The 2016 Music Awards
PLEASANT SURPRISE OF THE YEAR
Aesop Rock — The Impossible Kid
Aesop Rock is best known as one of the de-facto rappers the coolest kids of 2007 used to list off when you’d ask them what hip-hop artists they listened to (shouts to Immortal Technique, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Tech N9ne for also holding this corner down). He’s the only rapper that the gauge-eared scene kid from your freshman year dorm hall thought had any talent. These people were the fucking worst, so you most likely ignored them and never gave Aes’ music a chance. You should’ve.
Aesop is a unique hip-hop artist. His lyrical content is extremely dense, illustrating tales of the mundane with quick-hitting metaphors and advanced wordplay, and he produces his own shit with an El Producto-esque style that can be labeled as modern but not trendy. All of this is showcased on The Impossible Kid — Aesop’s best album to date, and one of my favorite surprises of 2016.
Honorable Mention: Sturgill Simpson — A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
BEST FUTURE SONG OF THE YEAR
“How It Feel”
After a monolithic and well-documented comeback in 2015, Future’s musical output this year felt a bit stagnant. He still saturated the market with three mixtapes (Purple Reign, Esco Terrestrial with DJ Esco, Free Bricks 2 with Gucci Mane) and an album called EVOL, but the excitement and hunger we heard in Nayvadius’ voice last year became difficult to find. Popularity-wise, he’s bigger than ever after co-headlining the Summer Sixteen tour with Drake and featuring on some of the year’s biggest albums (Views, Starboy, and Dangerous Woman to name a few), but coming off the heels of releasing “March Madness” and “Jumpman” just one year prior, much of what Future dropped in 2016 came off as bloated and borderline unnecessary.
Make no mistake though: Fewtch was still dropping gems if you looked hard enough. In early September, a song titled “How It Feel” surfaced online — a Mike Will Made It collaboration that was/is likely for their long-rumored mixtape Ape Shit. Neither party has acknowledged this track’s existence, but it also hasn’t been taken down anywhere either (the video above has over 5 million views since being uploaded in September), so maybe this was purposely leaked and will never be officially released. Either way, the track is an excellent combination of “Radical” stunting mixed with first half of “Throw Away” Ciara dissing. It’s practically a 5-minute-long musical summation of his 2015.
Despite releasing 4 projects worth of material, the best song that Future dropped in 2016 was one that shouldn’t even be in our possession.
Honorable Mention — “Perkys Calling” from Purple Reign
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
James Blake
James Blake left his mark on some of the best releases of 2016. As a guest contributor, he appeared on and produced “Forward” — the show-stopping piano ballad from Beyoncé’s LEMONADE, he produced multiple tracks on both Endless and Blonde — the Frank Ocean combo-pack that dropped in August, and he also ventured into the hip-hop sphere with Vince Staples, producing two tracks off his Prima Donna EP. Impressively, he also found the time to create his own 76-minute, self-produced epic The Colour of Anything, which released in May. You’ll find these songs rightfully sprinkled in any 2016 “Best Albums/Songs of the Year” list, which makes Blake my pick for producer of the year over chart-toppers Mike Will Made It and Metro Boomin’.
Honorable Mention — Mike Will Made It
MUSIC-RELATED ARTICLE OF THE YEAR
“The Radical Self-Respect of Fiona Apple’s ‘Sleep to Dream,’ 20 Years On” by Jenn Pelly
This think piece from Pitchfork editor Jenn Pelly is primarily about the excellent Fiona Apple song “Sleep to Dream”, but it also draws parallels between Fiona and Kanye West — two of my all-time favorite artists — in ways that I never envisioned before. I had always thought of my Fiona fandom as a strange outlier in my musical tastes, but this piece helped me understand why I’m drawn to her (and Kanye), so it scored bonus points for resonating. I wouldn’t recommend this piece to everyone, but if you have any interest at all in Fiona, which you should, check it out. (link)
Honorable Mention — “Frank Ocean is Finally Free, Mystery Intact” by Jon Caramanica (link)
REMIX OF THE YEAR
Roy Woods “SKRT Remix”
2016 was a relatively weak year for remixes, but one stayed in constant rotation for me throughout the year. Roy Woods, a relatively unknown OVO signee at the time with just a 6-track EP to his name, released his remix to Kodak Black’s “SKRT” on Soundcloud back in February, putting a Canadian spin on the year-old street hit. Despite dropping two quality projects later in the year, “SKRT Remix” remains Woods’ finest work — a vocal showcase that finds the Brampton native smoothly weaving through multiple flows and pitches. Sorry Kodak, but Roy pulled a Johnny Cash on ya. It’s his song now.
