Probably because this isn’t a best vocalist list. They are ranking based on this “In all cases, what mattered most to us was originality, influence, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy”.
That’s good because SP is not a bad album at all. It was just too similar to what her peers were doing at the time. People were so hard on it because they saw Lorde as an artist that only released groundbreaking albums. Those were unrealistic expectations, and she is not that type of artist so hopefully people lower their expectations for her future releases.
This is true. Lana is currently out streaming Katy despite the fact that no one is listening to the two albums she released last year. Bringing them up as an excuse doesn’t make sense.