Non-stop dance parties, retro beats and dreamy vignettes vied with slacker rock, flamenco-inflected R&B and no end of heartbreak
1. Beyoncé – Renaissance
Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia; July
This 16-track non-stop party album went higher and harder than many of the pandemic dance albums that preceded it. Full of love and catharsis, Renaissance paid tribute to the queer Black underground scenes from which Beyoncé drew, and to the therapeutic value of the dancefloor no matter who you are.
2. Danger Mouse and Black Thought – Cheat Codes
BMG; August
Luxuriantly retro, this all-killer, no-filler pairing of A-list beat-maker Danger Mouse with rapper Black Thought from the Roots made good on a 20-year-old pledge. With Danger Mouse lining up crate-digger samples and tailored beats, one of hip-hop’s premier lyrical giants let rip at a rigged system.
