That's it - we're all done people! Another summer jam has come to an end. Like three weeks ago but IRREGARDLESS we have another Summer Jam Champion in the books. Here, of course is a current updated list:
2007: "Umbrella" by Rihanna 2008: "Bleeding in Love" by Leona Lewis 2009: "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas 2010: "California Gurls" by Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg 2011: "Park Rock Anthem" by LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock 2012: "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen 2013: "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke ft. T.I. & Pharrell 2014: "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea ft. Charle XCX 2015: "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon 2016: "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake 2017: "Despacito" by Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi ft. Justin Bieber 2018: "Never Be the Same" by Camila Cabello 2019: "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
2020: "Blinding Lights" by the Weeknd
2021: "good 4 u" by Olivia Rodrigo
2022: No winner?
2023: No winner?
Alright, crap, I've got to clean this up. I don't know what I was doing, apparently I just gave up the past two years.
First of all, when I think 2020 I definitely think "Rockstar" by DaBaby and even at the time , "Blinding Lights" won by a single point. I dunno, I think we go back to "Rockstar" retroactively.
2022 was definitely murky when "Running Up that Hill" definitely won, but I'm loth to acknowledge it since it debuted 40 years earlier. But that was definitely the summer of Kate Bush, so let's put it there.
2023 looking back I think is "Kill Bill" by SZA, a year gone that just feels like one to beat. So let's call it that one.
2020: "Rockstar" by DaBaby
2021: "good 4 u" by Olivia Rodrigo
2022: "Running Up that Hill" by Kate Bush
2023: "Kill Bill" by SZA
The whole point of the Summer Jam is to find that immortal song that we always associate with that particular summer. I think that cleans up a lot of the past five years, which are admittedly really rough. We really got messed up after COVID, huh?
2024 is easy. One reason why this is so fun is that every year is different. 2020 was close between two, 2021 was pretty defined, 2022 had an anachronistic jam, and 2023 didn't have too much at all. But 2024 was remarkably clear.
#1: "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar
#2: "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter
#3: "A Bar Song" by Shaboozey
No real debate, nothing opaque, that is definitively the order and if we had been doing a weekly countdown, that would have probably been the order damn near every single week up to and including right now, when this week I feel the same way.
2025? Meh, we'll probably do like we did this year, once a month or whenever we feel like it. But we need to keep announcing a winner! Probably!
I somewhat yearn for the golden years of our seventeen week summer break. We are having fun, but I do sort of miss those days. Anyway, we've never quite had a summer like this where we have three clear contenders in a dead heat, although all three also very clearly have their own distinct ranking. I was about to say "A Bar Song" was losing steam, too, then I heard it on regular radio the other day. All three just seem to be where they always were, and we'll keep going with that. So, let's start with the periphery:
"I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen
I mean, it's fine, I don't think I'm adding it to a playlist to listen to in the 2040s but it's here and picking up steam.
"Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter
Let's call Sabrina the Team USA of summer - not Gold but winning the medal count. This song is maybe taking over "Expresso" but not really.
"Polkamania" by Weird Al
Yeah!
"A Bar Song" by Shaboozey
It's my pick for song of summer and the one that gets in my head the most. I do think it's a clear #3 but it picked up a bit this week. Everything about it rules and I hope it's bigger than "Tipsy" ever was. Sorry J-Kwon. Shaboozey has another track out now, too. I don't think it will be a thing.
"Expresso" by Sabrina Carpenter
I mean, c'mon, definitely industry plant, right? She's just effortless in this debut and it's a big announcement of her on the pop scene. It feels like any other pop song. Something elevates it. I think it might just be horniness.
"Not Like Us" by Kendrick
I never want to prematurely annoint a Song of Summer, but something would have to be really really ubiquitous in August to overthrow Kendrick at this point. The only one I can really remember is "I Gotta Feeling" way back in 2009 that surged real late. There's a million things to note about this. It might be the most popular diss track of all time, and also one that really really sounds like libel? And Drake can't sue because he'd either look soft(er) or in discovery they'd find out he really is a pedophile. The whole thing is nuts. It is a good song, though. Catchy. Kendrick is definitely killing a beetle with a sledgehammer and the whole origin of the beef is so damn stupid but like, I don't know of any other beef with such a definitive winner.
