Beat Authority best of 2021 - music heals
The groove heals. The music heals.
In this year, when we healed from the trauma of the pandemic's first year, only to open more wounds as new traumas hit, music provided companionship, distraction, consolation, and a bright ray of hope.
Unlike last year, musicians ventured back out to the stage and helped us, tentatively, be together again, dancing again. Musicians had so much to say about our new reality, with passion, introspection, politics, and often humor.
It was hard to make this list! So many almost. And I couldn't quite get it down to a top ten. So here are my picks for the eleven best albums, some special nods to the best hip hop, and some of my favorite singles that were on repeat. Thank the heavens for great music. I couldn't have gotten through this year without it. Seriously.
11. Femi & Made Kuti - Legacy +
What a way to start the year! The royal family of Afrobeat came out of the gate with two albums, one from Afrobeat inventor Fela Kuti's eldest son, Femi; and one from his grandson, Made Kuti. All top shelf Afrobeat, each with their own generational takes on music. Made's record was especially innovative and powerful.
10. Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
The dream team superstar duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak dropped their single "Leave the Door Open" at the end of 2020 and it became one of the most listened to songs of 2021. The full album took awhile to come out, but it didn't disappoint. Silk Sonic realized what we need — retro fun, grooves we can all get behind, and lots of humor. "You smell better than a bar-b-que" is a line that will live on.
9. The Allergies - Promised Land
During the depths of the COVID lockdown, a lot of musicians dove into introspection and took on despair. The Allergies took the opposite approach. This album is a straight-out funk bomb of delicious, fun grooves. "Love Somebody" will make you reach out and hug someone (and dance with them).
8. Altin Gun - Yol
This Turkish funk band put out a synthy, shimmery groove with plenty of sass, each song a world of easy-going bliss with sing-abe melodies (even though I don't speak a word of Turkish).
7. Jon Batiste - We Are
Jon Batiste is so much more than the bandleader on Stephen Colbert's Late Night show. He's become a jazz ambassador on a level with fellow New Orleanian, Wynton Marsalis. This album mixes jazz, funk, soul, and his hometown's second line and drumline sound with a singer-songwriter's personal sensibility as he considers the pandemic, race relations and the aftermath of George Floyd's death, and more. The title track was one of my songs of the year.
6. Fimber Bravo - Lunar Tredd
Fimber Bravo is a steelpan drum legend from Trinidad who's been living in the UK since the 1970s. This record brought his genius for that unmistakable steeldrum sound and locked it into steady dance floor grooves. This is trance music to dance the night away (COVID translation: in your living room)
5. Okuté - Okuté
It was a big year for Cuban music. While Cimafunk deservedly got most of the press for his genre-bending new album, I became obsessed with this ensemble from Havana. The music is rooted in traditional Afro-Cuban rumba, but there's something louder, more bass-heavy, and far-reaching that brings the music into the modern.
4. IFÉ - 0000+0000
IFÉ, led by Yoruban priest Otura Mun (originally from Indiana!), is rooted in the devotional, percussion-heavy music of Puerto Rico. But his groundbreaking use of electronic samplers inside the conga drums allow the band to reach a whole new level. Add in some politics, new bandmates from New Orleans, and IFÉ proves again why they're one of my favorite bands these days. PS - This video will give you chills.
3. Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
This album came out early in the year, and I didn't go very long all year without listening to it. Arlo Parks, a British singer-songwriter delivered this lush, expressive, and generous album with deeply personal and emotional lyrics and melodies that help us remember, "you're not alone like you think you are."
2. Mon Laferte - Seis
Oh my, can Mon Laferte belt it out. This Chilean has spent years in Mexico immersing herself in the bolero, cumbia, and mariachi. Each song hit you with Laferte's tremendous vocal power and mighty backing musicians.
1. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
No surprise here. Little Simz, a British-Nigerian rapper from London, dropped a huge, expansive, lush record. It has horns, strings, a range of styles and genres. And then there's Little Simz' voice and raps - precise, introspective, poetic storytelling with intelligence, flow, and full of Black love. I listen to this album over and over and keep hearing new things, new depths, the true sign of a great album. Truly a keeper.
Special mentions: Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime; Dobet Gnahore - Couleur; Meridian Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna - Paz en la Tierra; Halluci Nation - Saturday Night
Some more great Hip Hop: Common - A Beautiful Revolution, Pt.2; Niña Dioz - Amor, Locura y Otros Vicios; Sa-Roc - The Sharecropper's Daughter; Greentea Peng - Man Made
