best of Ari's Year End |? UPDATE! Songs 90-81 ?

[GokuRed]

SONGS 100-91

100. Bodak Yellow - Cardi B

Yo this track is super unoriginal in everything but concept. The beat perfectly fits every trap trope of today, the rapping is punctual and well executed, and the rapper is a new fresh face to the industry. She's a female with a developing flow, an insanely good image, and a stellar online presence. This song broke records and changed music despite it not being anything too groundbreaking sonically. I had a ton of great moments to this hit and hope that we can continue to see Cardi dominate in the future alongside Nicki.

 

99. Lil Yachty ft. Diplo - "Forever Young"

99. I wasn't expecting to like Yachty at all. His first few tracks were awful. Think "Minnesota" and "1 Night." This year he seems to have really developed as an artist with some standout cuts from his debut project and one of the best features of the year (we'll get to that later). This song is one of the most listenable and enjoyable tracks he's ever created, despite the fact that it's made with twerk star Diplo.

 

98. Calvin Harris ft. Ariana Grande, Pharrell, and Young Thug - "Heatstroke"

I wish this song were bigger. I don't get all the hate for it. I like it FAR more than the brightly mixed and weak-hooked "Feels" that wound up being the biggest this era. Thug kills his verses, Ariana does a soothing hook, and Pharrell... well he's just kinda there.

 

97. Taylor Swift - "Look What You Made Me Do"

This song was super interesting for all of three weeks then I haven't listened to it since. Those three weeks were pretty damn fun though.

 

96. Young Thug ft. Jacquees - "For Y'all"

From the trumpets to the ridiculous hook, Thugga created a MONSTER with this track. I didn't even know who Jacquees was during this time and was caught off guard by his stellar feature. On an album full of surprises, "For Y'all" came on at the perfect time to up the mood and vibe of the album. 

 

95. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug - "Havana"

Amazing track. When I first heard it - initially despising Cabello, I knew I would become a fan against my will. The chords are unique, the feature fits perfectly and doesn't steal the shine, and the writing is catchy as hell. The video was nice as well (can't believe this girl is around my age ) It's been a nice hit to have around - much better than the mess that was "Despacito" and "Wild Thoughts" prior to its rise.

 

94. Tyler, the Creator ft. Jaden Smith - "Pothole"

Tyler served this year. This track as well served an amazing Jaden feature that didn't sound too weird or "Jaden." The song felt appropriately Tyler while using Jaden's strong cadences as a hook. Tyler's verses have great lyrics and the song overall is one of his most well produced traditional rap tracks.

 

93. Young Thug - "Do U Love Me"

Thug's Beautiful Thugger Girls was one of the more experimental albums released this year. "Do U Love Me" was one of the more traditional tracks on the album - featuring classic Thug verses with a futuristic trap beat. The lyrics in the hook as well evoke more emotion than previous Young Thug releases. It's amazing to see his progression over the years - perfecting a style that's influenced pretty much every modern rapper.

 

92. Tee Grizzley - "First Day Out"

"First Day Out" was a track that takes a while to get in to - the first minute and a half has a slow sad storytelling vibe while the second transitions into one of the more dominant and aggressive verses this year. For the entire duration of the song Grizzley doesn't miss a single good line while switching his flow multiple times over an evolving beat. It's a deserving song for his breakout hit.

 

91. Playboi Carti ft. Lil Uzi Vert - "Wokeuplikethis*"

This song is ****ing weird. I don't know why I like it so much. Uzi's verse is catchy, the chorus is twice as long as it should be but because it's Carti you can barely notice, and the beat shouldn't work - yet it does.

[Mark Rih]

kii @ LWYMMD being frontloaded even here

Havana and Heatstroke are my faves from this set.

[Brandon]

Havana & LWYMMD 

[Navyofbadgals]

Bodak, Heatstroke, Havana and Pothole  

[MusicLoverDude]

The Cure, Bodak Yellow, Look What You Made Me Do and Havana

 

[potent]

I should check Calvin's album cause I'm liking more and more of what he releases lately

[Remmy]

LWYMMD  But whoops at you just tossing it after a while

[That Bad Eartha]

Heatstroke is really underrated.

