infused in dancehall and R&B influences, Amaria BB’s debut EP creates a sexy and confident soundscape for the artist to do her thing on. The singer is paving her own lane with dark, sensual, and proudly unrestrained lyrics. Unapologetically and bombastically singing about intimacy with women in her smooth vocal tone.

fav songs: Secrets, It’s On & Slow Motion

Junglepussy – Jp5000

‘Aint a damn thing discreet / the name Junglepussy’

Give JP her flowers, give her the bouquets, give her a damn house plant if she so wishes! I hate throwing the underrated world around, especially with women in rap but Junglepussy has been doing this thing so well for a substantial amount of time that I just need everyone to get up off their ass and listen to everything they can by her. The EP is absolutely stupendous, there is not a singular weak spot for me, she knows what she’s doing. Consistently capable, she ice skates and does a couple spins on every single track, a bright star in music to me.

fav songs: CRITIQUA, FOREIGN EXCHANGE & MYSTICAL

Kojey Radical – Reason to Smile

‘How the world so against us and we weather the storm?’

Kojey Radical is one of those artists that has been active in the industry for many years, releasing EPs since 2014, but decided to make his statement debut album this year. It also feels as such, the album exudes life and boastfulness, it feels celebratory and utterly authentic. Including the rapper’s mother’s voice throughout, sandwiched between songs influenced by funk, Motown and afrobeats.

fav songs: Nappy, Talkin (feat. Kelis & Tiana Major9) & Payback (feat. Knucks)

Kaina – It Was a Home

‘We used to catch all thе lightning bugs / Hold them in our hands 'til our parents called’

The singer-songwriter’s album is a dreamy, woozy and soulful piece that prioritises the need and concept of community. She goes through childhood memories with the listener, gorgeous and honest storytelling on instrumentals that sound so incredibly effortless yet effective. An easeful listening experiences is created, despite the confessional-style song writing.

fav songs: Sweetness, Come Back as a Flower & Apple

Jensen McRae – Are You Happy Now?

‘The high is worth the bruise I’d still eat the fruit’

The folk singer-songwriter’s debut album is full of emotion, brutal honesty, and clear intentionality. Vulnerability is plastered all over this album, the album flows as she projects her vocals in a way that is both buttery and from a place in her throat you would not expect her to sing from at first glance.

fav songs: Adam’s Ribs, Wolves & My Ego Dies At The End

Fana Hues – flora + fana

‘Don't care if I'm lyin' in your good graces / Press my love cold hard against the pavement’

Fana Hues’ voice is silk, velvet, butter, all of that. It’s sweet and warm. If it had a scent, it would be a wonderous mix of lavender and vanilla. The album is smooth and cohesive, you feel like you’re in the personal garden on the cover with her. Safe from whatever could interrupt your peace, process and journey.

fav songs: breakfast, BAD bad & wild horses

Omar Apollo – Ivory

‘Te lo juro, solo pienso en ti / Cuando me tocas y me llamas, vuelo’

Omar Apollo reaches new emotional depths and artistic capability on his debut album. Expanding into different genres and sounds, the singer-songwriter shows us personality nonstop on this record. Through various styles, he shows the ways in which flirty yet vulnerable. The charm is beyond palpable throughout the whole project, you feel like a friend is telling you about his escapades, raw and confessional.

fav songs: Talk, En El Olvido & Tamagotchi

RM – Indigo

‘Burning fireworks to flowerworks / Boyhood to eternity /I'll stay in this barren field’

There is a timelessness already to this album, it’s touches on many genres, some never done before by the young industry veteran. Influences are brought together and collaboration is prioritised, exploring topics of heartache, change and identity. Really asking both himself and us who he is and why he’s here. This album feels like a ripped out final page of a novel, it solidifies the artist’s capabilities and reminds us that there is more. RM’s colour wheel will simply keep spinning, Indigo feels like it was only the start.  

