Best Music of 2023

Taylor Swift was voted "Person of the Year" by Time magazine. She's the first woman to be recognized more than once for this honor. The Eras Tour was the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. It generated over $1 billion. The filmed version called Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) broke records in that its distribution deal bypassed Hollywood studios and was instead released by AMC Theatres. It went on to become the highest-grossing concert film of all-time. Her album 1989 (Taylor's Version) also became the top-selling album of the year. She's nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Anti-Hero," as well as Album of the Year for Midnights (2022).

SZA is the R&B artist who has the most Grammy nominations at nine. She's one of the few Muslim artists to be up for this many awards, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Kill Bill," as well as Album of the Year for SOS (2022). Her album has the distinction of being the longest-running album at number-one for a female artist in 2023. It topped the charts earlier in the year for eight, nonconsecutive weeks. She's from Missouri but grew in New Jersey. Yet, she attended Delaware State University before dropping out for financial reasons. In terms of longest-running album at number-one for a male artist in 2023, that distinction goes to Morgan Wallen for One Thing at a Time (2023).

Music that's dominated the culture this past year has been the soundtrack to Barbie (2023). That soundtrack dubbed Barbie the Album (2023) became the first to have three songs on the Top 5 of the singles charts simultaneously. The album has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, including Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Four of its songs were nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Of all of its songs, the stand-out has been "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, which is up for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Music Video.

Eilish seems like the likely winner in most of those categories. For those top prizes, I'd probably go for "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus. Her song is the longest-running single by a female artist in 2023. It also topped the charts for eight, nonconsecutive weeks earlier in the year. If not Cyrus, my runner up for Record of the Year is "Worship" by Jon Batiste, which isn't even yet a released single from his album World Music Radio (2023). If anyone has seen Batiste's documentary American Symphony (2023), then one sees how he was able to beautifully bring together various musical styles into one Classical composition. He's obviously working on a higher level. He already won before, but I wouldn't mind him being honored again. Speaking of which, I have to give a special shout-out to Yussef Dayes, a biracial, English musician whose debut album Black Classical Music (2023) is one of the few Jazz albums to catch my ear.

Here is my list of the albums that might not have been top-sellers but have a special place in my heart:

Best Folk / Country

THE RETURNER by Allison Russell
HIGHER by Chris Stapleton

Best Rock / Alternative

ROACH by Miya Folick
ELECTROPHONIC CHRONIC by The Arcs
V by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Best Pop / Electronic

ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION by Miley Cyrus
BARBIE: THE ALBUM by Various Artists
DRUNK ON A FLIGHT by Eloise
THE SHOW by Niall Horan
HAPPY ENDING by Hifi Sean & David Almont
VOLCANO by Jungle
GOLDEN by Jung Kook
I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 1) by Teddy Swims
THE END by Cody Fry

Best R&B / Soul

WORLD MUSIC RADIO by Jon Batiste
PETALS TO THORNS by D4vid
HEAVY HEAVY by Young Fathers
ANGELS & QUEENS (DELUXE) by Gabriels
JAGUAR II by Victoria Monét
SILVER by Say She She
HALO by Bakar

Best Rap / Hip Hop

MAGIC 2 by Nas
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT? by Teezo Touchdown
SUNDIAL by Noname

Best Individual Track from Non-Listed Album

"Crying Laughing Loving Lying" by Labi Siffre (1972)
"Quiet Eyes" by Sharon Van Etten
"Only Have Eyes 42" / "A Dry Red" by Janelle Monae
"Loveher" by Romy Madley Croft
"Scapegoat" by Anohni & the Johnsons
"Delresto (Echoes)" by Travis Scott f/ Beyoncé
"Come Papi" by Keiynan Lonsdale
"That's Life (A Swamp)" by Genesis Owusu
"Water" by Tyla
"Lightning" by Jessie Ware
"Do You Like Me?" by Daniel Caesar
"Still" by Jamila Woods
"Backwards" by Jorja Smith
"November" by Mahalia f/ Stormzy
"I Drew A Line" by Madeline Kenney
"Way Over Yonder" by Rhiannon Giddens
"Must Be Love" by Laufey
"Through Me (The Flood)" by Hozier
"So Good Right Now" by Fall Out Boy
"Love's Death Bed" by Sunny War