The Best Songs of 2024 (50-21)
#50 NLE Choppa - SLUT ME OUT 2
This is genuinely some of the most fun I’ve had with a song all year. I remember seeing a snippet of this song being performed at Rolling Loud, NLE Choppa strutting around the stage shirtless over this goofy pop beat as the speakers blared to an apathetic, confused crowd of people who came for the gang anthem, “If I was a bad bitch, I’d wanna fuck me too”. This song is stupid, and it owns that like a badge of honor. The cartoonish synths over the stampeding bass and NLE Choppa ad-libbing like a doofus over the hook and verses never fail to make me laugh. Choppa is so down atrocious for this girl that he stomps his feet and howls like a dog. Highlighting the individual lyrics of this song doesn’t do justice to how ABSURD these descriptions of sex are. The sneering way NLE Choppa pleads, “Lemme nut on your butt!” or the way he excitedly requests that this girl suffocate him with her ass until he dies has to be heard to be believed. I cannot tell you the NOISE I made the first time I heard NLE Choppa take a big noisy whiff, followed by an enthusiastic proclamation of, “MMMM, SMELL LIKE BADUSSY”!! As funny and ridiculous as this song is, I also admire how shameless and fun it is. You can tell NLE Choppa is having fun lusting after this woman, and the woman in question is having fun watching him grovel over her sex appeal. It’s out of pocket, but it’s in a way that’s very campy and reminds the audience that casual sex is supposed to be a fun moment of intimacy between you and a partner. Queer audiences were drawn to this song almost instantly. To my relief, NLE Choppa has fully embraced them and told off the homophobic parts of his audience who felt like Choppa was being too effeminate and submissive. Shout out to NLE Choppa, one of the best LGBTQ+ allies in the rap game.
#49 Ella Langley ft. Riley Green - you look like you love me
This wasn’t a very good year in mainstream country music, though I partially blame that on the genre getting cannibalized by a lot of pop stars hopping on the trend. Not that all of them have been bad, per se, but it felt like the pop scene took advantage of the genre during what was honestly an off-year for the industry. So much so that one of the best songs to come out of Nashville became a hit by sheer force without waiting for the radio to catch up. In which relative newcomer Ella Langley delivers the verses through spoken word, telling the story of seducing a cowboy at the bar over music that sounds right at home at the Country Bear Jamboree. She sings on the hook, and it’s a waltz tune complete with saloon pianos and a skippy tempo where she convinces this handsome cowboy that he’s in love with her and ready to take her home. The kind of sly confidence coming from a woman who knows she’s a pretty little thing and can pull this cool cowboy with ease because she’s that damn charismatic. To be fair, she is! Ella Langley delivers such a delightful performance, just tongue-in-cheek enough to keep the vibes mostly cordial. She’s got sex appeal in her voice, but it’s also charming and fun. I can see the saloon barroom that breaks into a fun romantic waltz whenever this song comes on. Riley Green deserves a lot of credit too. He only gets the second verse, taking the perspective of that handsome cowboy (God damn is he handsome, too), but his rugged voice and bemused chuckle at the audacity of Ella’s advances leave him little choice but to agree. She is the girl of every cowboy’s dream come true. He is going to take her home. The plan worked, and he’s not about to complain. Also in the video, he sings his verse to his dog, which I think is adorable.
#48 Bruiser Wolf ft. Danny Brown & ZeLooperz - 2 Bad
The very chipper and matter-of-fact way that Bruiser Wolf delivers the line, “Two bad bitches sucking dick at the same time!” is all you need to hear from the song. Not that the rest of the song isn’t worth it, but Bruiser’s very funny voice delivering this line with the biggest grin on his face over the chaotic strings from the sample is so inherently delightful that I came back to this song so many times just to hear it again. But the whole song is a bunch of ridiculous fun anyway. ZeLooperz opens the song with his loose, zany flow stumbling through the many goings on at the club, all the while this sprawling orchestra chops and loops over the sandiest, grainiest trap snares you’ve ever heard. Bruiser Wolf sounds so off-tempo delivering the hook, but the way he rushes through the song and how his voice is weirdly mixed low only makes the hook funnier describing all the ways these two girls are on his dick. Bruiser Wolf’s verse is also my favorite of the song, primarily for the absurd punchlines he drops during it. “I fuck hoes with the same name, so I don’t say the wrong one!”, “My dick game genius, they want a stroke of it”, the incredibly awkward and convoluted way he says a bisexual stripper is “bipolar”?? It’s so perfect. This song is kind of a mess, only kind of salvaged by a straightforwardly great verse from Danny Brown (rapping over the same sample he rapped over a decade ago!), but to me that glorious mess is exactly what makes this an incredible song. Three guys basking in the glory of the orgy but being so horny they can’t be cool about it. They gotta go on weird tangents and breathlessly describe the crazy sex they’re having. What else can you say? They’re two bad bitches! And they’re sucking dick! At the same time!
#47 Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
This is probably the best opener out of any album this year. Not my favorite song that opens an album, but just purely as an introduction to the album you’re going to listen to, none of them blew me away like the title track to Father John Misty’s Mahashmashana. A glorious nine minutes of sweeping orchestral bliss, where the strings soar among the triumphant horns, saxes, and explosive pianos. Every build to the chorus is grand but patient enough not to let the whole thing explode just yet while reaching as close as it can to the next level of Nirvana. Josh Tillman sings about the cycles of creation, death, and recreation and the many forms it takes. From the mundane to the ethereal. There’s a lot to unpack with the lyrics and concept of this album, especially how it relates to the practice of mahashmashana (a word I’ve had to write way too many times and am somehow getting used to typing without issue). But to me whatever I can glean from the lyrics is delivered just as effectively, maybe more, with the song’s production and the unbelievable ambition of its scale. Father John Misty has always loved huge, sprawling pieces that sound like the apocalypse, but this is somehow the biggest song he’s ever made. It truly sounds like a rapture, like someone being enveloped in light and floating into the air as they transform into a new, incomprehensible form that’s blinding, yet beautiful. Almost like a religious ecstasy that brings you to tears because you’re just so overwhelmed by its mere presence.