fav songs: Yun (with Erykah Badu), Closer (with Paul Blanco & Mahalia) & Wildflower (with youjeen)

Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen

‘Twirl on the floor lookin' like whirling dervishes / Almost caught the holy ghost in her sweet essence’

Sudan Archives creates a mural representing her experience with Black Womanhood on this album. The multi-instrumentalist creates an intentionally chaotic yet cohesive masterpiece, crashing through different genres and taking us along for the ride. It is an outstanding, innovative and unapologetic body of work.

fav songs: Ciara, OMG BRITT & Freakalizer

Alex G – God Save The Animals

‘Walk out of the doctor with immunity / Life of revelation catching up with me’

Alex Giannascol creates an intimate and ambient record brimming with hope. The sounds feel familiar, even when foreign, you’re a part of the singer-songwriter’s choir, even when you did not volunteer to be. Religious motifs are sprinkled throughout and you are sitting in on whatever conversation he seems to be having with god. Each track is purely enthralling and distinctive.

fav songs: Mission, S.D.O.S & Blessing

WESTSIDE BOOGIE – MORE BLACK SUPERHEROES

‘See, my ego breaks in pieces every time I stand corrected / Hate I gotta bump my head to fully understand the lesson’

The Compton rapper’s introspective album is a pleasant listen of what is basically a lyrical therapy session. He explores themes such as love and death in a way that does not weigh the listener down. Boogie uses his honesty to his advantage throughout the project, creating an intimate and earnest image of himself for the listener.

fav songs: CAN’T EVEN LIE (feat. Soulja Boy), AIGHT (feat. DRAM) & CAN’T GET OVER YOU (feat. Smino & Teezo Touchdown)

FKA Twigs – CAPRISONGS

‘My champagne bubble girl’

This mixtape set the tone for the rest of the year, I absolutely still have a deep obsession with all of these tracks. Leaning into joy after a dark period of her life, Twigs offered us with a genre-hopping, enigmatic masterpiece that was the soundtrack to my whole year. From interpolating Olive’s You’re Not Alone to making a dancehall banger with Shygirl, she hit every sweet spot I never expected her to and then some.

fav songs: honda (feat. Pa Salieu), papi bones (feat Shygirl) & Darjeeling (feat. Jorja Smith & Unknown T)

Smino – Luv 4 Rent

‘'Don’t blame yourself for all the shit you see me do / I’m gettin’ used to bein’ loved, girl, the right way.’

This man is three for three when it comes to his album run so far, just so you know. This album is Smino coming to all kinds of realisation in relation to romance and love. He stands out as a more romantic rapper amongst his peers, not in the old school R&B singer way but because when he raps about love and relationships, I simply believe him. Charm oozes off his raps as he reflects on intimacy, the authenticity and honesty stacked between some pretty incredible bops provided by his frequent producer Monte Booker.

fav songs: 90 Proof (with J. Cole), Pro freak (with Doechii & Fatman Scoop) & Settle Down (with Cory Henry & Ravyn Lenae)

honourable mentions:

Lana Lubany – The Snake (Single) ⊛ RAYE, 070 Shake - ESCAPISM. (Single) ⊛ Lil Yachty - Poland (Single) ⊛ Charli XCX - Baby (Single) ⊛ Kyle Dion, Tkay Maidza - Hazy (Single) ⊛ Hitkidd, Glorilla - FNF (Single) ⊛ Tiana Major 9, Smino - 2 seater (Single) ⊛ M Huncho, Giggs - Lean (Single) ⊛ Rico Nasty - Black Punk (Single) ⊛ Blood Orange - Jesus Freak Lighter (Single) ⊛ Kenny Elrod - so low (Single) ⊛ Ski Mask The Slump God - OOGA BOOGA! (Single) ⊛ IDK - Simple (Album) ⊛ Ivy Sole - Candid (Album) ⊛ Epik High - Epik High Is Here Pt. 2 (Album) ⊛ UMI - Forest In The City (Album) ⊛ Robert Glasper - Black Radio III (Album) ⊛ Jordan Rakei - Bruises (EP) ⊛ Cruel Santino - Subaru Boys : FINAL HEAVEN (Album) ⊛ Ricki Monique - GOOD SEEDS (EP)

pre-2022 releases that hit this year:

