My Favorite Albums of 2012

While it's already 2013, the new year is less than a week old, so I think it's still reasonable to talk about my favorite albums from the year that just ended. In terms of new music, I listened to rap almost exclusively in 2012, so that's what dominates this list. Here are my favorite albums from the past year in no particular order.

A$AP Mob, Lord$ Never Worry: It seems that you either love or hate A$AP Rocky. Personally, I enjoy most of the songs he's released thus far, regardless of the fact that he basically swagger-jacked Houston rap. But Rocky isn't the reason I loved this tape - A$AP Ferg is, which I've made no secret about. This tape didn't make any of the year-end lists I've seen and Fergie doesn't seem to be too critically acclaimed, but I'll be damned if his crazy raps aren't fresh to me.

Chief Keef, Finally Rich: This one totally surprised me. I loved "I Don't Like" and Keef's song with Fat Trel, but I wasn't sure how a full album of Chief Keef would be. Turns out it's pretty fucking great. And it's probably even better if you're on drugs, but I wouldn't know for sure. You definitely won't improve your IQ by listening to this though.

Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth: Some people I know who are more rabid Van Halen fans than me and more knowledgable about rock didn't like this album at all. Sure, Diamond Dave has lost some range and some of the music is decades old and Michael Anthony and his falsetto are nowhere to be found, but anytime the brothers Van Halen and David Lee Roth make new music and it's not terrible, I'll eat it up. Maybe my ear isn't too discerning, but I listened to this album again this past week and it's still enjoyable to me, so it's presence on this list isn't merely for nostalgia sake.

Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE: Nothing I can say about this album that hasn't been said better elsewhere. This was basically the soundtrack to my summer. The music was much more exciting than anything I did.

Waka Flocka Flame, Salute Me Or Shoot Me 4: This is what Triple F Life should've been: a bunch of hard ass beats and yelling. I'm glad Waka still has this type of music in him. This shit knocks in the car too, and makes you drive with greater abandon, which isn't really a good thing. Be careful.

Cousin Fik, Sickest N***a Healthy: I just found out about this album within the last month and this and Chief Keef are pretty much all I've been listening to since then. I've always liked Fik and I really enjoyed his Hacksaw Ben Thuggin album from 2011. I'm not quite sure how Sickest and his Tonight Show tape came out this year and I missed them until recently, but I'm glad I finally found out about them.

I probably could've thrown on Roach Gigz for Bugged Out and iamsu! for either KILT or the more recent $uzy 6 $peed, but as much as liked those albums I didn't bump them that much last year.

So that's about it. I'm hoping I can add the new Tegan and Sara album to the 2013 version of this list.