#46 GloRilla ft. Megan Thee Stallion - Wanna Be
Feels a bit basic to say that GloRilla’s biggest hit this year is also her best one, as she’s delivered a ton of awesome bangers that had a solid chance of making this list like “HOLLON” and “Yeah Glo!”. Same with Megan who barely missed this list with her own songs, “HISS” and “Where Them Girls At”. Of course, it’s also easy to counter that with GloRilla and Megan being an incredible duo, bringing the best out of each other with an undeniable banger. To the point where I hear the beeping tempo, brooding piano chords, and occasional bell and I forget that this is even a sample of Soulja Boy’s “Pretty Boy Swag”. GloRilla and Megan ride it so well, with a sharp, cocky attitude that keeps heads in the room turning. Decrying all the weak-willed men who fold for them at every corner, and whether they decide to let them hit or toss them to the side is up to them. GloRilla’s assertive Memphis accent rides the beat so easily, and Megan brings the hot girl energy that reminds you that despite everything she’s still the baddest bitch in the room. Yet, neither rapper ends up outperforming the other. Both of them have their shining moments and quotable moments, from “Fuck is a layover??? I ain’t waitin’!” to “Hoes love me like Justin Bieber!”. By the end of the song, both girls are just encouraging each other, chanting each other's name as they shake their ass and claim their hoes. This has been a standout year for women in rap, and a big reason why is the comradery that rappers like Glo and Megan share, uplifting one another and flexing together rather than against each other. I hope they continue to do so in the coming years as GloRilla gets bigger and Megan cements her legacy.
#45 Kendrick Lamar - squabble up
I’m so glad that the snippet at the beginning of the “Not Like Us” video eventually became a full song. I had “woke up looking for the broccoli” obsessively playing in my head for MONTHS. I’ve always wanted a more straightforward, fun Kendrick album after Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, especially when Kendrick’s ridiculously goofy and fun verse on “family ties” stuck with me more. “squabble up” is exactly what I wanted. On top of the immediate introduction to the song, a series of heavy breaths as Kendrick announces, “LIFE GOES ON AND I NEED ALL MY BABIES!”, and the classic g-funk beat comes in like a sucker punch to the face. That wobbly metallic synth that sounds like when you shake a sheet of metal and it does that “wobwobwobwob” sound is so infectious along with the bass hits and Kendrick’s nasal squawk. It’s a victory lap of a song as if Kendrick didn’t have enough of those already. There are still a couple of shots aimed at the rap industry, but its main goal is to just boast about how GREAT he feels after the monster of a year Kendrick just had. All he can do is just rub it in their face and “squabble up” (Which I’m told is a victory dance popularized by the NFL and TikTok). This might be Kendrick’s catchiest song, maybe ever. It’s so easy to just mash replay and listen to that intro, the wobble in Kendrick’s voice in the hook, the g-funk rhythm, and that maniacal scream Kendrick lets out near the end of the song over and over again. I’m gonna be listening to this throughout 2025, even long after this album is old news.
#44 Future & Metro Boomin ft. Kendrick Lamar - Like That
Of course, we can’t forget about the song that brought him here in the first place. I’m gonna cover Kendrick’s verse first, as it’s no doubt the part of the song everyone remembers and loves the most. It was enough of a surprise to hear his voice appear on Future and Metro Boomin’s album, but the real surprise came in the ammo Kendrick brought with him to the song. His voice jumps all over the place with these wild brags and reminders that he can flow his ass off for days, and suddenly he’s shifted his focus to Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter” and how bullshit it is. No, there is no Big Three. Drake and Cole can’t even come close to the immense talent and accolades Kendrick has. Kendrick is offended at the notion that they’re anywhere near him in the rap standings. “Motherfuck The Big Three, it’s just Big Me”. One of the most powerful statements of the year that kickstarted the rap beef of my generation.
But I also just want to talk about what a stellar song this is by itself! Like, yes, Kendrick’s verse elevates it to greater heights, but even without it, this song kicks so much ass! Metro’s use of the shrill keys from “Everlasting Bass” and slamming on the beat like he’s throwing punches is so ridiculously cool! Especially under the menace of the fuzzed-out bass, tricolating trap snares, and pitched-up sample chanting in the background. Future’s imposing growl on the hook as he dismisses the rappers and colleagues who truly aren’t “like that” gives off the impression he’s also been sick of Drake’s antics for some time now. He may spend his time bragging about his jewelry and swimming in bitches, but he’s not stupid. He knows when someone’s trying to get something out of him, and at this point, he doesn’t have much room for fakes. “We don’t trust you”, maybe we never did.
#43 Kelly Lee Owens - Love You Got
This was the last song I covered on The Singles Jukebox last year, and it was actually where I heard this song for the first time. I’d been interested in this album for some time, but I hadn’t heard anything from it until then. As you can tell by the score I gave it, you can tell I was pretty instantly floored by it. I love music that surrounds your speakers or headphones to the point where every other noise around you completely vanishes. The thump of the bass against the thrumming synths and ghostly vocals trailing behind it sounds so crisp and thick. The song is always pulsating, but it’s also constantly moving around Kelly Lee Owens’ gentle, drifting voice. A euphoric moment of love on the dance floor where you can feel the beat of both the music bursting out of the speakers, and your heart bursting out of your chest. Kelly Lee Owens breathlessly repeats the phrase “Wanting pure euphoria” throughout the post-chorus, and it feels like you’re actively in that euphoria. There isn’t a moment where it lets up, even in the moments it slows down or some of the synths hold themselves back. A fully immersive experience of a song.
#42 MIKE & Tony Seltzer - R&B
MIKE and Tony Seltzer’s stellar album Pinball is made up of really short songs with no hooks, so when I look at my favorite songs of the album, I’m more or less looking for my favorite moments of the album. Moments I revisit again and again because no matter how brief the song is, it permanently etched itself in my brain. For me, that’s the burst of life that is “R&B”. It starts with the song pitched down and slowed to a crawl. You’re left waiting to see where it would go, and soon enough the song shuts down, resets, takes a few beats to fade back in, and then you’re hit with an ethereal wave of dreamy synths and crisp percussion. MIKE cruises through the theremin-like whistle, subtle twinkle of the guitars, and lush synths wafting across the mix. Hearing this gorgeous beat under MIKE’s bars about his priorities and being able to coast off his riches while still feeling fulfilled and happy with where he is left me breathless the first time I heard it. Not only is this just a phenomenally crafted song, but it came in with a wonderful element of surprise and build-up that puts it on a whole other level. It doesn’t come in swinging, it knows exactly when to pull the curtain, and when it’s time to bow out.
