The Best Songs of 2024 (100-51)
2024 was a challenging year for me. Not a bad year, necessarily. If anything, I’m grateful for a year where my personal life has been mostly stable. Some major highs, some deep lows. Things to look forward to, things to dread. I empathize with a lot of people who can’t see the good in the current state of the world and see a bleak 2025 on the horizon. But 2024 was a year of difficult self-reflection for me. Where my optimism didn’t die, but it took a different form. One that’s a little more jaded than it used to be, but also deeply resents the idea of giving up. I think I grew colder this year, not just as a person but even as a critic. Despite a banner year for music, especially in the mainstream pop sphere, I also found myself a lot more negative and sour towards the music and artists I disliked. Not to a performative degree like my very early writing in the late 2010s, but in a way that I just couldn’t give certain artists a fair chance or tone down my negative feelings for the sake of those who did enjoy it. I don’t know how much of that is knowing how the sausage gets made from nearly ten years of following popular music or certain events from this year has made me less and less empathetic to “the people”, but 2024 was certainly the meanest I’ve been in a long time.
But that doesn’t translate to this list; The Best Songs of 2024. Because in this, the ninth year of compiling and writing these lists, 2024 was by far the hardest list to put together I’ve ever had. I feel like I say this every year, but I seriously mean it this time. There was so much music I loved this year, an almost overwhelming amount of songs I would consider instant favorites of the decade that I’ve cherished every moment with. Whether they’re songs I listened to over and over again or songs that gave me an incredible first impression despite not returning to them as often as I wanted to. I listened to 165 projects released this year, not even counting the albums from previous years I explored for the first time. And of the thousands of songs released this year that I listened to, I whittled the list down to 157 finalists. It took until we moved into the new year for me to finalize a selection of 100 songs to write about for this list.
I look forward to this list every year, but I’m especially looking forward to it this year. There’s a lot to be scared of going into 2025, but it’s moments of passion like this that keep me going through even the worst of times. These songs and artists bring me so much joy and excitement every single day. And that joy is something to never take for granted. We’ll have times to grieve, times to be angry, and times to fight, but in the past two months alone, we’ve experienced so much sorrow. Now is the time for joy.
As a reminder of my rules for these lists, I generally limit them to songs that are relevant to the year. That means released on a project this year, released as a single this year (even if the song existed in a previous year), and to keep things concise I’m gonna limit this list to five songs per artist. I would do three but some artists dominated my year so much that three songs wouldn’t do them justice. Don’t worry, it doesn’t happen as often as it did last year.
Since I had 57 songs I cut from the list, here’s a quick run-through of honorable mentions that would have made it if I felt like writing about 125 songs.
Agent Somebody by DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
Dafodil by Jamie xx ft. Kelsey Lu, John Glacier & Panda Bear
Balloon by Tyler The Creator ft. Doechii
Alone by The Cure
Rhinestone Cowboy by Orville Peck ft. TJ Osborne, Waylon Payne & Fancy Hagood
Little Homies by Vince Staples
BENIN BOYS by Rema & Shallipopi
I Had Some Help by Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen
luther by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
Overcompensate by twenty one pilots
This Station by DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter
II MOST WANTED by Beyonce & Miley Cyrus
Endsong by The Cure
La Diabla by Xavi
two by bbno$
WHERE U FROM by Joey Valence & Brae
Joy by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Why Dallas by ERNEST ft. Lukas Nelson
The Last Temptation of Will E. Coyote by B. Dolan
SIN MIEDO by JPEGMAFIA
Years That Fall by Snow Patrol
obsessed by Olivia Rodrigo
Mienteme by Orville Peck & Bu Cuaron
AMERICAN FEVER by JOBA
Seriously, I would love to gush to you guys about how much I love these songs and how they’re just as worthy to be on the actual list. But I have a full-time job and finishing this was exhausting. Maybe next year I’ll find a way to give myself a week-long vacation just to hide away and write about my silly little songs.
#100 Ginger Root - No Problems
I was introduced to Ginger Root by a friend and was immediately drawn to his brand of bedroom city pop. Music that sounds like it’s coming from the faint static of an old television set or beat-up car radio. “Loretta” is my favorite song of his, but he also dropped a delightful album this year with an even more delightful opening song. A funky, groovy little tune where Ginger Root jerks around and begs for clarity over a slick-as-hell bass groove and keys that sound like sunshine. I love the little descending piano that leads into the ridiculously catchy chorus. The texture of “No Problems” oozes with vintage charm, and adds so much to what’s already a tremendous little pop song.
#99 Weird Al Yankovic - Polkamania!
I’ve had this running thought for the past five years where if Weird Al were to ever make another pop music polka medley, he would have to make a polka parody of Billie Eilish’s “bad guy”. So imagine my absolute delight when not only did Weird Al release his first pop music polka medley in a decade, but the very first song he parodied was, in fact, “bad guy” by Billie Eilish. I was ECSTATIC. That alone would have cemented this as one of my favorite songs of the year, but the song keeps going with hilarious covers of songs like “Despacito”, “Uptown Funk”, “Old Town Road” and “thank u, next”. It was a little bit nostalgic hearing Weird Al spoof the past ten years of pop music history. Of course, the true highlight of the song is the abrupt transition into Weird Al singing, “I want you to park that Big Mack truck, right in this little garage” in the goofiest melody imaginable as the song transitions into a “WAP” parody of all things. Funniest moment in pop music this year.
#98 MGMT - People In The Streets
Surprisingly, not the first time MGMT has made a songs list of mine. I included “TSLAP” from Little Dark Age on my best songs list all the way back in 2018, with an album that has honestly aged better than I expected it to. I liked MGMT’s album this year, Loss Of Life, but “People In The Street” is the easy standout for me. The gentle patter of the drums and grumbling bass gives off a sense of disaffected exhaustion, which fits the subject of the complicated solidarity of “the people in the streets”. MGMT describes a world that seems to be falling apart every minute, and yet the one thing that persists even at its most chaotic is the people themselves. Who ironically, can also be our biggest obstacle. I’m always a sucker for songs about how “humans are all we got”, and this song fits that bill. “The people in the streets aren’t singing along, cuz they’re probably sick, and they’re probably tired”. That line in particular sticks with me. If there’s anything that unites people in our current climate, it’s the recognition that we’re all so fucking tired.
#97 Vontee The Singer w/Cash Cobain - IMU
Cash Cobain is probably the rap producer of the year alongside DJ Mustard (we’ll get to him soon). Sexy drill blew up this year in major part thanks to Cash Cobain innovating the genre with sandy trap snares, gentle samples, and slippery flows that embody sex and love. There are a lot of Cash Cobain songs I could have put on here, from the spectacular sex jam “Fisherr” to his Laila! assisted posse cut “problem!”. But “IMU” ended up being the accidental find that stuck with me the most. The sample used in this song, “I Miss You” by Aaron Hall, is submerged in a soft, warm filter that makes it sound like a 50s soul classic rather than a 90s R&B ballad. Below it are the trademark sandy snares, rolling bass punches, and some plush key flourishes that swirl around the listener with pinks and reds. Vontee The Singer leads this song, with his high-pitched voice and quick flows that would normally feel like too much of a contrast to the slower, sensual beat. Instead, his bars and jittery passion get you into the moment between him and his sweetheart. That mix of romantic and horny where the sex is fun and the love is shared rather than feeling transactional. Utilizing all the strengths of sexy drill into a song I never expected to be on my radar, but now will never leave.
