I know I know. It’s been three years since I last did one of these. Before becoming a parent really threw a curveball for my plans with this blog. Now I have a work from home hybrid job, a kid to raise, money to save, and looking for a second income to make daycare payments. And these blog entries used to do good views for me back then. So we are going to give this one more shot.
With one caveat. I’m going to do much better and saving most of my in depth analysis for year end lists. These rankings were mostly made to be short glances into where the music industry is right now and that’s what this is going to be. Brief glances into the top twenty hits in the country right now.
And I sure did pick a good time because the huge hits of 2025 right now are 90% still from 2024. Yeah it feels like the music industry is still stuck in last year and while I don’t fully blame them since 2024 is one of the best and biggest music years of my lifetime. But I also want to note that with the world being in absolute chaos right now in the US especially with inflation, tariffs, and bizarre decision after bizarre decision from our felon president; I feel like music is practically the only good thing we got going.
So while we wait for the huge 2025 based smashes to arrive, let’s take a look at
MARCH 2025 BILLBOARD TOP 20 RANKED
THE TERRIBLE TIER:
“I’m The Problem” - Morgan Wallen
So just like with the last few times I did this, I’m not actually ranking these songs from worst to best. But since this is the only song in this tier, its blatantly obvious. This is definitely the worst song in the top twenty by a lot.
The Morgan Wallen and Drake comparisons have taken a new turn with this upcoming album cycle as Morgan Wallen also now seems to have moved on from the sadboy shtick into just this nasty turn into being ugly towards women. Dude, nobody wants to hear that. Especially from someone who is ABUNDANTLY the problem with his relationships. You drink too much. You manipulate women. And you take no accountability for your actions.
Not helping matters is this butt ugly production. It isn’t that trap country stuff he normally does, but it just sounds like literal ass. I could see this working for someone who has a history of making this sort of music, but not for easily one of the most unlikeable guys in music right now. Piss off....and sing about a second drink for the love of Christ-
THE BAD TIER:
“Love Somebody” - Morgan Wallen
Haha you guys thought I was done with Morgan Wallen. He’s basically the only sure fire new music of 2025. Granted this one came out in the fall of last year, but I digress. Dude isn’t beating the Maroon 5 comparisons with this one. This avoids the terrible tier because it has literally one good idea with those Spanish guitars. Which that’s not something I can say I rarely hear in country songs. Otherwise this is just absolutely nothing. Absolutely soulless radio white noise.
“Lose Control” - Teddy Swims
Of all the songs to stick around from 2024, this is the song that feels most fraudulent to me. And it’s not because I have never liked this song. It is too boring and too basic and despite charting for over 80 weeks at this point, I have still yet to finish it all in one sitting. I literally do not see this song on any hit streaming playlists anymore. And then it hit me. Warner doesn’t have any other artists on their record label in the top twenty right now outside of Teddy and Benson Boone. And both somehow still get 15-20 million streams per week according to Talk of the Charts. PAYOLA!
I’ll give the Benson Boone song this. At least that Grammys performance was buzz worthy. I don’t see anyone and I mean anyone still talking about Teddy Swims now or even last year. Who is he? Why does he swim? Do people even call him Teddy? And how is this still in the top ten? Completely stumped on this man and this song; which is about three months away from holding the longevity record on the Hot 100. Fuck off.
“That’s So True” - Gracie Abrams
Why does she do that valley girl singing voice through so much of this song? Absolutely irritating. Ugh….say what you want about Taylor Swift; who is quite clearly a major influence for her career from opening for her on The Eras Tour to having Aaron Dessner produce and write some of that last album of hers. But at least she fully commits to her aesthetics. This whole OMG vibe just feels so phony and fake and every time she sings like she does on that song just makes me want the old Taylor to come to the phone right now. It doesn’t bother me that Gracie is a nepo baby hell even an industry plant…but plant better.
And just so I don’t sound like a total hater, “21” is a legitimately great song. What happened to THAT Gracie Abrams compared to the beta to Taylor’s overpowering alpha that we have here?
“Timeless” - The Weeknd & Playboi Carti
I actually am indecisive as to whether this should be in the mediocre tier and not the bad tier. Because my god did Pharrell and Mike Dean just make magic with this production. I like it an awful lot. So consider this just a slight notch below mediocre for that reason alone because my god everything else on this song is utter dogshit.
Calling your song timeless and referring to how your fame and legacy are forever is an absolute farce when you have to beg on recent streaming cheat code Playboi Carti to give you your first solo hit in four years. I like both artists separately, but together, they do not gel. Didn’t like them the first time they worked together on “Popular” and don’t like it here either. If you consider yourself timeless, then why are your older songs pre-2020 getting more daily streams than anything off of your recent albums? I think Abel has completely lost the narrative of his career and that is long before The Idol made him look like an absolute loser.
And then there is the elephant in the room. The Weeknd has been on the record for using AI to help develop some of his concert footage and was contemplating it for this album on interviews prior to. Not too longer after this single was released, the original audio footage of this song leaked recently and it made me realize. Playboi Carti’s verse is AI generated. That’s me speculating as they have not confirmed nor denied it. But actually listen to it again. I’m not the only one who thinks this for the record as many people online are saying it is AI after hearing the same test footage.
THE MEDIOCRE TIER:
“Beautiful Things” - Benson Boone
Man, the amount of worst lists this song appeared on. It probably would have appeared on mine up until last summer when I found a version of this song that finally worked at my cousin’s wedding. That is what helped open my eyes into what some people actually see in this song. A man pleading with a higher power whether that be the man upstairs or just fate in general to not take the beautiful things in his life that he has. And you know what, I absolutely understand. I love my life that I’ve made for myself and don’t want to take that for granted.
And you know what, I’ve always liked that rock production. I’m glad that the 2020’s have finally brought the guitar back into prominence and that guitar riff I’m admittedly a sucker. And then Benson Boone opens his mouth and starts singing and…..