Other people who are trying...
Charli XCX came out with a new one with Billie Eilish, which is a weird combo, and not a very good song. She also had "360" earlier, but I have found that while I want to be interested, I really can't get into it. Eminem's "Houdini" is maybe okay, but it's just not as big. Billie Eilish does have a lot of songs out, but they're all really depressing.
That's it! We have a few more weeks and then we'll call it for Labor Day!
It's time again that I was compelled to create a brand new Summer Jam List! I mean, as you can tell, this blog has fallen on rough times. I blame the birth of my son, the cause of all my problems.
Actually, it's moreso that life is made up of much more than my thoughts on why The Fall Guy (2023) faltered. Hrmmm...maybe we should bring back Road to a Blockbuster...
Anyway, I'm diggin some tunes lately, so we gotta list them here!
"Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter
I'm realizing I've had "Feather" in my head for weeks, but "Espresso" the Ostrich is definitely the hotter jam. It just hasn't hit my hometown of Middle America yet. Sabrina Carpenter is fine, she's got a good time, some spicy attitude, definitely feels like an industry plant, but hey, Olivia Rodrigo proved me wrong. There's a sameness to all her songs but they're ethereal and catchy enough.
"Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar
This song didn't blow my mind at first, but the more I listen to it, the more it simultaneously feels like Kendrick's most mainstream, attention-grabbing song, but also very removed and isolated like his work tends to be. I don't know anything about the Drake Beef or whatever, I dunno, Drake is like the softest cat in the game, who cares. It's like beefing with an actual piece of beef. Not much on the radio yet, but that's not even a thing anymore.
"A Bar Song" by Shaboozey
I've been obsessed with this one. I can't remember a song working its way so into my brain since...well, "Old Town Road" for lack of a better Black Country Comparison. The video is captivating, too. I don't know what it is, I think it's partially the off-center framing, the escalation of dance moves corresponding to the rhythm, and the juxtaposition of these white good ol' boys in the background who are simultaneously very modern with this black guy singing country to a hip hop beat and partially remixing J-Kwon's 2004 "Tipsy" which I don't think anyone except people my age remember.
Others
Yeah, let's bust up that 16-year old eight a week formula. I just don't actually care about any other song. There's like, a lot of Billie Eilish that's the same depressed shit, Taylor which is good for Taylor, Beyonce's Country Album, which is about exactly as good as Snoop Dogg's reggae album (I actually do like that...sort of), some Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Hozier which blows. "Million Dollar Baby" is a strong number two and I just need to be exposed to that more or something, it's not hooking me.
That's it. We'll be back next month. Maybe. Go on with your lives! Happy start of the Seventeen-Week Summer Season!
We might not even do a 2019 music recap this year, but going back through this decade we have had some fantastic musical moments. As typical, I'd like to break this down into what I consider the only three big genres of music: POP, Hip-Hop, and Rock. Let's list our Top Three in each category (in order!):
POP:
Rainbow (2017) - Ke$ha
This was a revolutionary album by the Pop Queen. Yes - Pop Queen! Ke$ha sheds her greased up glitter persona for something more mature and soulful, but still full of her unique brand of energy. After a hellish few years she turns her tragedy into triumph without a single note of auto-tune to prove she has always had the legitimate vocal chops. She does and this is a bowlful of positive vibes where every track is a glamour bomb.
Bangerz (2013) - Miley Cyrus
2013 was peak Miley and with songs like "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball" at the forefront it seemed like this was just an obnoxious party album. She showed surprising maturity, though with a collection of heartfelt tracks that signaled maybe there's more to this girl than a wild partier. "Oh Darling", "Maybe You're Right", "Adore You" all make this album one I keep going to.
anti (2016) - Rihanna
Your #1 pop album of the decade, I could listen to this every day. Rihanna pours all her relationship angst into this with little care for song length, track listing, or anything to make a conventional pop album. The most bankable song is "Work" which blew up big, but there's a lot of drug-addled pain behind everything else. Drug-addled love, too. There is more of the latter and this album keeps thumping between Caribbean hymns, club beats, and guitar riffs to come together for a complete experience.
