Press Shuffle

On January 17th, over two years since her last project was released, Halsey’s Manic came out. The album did well, and was generally liked by critics. The most popular song of the album was “Without Me,” which peaked on number one on Billboard. The album had a autobiographical theme, with lyrics like “Still learning,” “I should be living the dream/But I go home and I got no self-esteem.” The record sold 239,000 copies in the first week, landing on #2 Billboard. Featured artists include Dominic Fike, Alanis Morissette, and Suga of BTS.

The only reason Manic wasn’t sitting at the number one spot was because Eminem’s 11th album Music To Be Murdered By was released the same day, January 17th. The album sold a solid 275,000 copies during its first week to secure the number one spot on Billboard. This may seem impressive, but this album isn’t one of his bestselling records. Within the 20 song tracklist there are some features, and the most notable are Ed Sheeran and the late Juice WRLD. The most popular song from Music To Be Murdered By was “Godzilla” featuring Juice WRLD, which peaked at #5 on Billboard.

Justin Bieber is well known at this point in his career, and his fifth album Changes is a crossroad album for Bieber. Changes came five years after his last project, Purpose, in 2015. The album was released on Valentine’s Day, and the entire album seems to be dedicated to his wife. It wasn’t critically acclaimed, with Rolling Stone reviewing it as, “None of these songs are bad, exactly, but they’re almost universally forgettable.” The record has a sizable amount of features, including Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Travis Scott, Summer Walker, and Kehlani. The most popular track was “Intentions” featuring Quavo, which peaked at #5 on Billboard. The album sold 231,000 copies during its first week, making its debut at number one on Billboard.

Finally, was the word fans said as Lil Uzi Vert’s long awaited album Eternal Atake came out on March 6th. It had been two and a half years since his last album came out titled Luv is Rage 2, and since then he’s left fans eagerly waiting for Eternal Atake. Jesse Ballmer, a freshman here at Central, is a big Lil Uzi Vert fan. “I really liked Eternal Atake, especially in the middle.” Ballmer says. When asked if the album was worth the two and a half year wait, he responded. “I really enjoyed it when it came out. Luv is Rage 2 is good too, but Eternal Atake was definitely his best album.” Urgency with Syd was the album’s sole feature. “ It should’ve had at least a few features,” Jesse said. There were a lot of memorable tracks on this record, but Jesse’s favorites from the album were “Chrome Heart Tags” and “Celebration Station.” No album is perfect, and for Jesse, there weren’t consistently good songs on the record. “I didn’t really see any flaws, but I didn’t like some of the beginning songs.”

During mid-July, there were two posthumous albums sitting on the top two Billboard spots, and one of them, Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon was released on July 3rd. The late Pop Smoke’s career was just getting started when he was shot and killed in a home invasion on February 19th. His unfinished album was completed by his management team, and in my opinion it solidifies his legacy. The record sold 251,000 copies first week, landing on #2 on Billboard. There were more songs with features than without on this album, and they include Quavo, Lil Baby, Dababy, Swae Lee, Future, Rowdy Rebel, 50 Cent, Roddy Ricch, Tyga, KAROL G, Lil Tjay, and King Combs. The most popular song from the album was “For the Night,” which peaked at #6 on Billboard.

The other posthumous album that came out in July was Juice Wrld’s Legends Never Die, on July 10th. Juice Wrld’s career was in its early stages when he tragically died of a seizure on December 8th. The posthumous record sold 497,000 copies first week, making it the biggest rap debut of the year. The songs on the record were only songs that Juice wanted to release before he died, and features include Mashmello, Halsey, Polo G, and Trippie Redd. The album debuted at number one on Billboard, and stayed there for a few weeks. The most popular songs from the record were “Come and Go” with Marshmellow, and “Wishing Well.”

No one was expecting a Taylor Swift album when Folklore was unexpectedly released on July 24th. The album came 11 months after the release of her latest project Lover, and Taylor gave no hint whatsoever that there was an album coming. Folklore wasn’t as pop as her last few albums. The genre was alternative, and the most popular track off the album was “Cardigan,” which peaked at number one on Billboard. The album’s only feature was Bon Iver. The record sold over one million copies worldwide first week, and it spent seven weeks at the number one spot on Billboard.

by COLLIN BENEDICT staff writer

This year in music, we got albums anywhere from long awaited projects, albums from beloved pop artists, surprise albums, and emotional posthumous albums. We have seen a rise in the rap genre of music, with rap albums topping the charts in 2020. In this article, we dive into the most notable albums of 2020 and how they performed.