The Genius Community’s 50 Best Albums of 2023

We’re told from the jump on RAYE’s My 21st Century Blues that it’ll be a cinematic ride: Strap in and get comfortable, because the curtain is about to lift. One of the hottest pop/R&B songwriters in recent years, RAYE has a proven ability to drive a narrative train—“My pen’s a gun,” she declares early on—so it’s no surprise that she makes this debut album into a sleek vehicle to depict her path towards freedom on personal, romantic, and artistic grounds. The heart of the story is about a woman contending for control in the face of abuse—of drugs, of industry power, of the body, of the societal fabric—rearing its many vicious heads. Speeding through R&B, dancehall, house, blues, indie electronica, and soul, RAYE pilots a record that’s emblematic of modern times while maintaining a timeless finish.
—Max Zhang

Originally announced five years ago, Travis Scott’s highly anticipated UTOPIA was well worth the wait. As one would expect from a Travis Scott album, UTOPIA is packed with standout features: Seventeen artists make appearances, including household names like Drake and Young Thug, as well as newcomers Teezo Touchdown and Rob49.

Inspired by psychedelia and Kanye West’s 2013 classic Yeezus, the production throughout UTOPIA is progressive, even by Travis’ standards. Standout tracks like “MODERN JAM,” “MY EYES,” and “TELEKINESIS” find Travis taking a more personal approach in his lyrics.
—777TT

A census-designated place is boundaryless yet defined, known yet unknown. Such duality pervades ​Jane Remover’s second album, a complete reversal on her Dariacore legacy that is simultaneously stripped back and blasting full throttle into the rock continuum. The soul-baring loneliness of endless landscapes reigns supreme in shoegaze walls of noise and gauzy psychedelic maelstroms, where Jane amplifies internal strife to thrashing peaks. Opening a cathartic gash through which overpowering guitar textures spill out, she details the conflicting rush of parasitic love, plays with ideas of control and emotional contortion, and holds interpersonal tension taut in the strings. These themes coalesce on the penultimate slowburn “Video”: a purgation of diaristic emotion wrought through sly fictional narrative, hurtling towards a towering pylon of heartwrenching ferocity at the album’s close. It’s a daring display of Jane’s songwriting chops, skirting all previous definitions of her music to leave us utterly enthralled.
—Rhett Logan

The follow up to 100 gecs’ hectic and captivating 2019 debut, 1,000 gecs, had been hotly anticipated since the moment fans finished their first listen and were ushered under the Tree of Clues. From the jump, 10,000 gecs invites more absurdity and massive sounds. In “Dumbest Girl Alive,” the infamous THX theater sound leads into shotgun fire, and the stage is set. Laura and Dylan tackle pop-punk, electronic, metal, polka, and even start a ska ballad on “I Got My Tooth Removed.” There is a silly and wonderful absurdist humor that connects all the dots and plays off the clipping hyper-pop production that fans came to love from their freshman album. For those looking for evolution, there are also new and raw elements that pervade. The iconic Auto-Tune–lathered verses on 1,000 gecs are still present, but Laura and Dylan’s vocal parts often have little to no modulation and pair nicely with the heavy electric guitars which appear on the majority of tracks. 10,000 gecs undoubtedly contains an order of magnitude more gecs, and at this point we can only hope we all make it to 1,000,000,000 gecs.
—wizard

Heaven knows allowed PinkPantheress to continue showing her preeminence in the world of Gen Z musicians. Simply put, no one on planet Earth can match the vibe of Victoria Beverley Walker. On her debut album, each song is succinct, lush, and utterly addictive; whether the production or the album’s title itself (Heaven knows vs. her mixtape, To Hell With It), every part of the record shows her intentional artistic development—and is fun to listen to. The smooth synths of Mura Masa, who co-produced every song on the album, blend perfectly with the genre- and emotion-bending vision of PinkPantheress—who, as has been the case for her entire career, also co-produced every song on the album. From the layers of bouncy flutes on “Blue” to the outright samples of her own song on “Mosquito,” PinkPantheress puts her low-key style of dominance on full display, creating an experience that is as diverse as it is relatable—and a blast all the way through.
—Babu Chatterjee

Something To Give Each Other presents Troye’s most honest version of himself in 10 glossy pop tracks with samples that range from the electrified “Shooting Stars” to the disheartened “Back, Baby.”