#96 Willi Carlisle - When The Pills Wear Off
CW: Drugs, addiction
A prevailing theme of Willi Carlisle’s discography is the weight of addiction in his life, from himself or others. The kind of addiction that slowly kills you as you get more and more adjusted to the ways it tears you apart one by one. While the album has some intense moments, none of them gut me like “When The Pills Wear Off” did. A frank admission of his repeated use of drugs like heroin and fentanyl, and the guilt that he hides from every day of his life. He knows the damage these drugs can do to a person. He lost friends to it, his father battled it when he was alive. But he keeps coming back for it, and he doesn’t get enough time to feel remorse for his weakness because by the time the guilt comes back, he’s already injecting another dose into his thigh. It’s a devastating, haunting song that doesn’t even offer a glimpse of optimism or redemption. All you can do is watch Willi slowly kill himself for a few hours of a clear mind. The gentle guitar strums and weeping violin are tragic enough, but over a story this distressingly real and hard to get through… it’s a lot.
#95 The Red Clay Strays - Drowning
The Red Clay Strays are one of the big breakout stars of country music this year, and I expect them to be even bigger with time. It’s pretty exciting to hear this brand of Southern rock doing well enough to even chart on the Hot 100, and their major label debut Made By These Moments proved that these guys are in it for the long haul. I really like their breakout hit “Wondering Why”, I LOVE the lead single to this album, “Wanna Be Loved”, but “Drowning” was the one that blew me away the instant I heard it. The pipes on lead singer Brandon Coleman are unbelievable, howling over this slick, bluesy Southern groove with fuzzy guitar snarls and twangy sneers in a way that reminds me of the best of Chris Stapleton. There’s so much power and ferocity in that voice of his, painfully pleading for someone to save him from drowning under the weight of his demons. Being able to make this sort of soul-bearing ballad is hard enough on its own, but for him and the band to sell the stakes of this song through its gnarly instrumentation and desperate lyrics is so impressive to me.
#94 Remi Wolf - Toro
You have no idea how many Remi Wolf songs I could have put on this list. I’d always been aware of her for a while, and even really liked some of her early songs like 2020’s “Hello Hello Hello”, but she didn’t start clicking for me until I heard some buzz for her album this year. “Toro” was the song that convinced me I needed to dive into this album. A groovy, bouncy love song about hooking up in a hotel and being a menace to basically everyone in the building. Remi Wolf has the unabashed horniness of Sabrina Carpenter, but I prefer the way Remi’s more chaotic, euphoric delivery sells it. The way she yells “I FLY TO MIAAAAAMIII” in the second pre-chorus is so full of energy and excitement that the fact that it sounds a little shrill doesn’t even matter because you’re getting sucked up in the energy yourself. More than anything the song is ridiculously fun. Those jingling bells and handclaps do so much to keep you in the mood and remind you that sex, while it can be hot and sensual, can also just be fun and debaucherous. Especially when you’re doing it so loudly and obnoxiously that the neighbors are probably knocking on your doors telling you to knock it off.
#93 Key Glock - Let’s Go
I listened to Key Glock’s Glockoma 2 (Deluxe) right at the end of the year, and from there, one song latched onto me like a parasite throughout the first quarter of the year. Somehow, that song started getting popular enough to go viral, and it resulted in one of Key Glock’s biggest-ever hits. I can’t even be a little surprised it turned out to be “Let’s Go”, a song built entirely off of mishearing a Polish choir singing “Let’s go!” and twisting it into one of the hardest trap bangers of the year. I love the repeated chop of the choir seemingly chanting “leeeet’s go, let’s gooooo let’s go” paired with a pounding bass and skittering trap hi-hats as Key Glock flexes about being the hardest in the game for two and a half minutes. I don’t know if I even want it to be longer, this song does so much in so little time and never leaves your head. Key Glock muttering “let’s goooo” under his breath as the sample carries the whole song is so badass and operatic. It’s like he’s going Super Saiyan Goku right in front of our eyes! This has one hell of a video too where Key Glock just goes around swerving in cars and kicking people’s asses with martial arts. Shout out to the posthumous remix with the late Young Dolph as well. I prefer the original, but Dolph sounds great on this song anyway.
#92 Conan Gray - Bourgeoisieses
Conan Gray barely missed my list last year with “Never Ending Song”, an 80s pastiche with his best-ever hook and plays up his flamboyance to fit the mold of the weird pop star flukes of the 80s. I love that song a lot, but I think with the full album out where we get even more 80s pastiche jams coming from Conan, my favorite song of his is now this one. Mostly because it plays even further into the weird flamboyance of the pastiche, contorting his voice into a deep and snobby tone that matches the wealthy freaks Conan looks up to in this song. It’s almost cartoonish the way he describes his desires to be rich and upper class, matched pretty effectively by the sharp and sour synths and buzzy bass. Conan’s cadence throughout the song is odd too, almost half-speaking and yelping his voice in all sorts of directions. “But I don’t need thAaAt, I need a mAaaserRrAAaAttiiIiIIII”!!! It’s all a farce, but there is a little bit of reality in that jealousy for those who made it by playing unfairly and throwing away their morals for their own sake. Which I think makes the song even more compelling beyond its very silly, but incredibly fun aesthetic.
#91 Hamish Hawk - Men Like Wire
An idea I’ve heard repeatedly in political essays and discussions is the idea of men performing for other men. A lot of misogyny and power plays are usually done out of insecurity around other men, who are also insecure. There’s some truth in that, especially when we live in societies and industries built on competition. Hamish Hawk takes an interesting approach to this with “Men Like Wire”, a song that outright admits feeling inadequate and subservient to other men. The idea of “men built like wire”, men you see on the surface to be sturdy and dashing, while you soften in your presence, it’s an odd feeling that can just as easily feel daunting as it is erotic. Hamish Hawk is gay after all. You feel that rush of intimidation and attraction in the production too, which features a killer guitar groove and driving percussion led by Hamish’s dashing baritone. Even as someone who considers themselves primarily transfeminine, there’s still that uneasy feeling I get sometimes when I meet a man who seems a little too perfect. Men I compare myself to even when I shouldn’t. It’s an odd feeling that I’m glad Hamish was able to put into words, especially paired up with such a monster hook and rollicking groove.
#90 Post Malone - Hey Mercedes
For a while, I was pretty confident that if any song from Post Malone’s surprise bonus album, Long Bed, was gonna appear on my best songs list, it’d be the devastating divorce ballad “Two Hearts”. Instead, “Hey Mercedes” got more and more plays from me through the late summer/early fall. Sometimes all you need is a killer chorus and a joyously smitten protagonist. “Hey Mercedes” is very in line with late 90s, early 2000s pop country with its twangy steel guitars and crowd-jumping drums, on top of a sweet little fiddle solo right before the bridge. There’s not much to the song; Post Malone finds a pretty girl at the bar and is so immediately in love with her he’s ready to spend the rest of his life with her on the spot. “Hey Mercedes, whatcha doin’ for the rest of your life?” is such a corny, but endearing lyric to center your song around, but the infectious energy of both the band and Posty himself sell the stakes of this romantic rendezvous. The kind of love that takes you so high you never wanna come down.