#41 Fred again.. w/Duskus, Four Tet, Joy Anonymous & Skrillex - glow
This is quite the supergroup of electronic producers to all work on one song. I’m not super familiar with Duskus and Joy Anonymous, but I’m told that they’re a pretty big deal in the EDM scene. And I’m familiar enough with Four Tet and Skrillex to be pretty interested to hear how they would work together with Fred again and his brand of sample-heavy bedroom rave. If there’s any song on this list I would love to see how it came together in the form of a YouTube video or a documentary of some kind, it’d be “glow”. Not just to see how every artist contributed to the song, but also to marvel at how this many artists managed to create such a complete, beautiful composition with all their different artistic and creative instincts. The wistful lead melody which pops and bursts through the gentle taps of the bass and the echoes of cheers and voices creates such an inspiring build-up to its first drop. The melody doesn’t change much, but the progression and the dynamics flourish so patiently and gracefully. Just off the first two and a half minutes, I’m hooked, and once it drops into Fred again’s familiar club pattern while still keeping up the momentum and melody, it feels like I’m transported to another world. The song doesn’t let up or stop abruptly to switch gears. It swerves with ease into its next movement, and the joyous collage of synths, grooves, and voices drifts around you. I can imagine people most familiar with all these artists can see the points where each artist contributes to the song. But even as someone who only knows about half the artists, I can feel the real sense of community and love for the craft that all five artists put into this song, and it’s an indescribable experience to hear it come together so beautifully.
#40 Zac Brown Band ft. Mac McAnally - Pirates & Parrots
One of my first favorite Zac Brown Band songs was their 2011 beach hit “Knee Deep”, a delightful little sunny jam featuring the late great Jimmy Buffett. I wasn’t very familiar with Jimmy Buffett’s discography before his passing, but I was very much aware of his legacy. One of those artists you can very definitively call a comfort artist, especially during vacations and summer days at the beach. I was caught off guard by how touched I was by Zac Brown Band’s tribute to him. Zac Brown Band themselves became torchbearers for comfort vacation jams, amplified by the success of songs like “Knee Deep”, “Chicken Fried”, “Toes”, “Jump Right In”, and others. So there’s an extra weight to the ways Zac Brown describes the gentle waves of the ocean, the sounds of squawking seagulls, and the peace of the environment around him. The exact environment that Jimmy Buffett loved singing about so much. Against the quiet plucks of the guitar and the somber melodies of the fiddle, the whole band plus Jimmy Buffett’s longtime collaborator Mac McAnally sing along to the hook in tribute, promising that Buffett’s legacy will carry on through them and the good vibes he brought for decades. The little descriptions of sailors, pirates, and parrots should ring as silly and hokey, but there’s so much sincere passion in their voices that you know they mean every single word of this song. Jimmy Buffett’s music and the influence it had on their own art meant that much to them. I brought this song along with me during the cruise I took with my family over the summer. It stuck with me as a sadder, but still bright interlude between the party jams and sunny grooves. Sometimes you look into that wide, blue ocean and feel that lingering sense of melancholy that slips in between all the cool fun things that distract you aboard the ship. It’s good to sit in that melancholy for a bit and think about the people you wish were here to celebrate with you. Of course, you go back to the fun times once the moment ends. It’s what Jimmy would have wanted.
#39 Kacey Musgraves - Irish Goodbye
I had a very frustrating thing happen this year in which someone I thought would be a good friend cut themselves out of my life very abruptly. Admittedly, there were things I could have done differently that I would have apologized for, but it still stung that our first instance of conflict didn’t even get a chance to be resolved or talked through. That might be the main reason why “Irish Goodbye”, a bonus cut from Deeper Well, ended up being my favorite Kacey Musgraves song this year. On top of a medley of really beautiful guitars making up the production, Kacey muses on a relationship that suddenly ended when the other person completely ghosted her. I connected with Kacey being conflicted between wanting to understand what she could have done better and being frustrated by the lack of communication and completely disregarding her feelings. Deeper Well is an album about finding peace within yourself and the people who enter and leave your life, and while she’s normally pretty zen about where she is and who she loves, that feels tested in “Irish Goodbye”. The relaxing, gorgeous instrumentation stays the same throughout, as does the softness of Kacey’s voice, but you can still feel that twinge of anger seeping through her attempts to be empathetic. It’s something I’ve experienced a lot, not just this year. Wanting to see the other’s perspective, but recognizing that you’re also hurt. How are you both going to grow and learn as people if one of you isn’t even around to hear it?
#38 Joey Valence & Brae - LIKE A PUNK
It’s pretty good timing that the year I dug a little bit into the Beastie Boys is the same year I would get into their spiritual successors in the modern age, Joey Valence and Brae. But I also feel like that comparison doesn’t do this duo much justice, especially in regards to their eclectic tastes in music that you can hear slip in between their biggest love of hip-hop. “LIKE A PUNK” is a pretty good example of this, as it acts more like a straight-up dance track that happens to have rapping in it. The guttural guitar shredding and intricate drumming certainly call to mind the feral, fierce energy of punk music, but in a ridiculously infectious way that makes you want to let loose any time you hear that leitmotif. It’s a little silly hearing Joey declare, “Woke up and I’m feeling like a PUNK!” in the least punk way possible, but you can tell he and Brae are having so much fun playing into the “can’t give a fuck” attitude and instinct to start breaking shit. Most of this song is the repetition of that phrase and each time it hits like a truck. But if that was all the song had, it’d be a fun novelty. Instead, midway through the song, the duo makes a brilliant left turn into a house rave groove with ploinking keys and a complete abandon of the guitars as Joey shifts into the phrase, “It’s time to rave!”. The most insane thing is that this abrupt genre shift still transitions perfectly between the punk instrumentation. Even if you’re caught off guard by the shift, you’re still dancing! And the aggressive shift back to the punk sound, to back to the rave song, and ending the song in the duo just laughing at the absurdity of it all makes for one of the best adrenaline rushes of the year. Completely ridiculous and stupid, which is exactly what makes it so brilliant.
