Hayden's Top Albums of the Decade 20-11

20. Tyler, The Creator - Wolf (2013)

Another extremely open and honest album. Tyler, the Creator’s Wolf is an album that kind of amazed me out of nowhere. Yes, I was the high school kid who blasted Bastard and Goblin out of the window of my car because it was “dark and explicit,” but Wolf was something almost completely different. There are songs like “Tamale” that could easily be found on Tyler’s previous work but then he has songs on here like “Answer,” and “Lone” which dive deeper into Tyler’s complicated relationship with his dad and his uncomfortable relationship with his grandma, moments before his death. These songs showed a new and more complex side of Tyler and I was all for it. Lyrically, Tyler mixes personal details along with clever metaphors to near perfection. I can honestly say this is my favorite Tyler album to date, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

p.s. “Colossus” is a better obsessed fan song than Eminem’s “Stan,” sorry not sorry.

19. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018)

The latest album from my favorites! This album is extremely good and has some of the best songs The 1975 have ever made. It’s ambitious in that it takes some risks with its genre bending (although they do that with every album) but also in its concept, which focuses on the relationship between humans and technology in the modern era.

It also came out months before the album was released that frontman Matty Healy had been dealing with a heroin addiction in the years prior to the album. But after rehab and a clean slate, Healy was ready to tell his fans about his struggles, and that is another reason why this album is so hard hitting for me. Not only did Matty tell fans that a lot of this album deals with his addiction, but also insinuated that a lot of their former songs on their album I Like it When you Sleep… are also about it. I think listening to these songs in that context makes the album feel more personal and honest which is actually so impressive for a pop album.

Healy is writing these songs that can be easily accessible to a lot of people who listen, but it’s actually about a situation that honestly, probably none of them have dealt with -- I think that speaks miles for Matty’s songwriting ability. As for the production, I like it, but I’m not sure some of it is better than some of the band’s previous work, and that’s probably the main reason why this album isn’t higher on the list. As with all of their work however, I find myself coming back to it more times than not -- and that’ enough to have it make my upper echelon of the albums this decade.

18. Mac Demarco - This Old Dog (2017)

Another extremely honest and powerful album here… I think you’re starting to get a sense of what I think makes good music. This album was made by Mac in a state where he thought his dad (who he’s had a troubled relationship with to say the least) was going to pass away soon. His father actually ended up recovering health wise, but Mac released the album anyway. Demarco explores this topic in through situations including his disgust at seeing similar characteristics in himself, that he sees in his dad, how it still hurts “seeing him fade away” even though they don’t have much of a relationship, and how he wishes he could be with his sister during this time, but doesn’t have the time for it.

Although most of the album talks about this relationship, Demarco also has some of the best love songs he’s ever written on here as well. Songs like “One More Love Song” and “For the First Time” will definitely go down as some of my favorite songs this decade. I think the contrast between these topics keep this album fresh and different. It might have been nice for him to dive deeper into one of the subjects, but I still think he does enough to get his point across and to feel authentic in his emotions -- that is something that is extremely important to me.

17. Kid Cudi - Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010)

I was really struggling with what Kid Cudi album I should put on this list. His music was so important to me as I was growing up -- he was the first artist I ever saw in concert. In the end, I think Man on the Moon II is his best album to date and that’s why it ends up here on the list. With a mix of commercial hits and hard hitting deep cuts, this album is the perfect combination of fun and sad. I still remember dancing around to “Erase Me” and “Ashin’ Kusher” but also remember the late nights in bed listening to “All Along” (a song I still have trouble listening to till this day). Again, there’s a lot of raw emotions that Cudi convey’s here whether it be extreme happiness or sadness -- that’s something I can relate to on massive levels.

There are only two albums on this list that are from 2010 -- I was in 8th grade at that time… so this album was monstrumental in forming how I think about the world. I couldn’t think of a much better album to do that. It was so different to not only see an artist so willing to talk about his feelings (I wasn’t very invested in music at this time, keep that in mind), but also an artist in the hip-hop community do it!? It really was mind blowing. I think that’s why some many people have connected to Cudi and his music through the years, and I’m no different, obviously.

16. Charli XCX - Charli (2019)

Charli XCX is the artist I have most recently gotten into on this list. I’d never really been a fan of her music up until this point, but after hearing a few singles of this album, I quickly began to become a bit obsessed. I’m pretty sure Charli released five or six singles from this 15 song album and they were all GREAT. That led to this being one of my most anticipated albums of the year and when it was released, it didn’t disappoint. I think the singles make this album but most of the deep cuts are pretty incredible also.

It’s the structure of these songs that are the most interesting to me about it as well. There seems to be a pattern on this album where near the end of most of the songs, Charli changes something that had been the same throughout all the earlier parts… sometimes it’s her voice/effects, sometimes it’s the beat… but every time I hear these songs I just remember wanting to get to the end of the song so I could reach these parts, and that really is an amazing feat when you’re talking about fairly mainstream pop music! The production on this thing is pretty awesome also, with a lot of help from PC Music's AG Cook, there is a lot of distortion and electronic elements here, which is a sound I have really been into lately. All in all, this is one of my favorite pop records this decade in what i think is honestly the most exciting year of pop music I’ve seen in a LONG time… I think you’ll see that as you go on in the list.

15. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015)

This is an album that I have a connection to outside the music itself. If I’m being honest, I had no idea Sufjan had any connection to Eugene up until around January of this year, and I had never really listened to any of his music up to that point. That all changed while I was talking to a girl at this party and she mentioned how this album is mostly about Sufjan’s summers in Eugene -- not even mentioning the deeper meaning about the death of his mother and step father.