….this song doesn’t rise above the mediocre tier for that reason alone. I can appreciate everything else about this song but Benson’s wailing I will just never move pass. Maybe someday I will be able to get past that especially if Benson Boone manages to prove he’s more than a one year wonder. But now? It’s like a mixture of Lewis Capaldi and Lukas Graham.
THE DECENT TIER:
“I Had Some Help” - Post Malone (featuring Morgan Wallen)
For months and months, I would have told you that this should be in the mediocre tier with Benson Boone because yeah these “it’s not me it’s you” songs are just so overdone as of late especially since both of these guys have shared enough baggage to be like “yeah you are the problem…ESPECIALLY the toxic douchebag n word guy”, but my god after all the absolutely miserable music Morgan Wallen is making as of late; shit I’ll take peppy and bouncy Morgan Wallen over the trash we’ve been getting from him.
Thank Louis Bell for that, who is surprisingly very good at making country production? Maybe he’ll be the next Joey Moi with how big this song was last year? And Posty who actually made pretty decent country music with that last album. Yeah 66% of this song good while Morgan is…better than the music he’s made in 2025 at least? My god that next album is going to be miserable when it eventually drops.
THE GOOD TIER:
“Luther” - Kendrick Lamar & SZA
Might as well add the other one here too.
“30 for 30” - SZA & Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar and SZA are the peanut butter and jelly of music. They are just simpatico together. I love the fact that there are two of these in circulation right now…hell “All the Stars” is charting again right outside the top twenty after it was performed at the Super Bowl and people remembered how good these two are together.
I think it’s hilarious that Drake thought SZA was on his side this entire time and was one of his “three rapper friends”. SZA is not a rapper man. And then here we are nearly a year later after that line and Kendrick is like “fuck you loser, she’s with me now.”
Which is better? “All the Stars” triumphs all as that is still one of my favorite songs of 2018 and honestly is one of the best soundtrack singles ever made and that reminder at the Super Bowl at least knocked “Luther” down a tier. I wish “Luther” had a little more energy in that sense, but I prefer it over “30 to 30”. Which just a kind reminder these are both still good songs, but man Kendrick’s verse on “30 to 30” is almost super…Drake-ish? I don’t know what the best word; but I don’t like it nearly as much as he has clearly done a lot better.
But you know what will never get tiring? How much Kendrick trolls Drake and reminds him that he’s much better at making music than he is. Which both songs contain plenty of references to that. And rightfully so, that man can take as many victory laps as he wants for defeating that bastard once and for all-
“Nokia” - Drake
…Drake is still here. I will be honest in saying that I was incredibly curious to see what Drake did next after Kendrick purged his starpower away. I knew he was not going to be the same sure fire chart presence that he once was, but after a year away; were any lessons learned by the guy who once claimed to be bigger than The Beatles?
I would say mostly no. I did not listen to all of that collab album with PARTYNEXTDOOR because even I have standards to not listen to a 25 song Drake album in 2025, but from what I did hear which was like maybe a third of it, it was mostly boring and bad and whatever the hell that Spanish song was. But I did hear two good tracks where Drake went full R&B pop and maybe Drake did take away a lesson or two from Kendrick; who said at one point that he liked Drake the popstar.
Well this and the other good song “Gimme a Hug” are some of the most lively music Drake has made in YEARS. This song in particular is what if you combined ”Hotline Bling”, “Nice For What”, and “In My Feelings” in a blender. It’s a fun little bop that is insanely catchy. I hear it once and it doesn’t leave my head the rest of the day.
By no means do I think Drake is back and if anything, having the entire world call you a pedophile over and over again while you run and cry to the courts; makes you a bigger loser. But I consider myself fair and balanced enough to say that a loser is still capable of making good music when it happens.
THE EXCELLENT TIER:
“Birds of a Feather” - Billie Eilish
Okay what the hell was 2024....I mean 2025, that HALF of the songs in this top twenty are ALL excellent????? No wonder things are moving at a snail pace on the charts. Well let's start with the epitome of excellent music always, Billie Eilish. Overplay is admittedly getting to me quite a bit with this one. I predicted this amongst my friends that this was going to be Billie’s most crossover and successful song of all time. Even more so than “bad guy”. And lo and behold here we are nearly a year later with that becoming official.
But I don’t care. I still get chills the moment I hear that high note. There is literally nothing this woman can’t do when it comes to music and I’m very excited to see where she goes from here.
“Espresso” - Sabrina Carpenter
Now here’s an overplayed song that I’m still not sick of. Which is seriously impressive because easily accessible fluff like this normally wears out on me by now. But when you make what is single handedly one of the most quotable pop songs in years with hooks for days; you just continue to
ride off all that goodwill.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey
Lather, rinse, repeat about overplay….yada yada yada, can all this goodwill seriously go towards making his (failed?) follow-up “Good News” a hit? I really am rooting for Shaboozey, but I’m seriously starting to get the vibe that we aren’t going to hear from him anymore once 2025 is all said and done. Please prove me wrong America because my track record tells me otherwise.
“Die With a Smile” - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
…at the rate things are going, this is looking like the early front runner to top the 2025 year end list. I have some seriously mixed thoughts on that since adult contemporary is what is keeping this song from ever falling off and truly going away. Like by the time this year is over, I would not be surprised to see everyone sick of this, myself included. But at the end of the day, these two artists and this song represents an era of me and my love of music criticism like no other. Fuck the haters….and speaking of haters-
“Not Like Us” - Kendrick Lamar
The fact that this hit number one AGAIN for a third spontaneous reign at number one is amazing. I am now actively rooting for this song to randomly top the charts at every opportune chance that Kendrick has to piss on Drake’s grave. And speaking of say Drake-
“Squabble Up” - Kendrick Lamar
One of my best friends told me the day GNX came out that it felt like Kendrick solely made this song in case he wasn’t able to perform “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl. And man, I can’t unsee it…and it I refuse to see it any other way. Completely valid point. This is just basically a victory lap at this point for the newly crowned commercial king of hip hop.
