I think we can all agree that 2020 was a tiring, tedious, and miserably long year. But at the very least, we saw the release of some wonderful, chart-breaking music from new artists – some more successful than others. TikTok has helped heighten the success of many tracks and brought fame to new artists. With tours and shows cancelled, artists devoted time towards producing heartfelt tracks and albums that debuted with major success. In this article, I break down some of the best critically acclaimed albums and songs released in 2020.
Notable albums from winter (January-March)
2020 started out strong with the release of several popular and now accomplished albums. Although Mac Miller passed away in 2018, his album, Circles, was released in January. Circles is a sister album to his 2018 album, Swimming. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the 12-song album weathers “the ups and down of the fame that his talent delivered him.” Miller’s top five songs on Spotify include two from this album, with a collective number of over 291 million streams for just the two songs (“Good News” and “Blue World”).
Coincidentally, one of Mac Miller’s musical inspirations and idols released an album shortly after. Eminem produced his eleventh studio album, Music To Be Murdered By. In a very Eminem manner, it was unexpectedly released, and a critic from Pitchfork says the album “boasts enough technical command and generates just enough arresting ideas to hold your attention.” Eminem’s number one song on Spotify is “Godzilla” featuring Juice WRLD, with over 554 million streams.
Another artist who made a miraculous return to producing music this year was Selena Gomez. Her last album (with popular songs “Good For You”, “Hands To Myself”, and “Same Old Love”) was released over five years ago in 2015. Gomez’s new album, Rare, explores new aspects in her life and uncovers her recent struggles. Given the difficult things she’s dealt with over the past few years, Lupus, a kidney transplant, break-ups, and mental health, Rolling Stone described the album as “shockingly, and beautifully, upbeat.” The album includes more serious, heartfelt tracks such as “Lose You To Love Me” but transpires to more exciting tracks such as “Dance Again”.
Grimes released an album she had been planning since 2017, Miss Anthropocene. As reviewed by The Guardian, the album is a “compellingly chaotic statement about her own private life.” According to Grimes, it is “a work based around the idea of anthropomorphising climate change into the figure of a villainous goddess,” working around the concept of the destruction climate change is doing to the world.
In addition to these artists, we saw new music in the beginning of 2020 from Halsey (releasing her third studio album, Manic), the Pet Shop Boys made a return with their album Hotspot, Justin Bieber released Changes (featuring songs “Intentions” and “Yummy”), Ke$ha produced High Road, and Kid Cudi released Man on the Moon III: The Chosen.
Even as we approached the month of March and news of COVID-19 in Seattle hit, some of the year’s best albums were released. Bad Bunny released YHLQMDLG (an abbreviation of Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana/I Do Whatever I Want) which did exceptionally well in many Latin-American countries. Lady Gaga debuted her album Chromatica, and The Weeknd produced After Hours (with hit songs “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless”). Lil Uzi Vert debuted Eternal Atake on March 6th which broke records, described as “a seamless blend of drill-influenced rapping, melodic crooning, and beats that are aware of hip-hop’s trends, but stretch them to places unimaginable,” by Pitchfork.
Lastly, Megan Thee Stallion released her album Suga right before quarantine forced schools to close and TikTok became the most popular app amongst every teen at home. The album features the song “Savage” which has since become an infamous TikTok dance and was even remixed by Beyonce. Undoubtedly there were countless more artists who released new music from January-March, including Dua Lipa, Don Toliver, Lauv, Jhene Aiko, and Childish Gambino (and of course many more).
Notable albums from spring (April-June)
Spring 2020 was another great season for the music industry. Fiona Apple, an artist who has been releasing music for over two decades, released her album Fetch The Bolt Cutters, and critics say it did not disappoint. Rolling Stone Magazine says the album is beautifully sung, has sharp and precise lyrics, and a percussive approach.
An album that broke records in 2020 was Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher. The 26-year-old singer released her long-awaited album in May 2020, containing “eleven expertly rendered, largely downcast songs about broken faith, desperate, occasionally self-destructive love, and tenuous recovery” (Rolling Stone).
We also saw new music from Travis Scott and Kid Cudi who released their single THE SCOTTS with over 438 million streams on Spotify. DaBaby debuted Blame It On Baby, which includes popular TikTok song “Rockstar” and a COVID-incorporated album cover. HAIM, a band led by three sisters, came out with their album Women In Music: Pt. III, and the album has been a successful follow-up to their previous famed album in 2013.
