Chance the Rapper Archives

To finish out the year, we'll be offering the top 25 albums from various SPIN staffers. Today, Senior Writer Chris Martins. When I first heard Yeezus, it wiped the slate clean. For a period of time that seems like months but was probably really only a few days, Kanye West's brash and surging evil opus was the only album that existed for me. In truth, six months later, it's still most of what I talk about (music or other), but I'll be damned if I didn't hear a ton of new sounds I adored in 2013. Chance the Rapper was nothing short of a revelation — same with Laura Marling, who I only dug into for the first time this year. I own everything Bill Callahan's ever released, so that felt like a warm homecoming. And Boards of Canada occupy an equal echelon in my personal collection, so their unexpected return was ... well, "warm" isn't the right word, but they had me at "------ / ------ / ------ / XXXXXX / ------ / ------." Also, true story: I've found myself decoding Vampire Weekend lyrics in my dreams of late. Okay, clearly I could just keep doing this until there are no records left to talk about, but that'd defeat the purpose of providing a list. Thanks, music. Good job this year. 1. Kanye West, Yeezus2. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City3. Bill Callahan, Dream River4. Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap5. Laura Marling, Once I Was an Eagle6. Boards of Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest7. Kurt Vile, Wakin on a Pretty Daze8. Toro Y Moi, Anything in Return9. Queens of the Stone Age, ...Like Clockwork10. Luke Temple, Good Mood Fool11. Daughn Gibson, Me Moan12. Volcano Choir, Repave13. Colin Stetson, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light14. 2 Chainz, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time15. Rhye, Woman16. Forest Swords, Engravings17. Mikal Cronin, MCII18. Youth Lagoon, Wondrous Bughouse19. Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience20. King Krule, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon21. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, We the Common22. Jim James, Regions of Light and Sound of God23. Phoenix, Bankrupt!24. Major Lazer, Free the Universe25. Oneohtrix Point Never, R Plus Seven