Hip-Hop:
To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) - Kendrick Lamar
Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is a fantastic debut but part of it still has that stitched together, mixtape feel. TPAB blasted Kendrick onto the main scene as a tour de force of rap artistry for the current generation. I listened to this over and over again and it's one of the few albums that I have completely saved as a constant YouTube playlist. It's full of radio-friendly beats as well as the more biting politically conscious tracks that Kendrick has jumped ahead on.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) - Kanye
I listen to a lot of Kanye, and although I have typically leaned on Graduation, MBDTF may be his greatest album ever, and for sure this decade. There's a lot here. He spits ironic rhymes and wordplay motivated with both earnest goofiness and racial change. He tries new musical techniques like fusing dozens of voices on "All of the Lights." He expands length with "Runaway." He practically debuts Nicki Minaj with "Monster." It's a majestic achievement, fueled by a lot of his pre-Kardashian pain. It's a triumph.
Run the Jewels 2 (2014) - Run the Jewels
Every single track here is hot as hell. Never a mainstay until they landed "Legend Has It" in front of the Black Panther (2018) trailer, RTJ has been cranking out some of the best hip-hop tracks of the decade. The beats are the best around and Killer Mike's brutal bellow complements LP's acerbic fire like few rap duos out there. Their second album is their most defined, unencumbered by expectation or novelty. It's the best hip-hop album of the decade and maybe my favorite overall.
Rock:
Modern Vampires in the City (2013) - Vampire Weekend
This is weird to say, and correct me if my zeitgeist detector is off-base, but I feel like most of the decade transition sounded like Vampire Weekend. It's that twinkly kind of soft alt-rock that sounds emo except for the subject matter. This is their best album and one I keep going back to when I want to hear something that sounds like the early part of this decade. As is apparent, that statement makes me feel crazy because I don't believe it's a sentiment anyone else feels. What say you?
Pure Comedy (2017) - Father John Misty
Father John Misty launched with his first album, I Love You, Honeybear, which introduced his socially conscious folk rock attitude to the world, but he canonized his long form folk poetry with Pure Comedy. It's a scathing critique of just about everything evil in the world to the tune of humble folk beats. It'll make your head spin and also totally depressed and also totally happy.
Plastic Beach (2010) - Gorillaz
NMW's pick for the overall #1 album of the decade is one that launched nearly ten years ago. I've been a Gorillaz fan since the beginning (they're just about the only band whose every album I own). Plastic Beach traded the haunts of Demon Days for sunshiny island tunes, but stirred it with a corroded chemical bath that gives the entire optimism an maladious subtext. The entire album pumps with this and it's one of the most coherent and thematically consistent I've ever heard or have yet to hear. It's the best.
It's about time we round out every little pop culture facet of 2018 - or as we're calling it for some reason, Two-Thousand GREAT-teen. It was pretty great, right?
Remember when we could even say that years were great? What was the last great year we had? The world is awful. That's why we have some fun music to jam out to - something needs to distract us from real problems. Whether or not there's value to both pursuing fruitless entertainment and making lists about it is beyond our scope. Let's have fun!
Best Songs of 2018:
There were actually a lot of songs I dug hardcore this year. As we do, without much evaluation, here is a smattering of the best we had, new and old from this GREAT year:
"Psycho" - Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign
"Finesse" by Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B
"Nice for What" - Drake
"Stir Fry" - Migos
"All the Stars" - Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA
"Pray for Me" - The Weeknd ft. Kendrick Lamar
"Be Careful" - Cardi B
"King's Dead" - Jay Rock, Kenny, Future, James Blake
"This is America" - Childish Gambino
"Feels Like Summer" - Childish Gambino
"Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B
"Taste" by Tyga
"Humility" - Gorillaz
"Crush" - Tessa Violet
"Nice for What" - Drake
"In My Feelings" - Drake
"Hunnybee" - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
"Best Hugs" - DRAM
"Mo Bamba" - Sheck Wes
"See You Again" - Tyler the Creator ft. Kali Uchis
"Thunderclouds" - LSD
"Thank U, Next" - Ariana Grande
"Sicko Mode" - Travis Scott ft. Drake
"Sunflower" - Swae Lee, Post Malone
"Just a Stranger" - Kali Uchis ft. Steven Lacey
That's some list. My favourite song of the year of course is WIN by Jay Rock.