#37 Future & Metro Boomin ft. The Weeknd - “All To Myself”
If it weren’t for his many collabs with Future and Metro Boomin this year, I’d be leaving 2024 feeling cold about The Weeknd’s supposed “final album”. The singles for HURRY UP TOMORROW haven’t been impressing me at all and I’m left worried that he’s going to backslide into his most generic, predictable self for an album with so much stakes behind it. Thankfully, I don’t think he’s quite lost his touch yet, because every time he’s appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You albums has been an absolute delight. “All To Myself” is such a natural fit for The Weeknd too. The slick grooves with sprinkles of spacey synths, gentle 80s, and soft organ touches over the Isley Brothers sample is the perfect fit for a sensual, relaxing, romantic romp with a partner who, unlike the other subjects of the album, you can truly trust. Future has a reputation for being a misogyny king, but this song twists that perception by having him show genuine love and care for a woman who gives him that same patience and love in return. There are little moments of vulnerability like Future asking for a kiss goodnight before she leaves that wash away the bravado and machismo that Future has used as a defense for years. There are so many celebratory vibes in this song that you can’t help but join in the wailing electric guitar in the chorus and the abundance of smiles and laughs shared among Future, The Weeknd, and their girls. The Weeknd’s verse is excellent too, living in the moment with his girl and thanking God he never wasted his life with bad record deals and desperation. With The Weeknd seemingly at the end of his career, it’s nice to have a song that basks in the celebration.
#36 Father John Misty - I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All
It is so ridiculously easy to make this kind of big band, boogie funk song latch itself onto my brain no matter how long the song is. Just the opening with the sax going off into the drum kick, launching the twangy bass guitars, the fullness of the piano, and that lead horn melody keeps my feet tapping for all eight glorious minutes. Father John Misty tells a series of vignettes about people running out of time, and not realizing just how much time they’ve wasted until it’s too late. As someone who has a perpetual fear of the simultaneously neverending, yet far too limited concept of time, hearing all the different ways time affects everyone is so compelling to me. But it’s also coupled with one of the best arrangements Father John Misty has ever been granted. He’s able to tell all these little verses with the same expected ending as the band behind him keeps jamming on. The instrumentation is always moving, keeping the core groove but letting the many different instruments flourish in their own ways. Like when the more ambient, softer keys pull the song back into a sort of dreamlike state, before transferring over to a killer bongo solo, kicking ass until the horns and piano jump right back in. I’d love to hear an instrumental version of this song someday, just to marvel at all the different ways this song waves, builds, and develops. As I mentioned before, this song is eight entire minutes long, and not once in that runtime does it ever feel boring or predictable. There’s a sax solo six and a half minutes in that is unmissable. By the time the song ends, I’m satisfied enough that I don’t think the song could have done more, but I’m also tempted to spin it again just to experience it all over again.
#35 Billie Eilish - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
I’ve been thinking a bit about “bad guy” lately. Billie Eilish’s first and still only #1 hit, the song that cemented her as our next big pop star. I love that song, but it’s interesting to look back at how much she’s changed as an artist ever since. This edgy, semi-ironic taunt was unlike anything pop music had seen before, establishing Billie as “the weird girl” who wore big sweaters and ate spiders. But she’s refined a lot about herself as she’s grown up and shifted interests while still being true to herself. You could argue that “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” is the most conventional pop song she’s ever made. A lightweight, breezy song about commitment and an undying love for someone who’s doubting themselves. The main drowned-out piano melody, the cascading strums of the guitar, and the wispy vocal melody where Billie goes from her trademark whisper to a more passionate belt come together so pleasantly. It’s such a beautiful song, everything is mixed so gracefully into this whirlpool of guitars, pianos, and ghostly backing vocals. It sounds pretty conventional, though the structure also moves a little more freely than the expected tightness of the usual pop smash. The chorus only seems to come in whenever it wants to, yet it comes in at exactly the right moments to let this song truly shine.
But I also really love the lyrics and a showcase of how much she has changed since the days of WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? I think back to “i love you” and the sheer panic it instilled in Billie when she realized someone truly loves her unconditionally. Not to mention the trauma that built up throughout Happier Than Ever and how it’s affected her trust in the people she does let into her life. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” shows her opening up and trusting someone, now on the other side of someone as afraid as she used to be all those years ago. In her attempts to reach out to this person, you can hear her love and passion burst out when she raises her voice and sings beyond what she’s usually comfortable with. That little synth motif that pops up at the end of the song that reminds me of “Midnight City” by M83 is such a perfect little melody. It feels like the last petals of the flower blooming. That sort of growth is what draws me to artists and why I find it so rewarding to keep up with them, regardless of whether they keep getting bigger or eventually fade into the background. Given how Billie and FINNEAS only seem to get better and better with every album though, I can’t see that spark dying anytime soon.
#34 Future & Metro Boomin ft. The Weeknd - We Still Don’t Trust You
I’ve listened to Future more than any other artist this year. This is kind of crazy to say considering this was a year where longtime favorites of mine like Kendrick Lamar, Marianas Trench, Kacey Musgraves, and Zach Bryan had active years. But the perfect storm of WE DON’T TRUST YOU and WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU meant that I went back through so many of my favorite Future songs this year again and again. The previously mentioned “All To Myself” and “Like That”, the songs that missed this list like “Always Be My Fault”, “Claustrophobic”, “We Don’t Trust You” and “Luv Bad Bitches”, any one of those could have been my favorite from this duo’s banner year. So why “We Still Don’t Trust You”? A song that is, frankly, barely a rap song. I think part of it was the surprise that came when I first listened to the song. It hadn’t been long since We Don’t Trust You came out, and we were all abuzz with “Like That” being the spark that lit up the biggest rap feud of our lifetimes. So having all that context in addition to now realizing Future and Metro aimed their crosshairs at their former bestie Drake made the anticipation for what the follow-up to this album was all the more exciting.
So imagine my surprise when I began the album and was met with… a dance beat. A steady drum beat set against a drifting, dreamy melody as Future came in saying, “She’s such a freak… bad and freaky yeah…”. Once he drops the titular line “We still don’t trust you”, the song starts progressing and keeping in line with the dancey, vibey production. There aren’t many lyrics left after this, it’s just several instances of Future shouting, “We still don’t trust you!” as the beat grooves on and little synth stutters and bleeps and bloops fill the atmosphere. You hear a high-pitched voice singing in the background, and he sounds a lot like The Weeknd (the features weren’t credited within the first couple hours of the album release). At no point does the song ever transition into a trap song, even when The Weeknd gets a brief verse to marvel at the world around him. Metro just keeps building this beat into a club-ready jam to move your feet, drink too much, and make out too. All the while “We still don’t trust you” echoes throughout the song. This is incredible to me. What better way to assert your dominance and revel in the victory lap than kicking it off with a catchy dance tune set to the sounds of you winning? “We still don’t trust you” is delivered in such a celebratory way, completely unbothered and just enjoying the moment. We Still Don’t Trust You the album very much came off like a victory lap, content to watch from the sidelines as Kendrick destroys Future and Metro’s main op but also reminding the listeners that they deserve to be in the conversation as part of “The Big Three”. I listened to this song over and over again in the spring, and I am in awe of it. This is what it feels like to win.
