Fill in the Blank: Listen up, 2018 is the best year of music we’ve had in a while

Oh, it was a very good year for music fans. A very, very good year. So good, in fact, that even if you hypothetically spent every waking minute listening to records, you still wouldn’t get to every single worthwhile release. Still, as a more casual music fan, I’ve stumbled upon more great music this year than my sensory input could allow, so I’d be remiss not to share some of my favorite records, moments and artists from the musical whirlwind in the past 11 months.

With hip-hop now serving as the cultural zeitgeist (I use that word completely unironically), most of the records and artists I mention come from that background. So don’t let old heads tell you hip-hop is dead, because we’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential. In fact, many young artists are making history in the genre as we speak.

Denzel Curry intellectualized the gritty, aggressive South Florida rap scene with his unmatched technical ability and witty lyricism. In a scene that has produced so many hard-hitting, mosh-inducing hits, South Florida lacked an artist who could produce truly great conceptual album. However, this changed with Curry’s “TA13OO,” an album that encapsulates the rapper’s songwriting prowess with sticky hooks and takes listeners on a sonic journey. He also gets a pass on the “Dragon Ball Z” hip-hop cliches. He’s genuine and, God, does he go Super Saiyan on this thing.

“TA13OO” collaborator and Baltimore rapper-producer JPEGMAFIA also released one of the most wild and weirdly enjoyable projects of the year on “Veteran.” His at-times edgelord personality and often bonkers production certainly doesn’t make him a casual listen with friends and loved ones, but the project will have you too saying “damn, Peggy!” if you lower your guard and let it take you off the walls.

I truly believe mainstream hip-hop and trap hit a high-water mark this year. Rapper Cardi B delivered an impressive debut, especially as an artist some critics wrote off as a

one-hit wonder. Pusha T absolutely smoked Drake and revitalized high stakes rap beef, only for Drake to drop a dud of an album that still shattered streaming records. Meanwhile, “Daytona” is up there for my favorite album of the year — it’s just over 21 minutes of pure mob boss adrenaline. But there were three captivating albums that deserve critical recognition and have more or less: Travis Scott’s “Astroworld,” Brockhampton’s “iridescence” and Kids See Ghosts’ self-titled debut.

Scott, much like Curry, has carried the torch in conceptualizing mainstream rap into an album format. Scott assembled “Rodeo” masterfully, with incredible hooks and orgasmic production switch-ups (yes, I mean that). “Astroworld,” however, may prove to be the most important album of Scott’s career. Despite being put under the media microscope as Kylie Jenner’s partner, Scott released a great album immune to deep criticism, complete with club-hopping singles and intriguing deep cuts.

I couldn’t write this column without shouting out Brockhampton. The hardest working boy band in America released an incredible follow-up to its “Saturation” trilogy, and, though my opinion on it has quelled since its release, “iridescence” is Brockhampton’s most important project to date.

After expelling core member Ameer Vann earlier this year for lying about sexual abuse allegations, the group scrapped their tour and intended album, titled “Puppy,” and took time to regroup. “iridescence” is the product of this turmoil, and its as diverse, tortured and optimistic as the 13 young men who created it.

“Kids See Ghosts,” named after the new supergroup formed by rapper-producers Kid Cudi and Kanye West, proved to be a redemption project for two artists who desperately needed one. On it, Cudi, after several disastrous attempts at psychedelic rock, returns to the introspective, tripped-out yet catchy brand of hip-hop. Meanwhile, West was in the midst of his own PR dilemma after infamously declaring his support for President Donald Trump among a series of public outbursts. However, on “Kids See Ghosts,” West and Cudi take the strokes of genius on the critically panned “ye” and amplify them for seven near-perfect tracks.

And, please, save your “rock is dead” chants for another year. Sure, the few new bands that crack the charts may not be the most original (looking at you, Greta Van Fleet), but there are myriad bands and artists who continue to carry the torch and deliver incredible, innovative rock music. They might just look, sound and feel a little different than your mom’s favorite bands on 98.3 The Ride (only on FM, obviously). In fact, two of the genre’s best projects this year focused on themes of depression, mental illness and queer relationships, a far, far cry from Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane” or Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”

The first, Car Seat Headrest’s “Twin Fantasy (Face to Face),” explores a young man’s now-realized feelings toward a close friend and the relationship’s eventual demise — think indie rock’s answer to “Channel Orange.” Over the course of 71 minutes, songwriter and frontman Will Toledo smacks the listener upside the head with songs that are at-once structurally ambitious, emotionally potent and catchy as hell.

In the second, gender-bending songwriter Ezra Furman quietly delivered the best project of his career this year with “Transangelic Exodus.” The album’s narrative follows Furman’s love affair with an angel and how the two run away from home due to a government crackdown. It’s a symbolic, gritty and beautiful album that features some of Furman’s best songs to date. “Love You So Bad” is a total ballad, and I’ll be damned if you can show me more earnest and vivid songwriting this year.

I also must mention the young Euro-punkers IDLES and Iceage, each of whom released some genuinely rebellious and fun listens in a time when we sorely need them. IDLES’ unapologetic “IDGAF” attitude and musicality should certainly quell traditionalist jeers. And if that won’t, Iceage frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s charisma and songwriting chops will seduce you, guaranteed.

But again, hip-hop and R&B rule the land, and the relatively small population of stubborn, traditionalist rock fans should embrace them. There are so many creative people making incredible music in those fields right now, and it would be a damn shame for those people to miss out.

Who knows what’s next? I certainly have no idea — I just try my best to sift through a tiny portion of the plethora of music at our disposal for something good. I’d be a damn liar to sit here and tell you I come even this (imagine something large, an elephant perhaps) close to catching every good record that came out this year. And with just over a month left, I guarantee that there’s going to be at least one more release that’ll blow our collective mind.

I have stumbled upon some excellent records so far, and I implore you to try the ones I just mentioned if you haven’t yet. You don’t have to listen to me — I’m no tastemaker by any means. But hey, if you’ve made it this far, from fan to fan, stream those right freaking now.

Matthew Philips is a junior majoring in journalism. He is also the lifestyle editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Fill in the Blank,” ran every other Monday.