If 2020 has been good for anything, it’s been music. With all that has happened this year, new music has been with us through thick and thin. The soundtrack of 2020 was full of many amazing albums, and we here in KTR will be laying out student choices for the best album of 2020! Chosen through a fair survey format, these are the top choices for the best albums!

#1 pick: Folklore by Taylor Swift

Folklore by Taylor Swift was by far the most popular album reported by  C.H.S students for top album of 2020. The surprise album was released on July 23, and Taylor Swift fans were given 16 tracks on the eighth consecutive album of her career. It came as such a surprise due to the fact that she released it less than a year after her previous album, Lover, which is unheard of for Taylor. On Folklore, Swift explores alternative pop-folk music, a new sound for her. Her delicate folksy melodies really were able to shine in this new sound, and her experimentation really paid off. Her music on this album shows inspiration from fellow musicians such as Lana del Ray and Phoebe Bridges, as well as showcasing her amazing feature from Bon Iver. This album is full of Swift’s emotion, fully embracing the melancholy, blue tone that she has hinted at in previous albums. The full album featured beautiful story-telling aspects and truly put into words a beautiful expression of Swift’s headspace. The visions of old memories and the calming indie tones gave us a perfect quarantine album, as we all are reflecting on what life was like when we could be with other people. C.H.S senior, and Taylor Swift fan, Margaret Neale says folklore was “Very different from any of Taylor’s past albums. It’s a very raw and emotional storytelling album and is by far the most lyrically mature music she has ever written. It’s also been nominated for 6 Grammys this year and was written in just a couple of months if that tells you anything.” 

Runner Ups!

These albums didn’t win the top spot, but definitely deserve some recognition!

RTJ4 by Run The Jewels

Rap group Run The Jewels, made up of Killer Mike and El-P, released their fourth installment in the RTJ album series this year, and this one proved to be one of their best. The album provides a gritty and powerful commentary on the racist police brutality that we have seen over the past year. This album also proved to be more serious than the duo’s previous works, with less of the funny bars seen on previous albums. This album paints a picture of who Killer Mike and El-P are as rappers, activists, and humans living through a time of unjust violence. The bars on this album are some of RTJ’s best ever, creating commentary that evokes feelings of rage, guilt, and an overwhelming inspiration to do what is right. “You so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me/Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper- ‘I can’t breathe’/ And you sit there in the house on couch and watch it on TV”, raps Killer Mike on the track “walking in the snow”. That is just one of the many raw bars thrown out by RTJ on this album. On RTJ4, Killer Mike and El-P give us some of their best ever work ever.

Wunna by Gunna 

Gunna shows up on his 2020 album, Wunna, and helps express to the public why he is on the fast track to the top of the trap rap game. Everything that Gunna has to offer is multiplied by 100 on this album. Wunna shows off his refined sound; consistently crispy flows, beautiful and euphoric beats produced by legends Wheezy and Turbo, and creatively satisfying puns on every song featured. Listening to this album creates a feeling I can only describe as flying into the sunset with a diamond-encrusted jetpack. “Wunna is full of bangers,” says C.H.S senior Sohl Park. Wunna is Gunnas best performance ever, and enhanced by some star-studded features, (Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, NAV, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Yak Gotti, Nechie) could be the best trap album of the year. 

Honorable Mentions

These albums are all top-tier quality and are maybe just a little less popular than the top three but all deserved to be mentioned!

Eternal Atake by Lil Uzi Vert 

Savage Mode 2 by 21 savage 

F*** the World by Brent Faiyaz 

Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa

After Hours by The Weeknd

Alfredo by Freddie Gibbs 

Circles by Mac Miller

Revenge of the Dreamers III by Dreamville

A Written Testimony by Jay Electronica

Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

Punisher by Phoebe Bridges

Evermore by Taylor Swift