Mariah Carey - Butterfly ⊛ Jadakiss, Pharell Williams- Knock Yourself Out ⊛ Jay-Z, UGK - Big Pimpin ⊛ Donna Summer - Last Dance ⊛ Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck ⊛ Usher - Superstar ⊛ Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan ⊛ K-Trap - Warm ⊛ Ginuwine - So Anxious ⊛ SE SO NEON - Nonadaptation ⊛ Outkast - Stankonia ⊛ DESTIN CONRAD - COLORWAY ⊛ Stevie Wonder - Ribbon In The Sky ⊛ Jay-Z - So Ghetto ⊛ Jon B. - Callin On You ⊛ Chaka Khan - Through The Fire ⊛ Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal ⊛ Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies ⊛ Puma Blue - In Praise Of Shadows

album playlist

singles playlist

I’m not going to do the annoying thing in which I remind you of the whole year top to bottom because that’s exhausting, as is the passing of time. I am not a music journalist or anything of the sort, I just like tunes. So, this won’t consist of me waxing too much poetic about technicalities, unless I’m really feeling myself, but it will include me talking about how the music moved me and how great I find it. I also will not be ranking or rating, just placing different albums/eps/mixtapes/whogivesafuck into different groups that my otherworldly brain sorted them into. Let’s get into it.

The Ones That Wowed Me When I Was Catching Up On Releases

Gonna be the biggest section because your girl wants to hear everything, you know?

Ghetts - Conflict of Interest

PTSD, growth, family and love are some of the themes explored in Conflict of Interest, an album very represented by its cover, making listeners acquainted with a body of work in which an artist truly shows us all the versions of himself that have been poured into the vessel that delivered us this album. Ghetts, to me, has always been your favourite MC’s favourite MC, somebody who has a never ending supply of talent and passion for storytelling despite rarely getting the same credit as his peers. Enough of that underrated shit though, because I think that just isn’t his complete narrative. In the final verse of the opening track Fine Wine, he states ‘I don't care about nostalgia / My best years are ahead of me” a statement I can’t help but agree with.

Fave tracks: Mozambique (Ft Jaykae and Moonchild Sanelly), Fire and Brimstone, Hop Out & Little Bo Peep (Ft. Dave, Hamzaa and Wretch 32)

PinkPantheress - to hell with it

I don’t know guys she kinda ate up these two second songs. Okay but seriously, to hell with it was a long awaited project that I wanted to listen to desperately. Then it came out, I saved it and… forgot. As if 18 minutes was too much of my time. Lets just say PinkPantheress brings out an enthusiasm in me and makes me want to bang on a table while chanting ‘GARAGE RESURGANCE, GARAGE RESURGANCE, GARAGE RESURGANCE!!!’ I enjoy her sound and the presence on the music scene. I just cannot wait for what she has next in store for us, I’m rooting for this Kenyan princess!

Fave tracks: Pain, I must apologise, Passion & Just for me

Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant

The word gorgeous comes to mind when I listen to this album. Nai Palm’s rich vocals with these beautiful textured instrumentals are just everything I could have expected and I’m once again mad at myself I didn’t listen to it sooner! These wonderful atmospheric songs held me tight and cradled me during the last part of the year.

