The Freshman 15: 2021's Best Debut Albums
Next week, we'll release our final overall list of this year's best overall albums. But our ongoing best of 2021 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 2021, 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 14, 2021.
(#4) Born in Ghana but raised in Canberra, Australia, hip hop/R&B artist Genesis Owusu made his LP debut with this 15-track set in March.
“With strong, clear-eyed subtext, overlaid by compositions that touch on every influence from TV on the Radio to Prince, Childish Gambino and Radiohead, Smiling With No Teeth is not so much an album as it is a memoir – a story both unique to Owusu and universal to anyone who has ever felt 'othered'.” —The Independent
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