best of Pink Matter's Best Of 2019 and Decade Countdown | Finished!

[jose168]

21 hours ago, Pink Matter said:

Hey bb, you doing a list this year?

Yah babe check my sig!

[Pink Matter]

Let's get this show started. Since this'll be a rather shallow.mp3 list this year, I'll be following @Ewan Chaos' format and just making a list alphabetically by artist of my favorite song this year. There are A LOT of artists who I didn't get the chance to listen to so if I omit someone, it's likely I didn't get to listen to them. Same will go for albums.

 

 

Songs of 2019

 

Set 1

 

 

Ama Lou|We tried, we tried.

 

 

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Ahh Ama, what a splendid way to kick off my countdown. With the first entry of my Best Of,

we have the central track of Ama's 5-track EP that combines elements from the other four tracks on the EP;

the production has that kick and oomph to it that NORTHSIDE and Better have

and the lyrics are sobering and serious in the vein of Far Out and This Town, as she sings about the end of a relationship.

In the end, We tried, we tried. is a song that oozes style and personality, and still manages to have something to say.

 

*I'm not doing an EP list or anything so I'm going to plug her EP here.

 

Anderson .Paak|Make It Better (feat. Smokey Robinson)

 

 

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If at this point it's not clear to you just how versatile Andy is, I don't know what to tell you.

Instead of showing off both his rapping skills and his singing ability like he's shown in previous albums,

he decides to use Ventura to focus on his singing and we should be lucky for it!

Make It Better shows the Anderson (or whoever is the protagonist of the song)

reminiscing about a relationship that went sour and seeing if it could be mended.

The songs a wonderful slow jam, with production that has a warm nostalgic feeling to it (to me at least).

The violin backing just is another layer to an already beautiful song.

 

Ari Lennox|BMO

 

 

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I don't really have much to say here outside of the fact that this is A ****ING BOP  (a big bop as the kids say).

I do love her interpolation of Patti LaBelle's Lady Marmalade in the hook.

It just makes this a perfect sing-a-long song

My baby was hurt she lost her Soul Train Awards so give this song a stream or 2 (or 10 and then check out the album  )

 

 

Ariana Grande|bad idea

 

 

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This, another big bop by the current reigning princess of pop,

is one of the best combinations of Pop and Trap style production to make one of the best urban pop songs of the past few years.

The strings transition into the outro just takes this song over the edge and makes this probably my favorite song on thank u, next.

Deserved to be a #1 smash (after needy and NASA went #1).

Also am I the only one who gets Shut Up and Drive vibes from this? 

 

Billie Eilish|bad guy

 

 

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I could've went any number of songs from WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP... (all the good girls..., when the party's over, bury a friend for instance),

but it only made sense to go with the albums smash hit bad guy.

The thumping, bass-heavy production is mixed with sly and cynical lyrics

to bring together one of the most unlikely (but ultimately deserving) #1's of the year.

The lyrics punch.

It's hypnotic and mesmerizing,

and much like the previous bad idea,

the outro is one of my favorite parts of the song and just takes it over the edge.

 

 

Blood Orange|Good For You (feat. Justine Skye)

 

 

 

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Selenur who?

With Angel's Pulse, we see Dev focusing less on concepts and more on the music and we're only so fortunate.

With Angel's Pulse, there are many immaculate moments to choose from with many sparks of brilliance throughout,

the most notable being Good For You.

Justine Skye shined bright with a sublime vocal performance and from the hazy production,

to the keys interspersed throughout, to the drums and the strings that flutter in and out,

everything comes together to produce one of my most played songs of the year.

My only complaint is it's so short but I guess that adds to its replay value.

 

 

FKA twigs|fallen alien

 

 

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Ngl, I really do not like cellophane, and when I heard it, it made me scared to check out MAGDALENE for a while  

But I'm glad I did finally get around to it, because every other song (yes that includes the effortless bop that is  holy terrain ) is much better than it. 

One of the things that I noticed about fallen alien (and the album as a whole)

is how much more lyric oriented it is than many of the other songs on LP1. And to me, it adds another layer to who twigs is an artist;

to hear her be so much more expressive is a joy to witness

because I can only imagine how cathartic it is to get these strong feelings out about heartbreak out. 

fallen alien is also great in that it still has the weird, eccentricities she's known for in the production.

 

Frank Ocean|DHL

 

 

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I, like many, have always wondered what a Rap offering from Frankie would sound like.

And if I'm being honest, the Travis Scott-inspired DHL is not what I expected.

But I welcome it with open arms. The production is hypnotic. He floats like a butterfly on the second half of the song as only he could.

Beyond that, there's not much more that I can say.