Fave tracks: Get Sun, Rose Water, Red Room & Stone Or Lavender

JoJo - Trying Not To Think About It

This is easily JoJo’s darkest project, though she has definitely had sad songs and songs with sad themes before, this one was just something I didn’t expect from her. Some of the lyrics took a shot straight at my heart and her wonderful voice proved its greatness once again. Throughout the project she explores anxiety, depression, healthy as well as unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Fave tracks: Dissolve, B.I.D, Feel Alright & Fresh New Sheets

Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

Laura Mvula is an absolute superstar in my eyes, one of the many Black women in pop that deserves more. This album specifically is hypnotising and overwhelming, obviously inspired by the 80s and the likes of Janet Jackson and her older brother (the chrous of Got Me specifically reminding me of The Way You Make Me Feel). The songs pull you into the record’s larger world and before you know it you’re entraped. Absolutely the best dance music I’ve heard during a year were you needed these synths and funky sounds to pick you up and take you hostage.

Fave tracks: Conditional, Church Girl, Remedy & Pink Noise

The Marías - CINEMA

To me The Marías make lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling music, in the best way possible. This album feels all encompassing and dare I be corny enough to say cinematic (crowd boos, tomatoes are thrown), but seriously, the influence is perfect. You’re supposed to feel like the main character that’s part of a world that just doesn’t get you and the captivating sounds that surround you.

Fave tracks: Calling U Back, Hush & Un Millón

Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

There’s always a band that has been around for like ten years, that I don’t know shit about, that pops up with an album their fans were desperately waiting for. Of course, I’m just along for the ride because I decided to tag a long and then happened to have the time of my life. Blue Weekend is sooooo good, I adore all the reverb and vocal layering throughout it’s just a gorgeous listen. The songs, varying in tempos yet fitting together well, make you feel absolutely sucked into the world the album creates.

Fave tracks: The Beach, Smile, How Can I Make It Okay? & Feeling Myself

IU - Lilac

Oprah voice she is the mother I never had, she is the sister everybody would want etc. She really did it again! To me, IU is what a consistent and growing artist looks like within the K-music industry, I never find what she decides to do next uninteresting or unmoving. I think I’m biased because a lot of songs here do remind me of Modern Times (my favourite of IU album), but it doesn’t feel like a repetition of that sound as much as the suave and confident older sibling.

Fave tracks: Lilac, Coin, Troll (Ft. Dean) & Ah Puh

Tierra Whack - Rap?

Tierra Whack - Pop?

Tierra Whack - R&B?

She said I’m capable of everything and I will lay it out in a way that you clowns will understand since you don’t get multi-genre artists. She broke it down and she succeeded! All three of these are so fun, my fave is probably Rap? but that’s just because I just love hearing her rapping.

Fave tracks: Meagan Good, Lazy & Sorry

Dua Saleh - CROSSOVER

This EP is packed with confident beats, gorgeous crooning and imperturbable raps from Dua Saleh. Their singing takes influence very obviously from their Sudanese heritage, amplified by the intro of the first song being Saleh singing in Arabic, setting the scene for the haunted dancefloor the rest of this project takes place on. The project creates a sublime lovechild between Afrobeats, hip hop and other sub-genres that feels as distorted and beautiful as the cover. Also, the flute in fav flav is just so tasteful.

Fave tracks: fitt (with Amaarae), tic tic (with Haleek Maul) & fav flav (with Duckwrth)

Hamzaa - Full Circle

I’m getting so desperate for her first full album, which is what I expected this release to be (probably why I put off listening to it for a bit). When i was ready to meet this project for where it’s at and what it was though, I was not left disappointed. Hamzaa’s beautiful vocals took me to the same paradise that they always do and these songs are an authentic extension to her previous music but with a more mature sound.

Fave tracks: IN BETWEEN (Ft. Miraa May) WHO’S LOVING YOU?, AGGRESSIVE & HEAVEN

Lyn Lapid - In My Mind

Me in my old age listening to the TikTok kids? Me with my ear to the streets? I didn’t expect to enjoy this, it’s very much guitar girl pop but sometimes what is enjoyable is better than what so desperately wants to change your life. If you liked SOUR you’re fucking with this. The young Filipino star wears her heart on her sleeve and shows much promise in these songs and I anticipate what she has coming next!

