As 2016 draws to a close today, I've been reflecting back over a truly terrible year. Granted, I'm sure the people who lived through world wars would have something to say about it being dubbed "the worst year ever" but in parts, '16 was truly horrendous. Nevertheless, I feel like the music has been one of the only redeeming features that this year has offered us - well that and Taylor Swift being exposed for the snake that she really is . I've compiled a list of my top 50 releases, wrote a little about my #1, pointed out the major disappointments and offered some advice to those whose albums just didn't quite hit the mark for next time around. I'd like to know what some of your top releases of 2016 were too 😊

50. Mikey Bromley - This One's For You
49. Nick Jonas - Last Year Was Complicated
48. Cyndi Lauper - Detour
47. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Familia
46. LeAnn Rimes - Remnants
45. Zayn - Mind of Mine
44. Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman
43. Hayley Kiyoko - Citrine [EP]
42. Skylar Grey - Natural Causes
41. The Knocks - 55
40. Alicia Keys - HERE
39. Bridgit Mendler - Nemesis [EP]
38. Olly Murs - 24 hrs
37. Lady Gaga - Joanne
36. NAO - For All We Know
35. Mya - Smoove Jones
34. Blink-182 - California
33. Josef Salvat - Night Swim
32. Kylie Minogue - Kylie Christmas: Snow Queen Edition
31. Geri Halliwell - Man on the Mountain
30. DNCE - DNCE
29. Rihanna - Anti
28. Solange - A Seat at the Table
27. Drake - Views
26. Meghan Trainor - Thank You
25. Aleem - Open Letters [EP]
24. Nathan Sykes - Unfinished Business
23. Lion Babe - Begin
22. Tiffany - I Just Wanna Dance [EP]
21. Sabrina Carpenter - EVOLution
20. Keke Palmer - Lauren [EP]
19. AlunaGeorge - I Remember
18. Grace - FMA
17. Foxes - All I Need
16. Fifth Harmony - 7/27
15. Kano - Made in the Manor
14. Nina Nesbitt - Modern Love [EP]
13. Gwen Stefani - This Is What the Truth Feels Like
12. Melanie C - Version of Me
11. Shawn Mendes - Illuminate

My Top Ten of 2016:


TEN
Elliphant - Living Life Golden


NINE
M.I.A. - AIM


EIGHT
Sia - This Is Acting



SEVEN
Emeli Sandé - Long Live The Angels



SIX
Britney Spears - Glory



FIVE
All Saints - Red Flag


FOUR
Austin Mahone - ForMe+You [Mixtape]



THREE
Femme - Debutante



TWO
Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION: Side B [EP]



ONE
JoJo - Mad Love.

My QUEEN is back after literally 10 years away from officially releasing music. In case anyone does not know, the queen of break-up songs (Taylor who?) was highly popular in the mid 00's and then silence fell. After releasing two albums, her record label became unresponsive and more or less defunct but they would not let her out of her contract. JoJo did not own her voice, legally. She turned in several incarnations of a third album and many were promised to be released, going as far as dropping lead singles "Disaster" and "Demonstrate" but at the last minute, the label pulled the projects again. Throughout the decade in limbo, she released music via free mixtapes in order to still be able to tour off of it for her fans. JoJo, after many lawsuits and different lawyers, eventually found her way out of the contract due to a very complicated loophole and now here she is. The wait from 06 - 16 was killer. Mad Love. [period included in the title] is a truly magnificent album. It's all I could have asked for from Jo. Those stellar vocals have matured like fine wine and she's developed more grit and realness to her tone. She is up there with the likes of Tori Kelly, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande in terms of young pop girls who can belt. The music is also a natural progression from her first records, keeping a similar sound but adapting it to showcase the 25 year old WOMAN she is now. She's not afraid to cuss, she'll gladly reference sex and getting high, she'll open up her heart and share all of her real thoughts and insecurities...she's just JoJo. The mature nature of Mad Love. is not forced in anyway. It's honest and 100% JoJo. I would pick out highlights but honestly, I enjoy every song on both the standard and deluxe edition. For those who love a good cry, check out Music. Those who need a good bop, head to Good Thing. and Vibe., if you're feeling badass and unapologetic then Fuck Apologies. and FAB. are for you. The lovebirds should check out the track Mad Love. and if anyone is in a position where they don't feel good about themselves then I highly suggest you listen to I Am. and let the words sink in. Just overall, a brilliant record and a very welcomed return. While Carly Rae creeps very close at #2, JoJo fairly deserves to rightfully take the crown.