It's just one of those tracks where I can't fully describe why I like it so much. I just do + it's full of quotables too  

 

GoldLink|Cokewhite (feat. Pusha T)

 

 

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I've been following GoldLink for a few years now and he's always been quite the consistent artist.

Diaspora, however shows GoldLink taking new, satisfying turns with his music while improving on old styles;

Cokewhite being a great example of the latter.

With songs like Joke Ting, U Say, and Spanish Song for instance being lighter and more airy (with elements of reggae and Afrobeat- style production), Cokewhite is probably the most pure Rap song on the album.

With the first half and second half sounding like two entirely different songs,

a slowed down first half with a beat tailor made for Pusha T to ride effortlessly over,

and a sped up second half that shows GoldLink flexing his agility and dexterity, 

this is one of the most dynamic songs I've heard all year (which to be fair isn't saying much ).

 

James Blake|Barefoot in the Park (feat. Rosalia)

 

 

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While Assume Form came and went, as most January releases do,

Barefoot in the Park managed to have the staying power to last all throughout the year, due in part to the talented Rosalia

(was almost tempted to write Rosalia feat. James Blake ).

The sound of both of their voices paired together (with her vocals flickering throughout the song in the background),

backed by the clinking and clanking and twinkling production makes for one truly, heavenly song.

 

[Pink Matter]

@Eeveelution @Mr. Loco @JGibson @Kang. @theblackestday @Love Drought @PrinceMichaelFan @Chemical X. @Lazuli @Ewan Chaos @Tom Vercetti @Mark Rih @jose168 @Body Electrician @Wicked @K$Ellie

 

1st set done  I'm gonna make sure to get future updates done much sooner.

[Chemical X.]

If Ari/Dreamville’s radio team was competent, BMO would’ve been a top 40 hit. I wish she would figure that out instead of melting down about the soul train awards  

 

 

[JGibson]

bad guy 

[Lazuli]

bad guy, bad idea  

fallen alien  HOW are you not into cellophane tho  

rosalia really carried barefoot in the park 

[TheWayWeWere]

Bad Idea and Bad Guy making it such a great bops

Fallen Alien is flawless piece of work  

[TRF.]

yes fallen alien and Barefoot in the Park!!  I think Bad Idea might be my favorite Ariana song ever

[K$Ellie]

bad guy wasn't my fave from WWAFAWDWG but I can see why you chose it

bad idea and fallen alien are among my faves from those albums  

[Mark Rih]

bad idea and guy both great songs!

 

I also like DHL, not his best clearly but still an enjoyable track

[Navyofbadgals]

Fallen Alien I'll let the dislike for Cellogod slide this one time

[Jet]

Bad Idea and Bad Guy  good choice!

[PrinceMichaelFan]

bad guy!

[rvx]

Bad Guy 

[World Eater]

I feel like I'm pretty much done with .Paak, his latest albums and features proved me that Malibu was a fluke Love the other choices tho, especially bad idea, bad guy, fallen alien (the lowercase dd) and DHL

[Mr. Loco]

Bad guy is such a weird song... I hated it at first, then I started liking it, then it bore me too fast, now it's okay I guess...

[jose168]

Bad guy is my favorite here, but also got love for Fallen Alien, DHL, and Barefoot. dope set!

[Pink Matter]

Gonna continue with the second set (now that more of you commented )! Most of this set can be described as big bops so I'd highly recommend everyone check out all of these songs

 

Songs of 2019

 

Set 2

 

Dua Lipa|Future Nostalgia

 

 

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So yeah, I def ****ed up with my organization of this countdown considering "D" doesn't came after "J" () so just ignore that little blunder  

Anyways, I'm very surprised by this promo track by Ms. Dula Peep.

It's by and large her most sonically jarring song to date (given how the reaction to it was pretty split), and it works!

I appreciate her tackling and delving deeper into the dance sound that she rocked with Don't Start Now,

and with some much confidence and personality at that.

And I want to point out that this isn't necessarily some obscure sound that's super hard to digest,

but it is a sound that really isn't used in the mainstream and is one that shows Dua evolving her sound into something that packs a ton of punch.

It's addicting, funky, and I really hope she continues down this road.

 

"Kali Uchis & Kaytranada"|10%

 

 

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So this is going to replace Solita as my Kali choice, because while I do like Solita, I enjoy 10% MUCH more.

What I like about 10% is that kinda bridges the electronic/house sound from 99.9%

with more of the instrumental heavy sound that's much more present in the other songs on his latest project by combining the two.

It's KayKay, so it's always going to be groovy and smooth,

and Kali absolutely does a wonderful job riding the beat.

She bobs and weaves through the drums and glittering synths to help make quite the stunning track.