[Lazuli]

LWYMMD so low  

[Ewan Chaos]

8 hours ago, Ari. said:

I like it FAR more than the brightly mixed and weak-hooked "Feels" that wound up being the biggest this era.

Yes yes yes I 100% agree. I really wish this eclipsed that damn song. Great pick! The other songs are... okay!

[Mr.Link]

Yeah Look burned out THAT fast. But it's a decent song I guess.

[Tom Vercetti]

Wokeuplikethis >

[rvx]

Havana + LWYMMD

[sumthintoxic82]

Bodak Yellow

Heatstroke was cute

Havana

[Pedro]

I am happy to see "Havana" slaying! Love Taylor's song as well!

[moonlight.]

dvsn, jhene, bodak yellow, heart stroke, look what you made me do, havana, & woke up like this  

[TheWayWeWere]

Bodak is cute jam

Heatstroke is lowkey bad for...everything can't believe they did Calvin/Ariana collab so wrong

Havana

[Tsareena]

bodak yellow being so low omg

[alexanderao]

YES @ THUG!

 

BTG is an incredible album and those two tracks are definitely standouts. He's such an original.

 

LWYMMD, Havana, Heatstroke, and Bodak are all bops as well.

[jose168]

Bodak, look and havana  

 

i didnt get through BTG, and i usually like thugs material

[Legend E]

LWYMMD and Havana  

[GokuRed]

90. Jay Z - "Kill Jay Z"

Easily one of the best album openers of all time. Jay effortlessly opens up his best album to date (and probably ever will make) with an incredible beat, the best mixing on any project, and hard hitting lyrics closely tied to the reality of Jay's.

 

89. Young Thug ft. Milly Go Lightly - "She Wanna Party"

Milly has an incredibly beautiful voice. It's such a nice contrast from the harsh wailing of Thug, especially on such an acoustically influenced project. The melodies here are beautiful as any Thug ones while providing an incredible amount of flow switching.

 

88. J. Balvin & Willy William ft. Beyoncé - "Mi Gente"

This song just knocks. I don't really care for the original vs the Beyoncé version but both are nice. Was surprised at how long it lasted in the Top 10.

 

87. Migos ft. Cardi B & Nicki Minaj - "Motorsport"

I only care for the girls and Takeoff's verses, the others bore me. The girls destroy their verses though. Especially Nicki. She has the most consistently high quality verses of the entire year - no other rapper period this year touched her in consistency.

 

86. The All-American Rejects - "Close Your Eyes"

The AAR decided to make a comeback with one of the worst songs I've ever heard ("Sweat") while ignoring their much superior (but far too long) B-side "Close Your Eyes." I'm not that excited for their comeback despite loving their previous album (Kids In The Street) due to their mistreatment of "Close Your Eyes" and terrible "Sweat."

 

85. MastodonRare ft. Trip Rexx - "Doin My Thing"

Some local Phoenix artists made a song that I COULD NOT get out of my head for weeks. Give it a listen - it's catchy.

 

 

84. Kodak Black ft. Lil Wayne - "Codeine Dreamin"

This song has an incredible chorus and one of the best Wayne features of the decade.

 

83. Kendrick Lamar ft. Rihanna - "Loyalty"

No joke, I actually sampled "24k Magic" months before Kendrick did But Kendrick did it really really well as well. Rihanna's rapping is the highlight of the track though.

 

Tyler, the Creator ft. Lil Wayne - "Droppin' Seeds"

Wayne really did well with features this year. This song is practically just a Wayne feature the entire time with a nice outro by Tyler. It perfectly fits in the album and actually has one of the more interesting beats on the project.

 

81. Katy Perry ft. Nicki Minaj - "Swish Swish"

Remember when I said that Nicki is on a damn winning streak this year? This song is a prime example of that. Her verse is absolutely incredible and saves the track from being downright terrible. Everything about this song is cringey except for the incredible bridge provided by Nicki, serving the best moment on the entire album.

 

[TheWayWeWere]

Motorsport and Mi Gente are some really bops

[Lazuli]

Loyalty  

[Remmy]

Swish Swish  Yeah, Nicki did a great job on that one. Definitely would've been different without her presence.