Well, what a year it’s been. I’ve been recycling that line – nicked and repurposed from chatty man Alan Carr – since prehistoric times, but of course the words take on a different hue in 2020. Would it be a stretch to say that music has been the only consistently good thing since March? Perhaps it would be unfair. With absolute sensitivity towards those who have suffered the worst of Covid-19, there have been shards of light throughout this bleak year. I don’t know about you, but I have found people to be kinder, to have a greater sense of perspective, to value one another more. Let’s hope we carry that generosity into the dawn of 2021.
And, yes, the music’s been banging too. There have been surprise albums, lockdown albums, politicised albums, divisive albums, unifying albums – and everything in between. Here are 50 of the best, in the categorically and objectively correct order.
Jordan Bassett, Commissioning Editor (Music)
Words: Carl Anka, Elizabeth Aubrey, Dhruva Balram, Jordan Bassett, Mark Beaumont, Rhian Daly, Georgia Evans, El Hunt, Charlotte Krol, Ben Jolley, Damian Jones, Ilana Kaplan, Natty Kasambala, Dannii Leivers, Sam Moore, Hannah Mylrea, Matthew Neale, Caitlin O’Reilly, Kevin EG Perry, Stephanie Phillips, Nick Reilly, Will Richards, Gary Ryan, Ali Shutler, Tom Skinner, Thomas Smith, Andrew Trendell, Jenessa Williams, Kyann-Sian Williams, Sophie Williams
50. Rico Nasty, ‘Nightmare Vacation’
In a nutshell: Experimental rapper comes good with her wildly eclectic, boundary-busting debut
An inspiration to many of today’s viral stars, Maryland’s Rico Nasty has always had a more polarising sound than that of her counterparts. After five mixtapes full of the experimental rap style she’s coined ‘sugar trap’, her highly anticipated debut album ‘Nightmare Vacation’ proved just how much of a musical chameleon and trendsetter she is. She told NME, in our September cover feature, that that the record would be “Sugar Trap on steroids”, Sure enough, Rico’s debut was a deliciously eclectic, packed with her signature gruff, sparkly synths and bone-crushing 808s, pushing the boundaries for rap music. K-SW
Key track: ‘Smack A Bitch’
NME said: “A refreshingly liberating soundtrack for a year that has felt a little like the end of the world.”