Top 20 Albums of 2012 - If you weren’t paying attention, 2012 might have underwhelmed musically. Most of the usual household stars who take over iTunes and sell out big-box stores—Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, Drake—stayed relatively quiet after dropping blockbuster albums last year. But nature abhors a vacuum, and so does music. The void left by crossover superstars in 2012 was filled by left-field, uncompromising albums from overlooked or just-emerging artists. The result was a great year for music. It was easy to miss some of these fantastic LPs—many were released independently, and didn’t produce the expected radio hits. But isn’t that what the Internet’s for? Here, BET.com counts down the best albums in an exciting year for breakthrough music. —Alex Gale