Hayden's Top Albums of the Decade 30-21

Continuing the list with numbers 29-20. The explanations/album descriptions start to get a little longer here as I have a bit more to say. We've reached the top half of the list, and the albums are becoming more and more important to me as it goes on!

30. Denzel Curry - TA13BOO (2018)

One of my favorite hip-hop albums of 2018, I think TA13BOO is Curry’s best and most consistent project to date. Essentially a three piece album, TA13BOO goes everywhere from catchy light hip-hop, to dark and edgy and everywhere in between. Behind banger production and different flows, the album never gets still and keeps me interested throughout the album. I think the album and song runtime are near perfection, especially in a time where hip-hop albums were waaaay too long and full of fillers. Also, "Vengeance | Vengeance" ft. JPEGMAFIA and ZillaKami ended up being my favorite song of 2018 which is honestly enough to get this album on the list itself. It is easily one of my favorite songs this decade.

29. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)

*Music fans everywhere gasp* Yes, this album is incredible. Everywhere from its incredible jazz infused production, its extremely important lyrics, and influential concept, TPAB is truly worthy of being one of the best albums this decade. I realize how important this album is not only to hip-hop but to all music and while I realize this, the reason it isn’t higher on my list is simply, I don’t go back to it as much as I did when it was new. I can honestly say that I listen to this album all the way through at least once a year, but other than that playthrough, it doesn’t come up in my rotation as much as it maybe should. Still, it is Kendrick’s best work so far to this point in his career and it deserves a spot on this list. I do think that Kendrick still has enough creative juices to make an album that can one up this though, and because of that, I couldn’t be more excited to see where Kendrick goes with his future music endeavors.

28. Snail Mail - Lush (2018)

Lush is an album that has and continues to grow on me as it ages. I think Lindsey Jordan has the potential to become one of the best songwriters in the indie scene sooner rather than later and this album is an example of it. Making this album when she was 18(!) Jordan really encapsulates what it’s like to be a teenager in the late 2010’s. Not only is Jordan an incredible songwriter, but her guitar centered instrumentation is quickly becoming synonymous with her title as Snail Mail. If she can expand on that sound, there’s nothing stopping Snail Mail from growing even more into one of the biggest acts in the indie scene! I highly recommend this album for anyone who is into strong, female vocalists.

27. Flatbush Zombies - Vacation to Hell (2018)

It’s kind of amazing how much this album has grown on me since it was released. It came in at number 9 on my top albums of 2018 (right ahead of Lush coincidentally) but it is now in the upper estiallon of my decade list. The highs of this album are amongst the highs of any album on this list.

The only problem I have is I think it’s a bit too long and some songs don’t meet the mark of most of the album. If FBZ had cut some of those songs, this album would probably be even higher on this list but as it is, it’s still an incredible hip-hop album. This will always remind me of my college days and listening to it to hype me up before going out with my friends. Songs like “Headstone,” “Big Shrimp,” and “Reel Girls” will always be absolute bangers and carry this album to almost the top half of my decade list.

26. Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron (2013)

This is another high school nostalgic album for me. Schoolboy was a relatively new artist and was quickly becoming one of the most exciting artists in hip-hop. My friends and I would always blast this album in our cars when we were hanging out and it never disappointed. “Collard Greens,” “Studio,” and “Man of the Year” are some of my favorite hip-hop songs this decade. Sadly, I don’t think Schoolboy has made an album quite as consistent as Oxymoron up to this point… I enjoyed his 2016 release Blank Face LP quite a bit, but it didn’t have the memorable moments like this album has. In any case, Schoolboy continues to be one of the funniest figures in hip-hop and I’ll always be intrigued to the music he’ll put out.

25. Pinegrove - Everything so Far (2015)

Technically a mix of all their EP’s, Everything so Far is a beautiful mix of songs by New Jersey based band Pinegrove. This band is extremely unique because they use country melodies in most of their songs, but without the tacky lyrics of most country music (sorry.) It’s actually a pretty big project, coming in at 21 songs, but it feels fresh since most of the songs are quite different.

I think Evan Stephens Hall is one of the best lyricists in music right now and his country twang voice is so different from anyone in the indie scene right now. They really help scratch an extremely niche ich for me so I’m always looking forward to new music from them. Speaking of, their new album Marigold will be out January 17th of next year!