The synth-pop-infected opening track, “Rush,” instantly becomes a summer anthem full of subtextual sexual references, while the ferocious “One of Your Girls” finds Sivan searching for such an unattainable straight boy. Sivan also nods to his emotional roots on “Can’t Go Back, Baby,” where he comes to the conclusion that he can’t bring back the past, and not long after, on “Got Me Started,” he reignites the fire on the dance floor. Influenced by jazz, “How To Stay With You” has Troye looking forward to what’s to come while enjoying what he currently has.

With this record, Sivan maximizes his expression of humanity and unleashes his true self, like he’s pouring his soul into a confessional diary. He wasn’t lying when he said he had something to give each other.
—thousandeyes

Much has been written about Mitski and her sense of remove. Facing an age where fan access to the musician is considered near-paramount to palatability, Mitski has been a notable voice in, well, making privacy normal again. It’s a remarkable effort, given how Mitski is known for exposing the bluest shades of loneliness, her songs thick with her own blood. With maintaining distance as its starting point, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is a gently undressed, humble piece; even its grandest symphonies (“The Deal” and “Star,” orchestras blooming) are comparatively reserved against a canon that contains a lot of screaming into floorboards. This quietness pays off: The lullabies soar almost like prayers (“The Frost,” “I’m Your Man”), and the odes feel especially timeless (“Heaven”). Even the record’s most “accessible” track, the TikTok megahit “My Love Mine All Mine,” never betrays its title. Here’s a Mitski wrapped in herself, and we’re gifted a musical landscape that never doubts its own interiority. We’re all guests in this land.
—Max Zhang

Selling out MSG, headlining Coachella, cosplaying Nirvana on the cover of Rolling Stone and then The Beatles (and also Troye Sivan x3) on the SNL stage—for boygenius, 2023 was nothing short of a well-deserved imperial moment.

But for all the fireworks that followed it, the band’s debut album, the record, is a monument to the rewards of smaller moments. The promise of boygenius has always come from the strength of its individuals. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus are all masterful artists on their own. But the record surpassed that promise, tremendous as it is, because of, well, friendship—the deep, messy, drive an hour in the wrong direction just to listen to a song kind. the record is a testament that in music, as in life, we are more than the sum of our individual selves when we don’t hide them from each other. On “True Blue,” Dacus declares, “It feels good to be known so well.” On the record, it’s clear to see why.
—Chris Ritter

Following a nearly six-year hiatus, Paramore returned in February with the grungy This Is Why. The record is a collage of psychedelic instrumentation, hard-hitting riffs, and witty lyricism. “Running Out of Time,” which details the life of an often late and forgetful soul, prefaces its chorus with vocalist Hayley Williams screaming, while “You First” simultaneously calls out the general public’s flaws and karma’s endless vendetta. The album spans only 10 tracks but delivers something for everybody, especially long-time Paramore fans. This Is Why was followed up eight months later with Re: This Is Why, which contains reimaginings of every song by different artists, as well as a brand-new demo.
—pl4yg1rl

Over the past year, Opium signee Ken Carson has steadily risen from “underground” status, and the release of his third full-length studio album, A Great Chaos has played a substantial role. The Playboi Carti protégé and Atlanta native offers entrancingly repetitive choruses and a plethora of references to high fashion, relentlessly living up to the overwhelming energy in the production courtesy of rage aficionados like F1LTHY, Gab3, and Lukrative. However, the production takes a spin from Carson’s previous releases: A Great Chaos features more diverse sonic choices that channel everything we’ve come to love about Atlanta rap over the past two decades.

