for me personally, it was Steve Lacy’s new album. i was never the biggest fan of his solo music but he leveled up so much on this project on top of that, he dropped the best song of the year with Bad Habit which shocked me even more

Her Loss

If it counts: Joyce Moreno - Natureza (previously unreleased 1977 album)

I knew it'd be good; I didn't expect it to be my favourite album of the year

For an album that came out this year Sofie Royer's Harlequin. I always forget she's really talented

never heard her tbh

She used to manage Boiler Room YT haha & was signed to Stone Throw Records to produce mixes. Now she releases music in English & German and it's just so good (to me)
I like the clown/jester motif & she plays her violin and signs live. In love tbh

In terms of big releases the biggest surprise to me was how much I f***ed with Bad Bunny’s album considering I wasn’t a big fan of his music like that and wasn’t really checking for the album like that. I just remember seeing people talk about it and finally taking a listen and something like switched in me still playing hella songs from that album consistently.

Also was very surprised at how much KTT music I genuinely loved this year. @Mitchell @insertcoolnamehere @willcherry all put out some incredible music this year and def check their s*** out if you haven’t already

anything affiliated with Stones Throw i will give a listen. i appreciate the recommendation

Bad Bunny’s album has never left the rotation for me. it’s just perfect vibe music

CYBERKISS* OUT NOW love that tape man

yooo thank you fam i’m really glad you enjoyed the project

her loss (i expected it to be just good but its pretty fantastic)
lucifer on the sofa (one of the most solid "indie rock" albums i heard in forever)
mahal (first toro project i love since like 2013)
cruel country (didnt expect to love a wilco album in 2022)
alpha zulu (amazing throwback album and super fun !!!)
the car (still gotta listen to it more but yeah)

On The Radio from Spoon is such a banger my god

Renaissance tbh.

word? i kinda expected it to be good given her track record with her previous albums

I did expect that, but I didn’t expect for it be her best album, nor possibly the best pop album of the decade (so far).

Honestly Nevermind

Never was the biggest fan of JID but i found myself revisiting Forever Story alot. In my top 5

Luv 4 Rent easily

King's Disease 3, like I thought after KD2 and Magic we might get another KD1-level project, which is fair, most third installments of trilogies aren't so great, but he just doesn't stop getting better

More Black Superheroes. Wasn’t even a Westside Boogie fan like that but that s*** is immaculate

Jeezy - Snofall

freddie gibbs album. i knew it was gonna be good but that s*** damn near flawless

Suede - Autofiction
Connie Constance - Miss Power

yo wtf Suede dropped?? how did i not know about this beforehand