King's List: 2021 In Music

It’s been like, 8 years since I’ve done this. I’m not proud of myself about that, BUT at least I can say those past 8 years have been spent instead building my own catalog and discography of music, a dream and goal of mine since I was just a little boy. 8 years later, 5 projects and 4 magazine covers in…now that, I am proud of!

But I wanted to take a quick break from “Damez” and revisit and revamp my “Kings List” series on my blog. This has honestly been a pretty rough year for me personally, but on the flip side — it’s also been a great year for music, both new releases and old discoveries.

As live concerts, festivals and music events were continuously pushed back, rescheduled or canceled altogether, 2021 marked the second calendar year of the music industry being severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And as we unfortunately seem to do every year, we lost some great musicians this year, too, such as DMX, Young Dolph, and Biz Markie — Rest in peace to these talented artists; your music, influence and legacies will live on forever. On a brighter note, we saw the landscape of the music industry continue to shift into a more inclusive and diverse space, which is very exciting for the future.

I wrote and worked on a lot of new records this year (stay tuned), and I dropped my 5th project this summer! YAY! COVERBOY is my first EP since my first project, and I wanted something under 10 tracks this time around. Glad I stuck with my initial vision! No new Beyoncé record (B7) this year unfortunately, but she did bless us with some fresh and lively vocals on “Be Alive” from the movie King Richard. Adele returned, Drake dropped probably the best Rap album of the year (no cap), and Lana Del Rey released TWO albums this year for the first time ever (and they were both fucking incredible), so she probably got more spins overall than any other favorite artist of mine this year.

As I always am with music, I was pretty all over the place this year. My vinyl collection saw some new additions this year, in varying genres and decades — from Tina Turner’s Private Dancer from 1984 to the Target-exclusive alternate cover edition vinyls of Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters, Lana’s two 2021 releases. Inspired by the Verzuz battle between Xscape and SWV, as well as some personal experiences, I was on a 90’s R&B tip HEAVY this year (How many 90’s R&B boy bands can you name off the top of your head?! GO!), and discovered so many songs I never knew, as well as rediscovered plenty I hadn’t heard in ages. I also rediscovered my love for late 90’s/early 2000’s rapstress Eve and was gifted the Scorpion vinyl for Christmas!

Take a look at the songs and albums I fell in love with this year.

FAVORITE NEW ALBUMS OF 2021

  • Damez — COVERBOY (EP)

  • Lana Del Rey — Chemtrails Over the Country Club

  • Drake — Certified Lover Boy

  • Lana Del Rey — Blue Banisters

  • Summer Walker — Still Over It

  • Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak — An Evening with Silk Sonic

  • Doja Cat — Planet Her

  • Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales

  • Adele — 30

  • Cartièr — V Z N (EP)

  • Migos — Culture III

SONGS I FELL IN LOVE WITH IN 2021

  • “White Dress” — Lana Del Rey

  • “Can’t You See” — Total, Notorious B.I.G.*

  • “Dealer” — Lana Del Rey

  • “Home” — Jorja Smith

  • “Pipe Down” — Drake

  • “Capitol” — Curren$y, 2 Chainz*

  • “Mr Magic (Through the Smoke)” — Amy Winehouse*

  • “I Wish You Knew” — Mariah Carey*

  • “If You Lie Down With Me” — Lana Del Rey

  • “I’ll Call U Back” — Erykah Badu*

  • “Heroin” — Reptile Room, Damez

  • “Sweat Check” — Saweetie

  • “Feels So Good” — Xscape*

  • “Pretty Boy Freestyle” — Damez

  • ‘Downtown“ — SWV*

  • “Risky” — Saweetie, Drakeo the Ruler

  • “It’s All About Me” — Mya, Sisqo*

  • “On Me” — Lil Baby

  • '“Bottom Bitch” — Tink*

  • “Too Much” — Lakeyah

  • “Stuck Up” — Eve*

  • “Came Back For You” — Lil Kim*

  • “Black Bathing Suit” — Lana Del Rey

  • “I Can’t” — Foxy Brown*

  • “Be Alive” — Beyoncé

  • “Picasso” — Migos

  • “Getting Older” — Billie Eillish

  • “Dark But Just a Game” — Lana Del Rey

  • “Race My Mind” — Drake

  • “Straightenin’” — Migos

  • “Megan’s Piano” — Megan Thee Stallion

  • “Fucking Fans” — Drake

  • “Seesaw” — Kendra Jae, Saweetie

  • “What Ya Want?” — Ruff Ryders, Eve*

  • “Unloyal” — Summer Walker, Ari Lennox

  • “BESITO” - BIA, G Herbo

  • “Icy Chain” — Saweetie

  • “Warning” — Megan Thee Stallion

  • “Sad Boy” — Damez* (Shhhhh!)

Note: Songs marked with * were not released this year.

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