Best new year, new me tunes

Congratulations on making it to day six of 2019. Regardless of whether or not you make resolutions, chances are you’re tightening the belt in one or two areas of your life, because everyone loves a clean slate.

The clean slate currently in question, New Year’s, is the most significant. You’ve cranked out your fresh diary and aggressively penned in ‘‘workout 6am’’ every day for the next two months.

Because the big album releases of 2019 are yet to get under way, we have to pull belttightening inspiration from the big guns of 2018. I’m talking about the hardcore, kick-yourA-into-G albums that we didn’t use to their full capacity in our late-October ‘‘I’ll do better in 2019’’ headspaces.

The Carters – Everything Is Love: Beyonce and Jay-Z have been motivating the masses for decades. Their collaborative album is a perfectly produced hip-hop record, pulling together their greatest strengths. It’s political, loved up, and bathes in the couple’s shared victories.

Anyone striving for success can learn from this record. On NICE (featuring Pharrell), the chorus literally repeats, ‘‘I can do anything (woo) yeah.’’

Nicki Minaj – Queen: If there was one person with something to prove in 2018, it was Nicki Minaj. She didn’t need to, but in the wake of Cardi B’s ascent, her quest to show her relevance made sense.

Queen is 19 tracks of selfempowerment, sexual agency and petty beef. Hits Majesty, Bed and Chun-Li go especially hard.

Lil Peep – Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt 2: If you’re feeling meta, Lil Peep’s posthumously released album is a jolting reminder of what could have been. It’s Peep at his best, bare bones hip-hop production and raw, autobiographical lyrics, all deeply rooted in the pop-punk genre. Life Is Beautiful hits particularly hard.

Next time you’re pressed for motivation, repeat the opening lyric ‘‘I know that it hurts sometimes, but it’s beautiful.’’ Your heart is beating, and it’s never too late to start something new, whatever that might be.