I absolutely understand why this was the one that hit number one. And that was before it even got the music video. This song just had the mainstream sound from the get go with that sample of “When I Hear Music” and the g-funk spin basically makes this a 90s style dance track. Let’s just call a spade a spade. Kendrick is superior to Drake at life.
But do you want to know what my personal favorite track off GNX was?
Yep. That’s right. The meme song is my favorite from that album. What can I say? This is one of the best memes music has spawned into popularity ever. The beat switch to Kendrick shouting “MUSTARD” is one of my favorite moments of hit music this past calendar year. I rarely ever spend hours upon hours viewing TikToks for damn near anything, but I absolutely spent hours watching every single hilarious meme and even some social media influencers reacting to their first listen of this song. Also kudos to Jack Antonoff for the assist in producing this. Bro shut up those one note productions he kept giving Taylor real quick with this.
“APT” - ROSE & Bruno Mars
I didn’t realize that thinking this song is excellent is considered a ”hot take” because I have a group of Discord friends who love this song as much as I do. But then I’ve been reading the larger scale and this song is generally disliked and the most common complaint is the chorus is annoying. Which I’m not going to pretend that I don’t see why a lot of people find that chorus annoying. I like the chorus, I get why people don’t, but I do.
But even if you don’t like the song because of the chorus….y’all know that there is like two full minutes of the song that is not the chorus, right?
Those verses. That bridge. That new wave production. Everything about this song is just so much fun. I absolutely miss when pop music was these levels of fun.
But if you want to talk about a pop song that truly represents how I’m feeling this year.
“Messy” - Lola Young
I mean holy shit where did this rise to the top twenty come from? From getting credited doing barely recognizable background vocals on a sleeper hit from Tyler the Creator’s recent album to charting higher than that ever did. Lola Young’s rise has been one of the few 2025 pop bright spots so far this year.
As for this song, let’s just say that as someone who also is very hyper critical of themselves and struggling to find my own inner balance of loving and hating myself….yeah this fucking hits it out of the park. If any of these songs will continue to grow on me throughout the year, I’d hedge my bets on this one.
And saving the best for last....oh don't act surprised.
“Pink Pony Club” - Chappell Roan
What an absolutely joyful surprise. I thought for sure this song was going to be "stuck in between years" when I said that this was better than my best song of 2024. I thought I was never going to talk about this song at any length on my blog ever.
And because this is going to make the 2025 year end list after all and my loyal readers are indeed correct that this is a lock for my best hit of 2025 at this rate dethroning the best hit song of 2024…..good luck babe to the rest of the playing field.
And that was this week's top twenty for ya. So for as much complaining as I am doing about how ready I am for the 2024 music to make way for the new hits of 2025, but if 2025 music is not going to deliver, then that's fine because 2024 is probably one of the best years for music that I will EVER cover and the good stuff was truly that good. What did you all think of bringing the top twenty rankings back? Should I keep doing these? I'll let you all be the judge of that.
Also, as I briefly said in the intro, I'm back to writing for this blog more frequently again as I need money and most of these blog entries go to my Fiverr account anyway for people to buy; then might as well stick to the original source as well. I do have a few ideas in mind as well as my overdue Best Films of 2024 list in the works, so stay tuned for more frequent updates than just the year end lists. But until then, thank you all for reading!
Like I’m not going to even waste my time giving you all a proper preamble. This was one of the best years for hit music I have ever covered and that is truly saying something. And like I said, I so badly wanted to make this a much more extended list than normal, but I’ve learned my lesson on making those types of long winded write ups. So I’m not going to waste any more of you all’s time. Let’s just hop right in. This best list was made for me (yes even my 2024 hit song pun is rushed) we are counting down…
THE BEST HIT SONGS OF 2024
I’m starting my best list off with “A Bar Song” by Shaboozey…I know right! Only number fourteen!?
14. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey
In a worse year, this would be like a top four contender minimum. Alas admittedly, I thought this was going to be much higher in general…but I have to be honest with myself. Not only was the best list this year ultra competitive; but even I got tired of this song once the colder weather rolled around. Not to mention that this is now tied with Old Town Road as the longest reigning number one in Billboard history. Old Town Road felt like an event. A Bar Song just feels like a collective shrug by association like “I guess this is going to be number one for nineteen weeks”. 100 percent of the blame there goes to the charts utterly dying in the back half of the year after the year started off red hot on that aspect.
But let’s rewind a bit because we need to put some respect on Shaboozey’s name. The Woodbridge, VA native (great year for the new music hotbed area between him and Tommy Richman) feels like the biggest beneficiary of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter appearing on the album twice; proceeding with getting a bigger hit than anything else off that album. Granted I feel like if Beyoncé actually pushed the singles off that album better, it would have hopefully led to more songs becoming proper hits (RIP II Most Wanted). But that Beyoncé album certainly helped put some really great black country artists the proper shine that they deserved and it lead me to checking out more of Shaboozey’s work and this guy is fucking legit.
Now let’s talk about the song itself. I think it is fucking cool that “Tipsy” by J-Kwon was reworked into a country song about the working man escaping to the bar to treat themselves after putting in a hard working week. As someone who also works very hard between putting in a full work week, parenting a two year old, and working some side jobs to make a little extra to cover bills; I too like to escape to have a couple drinks with friends. And I’m clearly not the only one this song resonated those same exact sentiments with as this song just bleeds country to its bones. To say there are country drinking songs aimed at the blue collar workers is an understatement. That is country songwriting 101. And flipping a recognizable 2000s sample in a year where the 2000s nostalgia is finally kicking in full force; yeah I’m not surprised this took off the way it did.
But push all cliff notes to the side on how long this was on top and whether it feels justified or not. Because the fact that this hit number one at all is just a collective win. Sometimes America just gets it right and America got this one right in a year full of things America got wrong. And even when I feel like I am getting tired of this, that fiddle especially just hits all the right happy notes for me and makes me forget why I am tired of this song.
