With my Top 30 Albums of the Year behind us, I have to shout out the albums that didn't make the final list but were each in the running during the decision making process. There were so many albums to consider and so many that I hadn't even managed to get round to listening to. However, of the ones that I did, here are a few that I would be doing a disservice by not mentioning. In no particular order...

• Tierra Whack - Whack World
• Twenty One Pilots - Trench 
• Phony Ppl - mō'zā-ik
• Chloe x Halle - The Kids Are Alright 
• JMSN - Velvet
• Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile 
• Aminé - ONEPOINTFIVE
• Boy Azooga - 1, 2, Kung Fu!
• Jorja Smith - Lost & Found 
• Zilo - The Nature Of The Beast
• Rejjie Snow - Dear Annie 
• August Greene - August Greene
• Ex:Re - Ex:Re
• YG - STAY DANGEROUS 
• Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs
• Now, Now - Saved
• Snail Mail - Lush
• Patrick Paige II - Letters Of Irrelevance
• Kelela - TAKE ME A_PART, THE REMIXES
• Joy Postell - Diaspora
• Can't Swim - This Too Won't Pass
• Kendrick Lamar - Black Panther The Album
• Kasey Musgraves - Golden Hour
• Django Django - Marble Skies
• serpentwithfeet - soil

The top spot. 30 days and 29 albums later, we've arrived at the album that I believe may not sit at the top of many other lists this year but will feature somewhere in almost every list. An album that surprised me and continues to impress me. An album that I can not only party to, but also sit with and think about. And finally an artist who once again, went platinum with no features. In at number one is J. Cole with KOD.

The reason I say that this album may not make top many lists this year is because for most avid J. Cole fans this album is probably pipped at the post by the phenomenal 2014 Forest Hills Drive. That aside, the things that have pushed it to the top of my list are the fact that J. Cole produced this all himself (a rare feat these days), and the level of wit and emotion that's dotted around the lyrics on this album had me raising my eyebrows on every single track.

Stand out bangers on the album for me are "ATM", "Motiv8", "Once An Addict (Interlude)", and "1985 (Intro To "The Fall Off")". These songs would have been a welcome addition on 2014 Forest Hills Drive but the production has a noticeably more modern touch to it, particularly on "ATM" and "Motiv8". Alongside the unique and memorable instrumentals on this, J. Cole's candour and unashamed reflection give a further look into the things that have brought him to where he is today. Not everything is a shining representation of him and his life but it's truthful all the same.

On the back of his last album 4 Your Eyez Only, this album steps all over it . Short but sweet, KOD leaves a lasting impression on fans and newcomers alike. Jermaine keeps a somewhat skewed social commentary present throughout but uses story telling to bring home his overall message in regards to addiction, and his confidence shows here. J. Cole still has the potential to grow and build, and it might do his next material some good to actually have collaborators and features in the mix. However, I admire his vim and determination to bring us something poignant and powerful on nobody's back but his own. This fact more than anything is what carried him into the top spot.

Here's a look at what album took the number one spot in 2017. Tomorrow I'll be listing the albums that didn't quite make the Top 30 list but which deserve an honourable mention all the same.

Well, that's it for this year's top albums but along the way there was a whole heap of unbelievable music released. Tonnes more contenders and a bunch of records that I didn't even get to listen to that may have been able to make the cut had I gotten round to it. Not all can be mentioned, but here is a list of this year's most notable honourable mentions in no particular order.

• Bicep - Bicep
• Feist - Pleasure
• Bonobo - Migration 
• Declan McKenna - What Do You Think About The Car?
• BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION I & III
• Can't Swim - Fail You Again
• Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - Modern Ruin 
• Wolf Alice - Visions Of A Life 
• J HUS - Common Sense
• Jordan Rakei - Wallflower
• Marika Hackman - I'm Not Your Man
• Meg Mac - Low Blows 
• King Krule - The OOZ
• Sylvan Esso - What Now 
• Foo Fighters - Concrete And Gold 
• Ibeyi - Ash 
• Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives
• Sinead Harnett - Chapter One
• Miguel - War & Leisure
• Kweku Collins - grey 
• Jaden Smith - SYRE
• Haim - Something To Tell You
• Charlotte OC - Careless People
• Mr Jukes - God First 
• N.E.R.D - NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
• Smino - blkswn
• The National - Sleep Well Beast
• Khalid - American Teen
• Toro y Moi - Boo Boo

Check out a favourite track from each of these albums (+ a couple extras) on a handy playlist here. 

Normally I put a list of my honourable mentions on the end of the review of my favourite album of the year but as I've already said - this has been one of the biggest years for music in the longest time. SO, this year I've put the list in a separate post to give everyone their due respects, in no particular order as always...

James Blake - The Colour In Anything
NAO - For All We Know
Noname - Telefone
Little Simz - Stillness In Wonderland
J Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only
Kendrick Lamar - untitled, unmastered
Ab-Soul - Do What Thou Wilt.
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Savages - Adore Life
Christine and the Queens - Chaleur Humaine
Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite!
Balance & Composure - Light We Made
De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody...
Isaiah Rashad - The Sun's Tirade
Blink-182 - California
Touche Amore - Stage Four
Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Skepta - Konnichiwa
David Bowie - Blackstar
NxWorries - Yes Lawd!
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Kid Cudi - Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'
Travi$ Scott - Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight
Alicia Keys - HERE
Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels
Frank Ocean - Endless | Frank Ocean - Blond
Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo
Rihanna - ANTI
Jack Garratt - Phase
Flume - Skin
Seaway - Colour Blind
Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component
Logic - Bobby Tarantino

There were so many other great albums that I listened to over the course of the year, these were just the ones that either managed to grab the most plays from me or came out too late for me to consider them for the top 10 (s/o Little Simz). Here's to an even more music filled 2017. Click HERE to listen to my Spotify playlist with some of the tracks that made my 2016 all that it was.