StereoVision's AOTY Power Rankings: May

By StereoVision Staff

Welcome to our Album of the year power ranking series! Each month all our team members submit their “top 10 albums of 2020 so far” along with some notes about why their list looks the way it does. These lists are then compiled into our overall power rankings which you can find below. Keep scrolling to see each team members personal list which gives interesting insight on how different albums age over the course of the year for specific people. Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoy the article!

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The Teams Picks:

3.15.20 & A Written Testimony still remain at the top of my list because of the expert artistry on both of the projects leading to immense replay value. Upon release, I thought Smino’s new mixtape She Already Decided was solid, but as I revisited the project through the end of April and beginning of May, I quickly realized it was one of my favorite offerings in recent memory. I wouldn’t be surprised if She Already Decided makes it all the way to my year end list because of how fun the entire tape is. Westside Gunn lived up to the lofty expectations he’s set for himself on the excellent Pray For Paris and Kenny Mason showcased his all-time great potential on his debut album Angelic Hoodrat. Lastly, Larry June and Cardo made one of the best albums to listen to in the car with Cruise USA, a undeniably smooth album drenched in west coast swagger. -Spencer Lobdell

To me, Donald Glover still has released the most creative and quality project of this year. That being said Smino’s release of She Already Decided was unexpected, but one of the most pleasantly surprising mixtapes to drop in a while. Jay Electronica and Jay-Z had entirely too many bars as A Written Testimony might have been the best rap exhibition of 2020. Bent Fiyaz, Giveon, and The Weeknd have represented male R&B in an excellent fashion. Pray for Paris and Heaven or Hell are on two opposite ends of the musical spectrum, but each is worth a listen because they deliver things you couldn't get from anyone else. Finally Jhene stayed true to form with the excellent album Chilombo. -Miles Hagan

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My current favorite album of 2020 is King Krule’s third studio album Man Alive! The 25 year old English indie sensation consolidates his eclectic sound on Man Alive, allowing the best aspects of all his various musical influences shine through the album’s seamless production. Bolstered by King Krule’s poetic lyricism and enchanting vocal performance, Man Alive! will be a difficult album to top. This year has seen a great body of releases from up and coming women in the rap game, much of which had been significantly more impressive than the work of their famous male counterparts. Hook and Bbymutha in particular have stood out so far as being two of the most talented, versatile, and exciting new artists out today. Don’t sleep on the girls! -Kaila Cherry

My power rankings have changed a pretty good bit since the last time I submitted them. I moved The Weeknd up as the record continued to grow on me and I added Smino right below it. I thought PND and Jhene both dropped very solid projects that deserved to be in the top 10, and most surprisingly, I loved the chemistry between Chris Brown and Young Thug on Slime B. I thought Kehlani and Nav’s albums were mediocre so they didn’t break my top 10, but hopefully I warm up to them as the year progresses! -Carter Fife

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For the most part, my list remained the same from April. I find that, typically, the albums that leave the best impression on me do a great job of balancing the traditional with the experimental or lean towards the latter characteristic. The artists who have been switching up their sounds or presenting interesting genre blends (e.g. The Weeknd, 070 Shake, Mixed Matches,) have stayed at the top of my list, and more underground artists continue to funnel in as well. Vocalist and producer Mixed Matches presents an atmospheric soundscape of ear candy on Jesse, a project filled with infectious melodies and soothing, layered vocal performances. Meanwhile, newcomer brakence delivers a unique, wonky blend of electronica and punk on his debut album punk2, which features tons of experimental trap production and autotuned vocals. -Owen Tait

I know, the absence of PTSD is alarming to all of my fellow Chicagoans but honestly, it doesn’t match up sonically to the 10 albums listed. Albums 1-4 may be some of my favorite ever, listening to each of the 4 was an experience; the songwriting and overall story makes them all 10/10’s for me. #1 was an easy choice for me, After Hours has Grade-A production and storytelling across the board. Number 6 is a new project from someone I recently discovered; right after listening to the first song I knew the project would be great. At number 10 is Lil Baby’s latest album, I really hated it when it first released, but I decided to give it another listen and it’s actually pretty solid. -Courtney Fields

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Nothing put out this year has quite compared to Mac Miller’s posthumous project Circles, that is until Westside Gunn put out the grimey, bar-heavy masterpiece that is Pray for Paris. Touting some of the best cyphers of the year in “327,” “$500 Ounces” and “George Bondo,” Westside Gunn easily secures a spot in the top 3. The ever soulful and funky It Is What It Is and She Already Decided from Smino and Thundercat have aged like fine wine, while UNLOCKED and Eternal Atake have seen their replay value diminished for me. -Luke Modugno