Honorable Mention: Schoolboy Q “THat Part (Black Hippy Remix)”
MOMENT OF THE YEAR
Yeezy Season 3 at MSG
The debut of The Life of Pablo at the Yeezy Season 3 event in Madison Square Garden feels like ages ago. Since that evening in February, Kanye and Kid Cudi both checked themselves in at a hospital and rehab, respectively, for mental issues, Kanye has taken arguably his biggest heel turn yet by supporting and becoming buddy-buddy with Pres-elect Trump, Desiigner has become a household name, and nobody cares about Vic Mensa still. But during that night, millions were glued to their computer screens, watching Kanye and friends throw a listening party of the grandest scale. It was much simpler times.
The best specific moment of the night actually came AFTER The Life of Pablo debuted, when Young Thug took control of the AUX cord and played a then-unreleased “With Them”, which had everyone — watching live or virtually — dancing in their seats and fiending for a CDQ version. If you were able to get the Tidal video stream to load, you enjoyed a messy, joyous experience that will never happen again.
Honorable Mention: Frank Ocean’s album rollout to Endless
MOST UNDERRATED ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Saba — The Bucket List Project
In a year in which many young, Chance-connected Chicago artists were hyped up either a little too much (Joey Purp) or rightfully so (Noname), Saba seemed to fly under the radar. That’s a shame, because he dropped the best project out of all the aforementioned in 2016. Saba asks the listener to ponder what’s on their own bucket list, in hopes that he’ll maybe inspire them to find a way to check ’em off before the grim reaper strikes. In addition, the end of each song contains a voicemail snippet of a different person (Chance! Lupe Fiasco! Saba’s bitter ex!) rattling off their own list. It’s a really cool touch. The full album is posted above — start listening to Saba right now.
Honorable Mention: Young Dolph — King of Memphis
MOST OVERRATED ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Chance the Rapper — Coloring Book
Chance the Rapper is a good, potentially great rapper. Chance is a vibrant, always-smiling, seemingly good person. Chance is the father of a 1-year old daughter. Chance is from Chicago — a city that has been home to 726 murders in 2016 as of this writing, and whose most notorious rap scene is inhabited by those who, at least lyrically, seem interested in pushing those numbers higher. Chance, unlike his local peers from the drill scene, spreads love and positivity through his lyrics. Chance is the type of person you want to see succeed.
Coloring Book, on the other hand, is a good, but not great project. Coloring Book has decent production, spanning a mixture of sounds ranging from gospel choir to Atlanta trap to Chicago house, but no individual track stands out when compared to better works within the respective subgenre it resides in. Coloring Book has a legendary list of featured artists, but Chance simply uses this an opportunity to emulate the flows and styles of his rapping counterparts on each track, as opposed to bringing them into the world he began sonically developing on his first two mixtapes. Coloring Book, as a result, feels more like a fun mixtape of Chance trying on a bunch of hats, with no underlying theme or purpose as to why. Coloring Book is an enjoyable, catchy listen, but it is directionless and somewhat uninspired.
Rap critics seemed so hell-bent on launching Chance into super-stardom that they chose to review Coloring Book based on their love of Chance the Human Being and not the actual music he released. I’m rooting for Chance to succeed just as much as anyone else, but Coloring Book was not as good as his previous mixtape, Acid Rap, nor was it anywhere near one of the best albums I heard all year. It’s a good project from a sky’s-the-limit artist, and that’s all. Here’s to hoping that Chance 4 is an improvement.