Fave tracks: In My Mind, Producer Man & Itsy Bitsy

Joy Crookes - Skin

My reasoning for putting this off is I loved Don’t Let Me Down (Demo) so much that I became obsessed with it and couldn’t listen to her singing without thinking of how much I love that song. So she is to blame for being so good, you know? Crookes is absolutely one of the Daughters-Of-Amy, as a I like to call women singers from the UK that so obviously grew up on Amy Winehouse and I believe that with her, the influence and inspiration is for the better. She weaves these stories together wonderfully for the listener and croons you through different corners of her life, identity and experience.

Fave tracks: 19th Floor, When You Were Mine, Feet Don’t Fail Me Now & Skin.

Rochelle Jordan - Play With The Changes

Quality oontz oontz changes lives, changes minds, changes souls and changes times. I do not remember what put this on my list of shit to catch up with, but I’m sooo glad. Jordan’s beautiful voice levitates on these instrumentals in a way I did not know I needed! It’s exhilarating.

Fave tracks: Love You Good, All ALong, Broken Steel (Ft. Farah Fawx) & Dancing Elephants

Gavin Turek - Madame Gold

This debut album went in so many different directions, from the vibey dance around the house Prince-inspired tracks (very Dirty Computer), to the introspective moody R&B songs, all held together tightly by the singer’s gorgeous voice. Turek showcases such variety and talent on this project.

Fave tracks: ELEVATOR, SO WHAT, ILLUSIONS & THANK YOU

L’Rain - Fatigue

The soundscapes and orchestral elements on this album are really hauntingly beautiful, an ambience is built alongside the spiritual motifs sprinkled throughout. The album is incredibly immersive and makes the listener feel like they’re a part of a larger, transformative journey despite only being thirty minutes long.

Fave tracks: Find It, Blame Me, Suck Teeth & Two Face

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Just burry me in everything a guitar does on this album and call it a day! Exploring an abundance of themes, from imperialism to personal relationships, Afrique Victime paints a picture with colours that have an unabashed brightness we rarely get to hear in western music. The songs inspired by Moctar’s homeland of Niger and his personal life, provide us with music that sounds both grand and intimate.

Fave tracks: Chismiten, Ya Habibti, Layla & Afrique Victime

Remi Wolf - Juno

Vivid lyrics and in-your-face instrumentals that create a hypnotic and marvelous listening experience. Wolf has stated before that she thrives off of chaos, and you absolutely hear her thriving throughout this record, leading us through these flamboyant tracks until we get lost in them.

Fave tracks: Anthony Kiedis, Guerrilla, Sally & Sexy Villain

Erika De Casier - Sensational

This is whisper singing done right. The record is heavily inspired by 90s and 00s R&B, Erika De Casier’s charms with her soft tone, matched with instrumentals that create a joyous haziness that’ll have you swaying from side to side.

Fave tracks: Make My Day, All You Talk About, Better Than That & Busy

Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

The Pakistani songstress Arooj Aftab created a gorgeous soundtrack to yearning and grief with this one. The strings and her voice hard carry the project, as she incorporates Urdu ghazals to create a beautiful and desolate atmosphere.

Fave tracks: Diya Hai, Inayaat & Mohabbat

The Random Discoveries

These were either recommended by a friend out of the blue or something that I discovered one day and felt like a genius over.

Madison Beer - Life Support

I never had a huge interest in Beer, so I decided to check this one out based off of it getting recommended up and down my timeline. Honestly, a reminder I shouldn’t underestimate young women. Such gorgeous pop music. She keeps your attention with catchy lyrics you will find yourself singing around the house before you know it.

Fave tracks: Good in Goodbye, Blue & Emotional Bruises

The Volunteers - The Volunteers

Yerin is my baby girl everybody knows, but I really never gave enough of a fuck to listen to her band’s stuff because it’s just separate from her solo stuff which I didn’t want stained in any way. Silly me because this shit slaaaaaaaps. I mean the lead singer of a rock band absolutely looks good in her and the band plays incredibly on all of these songs, I caught myself listening to it way more than I expected to.

