The Best Albums of 2023

The Best Albums of 2023

By Dylan Barbee

My favorite, most replayed albums of 2023. A year where newcomers shined, creators innovated and veterans remained at the top. 

10. FORWARD - Jordan Ward

Courtesy of Spotify

Jordan Ward is an artist I discovered in 2019 when his songs “Okok (Hibachi)” and “Moveon” piqued my interest on his debut album Valley Hopefuls. Although his calm, simplistic and West Coast approach to many of his songs was impressive, it was clear on Valley Hopefuls that Ward still had a long way to go when it came to improving his voice and cadence. His 2023 release FORWARD serves as a more flourished piece of music with more mature dialogues about the importance of loyalty to one’s family on “FAMJAM4000”, persisting through dangerous neighborhoods on “THINK TWICE” and the desire for privacy when famous on “WHITE CROCS” featuring Ryan Trey. These messages are mixed with a groovy and upbeat production scheme, giving color and personality to Ward’s artistic character and the album itself. FORWARD is an album where Ward is proving that he is living up to the album’s title as he continues to move forward through his career evolving his sound as an artist.  

9. For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition - Drake

Courtesy of @champagnpapi on Instagram 

A Drake deluxe album is a rare occurrence. In fact, Drake has not done it since his 2011 album Take Care. However, after a somewhat lackluster and low-ambition For All The Dogs release, a deluxe was much needed and Drake provided what was missing with these six near-flawless songs. On For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition Drake is writing with vengeance against his haters and rapping like he is finally acknowledging that his legacy is on the line this time. He is a man on a mission. The 6 God is throwing punches at everyone he feels has wronged him throughout the past couple of years and is not afraid of the repercussions. On the intro track “Red Button '' Drake takes shots at Kanye West and other unknown individuals and on the song “The Shoe Fits” Drake disses the critics who he feels pray on his downfall constantly. The deluxe’s instrumentals are perfect with well-respected hip-hop names like Conductor Williams on “Stories About My Brother” and The Alchemist on “Wick Man ''. If For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition proves anything, it’s that Drake is far from falling off as he delivers some of his best lyrics and storytelling yet. 

8. A Brief Nirvana - Khamari 

Courtesy of Spotify

If I were to describe Khamari to someone who has never listened to him before I would say that he is an artist who is an old soul and who knows his way around the many sounds of R&B. On A Brief Nirvana, Khamari pulls apart his current lifestyle to provide a heart-wrenching and surprisingly introspectively raw album. “These Four Walls” dissects the feeling of isolation and loneliness after a breakup. “Doctor, My Eyes” is one of my favorite tracks of the year. It’s a song that encapsulates the deep feeling of numbness and despair when going through the ups and downs during one's twenties. Throughout the song, the rising artist keeps questioning how he could even feel so depressed at such a youthful age. This emotionally heavy and melancholic tone is stitched within the seams of A Brief Nirvana’s tracklist as Khamari perfectly recreates the feeling of stillness and reflection most of the world faced during the Coronavirus pandemic. A Brief Nirvana serves as a refreshing album and causes listeners to gain insight into processing new emotions with each listen. 

7. GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo

Courtesy of @oliviarodrigo on Instagram 

Ever since Olivia Rodrigo dropped GUTS she has been constantly on the move. Rodrigo’s post-GUTS agenda has included performances on  Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live and even having the rare opportunity to perform a second tiny desk concert on NPR.  GUTS has served as the pop soundtrack of the year and the 20-year-old’s brash punk-inspired sounds that are infused with gentle ballads make the album worth revisiting. The album flourishes most when the instrumentals are rambunctious and Rodrigo spills her guts about the awkward transition from your teenage years to your adult years on the song “all american bitch” or having the sudden urge to re-spark a connection with an ex on “get him back!”. GUTS exemplifies how an artist should balance taking inspiration from musical influences while simultaneously experimenting with new stylistic choices to better establish an identity as a mainstream pop star going through emotional turmoil. 

6. Fountain Baby - Amaarae

Courtesy of @amaarae on Instagram 

When I first listened to Fountain Baby by Amaarae I immediately knew it was going to be one of my most revisited albums of the year. Amaarae’s ability to curate a futuristic Afro-pop sound is genre-bending compared to other recent pop releases. Production styles on songs like “Angels in Tibet” and “Big Steppa'' are hypnotic and rhythmic, making one want to break out into a dance. The Ghanaian artist’s delivery style is addicting as she clearly knows how to have fun and boast, mostly talking about money, sex and love. Her lyricism is impressive as most of the verses consist of her providing complicated rap cadences and sounds that emanate confidence to the listener. Songs like “Princess Going Digital”, “Counterfeit” and “Water From Wine” have high replay value as Amaarae boasts about her individuality as a black, queer woman. Fountain Baby is a buoyant masterpiece that puts Amaarae on the list of artists to watch out for in the future. 

5. NEVER ENOUGH - Daniel Caesar 

Courtesy of Spotify

NEVER ENOUGH by Daniel Caesar is an album that will cause listeners to reminisce. The late-night drive production style provides a cinematic and thought-provoking experience as past memories flood the canvas of this complexly constructed tracklist. Lyrics on NEVER ENOUGH are melancholic as the R&B artist weighs in on his fear of change and growing up while also acknowledging that he took his childhood for granted.​​ These themes can be heard in songs like “Disillusionment” and “Pain Is Inevitable”. As emotional as Caesar may sound having this internal battle with himself throughout NEVER ENOUGH, he eventually comes to the conclusion that we all must embrace the present moment and appreciate the circumstances we are in now as well as the people around us. NEVER ENOUGH is a relatable and emotionally bearing album with production and messages that successfully take listeners deep within Caesar’s existential crisis, potentially even sparking their own. 