Some stray observations - this was a huge year for many artists. Travis Scott, Drake, Childish Gambino, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, it was maddening. Ariana Grande made a really great case for Artist of the Year and no one made a bigger hyped album than she did with Sweetener, only to then drop her greatest single as a response to the heartbreak that followed the Pete Davidson puppy love that made said alubm. "Thank U, Next" ended up being one of her best tracks of the year and one of the best songs anywhere.
However, it's gotta be the B. 2017 was a huge year for her blasting on to the scene, but 2018 proved that she has the goods to stay. She was on every song ever, dropping four singles of her own, but being featured on an additional nine tracks. Led by "Finesse", "I Like It", and "Girls Like You" spreads over a solid amount of genres and across the entire year. She's a bridge between hip-hop, pop, and Latin and the most 2018 artist ever.
This year was also a tipping point in how we listen to music. Radio Top 40, Spotify Top 40, and album sales had nothing to do with each other. I named Camila's "Never Be the Same" the Summer Jam Queen, but few agreed with me. It was probably Drake. It's not like adaptation is bad - we just need to figure this shit out.
Music Video of the Year:
As soon as it dropped, there was no question. There's no video more in the political moment, with a beat and flow that stands on its own, lyrical relevancy to both what's on screen and in its own context and also dramatically captured our attention. Between Atlanta, SOLO (2018), and everything he did as Childish Gambino over summer ("Feels Like Summer" was also an amazing video), Donald Glover had a hell of a year.
Albums of the Year:
Rock:
As we usually do, I like to separate music into three big mega-genres. Pop, Hip-Hop, and Rock. Rock never has any good albums anymore, so we'll start there. There was some interesting stuff made by Father John Misty and the Gorillaz that I'm into, but nothing that stood out as the best they've done (or better than even 2017. Also they're barely even rock).
No, we'll give 2018 to the 1975 and they're album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. The album oscillates between these Vampire Weekend hipster vibes and some slow contemplative work that straddles genre, autotune, and simultaneously uplifting and depressing beats. There's super 80s synth on "It's Not Living" and that Tool Time song is poppy and engaging as hell. Some tracks are a little on the saccharine side, but there's always a bite around the corner.
Top Tracks: "Love It If We Made It", "I Like America & America Likes Me", "I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)."
Pop:
There were a lot of great pop albums this year. Ariana's Sweetener would be the obvious choice because it's super popular and pretty damn good. Robyn's Honey was also notable, but to be honest, sounds like the same exact stuff she made ten years ago. I mean, I like that, but it just seemed like nothing innovative. No, we'll give it to newcomer Kali Uchis and her debut, Isolation.
Her vocals are haunting, seductive, and scathing. Every single track is an earworm. It's awesome. There's a pop sensibility there with a beat that has a little more edge. She had some high-profile collabos with Gorillaz, Tyler the Creator, and Bootsy Collins but always appears as the dominant voice. To be honest, I was looked with the first real track, "Miami" and never let go. There's some funky lovemaking shit on this album, boi.
Top Tracks: "Your Teeth in My Neck", "Dead to Me", "Tomorrow", "After the Storm"
Hip-Hop:
I had a tough time with this, actually. Scorpion? Astroworld? Invasion of Privacy? Ye? There were a lot of high profile albums, and even though the latter there will surely be left off a lot of lists because of his pro-Trumpiness, Kanye actually made a lot of good shit this year. Instead, let's cop out and just say it's the whole Black Panther album.
It was a solid flick - I'd call it good and not great, but it delivered one of the best inspired by Albums of all time. I like how Hip-Hop artists take this on, like Jay-Z with American Gangster (2007). Anyway, Kendrick Lamar could have phoned it in - instead this album has relevant movie tracks, a great launching point for some monster songs this year, and room for some actual introspective shit. This is maybe a cop-out to just give it to Kendrick Lamar this year, who seemed to mostly spend it having fun with Jay Rock. I don't actually plan on highlighting Panther all that much in my Top Movies Post, so let's jazz on it here.
Top Tracks: "Opps", "Paramedic!", "Redemption"
And there you have it, folks. That's all you need to know about the music of 2018! What do you think? It was an underrated year as I look back on it. Keep jamming, baby!!