Thumbs Down:

Little Mix - Glory Days
Charlie Puth - Nine Track Mind
Beyoncé - Lemonade
The Chainsmokers - Collage [EP]


They're Not Quite There Yet...

Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman: I have made it clear that I'm not the biggest fan of the album but it has also appeared in the top 50 as I do believe it has some great moments. Into You and Touch It just blew me away on first listen. The productions are like a smack around the head and vocally, Ariana never fails to deliver. There are other decent moments scattered throughout the record too but I feel that overall, the album is a bit of a soggy cabbage. It doesn't wow me in the way it should. None of the songs are God-awful but after Yours Truly, My Everything, her big breakthrough and the hype I had for this album, it just kinda fell flat for me and didn't quite hit the mark. I enjoy the pop moments more on this record but I love R&B Ari just as much and unfortunately that side of her just didn't click with me this time around. Still, I'm not writing her off completely and I have high hopes for the next record. Although if the fourth one is as sluggish as this, she may have to be put in the bin.

Zayn - Mind of Mine: Like Ariana, Zayn also appears in the top 50. I placed him in there purely on the strength of the tracks Befour and Rear View alone. I know he has potential and despite my personal aversion to him ever since he started to show the "real" (trashy) him, I know that he does have all the skills to create something great. He has a good voice, big fan base, listens to a lot of the same British Urban music I do and seems like a very creative and artistic person. He could honestly create a masterpiece so why were we delivered this mushy, half-baked mess? Sounds like a contradiction but I've never heard anything so half-assed and so try-hard in my life. Half-assed in the sense that he wasn't as creative as he could have been and his vocal deliveries sound like he'd rather be in the dentist chair than in the studio and the try-hard vibes come from his overly sexual and forced "bad boy" (a true Bilal tea) persona. He wants to emulate a lot of his own idols and influences and I get that but Zayn, you're a geeky, soft-spoken, socially awkward guy from Bradford and that's OK. We like that. He's unique in himself. He doesn't need to copy others.

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2016 has been like the worst fucking movie that was saved by it's GRAMMY award winning soundtrack.

MY TOP THREE IN NO ORDER AT ALL BC I'M NOT GOING THERE. THEY'RE ALL RATED DIFFERENT NUMBERS BUT I LOVE THEM FOR DIFFERENT REASONS!

BANKS - The Altar


Best: THIS IS NOT ABOUT US, Gemini Feed, Poltergeist, Fuck With Myself, Weaker Girl, Judas, Mother Earth, Haunt. I may be reaching on the last 3 because I've learned to appreciate them and now scream the lyrics to the top of my longs but the rest stand firmly!
Worst: Trainwreck is a track that truly lives up to it's name and Mind Games is the sole reason why this album has only sold 13 copies!

Get into this if: You're into Pop, Alt Pop and ElectroPop etc. Most definitely if you like good lyrics on refreshing topics get into it! Think Sia meets Lana Del Rey meets Lorde MINUS THE PRETENTION. I know it sounds impossible with such a trio but BANKS studied psychology, she's too busy reading her life and insecurities for filth and dragging her exes to have time for any of that. This is an accessible album and I recommend it most out of my top 3. I actually don't have much to say about it because the music speaks for itself. It's full of bops and power ballads and I wish there were more people who knew about it because it's the best pop release of this year hands down. Goddess was boring trash but BANKS was really shaking the table when she recorded this one.