#89 Megan Moroney - No Caller ID
Megan Moroney has been one of the more exciting breakout country stars of the decade. If I may give an enormous and possibly over-the-top compliment, she’s the closest country music has gotten to another Taylor Swift. I’m not just saying that to be hyperbolic, I genuinely believe Megan’s writing capabilities have incredible potential. I’m willing to bet on “No Caller ID” in particular becoming a major cult classic in the years to come. Megan sings about an ex who keeps calling her back when she thinks she’s over him and growing out of the hurt he caused her. Like a constant roadblock on the path to healing. But she implies that she’s kept going back to him even when she knows she shouldn’t, and you can hear the divided pain in her voice over the gorgeous cries of the steel guitar. Where this song sells me though is in the final chorus, where one night she decides to just let it ring. The words of the chorus change to signify she’s let go and moving past that roadblock. My favorite lyric change is from “When I’m movin’ on, you move back in, with your half-assed “Sorry, how you have been?” to “When I’m movin’ on, you move back in, keep your half-assed “Sorry, how you been?”. All she did was change one word, but in that single change, you see the growth that’s allowed her to move on and finally stand her ground against this manipulative ex. Get his ass.
#88 ScHoolboy Q - Yeern 101
BLUE LIPS is a really good, but also really frustrating album. I think if these beats and hooks were more fleshed out I’d happily call it ScHoolboy Q’s best, but there are too many instances where the album gets exciting and then it abruptly cuts to another beat or another song entirely. Part of me wonders if my perspective is just skewed by “Yeern 101”, the album’s lead single and solidly in the running for my all-time favorite ScHoolboy Q song. Technically, it has some of the same issues I have with the album. It’s barely over two minutes and the song ends abruptly as soon as it hits its stride. But I think what separates “Yeern 101” from the rest is that it makes the most of its limited time. ScHoolboy’s bars are relentless. His flow builds and builds alongside the menacing rumble of the bass and the sharp snaps of the snares. There isn’t a second where ScHoolboy isn’t locked in, switching verses at the snap of a finger and raising his snarl exactly when he needs to. The one break he takes is a brief instrumental interlude where you can feel the whole room rumble and bounce to the beat. You get one more verse that lasts juuuust long enough to feel like a complete experience. Assuming you didn’t go immediately for the replay button to experience it all over again.
#87 Twenty One Pilots - Next Semester
CW: reference to suicide/self-harm
Anyone who knows me knows that I have a deep love and admiration for Blurryface, an album that, by all accounts, has aged a bit weirdly. But I think part of the fun of being a Twenty One Pilots fan is seeing how Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun grow both as musicians and people. I think that’s partially why “Next Semester” ended up as my favorite from their lore-heavy album Clancy. Tyler Joseph’s writing has always focused on anxiety, but in this song, it feels like he has more of a firm grasp on it. There’s still a ton of anxious energy throughout the song, especially through Josh Dun’s incredible drum work, the anthemic rock energy bursting out of the guitars, and the weary shouts of “What’s about to happen!?” and “I don’t want to be here!”. But there’s an odd calmness in the chorus where Tyler recalls a moment where he stood in the middle of the road, possibly in hopes of getting hit and ending his life, but the most vivid thing he remembers is a voice yelling at him, “Hey kid! Get out of the road!”. It’s left ambiguous whether that voice came from the driver about to hit him or if it was that survival instinct to save your own life. The idea of accepting what’s been done and starting over next semester is a more optimistic sentiment coming from an otherwise bleak song. An acceptance that the past is set in stone, but the future isn’t. And that’s the motivation that the titular Clancy needs to finish the fight against Blurryface, the manifestation of his anxiety.
#86 Chromeo - BTS
“Late-stage capitalism is a curse” is not a line I expected to come out of my funky Chromeo song about being too tired for sex. I can’t say I don’t welcome it though. P-Thugg drops one hell of a jammy disco-funk groove with bouncy rhythms and keys so bright it could blind you. Meanwhile, Dave-1 gets candid about how exhausting life has been lately. Too much work to do, too little money to spend. Although he’s deeply attracted to and in love with his partner, Dave can’t help but suggest that maybe they take it easy tonight. Watch a movie, don’t say a word, just let those aching muscles rest for a little bit. It’s kind of a silly premise, but it’s also a very real one, at least to me. I also have an exhausting, really time-intensive job, and there have been too many instances this year where I just can’t do anything else when I get home except for watching YouTube videos and sleeping early. Coincidentally, I didn’t get laid much this year either.
#85 Post Malone ft. Billy Strings - M-E-X-I-C-O
Despite being much more receptive to the bonus album Long Bed, my favorite Post Malone song this year turned out to be from F1-Trillion itself. You have no idea how refreshing it was to hear this song after an album of good, but very predictable and Nashville-friendly pop country songs. Instead, this one is more of a bluegrass banger, as evidenced by the presence of Billy Strings on the song (only on vocals tho. Lame). The drums are wicked fast, the steel goes crazy behind Post’s most energetic and wild vocals on the album, the fiddle sounds incredible alongside the flutter of the banjo, and all three get some awesome solos right before the bridge. It’s easily the best-sounding song on the album, ridiculously fun by itself. But I also love the story Post tells in this song! A Looney Tunes-esque comedy of errors where he keeps finding himself on the run with money in his hand and a dream of relaxing on the beaches of Mexico. But like a dumbass, he keeps finding himself amid trouble, from dating a diplomat’s daughter to a shotgun wedding with a stripper in Vegas. Posty ends the song in jail after his lawyer girlfriend flees from a police raid leaving Post in the crossfires and finally landing in Mexico, just behind bars. So not only is the song a ton of fun from a musical standpoint, but it’s also genuinely really funny! The kind of creative energy I wish was more present in the final album.
#84 Wade Bowen - The Request
I feel like every time Wade Bowen releases an album, there’s always that one song that becomes an instant favorite of mine. This is technically his first time appearing on one of my song lists, but I’ve always loved this guy’s very classic, very reliable Texas country. In retrospect, I should have put “Day Of The Dead” from his 2018 album, Solid Ground, on my best list that year. I’m not making that mistake again with “The Request”, a song I just kept coming back to all year as a comfort. Which, funny enough, is what the song is about. Performing at a honky tonk, Wade Bowen gets a request from a heartbroken woman to play a heartbreak song she can dance to all night long. Anything to keep her from drinking her sorrows away or making a mistake she can’t take back. There’s something quietly sad about this woman’s predicament. She’s hurting and at the end of her rope, and the only thing that can keep her head on straight is a sad song to move her feet to. It’s not gonna get rid of the feeling, but it’s a nice respite. Although Wade Bowen doesn’t outright say anything, you can hear in his voice the empathy he has for this woman, and how special this song is to her during her lowest moment. The gentle waning guitars and the darker thrum of the bass sound so warm against Wade Bowen’s refined, floaty voice. And the melody is enough to get you swaying and lost in the vibes as that heartache quiets down for just a little longer.