Fave tracks: PINKTOP, Medicine & S.A.D

Tems - If Orange Was A Place

The voice of the people because Crazy Tings ARE happening. It’s a random discovery because despite loving Essence (I overplayed it and then fell back in love it’s a real relationship now, sorry all), I didn’t listen to Tems’ debut mixtape before this EP dropped. Once I listened to both I was hooked, on her cadence and emotion most of all. I found myself listening to this project more regularly than I expected to. She is the moment and I really cannot wait for what she’s going to give us next.

Fave tracks: Crazy Tings, Found (Ft. Brent Faiyaz) & Replay

Enny - Under Twenty Five

Enny garnered attention for Peng Black Girls in 2020, which I enjoyed and fully understood why it became viral but I wasn’t hooked on it. When I listened to this EP it was definitely just to put something that I hadn’t heard before on in the background but I found myself more moved than expected. This project sounds both nostalgic and just the experience of growing up and reaching your 20s.

Fave tracks: Same Old, Malibu & Under 25

Dixson - Darling

I literally clicked on this on Spotify because the cover is pretty. Of course, judging a book by it’s cover worked because this album is very pretty, too. Dixson’s outstanding vocals stand out on this lovely R&B project, full of instrumentals that envelop your senses, particularly the drums on the title track.

Fave tracks: DARLING, HEAVEN WITH YOU & YOURS (Ft. India Shawn)

IDK - USEE4YOURSELF

IDK puts his everything into this project, it feels like he cut open a part of his soul that has been attempting to break free for a long time. Easily one of my favourite hip hop projects of the year. He directly addresses the lack of love in his household growing up and how that created his current behavioural patterns. The different sounds create an almost interactive experience for the listener, as we receive the stories of the rapper’s childhood and his current life.

Fave tracks: Red (Ft. Westside Gunn, MF DOOM & Jay Electronica), Temporary Love (Ft. SiR) & Keto (Ft. The Neptunes, Rico Nasty & Swae Lee)

Pa Salieu - Afrikan Rebel

This is… an EP with only three songs but I really don’t care it belongs here. I never finished listening to his 2020 debut album before this past year and I became obsessed, so when he dropped this it was over for me. Different sounds from across Africa are used within these songs, from South African Amapiano to Ghanaian Drill. You can see him, so early in his career coming into his own and proving himself.

Fave track: Style & Fashion (Ft. Obongjayar)

The Ones I Didn’t Expect To Like As Much As I Did

Surprises, I don’t normally like them but these were fun ones. Shortest section because my intuition is likely to be right 97% of the time.

Isaiah Rashad - The House is Burning

Lets get it out of the way, when SZA released CTRL and I enjoyed Pretty Little Birds, I checked out this man’s discography and was left unmoved. So when this came out, it was really the hype and my girl Doechii who has like a 10 second feature that got me to listen. This album kicks any opinions I had about his work being redundant in the face completely, he glides on these beats and provides us with a body of work that completely proved me wrong. In the simplest way possible it just goes hard.

Fave tracks: RIP Young, Claymore (Ft. Smino), Wat U Sed (Ft. Iamdoechii & Kal Banx) & Chad

Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

Ashley! I was not ready! Halsey and this production team creates this aural battle against femininity, motherhood, childbirth, and the societal expectations that come with those three experiences. The album haunts the listener long after they’ve played it and is honestly, also very cinematic.

Fave tracks: You asked for this, honey & I am not a woman, I’m a god

Charlotte Day Wilson - ALPHA

This isn’t one I expected to dislike or anything, I really loved the singles already but I did NOT expect it to be on repeat the way it was. I wanted to live in this album just engulfed by CDW’s voice. It was very much one of my comfort albums of the year. She herself, has stated that her songwriting always comes back to love and you feel it when sinking your teeth into this project because she yearns in a way that fully compels the listener.