Carson applies pressure, especially on stand-out tracks such as “Jennifer’s Body,” “Like This,” and “i need you.” While Carson is already a staple within the Opium metaverse, his continued progression and innovation is helping him build his own cult-like fanbase. It’s a great chaos, indeed.
—777TT

After her previous album, Pang, put her on the alt community’s pedestal, Caroline Polachek returned with a follow-up that demonstrated she could effectively blend her signature ambiguity with mainstream-like pop tunes. In under 45 minutes, she transports us to lush rainforests, the deepest corners of caves, warm nights in Barcelona, and more through beats laced with ambient sound. The record descends into an endless spiral that never stops and leads to a location where pure, unfiltered flow of consciousness is the only thing that can be guaranteed. It grounds listeners and embodies the desire that its name implies. Desire for escaping solitude, for recklessness and distraction, for youth and opulence. It pushes the feeling of desire for endlessness—of what it feels like to desire and be desired, as if that feeling is the ultimate force that drives everything around us.
—Dusan

How can one define a great American songwriter? As with much of the mythos of the United States, there’s no widespread consensus on what would qualify an artist for this title. One can surmise, however, that great American songs are about hope and perseverance through hard times, and most importantly, they must be catchy. While being an American icon with varying degrees of irony has been part of Lana Del Rey’s career since its inception, the sheer drama and beauty of Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd cements Lana firmly within this “great American songwriter” canon. Her lyrics consistently but subtly create a moody atmosphere of reluctant perseverance, and in this album, these lyrics are entirely synonymous with America. From fleeing the Southeast to California, but not abandoning her feelings of emptiness, to intertwining her family’s history and memory with a John Denver song, to perhaps her magnum opus song about soda (seriously, how can pairing carbonation and objectification not be American), every song is casually devastating in ways reminiscent of a Great American Songwriter. For Lana, this title may be more than symbolic—renewed attention brought to the namesake tunnel under Ocean Blvd has actually led to the structure being renovated into a speakeasy as part of a Hard Rock Hotel. In this way, the simultaneous cycle of American art and capital strikes again, but Del Rey has made her mark on it.
—Babu Chatterjee

Let’s Start Here. Ironically, the album is a perfect way to end 2023. The project sees the Mableton, Georgia, native Lil Yachty completely reinvent his sound from hyped-up teenager to what people may see now as a musical genius. The album incorporates several genres while focusing on a rock and psychedelic sound that flourishes throughout the project. The introductory track, “​the BLACK seminole.,” sets listeners up for an amazing experience, as you’re instantly hit with a psychedelic beat quickly followed up with drums and Yachty’s vocals, mastered by the heavy use of Auto-Tune. The theme continues throughout the album, as Yachty recruits up-and-coming alternative R&B artists such as Fousheé and Teezo Touchdown.

It’s safe to say that Let’s Start Here. is the perfect way to restart and re-establish one’s career. With its flawless production and execution, the album is undoubtedly one of the best genre shifts an artist could have produced. Moving from rap to rock is a challenge, but Yachty has passed with flying colors.
—777TT

Olivia Rodrigo’s boldly rocking sophomore album, GUTS, is undeniably one of the year’s best, captivating listeners with its sincerity and authenticity. Rodrigo fearlessly bares her soul: She not only delivers catchy melodies, but she also explores profound themes such as the complexities of love, personal growth, and the challenges of contemporary youth. Her incisive, poignant lyrics resonate with an entire generation, evoking universal emotions with captivating candor.

Rodrigo’s vocal prowess shines throughout the album, as she delivers powerful performances that strike a chord. Deftly shifting between pop-rock (“all-american bitch,” “vampire,” and “get him back!”) and emotional balladry (“logical,” “the grudge,” and “teenage dream”), the album is a testament to Rodrigo’s versatile talent. GUTS is much more than just a collection of songs; it is the authentic reflection of an emerging artist who captures the essence of her times with remarkable artistic maturity.
—Layla

When a highly anticipated album lives up to its expectations, it’s a win for music fans everywhere. In the case of alt-hip-hop superstars JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown, fans eagerly anticipated listening to the collaboration for nearly a year after it was initially teased. The end result? Pure electricity.

On SCARING THE HOES, Peggy and Danny’s humor and rhythms play off each other with improbable cohesion, while Peggy’s signature production pushes hip-hop to the outer limits. The album’s title track features a wildly intense Dirty Beaches saxophone sample, squealing under a Parisian bridge, while “Kingdom Hearts Keys” is built upon an angelic anime theme song. “Burfict!” and its anthemic nature paints the vibe of the album fairly well. Containing a little too much information in the exaggerated and goofy descriptions of the two rappers’ sex lives, it stands as a testament of the levity and humor that both artists embody, even while standing tall at the top of their craft.
—wizard