Previously:
60. Jennifer Lopez “Hearts and Flowers”
I have not evolved to a place of understanding where I want to sit through a $20 million movie about Jennifer Lopez’s love story with a man she ended up divorcing a few months later. However! This song from the movie/album feels like New York in the early 00s in the best way.
59. Delequa “Fed Up”
I could not tell you how I stumbled upon this song. There are only 3 monthly listeners on Spotify so I’m making up 33% of the audience. What I love is when you can tell someone is serious about their craft and they have all the same ingredients that mainstream artists have, but without the money. The song is raw but you can tell what a Brian Michael Cox would do before pushing it to radio. And we need trans women in pop who aren’t Kim Petras selling her soul to Dr. Luke.
58. MGMT “Nothing to Declare”
For their first album in 6 years, MGMT went full soft-rock/adult-contemporary, and I’m not even mad about it! It’s giving Simon & Garfunkel in the best ways.
57. LE SSERAFIM “Smart”
One thing K-Pop gonna do is appropriATE! Tyla had a global smash and suddenly a light afrobeats moment made its way all through South Korea’s pop scene. I grew up with Gwen Stefani wearing bindis though, so I’m not gonna be a hypocrite in my old age. A bop is a bop.
56. MICHELLE “Oontz”
NYC indie pop band MICHELLE had a surprise underground hit off their third album, vibing in that retro space between Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter.
55. Runaway June “Make Me Wanna Smoke”
Runaway June has already had two lineup changes in ten years, but luckily the sound has remained the same. If you miss the country harmonies of She-Daisy, The Chicks, and The Judds, you should keep Runaway June in your orbit.
54. PNAU “AEIOU” feat. Empire of The Sun
This is straight white people jump up & down music. There’s always at least one time, every year, where I end up at the club with straight white men and a song burrows into my brain.
53. Muni Long “Made for Me”
The song that spawned 1,000 TikTok/Instagram covers. I’m not sold on Muni Long as a live performer, but as long as she’s in the studio writing classic R&B, I’ll rock with her.
52. ADELA “HOMEWRECKED”
The “mean girl” from Netflix’s Popstar Academy hit the ground running as soon as the show ended. So far, she’s 3 for 3 with pop gems she’s releasing and producing all on her own. Of the three, the first is still my favorite because I just didn’t expect her to go this hard. If there’s a title for Hardest Working Teenager in Music, she has to be in the running for the crown.
51. Courtney Hadwin “JAGGED”
20-year-old Courtney Hadwin is another one of those British White Girls in the vein of Joss Stone and Duffy who have voices far beyond their years. She popped up on America’s Got Talent years ago and made it to the finals as a 14-year-old, and I don’t know how much space the market has for a young female rocker, but that voice should take her far.
50. Megan Thee Stallion “HISS”
You already know. The biggest pop culture moment of early 2024 was Nicki crashing out for days and days over Megan. Talk about turning your opps into money — Megan hit it out of the park.
49. Real Estate “Freeze Brain”
Real Estate is my favorite band to chill out and vibe to and their latest album is their best since 2014’s Atlas. I read that the band recorded it in the span of just two weeks in Nashville, a departure from the year they spent on the last album that nobody paid attention to since they couldn’t tour during the pandemic. The abbreviated recording schedule makes the album feel looser, like the guys were just jamming together. And I like it!
48. Tanner Adell “Too Easy”
Beyonce’s country little sister popped up on the soundtrack to Twisters and let me tell you — I still need to find somewhere to line dance to this song. The Texas Tornado is too perfect for this!
47. serpentwithfeet “1 to 10”
How fine is he? Tell us. How fine is he?
This is such a lushly arranged slice of late night R&B. I don’t have the chops or dedication to make music, but I’m glad there’s a gay Black man in NYC doing exactly what I would do on a song.
46. berlioz “ascension”
I’m not here to have a debate on whether berlioz is jazz or not (for the record, he’s not), but my friend invited me to his show in Brooklyn last minute and since I wasn’t doing anything, I said sure. This SONG is fire! The show itself is awkward, because berlioz is just pushing pre-programmed buttons from what I can tell while he has Black jazz musicians doing the improv over his productions, but optics aside, he really is a good producer.
45. Gracie Abrams “us.” (feat. Taylor Swift)
It makes sense that Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams have the same audience. Any argument you have against Taylor would apply to Gracie, so just go ahead and skip past this one if mediocre white singers are not your jam. Personally, I don’t need a vocal to hit it out of the park every time if I like the way the song is put together, and the build of “us.” from beginning to end feels like the best of early 90s VH1, like Sophie B Hawkins decided to write the pivotal moment in the soundtrack for a romcom.
44. Jamie xx & Honey Dijon “Baddy On The Floor”
I love it when a song makes me miss Wednesday nights at Westgay or Sunday nights at Greenhouse. Jamie xx and Honey Dijon both know how to make the people get sweaty.
43. GloRilla “Yeah Glo!”
Gloria Hallelujah Woods released one of the best debut albums of the decade, and she did it without drama, without beef, and generally making a fan of anyone who stumbled across her music or her personality. Get em, Glo!
42. Gossip “Edge Of The Sun”
Beth Ditto is still one of the great underrated voices in music, and on their new album, she dug even further into her Stevie Nicks bag.
41. Nothing But Thieves “Time :: Fate :: Karma :: God”
2023’s Dead Club City saw Nothing But Thieves notch their first #1 album in the UK after steadily building more and more buzz over the past ten years. Last summer they released the deluxe version with this gem. I thought it was The Killers the first time I heard it, which was just perfect for my Elder Millennial spirit.
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