Notable albums from summer (July-August)
The summer was an important season for women in the music industry. Although lyrical content sparked waves of conversation and debate, WAP by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion made a huge splash in the world of social media and TikTok. The music video premiered on August 6th, and has since reached over 338 million views. Cardi B also recently shared that the video cost $1 million to produce, with cameos from Kylie Jenner, Normani, and Rosalia.
While the song received a large positive response from many female pop stars and celebrities alike, it also received major backlash. The Guardian commented on the issue, saying, “In a world where sex work is increasingly becoming more equitably commodified by women, but where rape culture and patriarchy are still frighteningly dominant, there is something rebellious and subversive in women, especially oft-oversexualized black women, openly discussing enthusiasm and predilections for intercourse.”
We also witnessed new albums from Amine, Troye Sivan, Juice WRLD, and Pop Smoke this summer. Ten years after the release of her hugely successful album Teenage Dream, Katy Perry released a new album, Smile. The album received mixed reviews, with The New York Times stating that she has “strayed from the gravitational center of American pop music.”
Two of the biggest album releases this year were Taylor Swift’s sister albums, Folklore and Evermore. Released about five months apart, the albums are a beautiful and calming mix of Swift’s transition to a different style of music. She first started producing music in 2006 and has since experimented with various genres and styles as she’s grown older. Folklore’s release was very unexpected among Swift fans, however it was hard not to love as it hit the charts. The New York Times discussed the different style of music she took on for this album, “…the sonic experimentation on Folklore isn’t really about embracing a new genre so much as abandoning any sense of duty to the ones she’s been built upon. Country, pop, ’80s rock, hip-hop: they’ve merely been vessels, weapons she knows how to trigger to advance the central tenets of Swiftiness.”
Evermore follows a similar path to Folklore and maintains a very calming, meaningful tone. She expressed in an Instagram post that she couldn’t keep from writing more songs, and therefore released a sister album with 17 more wonderful songs. Swift’s lyrics are powerful, personal, and often have hidden meanings or stories behind them for listeners to figure out. In Folklore, three of the songs are written about a love triangle between three teengers one summer, and their given names are Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ kids. She also writes about one of her homes in Rhode Island, uses back up vocals from the all sister group HAIM, and reflects on past relationships.
Notable albums from fall (September-October)
Even as we approached the end of the year, artists didn’t stop producing new hits and releasing albums. Ariana Grande released her sixth studio album, Positions, in October, and it did exceedingly well on charts all over the world. Three months later, her songs still remain on Spotify’s “Today’s Top Hits” playlist, and her best-selling song “Positions” has over 392 million streams. The Guardian describes her article as falling “comfortably back on 90s-indebted, trap-speckled R&B, her voice breathy and gleaming.” TikTok helped enhance the success of “Positions” and “POV” as creators made popular dances that were recreated hundreds of thousands of times on the platform. The album is generally upbeat and makes you want to dance, in contrast to some more serious songs on her last album, Thank U Next. Insider notes that the album is a “frisky jaunt through the singer’s domestic bliss”, with many songs having hidden sexual meanings and lyrics.
In September and October we also saw successful albums from Joji, Machine Gun Kelly, Gorillaz, Sam Smith, and Megan Thee Stallion once more. In the realm of rap music, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin released Savage Mode 2. Metro Boomin hasn’t been seen in the music industry for two years, and the album comes after 21 Savage was detained and threatened with deportation by ICE. Song collabs include Drake, Young Thug, and even Morgan Freeman, and Metro Boomin’s song production is described as “beats that lay drum patterns rooted in Atlanta trap and Memphis crunk over an unpredictable mix of melodies and samples” (Pitchfork).
One more album during this season that was popular in many parts of the world was Blackpink’s, The Album. Rolling Stone says “The eight-song LP is a slick, confident and wildly entertaining release from the biggest girl group in the world.” The first song on the album, “How You Like That”, broke the record for the most-viewed clip on YouTube within 24 hours of its release.
Notable albums from winter (November-December)
Winter was not the biggest season for the release of new music, but there were still some fantastic albums and songs from several renowned artists. Miley Cyrus came out with her album, Plastic Hearts, in November, featuring popular songs “Prisoner feat. Dua Lipa”, “Midnight Sky”, and “Angels Like You”. The album also includes covers of songs by Blondie and the Cranberries and collaborations with Joan Jett, Billy Idol, and Stevie Nicks. The Atlantic writes that, “Plastic Hearts processes Cyrus’s divorce in much the same way Cyrus has processed lots of things before—with a defiant embrace of how she’s being perceived.” We also saw a new single from Billie Eilish, “Therefore I Am”, with over 216 million streams on Spotify since its debut in November.
