Kendrick Lamar, Azealia Banks, & Frank Ocean Make TIME's Top Albums of 2012
It’s that time of the year again when critics start sharing their favorites from the past 12 months. TIME has compiled a list of their top 10 everything including albums and songs.
Kendrick Lamar’s debut good kid, m.A.A.d city comes in at No. 2, with the magazine proclaiming the 25-year-old as “the most promising artist in hip-hop,” while Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE and Azealia Banks’ 1991 EP also make the cut.
The top songs chart is more surprising. Nicki Minaj’s “Roman in Moscow” didn’t make her album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, but it did receive recognition from critics. “This gloriously deranged throwaway encapsulates what’s great about the rapper,” writes TIME.
However, it was Usher who took it to the “Climax” as TIME‘s top song of 2012.
See the full lists below and weigh in with your thoughts.
Top 10 Albums of 2012
1. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel…
2. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
3. Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE
4. Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan
5. Getatchew Mekuria & the Ex & Friends, Y’Anbessaw Tezeta
6. Swans, The Seer
7. Various Artists, Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967–74
8. The Mountain Goats, Transcendental Youth
9. Azealia Banks, 1991 EP
10. Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music
Top 10 Songs of 2012
1. Usher, “Climax”
2. PSY, “Gangnam Style”
3. Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
4. Taylor Swift, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
5. Parquet Courts, “Master of My Craft”
6. Skrillex, “Bangarang”
7. Nicki Minaj, “Roman in Moscow”
8. Pussy Riot, “Putin Lights Up the Fires”
9. The Belle Brigade, “No Time to Think”
10. Can, “Graublau”