So about my rule changes for the best and worst lists, I’m sure some of you all are figuring out. There will be four songs from last year’s list on this year’s list. But wait you might be wondering; why are there repeats this year if 2024 was so much better than 2023?
What can I say. This year made me love hit music again to the point that some of my best hits of last year aged like fine wine and are on here again because they continue to get better and stick out more. Honestly these songs might rank higher if I re-ranked the 2023 best lists. Starting with…
So I indulged myself even more so into Zach Bryan’s discography this year. Kind of a bad year to do so when the highlights of his year were purposely making himself out to be a drunken idiot who tweeted “Kanye > Taylor” and a highly publicized breakup that includes an NDA for possible emotional abuse. Thanks a lot jackass. I stuck up for you…hell I tried getting tickets to your concerts…separate the art from artist…where was I?
Oh yeah, the music. God I feel like such a dweeb not getting into him in 2022 when he made his way into the mainstream with what is still his worst hit song and that is still a perfectly fine song goes to show how highly I value his work. Although maybe lay off the heavy amounts of drinking you dumb son of a….
At least Kacey Musgraves has a number one hit from all of this…the fact that she hasn’t benefited even more so is still criminal. I guess I just have to accept the fact that she will just never become an actual thing; no matter how dedicated of a country AND pop following she has when country pop is the new big genre. What is wrong with you America? Next.
Okay I know this is another repeat entry and I said what I said about the songs aging like fine wine, but this next one did not. Hell, even I was surprised how hard this fell year over year.
12. “What Was I Made For?” - Billie Eilish
I mean yeah 2024 was that much stronger of a year than 2023, but even then; I still surprised myself by how hard this fell in my personal preferences. I think three factors came into play here.
The first was the unceremonious amounts of praise. Gasp. A Billie Eilish song winning a crap ton of awards that she clearly doesn’t want? What a novel concept. I get why this song one a lot of awards, but in the bigger scope, it kind of tired me out on it compared to say “Everything I Wanted” or “Happier Than Ever” sweeping them.
The second was definitely the new album just overshadowing this song in my personal opinion. I just fucking loved it so much that I can think of a handful of tracks that I preferred over this.
And the third, the message. The message absolutely worked for me so hard in 2023 as I absolutely resonated with the song so much in terms of questioning who I was and what I was made for. This year, I didn’t really question myself as much then since I wasn’t going through such a major life change.
But let’s not dismiss the fact that this song is still great. Just because something doesn’t speak to me now doesn’t mean it never spoke to me. This song served a purpose for me at a point and time where I needed to hear its message. 2024 was such a good year that there were eleven songs better than a former best list number two, speaks volumes.
11. “Snooze” - SZA
Around this time last year, I called my shot and said this song would age greatly year over year and so far that promise has been ringing true. Being one of my most played songs a second year in a row surely does help the cause. But you know what really kept me coming back to it? This year’s other
big SZA single.
…now this will be my biggest hot take of the year. I’m not a fan of “Saturn”. It does accomplish the spacey vibe it is going for and SZA’s voice is always soothing and comfortable that it will take a truly remarkable bad song for me to ever hate any of her music. SZA is just that good. But I just feel like she has done this song like six times now and this is the most uninspired version of it yet. Still SZA on autopilot is like a 5…maybe 6 out of 10. Take that as you will.
Meanwhile, “Snooze” is still a solid 10/10. And here’s something I didn’t talk about last year. The music video for this is fantastic. The way SZA looks and sexies it up just does it for me. Heck it even has some of the best acting of Justin Bieber’s career as the underwear model everyone thinks of him to be. Truly remarkable casting choice.
But yeah, this song lasted on the charts for an incredibly long time and rightfully so since it is the best single of her career. Next.
And we go from my most listened to song of 2023 to ironically enough, my most listened to song of 2024. So what is it….was it ever going to be anything else?
10. “Espresso” - Sabrina Carpenter
I’ve got no qualms about this being my most listened to song of 2024. This is just an insanely good pop song. Even if this sound has been done to death these last five years, I’m not going to act like its not Doja or Dua light. Sabrina just fucking makes it her own at the same time.
2024 is the year of MANY stars, but if you asked me whose year it was over any others; one of my first answers would be Sabrina Carpenter. The other first would be Chappell Roan; but I’ve got a very strong sense that she is not going to stick around. She has already publically said so, and I beg to god that she changes her mind when all is well and healthy; thanks stan culture…you all are fucking weird. But Sabrina Carpenter, I absolutely see becoming the next big popgirl mainstay. Hell she already is that. She has four of the biggest hits of this year with this being the biggest. She’s in it for the long haul.
And even with this being the biggest hit, it’s so fucking weird that it wasn’t a number one hit. I heard this song everywhere more than any other hit outside of “Not Like Us”. This song was all over the radio. It was in countless commercials. It was parodied on Saturday Night Live in a sketch featuring another popstar in Ariana Grande. Hell it was in advertisements for the Olympics. This felt like the true song of the summer, not Shaboozey or Posty and Morgan.
What a song of the moment this was. Literally all I need is those opening notes and this song gets repeated verbatim into my memory banks. Hell writing this entry and all I can think of is “it’s that me espresso”…and to a lesser but still substantial degree “I’m a singer”, “switch it up like Nintendo”, “my twisted humor”, and “mountain Dew it for ya”.
This song getting this huge this year truly felt like mainstream pop music telling us we can start having fun again. That alone justifies its placement on a best list as strong as this one.
[This was also the year of Chappell Roan; but I’ve got a very strong sense that she is not going to stick around. She has already publically said so, and I beg to god that she changes her mind when all is well and right; thanks stan culture…you all are fucking weird.]
T-I-M-I-N-G!
