Albums in 2022 

2021 gave us so many good memorable albums. From “The Melodic Blue” by Baby Keem to “Planet Her” by Doja Cat, 2021 supplied us with some of our favorite music. This year just started, and we already have so many new releases of both albums and singles not to mention all the artists with scheduled albums and heavily anticipated to come out with new projects.  

New Releases so Far 

So far, we’ve had more than 30 album releases. I’ve combined six of those most anticipated and talked about albums and listened to almost every song off of them. These albums were “Few Good Things” by Saba, “Inside” by Mother Mother, “Dawn FM” by The Weekend, “DS4EVER” by Gunna, “From a Birds Eye View” by Cordae, and finally “Laurel Hell” by Mitski. Here is my own opinion on those albums.  

“Few Good Things” by Saba was probably my favorite one of these albums. I saved 10/14 songs, so I obviously strongly recommend if you like lyrical rap. The only Saba song I knew before listening to this album was his song ‘Photosynthesis’ and his feature on ‘Shadow Man’ by Noname. Listening to this album has turned me into a fan and I’ll keep on the lookout for new releases from him. My favorite song off the album was ‘Survivors Guilt’ featuring G-Herbo. The hook was really catchy, and you can just hear the production value off of this song alone.  

“Inside” by Mother Mother was my least favorite album out of all of them. I really do like Mother Mother’s songs, but this album was just very underwhelming. I couldn’t even get myself to finish the album because it just wasn’t for me. Most of the songs I did like I had to really force myself to keep listening to in order for it to “grow on me”. My favorite song on the album was ‘I Got Love’ but even then, I didn’t really like it all that much. I would’ve liked this album a little bit more if I was still in middle school honestly.  

“Dawn FM” by The Weeknd was one that I was really excited to listen to because I am such a big fan. “Beauty Behind the Madness” is one of my favorite albums of all time so any project The Weeknd comes out with I am the first to listen to. I really did like this album; which I wasn’t really expecting to like only because I didn’t like “After Hours” and I thought he would go with a similar style and sound. This album was anything but and has such good songs. Yaslin Carrasco (11th grade) would definitely agree as she says “I really liked it! Gasoline, Starry Eyes, and Sacrifice were my favorites!” Like Yaslin ‘Gasoline’ was also my favorite. This is the song I listen to almost every day.  

Perhaps the most talked-about album so far has been “DS4EVER” by Gunna. It is literally the #1 album. I remember first listening to this album as soon as I got the notification, despite not being much of a Gunna fan myself. This album definitely in my opinion proved why it’s #1 right now. I won’t say it’s one of my favorites of all time because it’s not. But it is really good. Ever since this album came out I’ve been listening to ‘you & me’ featuring Chlöe almost every single day. But as of lately ‘poochie gown’ does not leave my head. I liked it, but it isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea”. I asked some students and hear very mixed reviews. Some describe it as “mid” and others explain they like it.  

Cordae is my favorite in YBN so when I heard he was coming out with ‘From a Birds Eye View” I was very excited. I was not disappointed in almost every single song on the album I saved. I waited a while before hearing it and heard really good things about it. People describe him as a breath of fresh air amongst young rappers. I do think he has potential and really hope he can live up to it. This album isn’t the most incredible piece of work out there. There’s good production value and variety in this album and I definitely recommend it. I’m slightly biased when I say that ‘Chronicles’ is my favorite song only because H.E.R is one of my favorite artists right now, but it is still a very good song! 

“SICK!” By Earl Sweatshirt was very a good album. I’ve never really listened to his music all that much, so I don’t really know anything about him, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed listening to this. It wasn’t a grueling listen like other albums. I feel like you could actually sit down and listen top to finish without even noticing. My favorite songs were ‘God Laughs’ and ‘Fire in the Hole’.  

One of the most loved people on the internet that I know of is probably Mitski. People say they can really connect to her music. Her new album is called “Honestly, I’ve never really listened to her music all that much. Not because I haven’t wanted to but just because, I’ve never gotten around to it. This album was so interesting and well developed I really enjoyed listening. Ethan Yanez (11th grade) says “My favorite album to come out so far has been Mitski. Her voice is pretty so I got attached to it.”. My favorite song on the album was ‘Working for the Knife’ but all of the songs were really good and enjoyable.  

Anticipations for 2022 

2022 has just started and we already have so much good music. There have been so many releases that I didn’t mention that you should listen to. For example, 2 Chainz, FKA Twigs, and Snoop Dog have all been released and I’m excited to listen.  

When asked who they want to see come out with a new album Yaslin Carrasco (11th grade) said “Kendrick Lamar should come out with a new album”. Someone else (11th) grade said “Tay K” which even though probably impossible would be very funny and exciting. I personally want to see new albums from Harry Styles, Hozier, and Twice. Call me an optimist but if Rhianna came out with something I would be the happiest woman alive.  

Then there are albums that are scheduled to come out. Probably the most hyped being Kanye West with Donda 2. Donda 2 has been very hyped for a number of reasons; firstly because he’s literally Kanye west, secondly because of his recent divorce and the beef he’s formed with several celebrities (Kid Cudi, Billie Eilish, Pete Davidson). I asked Yaslin Carrasco (11th) and Ethan Yanez what they thought about Donda 2 and Kanye West. Ethan Yanez (11th) said “With everything going on he shouldn’t release it. I think he should take a break.” Yaslin Carrasco (11th)  said “Because he got in that beef with Kid Cudi the production value won’t be the same. All of his best songs are with Kid Cudi, so all his new songs won’t be as good.