It was a phenomenal year for music. Here are the top five albums for 2018.

5. “ASTROWORLD” by Travis Scott

This album is chock full of exotic and unorthodox production. It is Travis Scott’s greatest strength but also his greatest weakness. For the most part the production was enjoyable, but in some of the tracks it is a little overwhelming.

A flaw with the album is that some of the features were lackluster. Overall the album was enjoyable. It definitely has replay value for sure, but not the whole album.

4. “THA CARTER V” by Lil Wayne

The legendary producer Mannie Fresh, Metro Boomin, DJ Mustard, Swizz Beats and many more were the producers for the album. From start to finish, this album is classic Wayne. With highlight tracks like “Dedicate”, “Uproar,” and “Let it fly.”

3. “K.O.D” by J Cole

K.O.D stand for three different things Kidz on drugs, King overdose and Kill our demons. Hip-hop is known for its drug culture, and K.O.D has a message to it and its fans.

Cole talks on how they are dealing with their problems all the wrong way. On several different tracks Cole talks about different things like drug use and how it could affect relationships.

This is not Cole’s best album, but conceptually it is his best album.

2. “TRENCH” by Twenty One Pilots

The story of “Trench” is a beautiful and hopeful take on mental illness. All of these story elements can be viewed in a metaphorical sense and seen as things that deal with the theme of the album, mental illness.

It is about a character named Clancy who must escape a walled city called Dema, viewed as mental illness as a whole. Nine bishops rule the city, ruling the people by forcing the citizens to follow a religion, called Vialism, representing depression. Clancy joins a group of people called the Banditos, the people who have been successful with their battle with depression and now want to help people currently in that battle.

1. “SWIMMING” by Mac Miller

Mac Miller’s break-up with artist Ariana Grande and his arrest served as an inspiration for the metaphor for “Swimming.” Rather than sitting in self-pity and the moan and groan of heartbreak, Miller makes the attempt to swim back to life or to the shore. Through the album, Miller inspects the conflict of his recent problems and his new sense of optimism and hope.

Miller begins the album with optimism and a self-care feel. Then the album moves heavy and truthful with “Hurt Feelings.” By the album’s end, Miller is leaving us with an almost posthumous track that feels like he had finally conquered his problems and moved forward.

This album is one of my all-time favorites because of the structure and layout of the album, lyricism, concept and overall sound of the album.