Fetty Wap

Fetty Wap: "Trap Queen" (via SoundCloud)

It's no surprise that my favorite music this year is none other than my song, "Trap Queen". It's because of this ONE song that my life has changed for the better. The support I received was unexpected and has been a blessing more than I could have imagined. I've been able to provide for my kids and family because of this song. Being able to travel the country with my boys—most never even left our hometown of Paterson or flew on a plane—it's a good feeling coming from where we come from. I don't take for granted the accomplishments I achieved this year and I appreciate them all. From performing with Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, to touring with Chris Brown, meeting so many dope people, signing with Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz, and Kevin Liles. I can say I've had a pretty good year because of this song.

Empress Of

I think my favorite song that came out this year (and damn there was a lot of good ones!!) is "Jealous" by Kehlani. Many of the reasons why I love this song come from the experiences I've had while listening to it. I've heard this song all over the world on tour and with all sorts of people. Sometimes I ONLY listen to this song all day. The first time I heard "Jealous" I was on a date and the guy played it for me (I now neverrrrr talk to this guy and maybe even don't like him A LOT now lol). Every time I heard "Jealous", it reminded me of him, but then I realized that there's this confidence in the song and lyrics that are above all that bullshit and I couldn't stop listening to it. I still can't. I really love the way the minimal production helps emphasize the silky vocals and her sick lyrics about not giving a fuck. Whether drunk at 4 a.m. contemplating everything with friends in a hotel room in Miami, or on a bus driving through the Swiss Alps on tour, this song has been the soundtrack to my year and a huge motivator in my life.

Speedy Ortiz's Sadie Dupuis

For the first time in my life, it's starting to feel like rock music is a girls' club. And it's refreshing! Alongside the brilliant #ShoutYourAbortion campaign, 2015 has me most impressed with the femmes who are shouting out their everything. Case in point: the expansive, idiosyncratic growls of talented singers like Katie Monks, Victoria Ruiz, Sadie Switchblade, or Alicia Bognanno (of Dilly Dally, Downtown Boys, G.L.O.S.S., and Bully, respectively). Screaming over heavy guitars has for so long signified a male-oriented narrative. It's exciting and radical to hear that sound reclaimed by so many artists this year to tell stories in which women and non-binary people are the protagonists—thereby normalizing our status as songwriters in this genre. Fantastic records by Chastity Belt, Childbirth, and Aye Nako do similar work lyrically, with songs that radically expand and explode what's been deemed a "normal," Guyvillean rock narrative. Cool sluts don't give a fuck what you call them. Fertility preoccupation becomes a comical pissing contest. And those who disbelieve women's allegations of abuse? They're dismissed with a knowing eyeroll—as they should be, cuz those dudes' shouts are sooo 2014.

Martin Courtney

My favorite song off of my favorite record from this year: "A Blade of Grass" from Explains by Little Wings. I listened to Explains more than anything else that came out this year. I believe this was the first Little Wings album to be recorded live with a band, as opposed to piece by piece, with Kyle playing everything. The funny thing is that is doesn't sound that much different from previous records, he put together the perfect band to capture his sound. It just sounds like a bunch of Kyle Fieldses playing together in a room. Seeing them live at this year's Woodsist fest only strengthened that notion for me, as the band performed incredibly smooth and powerful renditions of songs from this record and others, all clad in matching teal T-shirts and white linen pants. My favorite set at my favorite show of the year.

Lower Dens' Jana Hunter

JPEGMAFIA X :3LON: "0 Missed Calls" (via SoundCloud)

Been going to Kahlon, a party thrown regularly by Abdu Ali and Lawrence Burney, when I'm at home in Baltimore. A few months back, I saw Elon perform there and was mesmerized. He's a very gifted and charismatic performer, has a kind of zen alien thing going on. JPEGMAFIA is largely still an enticing mystery for me but super prolific, lot of space and personality in what he makes. Was Elon's twitter I think where this song first popped into my view. The little message on Soundcloud, "HOOCHIE MUSIK THAT WILL HURT YA BUTT", confirmed that an immediate listen was imperative. Bit of a hippie rave thing to this song, some R&B, psych, and honestly I'm not good at pegging dance genres but this is beautiful and reminds us towards the end that if we haven't come to party, we should get the fuck out the club.