We don't JUST ramble about Star Wars here at Norwegian Morning Wood, sometimes we even listen to music. 2017 was...not great. The cats at the top made some pretty killer albums, but generally singles tended to blur together. The Summer Jam 2017 was actually a decent ride, though. "Despacito" as far as Global Pop Hits go, is pretty damn decent. Let's start with the most popular or notable singles of the year:
And let's just BOLD my Top Ten as we move through the year. You don't want to see all this repeated anyway, and most of what I loved made it into the zeitgeist, or at least my personal zeitgeist.
There are a lot of good people in the running on this one. Katy Perry really tried to have a great year and totally failed. Taylor Swift did better, but is way too partisan. Lady GaGa opened up awesome at the Super Bowl, made a really egocentric movie, and released a few kickass singles that didn't really catch on. Bruno Mars dominated early and held on like somehow only Bruno Mars can do now.
Selena Gomez is silently our runner-up. She keeps making incredible beats that don't seem to get proper recognition and at one point was featured or starring on two massive tracks this summer. "Bad Liar" was a weird ass video, but she's still amazing on it.
But really, this is the year of Kendrick Lamar. He'll get his Best Hip-Hop Album Award from Norwegian Morning Wood a little bit later, but he had a massive crossover hit with "Humble.", some harder tracks here and there and was a non-stop presence in the music world. This was a good year for a lot of newcomers, too, so we might as well announce the-
Newcomer of the Year:
This is the least boob-centric pic I could find
Fifth Harmony breakout Camila Cabello diversified herself and made us question why we were never able to distinguish her from the rest of that group. There are so many other hot artists to come out of 2017. Post Malone had a couple huge hits, Logic is on the scene, Alessia Cara has one of the greatest new voices. It's hard to even remember that prior to 2017 no one had heard of the Migos.
In addition to Camila breaking off from Fifth Harmony this was the year that all the One Direction boys blasted off. They've all made far more tolerable tracks than they did together, which is certainly all about them having some more autonomy and older perspective. Harry Styles we kind of new would be the best, and he was, but Niall Horan is also cranking out great stuff now.
But there's no real contest. 2017, welcome Cardi B. I don't even really like her voice, it's too harsh for me, but her turn on "No Limit" is solid as hell. Going from stripper to global superstar is no small feat, and by September this woman was in charge of the world. "Bodak Yellow" was a massive song and I'm excited to hear her take a lozenge and come out with something else.
Albums of the Year: ROCK
I had trouble finding a good Rock album this year. Rock is dead, I suppose. Portugal. The Man did some great stuff, and if you count Harry Styles, which you could, there's some really interesting directions this year. Queens of the Stone Age made some good shit that no one listened to, but there's better stuff out there.
That better stuff is Father John Misty's Pure Comedy. Somehow more commercially popular than his previous I Love You, Honeybear, it's also less catchy and more subversive. He winds around folk poetry, requiring a keen ear and an open heart, flirting with pretension and sometimes crossing that line, but generally crafting earworms in addition to the most socially and spiritually conscious album of the year.
Key Tracks: "Total Entertainment Forever", "Leaving LA", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain"
HIP-HOP Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. There was a lot of good Hip-Hop this year but no one is proving themselves the master that Kendrick is. I had high hopes for Tyler the Creator's Flower Boy because the singles were so strong, but the album left me wanting. Kendrick meditates on some big ideas, both personal and political, always weaving his own place in the world and connecting it to the album at large. Kendrick expresses his loneliness, desperation, demons, and hope over the sickest beats of the year.
Key Tracks: "FEEL.", "LUST.", "HUMBLE."
Runner-up: Jay-Z, 4:44. Jay-Z doesn't seem to be getting a lot of credit at year's end here. I have a conspiracy theory that DAMN. for all its majesty is better suited for sympathetic white critic ears while 4:44 throws the gloves off and attempts to be a completely black album for black ears. A lot of it can barely be considered rapping, which is why it's tough to single-ize. I mean, is your big track, "The Story of O.J."? That's not nearly radio-friendly. Jay-Z writes a confession to match Beyonce's Lemonade anger and it holds up if not nearly as listenable. That might be why he's favored making short films with barely a few lines of music and more focused on the black experience. It's amazing what an artist can decide to do when he no longer cares about money or sales, and this is a monumental step in a direction away from "Big Pimpin'", even if some of the message gets too obfuscated and symbolic for its own good.
