The early stages of the 2018 musical year has mostly served as an exercise in respectability. While there has been some sporadic flourishes of excellence along the way courtesy of the indie death metal scene (Rivers of Nihil, Slugdge, Inferi) and a polarizing Atlanta rapper whose known more for his ad-libs than his mic skills (Playboi Carti), merely solid records have pretty much dominated the landscape for the majority of the year. New artists (Kali Uchis, Cardi B, Greyhaven) and established veterans (Death Grips, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T) alike have been pumping out good-but-not-great material at an almost unbelievable clip.
That being said, years like this aren't without their advantages. The plethora of B-range records has kept the level of truly terrible records to a minimum while also leaving the door for some optimism that the year can still go down as a great one. Whatever ends up happening in the latter stages of 2018, let's hope that there isn't too many more unnecessary hip-hop double albums on the horizon because I'm getting sick of carving out time to listen to a marathon-esque record that isn't even close to the artist's best work.
Below you'll find a list of every LP and EP I've heard in 2018 ranked from worst to best (with accompanying grades) along with my picks for the 25 best songs in no particular order. Hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the year in music so far in the comment section below.
EP's:
4.2 Chainz-The Play Don't Care Who Makes It (B-) (Favorite Track: "Ok Bitch")
3.Drake-Scary Hours (B) (Favorite Track: "God's Plan")
2.The Weeknd-My Dear Melancholy, (B) (Favorite Track: "Call Out My Name")
1.Young Thug-Hear No Evil (B+) (Favorite Track: "Anybody")
LP's:
45.Kanye West-ye (D+) (Favorite Track: "Yikes")
44.Lil Yachty-Lil Boat 2 (D+) (Favorite Track: "Self-Made")
43.Tropical Fuck Storm-A Laughing Death in Meat Space (C-) (Favorite Track: "Chameleon Paint")
42.Machine Head-Catharsis (C-) (Favorite Track: "Volatile")
41.Jack White-Boarding House Reach (C) (Favorite Track: "Over and Over and Over")
40.Kodak Black-Heartbreak Kodak (C) (Favorite Track: ""Codeine Dreaming")
39.Parkway Drive-Reverence (C) (Favorite Track: "Wishing Wells")
38.Kids See Ghosts-Kids See Ghosts (C) (Favorite Track: "Cudi Montage")
37.Fall Out Boy-MANIA (C+) (Favorite Track: "Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea")
36.Logic-Bobby Tarantino II (C+) (Favorite Track: "Warm It Up")
35.Famous Dex-Dex Meets Dexter (C+) (Favorite Track:"Deadpool")
34.XXXTENTACION-?(B-) (Favorite Track: "Sad!")
33.Nekrogoblikon-Welcome to Bonkers (B-) (Favorite Track: "The Skin Thief")
32.Good Tiger-We Will All Be Gone (B-) (Favorite Track: "Blueshift")
31.Various Artists-Black Panther: The Album-Music from and Inspired
by (Favorite Track: "Big Shot")
30.The Carters-EVERYTHING IS LOVE (B-) (Favorite Track: "Lovehappy")
29.Turnstile-Time & Space (B-) (Favorite Track: "Come Back for More/H.O.Y.")
28.Camila Cabello-Camila (B-) (Favorite Track: "She Loves Control")
27.State Champs-Living Proof (B-) (Favorite Track: "Frozen'")
26.Ski Mask the Slump God-BEWARE THE BOOK OF ELI (B-) (Favorite Track: "Run")
25.JPEGMAFIA-Veteran (B-) (Favorite Track: ""I Can't Wait Until Morrisey Dies")
24.Migos-Culture II (B-) (Favorite Track: "Stir Fry")
23.The Wonder Years-Sister Cities (B) (Favorite Track: "Pyramids of Salt")
22.Kyle-Light of Mine (B) (Favorite Track: "Games")
21.Drake-Scorpion (B) (Favorite Track: "Nice for What")
20.Extinction A.D.-Decimation Treaty (B) (Favorite Track: "Secret Worlds")
19.Pusha T-Daytona (B) (Favorite Track: "If You Know You Know")
18.TesseracT-Sonder (B) (Favorite Track: "Juno")
17.A$AP Rocky-Testing (B) (Favorite Track: "Tony Tone")
16.Augury-Illusive Golden Age (B) (Favorite Track: "Maritime")
15.Kimbra-Primal Heart (B) (Favorite Track: "Like They Do on the TV")
14.Post Malone-beerbongs &bentleys (B) (Favorite Track: "92 Explorer")
13.Cardi B-Invasion of Privacy (B) (Favorite Track: "Money Bag")
12.Greyhaven-Empty Black (B) (Favorite Track: "Broadcast Network")
11.Death Grips-Year of the Snitch (B) (Favorite Track: "Dilemma")
10.Flatbush Zombies-Vacation in Hell (B)(Favorite Track: ""Big Shrimp")
9.Kali Uchis-Isolation (B) (Favorite Track: "Tyrant")
8.Alterbeast-Feast (B+) (Favorite Track: "The Maggot's Ascension")
7.Inferi-Revenant (B+) (Favorite Track: "The Menacing Gaze")
6.Rolo Tomassi-Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (B+) (Favorite Track: "Alma Mater")
5.Playboi Carti-Die Lit (B+) (Favorite Track: "R.I.P.")
4.Dance Gavin Dance-Artificial Selection (B+) (Favorite Track: "Count Bassy")
3.Slugdge-Esoteric Malacology (A-) (Favorite Track: "Crop Killer")
2.Between the Buried and Me-Automata I (A-) (Favorite Track: "Blot")
1.Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name (A) (Favorite Track: "A Home")
Top 25 Songs (in no particular order):
Anderson .Paak-Bubblin
Ariana Grande-No Tears Left to Cry
Between the Buried and Me-Blot
Between the Buried and Me-Condemned to the Gallows
Coheed and Cambria-The Dark Sentencer
Dance Gavin Dance-Count Bassy
Dance Gavin Dance-Suspended in This Disaster
Death Grips-Dilemma
Denzel Curry-Percs
Drake-Nice for What
Flatbush Zombies-Big Shrimp
Inferi-The Menacing Gaze
Kali Uchis-Tyrant (feat. Jorja Smith)
Playboi Carti-R.I.P.
Post Malone-92 Explorer
Pusha T-If You Know You Know
Rivers of Nihil-A Home
Rivers of Nihil-Hollow
Rivers of Nihil-Subtle Change (Including the Forest of Transition and Dissatisfaction Dance)
Rolo Tomassi-Alma Mater
Slugdge-Crop Killer
Slugdge-Transylvanian Fungus
The Weeknd-Call Out My Name
Young Thug-Anybody (feat. Nicki Minaj)
Young Thug-Now (feat. 21 Savage)
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