Best Albums of January 2020

 

   The Officio ranks the coolest albums, LPs, EPs, and related records that saw their release in the first month of the year 2020. 

1 . Music to Be Murdered By : Michigan rapper, Eminem, surprised the hip-hop fans with his eleventh studio album released on Jan. 17, 2020 via Shady, Aftermath and Interscope Records. Produced by the rapper himself along with Dr. Dre and a few other, Music to Be Murdered By followed 2018's Kamikaze, and opened atop the US Billboard 200 charts marking Em's tenth topper on the chart, a record feat. The album reached No.1 in Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland and the UK while hitting No.2 in Scotland. It features the Juice Wrld assisted track "Godzilla" which opened atop the UK Singles Chart and No.3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.  The track was a No.1 track on the Officio 100 list, a position it debuted at.

2 . Rare :  Selena Gomez's third solo studio album came out on Jan. 10, 2020 via Interscope Records, and opened at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 charts, marking the singer's third chart topper, as it followed 2015's Revival. Elsewhere, the album reached the No.1 spot in Australia, Belgium, Estonia, Mexico and Scotland, while reaching No.2 in the UK and No.4 in Ireland. The album spawned Gomez's international hit "Lose You to Love Me" which reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, earning her first topper there, and topped the Irish and Canadian Singles run while reaching the top-5 in Australia, and the UK. The song debuted at No.1 on the Officio 100 list.

3. Manic : Halsey delivered her third studio effort  in mid-January this year and the record debuted at No.2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, just behind Eminem's Music to Be Murdered By.  Released via Capitol Records, the album followed 2017's hopeless fountain kingdom which had debuted at No.1 in the US and prior to that was her debut Badlands (2015) which had a No.2 start as well. The album features Halsey's US number-one single "Without Me" as well as the Officio 100 number-one single "Graveyard" along with the ARIA top-5 hit "You Soould Be Sad". In Australia the album reached a No.2 high and No.6 in the UK. 

4. Bad Boys for Life (Soundtrack) :  Released via We the Best Music Group and Epic Records, the soundtrack to the 2020 film Bad Boys for Life was released in mid January, and features some of the coolest rappers and artists alike, starting with the lead single "RITMO" (The Black Eyed Peas & J Balvin), a top 20 reach on the Officio 100 list. The album reached No.3 on the US Soundtrack Albums chart. It did not chart on the Billboard 200 chart however.  

5.  Walls : English singer, Louis Tomlison finally came through with his debut album, released late January via Syco Records. The album reached No.9 on the Billboard 200 chart, No.6 in Australia, No.1 in Scotland, and No.4 in the UK. The titular track was a top-ten entry on the Officio 100 run. 

6.  Circles : Released posthumously, Mac Miller's sixth and final studio album was out Jan. 17 via Warner Records Inc. and it debuted at No.3 in the US, Canada and Australia, while hitting No.8 in the UK. The lead single "Good News" peaked at No.17, marking the rapper's best feature as a lead act on the list.   

7.  Funeral : Lil Wayne's thirteenth studio effort was released at the end of January 2020, via Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records. Following 2018's Tha Carter V, the album too debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, marking the fifth chart topper for the American rapper. The single "I Do It" (feat. Lil Baby & Big Sean) came in at No.2 on the Officio 100 chart. 

8. Big Conspiracy : British rapper J Hus  (real names Momodou Lamin Jallow) delivered his sophomore set on Jan. 24, via Black Butter Records. The album came with the usual afroswing vibe and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, becoming his first to do so. It peaked at No.5 on the Irish Albums chart. 

9. Nightfall : Country music band, Little Big Town, dropped their ninth studio work in mid January via Capitol Nashville and the now Grammy Best Country Album nominated set debuted at No.1 on the US Top Country Albums chart while reaching No.13 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawning the Officio 100 top-20 favorite track "Sugar Coat". 

10.  High Road : Kesha followed her 2017 US topper Rainbow with this country-rock vibe set,  which debuted at No.7 in the US. 

11.  Tullahoma : Country singer, Dustin Lynch, had his fourth studio set released mid-January via Broken Bow Records, and it was an excellent assortment of awesome country tracks. It peaked at No.4 on the US Top Country Albums and No.38 on the Billboard 200.  

12.  Treat Myself : Meghan Trainor's third major label album came after a long delay and on release debuted at No.25 in the US and in Canada. It featured the No.5 Officio 100 song "Nice to Meet Ya" (feat. Nicki Minaj). 

13.  Back 2 the Beach : We fell in love with Yung Pinch following this debut set from the rapper, released mid January. It features two tracks that reached the top-5 on the Officio 100 list; "Beach Ballin" (feat. blackbear) (No.4) and "Over It" (feat. Wiz Khalifa) (No.5). 

14.  Time Served : Moneybagg Yo delivered his third studio album in mid Jan 2020 and it debuted at No.3 in the US, marking the rapper's first US top-ten record. 

15. QPac : Quando Rondo's debut album was released on Jan. 10, 2020 via Never Broke Again Records and Atlantic Records, and debuted at No.22 on the Billboard 200 chart and features the Officio 100 top-20 favorite "Bad Vibe" (feat. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and 2 Chainz). 

Other Notable January Albums: 

 - Lonely Generation : Echosmith 

- Rich Yungin' : Stunna 4 Vegas 

- Untrapped : Yo Gotti 

-  A World Away : Ekali