Today I’ll be doing something a little bit different: I’ll be listing my top five albums in my personal collection. These are albums that I feel are truly worthy of being in my top five, and have left an impact on my life in one way or another.

Starting off in the number five spot is Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” An album that is, in my opinion, the height of Kanye’s musical career. The experimentation, samples, and vocal performances on this project are like no other, and thus has left a huge mark on the hip-hop/rap genre today. MBDTF is an album that influenced me as an artist as well by sparking my love for experimental and unorthodox sounds. Number four is Nirvana’s live recorded album “Unplugged in New York.” This album means so much to me because I grew up listening to it in the car with my parents. Kurt Cobain has largely influenced my art, and I am truly grateful for the music he released in his lifetime.

At number three is “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” by Kendrick Lamar, an album that is actually in my top ten albums of all time. I fell in love with this album on my first listen. It has so much to offer in terms of sound and lyrical connotation, including love, loss, faith, and peer pressure. Number two is an album I’ve previously reviewed, “Currents” by Tame Impala. This album invokes so many emotions, and does so in a way I’ve never experienced with any other album. By expressing the perspective of both a person wronged, and “the wrong doer,” Kevin Parker delivers an album that is unlike any love song you’ve heard. You can check out my review of “currents” here.

Finally, at the number one spot, is “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar. I believe Kendrick Lamar is a modern day poet, and an artist that only comes around once during a blue moon. I could write pages on pages about “To Pimp a Butterfly,” but to save some time, I’ll put it this way: it is a masterpiece. The album takes everything Kendrick did right with “Good Kid, M.A.AD City,” while creating a uniqueness and freshness for itself. The album is dark and emotional; it’s a political and personal roller coaster wrapped in jazz and funk influenced instrumentals. Kendrick released a masterpiece with “To Pimp a Butterfly” that I’m sure people will still be talking about decades from now.