POP
Overall Album of the Year: Rainbow by Kesha. Yes, she dropped the $ and made the most simultaneously hopeful and painful album of the year. This album works in context because you know it came out of such fire but Kesha is phoenix-ing hard. She neglects auto-tune completely and creates a new sound totally free from her party-anthem ways (okay, there's a bit of "stardust" in there). It's refreshing, lovely, and beautiful. Kesha throws off all shackles and judgments and shows us that we too can be happy with who we are, resilient, proud, and beautiful, too. It's a trip.
Key Tracks: "Bastards", "Hymn", "Praying"
Runner-up: Lorde, Melodrama. I guess I never thought that Lorde actually left us, but damn it's been a while since Pure Heroine. I think this is because Randy Marsh never left us. Melodrama is an older (yeah - 21 instead of 17), and that blase attitude towards pop culture is still there, but re-energized and focused like an older artist can reflect on. Yes, an old 21-year old artist. She puts aside any concern she'd be one and done and adds a lot of great radio hits as well.
Music Videos of the Year:
Charli XCX's "Boys" will make you gay, but is also so fun and playful. Also will make you gay. Somehow this has every cute boy in the world.
Kendrick Lamar - "HUMBLE." because of course it's addictive and engaging - money, ho's, and popes:
Tyler the Creator - "Who Dat Boy" Somehow a lot of Tyler got on here despite not doing all that much this year. This is also a video I can't stop watching due to its brutality, identity-playing, and the surprisingly charismatic turn by ASAP Rocky. And Tyler's incredible physical acting.
Portugal. The Man - "Rich Friends" I love a good video gimmick, and this is a creative use of pop-ups and Dennis Reynolds.
Young Thug - "Wyclef Jean" So, Young Thug actually had a great year, but this amazing video speaks for itself. Watch the #1 video o the year:
Another year in music has come and gone and as I'm looking back on it, what a terrible, terrible year for the audial arts. Sure we have some standouts, but taking a look over my big list of top influential songs, how many do we really care about? It's a rough crowd. Take a gander:
"Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
"Four Five Seconds" by Kanye West ft. Rihanna and Paul McCartney
"Beggin' for Thread" by BANKS
"Stay With Me" by Sam Smith
"Ghost" by Ella Henderson
"Love Me Harder" by Ariana Grande
"Not the Only One" by Sam Smith
"Style" by Taylor Swift
"Budapest" by George Ezra
"Classic Man" by Jidenna
"Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding
"Heartbreak Song" by Kelly Clarkson
"Truffle Butter" by Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne and Drake
"See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
"GDFR" by Flo Rida
"Trap Queen" by Fetty Wap
"Ayo" by Chris Brown ft. Tyga
"Worth It" by Fifth Harmony
"Somebody" by Natalie La Rose ft. Jeremih
"Pose to Be" by Omarion ft. Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko
"Shut Up and Dance With Me" by Walk the Moon
"Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
"King Kunta" by Kendrick Lamar
"Watch Me" by Silento
"Good For You" by Selena Gomez
"679" by Fetty Wap
"Girl Crush" by Little Big Town
"Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd
"Downtown" by Macklemore
"$ave Dat Money" by Lil Dicky
"Wildest Dreams" by Taylor Swift
"Like I'm Gonna Lose You" by Megan Trainor and John Legend
"The Hills" by The Weeknd
"Ex's & Oh's" by Elle King
"Hotline Bling" by Drake
"All My Friends Are Wasted" by Snakeships ft. Tinashe and Chance the Rapper
"Hello" by Adele
"Same Old Love" by Selena Gomez
Best Singles of the Year: "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars This is that rare kind of song that retains its greatness the more you listen to it. It's nigh impossible to get sick of. Imbued with eternal funkiness, sublime catchiness, and maximum long-term listenability, this is that rare song that transcends all critical and commercial boundaries and can play on repeat forever.