24. Porches - Pool (2016)

The second Porches album of the list. This was my introduction to the band, and it happened right when I was starting to become a much more serious music fan. This album exceeds almost every category I look for when listening to alt pop. Aaron Main has a very unique singing voice that keeps me interested through almost every playthrough. The instrumentation on this album also reminds me a lot of 80’s pop music which has shaped my music taste since I was a young kid. This very synth heavy album also features a lot more accessible song structures unlike The House (Porches album earlier on the list), which makes most of the songs much more catchy.

Overall, I think this is Porches best album to date, although I admire the creative risks Maine took with his release of The House. For anyone who is into synth lead “80’s” production, I think this is one of the best albums this decade of delivering that.

23. Kanye West - Yeezus (2013)

Yes, *spoiler alert* this is the only Kanye West album that made my list. Yeezus is an incredible album, both in execution and influence. This album came out in 2013… yes, 2013. For context, the number one hip-hop album this year according to Billboard was Drake’s Nothing Was The Same… number two… Jay Z’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail… number three… Macklemore’s The Heist. I think it’s clear to say that hip-hop was entirely different back then.

Yeezus was nothing like these albums and at the time, I didn’t get it -- I hated it to be honest. But like most of the albums on this list, the more I heard the album, the more it started to click. This album is amazing because of how ahead of its time it was. The distorted and heavy production was something rarely seen in hip-hop mainstream at the time and lyrically this is where Kanye shifted more from “Twisted Fantasies” towards his personal life and inner thoughts (however disturbing they may be).

Is this album saying anything so profound about the human experience? Not really. But, it’s short, it’s interesting, and has certified bangers to go along with it. It still is one of my favorite Kanye albums ever, and I think it still holds up to this day.

22. JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes are Cornballs (2019)

Ahh, Peggy finally finds his way to the list. All My Heroes… is peggy’s third studio album, but the follow up to his critically acclaimed hit Veteran. A lot of the underground hip-hop community (including myself) were super curious to see what direction JPEG would go with his music after such a career changing album. AMHAC is a much different album from Veteran but Peggy sure doesn’t disappoint in his delivery.

This album is much more accessible from a production standpoint. Although most of the songs actually have quite experimental structures -- it’s a little less hard hitting and in your face. Peggy delivers some of his funniest and most disturbing bars on this album as well. Another different element of the album is the presence of JPEG emerging as a bit of a singer. Whether it be an extremely hilarious and catchy hook on the song “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot,” to his sensual proposal on the song “Thot Tactics,” to his cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs” on the song “BasicBitchTearGas.” This is a relatively new element that Peggy added to his music on this album and for the most part, I think he killed it. AMHAC is definitely one of my favorite albums this year and I think it deserves to be in the top half of my decade list.

21. Mount Eerie - Now Only (2018)

Onto some sad stuff… Now Only is Phil Elverum’s unfortunate follow up to his 2016 album, A Crow Looked at Me. The reason I say unfortunate is these two albums both deal with the abrupt and devastating death of Phil’s wife, Geneviève Castrée. Castrée passed due to a battle with pancreatic cancer just over a year after her and Phil’s first child was born.

A Crow... and Now Only are basically Elverum sharing his immediate and painfully in depth details of how he dealt with it. Now Only differs from A Crow… in that it came about three years after Castrée’s death. Because of this, the songwriting is a bit more longfrom and thought out. Phil is still in mourning, but you can tell that he is starting to look at the situation from a longer distance and gives his audience a glimpse of what he feels like the future will be like now that his love is gone and he is left to raise their daughter.

In some ways that makes this album more hard hitting than A Crow... and when those moments hit… they hit hard. There are some glimpses of hope that find its way onto this album, however. The song “Distortion” is a ten minute song about Phil’s experiences with death leading up to Geneviève’s. He tells the audience about how he learned about Mortality and that he wanted to “not be famous, but just remembered a little more.” After talking about with grandfathers funeral which he says is “the first dead body I ever saw,” Elverum takes the audience into the room where Geneviève died. He shares about the “distortion” that has happened in his life but finishes the song with the line, “but in my tears right now, light gleams.” I think that light is enough to tell Phil to keep living and raise their daughter to the best of his ability.

This album is amazingly put together. Even though the songs are quite long winded, and Phil does seem to stray off topic in some songs, I am so fully invested in his thoughts about the situation that those trail offs are still interesting to me. But, those moments are also probably why this album isn’t a little bit higher on this list.