List Week Chapter 3: Top 10 Artists Of 2017
The Top 10 Artists Of 2017
While the Albums, Songs and EPs list celebrate individual achievements of greatness artist of the Year takes a step further. Everyone comes into the start of a year in different places and everyone leaves a changed artist, whether drastic or minor. The Top Artist Of The Year has always been one of the more subjective lists as it takes into account the perception of an artist beyond their music where opinions differ even further. Acts like Kendrick Lamar and LCD Soundsystem released albums that would easily land a first timer on this list, but when compared to their greater discographies we're left to wonder what could have been. These 15 artists left no room for wishing as they set out to have fantastic 2017's across the board.
Honorable Mentions
Alvvays
In 2017 Alvvays proved they had staying power in the Dream Pop genre, a feat most bands without "Beach" in their name have struggled to achieve. A trio of fantastic singles and a solid album to back it up proved Alvvays was here for the long run. Molly Rankin and company went from one time spotlight owners to indie mainstays over these 12 months.
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
Gizz didn't put out any of the best records of 2017, but they did set out to release 5 Albums in one year. Capitalizing on Nonagon Infinitys success last year they delivered a mixed bag of albums but emerged with enough highlights to be remembered in their year for the ages and garnered enough press to grab attention across lots of genres and musical circles.
Amine
Amine succeeded across the board, moving from virtual noname to rap game trend-setter in one year. It started with his XXL freshman selection and quality performances in both the freestyle and Cypher. Then found radio success with the sexy and catchy "Caroline" and finally put out an album full of gems, including "Veggies" "Spice Girl" and "Wedding Crashers".
Father John Misty
Farmer John Misery is no stranger to indie headlines but in 2017 he turned a new leaf. Despite his most political album in nature Tillman's populous headlines included a thourougly won beef with Ryan Adams and a handful of lengthy and quotable drugged out descriptions of Pure Comedy songs. Also that Pure Country version of his albums title track is a Headline Of The Year contender for sure.
Young Thug
In 2017 Young Thug went from a prolific artists pumping out mixtape after mixtape of trendy, sound-alike trap bangers, into a prolific artists dropping one after another genre testing and off kilter projects. As Thugger fades further into the abstract his music becomes more interesting and engaging, capped off by his "Young Martha" EP with DJ Carnage that tested the boundaries of just how hard trap music can really go.
10. Perfume Genius
Mike Haddreus made a stunning case for "gay icon" status this year, unfortunately he encountered some STIFF competition, we will get to that later. Releasing his 4th, and best, studio album under the Perfume Genius moniker was a great way to prove that we were underestimating his ceiling and drew headline after headline as trendy publications struggled to make up for lost time. Mike went from Indie Pop's well kept secret to "album of the year" list mainstay in no time which also lead the charge for a second life for the projects previous 2014 ballad "Queen", and a much deserved one at that.
9. Joey BadA$$
In 2017 Joey proved that he wasn't going anywhere, but that's not enough for this spot. Joey also released his smartest, boldest and most impactful project to date. Starting with the dynamite single "Land Of The Free" Joey set up a slam dunk for himself with yet another jazzy low key political conscious rap album. A growing trend but one that takes poise and intelligence to deliver well and Mr. Badass certainly delivers. With the firey title that highlights the spelling of "Amerikkka" Joey steps into the danger zone but managed to slip out unscathed and a more impactful artist as a result.
8. Foxygen
The earlier in your career you release a bad album, the harder it is to come back from. Foxygen had released a big time EP and then a modern indie darling with their debut full length. But so tragically it seemed they would go the way of Yuck or The Vaccines before them and never quite reach that height after their 2nd album And Star Power. Foxygen released Hang in the 2nd week of January and never looked back, blowing away what anyone could have expected for their comeback. Foxygen has returned to their peak buzz,
7. Lorde
In 2013 at the age of 17 Lorde released an instant classic pop masterpiece Pure Heroine supported by huge singles like Royals, Team and Tennis Court. Where do you go from there? Lorde didn't fall victim to the pop slaughterhouse and decided to take a few years to work on a follow-up. That follow up would become Melodrama and with Jack Antanoff's help Lorde crafted a sophomore album that lives up to Pure Heroine's reputation and sets her up with a reputation for masterful pop music that could trail her for a career spanning decades if handled right.