I am excited to to still Have CHILOMBO at the top of my list. Jhené did what needed to be done to help me survive this pandemic. So again, name another album as captivating and versatile that is also 20 tracks long with no skips! Circles and A Written Testimony remain at the top of my list because they are solid projects from seasoned artists. I had trouble ranking 38 Baby 2, PTSD, and My Turn. I enjoy listening to all three but I’m unsure which is truly better. The debut album, KIKI, by Kiana Ledé, is well constructed and relatable. I listed the project to keep the newcomer in conversation. I’m interested in seeing the rest of the teams picks to see what albums I have been overlooking. -Amaya Lorick

Now that we are approaching the halfway point through the year, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make these picks. At #1, I still have Mac Miller’s posthumous album Circles. I don’t listen to it every day, but the bitter sweetness of this album hits different for me. It’s a fantastic piece, and it is going to be very hard for any albums this year to take its spot. G Herbo also remains high on my list, he surprised me with PTSD and even though it has been out for some time, it still hits just as hard. Drake’s new mixtape made a big splash, I won’t be surprised if this stays on my list until the end of the year. I really dig the vibes on Slime & B, but time will tell how much longevity it has. -Colson O’Connor

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  RT @StereoVisionSV: Jay Electronica stays on top in our monthly album of the year power rankings 👀💎 To see each team members picks and… https://t.co/ldin8S3MZr

  May 13, 2020, 6:25 PM
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  Listen to our favorite underground rap hits from artists like Rod Wave, Youngboy Never Broke Again, Drakeo the Rule… https://t.co/3bYShp4Puk

  May 13, 2020, 3:54 PM

NAV Bores With His New Project, "Bad Habits"

By Kaila Cherry

NAV has slowly been integrating himself into rap/R&B scene for the past few years. He has collaborated with some of the hottest names in contemporary hip hop today, like Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, The Weeknd, Metro Boomin, and Quavo. NAV has his hand in several facets of the music making process. The range of his skills has led him to have rapping, producing, and songwriting all under his belt. After recently coming out of his two month retirement from music prompted by Lil Uzi Vert’s own step back from the industry, NAV dropped his second studio album entitled Bad Habits.

NAV’s foray back into music (although he barely left) is just as impressive as his previous project and features. Bad Habits encapsulates NAV’s strict adherence to the OVO type cloth he has been cut from. Because of his resistance to diverge from the sleepy and emotionally driven (in NAV’s case, devoid) sing-rap archetype popularized by the likes of Drake and The Weeknd, NAV delivers a project we have all undoubtedly heard before.  

Bad Habits gets pretty boring pretty quickly. Nav’s voice follows very simple melodies over slow trap beats. The sound of this album is fairly predictable. Once you’ve heard the style of the first two or three tracks, you have a good sense on what the the entire 50 minutes sounds like. Despite the lack of ambition NAV demonstrates on the project, the tracks do follow a formula that works. Even though they are extremely basic both musically and lyrically, NAV has a voice that is easy to sing along with. The beats are catchy and effortlessly danceable. Bad Habits is undeniably a product of its time. Very little within the project on its own holds any longevity or stand-alone merit. However, if I were to hear songs like “To My Grave” or “Taking Chances” at a party, I wouldn’t be opposed to having it play. However, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish these songs from artists like Raury or Majid Jordan, either.

The strongest track on Bad Habits is “Price on My Head” featuring The Weeknd. I believe this is largely due to the fact that the first two verses of the song are carried by The Weeknd himself, with NAV not coming in with his rap until the last third of the song. Even so, I thought the production on “Price on My Head” was refreshing in comparison to the rest of the album.  The synth piano progression gives the ear an interesting sound to latch onto throughout the track. The Weeknd’s voice is smooth and cool as he sings about the recklessness of his party lifestyle and how he attracts jealousy from those who wish they could live like him. NAV’s verse uses a healthy amount of autotune both to add to the sort of frantic nature of the song as well as to compensate for any vocal disparities between him and The Weeknd. The Weeknd’s feature is also the best feature on the album by far, with big names such as Young Thug, Meek Mill, and Gunna falling short.

On the whole, NAV’s Bad Habits is less of a complete flop and more of an underwhelming release. None of the songs are awful. In fact, they each sound nice on their own and would fit seamlessly into a night out playlist. The tracks are catchy enough to stick to the ear for the duration of the songs. But that is about it. NAV fails to bring anything new to the subsection of rap in which he operates in. And because of that, Bad Habits is nothing special as an album or as a reflection of NAV’s artistry. This album will come and go, and is utterly forgettable.

Favorite Tracks

To My Grave

Price on My Head (Feat. The Weeknd)

Vicodin

Rating: 5

Stream Bad Habits here:

Bad Habits, an album by NAV on Spotify

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