David Burd, aka Lil Dicky, is a Jewish rapper, and not in the Drake way. He's a suburban white male, who fully embraces that quality, and subsequently, has flow for days. Half comedian, half musician, all regular dude, his music intentionally makes you question the purpose of things, all while taking you through the recesses of his mind. The music vibes, bounces, introspects, whatever fits the bill, and while still working out his sound, one thing is pretty well cemented. Bars.
These French-Cuban twin sisters caught the ear of XL in Paris, and I'm so glad they did because that led to Richard Russell bringing them to America and producing their self-titled first album, Ibeyi. (Its list placement is actually further down than the music deserves, I'm simply not as distraught as this album (not unwarranted, their lives have been hard)). Regardless, rest assured, if you listen to this Sade-reminiscent eerily-bare modern-soul album, you will not be disappointed.
YSBH was actually a mixtape that got enough critical acclaim that it ended up on iTunes and Spotify (though it's still on her Soundcloud if you wanna listen for free). Anyway, a relative newcomer, Kehlani's raspy-cute voice powers through this 15 track LP about her (pretty tough) childhood and other such woes of rising to fame from recent adolescence (she's my sister's age). Whatever such story, in however brash a manner, it's well-produced, well-sung R&B, that's worth a listen or 5.
If you're looking for a playlist to keep on loop for your skating rink lock-in 16th bday bash, that you're lowkey hoping will be the party where that person you've had a crush on since 8th grade will finally make a move on you, look no further. Gaining notoriety from her very eclectically produced "Cut 4 Me" EP, Kelela really delivered with this more focused, and much smaller (6 track) album. While less experimental than the EP, this LP strikes the right balance of niche and refined.
Ohhhhhhhh, Jeremih. I wish this album didn't sound so good. It's about only sex. It's actually one of the best produced modern albums I can think of (executively produced by Jeremih himself) - every sound feels so well thought out, so unusually intimate, and I always forget how good this dude is at singing, but just so much explicit sex. Like, so much.
I have done no research on this group or this album. It is unusual for this style of music to pique my palette, but it has, and I will not fight it. It reminds me of childhood, which I'm pretty sure is the goal, and I'm glad I gave it a chance. Maybe you will too.
The highly-anticipated and long-pushed-back supposed-to-be-EP but turned-out-to-be-free-iTunes-album release, Surf, is the collaborative effort of probably my favorite musical squad (cuz those are things now), The Social Experiment, a derivative of the Save Money crew. With Donnie Trumpet and Chance the Rapper being their most notable members, you get this dope mix of jazz, rap, juke, and R&B. I listen to it all the time, give it a try.
Oh you thought Lena Horne was dead? No no, she's alive and well, and she got better at singing, and her band has learned a few things, and she changed her name, or this is just a different person, 1 of the 2. If you claim to like jazz, listen to this album.
It was hard for me to make this #2. I went through 5 or so "top albums of 2015" lists, and as varied as they were, they all had one thing in common: this album was #1. I didn't diverge from popular opinion to be contrarian - I've simply been listening to Kendrick long enough for the polarizing effect of how good he is to wear off. As far as rap albums go, this one is near perfect, but to be honest, I'm tired of rap, I just wanna hear music that I like, so #2 it is. Sorry.
The best music is the kind you don't have to explain why you like. From Brittany Howard's (yeah that's a girl singing) ridiculous voice, to the sweet mix of guitars and synths getting destroyed by some amazing musicians, this album just oozes music. Listen and smile.