Prurient

Daniel Lopatin has taken all the potentialities of pop electronic production and applied them to his background in underground composition and theory. While mixing a healthy and even rude sense of youthful melancholy placed onto a bouquet of techncial genius with a sincere nod to Warp’s legacy that is often attempted but rarely achieved.

Garden of Delete is a real piece of what "could be" with what "is" that shows creative courage on a scale not seen since the '90s. Like the best art, Garden of Delete is emotionally uncategorizable.

Little Simz

This is a tough one as 2015 had a lot of great musical moments, but for me it would have to be Thundercat's concert at KOKO in London on November 26th. The concert was supposed to be a joint one with the very dope The Internet, but unfortunately due to the tragic events in Paris they had to cancel their appearance. So Thundercat invited me to join him as his special guest, which was an absolute honour as he is one of my favorite musicians. After my performance I got to witness him and his band deliver one of the most magical performances I have ever witnessed, no exaggeration. He took the crowd on a musical journey and even invited me back on stage to drop some verses on a live version of Kendrick Lamar's "Complexion (Zulu Love)". Definitely one of my favorite musical memories of the year.

Ty Dolla $ign

My favorite thing in music in 2015 would be Kendrick Lamar’s album because when I heard the musicality of it he was really stepping it up. I could tell he didn’t give a fuck about what anyone else was doing or thinking. He didn’t care about going platinum or what the record label wanted, he was just trying to make the best music possible and it shit on everyone else. It let me know I wasn’t too far off from where I was going with my album.

Vince Staples

It was a crazy year. The thing that caught my attention most was the saga that is Young Thug. He has followed the path of a traditional rock star more than he has followed the path of a rapper, and it’s interesting to see people react to the things he says and does outside of his music. Everybody in the hip-hop community is so upset at him for being who he is and dressing like he does, but for the kind of music he makes, he is one of the best. Also: The Young Thug/Lil Wayne beef was hilarious. I don’t take sides in things that have nothing to do with me, but as an onlooker—from the Instagram posts on down—it was very entertaining. Thug is definitely refreshing because you can’t get the type of music that he makes from anyone but him. Music is a full package now, and he’s someone who embodies what a full package should be.

Maxmillion Dunbar

Ge-ology: "Escape on the Lodge Freeway" [ft. Mark De Clive-Lowe] (via SoundCloud)

I love, love, love, love this song! It's about time we as a human race had another hi tek jazz classic to bounce to! And the dude Ge-ology made a serious one, a song that takes us all the way up. Real skyscraper shit, with a Red Planet or two in the GPS. Bonus points for the grandiose, "Oh shit where’s The One?" intro, complete with that actual jazz that’s missing from so many cuts these days. Ge-o knows that it’s about Herbie Flow instead of Looped Rhodes any day of the week (or century), much like his label's boss. Techno would like you to think that every cut in the genre can conjure visions of landcruising thru the metroplex, but really, there's only a couple handfuls of these truly evocative gems in existence, so it's a beautiful thing to get a new one.

Adrian Sherwood

One of my highlights of this year was working on the current Roots Manuva album, Bleeds. I'd worked with Rodney [Smith] some years ago when he guested for us on a Lee Perry track, but this was something else. I've always liked his records but working closely I got to realize just how good a vocalist and songwriter he is and I think here he has delivered a really complete album. I've always counted myself a lucky person to have worked with so many great vocalists over the years and this fellow is just that.