#83 The Aces - The Magic
Of course, if you’re looking for something a little steamier, maybe a song about a relationship at its peak rather than its end, here’s the best song The Aces have ever made. I got to their album last year way too late, but I really enjoyed it! Probably would have made my albums list last year if I ever made one. “The Magic” is a whole other beast though. A crispy bassline with a strict, funky tempo, the ghostly synths in the back, and the way the song snaps together with this disco funk flair on the hook are so infectious. The drum roll at the tail end of each chorus is also very welcome and very awesome. What elevates the song beyond its catchy as-hell groove is Cristal Ramirez bragging about her and her partner being the unstoppable power couple that freezes the room every time they walk in. I am obsessed with their unabashed pride in the ways they turn each other on and make their horny PDA everybody’s problem. They’re both hot, they’re both gay, and everyone in the room envies what they have. They earned the right to be this arrogant about each other, they’re practically the lesbian version of Adam and Morticia. God, I envy them too.
#82 Allie X - Off With Her Tits
I’ve already written about this song during Amnesty Week on The Singles Jukebox. You can take a look at what I wrote here, but I don’t mind repeating myself a little for this list. “Off With Her Tits” is awesome, probably the most I’ve been impressed by Allie X. A very frank and haunted song about body dysmorphia and the agonizing pain of being perceived and judged by others through your body. From being perved at by strangers in the shower to even bank tellers wondering why you would ever want to get breast augmentation surgery with a killer rack like that. But the dark synth-wave production pounding in your ears, swirling around Allie’s shrieks and jaded frustration, tells you exactly why Allie would desperately want her tits off of her chest. It’s a burden and a nightmare.
#81 Zach Top - I Never Lie
One of my favorite things about getting older is meeting up with old friends and talking about what’s been going on since the last time you saw each other. Part of me always fears that friendships will fade with enough distance and silence apart, but really, you’re just picking things up from where you last left off. Zach Top’s “I Never Lie” is such a shining example of this kind of thing. Over the most deliciously neotraditional country instrumentation you can think of, Zach meets up with an ex whose life is going great. She’s found someone new, she’s moving up in her career, and she still looks as great as she did back then. But rather than turn into a somber, regretful lament on what they could have been and how much Zach still has feelings for her, he goes the complete opposite direction. Zach’s life has also been doing great! He’s also met someone new, he’s living a nice, healthy life, and he’s emotionally healed enough to acknowledge he’s moved on and doesn’t dwell on her since they broke up. It’s such a genuine, wholesome moment between two now friends whose lives are doing great and there’s no tension left between them. “Wish I could say I miss you, but you know I never lie” might sound passive-aggressive on paper, but he delivers it so earnestly that it feels more like an acknowledgment that the past is the past, and those feelings are different now.
#80 Doechii - NISSAN ALTIMA
Doechii is looking to have a huge 2025, which is really exciting! After a constant back and forth between wild bangers and milquetoast R&B, Alligator Bites Never Heal felt like a honing in on Doechii’s strengths as a rapper and as a personality. “NISSAN ALTIMA” is her best song yet. Mainly because Doechii herself is the star of the show. Her hook on top of the chime of the beat immediately follows it up with this rapid-fire flow where Doechii brags about how awesome she is. Her verse goes by so fast, but so many quotable lines blur by in the process. “I’m the new hip-hop, Madonna, I’m the trap Grace Jones”, she boasts as a reminder that not only is Doechii a star, but she’s a queer icon who can and will pull your girl if she wants to. Her verses are delivered with so much relentless authority that you fully buy that she’s the baddest motherfucker in the room. This song is barely over two minutes, but there’s so much to unpack. Even going back through the lyrics, I missed so many stellar lines that didn’t even process in my mind because I was too busy jamming out to them. “You bitches barking over bones, I got digits to fetch”!? Who comes up with that!?
#79 ERNEST - Kiss Of Death
ERNEST sits in the shadows of his collaborator Morgan Wallen far too often, so I’m glad he was willing to keep “Kiss Of Death” for himself when it very easily could have been one of Wallen’s best-ever songs. Which I don’t say as a negative to Wallen so much as an encouragement for ERNEST’s best instincts as a songwriter and composer. This song has one hell of a blistering banjo army. With one plucking away in the background the more electric twang snarls a nasty melody that sounds as dangerous as it is heroic. ERNEST sings about a woman who wronged him with so much venom that you’d think he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. And yet, he’s candid about how much he’s so irresistibly attracted to her. As much as he hates the pain, he keeps coming back to it for a reason. You feel it in the snarl of his voice and that powerful chorus that rings across the banjos and steel guitar. I would love to see him write another song like this for Wallen, but I also know ERNEST himself is plenty capable of delivering more excellence like this.
#78 Chappell Roan - HOT TO GO!
I had three, nearly four Chappell Roan songs on my list last year. So seeing her explode in popularity this year after knowing she was a star in the making early on has been one of the most exciting moments of the year for me. “HOT TO GO!” did not make my list the previous year, but its ubiquity this year landed it back in my rotation anyway as the unstoppable earworm it always was. Chappell herself is always the star of her own music, but it feels especially true here with her unbridled energy and enthusiasm with every chant of “H-O-T-T-O-G-O”. The final chorus especially where she bellows in the background with so much power and insane breath control always makes me smile uncontrollably. You can tell she put so much love and passion into every word, and hearing her get more and more excited through the bridge and into that big finale is the kind of showmanship and euphoria that pop music is made for.
#77 Magdalena Bay - Image
“Image” was an earworm that snuck into my psyche almost without warning. I knew it was great on first listen, but the more I came back to that thumping beat, spacey synths, and Mica Tenenbaum’s soft and sensual cooing, the more I found myself revisiting this trippy space adventure every day. There’s something almost alien about how perfect the way this song comes together. Drum rolls come in exactly when they need to, instruments come in and fade away at the right points, and a constant bounce and eerie vibe glides in the air without breaking a sweat. The hook to this song isn’t even that big or cinematic, but it’s such a hypnotizing melody that you remember every minute of it when you’re away. If “HOT TO GO!” is pop music at its most raw and animated fun, “Image” is at its coldest, most calculated, but still just as enthralling form.
#76 JID ft. 21 Savage & Baby Tate - Surround Sound
“Surround Sound” is technically two years old, probably three by the time this list is posted. It was the lead single to JID’s outstanding album The Forever Story, but it became a much bigger hit this year thanks to a TikTok trend giving it a second wind. I’m grateful that it happened because I don’t think I ever fully appreciated this song until this year. JID is a stellar rapper, one of the best in the game right now. His slippery flow and smarmy voice come across with so much confidence, riding the crisp trap percussion and eerie soul sample with ease as he passes the baton to 21 Savage’s best guest verse of the past few years. The menace of his voice is such a perfect fit for the unsettling vibes of the beat, and he sounds more focused and hungry than he ever has. Savage has taken a hit with me due to overexposure on other rappers’ albums and his awful collab album with Drake, Her Loss, so it was nice to be reminded of what 21 can do at his best with this song. Still, JID ends up taking the spotlight anyway with a beat switch (shout out Baby Tate for her brief appearance) into a spookier, lurking beat as he details the impoverished neighborhood he and his friends lived through. It gives this otherwise bouncy and fun song you can play in the car a harsh reality check at the end that keeps it from glorifying the gang violence and daily struggle JID has been through. Not like he isn’t having fun though.
