AIP Top 100 Albums Of 2015: 1-5
1. Alabama Shakes | Sound & Color
Brittany Howard is now the first artist to make two appearances in these yearly countdowns of mine as her side project Thunderbitch also landed in my Top 100 Albums of 2015. What this band established with their debut Boys & Girls gets built upon here on Grammy nominated sophomore effort, Sound & Color. Show me a more passionate and powerful vocalist in music today and I’ll show you a liar. We already knew Brittany’s vocal prowess but this go around Zac Cockrell, Steve Johnson, and Heath Fogg bring firepower of their own. This album is bigger and bolder than its predecessor. The soulful rockers literally and figuratively never miss a beat on this impactful album. Title track and album opener Sound & Color dazzles listeners from the xylophone to the simultaneously sweet and powerful vocal performance on a song that illustrates life as a dream.  Guess Who sounds dreamy for different reasons. The mixing and mastering on this song in particular enhances its classic soul sound. Meanwhile Gimme All Your Love one of my favorite songs of the year finds Brittany inviting a suitor to tell her their problems because she’s ready to listen and willing to offer and accept love. This album is triumphant in everything it set out to accomplish. rock & roll riffs, R&B melodies, soulful vocals. It’s everything you could ask for and then some. Turn your attention to Alabama Shakes.
2. Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick does it again. He showcases growth and wisdom gained on an album that can be enjoyed by anyone but is for the Black community. A still frame of what it’s like to be Black in America as it stands in the year 2015. Kendrick has always provided commentary on Compton and neighborhoods like it. To Pimp A Butterfly is perhaps his most focused effort yet. Its jazz roots and golden era of hip-hop traces, Kendrick put together a project that will be remembered for years to come. This album is more than commentary on the world Kendrick was raised in, it’s also a deeply introspective analysis of a man who cracked into pieces and reassembled himself in the aftermath of it all. Unity is another key component of this album perhaps most poignant on Complexion a song that tackles colorism within the Black community, a serious issue that still eats away at us today. From the lyrics in his songs to his Reebok sneakers, Kendrick continues to grow even more aware of the ills that face his community from outside forces and internal forces alike. That last fact made clear by the end of the powerful The Blacker The Berry. 2015 has brought with it massive hip-hop albums and the confirmation that we have indeed entered into a new golden era in hip-hop. That makes some us lucky enough to have experienced both of them.
3. Melanie Martinez | Cry BabyÂ
Melanie Martinez is one of my favorite artists ever and I love her endlessly. She released her concept and debut album, Cry Baby to much fanfare and rave reviews. All of it deserved, because Cry Baby is an emphatic introduction to the New York born songstress. This album is part Alternative R&B and part Dark Pop. The production is engaging and intricate. It’s the perfect complement to Melanie’s genius songwriting and unique voice. A cohesive story is told throughout the album which is evident in the music videos she’s released to date. Melanie has stated that she intends to release videos for every song on the album and I love that because she’s such an incredible artist, a visionary and pioneer in the world of music. The lyrics, production, and album artwork tell the story of Cry Baby who Melanie described as a child experiencing adult situations. She elaborated saying, “I am crybaby. she represents the insecure and vulnerable side of me. as well as the crazy and fucked up side of me.”  On single, Soap Melanie’s lush vocals melt atop pulsating and somewhat symphonic instrumentation on a song about censoring yourself or being afraid to speak your truth. From the sound of popping bubbles in the song’s production to the album artwork Melanie lives in the details. This holds true throughout the entire album. Melanie Martinez is blazing a trail of her own and her creativity and fearlessness is just what music needs today.
4. Lianne La Havas | Blood
Lianne La Havas has never lacked my love and with the release of her sophomore album, Blood nothing has changed. Except that I love her even more. I’ve called this album transcendent, transformative, and entrancing. It’s all of those things and more. A few years wiser and more carefree as evidenced by the music, Lianne has delivered a body of work that will stand the test of time. Unstoppable is an enrapturing song on which Lianne attempts to reconcile the past and repair a relationship that she ended. Green & Goldopens with a six year old Lianne questioning her appearance, her future, and seeking to learn more about her identity as the child of a Jamican mother and Greek father. The second verse finds Lianne an adult living out her dreams and in touch with the roots she once held so many questions about. The song which she conceptualized while in Jamaica pays homage to the the country in title and in the chorus in which she also pays homage to Greece. Blood is groovy, soulful, and honest. Everything comes across as genuine. Even the new sounds Lianne experiments with on this album do not sound forced or mechanical. The title says it all, because she poured herself into this album and it’s beautiful.
Mac Miller blesses us with GO:OD AM (read as “Good Morning”) and continues his rise to the forefront with his contemporaries. I would have said he’s already arrived 2 releases ago but still the ill-informed consensus was that Mac was a passing fad, a trend that would die out and be mentioned in future conversations among things that people scarcely remember. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Mac has done more than enough to force those who had written him off to revise those old manuscripts. With this album, Mac builds upon what he established with WMWTSO and Faces. What’s clear is Mac is in rare form and he has been for several years now. What’s also evident is that he’s still evolving as an artist and unafraid to delve into new sounds. Also he is still doing it without features from the current elite of the genre. Features from the likes of Miguel and Little Dragon are not wasted and were not the result of popularity. The Festival the album closer features the aforementioned, Little Dragon is a melodic and ethereal piece about God (played by Yukimi) looking out for Mac in this troublesome world. This is easily one of the best hip-hop albums you will listen to this year.