After that encounter, I knew I had to listen to the album myself -- and I honestly couldn’t be more shocked at how beautiful and insanely relatable the music was to me and my early childhood. To summarize, this album, Sufjan mostly talks about the times where he would visit his mother and step father in Eugene, Oregon (my hometown) every summer. He made the album shortly after the death of these two figures who were apart of his life, but not the main caregivers. While I can’t relate to that aspect of this album, I can to the scenery Sufjan describes throughout the album. For example on the song “Eugene,” he mentions Emerald Park… Emerald Park was literally 100 feet from my elementary school. My friends and I would go there all the time after school and play basketball -- it was really an essential setting to my childhood. In the song he mentions learning to swim at the pool at the park, we would take swimming lessons there some days at during school… I remember hearing that and my mind just being completely blown. Also on the song “All of Me Wants All of You,” he mentions Spencer's Butte, which is a small mountain my friends and I would hike at least five or six times a year during high school. Hearing these things that are now pretty much immortalized by this album had a very profound effect on me. Yes, that was the main reason why I checked this album out, but what I found was a beautiful singer/songwriter album that I find myself coming back to all the time.

I don’t have the closest relationship to my mother, but I know this will be one of the first albums I’ll listen to when I don’t have her anymore. Hopefully I can find a bit of solace in that.

14. BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation Trilogy (2017)

Yes, I’m grouping the whole trilogy for the sake of this list. All three of these mixtapes where released within a year, which even in this culture where new music comes out more frequently than ever, is absolutely crazy. There was a point in my life from around 2015 to 2017 where hip-hop was something I had little to no interest in. That was right in the heat of the soundcloud trap phase of the genre and there weren’t any artists or albums that were keeping my interest. But that all changed the moment I heard Saturation I for the first time.

BROCKHAMPTON was a breath of fresh air in a time where I thought I might have been moving on from my hip-hop fandom. It was hard hitting, it was slow and soothing, and it was something new with every song (at least at first). The mix of personalities on each song seemed to mesh so well, it really gave people with different tastes, something that can enjoy during each song. You had the metaphor filled verses from Dom and Ameer, the insanely catchy hooks from Kevin, and the sad boy singing from Joba and Bearface. Then you have Merlyn who is just a complete wildcard (and I love him for it).

All three of these releases have some incredible catchy songs on them and I can tell you that I spent most of 2017 and 2018 listening to them. I haven’t found myself coming back to them as much as some of the previous albums on the list but the simple fact of them bringing me back to hip-hop is enough to propel them higher. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the direction BH has gone after these releases but that doesn’t change how much these mean to me. Anyone who is interested in not so serious or “hard” hip-hop should definitely check these out -- especially if you’re new to the genre.

13. Benny Sings - Art (2011)

Another life changing album that took me way too long to find. As you can see, this album came out in 2011, but I first heard “All We Do for Love” on a Frank Ocean DJ show in 2017. It had everything I wanted, a unique voice, 80’s pop production, and super catchy songwriting. Seriously though, this album could have been released in the 80’s and I would have never noticed, it fits the mold so perfectly.

I had a very synesthetic experience with this album during my first ever trip to Japan and it made the album that much more genius to me. Benny’s music was actually (and probably still is) much more popular in Japan than it is in the US and it makes sense to me since his music matches the scenery there so well.

After getting super deep into this album I dove deeper into Benny’s discography and found out that every album he makes is completely different from the other but they are all genius in their own way. Benny has turned into one of my favorite artists this decade and it’s all thanks to this album for starting that fandom. It might be because this is the album I discovered first but I truly feel like this is the best album Benny has made to date -- it just has too many catchy songs and it flows so well and the production is so on point that it just has to be. Anyone who is into 80’s pop music absolutely MUST listen to this album.

12. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap (2013)

Chance the Rapper is the epitome of my high school experience. I remember coming home from school everyday and going on Datpiff looking for new music. One day, I saw the iconic cover art for this mixtape and I remembered hearing Chance’s name before, so I decided to check it out. To be honest, I didn’t know what to think at first -- his voice was unlike anything I had ever heard and I hadn’t really listened to hip-hop the was so entrenched in jazz production.

I listened and was interested but it wasn’t something I was totally into at first. But that night, I found myself playing the mixtape on repeat in my bed -- I must have listened to it three or four times that night, I was hooked. I would end up showing it to my friends and it quickly became the go to music we’d listen to in the car.

It was in the rotation for all of my high school life, and I still listen to it every once in awhile to this day. I’ll always be grateful for the amount of positive experiences this mixtape contribute to and the relationships that it helped grow stronger.

11. Chairlift - Moth (2016)

This is one of the first albums that I got really into once I started getting more serious about music. I remember listening to in my dorm room bed and having my mind completely blown.

Caroline Polachek’s voice is so unique and strong, and the production is glittery but also hard hitting. It was traditional yet unconventional all in one and was the start of my love for indie pop. That was the beauty in it, is that it could be so many different things but still had the same feel throughout the album. There’s songs about being so enthralled about someone that you just want to show them off, being sorry to your significant other for crying in public, and having unfinished business with someone.

I remember going back into their discography and seeing that they made the song “Bruises” on their first album. This blew my mind because my dad used to play that in the car all the time when I was younger and I loved it, but never asked him who made it. It’s things like that, that make me feel sometimes artists make music that you are meant to enjoy -- it’s a special feeling.