9. “Hot To Go!” - Chappell Roan
What a phenomenal…or should I say, femininomenal year this woman had. Like I already stated with the Sabrina entry earlier; we were badly in need of decade defining artists as practically all of our stars got their starts in the 2010s or even older. The 2020s have only had one artist so far with Olivia Rodrigo. Everyone else has really felt like had fifteen minutes of fame and then fell off hard (looking at you The Kid Laroi and Ice Spice). And who knows. Maybe all the exciting new names that became hit makers this year will disappear too. But of all of them, I really sincerely hope Chappell Roan reconsiders her interviews and thoughts and becomes a decade defining name. Because she’s so damn good at making pop music.
And if I really had to rank the many charting songs she had this year, I don’t even know if “Hot To Go” would crack my top five. This is the sort of campy and silly 80s pop that I really did not know I was nostalgic for. I mean I’m old enough to remember that Pizza Hut’s slogan used to be “hot to go”. And she spun that into an anthemic chorus about being horny. And even more humiliating is that Pizza Hut (or at least the one by me) is desperate enough to use this song to advertise their new crappy pizza. Order Pizza Hut’s new pizza bundle deal. Two large pizzas with a free side of lesbian lusting.
Yeah make no mistake about this song. This is absolutely a queerleader anthem. And an insanely good one at that. Chappell has been on the record calling this by far the stupidest song she has ever made. Well let me give you a counter point Chappell; the stupidest song you have ever made is still a damn great song. This woman is just so fucking good at making pop music and while I don’t know what her future holds, I sincerely hope she doesn’t stop making music altogether. She’s just too good at it.
Oh and with The Village People doubling down on backing the convicted felon our nation elected president; congratulations Chappell on having the best spelling pop song ever replacing the YMCA.
So I’ve been writing creatively about music for going on thirteen years now. And let me tell ya, I sure picked a great time to start doing that. The pop stars felt larger than life. The music was grandiose and over the top; for both the good and the bad. The 2010s were such a fun decade to write about hit music.
The 2020s have not been nearly as fun to write about. This year is starting to improve on the fun aspect I feel since we are finally getting newer pop stars. Some of them even finally showing some actual personality in their music in the way the 2010s stars were allowed to. Which is good on that front. That might inspire a new generation of writers and reviewers to talk about music like me. But to me, my heart will always be fond of the 2010s pop stars and we got a hit this year that felt like an ode to that era.
8. “Die With a Smile” - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Let me be abundantly clear that these two’s careers are FAR from over, but with a whole new generation of pop stars leading the way of the next era of hit making, this feels like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars accepting their new role as the elder statesman and woman of pop respectively. I mean this single followed up with Lady Gaga going back to electropop for like the fourth time for her new album and Bruno collaborating with one of the girls from Blackpink. Their times being the biggest names in music are done. But that doesn’t mean they are done. Far from it.
What this song truly echoes is Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Island in the Stream” and I cannot mean that in a more positive praise. Because don’t we all miss those adult contemporary power ballads of 40-50 years ago? Where the biggest names in music got together and just sung about love and/or heartbreak? ….actually I don’t miss too many of those. Some of them were actually quite boringly bad.
But what this song does right is who they got to do this throwback. The two popstars who have spent most of the last ten years doing mostly throwbacks; especially with recruiting Bruno, but Gaga has plenty of those Tony Bennett collaborations under her belt as well. So more or less, you have two of the biggest music nerds doing what is essentially a gigantic music nerd move of finally working together and just singing their hearts out. And my god, do they both just sound so wonderful together.
In a year where the new gen were clearly inspired by the big names of the 2010’s, it is only fitting that two of its biggest names aged gracefully as legacy acts. While two of their peers in Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake continued to flounder and adapt with the times with utter garbage. God imagine if those two did a duet for their new albums with the way they are now. That would be one of the worst songs of the year for sure. Next.
Remember two years ago when I asked for more Steve Lacy’s of the world? Well thank you America for finally listening to me. Took ya long enough.
7. “End of Beginning” - Djo
Okay maybe this isn’t the multiple genre blending originality I wanted, as this feels far more like a Great Value Tame Impala, but hey, poor man’s Tame Impala is still fantastic and something I never expected to become a top ten hit. Let alone the person who made this.
It’s funny that Maya Hawke and Joe Keery are such close friends on Stranger Things because their careers are practically similar too. Both are actors and both have music careers. If you asked me which would be the bigger musician and which would be the bigger actor; I would have guessed the total opposite of how it turned out. Joe seemed to be destined to be an up and coming actor with all the projects he signed up for since Stranger Things made him famous and yet it is Maya who seemed to really take off as an actress; most notably being in the biggest hit of the year in Inside Out 2 as the antagonistic, but unknowingly bad, character, Anxiety. Meanwhile, Maya seemed to be more focused on her music career with all the industry pushing she received, but still seems stuck in the Phoebe Bridgers routine of having a dedicated following, but not really crossing over. While Joe now has the success that we all thought Maya would have as a musician.
As for the content, this song really isn’t breaking any grounds subject matter wise. But the way Joe sells it, you can tell he’s an actor turned musician because my god the way he tells this story about how he reminisces on a relationship ending…I feel it, pun partially intended. And the song just sounds absolutely pleasant to listen to. I’ve already accepted the fact that despite Kevin Parker has turned himself into one of the “go to” producers of the 2020’s; he/Tame Impala will never have an actual top ten hit of their own. But I look forward to seeing many more artists who are inspired by his sound and try replicating what the band did.
I mean who knows. Maybe Joe won’t find success in music again and this will be a one hit wonder. But you know what they say, with every end comes a new beginning….and thank the Lord that Stranger Things is coming to an end. Those kids are about to be in their mid twenties and are still pretending to be high schoolers. This has gone on long enough. Next.
6. “Cruel Summer” - Taylor Swift
One day as I was scrolling through Twitter, I saw an intense Twitter thread saying “What’s the definitive. Taylor Swift single?”. There was a lot of debate about how she has so many to choose from and how that should not be marked against her legacy…most of that being her die hard stans obviously. Honestly, it is a very good question. Even though I love many of her songs, I wouldn’t consider even my favorites of her hits like “Anti-Hero” or “Style” to be the “definitive” Taylor Swift song.