Holly Herndon

Unsound Krakow was definitely one of my highlights of the year. I played with my new band (Mat Dryhurst and Colin Self) and thought that the overall curation was impeccable: Jlin and her choreographic collaborator Avril Unger, Rabit, Matana Roberts, ANGEL-HO, Visionist, Nkisi, Greg Fox, Brutaż Crew, Amnesia Scanner, Lotic, Helm, Fis, Aurora Halal, Nidia Minaj, Elysia Crampton. The mix of sounds and styles created one of the best vibes I’ve ever experienced at a festival. It felt like a community, it felt positive and diverse, people were smiling, alert and dancing, and it sounded alien and incredible. It feels like a transformation is happening.

Moses Sumney

Okay Kaya's precocious songs first hit me in the middle of a fruitless Spring, and thereafter remained my favorite new discovery of 2015. I'm struck by her stark honesty. In "Damn, Gravity", she is straightforward about her desire to keep a mysterious "him" in her orbit; in "I'm Stupid (But I Love You)", for which she crafted her own sign language, she seems shameless. And in her cover of the Impressions' "Keep On Pushing", which she quietly released on a lo-fi mixtape last year, she turns a civil rights anthem into an introspective, melancholic plea.

She reminds me that songwriting needn't be overwrought or packed with avant-garde ideas. Sometimes, it just is. With a presence both calming and jarring, she's at times reminiscent of a stripped-down Nico—you know, if Nico was a good singer.

Kamasi Washington

My favorite musical experience this year was Thundercat’s concert at The Regent Theater on October 11th. Ironically it was cool for me because I wasn’t playing. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing music especially with my friends—Ronald and Stephen Bruner are my oldest friends in the world! The thing is, I love their music, but I rarely get to just sit and listen to them play. Usually either we’re on the gig together or I’m out of town. If my memory serves me right, this was the first time I’ve seen a Thundercat show with Ronald on drums that I wasn’t performing on. It was beautiful! They have such an amazing connection it was like something that came from God! I was so happy to be able to be there and enjoy my friend’s music as a fan!

Mykki Blanco

"C-ORE" was a compilation project that combined three musicians I really believe in: Yves Tumor, PsychoEgyptian, and Violence. These multidisciplinary artists came together to deliver a cohesive album that could be the soundtrack to our collective friendship. A group of friends who have created a release that represents a slice of what we’re into, our culture and what we want to show the world. To disrupt this singular image of "African American Music". C-ORE, the project was a living, breathing, moving, experience and it spreadin’ wildly in all directions. Incorporating rap, punk, noise, industrial, grime, and many other elements, the compilation evoked a cathartic reaction from the listener, illuminating the diverse influences, imaginations, and hunger that drive the artists.

Waxahatchee

The Goodbye Party: "Heavenly Blues" (Buy on Bandcamp)

The Goodbye Party is the project of Michael Cantor who used to be in a band called the Ambulars. I was really into the Ambulars and was super excited to hear this solo record he'd been working on. It turned out to be a favorite that was in heavy rotation all year. He recorded it all himself and it's just so lush and melodic. At moments it feels symphonic and then quickly so minimal and quiet, which is always captivating to me when done delicately. I think the coolest thing about the album is that it would be hard to pin down when it was made if you didn't know. You can hear Big Star as a heavy influence but it still sort of feels modern. I think that's a big goal of mine when making music: To make music that ages well but doesn't completely sound like it was made in the past. I really think this record achieves that.

Nao

Loxe is someone who has been a quiet voice as a producer behind both my EPs. He came out of the shadows this year and dropped his own music. I've never heard anything like it; musically he is pushing sonic boundaries that are otherworldly. Sitting in the same world as Burial, SBTRKT, and Arca, this EP has a touch of everything, giving a nod to garage and minimal house whilst projecting soulful melodies with an understated and unique vocal. It's early days for Loxe yet, but I think one to watch.

Destroyer's Dan Bejar

New Frog Eyes.