9/10

Frank Ocean - Blond(e)


Best: Ivy, Solo, Self Control, NIGHTS, Godspeed, Siegfried, Pink + White Ft. B******. I tried very hard to avoid the latter because Frank wrote a beautiful song called Super Power and she managed to ruin it with unnecessary growling but her backing vocals in Pink + White are just that, backing vocals and they actually add to the ambience, she got it right this time! Of course the song is good solely because Frank but B****** was a nice cherry on top! All of the songs I've listed here are modern day classics by the way, timeless masterpieces.
Worst: Pretty Sweet, Facebook Story, Futura Free. All 3 of them are very ugly for numerous reasons. Futura Free was actually bop for about a good minute and then he ruins it by adding 6 minutes worth of static and drunk people in new york talking about nothing. That child of God really had some nerve after making me sit through that pretentious ass European guy complaining about a girlfriend breaking up with him because he wouldn't accept her friend request on Facebook. Tryna blame it on societal constructs and 'our generation focuses too much on social media it's toxic' when he could've just accepted the request and gave her a reason to trust him and not be some ugly sounding ugly thinking and tbh probably ugly looking lonely asshole I'M TIRED!

Get into this if: You're already a Frank Ocean fan or if you feel like listening to the album 3 or 4 times before it clicks. I fell in love instantly because I don't need a upbeat track or flashy production, you give me decent lyrics, good vocals and a nice 808 and I'm lit. If you just love sitting back and listening to a well written acoustic-ish hip hop R&B soul record, get into it, it's a very stripped record but it makes it that much more emotional. DO NOT Listen if this is your first Frank album. It's a great album but if you want a reason to like Frank, Channel Orange is the only way to get acquainted with him. Blonde will never actually, but I am very okay with that because Godspeed changed me whole and inspired me to hand my life over to the Lord God our one true savior who died on the cross for our sins amen hallelujah! Glory to his name!! 🙌

8/10

Tinashe - Nightride


Best: My personal favorites are YOU DON'T KNOW ME, Lucid Dreaming and Ghetto Boy but literally every track is as good as the next. You know it's a quality record when the favorites depend solely on your mood! Every track is the best!!!
Worst: Except for Ride of Your Life and Company lmao they thought! Ol crusty ass busted ass 'whyd y'all let us flop' looking ass songs. Bitch why you think? Did not deserve a spot on such a good body of work! Should've just stayed in Rihanna's rihject bin where they belong!

Get into this if: you hate 2 On and every other abomination of a single that Tinashe has ever released because all of it is LATE and this mixtape is well beyond her time! Me and every other Tinashe Stan catch ourselves saying "okay but her mixtapes..." more than we actually breathe and we are NOT lying to y'all! Get into this if you're here for (or absolutely hate) artists like The Weeknd, J**** A***, SZA, Kehlani, PND and R&B Drake because she's better than all of them combined and multiplied by 3 lmao bye at y'all pretending like she's not the leader of that entire wave.

In conclusion, I'm so thankful that Janet Damita Jo Jackson and Tupac Amaru Shakur had their lovechild Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe on the set of Poetic Justice. They tried to keep it on the DL for all these years but Nightride is just blatant PROOF!

9.5/10

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I only talked about these 3 because from there, the bar drops dramatically. Here's a representation of just that in my top ten alone.

My top 3
>>>
4. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo/Nao - For All We Know
5. Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman
>>
6. Far East Movement - Identity
7. Bruno Mars - 24k Magic
8. B****** - LEMONADE
>>>>>>>>
9. Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
10. Hyolyn - It's Me

Honorable mentions
Jojo - Mad Love
Solange -A Seat at the Table
Drake - Views
Young Thug - Jeffrey
Chance the Rapper - The Coloring Book
Vince Staples - PrimaDonna
Britney Spears - Glory
Lady Gaga - Joanne
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
Jay Park - EVERYTHING YOU WANTED
Twenty-one Pilots - Blurryface

These are all great albums that I listened to and liked but never got to love and fully connect with or, for some albums, never listened to more than twice. Except for Views. I know every word to Views, but I acknowledge that it's trash.