#75 Wyatt Flores - Milwaukee
Last year Wyatt Flores came in at the last minute to become one of my favorite breakout artists in the country scene. This year he’s only continued to impress me and prove that he’s one of the future greats in indie country. I didn’t love his second mini-album, Half-Life, nearly as much as its predecessor, but thankfully it had “Milwaukee” which stands up tall to my favorites from Life Lessons. The galloping percussion over the elegance of the fiddle and background whistles from Flores himself make for one hell of a catchy song. Wyatt Flores himself also delivers a killer performance, delivering the hook with so much energy and passion that you can feel the desperation of the song. A relationship that’s long gone, but also wracked with guilt and regrets. I love the frigid imagery that Flores evokes in the song. Cold and bitter as the winds of Milwaukee. Flores knows the main reason this relationship ended was because of his own distant, closed-off instincts, and it was probably for the worse that he just let her go instead of apologizing or trying to make things right. Flores isn’t even sure if he wants this relationship to continue, but there are still enough feelings left that he wouldn’t want to leave things on a cold note. However knowing himself, it’s probably too late.
#74 Kacey Musgraves - Sway
This is a weird instance of a song being an instant favorite of mine when I first listened to it, but it dropped down my rankings pretty gradually throughout the year. To the point where it’s not even my favorite song on Kacey Musgraves’ stellar album Deeper Well anymore. It’s not like the song got worse for me though, it’s still an excellent song. I knew I was in for something incredible when those gentle strings opened up to a lovely guitar chord and a soft pummel for the percussion. On sound alone, this song perfectly embodies its title. With the steady guitar beat, the glow of the strings, and Kacey’s beautifully soft voice, you can practically feel the wind gently blow through your hair. It’s a song that takes it very easy, just asking you to slow down and let nature take its course. Some of Kacey’s best work has her in complete harmony with nature; this song is a tremendous example. The song gets even better when Kacey’s voice splits into a gorgeous choir especially its final thirty seconds where the instrumentation leaves and you’re left with some amazing self-harmonies. It feels like a true moment of inner peace and calm. Finally, a moment to breathe.
#73 Kaitlyn Butts & Cleto Cordeo - People Will Say We’re In Love
For those unaware, Kaitlyn Butts and Flatland Cavalry’s Cleo Cordeo are the power couple in Texas country. Flatland Cavalry’s biggest hit, “A Life Where We Work Out”, is a duet between Cleto and Kaitlyn! So the two are no strangers to making love songs about and to each other. “People Will Say We’re In Love” probably embodies what makes this couple so endearing the best. It’s a cover of a song from the musical Oklahoma!, which tracks given how much that musical inspired Kaitlyn’s album Roadrunner! The song is already a classic, one of the most beloved romantic duets of all time. I’m a sucker for romantic partners admiring the little things about their partner, so lyrics about the way their partners sigh around them, standing in the rain together, baking his favorite pie and giving her that rose and seeing her face glow, it’s all ridiculously charming for me. Kaitlyn and Cleto do such an incredible job selling it too. You can just hear the affection and adoration they have for each other. Neither have the immense voices that Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae had, but the softness and passion in their voices still make this song just as blissfully romantic. The best part is while in the original, the song leads to a rejection, Kaitlyn and Cleto change the final lyrics to “Let people say we’re in love”. Showing that they already have it figured out and aren’t afraid to show people their love for one another.
#72 Katie Pruitt - Leading Actress
One of my favorite parts of Expectations was the love songs at the tail end of the album. A beam of light in Katie’s life after grappling with their sexuality and religion, and the true answer to all her doubts and uncertainties throughout the album. Unfortunately, based on the lack of straightforward love songs on Mantras, it seems that the relationship didn’t last. “Leading Actress” ended up being the song that gravitated towards me the most, primarily because it’s a situation I’ve been in before. When you love someone for long enough, and for whatever reason they suddenly leave your life, it’s hard not to feel like they aren’t a constant presence in your mind. Katie’s metaphor of an ex being the “leading actress” in her own movie is such a great descriptor of what it’s like to be so enveloped in someone that they’re more important to your story than, well, yourself. On top of swapping her out with replacements who just don’t pull it off the same way your ex can. This is a feeling I went through as a teenager, but thankfully it’s one I no longer experience. I’ve come to realize that I am my own main character and people will come and go in your life at any point, but you’re still you. That said, I also empathize a lot with the kind of lingering heartbreak that this song evokes.
#71 Wyatt Flores - When I Die
On top of following up Life Lessons, Wyatt Flores also released a stellar debut full-length album, with a higher production budget and a full vision for the stories he wants to tell. The song that stuck with me the most is the early deep cut “When I Die”. The production is a very classic country fair, with a gentle tapping tempo over the twiddling of guitars and banjos. The strum of the steel feels especially homely, and later in the song when a piano kicks the song into a brighter tempo it feels like the flowers around you are blooming. What I love most about the song though is the lyrics, a surprisingly frank, tongue-in-cheek reflection on what will happen when Wyatt Flores dies. Flores reflects a lot on death throughout this album, an alarming amount for someone so young. But this one has a humorous edge where he’ll make out-of-pocket comments like how he hopes they’ll accidentally drop the casket and send his body flying into the grass. Or asking to be cut in half because funerals are expensive so one half can go in the casket and the other in a to-go box. Or even asking that his casket be decorated like his album covers cuz “That’d be pretty damn sweet”. It’s a little morbid, but there’s enough sincerity in Wyatt’s voice to imply that he’s happy with the life he’s lived and all he asks is that his partner is there with him when the time comes. It’s optimistic in a very twisted way.
#70 Magdalena Bay - Cry For Me
Much like “Image”, “Cry For Me” was a song that I enjoyed the first time around, and then it kept creeping up on me and burying itself into my psyche. The spacey synths are up to eleven at this point, building upon a delicious bass groove and futuristic synths paired up with some incredible-sounding strings. You’re practically going into hyperspace when the song starts. It’s kind of incredible to me just how much they cram into this song without it ever sounding crowded or busy. The bass groove is clean as hell, the little synth flourishes come in at just the right time, and the production gets a ton of room to breathe and flesh itself out. All the while Mica’s ghostly vocals act as your guide through this nightmarish journey. “Share a little kiss, and that’s forever” sounds as much like an invitation as it does a threat. For as exhilarating as this production is, it’s also kind of daunting. That perfect middle ground that lives in the thrill of the moment, like a kick-ass roller coaster. The further along this song goes the more it just overwhelms me. I LOVE it when songs overwhelm me like that. The kind that when it’s all over, you forget where you were even standing a few minutes ago.
