The Top 25 Songs of the Year So Far
This could easily be a top 50. Despite my hating en masse, music cannot stop being good, with many disparate strains coming from all corners of the globe, quality in tow. I hope you’re all well, and that you can find a new fave in mine.
25. Camila Cabello - Chanel No.5
I certainly didn’t see myself loving a Camila Cabello song this much this year. Does she Buffalo Bill Future here? Yes, but he’s credited, providing an approving touch to her crooning flow. Even a C-list pop star can’t mess up a co-sign from Hendrix.
24. Shygirl, Cosha - thicc
Shygirl may be the antithesis of Camila Cabello; a popstar not touching the mainstream who seeks new sounds before, not after, they hit the mainstream. I wouldn’t know anything about this as I leave the club around 2 usually (tired, want to play games with the boys), but I can imagine this hitting differente on a K peak at 5 am.
23. MCVERTT - Hate The Real ft. 41
Have no clue how 41 isn’t bigger outside of New York yet. Bonafide party anthems galore, and coupled with MCVERTT’s certified club bangers, “Hate The Real” is another one for the trio looking effortless. Somehow both a song that can make you turn up and contemplate your life at the same time with those “Replica” synths.
22. Swift Zooted x Paco Panama - Breaking Rules
Another DMV slapper, though this time, not crank. Swift Zooted goes the KP Skywalka route, melodizing and flexing his coolly mentioned excesses. The sky’s the limit for this scene, a cornucopia of talents that could elevate themselves into legitimate rap cornerstones.
21. Agriculture - Living Is Easy
Is it sleazy for me to put a friend on this list? Hell yes; but god if Leah Levinson and her crew aren’t goddamn rippers. Transcendent black metal may be a bit of a buzzword, but damn if it doesn’t describe “Living Is Easy”, exalting salvations in every crescendo. In Agriculture’s name, amen.
20. Kim Gordon - The Candy House
You’re telling me a 70-year old made this. That a Sonic Youth veteran, one of the most revered rock stars of our time, a downtown New York legend, sat down and said: “This album needs a Memphis rap song”. The triplet flow at the end just confirms: yes, this is truly a dopeass white woman.
19. Cannelle - LUCKY
Hot girls doing hot girl shit type music. “LUCKY” is Ayesha Erotica combined with Casino Night Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Get on your Hot Girl Shit or die.
18. Kidnapped - Faction
Every year I have at least one or two albums of hardcore I get really into. Gulch, Sunami, SPEED, and Zulu have all been destroyed the game in the 2020s. Kidnapped seem primed to be next up, as their riffs carry a high chance of a broken nose or bruised rib in the pit.
17. Relly Gunz - SLAT
“I’m not the nigga that you think that I am.” Upper Manhattan isn’t usually the hottest block in New York, but Relly Gunz is pretty convincing in his screed, obliterating his opps with ease. “I was down / You don’t know what it felt like”.
16. ZelooperZ & Zack Fox - WOA!
Absolute motherfuckers linking. It’s a wonder Zack Fox is on a primetime television show, he would make ABC executives turn purple hearing this. They match energy perfectly, showing that Zack seems to be an honorary member of Bruiser Brigade.
15. YT - Black & Tan ft. Lancey Foux
The Arsenal fan in me visualizes a Bukayo Saka compilation set to this song, mans gliding through defenders and making them look foolish. British jerk slides so well, the lilt from their accent adding playfulness and a bit of edge at the same time.
14. Babyfather - Untitled Dubplate (feat. DJ E$crow)
“Do men ever yearn?” Listen to your dumb ass, clearly never having heard a Babyfather song. “I told you not to lie” :—(
13. rada - payme
Similar to “LUCKY”, pure mainlined hot girl shit. rada’s approach is a bit more subtle and vibey, more akin to stripped down electroclash than full-blown ecstasy. The real indie sleaze revival.
12. JPEGMAFIA - don't rely on other men
It may be trite to say, but JPEG is really the zoomer Kanye. Not as good, mind you, but despite all his annoying antics and posturing, he can really do this shit. The effortlessly funny part of Ye is moreso replaced by a vicious streak which can make him nigh unlikable, until he pulls you back in with tracks like “don’t rely on other men”.
11. Chanel Beads - Idea June
“I wanna beeeee with youuuuUUUUUUU” accompanied by angelic shoegaze riffs. If we had buzz bands anymore, Chanel Beads would deserve it.
10. Still House Plants - Pant
It’s been common consensus that there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to rock, so along came Still House Plants to put that theory to the test. Post-rock has never quite melted like this, with Jess Hickie-Kallenbach’s arresting voice complimenting the oblong guitars perfectly.
9. Charli XCX - 365
While I would welcome a moratorium on the Brat Summer posting, “365” is the perfect epitomization to Charli’s career. Absolute furious undeniable rager, flipping her own song in a way that is truly bratty, it’s True Romance, Pop 2, and Focus in one. Substitute “Spring Breakers” here if wanted.
8. Tisakorean - Whiteboy Wasted
Put on your life is good shirt, pink Chinos, and Sperry’s, we’re gonna get White boy Wasted on Twisted Tea’s. That Tisa uses a Dem Franchise Boyz style beat is just the cherry-flavored irony on top.
7. Bfb Da Packman x KrispyLife Kidd x BabyFxce E - KENTUCKY LOVE
Flint posse cut at the KFC is always going to be a certified hit. From Krispylife Kidd’s hilarious botched intro to BabyFxce E’s smooth braggadocio, it’s an easy victory lap. And Packman, of course delivers instant quotables. “My son asked me can he have a drink? / He think we pourin' pop”.
6. LAZER DIM 700 - Jinni
Shit like this makes me think LAZER DIM is the true successor to Death Grips. This is power industrial rap, vocalized by a dude who sound like he gets charged to record by the second and has to pack all his bars in before he run out of money. Real avant shit.
5. brodiebased - bussy bussy w subiibabii (slidly)
Subiibabii and co’s plugg jerk is madly addicting, melodies upon ad-libs oozing out of every pore. brodiebased provides animosity and drip with a shrug, while subiibabii is more concerned with crooning. “I’m a pretty boy / She calling me a fag” is real Lil B tradition.
4. d. silvestre - TAKA FOGO EM KIKSILVER
Somehow the most lowkey song that could ever blow out your subwoofers. This is like dub funk or ambient funk, lacking the high-pitched squeals or sharp synths but still containing mind-warping bass. d. silvestre’s strain of funk is singular in its pure menace.
3. Kendrick Lamar - meet the grahams
“Not Like Us” got the #1, the cultural love and the plaudits, but for me, “meet the grahams” is the one. This is a controlled slaughter, an evisceration, of the most successful rapper in history, in public! It’s so goddamn hateful and precise it makes me both sick and fills my heart with glee.
2. AyooLii and FearDorian - Tony Snell
A jubilant romp. 2 of the most original rappers in the game linking buoyed by a genius Anamanaguchi sample, doling out dopamine like its Zimbabwean money. A DOG’S CHANCE, featuring the duo and Polo Perks is just as good, cop that today.
1. BIGOBLIN, Chaki Bley - Cuando Me De Pa Ti
I have a theory that the more I’m mistaken for Dominican the more I get into urbano. The New Weird Urbano that has taken that scene is ridiculous, and BIGOBLIN is the leader of the pack. The Dominican Rod Wave cannot miss with his crackly voice and infectious energy. Summer is a time for unhinged manifestations, and “Cuando Me De Pa Ti” comes as the perfect soundtrack.
Thanks for reading! RIP No Bells (for now).