The Best Music That Got Us Through 2020, According to the Masses

Music Fans Worldwide Voted the Best New Albums, Male and Female Artists, Country Singers, Rappers, and K-Pop Bands of 2020

Ranker, known as the world’s leading publisher for fan-powered rankings on just about everything with over one billion votes, has announced its rankings of the top new albums and artists of 2020 in several categories including rock, country, rap, and even K-pop. Featuring some of the best of 2020, these lists include the latest music from the biggest artists today.

Ranker harnesses the wisdom of the crowd and the opinions of millions of super fans to be far more relevant and predictive than the opinion of one blogger or critic. With over 10,000 lists dedicated to music, from hard rock to indie, EDM to R&B, the voting by music fans everywhere gives us a better understanding of what we listened to in an unprecedented year.

“Personally, I’m used to attending more than 100 concerts and festivals a year, but with everything that has transpired in 2020, it just wasn’t in the cards,” said Clark Benson, CEO and founder of Ranker. “One thing we can count on through it all, is our unified undying love for music. To quote Louis Armstrong, ‘Music is life itself’.”

Here’s what Ranker voters had to say: Note: These are the rankings at the time of this release and are subject to change with continued voting.

Here’s to another year – and decade – of good music with the best new albums of 2020. Featuring highly anticipated albums from the biggest artists right now, this list of 2020 albums includes all genres. 

• Top 5 Best New Albums Of 2020 ranked by 59.3k votes

1. “Ordinary Man” – Ozzy Osbourne 2. “Such Pretty Forks in the Road” – Alanis Morisette 3. “Heartbreak Weather” –  Niall Horan 4. “Sawayama” – Rina Sawayama 5. “Nightfall” – Little Big Town

The top new artists today features the hottest new artists right now in pop, rap, rock, country, R&B, indie, EDM, and a variety of subgenres within like Orville Peck.

• Top 5 Best New Artists Of 2020 ranked by 15.2k votes

1.girl in red 2. YungBlud 3. Conan Gray  4.FINNEAS 5. Orville Peck

The best country music singers with new tracks in 2020 features rising stars, like Ashley McBryde and Gabby Barrett, as well as famous country music legends, like the Chicks, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and Carrie Underwood.

• Top 5 Best Country Artists Of 2020 ranked by 5.7k votes

1. John Pardi 2. Chris Young 3. Blake Shelton 4. Garth Brooks 5. Dolly Parton

No cappin’, here are the best rappers of 2020 who dropped new albums like Roddy Ricch, Polo G, and Drake.

• Top 5 Best Rappers Of 2020 ranked by a whopping 460.9k votes

1. Polo G 2. Lil Baby 3. Pop Smoke 4. Lil Uzi Vert 5. Roddy Ricch

This list of the hottest female rappers in 2020 features artists like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, and new female rappers, like cupcakKe and Tommy Genesis.

• Top 5 Best Female Rappers Of 2020 ranked by 12.4k votes

1. Nicki Minaj 2. Megan Thee Stallion 3. Feloni 4. Cardi B 5. Doja Cat

From debuts to anticipated comebacks, here are the best new K-pop albums of 2020 featuring the latest album releases from the biggest groups of the year.

• Top 5 Best K-Pop Albums of 2020 ranked by 7.2k votes

1. “BLOOM*IZ” – IZ*ONE“ 2. Map of the Soul: 7” – BTS 3. “Dystopia: The Tree of Language” – Dreamcatcher 4. “#” – LOONA 5. “回: Labyrinth” – GFriend

This is just a sample size of the data-driven recommendations based on voting from over 35 million unique visitors per month on Ranker. From every corner of the planet, Ranker keeps a finger on the pulse of the masses, further proving Ranker’s continued dedication to exciting original content, curated by the public.

To find out more about all things music related on Ranker, please click here.  These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com, converts them into actionable psychographics about pop-culture fans across the world, and even powers our new TV recommendation app Watchworthy.