Fave tracks: I Can Only Whisper (Ft. BADBADNOTGOOD), If I Could, Take Care Of You (Ft. Syd) & Keep Moving

The *Lizzo Voice* I’ve Been Waiting For This (These) One(s)

Anticipation and hopes that were met.

Dave - We’re All Alone In This Together

Dave’s music is a reflection of his personal life, the lives of his peers, his city and the issues he sees in the world he lives in. On his debut album Psychodrama, he uses the concept of a therapy session at the beginning and end of the album, to take us on a journey on all the different parts of him. In this sophomore album, he uses contemplations from his colleagues about racism and finding your inner peace within a racist society. In Daniel Kaluuya’s outro on the song Three Rivers he speaks on the concept of being stuck in water, a symbol relating back to the album’s cover, to imply that he was stuck in the mindset that Blackness is a hinderance instead of a blessing. He states that he ‘had to change rivers’. We’re then lead into the two Afrobeats songs, my favourite pocket of the album that furthermore puts emphasis on the fact that their Blackness, heritage and culture is something to be celebrated.

Fave tracks: Clash, In The Fire, System (Ft. Wizkid) & Lazarus (Ft. Boj)

Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

If I saw that this came out 8 days into the year and I was planning to release music I just would have given up. honestly. Jazmine is one of the best vocalists in music alongside an exceptional storyteller, basing the whole concept around the sides of being single and modern dating, using vignettes of different women in her life’s stories (which sometimes got concerning, I’m looking at you Ari Lennox). This album was an absolute constant through the whole year for me and we’re thankful!

Fave tracks: Pick Up Your Feelings, On It (Ft. Ari Lennox) & Lost One

Vanjess - Homegrown

This album is absolute velvet. A smooth, groovy, sexy comeback that I’ve been desperately waiting from this sister duo. I was obsessed with Silk Canvas in 2018, so I listened to every single anticipating this album and listening to it all together was still its own distinct experience.

Fave tracks: Come Over, Dysfunctional, Roses & Caught Up (Ft. Phony Ppl)

Gallant - Neptune

Rare spotting of a man in R&B with vocal chops that makes listenable music. Alert the authorities. The EP flows in a seamless fashion, with luscious sounds throughout and is easily the most interesting thing he’s done since his debut album.

Fave tracks: Chemical Romance, Dynamite (Ft. Brandy) & Julie

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

When indie bands are like dare I... make an excellent pop-ish record? And I’m like yes please I’m begging actually. The hooks and absolutely gorgeous production on this is just everything I could have asked for and more, just a very high quality project that brought me joy throughout the year.

Fave tracks: Be Sweet, Kokomo, IN & Posing in Bondage

Aly & AJ - A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun

In 2017, when the sister duo officially came back under their previous name, it was obvious that what they had to provide was missing from pop music. This album that feels like a sunset, reminds us of that once again. The dreamy sounds entrap you and make you come to life.

Fave tracks: Slow Dancing, Paradise, Symptom of Your Touch & Personal Cathedrals

Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams

My indie darlinggggg, I was waiting for Parks’ debut album since I discovered her, and my West London babes did NOT disappoint! I felt that wretched youthful all-encompassing yearning that she brings to her music all throughout the album. She conveys feelings in this diaristic way not many singers can and makes it seem effortless.

Fave tracks: Too Good, Caroline, For Violet & Porta 400

Vince Staples - Vince Staples

The thing about this album is, it’s not anything new from him. Yet, it’s everything I could have wanted for the awaited comeback. Vince pairs his signature anecdotal rapping with melodic instrumentals all produced by his friend Kenny Beats, creating an easeful and gorgeous listen.

