Best Music of 2019

When it comes to music this past year, Lil Nas X is the story that dominated the headlines, specifically his song "Old Town Road." It's a song that combines both country and rap music together. The track broke all kinds of records on the Billboard charts. It's currently the longest-running single at number-one in history. It's sold ten million copies. It continued to be a cultural phenomenon, thanks to Lil Nas X coming out as gay, which means he's now the first openly gay artist to have a song be atop the charts for as long as he did, which was 19 weeks, beating that of Elton John. The 20-year-old from Georgia is also up for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for his EP called 7, which only contains six other songs.

However, if you read the reviews in The New York Times, Pitchfork or Entertainment Weekly, it becomes clear that Lil Nas X's music isn't that great. Of course, I didn't need to read those reviews. I was never on the hype train for "Old Town Road." I never thought the song was good and his EP didn't impress me when it dropped over the summer. Everyone made a big deal over the fact that "Old Town Road" had fused country and rap. It was seemingly a landmark that a black artist was injecting himself into the country music space. Yet, the fact of the matter is that he's not the first black artist to enter the country music space. He's certainly not the first this year and he's certainly not the best.

Yolanda Quartey aka Yola is a black singer from England who is nominated for four Grammy Awards at the 62nd Grammys, including Best New Artist. She's nominated opposite Lil Nas X and she probably won't win, but she should definitely get it over Lil Nas X. Her album came out before Lil Nas X and is up for Best Americana Album. Americana music is akin to country music, which Yola masterfully wields.

No, there isn't a lot of black representation in the country music field. There are black artists in country music, but often they're overlooked like Yola, Kane Brown and Rhiannon Giddens. It's perhaps to a lesser extent that African-American representation is lacking in other genres like rock music. Since Prince's death and since Lenny Kravitz's last platinum album was nearly 20 years ago, there really hasn't been any artist to take up that mantle. They haven't been selling records as well as Kravitz, but there have been a couple of African-American rock artists on the rise.

The first is Gary Clark Jr whose latest record This Land (2019) is nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video. His song and video are a direct criticism of President Trump and the recent rise of white nationalism. His record is also nominated in the category of Best Contemporary Blues Album, which means in addition to rock music, there is also an element of Blues music, which has its roots in country. As such, Clark is also doing country music better than Lil Nas X. The second, African-American rock artist on the rise is Brittany Howard. Howard was the lead singer for the rock band, Alabama Shakes. Howard is nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance too. She's up for her song "History Repeats," which is off her solo record Jaime (2019). As a queer black woman, she's also breaking barriers and her music is also better than Lil Nas X.

Yet, she's not the only queer artist of color making waves. The most outstanding is Lizzo. She's been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. She's the most nominated musician for the 62nd Grammy Awards. In an article for Teen Vogue, she said when it comes to her gender and sexuality, she's not just one thing and she's on a spectrum. She even wants her fans to be called "Lizzibians," a possible portmanteau of Lizzo and Lesbians.

Tyler, The Creator is nominated for Best Rap Album for his record, Igor (2019). Tyler, The Creator has done several interviews commenting on his bisexuality. Steve Lacy, another black artist, is nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his record, Apollo XXI (2019). He also came out as bisexual online. Nakhane is a black queer musician from South Africa. He released his record, You Will Not Die (2018), which got a physical release in the US in 2019, which inspired Madonna to create her current record, Madame X (2019). Other black queer artists to drop albums to not have much fanfare are Kevin Abstract for his record, Arizona Baby (2019), which got a GLAAD Media Award nomination, as well as Young M.A. for her record, Herstory in the Making (2019). There's also Rahsaan Patterson for his record, Heroes & Gods (2019) and Aaron Thomas' Mine Games (2019).

A lot of those aforementioned, black artists aren't getting the level of attention and success as Lil Nas X. Again, I would prefer their music, which is vastly more interesting. That's not just me. If you go to Metacritc, that web site collects reviews from music critics. Lil Nas X has a score that is 57. Most of the other black queer artists I've listed like Lizzo, Tyler The Creator, Steve Lacy and Nakhane have scores that are 80 or higher.

Best Music of 2019

Best Folk / Country

WALK THROUGH FIRE by Yola
FRONT PORCH by Joy Williams
TEXAS PIANO MAN by Robert Ellis
SIGNS by Tedeschi Truck Band
THE HURTING KIND by John Paul White
BLOOD by Allison Moorer
THREADS by Sheryl Crow
HEARD IT IN A PAST LIFE by Maggie Rogers

Best Rock / Alternative

THIS LAND by Gary Clark Jr.
JAIME by Brittany Howard
FATHER OF THE BRIDE by Vampire Weekend
WASTELAND, BABY! by Hozier
HYPERSPACE by Beck

Best Pop / Electronic

HAPPINESS BEGINS by Jonas Brothers
DEDICATED by Carly Rae Jepsen
HURTS 2B HUMAN by Pink

Best R&B / Soul

WHEN I GET HOME by Solange
VENTURA by Anderson .Paak
APOLLO XXI by Steve Lacy
YOU WILL NOT DIE by Nakhane
ANGEL'S PULSE by Blood Orange aka Dev Hynes
THE LION KING: THE GIFT by Beyoncé
UGH, THOSE FEELS AGAIN by Snoh Aalegra
HEROES & GODS by Rahsaan Patterson

Best Rap / Hip Hop

CUZ I LOVE YOU (DELUXE) by Lizzo
IGOR by Tyler, the Creator
K.R.I.T. IZ HERE by Big K.R.I.T.

Best Individual Songs from Non-listed Albums

"Gentle Man by The Defaulters" by Floating Points
"Wait for Now / Leave the World" by The Cinematic Orchestra
"So Emotional" by White Denim
"In Time" by Self Esteem
"The Most" by Miley Cyrus
"Come Alive" by Madonna
"Before I Let Go" by Beyoncé
"Yeah I Care" by Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker
"Tobacco Road" by Mercury Rev f/ Susanne Sundfør
"Zanies and Fools" by Chance the Rapper
"Feelings" by Cuco
"Stand Up" by Cynthia Erivo from Harriet (2019)
"OK" by Backstreet Boys
"Fine Line" by Harry Styles
"Pretend" by Teen
"Olympia" by Flamingods
"Fare Thee Well" by Jessica Pratt
"Let's Be Us Again" by The Delines
"Rounder" by Cass McCombs
"Pharoah" by Rosie Lowe
"Snickersnee" by Oh Sees
"All My Love" by Electric Light Orchestra
"Beyond the Pale" by Cold War Kids
"This World is Drunk" by Raphael Saadiq
"((trance))" by The S.L.P.
"Make Friends With the Morning" by Stereophonics
"Automaton" by The Faint