"S.O.B." by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Part folk, part Southern Rock, "S.O.B." is a rousing ode to problem drinking with gleeful tone that throws up goofiness along with its impassioned vocal work.
"High By the Beach" by Lana Del Rey The ethereal anti-pop nightmare by Lana Del Rey is a highlight of the album, fully committed to chilling out and avoiding the pressures of life. "You can be a bad motherfucker/but that don't make you a man" Lana coos, a confident front to excessive masculinity.
"Don't Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes Another perfect amalgam of genres, Brittany Howard squeals her way across this funky anthem that works both as a chilled out background jam and a hard-rocking arena bolero.
"Hello" by Adele For a little bit there I actually thought Adele might be done for - four years without a major record, although "Skyfall" kept us all at attention. "Hello" unified the country, though, and along with "Uptown Funk", bookended the year with huge widespread hits.
"Trap Queen" by Fetty Wap It was tough to pick just one Fetty song as emblematic of this exaggerated style of rapping, but "Trap Queen" is probably the most rhythmically complete of his efforts. It's a cute love song fueled by hustling drugs and gettin' cheddar with bae - a truer song for our times there is none. HEYWHATSUPHELLO "L$D" by A$AP Rocky Simultaneously soft and soothing with restrained intensity and a progression that builds to a surreal cosmological climax, this song is a journey that gets better when the video breaks down and transitions to an entirely new song three minutes in.
"King Kunta" by Kendrick Lamar For the second consecutive year I'm picking a Kendrick effort as the top track of the year, that this dropped off the same album as last year's "i" is no coincidence. "King Kunta" emphasizes this year's return to funk and provides an uncanny mix of sampled sources, complex lyrics referencing the temptation of fame, a love of Compton, and Richard Pryor. It's full of community pride, good vibes, and infectious energy along with a strong undercurrent of righteous anger all supplanted by an addictive beat. "Life ain't shit but a fat vagina."
Artist of the Year:
Kendrick would be an obvious choice, but there were so many big names that came out this year. Mark Ronson, Fetty Wap, Drake, Ed Sheeran, the Weeknd, Selena Gomez, Wiz Khalifa, Demi Lovato, Alessia Cara, but in the end, there's really one obvious choice, that's totally Tay Sway.
After dropping her most mainstream, pop-iest album, 1989, late last year, Swift had a string of ridiculous hits that carried her through 2015. It's almost like Katy Perry's Teenage Dream which seemed to be made of only Top 10 singles. As "Blank Space" carried her out of 2014, Taylor dropped "Style", "Bad Blood", and "Wildest Dreams" and in the process, never wrote herself out of the pop cultural conversation for the entire year.
It helps that all these jams are pretty legitimately good, even if "Bad Blood" ended up being kitsch-y and "Wildest Dreams" is floaty and weird. Still, she can do no wrong at the moment, and for now, 2015 is all Taylor.
What do you think about the music of 2015? Any additions or subtractions?
Welcome again to our look at the best and greatest bits of pop culture to come out of the year 2015, which will soon be known as one of the greatest years in all of human existence. I actually might suggest that this year's movies weren't nearly as great as 2014 and its albums don't really hold a candle to 2013. Nevertheless, the important thing is that the year has ended, so we're still going to talk about this crap.
We'll recount all the year's best songs after the Holiday, for now let's go through Records and Videos:
Top Albums of the Year:
POP:
I always like separating my artists into three big genres that cover everything - Pop, Rock, and Hip-Hop. Every music ever is derived from those three big monster genres. This was an alright year for all three, although more seemed to come from Hip-Hop than anything else. On the pop side, though, there wasn't a more intoxicating album than Lana Del Rey's Honeymoon. It's creepy, ethereal, addictive, and I dare say even catchy at times. She continues to grow as a pop artist who seems entirely disinterested with fitting into cultural or musical expectations, unlike say, Fifth Harmony which always gives me the vibe of a completely manufactured act.
Top Tracks: "Music to Watch Boys To", "Freak", "Art Deco"
Runner Up: A lot of people would probably say Adele's 25 but that never did it for me. The stunning debut of The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness which feels more like a greatest hits album because every single song feels like it could be a Top 40 single.
