Best Albums of February 2020

 

   The Officio looks at the most awesome albums, EPs and related releases that had us hooked in the second month of the year 2020. 

1.  My Turn : Lil Baby's sophomore album turned to be one of the year's most popular hip-hop albums and a great one at that. Released Feb. 28, 2020 via Quality Control Music, Capitol Records and Motown Records, the record opened at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 charts, earning Lil Baby his very first, topping the list for five non-consecutive weeks. It marked the rapper's fourth top-ten effort on the albums chart in the US. In the UK, the album reached a No.6 high, No.2 in Canada, No.12 in Ireland and No.20 on the Australian Albums chart. On the Officio 100 list, most of all the tracks appeared therein with the top-10's as "Woah" (#4), "Heatin' Up" (with Gunna) (#2), "No Sucker" (feat. Moneybagg Yo) (#10) , "Solid" (#9) and "Social Distancing" (No.6). "The Bigger Picture" led the Officio Rap Tracks for a week as the Officio 100 was on a temporal break. It however became Lil Baby's highest charting single in the US when it debuted at No.3 on Billboard's Hot 100 list. 

2.  Changes : Justin Bieber's fifth studio set was out on Feb. 14, 2020 via  Def Jam Recordings, serving as a follow-up to his 2015's Purpose, the album debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 list, marking his seventh number-one set on the chart. In his native Canada, the album also debuted atop the albums list just as in the UK. In Australia however, the record bowed in at No.2 as well as in Ireland, and No.5 in Scotland. It features international hit singles "Yummy" and "Intentions" (feat. Quavo), the latter made a No.1 debut on our Officio 100 list and the former charted twice in the top-ten as separate versions, the original at No.3 and the country version at No.7 on different dates however. 

3.  Map of the Soul: 7 : The fourth Korean-language studio album from S.Korean boy band, BTS, was out Feb. 21, via Big Hit Entertainment as a follow up to their 2018 EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, and like the predecessor also debuted atop the Billboard 200 list making it their fourth number-one on the chart. The album was a chart topper in places as Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Scotland, Spain and the UK. It spawned the US Hot 100 No.4 single "On", which also entered our Officio 100 list twice, with the Sia featured version rising to the top-ten a week after. 

4.  Artist 2.0 : Favorite rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie delivered his third studio album on Feb. 14, this year, a follow up to his US chart-topping Hoodie SZN (2018). The album debuted at No.2 on the Billboard 200 charts, marking his third US top-ten charting record. It returned to the top-ten of the chart in early July when a deluxe issue was released. On the Offico 100 list, the most notable tracks include "Mood Swings" (No.5), "Numbers" (feat. Gunna, Roddy Ricch & London on da Track) (No.2), and "Blood on My Denim" (No.10). In Canada, the album reached No.4 and No.11 in the UK. 

5. Church :  Swedish EDM duo, Galantis, dropped their third studio effort via Big Beat label, on Feb. 7, 2020.  The album peaked at No.4 on the US Top Dance/Electronic Albums and features the Officio 100 number-one single "Faith" (feat. Mr. Probz and Dolly Parton). 

6.  Meet the Woo 2 : The second mixtape and final project released during his lifetime, Pop Smoke proved an excellent rapper with this Feb. 7 release. It was a follow to 2019's Meet the Woo and debuted at No.7 on the US Billboard 200 list, No.8 in Canada while reaching No.16 in the UK. Following the rapper's death on Feb. 19, 2020, most of the tracks from the set gained position on the Officio 100 list as "Shake the Room" (feat. Quavo) (No.4), "War" (feat. Lil Tjay) (No.4), and "Mannequin" (feat. Lil Tjay) (No.4) made jumps into the top-10 tier, as most tracks appeared on the list. 

7.  YHLQMDLG : Puerto-Rican singer, Bad Bunny deliverd his sophomore studio set on Feb. 29, 2020, and it became Spotify's most streamed album globally in 2020. The album debuted at No.2 in the US, marking the highest debut by a Spanish album, a feat he broke later in November when his third solo album debuted at No.1. It also topped the US Top Latin Albums chart as well as the US Independent Albums list. 

8.  New Hope Club : British pop trio, New Hope Club dropped their self-titled debut album on Feb. 14, and it peaked at No.5 on the UK Albums Chart while hitting No.7 in Ireland. The album spawned the Officio 100 No.2 hit "Love Again", which also led the Officio Pop Tracks list for two weeks in a row temporarily. 

9.  Still Flexin, Still Steppin : YoungBoy Never Broke Again released his 15th  mixtape on Feb. 21, 2020 via Atlantic Records, and the set bowed in at No.2 on the US Billboard 200 list, following his number-one reach on the chart with previous mixtape, AI YoungBoy 2 (2019). In Canada, the album reached No.21.  

10. Carly Pearce : American country singer, Carly Pearce had a self-titled sophomore released on Feb. 14, via Big Machine Records,  and it debuted at No.6 on the Top Country Albums in the US, while featuring the Officio 100 top-20 single "I Hope You're Happy Now" (with Lee Brice) and the No.3 entry "Heart's Going Out of Its Mind". 

11. PTSD :  American rapper, G Herbo, had his third studio effort released on Feb 28 via Machine Entertainment Group and Epic Records, and it debuted at No.7 on the US Billboard 200 list, marking his highest charting record on the US. The title track marked the rapper's first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No.38. 

12.  The Slow Rush : Australian music project, Tame Impala, delivered their fourth studio album on Feb. 14, and was a number-one debut in their native country, while marking their best rank in the US where it debuted at No.3. The set was a No.1 hit in Scotland while reaching #3 in the UK, Ireland and Canada. At the 2020 ARIA Awards, the album won five categories: Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album, Engineer of the Year as well as Producer of the Year. It has been nominated in two categories at the 63rd Grammy Awards. 

13.  Long Live the Kings : Chicago rapper, Calboy, released his second EP on Feb. 25 via Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. The set was a great turn out and though it did not commercially perform, it still made the list of the coolest albums delivered in February. A deluxe album, that got our attention was released late June. 

14.  Birds of Prey: The Album : The soundtrack album to the film Birds of Prey, was released early February, via Atlantic Records, and peaked at No.9 in Australia while hitting No.23 on the US Billboard 200 chart. 

15.  The Allegory : American rapper, Royce da 5'9" delivered his 8th album on Feb. 21 and it reached No.6 on the US Independent Albums chart, while reaching No.58 on the Billboard 200 list.

Other Notable Releases in February :

•  Trap & B : Fetty Wap  - released Feb. 14 
•  Good Time EP : Niko Moon - released Feb. 14
•  Superstar Creature : Lil Gotit - released Feb. 21
•  Ordinary Man : Ozzy Osbourne's 12th studio album released Feb. 21 through Epic Records, debuting at No.3 in the US, Canada and the UK while reaching No.4 in Australia,, and No.2 in Scotland. 
•  A-Team : Zaytoven, Lil Keed, Lil Gotit & Lil Yachty - released Feb. 28