Fave tracks: ARE YOU WITH THAT?, THE SHINING, THE APPLE & THE TREE & MHM

Aminé - TWOPOINTFIVE

This shit is SO FUN. You can feel that he really let go of any bullshit and just made the project he felt like making. I seem to keep enjoying these pointfives more than his official albums, because when you can hear that an artist truly come into himself you just want him to hold onto that. Good rappers leaning into pop and dance sounds will always be an enjoyable experience for me.

Fave tracks: Colors, NEO & Charmander

Yebba - Dawn

This has nothing to do with the music but Yebba has the vibes of your best friend’s really cool older sister that lets you get away with shit you’re not supposed to. The long-awaited album is stunning and presents what the singer is capable of. She gives us a glimpse into all these different pockets of her life, kind of like a best friend’s cool older sister would.

Fave tracks: October Sky, Louie Bag (Ft. Smino) & Distance

The Ones I Can’t Imagine The Year Without

The on repeat ones, the I’m Going To Make These Albums My Personality ones, the turns these albums into liquid and let me soak in them ones.

Summer Walker - Still Over It

I’ll get it out of the way, this lady says some deranged stuff and makes absolutely horrible choices in her personal life but wow… did that give me some AMAZING unhinged lyrics with delivery I felt in the pit of my stomach. I adored Summer’s music early in her career, but this is her best project so far and I couldn’t keep it off repeat. She takes us on a her emotional rollercoaster and uses both Cardi B and Ciara as emblems of the ‘4th Baby Mama’, a role they all seem to share, giving the album a certain structure that her debut didn’t have (even though I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, I skip Ciara’s Prayer, I am not the target audience but do you ladies).

Fave tracks: Throw It Away, Constant Bullshit, Insane & Unloyal

Tinashe - 333

This is Tinashe at her absolute best. The only problem she has ever had as an artist were made up by other people’s doubts, not me though! I saw the vision, always. She brings together her capabilities, the energy of all her mixtapes and her more commercial successes are poured into this to make a stunning and different body of work, that couldn’t have been created by anybody but her. From the upbeat Bouncin’ to pop ballad Undo (Back To My Heart), she once again cements why she is a superstar like no other. This album genuinely has songs I wish were like 15 minutes long, and there are VERY few artists I can say that about.

Fave tracks: I Can See The Future, Unconditional, Angels (Ft. Kaash Paige) & Undo (Back To My Heart)

Cleo Sol - Mother

My comfort album of the year, for sure. Cleo Sol lets her wounds heal and looks directly in the face of her trauma throughout Mother, an intimate record with overwhelming and beautiful orchestral elements. An album about mothering and being mothered, whether it’s by the person who was supposed to mother you or by yourself. A glorious and blissful listening experience.

Fave tracks: Promises, Build Me Up, Sunshine & Don’t Let It Get To Your Head

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Did this one change who I am or is it just an album I’ve been waiting a lifetime for and didn’t even know? This cinematic masterpiece, produced exceptionally by Inflo (lots of orchestral elements like he used on Mother), was the soundtrack of the latter half of my year. The variety in genres and Simz’ rapping being at her absolute best are amongst the reasons why I’m still left very speechless at this perfectly weaved together album. A body of work you can tell was created with the intention to be great.

Fave tracks: Introvert, Two Worlds Apart, Little Q, Pt 2 & Speed

Doja Cat - Planet Her (Deluxe)

A pop star who can rap her ass off… sometimes I wonder if I fabricated this lady in my wildest dreams one night. Doja is an artist that knows what she wants, what vision he has for herself and knows how to pour the eclectic cocktail of different influences into her own art to create something the industry didn’t even know it was dying for. To watch her accelerate this year has been incredibly fun, and this album is one I know in a few years if asked about, I’m going to say I still know every fucking word. Even though, by then, she would have probably outdone herself in ways I could not even begin to imagine with my little 2022 brain.

Fave tracks: Get Into It (Yuh), Need to Know, Love To Dream, Been Like This & Tonight (Ft. Eve)

Find more in the playlist