#33 Chromeo - Lost And Found
“Lost And Found” is a ridiculously catchy, immaculately produced funk jam that has been Chromeo’s bread and butter for years, but this just happens to be an ESPECIALLY tasty bread and butter. Dave-1 lays out all the exes that he and his partner have had and all the ways they fell apart. No big loss on his end as he delivers these stories with such delightful callousness you can tell they meant nothing to him. Of course, the twist is this most current partner is the one who got away, and now he’s trying to win her back as she’s the only one he felt truly found with. This song’s infectious bass groove coupled with the lightning zips of the synths, sparkling keys, and the click-clocking drum fills that keep the song moving and grooving has been in my head all year. It’s one of those songs that’s so perfectly polished and catchy that you can’t help but bob your head to it even after the hundredth time you’ve heard it. Pure ear candy.
#32 Marianas Trench - A Normal Life
What a strange predicament for me. My favorite band drops a new album this year, their newest since 2019, pre-pandemic days! But I only have one song of theirs on the list of my favorite songs of the year. It’s not that the album didn’t impress me at all, quite the opposite! It’s a fantastic album that sells its concept of following the hero's journey and building music that is as cinematic and world-conquering as that sounds! But it also means the songs themselves are pretty tied to the album, and they don’t translate quite as well as individual songs compared to some of their previous albums. Truth be told, I expected this, as my favorite song on the album also happens to be its very first song. The “ordinary world” of the story, where the protagonist questions their discomfort and reckons with what it truly means to be living a “normal life”. Essentially, their “I want” song. Marianas Trench realized the favorite song from Phantoms was “The Killing Kind”, a massive, operatic finale that tied the album (and the previous album’s) themes together into one huge coda. So for “A Normal Life”, the stakes are just as huge. The gradual build of the orchestra of strings and twiddling of the electric guitar, drums rolling like thunder, and Josh Ramsay delivering an insane performance that shows off his incredible range. All the while depicting the desperation for answers within the protagonist’s voice. The strings swell all the louder, the guitars crash in and the drums go into overdrive, and it leads to one hell of a rock opera chorus with the orchestra swirling around them like a maelstrom. Marianas Trench has always known how to open and close an album, but even with “A Normal Life” I’m still filled with a thrill that few other artists can achieve. As Josh Ramsay caps off the song with the most ridiculous high note of the year, you realize the adventure has only just begun.
#31 Victoria Monét - On My Mama
I’ve always known Victoria Monét had a ton of talent, evidenced by giving Ariana Grande some of her best-ever work, but I feel like that potential was fully realized with JAGUAR II. I was way too late to that album, and now I’m happy to call it one of my favorites of the past few years. “On My Mama” ended up being a huge radio hit in late 2023, and early 2024, and it deservedly became her signature song. It’s such a pristine fucking song. I am enamored with the bubbly bass and cavernous percussion set over the incredible horns that burst the song to life. From the way they build right before the chorus hits, to the triumphant melody they play in the second half of the chorus backed up by the Chalie Boy sample, they sound incredible here. Of course, the song is also sold by Victoria’s amazing performance. This is a song all about how ridiculously hot Victoria is, and how she got her good looks from her mama. Her voice is so smooth and sensual while having enough sense of humor and confidence to make me fully in love with her. The little brags about how she looks too good to just hit it from behind are charming as hell. She knows she’s hot shit and that she can have anyone she wants, but also assertive enough to have it on her terms. She released some new songs this year for the deluxe of this album, including an outstanding song with Thundercat called “Don’t Sleep”, but “On My Mama” remained otherworldly to me. I’m excited to hear more from Victoria Monét in the future. If she can deliver more songs on the level of “On My Mama” and “Don’t Sleep”, she could become one of our new greats.
#30 Zach Bryan - 28
Art isn’t made for the past or the future, it’s made for the time it was created in. That’s generally the policy I have regarding songs that maybe don’t age well or read differently when certain things come to light. I didn’t want to mention the public disaster of Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry’s break-up and the concerns within Brianna’s account of their relationship, as it’s a very messy conversation and ultimately has no place on a list meant to be about music. But it’s harder to avoid that with “28”, a song that was pretty explicitly written with Brianna in mind. “Took twenty-eight years of blood I was lost in to feel loved on my birthday”. Despite how sad that lyric may seem, it’s a very optimistic song about a bright future and feeling at home with the people around you. The acoustic guitar and fiddle interplay works beautifully against the recounts of small moments and gestures that make Zach Bryan feel content and happy with where he is. “28” builds to a bright chorus led by the phrase, “How lucky are we?”, and it calls to mind some of Jason Isbell’s best (one of Zach’s main influences). There’s a triumphant feeling in the way Zach and the choir behind him sing the chorus, the pianos building around the fiddle and guitars as it brings the song and its spirits up to the sky. Zach isn’t a stranger to writing optimistic, happy songs, but “28” feels like a lot of the weight that remained on his shoulders was graciously removed by the friends he’s made over the years, and also the partner who seems to truly get him. I think even in the fallout with said partner, this song hasn’t lost that optimistic edge. It’s not like the memories of that twenty-eighth birthday were in vain, he truly did feel grateful and blessed to be where he is. Maybe by his twenty-ninth birthday, he can recognize that the only way to keep that love and place he calls home is if he lets them in instead of, well, pushing them away.
