1. Beres Hammond, One Love, One Life
For most of the year we didn’t think anyone would top Vegas’ Sweet Jamaica as far as reggae albums go. But then Beres Hammond showed up with one of the most powerful statements of his four-decades-long career. We knew something big was coming—we’d heard rumblings that Beres had something big in store from people including our own Martei Korley, who shot the album’s cover—but still we weren’t prepared for such a flawless statement as One Love, One Life when it arrived in November. From its opening track “No Candle Light,” the double-pronged LP is vintage Beres—except when it’s not. The singer’s first-ever stabs at ska, “Can’t Waste No Time” and “Don’t You Feel Like Dancing” are two of the LP’s best tracks and some of the best ska tunes made in the modern era.