4. Let's Start Here - Lil Yachty

Courtesy of Pitchfork

Considering that Lil Yachty was an upbeat and fun red-dreaded, lean-sipping Soundcloud rapper through most of the late 2010s, Let’s Start Here came as a complete shock to the music industry. The psychedelic rock-infused project serves as an existential experience as it sounds like Yachty is taking us on a journey through the cosmos while he tells us about a love story and his lavish lifestyle. Songs like “drive ME crazy!”, “pRETTy” and “paint THE sky” are beautifully crafted and contribute to the surreal realization that Yachty is finally having his breakthrough moment as an artist similar to what Tyler, The Creator had with IGOR. The Pink Floyd and Tame Impala-inspired sounds on Let’s Start Here symbolize Yachty’s desire to be taken more seriously in an industry he has been looked down upon as just a light-hearted class clown within. With Let’s Start Here, Yachty has finally gained the respect he has long deserved, receiving production credits on recent Drake projects and being looked at as an artist more so as just a rapper. 

3. Bigger Than Life - Brent Faiyaz 

Courtesy of Spotify

Bigger Than Life has only been out for two months and I can easily say I have listened to multiple songs off this album every day since its release. I can also comfortably place it within the top three of this list. Faiyaz’s confidence and swagger radiate through most of the songs on this album as he spends the satisfying 36-minute runtime convincing a woman to be with him as his luxurious lifestyle is bigger than life itself. The features on this tracklist coexist well with Faiyaz as A$AP Rocky has an impressive verse on the chill song “Outside All Night” and artist Tommy Richman has a catchy verse on “Upset”. Faiyaz masterfully provokes feelings of nostalgia through production styles that bring back to life the early 2000s sound of R&B while also remaining loyal to his delivery as a brutally transparent artist when it comes to his feelings within his lyrics. On Bigger Than Life Brent Faiyaz adds another classic to his near-flawless discography and has established his presence as inescapable in the current R&B scene. 

2. Utopia - Travis Scott 

Courtesy of @travisscott on Instagram 

After nearly five years since the world-building ASTROWORLD dropped, Travis Scott gave rap fans everything they had hoped for and more with the dystopian-sounding UTOPIA. Travis Scott once again proves himself to be a scene setter within his music, giving his fans the ability to mentally visualize the chaotic but vibrant nightlife scene he dives deep within on songs like “HYAENA”, “SIRENS” and  “SKITZO”. On UTOPIA Scott taps into his lyrical side offering some of his best songwriting to date and sharing stories about personal reflection on his impact on the youth on the euphoric song “MY EYES”. Through listening to the entirety of the album we learn that for Travis Scott, his whole life has been a utopia as he talks about his upbringing, the obstacles he has faced, the impact he has on the music industry and the aspirations he has for his future. Although the features all excel, Travis Scott is still able to be at the forefront on songs like the retro boom-bap sounding “MODERN JAM” with Teezo Touchdown and the well-received “MELTDOWN” featuring Drake. The best song with a feature on it is “DELRESTO (ECHOES)” with Beyonce as both artists work perfectly together to encapsulate the nocturnal nirvana that UTOPIA is at its core. Some of the best songs in Scott’s catalog are within this album. UTOPIA feels like a mix between the lyrical approach Scott took on his 2015 album Rodeo and is as grand as the world-building that took place on ASTROWORLD, making it the best rap album of 2023. 

1. Sunburn- Dominic Fike

Courtesy of Spotify

We all lose sense of ourselves at some point in our lives. Life tends to move faster than we are prepared for and for Dominic Fike, this seems to be the case. The alternative pop artist went from being homeless and sleeping in cars to signing a $4 million deal with Columbia Records and acting as a character on the hit HBO Max show Euphoria all within a couple of years. Sunburn is an album where Fike finally hits pause on his lifestyle that seemed to be moving on fast forward and takes the time to reflect on where he came from and who he is as a person. Sunburn is a scorched memoir that inevitably leads to Fike unpacking the trauma and disoriented memories he experienced during his rough upbringing in Naples, Florida. The reminiscent tone on Sunburn can be heard in the song “How Much Is Weed?”, where Fike talks about having to step up as the provider of the family when his family members go in and out of jail and making it a goal for himself to stay out of jail in order to break the cycle. On “Dark” Fike describes that although his past was traumatizing he still appreciates what he went through and sometimes has the desire to go back to the simpler days when he wasn’t a polarizing pop star. Fike reflects a lot on past relationships and his meaning of love changing as he aged on songs like “Mona Lisa”, “7 Hours” and “Ant Pile”. At its core, Sunburn is an album of revisiting the trauma and painful experiences that Fike has been suppressing throughout the trajectory of his career as he finally acknowledges that these experiences shaped him into the person he is today. The idea of vivid memories still holding weight on a person’s outlook on life puts Dominic Fike’s Sunburn to be #1 on this list and the best album of 2023.