But my thoughts changed the moment I finally saw The Eras Tour…movie…on Disney+…shut up. I saw hundreds of thousands of fans sing this song line for line. And then watched this song in particular go on to be the biggest charting single for Taylor Swift ever. This song is no longer the most beloved Taylor Swift album deep cut anymore. To me, this is the definitive Taylor Swift single. Watching that concert film also redefined the meaning of this song to me. This is a celebration of everything Taylor Swift has ever done and a song you just belt your heart out to.
I may have been absolutely sick of everything related to The Tortured Poets Department and at times the woman herself. But I’ll always love this song and I’ll always be a Swiftie…to an extent. I’m not going to buy every single vinyl. I don’t have that kind of money. Especially when a new edition comes out seemingly every week to stat pad that mid album of hers…
YEP. We are still talking about this. I mean come on. The Drake v Kendrick feud was by far the music related event of not just this year, but this decade. We covered the Drake aspect of the feud on the worst list, but let’s talk about the Kendrick aspect of this. Because there are layers to this.
So with said layers, I’m just going to bypass the long preamble and just jump to the fact that “Not Like Us” made my best list.
5. “Not Like Us” - Kendrick Lamar
And “Euphoria” did too.
4. “Euphoria” - Kendrick Lamar
Now that I got that out of the way and point out that Drake had to partake in this beef. Kendrick on the other hand wanted too. It is very well established that these two clearly did not like each other. Taking subtle shots over the past ten years, mostly from Kendrick’s end. And while Drake definitely has reached out to Kendrick over the years to get him on features as recently as that last album of his; Kendrick just straight up does not like Drake. As he should. Drake just has had weird and bad vibes coming off from him for the longest time. That is what happens when Drake is so public with his appearances. Whether it be through interviews, social media, hell recently Twitch streams. Drake still to do this loves being the center of attention.
Kendrick, on the other hand, keeps himself and his life private. Hell even with the diss tracks he dropped this year, he was practically a ghost. Even after he released that album last month, did anyone see him? Nope. Announcing that new tour with SZA? Nope. Hell that Super Bowl announcement was supremely low key if we are being honest. We don’t give enough credit to Kendrick for how strategic the guy truly is. Drake wanted this to be a gigantic public event, while Kendrick was articulate with how everything was going to go down. That’s why for as hard as Drake tried to hit that knockout blow with “Family Matters”, he failed in execution.
And that’s what makes Kendrick so brilliant. He released these two songs as a perfect demonstration saying “I can do what you do, but you can’t do what I do.” Kendrick truly played Drake like a fiddle. He kept referring to Drake as a manipulator multiple times in the feud this year, but in the end, who really manipulated who here? I mean I watched the Juneteenth concert and the “Not Like Us” video multiple times. Does that look like the same guy who released that downer of an album two years ago? This looks like a guy who is a man of the people. He just didn’t want to sacrifice his integrity to do it; unlike Drake. And with this feud and the year he had in general, Kendrick found a way to become the megastar that I sense he wanted to be without being someone that he is not. Let this be a lesson to you people that authenticity does matter, fuck chasing numbers and metrics.
And before I wrap this up, some insight on the actual songs. “Not Like Us”, I admittedly was not as impressed as everyone else immediately was. I absolutely got it right away that it was meant to target Drake where it hurt him the most, right in the mainstream crossover hit. My initial problems were more so with the Mustard production. But you know what, fuck it. Seven months later and this song is my second most played song of the year. That production grew on me to the point that I find myself humming it all the time. And this song has always been insanely quotable lyric wise. Just one of the best killshots to a rap beef ever made and it just felt like a giant win for the more important aspect, the culture. This was hands down one of the greatest events in music history and I’m willing to forgive whatever small gripes I had with it on a minor nitpicking level to do so.
So with that said, why do I like “Euphoria” more? I mean yeah that Joel Osteen line was a giant red flag for my pop culture nerd like “It’s Haley Joel Osment” you goof. But you know what? Fuck it. We need a song especially this year that is just filled with pure unfiltered hatred. And with each passing bad news I got this year that pissed me off, I would play this song. It just resonated me with a lot more and felt refreshing to hear Kendrick go for every single insecurity Drake had in his entire being and specifically articulate why he hated him as a person. Yeah that was me in a nutshell more so this year and why I consider it more of my favorite he had than “Not Like Us”.
To sum this entry up on how fantastic of a year he had. Kendrick just opened his mouth. Someone go hand him a Grammy right now. The only fact Drake stated in this entire beef.
So much to talk about this year as I’ve repeated ad nauseum for this round of list season. Drake vs Kendrick. Megan vs Nicki. Taylor Swift. Beyonce. Country music. Overachieving, mediocre white boys somehow getting huge singles. The emergence of new pop princesses. And yet, one of our biggest pop stars of the moment dropped her own album addressing her very high profile public drama. It was very good, might possibly be her best even…and it just flew under the radar unnoticed amidst all the other MUCH bigger stories, going unnoticed. Disappointing...at least the big single from it was fucking incredible.
3. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” - Ariana Grande
It is very easy to forget that Ariana Grande had not just one, but two number one hits from this album cycle. This as well as “Yes, And?” both were number one hits for one week apiece. They are also debatably the two number one hits that will most likely be easily forgotten from this year as well. For better and for worse, the rest of the number ones from this year gave us something to either talk about or were the big hits of the year. Both of the Ariana songs just came and went. “Yes, And?” may as well be added to my dishonorable mentions for this year because it absolutely killed this album cycle early and is debatably the worst lead single of her career unless you want to count “Focus”…which why would you?