#69 Tyler, The Creator ft. ScHoolboy Q & Santigold - Thought I Was Dead
CHROMAKOPIA is one of my favorite albums of the year for its interesting self-reflection and growth for Tyler as a person, with some of his most insightful and engaging storytelling that puts him a tier above the rest of his peers. So of course my favorite songs off this album don’t reflect that at all. Instead, I kept coming back to the menacing horns and clock-esque ticking percussion, accented by tuba honks and crowds yelling “hey!”. The menace of this song is borderline goofy, mocking you like a schoolyard bully. The snarky delivery of “You [fuckers] thought I was dead!” as the hook is so ridiculous, but it’s so much fun to bounce along to. ScHoolboy Q fits right into the song’s West Coast bounce, keeping it cool while Tyler brings a more hostile, snarling delivery. Tyler’s posturing in his verse is the highlight for me. I can never stop paying attention to the way he sneers out the phrase “Hm. Yeah, right!”. Not to mention the way his voice just keeps escalating and becomes more and more manic. Unhinged and delirious. The very definition of a banger.
#68 MIKE & Tony Seltzer - Lethal Weapon
Sometimes all you need to win me over is a beat that sounds like sunshine. Right from the opening notes of the trumpet against the twinkling keys and the firm, but steady trap beat evokes imagery of a bright blue sky and a perfect temperature for a perfect day. MIKE’s naturally charismatic flow is also a joy to listen to. He keeps his voice low and chill, so it never feels like he’s impeding on the vibes. Just a quick verse that gets in and out quickly. It’s the shortest song on my list, not even reaching a minute and a half, but that just makes it an easy slot into my summer playlists as a bright, sunny interlude that still left a huge impression on me during its brief runtime.
#67 Hamish Hawk - Big Cat Tattoos
I mentioned a potential queer reading you could get from “Men Like Wire”, but on “Big Cat Tattoos” that subtext is just the text. In which Hamish Hawk, over a slick-as-hell bassline, describes the men he hooks up with and the games they play with each other. Hamish Hawk presents himself as very sure of himself, more so than the guys who think they’re all that. There’s actually a lot to complain about with the way these men convey themselves. They’re kind of insufferable and pretentious, certainly not the kind to bring around your friends. But the intense sexual tension between them is hard to deny. I love how in the second verse Hamish Hawk lists out all the ways this guy annoys him and how he shouldn’t be playing down to his type, only to end the verse repeatedly musing, “And yet… and yet… and yet… and yet!”. Hamish Hawk conveys the kind of top energy that shuts those yapping mouths and puts them under his control in a slightly toxic way… but it’s also kinda hot. I dunno, the way his deep baritone hushedly suggests, “I think you prefer a firmer hand” and jokingly teases “You’d like that, wouldn’t you” is enough to get a heart to skip a beat.
#66 Teddy Swims - The Door
Teddy Swims claimed the crown for the biggest song of the year with his pop-soul ballad “Lose Control”, a song that proved to be weirdly controversial with pop audiences. I guess it’s hard to grasp that in a year where pop girlies thrived and rap beef reinvigorated the genre, the biggest hit of the year is otherwise pretty safe and tasteful. I like “Lose Control”, I think it’s pretty good, but I could tell it wasn’t his best foot forward. This proved especially true when he followed it up with “The Door”, which turned out to be one of my favorite sleeper hits of the year. “The Door”’s greatest strength is the power of its percussion. The stomps and snaps that persist through the song are a great fit with the slick-as-hell bass groove, coupled with the rolling, cavernous drums that build into the verses and hook. This song just sounds apocalyptic, like this truly is Teddy Swims’ last stand and he needs to get out of here before he’s stuck in a miserable, loveless relationship forever. Swims himself knows this too, as this song shows off his impressive pipes more than “Lose Control” ever did. His voice has an edge, his bellow rings across the track like echoes in a hallway. He sings like his life truly depends on it, but it doesn’t sound strained or out of control. He sounds just as enormous and powerful as the song itself, and it kicks ass.
#65 Adrienne Lenker - Sadness Is A Gift
It’s just too easy for Adrienne to make a song like this, isn’t it? The kind of gentle, melancholic breakup song that somehow still finds a way to be a comfort. The gentle strums of the guitar paired with the sweeping fiddle, sweet piano, and imperfect backing vocals are like a gentle snowfall. Stumbling its way to the floor below as the wind carries it wherever it so desires. Adrienne sings a lot about the seasons, watching the snow melt outside and the flowers bloom in time for spring. It’s all so beautiful, but it’s all so sad. “The seasons go so fast, thinking that this one is gonna last”. Almost a lament on what’s been lost and how little time we have to cherish it. Much like the relationship that Adrienne is mourning. Of course, she follows that up with a defeated sigh, “Maybe the question was too much to ask”. Still, there’s some hope in a lyric like “You can write me someday, and I think you will”. If the seasons change all the time, who’s to say that sadness and distance can’t someday be mended?
#64 Adeem The Artist - Nancy
Few songs have as intense of a start as “She’s got borderline personality disorder and in order to get off she’s gotta see me cry”. But that’s just a peek into the chaotic and messy relationship at the heart of this song. The titular Nancy is a bit of a mess. An emotionally unstable woman living off of pills and wild sex, every night lying in the arms of the narrator who loves her very, very deeply. Most people would probably see their relationship as animalistic and strange, but I love the amount of deep empathy Adeem has for this couple. There’s beauty in the way they’re so carnally attracted to each other that their climaxes are loud and leave their bodies writhing and shivering. Their mental health is… pretty bad. But one is always there for the other as their anchor, so they’ll always be on the edge of falling rather than diving off the cliff. They’re even ready to die with each other should things get worse. These aren’t people striving for that nuclear family model, these are just two people in love and finding freedom within each other. Which I find incredibly romantic. Especially assuming the narrator is non-binary like Adeem is, in which case it’s the kind of messy queer love story that embraces their eccentricities and finds solace in each other, while the world just looks on with judging looks.
#63 Everything Everything - Cold Reactor
I’m kind of glad that Everything Everything’s brief flirtation with generative AI was only limited to 2022’s Raw Data Feel. I feel like if that album came out this year it’d be mired in so much awful discourse that distracted from the band’s very human, very eclectic skills as a prog rock band. And while I thought the AI gimmick led to some of the band’s most creative and fun music to date, it’s also nice to see just a straightforward excellent song with no additional bells and whistles attached to it. The vocal “ahs” make up the main melody while a bass thrums in the lower end and the occasional burst of keys paint the atmosphere of a cold, frigid world where the sun is blocked by a mountain that people have been building by digging further and further into the earth. “Cold Reactor” sets up the main themes of Mountainhead, and it’s such a great setup for a story that will reach deeper depths and explore characters slowly being corrupted by the pursuit of something greater that doesn’t exist. But it’s also insanely catchy, with some of the band’s best-ever melodies and chord progressions.
