Ten Albums of 2016 That Made Life Sweeter

Blessed we are for the music albums of 2016 that made this life feel a whole lot sweeter. Thankful are we to the artists who created those albums. Some, like Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmastered, came quickly after his last and were released unexpectedly. Other albums like De La Soul’s and the Anonymous Nobody, and The Diary Of from dearly-departed legend J Dilla, were an insanely-long time in coming.

Below are sample tracks from ten albums of 2016 that likely brought happiness to lovers of jazz, hip hop, R&B and reggae music. All can be found in hard copy and added to your Forever-After Music Collection if you haven’t already done so- including in their most supreme format, on sweet sweet vinyl.

1. Anderson .Paak- Malibu

Anderson Paak - Malibu

“Heart Don’t Stand A Chance”

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2. BADBADNOTGOOD- IV

Badbadnotgood - IV (2016)

“And That, Too”

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Hear more tracks from IV and watch video footage of  BADBADNOTGOOD performing live here

3. De La Soul- and the Anonymous Nobody

De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody

“Drawn” featuring Little Dragon

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Find more tracks from and the Anonymous Nobody here.

4. J Dilla- The Diary Of

J Dilla - The Diary Of

“The Ex” featuring Bilal

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5. Kaytranada- 99.9%

Kaytranada - 99.9%

“Breakdance Lesson N.1”

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6. Kendrick Lamar- untitled unmastered

Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered

“untitled 08 09.06.2014”

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Check out live concert footage of Kendrick Lamar performing at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016 here.

7. Michael Kiwanuka- Love And Hate

Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate

“Cold Little Heart”

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Find more tracks from Love & Hate here.

8. Miles Davis and Robert Glasper- Everything’s Beautiful

Miles Davis and Robert Glasper - Everything's Beautiful

“Right On Brotha”  featuring Stevie Wonder

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Find more tracks from Everything’s Beautiful here.

9. NxWorries- Yes Lawd!

NX Worries - Yes Lawd!

“Khadijah”

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10. Stephen “Ragga” MarleyRevelation Pt. II: The Fruit Of Life

Stephen Marley - Revelation Pt. 2 - The Fruit of Life

“Scars On My Feet” featuring Waka Flocka

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Find more tracks from Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit Of Life here.

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Blessed will we continue to be in 2017 for the existence of those ten albums in our music collections – as well as all new musical delights coming our way this year. Thanks to all artists worldwide who create, record and play music for us live. Life could be unbearable without them, and hopefully we never have to find out.

Kendrick Lamar live concert 2016

Kendrick Lamar live at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016

Miles Davis And Robert Glasper – Everything’s Beautiful

You’d be forgiven for thinking a Miles Davis and Robert Glasper album would include a whole lot of horn and piano playing by those two artists. But, with Everything’s Beautiful, you’d be wrong. And you’re all the better for it.

Miles Davis and Robert Glasper - Everything's Beautiful

Everything’s Beautiful (2016)

Showcasing their skills on trumpet and piano wasn’t the task Robert Glasper gave himself as producer. Nor was it his vision to honour the broad-ranging creative genius of Miles Davis by only creating straight remixes of beloved Miles Davis songs or limiting that genius to his trumpet chops. Because Miles Davis was so much more than an incredible trumpet player (just like Robert Glasper is so much more than a beautiful piano player).

He was consistently an innovator; an experimentalist; a band leader who inspired, pushed and brought out the best in his musical collaborators via both blunt and subtle directions; an artist who was open to everything and revelled in the freedom of creating new sounds beyond expectation boxes and reflective of the particular time in which they were made.

It’s in that spirit that Everything’s Beautiful, through it’s sparse sampling of Miles on trumpet, Miles clapping and Miles’ talking to musicians in recording sessions (the most special of the album’s insights into his artistry), brilliantly reflects the many sides of his creative genius via the subtle.

It’s also in that spirit that Robert Glasper called upon some of today’s most talented innovators in the soul, jazz and hip hop spheres. That he gave them the freedom to take the inspirational sounds of Miles to create new musical magic representing the world in 2016 – according to and expressed by them individually as artists. Just as Miles would have wanted it.

Those feature artists include Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, BilalGeorgia Anne Muldrow, Hiatus Kaiyote, Phonte, Laura Mvula, Derrick Hodge, Illa JLedisi, 9th Wonder and KING plus many other musicians and producers to discover by getting your hands on the physical album.

Erykah Badu live at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014

Erykah Badu

The combined creativity of those artists, and the end result facilitated by Robert Glasper, is a super-dreamy sonic landscape of the feel-right kind.

Amongst its many sonic pleasures is taking an ethereal underwater journey with Hiatus Kaiyote on their reinterpretation of Miles’ 1970 recording of “Little Church”. Another is hearing the heavenly voice of Bilal singing a much-needed message of hope beyond racial oppression and poverty in “Ghetto Walkin” . So too is Laura Mvula’s hypnotic vocal command to “listen in a silent way”. Then there’s those sublime moments after Erykah Badu’s bossa nova morphs into a lullaby of distinctively-Erykah “oo-ee-oo”s in “Maiysha (So Long)”. Or, taking a break from the dreamy for a funkier and fierier vibe with Ledisi’s and Miles Davis’s voices on “I’m Leaving You”. And last but not least of the album’s pleasures is hearing the instantly-recognisable sounds of Stevie Wonder on harmonica in the album’s closing track “Right On Brotha”.

Here you have a teeny, mp3-compressed taste of Everything’s Beautiful’s other sonic delights. In “Talking Shit” you’ll hear Miles embracing new technologies of the time (as always) and encouraging Joe Chambers to do the same. Also describing the sound of hip hop long before hip hop became “hip hop”. “Milestones (Remix)” features the vocals and production of prolific beat-maker Georgia Anne Muldrow and one of the album’s only two piano solos by Robert Glasper. It’s the one that makes me feel the most.

Miles Davis and Robert Glasper - Everything's Beautiful

Everything’s Beautiful (2016)

“Talking Shit” – Everything’s Beautiful

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“Milestones” Remix featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow – Everything’s Beautiful

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To enjoy the full, uncompressed sounds of those songs – as well as Everything’s Beautiful nine other awesome tracks; to find out the names of all the artists who contributed to creating this album and read Robert Glasper’s words about their involvement, buy a hard-copy for your Beloved-Forever-After Collection.

While you’re at your local independent record store doing so, be sure to find Robert Glasper’s other albums too. If you’re not familiar with them, check out samples from a few here.

Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio 2

Black Radio 2 (2013)

“Persevere” featuring Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco and Luke James – Robert Glasper Experiment

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Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio

Black Radio (2012)

“Afro Blue” featuring Erykah Badu – Robert Glasper Experiment

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Robert Glasper - Double Booked

Double Booked (2009)

“Festival” – Robert Glasper

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Also keep your ear to the ground for the release of Herbie Hancock’s new album which Robert Glasper is co-producing.