December is officially here, and that means year-end lists, year-end lists, and more year-end lists. A few major ones came out today, including Gorilla vs Bear and The Quietus (and Spotify Wrapped), and NPR, whose always-interesting list includes everything from the most mainstream pop to the depths of jazz, classical, and experimental music, and so much in between. Their list this year includes Little Simz, Vince Stapes, Jazmine Sullivan, Japanese Breakfast, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, Low, Turnstile, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders, Tyler the Creator, Adele, WILLOW, Baby Keem, Mach-Hommy, Pink Siifu, Adia Victoria, MIKE, Spellling, Moor Mother, Hiatus Kaiyote, Lukah, PinkPantheress, Injury Reserve, illuminati hotties, Tems, Yasmine Williams, Yebba, Circuit des Yeux, and much more, and you're bound to discover at least one thing you haven't heard yet on it.

Read their commentary on each pick here and see the full list below…

NPR's Top 50 Albums of 2021
50. Silk Sonic – An Evening With Silk Sonic
49. Circuit des Yeux – -io
48. Pink Siifu – GUMBO'!
47. Artifacts – …and then there's this
46. Gewandhausorchester Lepzig – Sofia Gubaidulina: Nelson • Repin
45. Rodrigo Amarante – Drama
44. Adia Victoria – A Southern Gothic
43. Yebba – Dawn
42. Kenny Garrett – Sounds from the Ancestors
41. Susana Baca – Palabras Urgentes
40. Yasmin Williams – Urban Driftwood
39. MIKE – Disco!
38. Mon Laferte – SEIS
37. Amythyst Kiah – Wary + Strange
36. Spellling – The Turning Wheel
35. Moor Mother – Black Encyclopedia of the Air
34. Emily D'Angelo – enargeia
33. James Brandon Lewis – Jesup Wagon
32. Hiatus Kaiyote – Mood Valiant
31. Doja Cat – Planet Her
30. Lil Nas X – MONTERO
29. Lukah – When The Black Hand Touches You
28. Summer Walker – Still Over It
27. Toumani Diabaté and The London Symphony Orchestra – Kôrôlén
26. Cleo Sol – Mother
25. Eris Drew – Quivering In Time
24. Turnstile – GLOW ON
23. Mickey Guyton – Remember Her Name
22. PinkPantheress – to hell with it
21. Low – HEY WHAT
20. Injury Reserve – By the Time I Get to Phoenix
19. illuminati hotties – Let Me Do One More
18. Mach-Hommy – Pray For Haiti
17. WILLOW – lately I feel EVERYTHING
16. Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue
15. Tems – If Orange Was A Place
14. Adele – 30
13. Tyler, The Creator – CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
12. Helado Negro – Far In
11. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
10. Wild Up – Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine
9. Vince Staples – Vince Staples
8. Arlo Parks – Collapsed In Sunbeams
7. Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince
6. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises
5. C. Tangana – El Madrileño
4. Allison Russell – Outside Child
3. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
2. Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
1. Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales