Ginanon

1972 was a monumental year for albums. From the The Rolling Stones to Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin to Big Star, there was an abundance of artists releasing career-defining and redefining music. Here we make our case for ten of the best.

Around thirty years ago, Seattle became the epicenter of the rock scene, largely thanks to grunge music. The grungy, ‘I don’t care’ attitude rose from the ashes of punk, heavy metal and alt-rock, and instantaneously went from an underground movement to a worldwide success. Perhaps too quickly embraced by the very system it rebuffed, it almost became a caricature of itself by the end of the 1990s. Let’s look back at ten albums that defined the genre.

For decades, country music has been largely shut off to Black artists. There have been notable, even iconic, exceptions throughout history, of course. But there are too few of those, to the point that their success was often treated as novelty. There were also too many performers who should have made it big but were forced into stereotypes that didn't comfortably fit. Fortunately, there have been signs of hope in the past few years—hope that feels like a lot more than just good intentions and lip service. This tribute explores the history, and promising future, of Black artists in country music.