What a year. We’ve seen a lot this year. We wish we could’ve avoided a lot this year. However, we were also give a lot of perfection this year. 2016 was one hell of a year for music.
Women of music were on fire right off the bat. Within the first month of the year, Sia and Rihanna gave us two albums that brought so much more than just a beat to dance to. Adele began giving us another glimpse of her newest album with ‘When We Were Young.’ Hoodie Allen made us a lot of ‘Happy Campers’ with a new guilty pleasure. Finally, David Bowie blessed us with one last piece of magic, two days before we lost this music genius.
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Fast forward to February. This year we got to spend Valentine’s Day with Kanye West, as he released Life of Pablo. This album is one for the books, featuring artists such as Sia, Chance the Rapper (of course), Rihanna, and Frank Ocean. Along with that, The 1975 gave us another album with a title too long to mention. Luckily, it also includes songs definitely worth mentioning such as UGH!, Lostmyhead, and The Sound.
My birthday month was quite eventful for music. We got to see what Zayn is doing without our beloved One Direction, and we definitely like it. We decided we really like the pairing of Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, especially since we got a new album from Gwen for the first time in a decade. Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz popped up somewhere in the mix, as well. But really we were just interested in Kendrick.
April. One of the best months this year. To start off, Lukas Graham released a self-titled album. Thank goodness because ‘7 Years’ is only catchy for so long. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released PersonA. We got yet another song to add to the frat party playlist, with Broccoli by D.R.A.M. Then our worlds were rocked when the queen herself released the video album of the year, making ‘Lemonade’ mean more than just a cooling summer drink. As if that wasn’t enough, Drake decided it was time to give us some more love and released VIEWS.
How do you top a month like that? Easy. Chance decided to drop another album of perfection. Thank you, May. For this we are eternally grateful.
We got a few months to recover from our excitement. Then came October, a month where my middle school self THRIVED. JoJo came back guns blazing for us. Green Day and Kings of Leon didn’t live up to JoJo but hey, we still love them. Oh and Lady Gaga released an album. We’ve been waiting on her for a couple years, but we’re not bitter or anything. No. We are pleased. Thank you Gaga. You are queen. But we are still more excited about JoJo.
A few fan favorites came during the month of giving thanks. We got a new one from Emeli Sandé, and Miranda Lambert. To deal with the loss of this King, Prince gave us one last album that we will cherish forever. Alicia Keys brought us more perfection because, let’s be real, we needed some more of her. The Weeknd released ‘Starboy,’ making us think December had no chance at beating the rest of the year.
But oh were we wrong. December. You did not warn us. We were not ready.
John Legend’s voice brought light to our world yet again. J. Cole rocked the world the John Legend brought life to, yet again. Kid Cudi threw that world around with an album some of us didn’t realize we were waiting for. And finally. The album we had been waiting for. Childish Gambino. Awaken, My Love! This is quite possibly the best thing that could’ve happened to 2016. Donald Glover, you are a blessing to this world.
Honorable Mentions: In April, the soundtrack for Hamilton was released. Produced and written (and some songs performed) by Lin Manuel-Medina. On December 2nd, Hamilton: The Mixtape was released. Yet again, we heard the voices of John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Sia, Regina Spektor and Alicia Keys. This is everything we needed.
Thank you 2016, you sucked but at least you gave us some of the best music we could ask for.
Now, we wait for 2017. We wait for a collaboration of Chance and Gambino. We wait for another amazing year for music.
