I found 20 lists of “Best Music of 2016” on the Internet and combined them into one meta-list. The results are below – every recording on two or more of the original source lists. To assist those who may be unfamiliar with the myriad music genres and subgenres, I have included some parenthetical guidance from Wikipedia.
NOTE: These are not my personal opinions.
On 18 “Best Music of 2016” Lists
David Bowie, Blackstar (art rock, jazz, experimental rock)*
On 17 Lists
Beyoncé, Lemonade (R&B)
Frank Ocean, Blonde (R&B, avant-garde, soul)
On 16 Lists
Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book (hip hop, gospel rap)
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool (art rock, electronica)*
Solange, A Seat At The Table (funk, psychedelic soul, R&B)
On 15 Lists
Angel Olsen, My Woman (garage rock, dream pop, folk rock)*
On 14 Lists
A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service (hip hop, alternative hip hop, jazz rap)*
Mitski, Puberty 2 (indie rock)*
Kanye West, The Life of Pablo (hip hop)
On 13 Lists
Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial (indie rock)*
On 12 Lists
Bon Iver, 22, A Million (folktronica, art pop)*
Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker (folk, soft rock)*
On 10 Lists
Anderson .Paak, Malibu (R&B, hip hop, neo soul)*
Rihanna, Anti (pop, R&B)
On 9 Lists
ANOHNI, Hopelessness (chamber pop, art pop, electronic)
Blood Orange, Freetown Sound (alternative R&B, synthpop, funk)*
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree (alternative rock, electronica, ambient)
Kaytranada, 99.9% (electronic, hip hop, alternative R&B)
Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (country, country rock, psychedelic rock)
On 8 Lists
Kendrick Lamar, untitled unmastered (hip hop)
Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter (country)
The 1975, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (indie rock, pop)
Paul Simon, Stranger To Stranger (folk, rock, pop)
On 7 Lists
Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition (experimental hip hop)
Drake, Views (R&B, pop, hip hop)
Drive-by Truckers, American Band (country rock, alternative rock, alt country)
Maren Morris Hero (country, R&B)
Young Thug, JEFFERY (hip hop)
On 6 Lists
James Blake, The Colour in Anything (R&B, electronic pop, soul)
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, I Had A Dream That You Were Mine (indie rock)
White Lung, Paradise (punk rock)
Esperanza Spalding, Emily’s D+Evolution (contemporary jazz, jazz fusion, funk)*
On 5 Lists
Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate (soul, acoustic)
Miranda Lambert, The Weight of these Wings (country, Americana, country rock)
Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression (art rock, garage rock, hard rock)
Whitney, Light Upon The Lake (indie rock, indie folk, psychedelic pop)
YG, Still Brazy (West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap)
On 4 Lists
Charles Bradley, Changes (soul)
Common, Black America Again (hip hop)
Lady Gaga, Joanne (soft rock, dance pop)
Lydia Loveless, Real (pop/rock, alt country, Americana)*
Cass McCombs, Mangy Love (alt country, rock, folk)*
Noname, Telefone (hip hop)
Parquet Courts, Human Performance (indie rock, art punk, experimental rock)*
Pinegrove, Cardinal (indie rock, alt country)*
Savages, Adore Life (post-punk, noise rock)*
The Weeknd, Starboy (R&B, pop, electropop)
Wilco, Schmilco (alternative rock, folk rock)
On 3 Lists
Case/Lang/Veirs, Case/Lang/Veirs (folk rock)*
Margaret Glaspy, Emotions and Math (singer-songwriter, indie folk, folk pop)
Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman (pop, R&B)
PJ Harvey, Hope Six Demolition Project (alternative rock, indie rock, neo-psychedelia)*
Maxwell, blackSUMMERS’night (neo soul, R&B, funk)
Metallica, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (thrash metal, heavy metal)
Sia, This Is Acting (electropop)
Schoolboy Q, Blank Face LP (West Coast hip hop, hip hop, gangsta rap)
Sunflower Bean, Human Ceremony (alternative rock, indie rock, post-punk revival)
Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death (synthpop)
Tove Lo, Lady Wood (electropop, synthpop, techn house)
Twin Peaks, Down in Heaven (garage rock, indie, power pop)