#62 Lucky Daye - Soft
I remember one night I was going through the new music and I wasn’t finding much to latch onto. Some songs that were okay, some songs that kinda sucked, but nothing truly great. Until I came across the rolling drums into Lucky Daye’s slick voice on “Soft”. I was in awe of just how confident he and the production were on this song. It was almost cinematic, the way he slid through the driving guitars and crisp drum work, leading into a big hook with choir voices surrounding him and reaching for the stars. The song’s flirtatious, sensual lyrics were delivered so expertly by Lucky Daye’s natural charisma and the clean-as-hell production, this was AWESOME!! It reminded me of Usher in a lot of ways, especially the sort of pained, passionate ways Lucky Daye pined for this girl and her touch. On top of that, the song ends with a two-minute synth outro where a digital, wonky synth wails all over the rumble of the percussion. It’s just strange enough to deliver on the “algorithmic” theme of the album, but also catchy enough to keep me listening and jamming along.
#61 Willi Carlisle - Jaybird
CW: discussion of suicide
“When The Pills Wear Off” may have been a devastating song that left me in shock the first time I heard it, but throughout the year I found myself gravitating towards “Jaybird” the most. Part of it may have been the very simple, but very lovely guitar and banjo melody, as well as Willi Carlisle’s gorgeous harmonizing on the chorus. The story itself I think is what drew me the most to the song though. “Jaybird” is a tribute to a friend who unfortunately took their own life and the oddly conflicting feelings Carlisle may have found in their unexpected death. Even as they mourn their friend and everything they could have been, there’s also a bit of snark and backhanded comments. I guess you could say there’s still a bit of anger in Willi as he reflects on his friend’s life. The inherent selfishness in taking your own life, and knowing that they really tried to break out of their depression but ultimately failed. Which is a difficult thing to process, one that could take years before you find a clear answer. So Willi proclaims he’ll sing before he “knows the song”. He’s still processing, the story isn’t complete yet. But it’s how he processes things, and he’s gonna do it anyway even if years down the line the song doesn’t age well. Which I find admirable. “I’m always gonna sing before I know the song” is one hell of a mantra.
#60 Luke Combs - Ride Around Heaven
I talked about this song for a bit in my four country albums essay and how much it emotionally affected me listening to it. It’s a really beautiful song about a dream Luke Combs has where he wakes up in his grandfather’s truck and they spend some time catching up while riding around the roads of heaven. A lovely fiddle and guitar passage soundtrack this heartwarming exchange where Luke and his grandfather share little moments like singing Amazing Grace together and reminiscing on funny moments of Luke’s childhood. Luke sounds so joyous to be able to experience this blissful dream as if no time had passed since he last saw his grandfather. What should probably be a devastating song once Luke has to say goodbye is instead an appreciation for everything he learned from his grandfather and the hopes that they can go on another Sunday drive in his dreams again sometime. The best parts of two of my favorite songs of the current decade, Ed Sheeran’s “Visiting Hours” and Brett Eldredge’s “Sunday Drive” merged into one beautiful tribute to fatherhood and the generations it spawns from.
#59 Kacey Musgraves - Anime Eyes
I remember “Anime Eyes” putting some people off at first. Mainly because the sentiment of “When I look at you, it’s like I’m looking through anime eyes” is a bit of a weird hook to bend your song on. I think what people missed though is that Kacey is focused specifically on Studio Ghibli-style anime (“Miyazaki Skies” should have given that away). The calm, subtle, but also wondrous and magnificent beauty of those movies and the way they can capture enticing atmospheres with just a few seconds of silence. Kacey captures that beauty in this song, especially with that windswept guitar against her soft voice and the very faint choir of the keys. There’s even a bit of vocoder in some of the vocals to elevate the song while still keeping it organic. But to me, the best part of the song, and one of my favorite moments in music of the entire year, is the bridge. Where Kacey suddenly tilts into a more frantic, almost spoken crescendo describing the heightened emotions she’s feeling around her partner. “Oh my God, the memories” she breathlessly mutters as the music gets louder and faster, and the ecstasy of that relationship suddenly turns into a sort of anxious euphoria. Only for it to suddenly fall to a whisper, as the production quietly fades out and Kacey repeats the refrain one more time with complete calmness. To me, that emotional whiplash is the closest Kacey has gotten to date to matching the best moments of Golden Hour. Even as the song is primarily calm and lovestruck, there’s still that lingering anxiety and uncertainty that will color the song and heighten Kacey’s emotions, but that love will bring her back to Earth as soon as she takes a breath and remembers where she is.
#58 Chris Stapleton - Think I’m In Love With You
This song wasn’t far off from making my best songs list last year. This year, however, it was released as a single and has quietly had one of the most enduring Hot 100 chart runs I’ve seen in a while. Which of course led to me putting it back in my rotation, and I ended up going back to it an insane number of times throughout the year. Most of which I can attribute to that ridiculously clean, sexy bass groove. The soft thrum of the bass guitar over the steady drum beat, muted organ, and twiddling steel guitar is infectious to listen to. The video, in particular, does a great job showing just how infectious the groove is, because that’s exactly how I envision myself grooving along to this song while on walks when no one is watching. It helps that this might be one of Chris Stapleton’s best-ever performances, on a song where he only shows off his belting prowess once midway through the song. That howl is awesome, one of the best two seconds in country music this year. But it’s also awesome to hear Chris still sound great with a more held-back, but still passionate performance as he reminds his wife just how much he’s awestruck by her. “Think I’m in looove with you” is such a catchy, romantic refrain to deliver with utmost confidence and swagger. As the strings build up in the back half of the song and Chris Stapleton’s signature howl starts creeping back in the more into it he gets, the more I’m convinced this is one of Stapleton’s best-ever songs. Maybe even on par with last year’s songs list entrant, “White Horse”.
#57 Father John Misty - Screamland
This song starts so innocuously. A soft set of strings set against the quiet rumble of the percussion and the piano accents. Josh Tillman muses about the nature of true belief and how many people are just reaching for answers without resolution. Yet, in the pre-chorus, the instruments get louder. Their quality gets grainier. The percussion gets sandier and suddenly it’s rolling to a drop, and we’re greeted with this absolute behemoth of a chorus. A window-shattering explosion of bricked out, mix-peaking, catastrophic wall of noise as Josh Tillman screams at the top of his lungs, “STAY YOUNG. GET NUMB. KEEP DREAMING. SCREAMLAND”. It’s tough to gauge whether this song is an ironic takedown of religious ecstasy or a genuine coming to God-moment. Tillman himself called this song a “mutilated Hillsong”, which could mean it’s his fucked up take on one of their over-the-top, faith-defining choir songs. But there’s something more genuine in the empathy he has for the people he reluctantly enables. Especially in the bridge where he says, “Love must find a way, after every desperate measure, a miracle will take”. When the song abruptly ends, my ears are left ringing and I have to sit in the silence for just a moment. It’s the quietest moment of silence I can experience. When everything is loud, overbearing, uncontrollable, and then… it isn’t.
#56 Marika Hackman - Slime
One of the main themes in my songs list that I’ve noticed this year is that it’s very… horny. Which is good, music is very horny, even when you don’t think it is. But there are a lot of outright nasty songs on here, with “Slime” probably being the nastiest (which I, of course, mean in a very positive way). Marika Hackman is so incredibly good at describing intimate sapphic sex. She opens the song describing herself on top of her partner as “sliding back and feeling [her] bones crack”. She describes the way their bodies meld together as if they were slime. Gooey, malleable, and most importantly of all, sticky. Her hazed-out, but still invigorated performance does a lot to emphasize the heavy breathing and sensuality of the encounter. Every body part feels so close to each other in this song, from the simple description of her head above her own to the fingers “pulling triggers”. The bridge gets especially descriptive, with images of the “brain” between her legs and the “garden of slime” that each of them shares. Share this song with your grandparents and they’ll be sweating their ears off. So will I, but for different reasons.
