Summer has come to a close, and during the break, a lot of diverse and interesting music came out. From the return of Justin Bieber to the surprise release from Tyler, The Creator, the music scene this summer was very vibrant, with creative releases to look forward to each week.

June started off relatively strong, with the releases of Addison Rae’s debut “Addison”, McKinley Dixon’s “Magic, Alive!”and the debut from digicore artist kmoe, titled “K1.” The month slowed down as it progressed, with most of the best releases coming from either the very start or the very end of the month, with albums such as “Blush” by former BROCKHAMPTON member Kevin Abstract, Lorde’s newest album “Virgin” as well as a reissue of bubblegum bass artist SOPHIE’s compilation “PRODUCT.” There were a lot of good music festivals with various artists, each from their own respective genres in June as well, such as Bonnaroo, Summerfest, CMA Fest, and the Governors Ball Music Festival.

July brought most of the summer’s prominent rap releases, giving fans lots of diverse sub-genres of rap to sink their teeth into. From “DON’T TAP THE GLASS” by producer and rapper Tyler, The Creator, the highly anticipated “REST IN BASS” by rage artist Che and the return of rap duo Clipse and their album “Let God Sort Em Out.” These albums provided a diverse palette of rap each week that kept listeners entertained throughout the month. “Alfredo 2,” a collaborative project between producer The Alchemist and rapper Freddie Gibbs, was also very well received, getting great reviews from listeners.

“Alfredo 2 was my favorite album of the summer, it was an excellent follow up to the first album,” said Daniel Thuestad, an avid rap listener and fan.

Justin Bieber also returned with his R&B album “SWAG” with production from Mk.gee and Dijon, whose production style is peppered with twinged guitars and soft bass patterns that complement Carter Lang’s groovy production on songs such as “DAISIES”, “YUKON”, as well as the soulful cuts like “DEVOTION” and “WALKING AWAY.” This album contains a myriad of playful genre combinations, such as Contemporary R&B, Pop Soul and Art Pop. The album was followed up with a sequel not to long after, with another 23 songs being added as “SWAG II.” The second album is a good continuation of the first, with features from Bakar, Lil B as well as Tems. This side of “SWAG” is a bit more pop leaning, with some R&B styled cuts being thrown in the mix every couple of tracks. An underrated release from this month was YouTuber turned musician Quadeca’s newest album “Vanisher, Horizon Scraper.” The production on this album was top notch, with jazz influenced folk structures being the dominant style on this LP. The album was also accompanied by a full movie posted on Quadeca’s YouTube page. The movie that goes with the album is nothing short of cinematic, accompanying the album well.

Finally, for August, this was one of the more diverse months for music in general, as a multitude of artists from many different genres dropped projects. Ethel Cain dropped her highly anticipated Slowcore concept album, “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You.” The album features a story that lines up with her previous album, “Preacher’s Daughter.” This album revolves around a central story, which involves the fictional character Willoughby Tucker. He was Cain’s high school boyfriend and first love, as this is a prequel album to “Preacher’s Daughter.” This album delves into Cain’s psyche and her painful teenage years, as she wishes for a better life in Nebraska with Willoughby. Laufey also released a new album, where she experimented with more genres rather than just her normal jazz and bossa nova sound.

“Laufey’s new album was really good, I like how she played around with a bunch of different ideas,” said Carter Parsons, a junior at Wadsworth High School.

Also during the month of August, Earl Sweatshirt, a former member of the rap collective Odd Future, released his sixth album, “Live Laugh Love” this month. This album is very well produced and edited, running at just a short, concise 24 minutes of introspective writing and relaxed production from Thervada and Navy Blue. A lot of the album is extremely well written, which is very standard for an album from Earl.

Overall, the summer was very strong in a multitude of genres, giving listeners across the entire musical spectrum fresh releases each week, with most of these albums being from popular artists.