If you’ve been following my blog at all, you could have probably guessed Kacey Musgraves’ "Golden Hour would be the #1 album of 2018. It is a flawless work of songwriting. Musgraves delicate dreamlike voice juxtaposes her lyrical vices, like smoking week and zoning out. Not coincidentally, it’s a total “zone out” of an album, one that flows perfectly from start to finish with stoner jams, funky beats, and her pristine tone. What an album.

Number two, perhaps surprisingly, is the late Mac Miller’s Swimming. I wrote about his death and created a Best Of in his memory, but needless to say, Swimming was his best work by far. It was the furtherst he’s pushed himself musically, as can be seen with songwriting credits to Thundercats, Pharrell, John Mayer, and many more. Ultimately, it’s a very sad album. Miller dives in and out of a lifeboat floating in a rocky ocean, tempting fate to stay alive. He knows he’s playing with the devil and all his drugs, and he really sounds like he doesn’t know which way it’s going to end. It all ended terribly for him, way too soon, too young a talent for Miller to create greatness and have people separate his real gifts from his class clown persona. I’ll miss him a ton.