The best rock, R&B, hip-hop and classical music of 2022

Plus, our critics’ favorite music of the year. [View this email online]( [NPR Music]( Dec. 10, 2022 by [Marissa Lorusso]( This week, we’re sharing our lists of the best releases in the worlds of classical, rock, R&B, hip-hop and more. [Upper left: Alvvays; Upper right: Nilüfer Yanya; Bottom left: Big Thief; Bottom right: Special Interest]( Courtesy of the artists Every December — but, to be honest, it starts well before December — the NPR Music team gets together to make podcasts, essays, lists and more reflecting on the year’s very best songs and albums. And this year, there was a lot of great music to keep up with. Sure, there were some easy consensus picks: hugely ambitious and successful albums; songs we kept on repeat all year. But there were also releases that sparked intense fandom in certain corners of our musical worlds, or exemplified the very best of a particular genre, or had a slow-burn success that we didn’t collectively see coming. So our year-end package about 2022’s best music — [which we began rolling out this week]( — aims to be similarly diverse and abundant: a “disco ball,” as our senior editor Jacob Ganz put it, “a reflection on the year that revels in cacophony rather than trying to boil things down into a single authoritative point of view.” A few crucial voices at the center of that cacophony belong to the critics on our team, who shared their lists of favorites this week. [Bob Boilen’s 20 favorite albums and 40 favorite songs]( include plenty of newcomers, plus some past favorites making better music than ever. [Nate Chinen, director of editorial content at WRTI]( included albums by Immanuel Wilkins and Cécile McLorin Salvant and songs by Beth Orton and Samora Pinderhughes on his list. And both critic and correspondent [Ann Powers]( and hip-hop and R&B editor [Sheldon Pearce]( found themselves reflecting on what an album even represents in the era of streaming and fragmented viral sounds; their lists include releases that nevertheless demanded attention, proposed big ideas and carved out space to ponder them. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Another thing Sheldon wrote in his reflection on his favorite albums struck me: “[Genre-bending is commonplace]( these days, he says, “but rare is music with a strong genre identity and a broad understanding of its relationship to other musical forms.” In our genre-based lists of the best music of the year — we’ve published lists that cover [rock]( [R&B]( [classical]( [hip-hop]( and [experimental music]( — we’ve highlighted a selection of those rare and impressive releases that retain a strong sense of identity even while challenging our preconceived notions of their respective styles. And if you want to share the records that are topping your personal best-of list, All Songs Considered wants to hear about it: You can vote for your favorite albums in [their year-end listener poll](. I’ll be back next week with more facets of our year-end musical disco ball: our list of the best songs and albums of the year, plus additional essays and countdowns of the year’s best music. Tiny Desk [Alex G performs a Tiny Desk concert]( NPR Last month, I got to do something I haven’t done in more than two years: produce a Tiny Desk concert at NPR’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The [featured performer was Alex G]( a Philly singer-songwriter whose music I’ve loved for years — and whose recent album, God Save The Animals, made a big impression on our team this year. Behind the desk, Alex G and his band performed a handful of songs from across his vast discography. Also this week: We shared a Tiny Desk from the impeccable [Belgian dance-pop superstar Stromae]( and a commanding performance from [Eliane Elias]( one of the most respected names in Latin jazz. One More Thing [The Boss on World Cafe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on [Spotify]( and [Apple Music]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [nprmusic@npr.org](mailto:nprmusic@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]