#djsauce

One cold night in late November, inch after inch of sticky white snow drifted down into Chicago, coating the streets and rousing the snowplows from their warm weather hibernation. Technically, it would still be autumn for another month, but as far as most were concerned, the winter season had begun. Not long after that, music blogs and magazines began compiling their best-of the-year lists; best tracks, best albums, best political tweets from the pop stars. I’m reminded every December just how wary I am of this facet of music culture. Admittedly, I’ve made a secret “best albums” playlist on Spotify every year since 2013. But unlike many of my music-loving friends, I rarely share my best-of-the-year lists with others, and these are my top five reasons of 2015 why that is the case:

5. “Art is subjective” by Different People (feat. Different Taste)

Most people acknowledge that what music we love (and by extension, that which we consider the “best”) is determined by individual taste. The best-of-the-year lists could be used to celebrate the amazing diversity of music and taste in this world. But instead, the lists often feel more like entries in a competition to see who can come closer to some imaginary, truly objective list (looking at you, Pitchfork).

4. “Toxic Culture” by Flame-War and the Elitists

Everyone pretends that our best-of-the-year list making is all in good fun, like, “look what I love” and, “wow, I love that too!” But so often—especially on the internet—it’s more like: “look at my perfect taste,” and, “you tasteless philistine, how dare you put Kendrick Lamar on your list and not Future. Do you even listen to rap?” I’d rather my favorite music remain a source of happiness for me, not incite conflict with others.

3. “Gold Standard” by The Taste-Makers

A few of these reasons wouldn’t really matter if all lists were created equal. Everyone could create for themselves what it means for something to be the “best of the year.” But unfortunately, there are some lists (like those created by Pitchfork and Rolling Stone every year) that are just too big to be ignored. These best-of-the-year lists become the gold standards against which all other lists are judged—while, in reality, all lists are equally valid. No one should feel like they have to justify their choices based on decisions made by the “music elite.”

2. “Personal Reasons” by My Unique Experience

So many of the reasons that my album picks are the “best” to me come from my own personal experiences. For example, the most recent Ought album is high on my list partly because it reminds me of their incredible live performance. If you looked at my list, you would only see the album’s name, while I would see those wonderful memories and the friends who shared them with me. Similarly, you wouldn’t be able to see how an album inspired me, or how, the first time I heard it, I was walking aimlessly through the pouring rain (but that’s a story for another time).

1. “Purpose” by Justin Bieber

In the end, no best-of-the-year list really matters, because Purpose by JBiebs is undeniably the one and only best album of 2015. If you hadn’t caught the “Bieber Fever” before this album came out, then surely the epidemic has reached you by now. Just listen to those Diplo and Skrillex beats—they’re catchier than polio in a community of anti-vaxxers. This is the album that Entertainment Weekly called “deliberately of the moment.” If you don’t agree, then you’re wrong.