By Diana Chmura
Now about three months into 2024, I’m still left reminiscing on the past and the new music that was introduced to the world in 2023. With new collaborations and albums that surprised everyone with their diverse displays, it was a very pivotal year in music history. For many artists, it was a year of experimentation that left the internet eager for more.
André 3000’s photoshoot for New Blue Sun
Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape was an unexpected release that very few people could have foreseen. Uzi’s first album release since 2020, containing more than 20 tracks, presented a rap, rock, and metal blend that was largely unconventional compared to his prior work, which has often fallen more in line with trap and rap music. Additionally, the release of André 3000’s New Blue Sun album was highly anticipated since it marked both his solo debut and the first music from the Outkast member in 17 years. This was an album that had left the internet in dismay as many were under the impression that it would be a rap album because of the artist’s history, but instead André 3000 delivered a jazz album consisting of melodic flute instrumentals.
These are just a few examples of the music from 2023 that has stuck with me going forward into 2024, but there’s so much more that I’d be able to discuss. However, I realize that nobody has the time to read about every single album that I became obsessed with, played on loop in my room, and undoubtedly drove my neighbors insane by forcing them to put up with the same music they had heard a thousand times over. So instead, I’ll be gracefully restricting myself to only discussing three of the albums from 2023 that have impacted me and that I still find myself regularly listening to.
Coming up at number three, there is Kaytranada and Aminé’s collaboration as Kaytraminé. The duo’s self-titled album had quickly earned the title as the album of the summer following its release in May because of its upbeat, fun energy that is highlighted by Kaytranda’s house-adjacent styled beats and Aminé’s laid-back, playful raps. This is one of the albums that I was personally most excited about because of my recent introduction to EDM which led me down a Kaytranada rabbithole on Youtube. The song “Master P” starring Big Sean is my favorite from this album which I still regularly listen to because it always gets me hyped up and prepared for the day ahead.
Next up on the list is going to be Dominic Fike’s latest release, Sunburn. This is an album that I feel is truly so raw and real to the artist himself as it perfectly reflects his experience growing up in Naples, Florida; it captures the rough childhood memories that Fike holds, but has learned to be fond of over the years. From the reggae-like energy in “Dancing in the Courthouse” to the somber nostalgia in “Dark,” Sunburn is an album that I truly believe has a song for every music lover out there because of the wide variety of genres that Fike touches upon. My personal favorites from this album would have to be “Think Fast” featuring Weezer and “Sunburn,” the title track. “Think Fast” is a song that starts off more on the slow, mellow side until the ending where Fike’s vocals and instrumentals all explode at once to create this beautiful build up of anticipation. “Sunburn,” on the other hand, features a storytelling style of lyricism that allows us to travel back to the singer’s childhood with him as he explains the living situation that his family was struggling with that led to his path of addiction.
Travis Scott for the Circus Maximus Tour
Finally, if there is one album that I have been absolutely obsessed with from 2023, it is Travis Scott’s Utopia. This is an album that had a lot of hype surrounding it because of Scott’s success with his previous album, Astroworld. There was a lot of discourse and anticipation following Utopia’s release, with everyone contemplating if Scott had lived up to their expectations. Many people felt that, in comparison to Astroworld, Utopia just didn’t offer the same level of cohesiveness and had more ‘skips’ in it than ‘bangers.’ However, I really enjoyed the experimentations of Utopia that included a different sound in vocals, drums, and several features of artists that I’m personally a huge fan of, such as SZA, The Weeknd, and Beyoncé. “I KNOW?” is my personal favorite song on the album, and based on my Apple Music account, I’ve probably listened to it way too often. It features the classic auto-tuned vocals from Scott as well as atmospheric beats, giving it a blend of a hip-hop and trap sound.
These three albums have overtaken almost all of my playlists, offering a variety of sound to satisfy any mood that I may be in. My soundtrack for 2023 consisted largely of these artists, and I hope that some of them may have piqued your interest in order to be featured in your soundtrack for 2024 as well.
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