But I am so glad that “We Can’t Be Friends” still ended up having true staying power just by being a fantastic pop song. Ariana has always been a fantastic singer, but my favorite Ariana songs have always been the ones where she doesn’t go for the high notes and just coos. And even her coos in this song hit multiple notes that I did not expect. She just makes singing sound so effortless and I love how fucking good she is at.
This song may sound like it is being solely sung about her relationship being demised with her ex husband Dalton Gomez. Which it definitely is that too, but there is a second layer to this song that it can be listened to from a different perspective. This song is about Ariana’s relationship with the press. I always have a soft spot for songs like this about this subject matter as many a popstar has made this sort of song. Lady Gaga for example has made multiple songs about this.
The press has spun Ariana out to be a home wrecker for not only how her marriage fell apart, but her new boyfriend’s marriage as well. Who are the press and let alone, the general public to judge how both marriages fell apart? And who are we to hold the moral high ground and act like we know that Ariana was the reason everything went wrong? Sometimes love just falls apart. People change. The person you married is not you thought they were. There are many reasons. Yeah cheating sucks and doesn’t make you look good, but even cheaters have their reasons for cheating. I can say that from viewing family members marriages fall apart. What I’m trying to say is there are two sides to every story.
And that’s what Ariana is saying too. If you don’t want to hear my explanation, it’s not owed to you and we can’t be friends since you are going to spin me out to be an awful person. Great response. Take the high road and let the TMZ’s of the world make themselves out to be the rumor spreaders that they are. Wonderful song and one of the best of her entire career.
…so that new Billie Eilish album was fucking incredible.
2. “WILDFLOWER” - Billie Eilish
Another year, another Billie entry as my number two single. Or maybe this should have been number one. Honestly it was pretty down to the wire between this and what ended up being my number one…which I think it is pretty fucking clear what it is going to be at this rate. But still, if this year wasn’t abundantly clear, Billie felt like the biggest popstar of 2024. And her charting four singles on this year end on an album she barely promoted until it got released; if that isn’t a sign of her starpower, I don’t know what is. That Taylor album used all the tricks in the book to block it from the top of the Billboard 200, but Billie gets the last laugh with her album’s streaming longevity.
Honestly, after spending all year being indecisive as to what my favorite track was, this…still isn’t my personal favorite. That honor goes to “THE GREATEST” which lives up to its name sake. Followed by “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE”…man that beat switch, chef’s kiss. Third would absolutely be this. Because my god, does Billie fucking sell her ass off here with this story.
To put it plain and simple, I’ve been in this complicated relationship that Billie is singing about in this story. Consoling my friend that went through a messy breakup, only to wind up with the ex in question that I had previous feelings for that I never got over. Then that messy feeling of guilt appears that you start dealing with your own personal insecurities on whether this makes you a bad friend and a terrible person for doing that to your friend who is working his way through the breakup, but doesn’t know that you went behind their back and crossed a line due to my own feelings about his ex.
Billie has noted that this song is a pseudo apology to Devon Lee Carlson, the ex-girlfriend of Billie’s ex ,The Neighbourhood frontman, Jesse Rutherford. And yeah I can see that. What made this album in particular so phenomenal was Billie’s self identity after coming out as queer; and listening to this song in the context of this album to help uncover her own discoveries on her own sexual orientation just really fucking hits different man.
Like this song honestly made me tear up. Not just from my own shared experience, but for Billie’s own personal growth from it. Absolutely stunning album and song. Truly an outstanding artist she is. And my eternal number two hit song of insert year here.
And before we get to that “mysterious” number one, I have a lot of honorable mentions this year. The quality this year was just too good to ignore songs that would have easily made my best list in weaker years.
Honorable Mentions:
“Like That” - Metro Boomin, Future, & Kendrick Lamar
I mean it was a really telling sign that frequent collaborators like Metro & Future spoke up over others. Kendrick may have been the biggest hater, but especially Future coming out with albums plural about how much he does not like Drake was incredibly damning.
“On My Mama” - Victoria Monet
Who would have thought that the girl who did “MONOPOLY” (one of the worst Ariana songs ever) would go on to become one of my favorite artists right now? She is no longer Ariana’s secret weapon and I hope nothing but the best for her successes. And man, that repeated guitar riff is just….chef’s kiss.
“Feather” - Sabrina Carpenter
It’s weird that people are calling this the sleeper hit of the year; I mean, yeah it technically was since it didn’t even crack the top twenty but had incredible chart longevity. Also the radio scored the hell out of this. And rightfully so because it was light hearted fluff in literally the best way possible.
“Taste” - Sabrina Carpenter
I’ve got a strong feeling this is going to be a huge grower on me and it will make the best list next year. Because this is the same sort of mind numbingly fun and catchy as “Espresso” with lyrics getting stuck in my head instantly. Time will tell if that’s true or not. But damn good pop song this is.
“Yeah Glo!” - Glo Rilla
…it’s fun. What else can I say? Even I found myself spontaneously shouting “Yeah Glo!”
“Wanna Be” - Glo Rilla & Megan Thee Stallion
The Cardi B remix would have made the official best list because my three favorite female rappers all working together just went off too hard. But as is, the original song just slaps so hard as is. Great year for Glo Rilla this was.
“Whatever She Wants” - Bryson Tiller
Speaking of slapping hard, I get Bryson Tiller now…yeah…not one of my proudest mentions. But whoever produced this deserves to have their name announced like all of the other big names because my god this beat goes off.
“Fukumean” - Gunna
Still a staple on my workout playlist a year later. Kind of disappointing to see how giant of a step back Gunna’s new album was this year compared to how fantastic his 2023 album was. Needed more “yeahs”.
“Fein” - Travis Scott (featuring Playboi Carti)
Speaking of workout playlist staples, what does fein mean? Nobody knows what it means. But it sure gets the people going.
“Redrum” - 21 Savage
This also goes off really fucking hard. I always forget that this technically came out this year with how much more active the charts got throughout the year. Also the meme of this remixed with “London Bridge” is just gorgeous. That is just pure cinema to the ears.