Honorable Mention: Anderson.Paak — Malibu
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé — Lemonade
What else? Just about everyone who stayed home that Saturday night in April to watch Beyoncé debut…something, as at the time no one knew what this hour time slot was actually for, was blown away by the visual album she presented. The content of the hour-long film has been analyzed and summarized in a million think pieces by now, but the highlight was the brief, skeptical period of time where we legitimately thought she was using this platform to announce her divorce from Jay-Z. It was a fun night to be on Twitter, to say the least.
Lemonade was a spectacle that revitalized the dying medium that is the music video. It eventually led other artists to create short films that complemented their respective album releases (Drake’s “Please Forgive Me” for VIEWS, Travis Scott’s “LA FLAME” for Birds, etc.), but none of them had the build-up, importance, or staying power of Lemonade.
Honorable Mention: Radiohead “Daydreaming”
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Drake — Views
Listening to Views is the musical equivalent of eating 20 White Castle burgers in one sitting. You’re hungry, so it seems like a great idea at first, and the first few do taste pretty good, but by the end you’re bloated and indulging on greasy fast food just for the sake of indulging.
Drake created an 81-minute album that was specifically designed to top the charts. Nothing more, nothing less. He wants to be a global superstar, I get that, and I’d be okay with the album if the 20 tracks sounded inspired and fresh, but they don’t. Views sounds like a greatest hits album if the concept of a greatest hits album was to create lesser versions of your greatest hits. Not one song on the album, except for maybe the already-year-old “Hotline Bling” he tacked on at the end for a boost in streaming numbers, would crack my list of top 15 all-time Drake songs. Views is trash.
Honorable Mention: ASAP Ferg — Always Strive and Prosper
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Desiigner
Desiigner went from complete unknown to must-see TV in the span of less than 6 months. He signed with GOOD Music, saw his breakout hit “Panda” become the #1 song in the country, appeared twice on Kanye’s The Life of Pablo, and stole the show whenever he performed in concert or at an award show. Then he was arrested and charged with drug possession and a gun felony in New York City. Bobby Shmurda 2.0, right? Nope — acquitted of all charges. In a year that left many feeling depressed and hopeless, Desiigner was the outlier — blissfully happy and winning at all times.
Honorable Mention: Roy Woods
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Frank Ocean
Despite releasing two excellent albums, a 300-page magazine, and providing the New York Times with a rare in-depth interview this year, Frank still remains arguably the most mysterious and interesting person in modern music. He’s reached a level where if he for some reason came out and stated that Granny Smith was his preferred apple of choice, every online media publication would have an article up about it the next morning, speculating about what it says about Frank, about us, and if this means his next project is being released through Apple Music. Everybody knows that Pink Lady is the best apple, so I hope Frank doesn’t believe such a thing. Maybe we’ll find out when he resurfaces again publicly in four years.
Honorable Mention: Beyoncé
SONG OF THE YEAR
David Bowie “Dollar Days”
“Dollar Days” is David Bowie’s swan song. It’s a farewell wish to his fans and the music industry, written as if he knew he would pass away just two days after its release. The song was excellent before, but post-death it carries an eerie mystique. “I’m dying to/Push their backs against the grain/And fool them all again and again” now comes from a man who knew his time was up, someone who had one final trick up his sleeve. The continued lyric of “I’m dying to” can also now be interpreted as “I’m dying, too”, as though the Thin White Duke wanted to provide a not-so-subtle FYI about his liver cancer. “Dollar Days” is one hell of a way to go out, and it cements the legacy of Bowie as a man who was truly unpredictable from start to finish. Just how he planned it.
Oh, and the saxophone in this song is fantastic.
Honorable Mention: The 24 other best songs of the year:
(BONUS) SUMMER ANTHEM OF THE YEAR
Fifth Harmony “All In My Head (Flex)”
don’t @ me
Honorable Mention: Nick Jonas “Close”
