The Freshman 15: 2020's Best Debut Albums
Later this month, we'll release our final overall list of 2020's best albums. But our ongoing best of 2020 coverage continues right now with a look at this year's top newcomers in music.
Above is our list of the 15 best-reviewed debut albums of 2020, ranked by Metascore. Note that albums must have at least 7 reviews—and be a full-length LP (or mixtape) rather than an EP—to be eligible for inclusion. Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding based on scores as of December 13, 2020.
(#4) Distributed by Warner Records, the just-released debut mixtape for the 22-year-old British rapper includes the single "Frontline," one of the biggest hits this year in the UK.
“This is an extraordinarily assured first offering from a young artist capable of surprising at every turn. The result is not so much a foreboding portrait of a forgotten, boom-and-bust city, but an invitation to a place and people unduly ignored—and an introduction to an artist who won’t be.” —Pitchfork