Alumni and Faculty Who Made 2018's Best Music

From hip-hop to Latin jazz, Berklee artists and producers were all over the year's biggest hits.

December 13, 2018

With every major music news outlet from Billboard to Pitchfork ranking their top albums and songs of the year, you can't go too far without running into something touched by someone from Berklee. Similarly, the recently announced Grammy nominations feature 25 Berklee alumni across dozens of categories. From mainstream to indie, jazz to world music, and whether they were behind the board or at the mic, here are some of the tracks that heated up charts and speakers this year.

Track Credits and Rankings

  1. "All the Stars (with SZA)," Kendrick Lamar. Mixed and engineered by Matt Schaeffer B.M. '12 (Two Grammy nominations)
  2. "I Like It," Cardi B. Engineered by Simone Torres B.M. '15 (Two Grammy nominations)
  3. “How Long (EDX’s Dubai Skyline Remix)," Charlie Puth B.M. '13. (Billboard, Best Albums, no. 26; two Grammy nominations)
  4. "Born Under Punches," Angelique Kidjo. Produced by Jeff Bhasker '99 (Songlines, Best Albums, no. 3)
  5. "Los Ageless," St. Vincent [Annie Clark '04] (Three Grammy nominations)*
  6. "symbol," Adrianne Lenker B.M. '12 (Paste, Best Folk Albums, no. 3)
  7. "Fury of Da'mond," Tia Fuller (Grammy nomination)
  8. "y o y," Lalah Hathaway B.M. '90 (Three Grammy nominations)*
  9. "Boo'd Up," Ella Mai. Songwriting by Joelle James B.M. '11 (Pitchfork, Best Songs, no. 18; two Grammy nominations)
  10. "Honest," MAJOR. [Major Johnson-Finley B.M. '06] (Grammy nomination)
  11. "'S Wonderful," Tony Bennett, Diana Krall B.M. '83 (Two Grammy nominations)
  12. "Cadenas," Miguel Zenón B.M. '98 (Two Grammy nominations)
  13. "America," Bobby Sanabria B.M. '79 (Grammy nomination)
  14. "Something Different," The Band's Visit soundtrack, featuring Rachel Prather (B.F.A. '12, musical theater) (Grammy nomination)
  15. "Ron Carter," Bill Frisell '77 (Paste, Best Jazz Albums, no. 3)

*Released in 2017, eligible for awards in 2018

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