A match made in heaven.

 

Kaytranada|Dysfunctional (feat. VanJess)

 

 

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Another Kaytranda track? What can I say, I'm practically a stan.

On a serious note,

I really wanted to highlight this jingle since it came out so early on in the year and was an early contender for SOTY for me.

Sucks it didn't end up on the album (and honestly Dysfunctional>>>Taste but I'm glad my girls are getting more exposure).

I do think I get why it was omitted from 10% though;

Dysfunctional follows more of the standard electronic/house style of production that he's known for.

It has all the necessary bounce, warbles, and synths that you'd want out of a Kaytranada song

and the production fits these sisters like a glove.

There's not much more I can say about why I like the song; it's just a really good Kaytranada song!

 

Khalid|Talk

 

 

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After his 2017 stint, I was kinda over Khalid and avoided most of his music.

Not that he did anything wrong but I just didn't feel like keeping up with him anymore.

Then one afternoon when I was driving along with my dad,

I heard this song on the radio randomly and was pretty shook; hooked, but shook.

A sweet blend of electronic production and R&B by the talented Disclosure

with all the warbles, all the synths, and everything in between puts together one of my favorite hits of the year

and an everloving bop that I've been jamming to for the past several months   

 

Kindness|Lost Without (feat. Seinabo Sey)

 

 

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In taking a break from the bops that I've been subjecting you all to,

I'm going to highlight a mid-tempo that's softer and almost muted in comparison to what I've shown y'all thus far.

It's actually quite the dynamic song though. It starts out very subdued,

which pairs well with lyrics that deal with hindsight,

and all the wisdom that let's one see how a relationship could've been taken to last longer.

As the song progressed, the production became much more complex with a surge of instrumentation until it reached a fever pitch.

This was an excellent choice for the lead to Something Like a War as it's pretty indicative of the rest of the album

and is a vast improvement from his previous album.

 

LION BABE|Western World (feat. Raekwon)

 

 

 

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I know people only want 'bAwPs" !1!! from Jillian and Lucas but I'm pretty glad that I received this lil mid-tempo from them.

This was always a track that I appreciated for it's calming nature,

partly due to the soothing vocals supplied by Jill.

It really resonated with me at a point in time that I was going through a rough patch.

I've always felt this sense of reassurance every time I played it, making it a song that I really kept near and dear to my heart.

 

Lizzo|Juice

 

 

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Now getting back to our regularly scheduled program of bops,

we have one of the most criminally underrated jams to be released this year (not on ATRL obviously).

It's hard to imagine another artist (bar Billie) that was more talked about and more ubiquitous than Lizzo here;

from old jams like Truth Hurts and Good as Hell reaching the upper echelon of the charts

to receiving widespread acclaim for her performances and music, Lizzo really did that!

All this is to say that sad that Juice was overlooked the way it was.

Given how sleek it is, how catchy it is, how confident she sounds, and how much energy it offers (both in its production and by Lizzo herself),

this deserved to go #1 just as much as, Truth Hurts did, if not more so.

We can at least take solace in the fact that this'll rightfully smash come Q1 2021  

 

Lucky Daye|Karma

 

 

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Lucky Daye was a new discovery for me this year; 

having heard this song on his second EP II ahead of his debut album Painted,

I was very excited about what was soon to come!

To bring up another point, 

I think a problem a lot of people have with R&B and the state it is in currently is that a lot of it suffers from most everyone doing the same thing and there being no diversity in sound among the major acts like there used to be;

many of these issues are due to R&B artists singing over the same hazy, reverb-y, atmospheric production that The Weeknd himself left behind back in 2015 (I mean Abel's impact but still).

With Lucky Daye, you get the complete opposite.

Clear strong vocals with good lyrics and interesting updated production

(that doesn't rely on 90s nostalgia to separate itself from it's alt R&B counterparts).

Ironically, it reminded me of that late 90s Timbaland production so after some digging I found the song interpolated Ginuwine's Pony!

With a short run time, this crafted a head-bobbing knock with great replay value that lasted all throughout the year.

 

Omar Apollo|Ashamed

 

 

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Another newbie I had the pleasure of discovering this year,

Omar really blew me away with this single.

Simply put, I'm a pretty big Prince fan so to hear these Prince-like vocals (or at least an of edit his voice to sound like he's singing like Prince)

hooked me instantly.

Ashamed is a song brimming with charm;

from the very first guitar riffs to the howls after the first chorus to the outro that has a killer funky switch in production

(I'm always a sucker for killer beat switches)

there's never a dull moment.

Listen to the EP here.

 

Orville Peck|Dead of Night

 

 

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Ending the countdown for tonight we have an entry by the masked cowboy Orville Peck,

with the intro to his debut album Pony.