#55 Everything Everything - The End of the Contender
I didn’t expect this to be my favorite song off of Mountainhead. I figured the catchy pop hook of “Cold Reactor” or the transcendent floating bliss of “City Song” would have locked that spot. Instead, it’s this strange little song with a middling tempo and an admittedly monotone melody at its core. The lyrics are also really weird. Kind of reminiscent of the more unhinged and bizarre lyrics of Raw Data Feel. Maybe that’s part of what drew me to it. I always loved the weird comedy of Raw Data Feel, and I can feel that comedy seeping through in lyrics like “You antelope, you are a sack of wine” (Which I realize is a reference to The Iliad, but it’s still pretty funny). I think at the end of the day, that weirdness is what draws me to it. It’s a bizarre march set to some shimmering guitars and sandy synths, where Jonathan Higgs castrates the arrogant men whose careers peaked years ago and can’t seem to get a grasp on the current environment as every stupid experiment blows up in their faces. It’s not even that angry, as much as it is apathetic and borderline mocking of its subject. But there’s still some weird apathy in enjoying someone’s downfall like that. Where you can just bluntly say to their face “I told you so” without breaking a smile. It helps when the song is so ridiculously catchy and hypotonic that I can’t stop coming back to it.
#54 BigXthaPlug - The Largest
“Safe to say I’m the biggest, the largest” is a line delivered with so much gusto and unbreakable confidence that it locked “The Largest” a spot on this list alone. But it helps that the song has a swaggering saxophone skwonking over the trap snares as BigXThaPlug flexes on all the ways he’s the king of the world and demands your respect. The guy has so much natural charisma that it’s impossible not to get sucked into his world and bounce along to this beat. BigXThaPlug admittedly doesn’t have much range as a rapper, but he has this one style of banger on lock. We need more of this kind of rapper anyway. The Busta Rhymes types aren’t gonna give you the most clever bars or most intricate storytelling but are such a delight to listen to and deliver so many consistent bangers that you listen to them just as much as, maybe even more than the Kendricks and the Tylers.
#53 Kendrick Lamar ft. Lefty Gunplay - tv off
Speaking of Kendrick. I think if I had a little more time with “tv off” in 2024, I’d probably put it a lot higher, even above the other Kendrick and Mustard collaboration of the year (we’ll get to it next time). Part of the reason why is that I honestly think the beats on this song are better! The first beat is one of the hardest beats of the year. I fucking love beats that sound like they’re beating the shit out of you, and the strings on the first beat sound like you’re up against a boxer who keeps getting in rapid strikes against your stomach. Kendrick looks at the landscape after his surefire victory against Drake and proclaims, “It’s not enough”. Even with the hits and a few people taking his side, Kendrick feels like the job is not done. He’s done the work, but he’s asking the rap game to start stepping it up and proving themselves to be on his level. Part of what made the Drake beef so cathartic to me was seeing Kendrick acknowledge the lack of real passion coming from the top of the rap game. So he compelled the industry to start putting their money where their mouth is, all the while setting himself as an example of how to do it right. Of course, then we converge into the more orchestral second beat, which builds up to the battle cry of the year, “MUSTAAAAAAAAARRRRRDDD!!!!!!”. An already incredible start made even better by Kendrick leveling up himself and going even harder on the song. A reminder of his come-up and the power he now holds in the game. “Got my foot up on the gas, but somebody gotta do it”. LA rising star Lefty Gunplay closes the song with a refrain of “Shit gets crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious”, almost as a warning that it’s not over, and the time to act is NOW. By the end of the song, you're reminded exactly why Kendrick is the best we got.
#52 Rod Wave - 25
Here’s another song I wrote a blurb about on The Singles Jukebox. To be honest, I was starting to lose my faith in Rod Wave this year. After four years of being a fan and hearing the same formula played out over and over again, the lead singles for Last Lap made me feel like he truly had nothing to offer anymore. He peaked with “Street Runner” and he and his fans seem perfectly content with half-baked remakes of it for the rest of his career. Then I heard “25”, the now biggest hit of the album and the one put on New Music Friday playlists on the album release. The dreamy piano harmonies that begin the song, and a pitched-up voice asking “Do you do this often?” kick off the song to its crisp, but patient trap beat as Rod Wave starts singing about vibing in the club and suddenly reminiscing on how far he’s come. The melancholy tip-toe of the piano drives home the similarly melancholic lyrics about the things Rod Wave wants to do and the things that keep him from doing so. Social anxiety and distant friends. The fucked up dating pool that leaves little room for emotional connection that lasts. And as such Rod Wave begins reminiscing on his 20s and how his initial lust for life seemed to slowly fade away. He sings “25, what a time to be alive” in an almost defeated, exhausted way. Interpolating Tems’ excellent song “Love Me JeJe”, Rod Wave admits that some shit just doesn’t excite him anymore. He’s not so much jaded as he is just grappling with how much changes in such a short time, and how much the world beats you down in the process. Considering I was 25 in 2024 myself, experiencing a bit of a perspective shift that was more jaded and apathetic than I used to be at 21, this song resonated with me in a way Rod Wave hasn’t resonated with me since… well, “Street Runner”. Just when I thought I was out, he pulled me back in.
#51 Zach Bryan - Oak Island
Ever since “Oklahoma Smokeshow”, it feels like Zach Bryan has to have at least one song a year where he delivers a song that’s so gargantuan in scale that all you can do is marvel at it. His entry this year is “Oak Island”, a song he released after I went to the Quittin Time tour and now I wish I was able to bask in this song’s glory live. “Oak Island” is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen’s “Highway Patrolman”, both songs telling the story of two brothers in conflict. While both songs grapple with the complicated relationship between siblings when one starts heading down a terrible path, “Oak Island” is the much more bitter and angry version of the story. In “Highway Patrolman”, Bruce Springsteen’s main character gives his brother enough grace to let him escape. In “Oak Island”, Zach Bryan’s character practically gives up on his brother, knowing that he’s allowed himself to become as corrupt as those Oak Island boys and there’s likely no saving him now. You can feel that anger and bitterness in the blood of this song. The shuttering acoustic guitar against the echoes of the steel guitar, the sneer in Zach Bryan’s voice as he repeats his brother’s words of “Cuz no blood in the mud I’m raised in spent on the run”, and the militaristic horns that soar during the chorus, it already sounds like a warzone waiting to break out. Sure enough that warzone breaks out after the final utterance of the chorus, in which some fierce drumming and a spiraling electric guitar join the mix as the song builds and builds and builds. Every instrument starts colliding together during the electric guitar solo. A trumpet solo breaks out, the drums start getting louder and faster, and more frantic. Soon enough the tempo is lost and everything starts going crazy! The song becomes a tornado of blood-pumping energy until it all collides and the song abruptly fades away.
… FUCK.
Part two coming up next!