If there is something that music fans love, it is not only checking out new artists but checking new releases by their favorite artists. And with every new year comes new music for fans and newcomers to check out. Now we’re in May, there is some music to chew on and some albums to check out, here are five of my favorites.

5. ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE – BROCKHAMPTON

The best boy band since One Direction is back with their latest titled ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE. In this album, the group tries to balance the slow and romantic aspects of their previous record, GINGER, and the fast-paced and more well-known tracks from their other records and it does work. While not my favorite from theirs, you cannot beat SATURATION II, the group provides lots of variety and the hits are some of their best work and the few misses are still pretty good. And their features on this one are absolutely phenomenal from A$AP Rocky, JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown and so much more. Check it out!

4. The Plugs I Met II – Benny the Butcher

Buffalo native rapper Benny the Butcher is back with a sequel to his 2019 album with The Plugs I Met II. As always Benny absolutely destroys the vocal work here, with such clean and hard-hitting lyrics and the instrumentals feeling very classy and feels reminiscent of Freddie Gibbs. The features are wonderful, making some of the genre’s most loathed stars into some of the best parts on the album. If you are a fan of Benny the Butcher, this does not disappoint.

3. This Thing of Ours – The Alchemist

One artist that caught my attention all of last year is The Alchemist. His fresh beats worked wonderfully with rapper Freddie Gibbs and continue to surprise me with his collaborations. This time around he has a full album dedicated with features from Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, and many more. My only issue is the length of this album only clocking in at 10 minutes and I wish it was expanded to a few more tracks, however, Alchemist provides instrumentals to the tracks which are good to hear.  The beats are exciting and the features are phenomenal. The Alchemist continues to excite me in the world of music and I cannot wait to see what he does in the future, hopefully, a collaboration album with Earl Sweatshirt.

2. Smiling with No Teeth – Genesis Owusu

Ghanaian rapper Genesis Owusu comes out of the gates swinging to a home run with his sophomore album. This is a very fun album with lots of hits that’ll make future party playlists everywhere. Again, the production is absolutely wonderful. Each track feels very different from the previous but still falls under the same umbrella. The lyrics are catchy and the beats will be stuck in your head for weeks. Plus, Genesis comes in with my favorite track of 2021 so far, check it out!

1. Nurture – Porter Robinson

Coming out of his nine-year hiatus, EDM king Porter Robinson finally makes his return with Nurture. This album screams spring vibes, with each song being completely different but feeling so positive and upbeat with itself. The instrumentals and beats are wonderful and Robinson has very very few skips and most of the album is played out like a slow burn. Hopefully, this is the beginning of more albums from Porter Robinson in the future and I am incredibly excited to see what he does next.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of good music over the course of the year and hopefully, more big artists come out of the shadows and make some new music. Enjoy the music, everyone!