This year’s top 5 world musicians

There are a lot of hip-hop artists who have found commercial success, but not a lot of emcees produce albums with a technological, musical consistency in their deep and poetic lyrics. Bringing you back to the golden age of hip-hop, where the sound is also so fresh, the album To Pimp A Butterfly gives greater proof that Kendrick Lamar is one of the few who lives up to the worthy title of being called a hip-hop artist, especially in this day and age. Although there is no such thing as “proper hip-hop,” Kendrick gives us hope for the future of hip-hop in the midst of auto-tunes and cheap lyrics.

Mbongwana Star, a group of Congolese musicians, may seem unfamiliar at first, but their electronic beats create a connection to most of the music many
of us are used to. In the sense that they make electronic music that anyone can dance to may
place them in the category of pop, but once you recognize the rough and aggressive guitar riffs, you may want to relocate them to the rock section. This may be the first time you’re hearing about them, but they have some solid experience in the music industry under their belt. A few of the members used to be a part of a band called Staff Benda Bilili, a group of
paraplegic street musicians. The unique sounds that they create brought a fresh new vibe to the music industry. The energy they bring to the stage is just the beginning of things.

Epic, an amazing 172-minute album, is by far one of the best jazz albums I came across this year. Washington brings a vast scale to these jazz pieces by inviting a full orchestra and choir, and piercing through spiritual jazz, soul jazz and even more modern sounds like funk and afro-jazz. He really built a bridge for all types of music to intersect. That bridge may seem quite long, but there’s no need to fear because the
172 minutes zoom by quickly. That’s the best part about this album. It almost seems like jazz musicians are dabbling when they crossover with a different genre or try fusion genres, but Washington has managed to create an excellent model for old and new school jazz—something that can only have been obtained through
countless touring with bands of different genres.