The dominating music traits of 2022 may solely be summed up by one phrase: sudden.
In a 12 months the place generational pop divas made lengthy overdue returns to the fray, some outdid expectations (Beyoncé, Dangerous Bunny, Harry Kinds) and others floundered (Rihanna, Drake, Blackpink). The overdue return of Kendrick Lamar was a perplexing affair, simply as how nobody may have predicted a virtually four-decade-old Kate Bush tune to have the 12 months’s most heartwarming reverse-charting narrative.
BTS went on hiatus. Lizzo proved she may outmaneuver the algorithm. One of many 12 months’s largest chart-toppers was known as “Unholy,” etching a non-binary singer and a trans-pop icon within the file books.
The self-produced lo-fi guitar funk of Steve Lacy went supernova. Everybody has lastly stopped speaking about Bruno. Taylor Swift proved that she’s extra fashionable than ever. But not even Taylor dominated the cultural house like Dangerous Bunny, unleashing an album that turned one of many top-10 most-streamed albums of all time on Spotify solely 5 months after its launch.
Beneath the Grammy nominations and platinum certifications was the beating coronary heart of our playlists, that includes nice new releases from indie rock strongholds, R&B svengalis, ambient techno gearheads, defining punk bands, and modern bossa nova revisionists.
There’s hardly ever been an album roundup as sprawling and various as this, however we will all agree that this was a 12 months like no different. Offered in no particular order, listed below are the 50 greatest albums of 2022.