#29 Billie Eilish - LUNCH
It’s almost too obvious that my favorite song on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT happens to be the one where Billie Eilish hooks up with another woman. I’m a sapphic who loves Billie Eilish, it was always gonna have the edge. But like, that’s not all I love about it, there’s more. Bringing it back to “bad guy”, this is probably the most fun Billie Eilish has been since that song. The fuzzed-out bass groove paired with the crisp percussion and the shimmering guitar flourishes as Billie sings in this bouncy cadence about this ridiculously hot girl she invites to the hotel room for a good time is insanely catchy and fun. You can hear the slight smile on Billie’s face as she describes all the way she’s gonna eat this girl for lunch. There’s something so giddy and anxious about Billie’s enthusiasm in this song, trying her best to be flirty and seductive but also getting a bit ahead of herself as the hormones rush to her head. “You need a seat, I’ll volunteer!”, “So I’m pulling up a chair and I’m pulling up my hair”, “Been tryin’ hard not to overheat”, and following the latter lyric with a nervous, but infatuated “You’re just so sweet…”. It’s certainly a sexy song, but it’s also one that knows to have fun with itself, and it makes this hookup feel like a truly liberating moment for Billie, especially as a queer woman who had been a bit hesitant to embrace that side of herself in the past. I love the outro especially when the song whirs back and forth with this dubstep-esque breakdown as the background fills with Billie’s horny, sharp breathing. Insanely fun, insanely hot.
#28 Taylor Swift - Guilty As Sin?
Not quite done with the horny sex songs yet. Or in this case, the horny masturbation songs. There’s a lot of talk about whether or not this song is about Matty Healy and whether or not she should be glorifying a man who frankly needs to shut the fuck up forever, but I think engaging in that debate misses the point of The Tortured Poets Department and it’s increasing desire to break free of expectations and live for itself. My favorite song on the standard album is one of the songs that’s pretty hard to read as being about someone other than Matty Healy. The shuffling percussion introduces the song and cues Taylor Swift to reminisce about someone she’s been having thoughts about. Little gestures he makes to her are charming, and the vision of him makes her fantasize about all the things they could do together. Only instead of pleasant romance like she used to write about, her thoughts are significantly less pure. Messy top lip kisses, his fingers tracing her inner thighs, wave and “hedge maze” metaphors that truly toe the line between poetic and crass? Taylor’s yearning for this guy’s touch, even as she knows that it would be a terrible idea, is scary to her. But her overwhelming desire takes over and the thrill of merely imagining these scenarios takes over her guilt. The bridge is an especially powerful moment, throwing out all the religious imagery and fully giving in to the fantasy. I love the line “They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly”. It’s such a great way to describe that suffocating feeling of desiring someone so carnally that they practically haunt you every time they come to mind. You can’t talk to anyone about it because of the shame and the ways it could even jeopardize your personal life, or even your relationship with that person if they don’t reciprocate. But GOD you feel it so deeply in your soul. Jack Antanoff keeping this soft, dreamlike landscape drifting throughout the song, only to quiet down for that revelatory bridge and have the strings and drums truly explode in the final chorus is one of my favorite musical moments of the year. It’s such a beautiful moment that makes the otherwise shameful desire feel so liberating and incredible. Even if by the end, Taylor whimpers, “Am I allowed to cry” as the “clarity” kicks in. Haunting indeed.
#27 Tyler, The Creator ft. GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne - Sticky
The official audio upload is here in case the above video is taken down. The video is age-gated for some dumb reason.
Despite the name, we have ended our horny song streak. Like I said when talking about “Thought I Was Dead”, my favorites on CHROMAKOPIA ended up being the bangers that didn’t have much bearing on the themes but were so unbelievably good that they dominated the rest of my year. “Sticky” has persisted as one of the album’s big hits alongside “Like Him” (which has been a real grower for me lately), and it’s for more than just the guest features. Said guest features aren’t in the song much at all. All three get four bars each in the second act of the song while Tyler takes up the rest. I’ve seen some people take issue with this, hoping their verses lasted a little bit longer, but I love this execution. Four bars is short, sure, but to me, it kinda reads like a solo rotation where after each hook, everyone gets a chance to shine amid the jumping crowd. Like how a lot of music videos feature everyone gathered around people doing dance moves or breakdancing while cheering them on. GloRilla’s husky voice is a delight to hear as she flexes her hustle, Sexyy Red’s more slippery flow flaunts her eagerness to throw ass and throw hands, and Lil Wayne comes in with a little more pep in his step as the horns kick in and Wayne throws out his trademark wordplay. No matter how quickly their time goes, they all leave one hell of an impression, and that alone is enough reason to come back to the song.
But of course, Tyler is the highlight of his song. The eerie whistle that starts the song and builds into this marching band-esque drum pattern, the crowds behind him yelling “It’s getting stickyyyyy” while Tyler himself proclaims, “Don’t give a fuck about pronouns, I’m that [guy] AND that bitch!”, it’s such a great introduction to the song before going into the guest rapper solos (of which Tyler also contributes). I love how the production just builds and builds throughout the song, starting with the whistle, then the crowd chants, then the drum pattern, then the horns start sneaking in, and it all starts coming home after Wayne’s verse. Tyler said he had marching bands in mind when arranging this song, and it shows in the way each instrument has its part and comes in exactly when it needs to. But it’s all building up to the third act of the song, where Tyler towers over the song behind tubas and trombones playing the beat to “Get Buck” and Tyler announces, “Better find a mop, it’s getting sticky in this bitch!” The whole song is one big brag rap celebrating success and pointing guns at the ops who want to take them down, but Tyler delivers that braggadocious energy with the snarl and ferocity in his voice that shows he’s not fucking around. The horns playing these melodies and the drums rattling the speakers are some of the hardest work Tyler has ever done as a producer. Even when the song briefly drifts into his trademark piano chords and drifting voice, the horns come back in one last time like a dog barking at an intruder. What a fucking masterwork of a posse cut that lets its guest show off while also reminding you who exactly is running the show.
#26 Zach Bryan - Pink Skies
I saw Zach Bryan live this year, and it was one of my favorite shows I’ve ever been to (which isn’t many, but still a wonderful experience regardless). The Great American Bar Scene hadn’t been released just yet, so I only got to experience two of its songs live. One was the title track, which I love, and the other was the lead single “Pink Skies”, which remained my favorite Zach Bryan song of the year. I’m always a sucker for songs celebrating the life of someone who passed away with jubilance and optimism, so Zach Bryan raising a glass to someone who positively impacted the life of him and his loved ones went for my heart pretty quickly. I love the song opening on “The kids are in town for a funeral”. It sets up the stage not just for someone’s funeral, but the kind where people have to bring their kids and Zach reckons with how much they’ve grown since the last time he saw them. Throughout the song, with its lovely band of acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos, and the star of the show, a harmonica, Zach reminisces about this person and the impact they had on him growing up. I love the little details he remembers about this person, like the scratched notches on the doorframe indicating height changes over the years and stories like the fight that broke their arm when they were little kids. There’s a lot of love and good memories in this song. The nostalgia of times past, and even if those memories are over and Zach has to move on, he’s not so much sad, as he is grateful for the time they spent together. It was really cathartic to yell “I think God heard you comin’!” at the concert. It’s such a great sentiment to think about this person winding up in a better place and fulfilling their journey to God. Some have speculated that this is about Zach’s mother, but Zach himself debunked it. Which I think makes sense, I get more of a childhood friend vibe from the song rather than anything maternal. But it also goes to show how prevalent loss is in Zach’s life, and how he’s learning to process it. It’s really beautiful. I also want to shout out the album version of this song, which adds a bonus stanza from folk duo Watchhouse. It’s a lovely bonus to the song that I think adds a new perspective, perhaps from someone else at the funeral.