Honestly, I never would've expected to rank a country artist highly in any of my Best Ofs

(I pretty much panned Kacey's Golden Hour from last year

and most other country music I pretty much stay away from since I just don't like the sound much).

When I heard Peck's music being described as "alternative country" one time, my ears perked up.

Coupled with his unique aesthetic, I had no choice but to stan my interest was piqued.

And I'm glad I did give him a shot.

I think what I like about this song (as well as the album as a whole) is how much genre-bending is going on.

It obviously has elements of country music,

but it's got elements of folk music, as well as chamber pop with the echoes and sort of hollowness felt throughout the song.

This would also explain some of the Lana comparisons I've seen throughout the comments in his videos (her impact ). 

On top of the genre-bending, his voice is strong.

Not just in that his voice can go high, but there's power behind it; 

so much so that it puts an emphasis on what he sings and it stands front and center all throughout.

My only complaint is that I waited so long to get into him.

 

[Pink Matter]

On 12/19/2019 at 1:32 AM, Chemical X. said:

If Ari/Dreamville’s radio team was competent, BMO would’ve been a top 40 hit. I wish she would figure that out instead of melting down about the soul train awards  

 

 

It's crazy how underrated R&B still is on the charts  Maybe BMO could've been that game changer  

Also, I feel like you would like Ama Lou so I'd def recommend checking her out!

On 12/19/2019 at 5:08 AM, JGibson said:

bad guy 

A big bop  

On 12/19/2019 at 8:11 AM, Lazuli said:

bad guy, bad idea  

fallen alien  HOW are you not into cellophane tho  

rosalia really carried barefoot in the park 

Ugh idk, maybe if I explained it more I could explain why I disliked it better  

And she sure did. Best song on the album by a mile.

On 12/19/2019 at 9:22 AM, TheWayWeWere said:

Bad Idea and Bad Guy making it such a great bops

Fallen Alien is flawless piece of work  

agrih

 

On 12/19/2019 at 10:09 AM, TRF. said:

yes fallen alien and Barefoot in the Park!!  I think Bad Idea might be my favorite Ariana song ever

Honestly, same tbh. Break Your Heart Right Back and Greedy might've been snatched.

On 12/20/2019 at 9:22 AM, K$Ellie said:

bad guy wasn't my fave from WWAFAWDWG but I can see why you chose it

bad idea and fallen alien are among my faves from those albums  

I was debating putting when the party's over (such a great song) but it just felt wrong putting anything else tbh

On 12/20/2019 at 10:26 AM, Mark Rih said:

bad idea and guy both great songs!

 

I also like DHL, not his best clearly but still an enjoyable track

It's probably the stan in me but it's such a jam

On 12/20/2019 at 9:04 PM, Navyofbadgals said:

Fallen Alien I'll let the dislike for Cellogod slide this one time

Y'all will see the light some day

On 12/20/2019 at 10:45 PM, Jet said:

Bad Idea and Bad Guy  good choice!

thanx bb

 

 

23 hours ago, PrinceMichaelFan said:

bad guy!

 

17 hours ago, rvx said:

Bad Guy 

the bad guy acclaim, it's what she deserves

11 hours ago, World Eater said:

I feel like I'm pretty much done with .Paak, his latest albums and features proved me that Malibu was a fluke Love the other choices tho, especially bad idea, bad guy, fallen alien (the lowercase dd) and DHL

Wow really? That's quite surprising. Oxnard is no Malibu sure but it (as well as Ventura) have some great songs  

And yass another DHL stan in the haus  

11 hours ago, Mr. Loco said:

Bad guy is such a weird song... I hated it at first, then I started liking it, then it bore me too fast, now it's okay I guess...

lolol yeah I didn't really quite get the love for it at first but it grew on me hard, maybe it'll continue to grow on you!

1 hour ago, jose168 said:

Bad guy is my favorite here, but also got love for Fallen Alien, DHL, and Barefoot. dope set!

 Great picks, and yeah she and Finneas really captured lightning with bad guy

-

@Eeveelution @Kang.  @Love Drought @Ewan Chaos @Tom Vercetti @Body Electrician @Wicked 

Second set up, make sure to check out the first when you can.

[Jet]

Juice is SOTY 

[Alldeezy]

Juice :D

[JGibson]

Juice 

[TheWayWeWere]

Future Nostalgia making lists already  it's actually such a grower

Juice bawps 

[Eeveelution]

Juice and Future Nostalgia, we stan disco bops!

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Eeveelution

[Lazuli]

wow future nostalgia is collecting that acclaim so quickly

juice  it really deserves justice