ROCK:
I was torn a lot listening to a few albums, but I ultimately settled on a more obscure record, I Love You, Honeybear by Father John Misty. The first track is a big ballad that hits you like a mix of sweeping folk with ironic sentimentality and the album never lets up. Each song gets more engaging than the one before it, essentially a romantic record that's stooped in enough casualness and even bits of social commentary to keep the whole thing entertaining. It's a compelling record that pushes the genre forward and is probably my favorite album to chill out to this year.
Top Tracks: "Bored in the USA", "Holy Shit", "I Went to the Store One Day"
Runner Up: The other two best albums this year dropped from more established artists, although one hasn't put anything out in twelve years and the other is still the freshest voice in Rock. Blur came back with The Magic Whip which really made me yearn for another Gorillaz album. The next is the successful follow-up to their break-out debut, Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color, which improves on anything they've ever done.
HIP-HOP:
My and also everyone's pick for Top Album of the year, naturally is Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly. I listened to this record non-stop from its debut to...well, I still am. He's not only become one of the most lyrically complex rap composers but his ability to switch personas with ease evokes Eminem or Nicki Minaj. The beats are infused with a high level of funk this time around while even his top tracks are infused with the pain and angst of de facto segregation and life on the Compton streets not heard since NWA. Fitting that this was the year of Straight Outta Compton (2015) and an increase in general awareness of Black Lives Matter, but the main rub of it all is that this isn't that different from what Cube, Dre, and E were dropping nearly thirty years ago. I wonder if we'll have a landmark album in 2032 rapping about the same thing.
Top Tracks: "King Kunta", "These Walls", "The Black the Berry"
Runner Up: There were a lot of rappers that landed this year with a lot of noise. We'll probably remember 2015 as a landmark year for the game changing with Fetty Wap, Future, Chance the Rapper, and Rae Sremmurd leading the charge. I'll give the edge to the latter, though, whose SremmLifeis a glorious exultation of the new wave. I'll also slide in At. Long. Last. ASAP by ASAP Rocky who is also proving his ability to craft some of the most sultuous beats and smooth rhythms in the game.
Top Videos of the Year:
Was there a music video more widely imitated, discussed, loved, hated, parodied, or marveled at than Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood"? No. Was it the best video of the year? Also no. "Hotline Bling" is much of the same deal. I would have thought that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Downtown" would have the same effect, because I'm still stunned by the grandiose marvel of that piece, although I feel like everyone hates that song and no one gives a shit about that video. That's still bizarre to me.
For novelty's sake I actually dig Lil' Dickey's "$ave Dat Money" for being a pure goofy parody of rap videos yet simultaneously emulating their style on a budget that fits the song's conceit. It's a great piece of both homage and satire.
Not to be stuck on Kendrick too much, but he did put out three videos that could all easily be the top of the year. "Alright" is the obvious choice for artistic merit, but something in "King Kunta" draws me in every time it's on. Maybe it's the limited cinematography that resembles a cell phone camera with Dutch angles, yet has incredible depth of frame. Maybe it's the strong sense of community he gets from Compton. Maybe it's the idiosyncratic dance moves and hunched troll dancing that would seem weak and meager yet appear fierce when accompanied by Kendrick's stellar lyrics.
But I actually love "For Free?"
Mostly because it goes for the really weird all the time and also features a unique role reversal between Kendrick and the anonymous ho on display here. Juxtaposed between this silliness is an intensity fueled by American racial tension, slavery, and haters. It's a wonder to behold. Plus, this.
Best Music Video of the Year: "Elastic Heart" by Sia
I've been waiting almost a year to gush about this! Don't drop your videos in January! Sia continues with similar motifs and actor Maddie Ziegler but adds Shia LaBeouf in somehow his best role ever. It's all interpretive dance and you can read into what their struggle represents any way you want, which is in part what makes it so excellent. It's a purely visual digression on the subject of love, power, lost hope, imprisonment in cages of others' or our own making, and finally a freedom that comes natural to some but impossible for others. It's tough not to choke up at that last moment when the girl can't pull what I'd interpret to be her father out of the cage, only to watch him be trapped forever while she's able to go free. Also "Elastic Heart" is Sia's best single.
What do you think about the Recs and Vids for the year? Are you a "Bitch Better Have My Money" or "WTF" person? Let's throw down