#25 Beyoncé - YA YA
I talked about my relationship with COWBOY CARTER and a little bit about “YA YA” as the song to kick off one of my favorite moments of any album this year in my country music essay, but rather than focus on that stretch of songs, I want to focus on “YA YA” itself. A song that opens pretty blatantly on its interpolation of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”, as Beyoncé announces the introduction to Act II of COWBOY CARTER. The stomps and snaps turn into claps, the electric guitar starts wailing, and the drums kick into gear as the song begins and we’re taken into one hell of a show. The song uses the confident strut of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” and combines it with horns, backup singers, and Beyoncé’s rockstar-esque howl as she covers the history of American imperialism and the people it's killed in its long extensive history. There’s some righteous anger in Beyoncé’s vocals as she tries to keep a brave face as homes are burned and her family is oppressed. Only for the song to suddenly twist into an interpolation of The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”, and then a kick back into its firestorm of a chorus. It’s a beautiful melding of Beyoncé’s many influences without ever losing its country core. And holy shit does she sound GREAT doing it! I LOVE it when Beyoncé lets her voice loose and roars with her guttural growl. While a lot of the song is her trying to keep her spirits up, let loose, and have fun, you can still feel the inner anger and turmoil that comes with reckoning with her country’s history and the ways it affects her and her family, even as she’s one of the most famous women in the world. But on top of everything, this song is just ridiculously fun. Some of the most ambitious and impressive production work that can only come from an artist with the resources that Beyoncé has. The way it kicks off the second act of COWBOY CARTER and continues the momentum after such an incredible rush of excitement usurps any concerns I may have with authenticity or concern that she’s using country as a vehicle rather than genuinely paying it tribute. Of course, she is! She’s just doing it the Beyoncé way, and the Beyoncé way is awesome!
#24 Sabrina Carpenter - Juno
I was not ready to embrace Sabrina Carpenter as immediately as everyone else was when “Espresso” blew up. They’ve been trying so hard to make her the next big star but she wasn’t ready. “Skin” and “because i liked a boy” were shameless attempts to leech off the success of “driver’s license”, and when she finally got a hit with “Nonsense”, I couldn’t stand it. “Please Please Please” was admittedly a great step in the right direction, thanks to some stellar production work from Jack Antanoff and Sabrina playing up her personality in a coy, playful manner. But it wouldn’t be until “Juno” where I threw up my hands and said, “Fine. You win”. This one came from John Ryan, whom I always felt was a much better producer for Sabrina than Julian Bunetta, and he proved it with this song. Right away I am immediately hooked by the opening harpsichord behind the quiet “oohs” from Sabrina in the background, followed by the beat kicking in with a thumping tempo, chiming keys, and the jammy guitar that comes in during the pre-chorus. Ridiculously tight, polished, and bursting with life, especially in the chorus where the song allows itself to bloom before returning to a delightful burst of shimmering instruments. That’s to say nothing of Sabrina herself, who delivers a performance so good it put into doubt every single negative thing I had ever said about her. I always felt like as a vocalist she owed too much to Ariana Grande, but she managed to lock in on the one thing that made Ariana stand out beyond just being an impressive vocalist; she LOVES singing. And on “Juno”, I can tell that Sabrina LOVES singing. She sounds so deeply in love with this guy.
Sure, anyone can make a fun pop song about being in love. But Sabrina takes it the extra mile by really playing into how horny she is. It’s become an infamous gimmick of Sabrina’s that at every live show when she performs this song, she gets into a new sex position whenever she reaches the line, “You make me wanna try some freaky positions… Have you ever tried this one?”. But that alone doesn’t describe just how much she gets into it. From innocuous comments blessing his dad’s genetics, to hitting a high note just to say “hormones are high!”, to outright dropping the subtext and declaring “I’m so fucking horny” right on the bridge of the song. Not to mention her fun little adlibs like the little “unh!” right before the first pre-chorus and the little “ow!” she yelps after the first chorus. My favorite has to be the melody she uses to sing, “You make me wanna fall in love”. It’s such a great little melody that gets stuck in my head every time! It makes me mad how much I fucking adore this song. But I’m also so happy to have it. I don’t like being cynical about artists, I want them to prove they’re more than just a PR team. I want to see artists shine through and become famous because they’re that good at their art. Not relying on other artists, not trying to spin personal drama into a marketing stunt, not replicating better artists in hopes of distracting people from how little personality or creative drive you have (cough), show me who you are and what you’re capable of. I’m so glad Sabrina did that.
#23 Geordie Greep - Holy, Holy
And here’s the song that every critic put on their best of the year list because it is absolutely that good. I didn’t even have any expectations for Geordie Greep’s first venture into music outside of black midi. I don’t even like black midi that much! But in all fairness, I’m by default more drawn to jazz-rock fusions than I am to noisy experimental rock. Still, I was floored by “Holy, Holy” the first time I heard it. The instant rush of guitars leads into the piano and harp-driven groove, electric guitars wailing all over it as it suddenly jumps into the verses and tells the story of a leisure-suit type flirting with a girl at the bar and wooing her with his unmatched charisma. The buoyancy of the piano and the sprinkles of saxophone flourishes sell the glamor of this guy and his supposed notoriety, but there’s just enough chaos to give off the impression that something’s being twisted. Whether that’s through the revving guitars or the unnerving backing vocals behind him as the song suddenly develops a calypso rhythm and the claims keep piling on. There’s a level of dorky theatricality to Geordie Greep’s performance that’s ridiculously infectious, selling you on the delusions of grandeur he’s giving himself, but he’s also juuuust unhinged enough to give you the hint that this guy might be playing things up a little.
