With less than a month left in the year, Rolling Stone has revealed its 50 best albums of 2021.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “instant-classic debut” Sour tops the list, followed by Adele’s first album in six years, 30. “She’s become a better singer in the years since 25,” the magazine writes.
Tyler, the Creator’s Grammy-nominated Call Me If You Get Lost earns a spot at No. 4, with RS calling it “Tyler’s most confident to date…as he finds himself maturing into his own talents.”
At No. 6 is Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero. “Lil Nas X spends Montero proving he can do it all — to the point where it’s easy to forget that it’s his first actual album,” says the magazine.
Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales continues to dominate critics’ best-of lists, placing at No. 7, while Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red ranks at No. 11.
Elsewhere in the top 20 are Polo G’s Hall of Fame (No. 14), Tems’ If Orange Was a Place (No. 17), Arlo Parks’ Collapsed in Sunbeams (No. 19), and Leon Bridges’ Gold-Diggers Sound (No. 20).
Other placements include Doja Cat’s Planet Her (No. 21), Dawn Richards’ Second Line (No. 22), Young Thug’s Punk (No. 29), Summer Walker’s Still Over It (No. 33), Silk Sonic’s An Evening With Silk Sonic (No. 35), and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (No. 48).
See the top 30 below and the full list here.
Rolling Stone’s Best Albums of 2021
1. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
2. Adele – 30
3. Rauw Alejandro – Vice Versa
4. Tyler, the Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost
5. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
6. Lil Nas X – Montero
7. Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales
8. Turnstile – Glow On
9. C. Tangana – El Madrileño
10. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
11. Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red
12. PinkPantheress – To Hell With It
13. Morgan Wade – Reckless
14. Polo G – Hall of Fame
15. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
16. Low – Hey What
17. Tems – If Orange Was a Place
18. Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
19. Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
20. Leon Bridges – Gold-Diggers Sound
21. Doja Cat – Planet Her
22. Dawn Richard – Second Line
23. Cimafunk – El Alimento
24. Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg
25. Carly Pearce – 29
26. Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
27. The Weather Station – Ignorance
28. Mabiland – Niñxs Rotxs
29. Young Thug – Punk
30. Mustafa – When Smoke Rises