Previously:
20. KAYTRANADA “Do 2 Me” feat. Anderson.Paak and SiR
The cocaine had to have been EXCELLENT for this session. Anderson.Paak has never sounded better and this production has so much energy.
19. Rachel Chinouriri “Never Need Me”
Why is Florence Pugh in this video? Anyway, 2024 was Rachel’s breakout year grabbing two nominations at the last BRIT awards (losing to Charli xcx and The Last Dinner Party, which is nothing to be ashamed of). Subverting expectations, Rachel is holding it down firmly for the Pop Black Girls and hopefully she’s the beginning of a new wave.
18. Tate McRae “2 hands”
I regret to inform you that Tate McRae is in fact the New Supreme. I was not sold on her little mumbles on that I’m OK I’m Ok song, but after “2 hands” felt like it was made specifically for Old Pop Ears, I started to pay some attention and y’all — that album is probably going to land as one of the top 10 best of 2025.
17. Mother Mother “Explode!”
Siblings Ryan & Molly Guldemond came out swinging on their 9th album. They’re not re-inventing the wheel, but sibling harmony in indie rock is always gonna hit for me.
16. NewJeans “ETA”
NewJeans is probably not long for this world. Right as they were growing to their highest levels of success, everything fell apart with accusations of abuse and lawsuits flying back and forth. They have a hearing in April that may determine the fate of the group, but hopefully they can find a way to stay together with Min Hee-jin as their creative director because no other K-Pop group does 00s nostalgia the way they do where it doesn’t seem forced or gimmicky.
15. Lay Bankz “Tell Ur Girlfriend”
This Philadelphia teenager released her debut single in 2022, but it wasn’t until this piece of pop perfection went viral on TikTok that she started to get some mainstream exposure. Bankz says she wants to combine club and R&B music, and she did just that on this ode to cheating.
14. Madeline Merlo “Middle Of The Bed”
The country girls still sing if you know where to look! “Middle of the Bed” is a big 90s anthem that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Faith Hill or Leann Rimes album. Shoutout to Shania Twain who inspired Madeline to perform in the first place as a fellow small town Canadian girl.
13. Twenty One Pilots “Overcompensate”
Fifteen years and seven albums in, I still don’t really know what genre to put Twenty One Pilots in. They’re always charting on the Alt Rock charts (including this song hitting the top 10) but it’s closer to rap or electronica. Maybe the confusion is why they still pique my interest — not many bands build their own box.
12. The Marias “Run Your Mouth”
Named for lead singer Maria Zardoya, The Marias finally had a hit with their third single of Submarine but it’s the easy cool of lead single “Run Your Mouth” that played on loop for me.
11. Charli xcx “Everything is romantic”
I did not expect to be a Charli xcx stan, but sometimes greatness is just thrust upon us. brat doesn’t have any skips, but for me “Everything is romantic” was the most surprisingly complex track musically. I loved picking it apart to see how it was put together!
10. Normani “Lights On”
Normani has a ring on her finger the size of Pluto so while I’m annoyed that more people aren’t listening to her Very Excellent Music, at least she’s not struggling for money. Dopamine was another no-skips album last year, but “Lights On” is the most worthy addition to the Quiet Storm canon in years.
9. Infinity Song “Hater’s Anthem”
I was stanning the Boyd siblings for the entirety of 2024 as soon as I heard about them in February. Young Black people doing soft rock was definitely my favorite discovery of last year.
8. Beyonce “16 CARRIAGES”
Rooted somewhere between the chain gang, the Black church, and folk storytelling, no song hit as hard on first listen as “16 CARRIAGES.” Cowboy Carter has flashier moments and more impressive vocals, but the vulnerability and simplicity of this track made it my most played from Act II.
7. Mannequin Pussy “Split Me Open”
Philly is only 90 minutes away, but even four albums in, I’d never heard of Mannequin Pussy until I was riding around LA with my friend who said “listen to this.” I expected rap, because he’s a hip-hop head, so imagine my surprise when punk rock came blaring out of the speakers. “Split Me Open” starts sweetly until about halfway through when the rest of the band kicks in. When a song is good, you can picture it existing in any era. I could go to Bushwick and see this band tomorrow or I could have seen this band in Echo Park 20 years ago. Timeless rock.
6. Cardi B “Like What”
Not only is this Missy sample iconic, but Cardi is lyrically at her most nimble. Braggadocious as ever, Cardi managed to bait JT of City Girls with a Rick Owens line that she played into perfectly, proving that Cardi is not only an expert emcee but hasn’t lost her skills at trolling either.
5. KATSEYE “Touch”
Netflix put together an “international K-pop” group in a reality show that I definitely lost some goodwill for toward the end of the series. Still, the six girls in KATSEYE do have something special and “Touch” became a viral smash on the strength of an infectious chorus and irresistible choreography that everyone had to try.
4. iyla “Mona Lisa”
White girls marketing themselves as pop stars can be good singers, but white girls marketing themselves as R&B artists have to be good singers, and iyla has the sauce. Obsessed with her delivery, her tone, and her agility, I don’t think iyla has a bad song in her catalogue and somebody needs to get her opening for JoJo as soon as possible.
3. Beauty School Dropout “blow my high”
Back in 2023, I heard “beautiful waste” (the lead single for their second album) and I made a note to get into the full album when it came out. Well, it did and it’s excellent. Mark Hoppus (blink-182) does have good ears and picking these guys for his label was an excellent choice.
2. FLO “Get It Till I’m Gone”
This has Rodney Jerkins’s influence all over it! From the stuttering percussion to the layered background vocals to trading leads, this definitely has an early 00s R&B stamp and of course I am here for it. I’m telling you, get two friends and sing this song together. You will have too much fun and I cannot wait to see what they do with this song on stage next month in Brooklyn.
1. Kris Bowers “I Could Use A Boost
The Wild Robot was (quite unexpectedly!) my favorite movie of 2024 and this was the only scene all of last year that made me cry. And the scene does not work without this piece of score from Kris Bowers!
I love a complex arrangement. I love texture and counterpoint and dissonance and mixed meters. But sometimes you don’t need all of that. Sometimes you need a four-note sequence. Sometimes you need to repeat that sequence over and over while expanding the instrumentation and increasing the complexity of the background arrangement with a gradual crescendo to an epic peak serving as the emotional climax of the film. There are a lot of pieces of music that only work with the movie, but you can pull this track out and put it on any playlist of scores.
If you can master simplicity, you can master human emotions. If you understand music theory and how to manipulate the rules of composition, you can make your audience feel anything. Kris Bowers is one of those talents.
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