Jamila Woods, HEAVN (R&B, hip hop)
Leyla McCalla, A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey (folk, world)*
Kris Davis, Duopoly (jazz)*
On 2 Lists
Hinds, Leave Me Alone (indie pop, pop, lo-fi)
Frankie Cosmos, Next Thing (indie pop)
Joyce Manor, Cody (emo, pop punk, indie rock)
Nao, For All We Know (electronic, funk, synthpop)
Lori McKenna, The Bird & The Rifle (singer-songwriter)
Laura Mvula, The Dreaming Room (soul, R&B)
Kate Tempest, Let Them Eat Chaos (hip hop, spoken word)
Jenny Hval, Blood Bitch (art pop, avant-garde, electronica)
The Avalanches, Wildflower (plunderphonics, electronic, neo-psychedelia)
Rae Sremmurd, SremmLife 2 (hip hop, alternative R&B)
Gallant, Ology (alternative R&B)
Kevin Gates, Islah (hip hop)
Phantogram, Three (electro rock, dream pop, electronica)
Warpaint, Heads Up (art rock, indietronica)
M83, Junk (synthpop, ambient, electronic rock)
Lambchop, FLOTUS (rock)
Heron Oblivion, Heron Oblivion (psychedelic rock, folk rock)
Field Music, Commontime (indie pop, funk)
William Bell, This is Where I Live (R&B, soul)
Dawes, We’re All Gonna Die (folk rock, pop rock)
The Monkees, Good Times! (pop rock)
Bonnie Raitt, Dig In Deep (blues rock, blues, Americana)
Alicia Keys, Here (R&B, soul, hip hop)
Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch 2 (southern rock, country rock)
Brandy Clark, Big Day in a Small Town (country)
Kamaiyah, A Good Night In The Ghetto (West Coast hip hop, R&B)
Norah Jones, Day Breaks (jazz, pop rock)
Courtney Marie Andrews, Honest Life (indie, folk)
Various Artists, Day of the Dead (compilation)
Against Me!, Shape Shift With Me (punk rock)
Thao And The Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive (alternative folk)
Tyshawn Sorey, The Inner Spectrum of Variables (jazz, avant-garde, klezmer)
Hiss Golden Messenger, Heart Like A Levee (indie folk, blues, alt country)
Dori Freeman, Dori Freeman (country, Americana, old time)
Skepta, Konnichiwa (grime, British hip hop)
Christine and the Queens, Chaleur Humaine (synthpop)
Glass Animals, How To Be A Human Being (indie rock, psychedelic pop, art pop)*
Green Day, Revolution Radio (punk rock, pop punk, alternative rock)
D.R.A.M., Big Baby D.R.A.M. (hip hop, R&B, neo soul)
Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day (Americana, country)
Joey Purp, iiidrops (hip hop)
Touché Amoré, Stage Four (post-hardcore, screamo, emo)
The Hotelier, Goodness (indie rock, punk rock)
21 Savage, Savage Mode (hip hop, trap)
Big Thief, Masterpiece (indie rock)
Aaron Lee Tasjan, Silver Tears (folk rock, rock, singer-songwriter)
Jeff Parker, The New Breed (jazz, experimental music, post-rock)
Donny McCaslin, Beyond Now (jazz)
Logan Richardson, Shift (jazz)
Henry Threadgill, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (jazz)
Wadada Leo Smith, America’s National Parks (avant-garde jazz, free improvisation)
Lakou Mizik, Wa Di Yo (world)
Calypso Rose, Far from Home (world)
Bombino, Azel (world, rock, blues)*
Derek Gripper, Libraries on Fire (world, folk)
Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live (world, Latin)
Elza Soares, A Mulher Do Fim Do Mundo (world, Latin)
Lady Maisery, Cycle (folk, world)
Rant, Reverie (folk, world)
Hans Abrahamsen, Let Me Tell You (Barbara Hannigan; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Andris Nelsons) (classical)*
R. Nathaniel Dett, The Ordering of Moses (May Festival Chorus; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; James Conlon) (classical)
Liszt, Transcendental Études (Daniil Trifonov) (classical)
Philip Glass, Einstein On The Beach (DVD) (Michael Riesman, Philip Glass Ensemble, Kate Moran, Helga Davis, Antoine Silverman, The Lucinda Childs Dance Company (classical)
J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations (Mahan Esfahani) (classical)
Shostakovich, Under Stalin’s Shadow: Symphonies 5, 8 and 9 (Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra) (classical)
Rouse, Seeing/Kabir Padavali (Talise Trevigne; David Alan Miller; Orion Weiss; Albany Symphony) (classical)*
Handel, Israel In Egypt, (arr Mendelssohn) (Lydia Teuscher, Benjamin Hulett, The Choir of The Kings Consort, The Kings Consort, Robert King) (classical)
Magdalena Kožená, Monteverdi (La Cetra, Andrea Marcon) (classical)*