“Good Good” - Usher, Summer Walker, and 21 Savage
And if you’d rather hear 21 Savage be the moral guide of emotional complexity in relationships, here he is stealing the best part of Usher’s big comeback single. Honestly, this song would have been pretty high on my 2023 best list since it should have qualified for that year end list since this didn’t feel big at all in the year 2024. I just love the fact that we have a grown up hit like this for old heads like me who want to handle subject matters like this in an adult fashion. Sometimes relationships just don’t work but you are allowed to actually wish your significant other nothing but the best.
“First Person Shooter” - Drake (featuring J Cole)
Late 2023/Early 2024, I thought this was a lock for my best list this year. And I still think it is very good, easily the best album single Drake has had in four years. But man…this is like watching Oppenheimer realize the effects of what he did after the first atomic bomb going off.
“Stick Season” - Noah Kahan
It’s no Dial Drunk, but as someone who visits the Northeast US every year, I never thought I would see the day we get a song about this topic. Also watching him sing this on Sesame Street to an “actual stick” is charming.
“Pink Skies” - Zach Bryan
Absolutely heartbreaking song. I wonder if there are still any regrets over his drunk tweets that the kids were in town for a funeral for.
“Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” - Luke Combs
Most of you know I’ve been pretty critical about Luke Combs and how I’m just not as enamored by him as a lot of my peers. But even I got to admit that this song in particular fucking rules. Also stream Twisters.
“Pretty Little Poison” - Warren Zeiders
One of the best produced country songs of the past couple years. Absolutely perfectly fits this guy’s insanely raspy voice. I freaking love it much more than I’m letting on.
“White Horse” - Chris Stapleton
And of course, Chris Stapleton is killing it as always…except for that new Monday Night Football song with Snoop Dogg. I sure hope he got paid well for doing that, otherwise yikes.
“Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift sure is great at making pop music.
“Down Bad” - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift sure is good at making pop music.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift sure is making pop…
“Birds of a Feather” - Billie Eilish
Speaking of good at making pop music, even the most obvious radio single of Billie Eilish’s entire career is so fucking good. When she hits that really high note, chef’s kiss.
“Chihiro” - Billie Eilish
Almost made the best list solely because of how effectively the comparison is between the titular Spirited Away character and Billie’s own self journey are. Also my god the production on this is fucking phenomenal….is it not too late to add this?
“Lunch” - Billie Eilish
Seeing this as the lead single for the new album was honestly such a mind blowing moment. Because listening to that album before even seeing what she announced was the lead single, this was probably the least likely choice by me. But even then, with all the delves into heartbreak and exploring her sexuality; it’s a nice reminder that Billie can take the latter and make one of the funniest fucking songs of her career.
“My Love Mine All Mine” - Mitski
It’s absolutely surreal that Mitski had a pop hit at all this year…or any year for that matter. Part of me wanted to place her on the actual list for that reason alone because I highly doubt I’ll ever get to talk about her on this blog ever again when it comes to hit music since she is one of my favorite artists. But I had to be honest with myself and say that would solely be off my personal bias and not the song itself. Which this isn’t even near her best songs in her discography. This is still a solid 9 out of 10 and would have easily been enough to qualify for my best list in like 2023 or 2022…hell 2021 if we are being honest.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” - Beyonce
Sweep the fucking Grammys, Queen B.
“Agora Hills” - Doja Cat
And my last cut from the best list, the most painful of them all. I don’t know what the future holds for Doja since she seems to eternally be on the verge of cancellation. But let it be known if the latest round of bullshit she did ends her good, that this will be my favorite hit of hers she ever had. Yes even better than “Get Into It (Yuh)”; and that one ranked pretty high on my 2022 best list. It’s that fucking good of a year 2024 is for hits.
So for the last time, who had the best hit song in one of the best years for music ev….its Chappell Roan.
1. “Good Luck, Babe!” - Chappell Roan
I really do hate being super predictable with my number one hit and leaving a lack of any sort of suspense. But let’s not kid ourselves. This was the song that turned Chappell Roan into a household name and if she’s, once again, dead serious about not continuing her music career; then this will be the song that defines her career. For better and for worse.
First off, let me be perfectly clear that this is not my favorite Chappell Roan song. “Pink Pony Club” would have probably dethroned this if it qualified for my extended rules. And from all the metrics that I researched to compile what would have been Billboard’s 101-105, “Pink Pony Club” would have been Billboard’s #106. And then if we are getting even more technical, “Red Wine Supernova” and “Casual” are also up there in terms of Chappell songs that I adore more than this. The woman is just that fucking good.
But you know what, that is just me being a nitpicky dick. Because “Good Luck, Babe!” would be lucky to be anyone else’s best song ever, right? This little slice of 80s synth pop really is a sign that no matter how much we are living in a 2000s nostalgia based timeline, we will truly always adore the 80s more than any other decade.
And the context, my lord I take back what I just stated about this being anyone else’s best song ever because this truly is a Chappell Roan song as she writes about her own personal experience of dating a women where she has to regretfully end things with her because this women is not serious about fully delving into her queerness and wants to end up with a man and Chappell is rightfully pissed as Chappell is rightfully out and proud while this ex wants to keep passing as a straight. And Chappell sells her fucking ass off about how angry she is. While I’m over here on the sideline cheering Chappell on.
In a year full of diss tracks, this is the one that hits the hardest for me. That delivery of sarcasm, genuine hurt, and anger reflects in Chappell’s voice because honestly, this is a song flooded with emotions. And the way she belts her lungs out on that bridge….my god. One of the best bridges in a pop song I have ever heard. That bridge is what secured this the number one spot for me over Billie.
At the time of writing this, one of the year end predictors I follow stated that this has locked a spot for Billboard’s predicted 2025 year end. So you know what, congratulations for securing the number one spot for next year as well. To the rest of the 99 singles competing to dethrone this as my number one for next December? Good luck, babe!