6. Jay-Z
Jay has nothing to prove, we all know his name and his legacy, his influence and his talent. What Jay-Z proved this year is that he's not all legacy, Hov opened us up to something brand new on 4:44. It's cultural impact is clear, Beyonce's "Lemonade" took over the world last year and 4:44 was no different. Just think about how many headlines discussed things that Jay said or things that happened at his shows, they were inescapable. Jay is here to stay and made his best album in a decade plus to prove it.
5. Harry Styles
We will consider the #5 pick here the suprise of the year award. Harry Styles was the marquee member of a 5 piece British boy band called One Direction, you've heard of them. And you've probably heard their sugary executive pop made clean enough to not possibly offend anyone. 3 of the other members have taken to solo careers, all ending in music just as awful or even worse than the bulk of what 1D put out. So why is Harry Styles the #5 artist of the year. Because he released a self titled pop rock album that was pretty good, blowing the collective minds of everyone on earth. If somehow one of the best singles of the year "Sign Of The Times" didn't convince you then give "Woman", "Meet Me In The Hallway" or "Sweet Creature" a try and see what all the hype is about. Harry lands here for the same reason we give out a "most improved" award.
4. Slowdive
Comeback albums can be tough, and way more often than not a group comes back with a dialed down version of what made them great, or even a complete abandonment of their original style. Rarely does a group add a new album 20 years later that is just as essential as their original run like Slowdive did. The lead singles "Sugar For The Pill" and "Star Roving" were bright spots but we've been fooled before, anyone can get 2 good singles over 20 years but can they make a great album? In the case of Slowdive's self-titled 4th album, absolutely. Finding themselves back in headlines isn't really the mark of great Shoegaze but it's icing on the critically acclaimed flavored cake. They managed a comeback that pleased all their long time die hard shoegaze fans and proved that the album still has points to move forward with.
3. Sampha
You can't talk about bold moves in 2017 without talking about Sampha's debut "Process". After making fantastic contributions to songs by Kanye West, Drake and Solange, Sampha could have had anyone he wanted in the industry to collaborate with for hit big breakthrough. Process is an incredible 10 track R&B muted epic that finds itself featureless. Sampha carrying the entire album on his own is certainly ambitious but he dominates it, as much as his passionately sad vocal performance can dominate something. After being a sideshow for years Sampha finally had his time to shine and he commands your attention for how whole performance, and attention he received.
2. Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, Tyler, Tyler. What a suprise Flower Boy turned out to be. The usually one dimensional Tyler changed up his formula in 2015 from his output of edgy, choppy delivered and often uncomfortable rap, the problem is he changed it into half committed experiments that drag his typical sound through a wood chopper until they're so destroyed nobody knows what to do with them anymore. Now with Flower Boy Tyler leaped in the other direction from edgier to poppier and it's about time. Tyler makes snappy, catchy and smooth pop tracks one after another after another and this change up not only garnered him massive headline buzz, but also an entirely new fanbase. More people than ever are paying attention to Tyler and he finally has the world ahead of him for future endeavors.
1. BROCKHAMPTON
With Saturation, Brockhampton made a very solid case for artist of the year, they had emerged out of no where on the back of Kevin Abstracts fame into internet fame. With Saturation II they confirmed their push for artist of the year and locked up the #1 spot garnering even more acclaim with an extremely quick turn around. Come December and Saturation III, Brockhampton has lapped the music industry, it's not even close anymore. 3 albums in one year isn't unheard of, but 3 albums in year filled wall to wall with amazing bangers, ballads, and experimental rap charisma that all can be considered some of the best albums of the year, undeniable. Kevin, Matt, Merlyn, Ameer, Dom, Joba and BearFace make up just the voices you hear, and their talent combined with the ambitious work behind the scenes set Brockhampton up for a shoe-in artist of the year and leaves them as still a favorite to take over the world in 2018, not bad for the self claimed "Worlds greatest boyband".