The song fully escalates for me when Geordie makes the out-of-line claim that he bets “her pussy is holy, too”, in which the song quiets down to just the rhythm and the pianos before the guitar starts coming back in and Geordie begins the bridge with a howl. The guitar solo kicks into high gear alongside a series of deep-voiced “bom bom bom bom bom bom”s take over the song. The chaos is in full effect. All the instruments are going nuts and they all colless into a dreamlike swoosh into harps and softer instrumentation. We’re now flashed back to our supposedly amazing protagonist negotiating with the girl and laying out the plan to make him look like the incredible guy he absolutely isn’t. He just wants people to pay attention and to draw jealousy that he pulled a beautiful woman through his unmatched charisma. Greep’s delivery becomes even more unhinged, as we slowly realize this guy is a total phony who paid a sex worker to satisfy his ego and for a moment bring him to a world where he’s the main character. We don’t even get a satisfying ending to the story, we just get a sped-through recount of what happens after Geordie says her pussy is holy where she slaps him, kisses him, and brings him to the bathroom to give everyone the impression they hooked up. They don't even actually have sex! They just smoke for a few minutes and leave! This is such a roller coaster of a song. From its frenetic production to its insane story and depiction of the most pathetic man you’ve ever met. It leaves you out of breath by the end of it all.
#22 Taylor Swift - The Manuscript
Sometimes I wonder if my deep love for this song is more around its concept and subtext rather than the song itself. There’s not much to it musically. Just a few piano chords, some small string swells in the middle of the song, and Taylor herself. Taylor reminisces on a past relationship, a very specific one at that. From the hints of wanting to behave in “the age of him” as well as mentions of actors being a part of her project, it’s pretty easy to identify that relationship being with Jake Gyllenhall, the subject of “All Too Well”. She reflects a lot on what happened after the relationship ended, how her attempts to try to be more adult were reversed into retreating into her childlike instincts and even dating boys who were her own age rather than, well, nine years her senior. The titular “manuscript” turns out to be “All Too Well” itself, which ended up being one of Taylor Swift’s most beloved songs and a very cathartic moment for Taylor as she was able to tell her story and fully process that relationship after it agonized her at such a young age. But what gets to me about the song more than anything is the ending. “Now and then I reread the manuscript, but the story isn’t mine anymore”.
If I can get personal for a second, there was a specific event that I felt similarly upended my life that happened ten years ago. It’s very low stakes at the end of the day, but at the time it felt like the first major shift in my life that I had trouble reckoning with. A lot of new emotions and moments of self-reflection that were honestly painful to go through. Especially in the mistakes I made in processing that pain. You might notice some common themes in my comics and even some of my music critiques (especially in the early years when I was much more prone to trauma dumping). I feel like I’ve been subconsciously putting a lot of those moments I shared with people in my life and myself into my work. Half because it was a story I wanted to tell, but half also because I needed to process it. It’s kind of weird to think about how that whole thing was over a decade ago. And over the years it’s taken in so many different forms in my art, intentionally or not. Now I look back on it and it feels so distant. When I take a “trip to those shores”, it feels like a very different part of me that no longer exists. Because that person has been through so many other things in their life. Things they learned from that experience, those connections they made, and the people whom they were able to start anew with. It’s nice to have a song that puts this into words so clearly in the year when a whole decade would have passed since that day. Where it’s been long enough that I can look back at that pivotal moment in my life with the same distance Taylor can with her pivotal moment. “The story isn’t mine anymore” really resonates with me because I choose to take it as a sign of growth. The story has been told and is worth telling again, but it’s merely a manuscript. I finished that story long ago.
#21 Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Man, what do I even say about this song? If there’s any song that people are gonna remember from 2024 it’s gonna be “Not Like Us”, the silver bullet that managed to topple Drake off his claim to the throne as hip-hop’s biggest name. The memorable Mustard beat where he takes a threatening string melody and pairs it with a West Coast bounce that’s impossible to forget. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this song at first. It had been mere hours since “meet the grahams” violently tore into Drake as a person and the circumstances that turned him into a dangerous predator, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear those same heavy accusations under a catchy beat. Instead what happened is that I listened to the song like, twenty more times and memorized every line. “Not Like Us” ended up being the finishing blow to Drake’s imperial era by merely playing his own game. Turning Drake’s humiliation and loss of credibility into a big global phenomenon. Sure, Kendrick is a lyrical rapper and incredible storyteller, but he is all of that AND can make world-conquering bangers. The West Coast has notably ADORED “Not Like Us” embracing it as their anthem and becoming a staple on their clubs and radio stations. To the point where even the most out-of-pocket accusations become memorable punchlines. “Say Drake - I hear you like ‘em young!”, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified Pedophiles”, and of course, “Tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A-Minorrrrrrrrrrrr!” are just three of the many other quotable moments in the song that anyone can recognize. It’s dark, sure, but it’s funny! And Kendrick has laid out plenty of reasons why it’s okay to make fun of Drake for being a weirdo freak (/negative).
But the part of the song I love the most, so very dearly, is that third verse. Where Kendrick decides to halt the song to deliver a quick history lesson on the colonization of black people in Atlanta, with settlers using the townsfolk to build their trains and essentially gentrify their hometowns for a quick buck. In reality, it’s the settlers who are profiting off the townsfolk. Kendrick goes on to accuse Drake of doing the same thing to Atlanta artists, profiting off their hard work and using their clout all to himself. He lists Future, Lil Baby, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Quavo, and 2 Chainz as examples of the artists he’s used to boost his own career and present himself as “real” while every bit of Drake is as phony as one gets. “No you not a colleague, you’re a fucking colonizer”. I love this verse so much because it spells out a major problem with Drake that seemed to be ignored by wider audiences. He’s not just a predator because he’s really really really weird around young girls, he’s also a predator to artists who have their own identity growing in popularity and essentially leeching off of them and stealing that momentum for himself. Atlanta is an especially inspiring city to highlight as so much of the trap music that thrived in the 2010s and during Drake’s peak came from Atlanta. And he managed to fit all that while still making the song an unforgettable banger. Letting his sense of humor pop out while still being skilled enough to deliver some excellent flows and catchy hooks. But you knew this already. Everyone who actively paid attention to music this year knows this! It returned to #1 on the Hot 100 while I was finishing up this list!! And where’s Drake now? Doing the same shit Kendrick called him out for doing in this very song. Run for your life.
See you next time for the final part!