best of montrealXO Best Music Videos of 2017 #10-1

[soml]

Issues and Sign of the Times are my faves from this set  

[montrealxo]

#10 Havana - Camila Cabella ft Young Thug

 

 

I'll admit that I only listed to this song initially because Thug was on it, but it got me at first listen just because she says "East Atlanta" and I'm from East Atlanta. I like songs that blend genres as well and this one is a little bit pop, a little bit r&b, a little bit hip hop and a little bit latin. Young Thug brings something fresh to the song and his verse fits better than most other features. It's also infectious and gets in your head after every listen. Still surprised I love this so much.

 

#9 Crew - Goldlink ft Shy Glizzy and Brent Faiyaz.

 

 

This deserves the grammy for best rap/sung collaboration even if it probably won't get it. Three artists that usually fly under the radar but make quality music came together for the smoothest rap song this year. Brent's sings the best hook of the year, Goldlink got bars and flow and Shy Glizzy's verse is ICONIC. 

 

#8 Doubt - Charlotte Day Wilson

 

 

This was a random find one day and has been stuck in my head ever since. The lyrics are thoughtful and relatable if you've ever been in that stage where you finally make up your mind about someone and realize you're in love. Charlotte's voice is enchanting. Neo-soul, especially blue eyed soul, has been lacking this year, but this song takes me to a place where there's sun and clouds and lazy afternoons with bae. Too bad it won't get much attention. 

#7 Drew Barrymore - SZA

 

 

I almost placed Garden (Say It Like Dat) here. It was a hard choice. I've played this album backwards and forwards a million times this year and for all of its replay value, there's something special about Drew Barrymore. I'm unsure if it's the way SZA pairs soul vocals over production that reminds me of 90s alternative or if the dreamy video has something to do with it. Visuals often do have an impact on a song's impression on me and I've seen the video upwards of 50 times. Either way it's a smartly written song that's fun to sing out loud, and we don't get those too often anymore. 

#6 Redbone - Childish Gambino

 

 

This one came out at the end of 2016 but I was so into Me and Your Mama, Zombies, California and Terrified when the album first came out I really overlooked it until Get Out. It has such a throwback, Bootsy Collins feel to it. One of the best modern r&b songs. 

 

#5 Chanel - Frank Ocean

 

 

 

Of all the randomly releases singles Frank put out this year this one is bar none the best. The production just floats in a way that makes you think of lux scenes. Frank's flow is only matched by the lyrics that bounce from vulnerable to bravado like it's nothing. Because it's nothing to the songwriter of our generation.

#4 Magnolia - Playboi Carti

 

 

 

A bop. A moment. A vibe. Memories.

#3 Green Light - Lorde

 

 

Lorde released one of the best written albums of the 21st century this year and I struggled to pick a song to feature here, but this one is a personal favorite for the way the chorus makes me feel. And as a visual person, the video is an art piece that elevates the song to an entirely different dimension. This spot is really for all of melodrama, but Green Light was flag that beckoned it's arrival and it's still stuck with me since.

#2 Disco **** - Tove Lo

 

 

 

Tove Lo is a pop genius that we won't appreciate until the quality starts to drop, which I hope it never does. She feels like our generation's Robyn, the dance pop superstar that isn't but should be. This song is sensual, disco perfection. It's so dirty and it thumps like nobody's business. I pretend the video doesn't exist.

 

#1 Slide - Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, Migos

 

 

 

This should be a classic. And it will be in my own little world. It feels like so many decades at once and at the same time it feels so right now.
 

[montrealxo]

On 12/26/2017 at 1:43 AM, soml said:

Issues and Sign of the Times are my faves from this set  

[Wicked]

This set minus Camila & SZA is fire.

 

Crew IS the song that should have blown up this year, y'all did it wrong.

[montrealxo]

On 12/25/2017 at 7:57 PM, oceans said:

Summer bummer, Haim, issues, bad liar, SOTT and WT 

[montrealxo]

24 minutes ago, Wicked said:

This set minus Camila & SZA is fire.

 

Crew IS the song that should have blown up this year, y'all did it wrong.

you and the sza hate 

 

Crew was huge where I live. didn't even realize it didn't smash everywhere 

[Wicked]

7 minutes ago, montrealxo said:

you and the sza hate 

 

Crew was huge where I live. didn't even realize it didn't smash everywhere 

Crew was huge here too but it should've been a SMASH, like 3 weeks at #1 4x plat smash.

[oceans]

disco chichis, zsa and Havana 

[Pink Matter]

Finally getting around to checking yours but that top 10 is so good! Slide, Disco ****, Green Light, Chanel, Redbone, Drew Barrymore,and Crew are so good. And even Havana is cute  

[montrealxo]

23 hours ago, Wicked said:

Crew was huge here too but it should've been a SMASH, like 3 weeks at #1 4x plat smash.

true. that kind of hip hop hasn't smashed since the 2000s. sad

 

22 hours ago, oceans said:

disco chichis, zsa and Havana 

 

22 hours ago, Pink Matter said:

Finally getting around to checking yours but that top 10 is so good! Slide, Disco ****, Green Light, Chanel, Redbone, Drew Barrymore,and Crew are so good. And even Havana is cute  

this year was so good. king said he's finished the album before his bday so next year is going to be even better. i'm still listening to blond but I need more like Chanel, Provider and Biking. He's making a classic, I can feel it 

[Pink Matter]

1 hour ago, montrealxo said:

true. that kind of hip hop hasn't smashed since the 2000s. sad

 

 

this year was so good. king said he's finished the album before his bday so next year is going to be even better. i'm still listening to blond but I need more like Chanel, Provider and Biking. He's making a classic, I can feel it 

Wait!!?!! We're getting a new Frank album?  When was this?

[montrealxo]

25 minutes ago, Pink Matter said:

Wait!!?!! We're getting a new Frank album?  When was this?

http://frankocean.tumblr.com/post/167963583301/well-i-made-the-album-before-30-i-just-aint

 

no telling when it's coming. but it's done! 

[Pink Matter]

1 hour ago, montrealxo said:

http://frankocean.tumblr.com/post/167963583301/well-i-made-the-album-before-30-i-just-aint

 

no telling when it's coming. but it's done! 

How have I never seen this?  With all the songs he dropped this year plus the Blonded radio specials on Apple Music this year, we might very well get another one next year  

[montrealxo]

#10 Tell Me You Love Me - Demi Lovato

 

 

Never in a million years would I have guessed I would listen to a Demi Lovato album all the way through, much less actually like it. Demetria proved myself (and probably a lot of other people) wrong about her with her current album. I always rooted for her because of her talent, but I'm not a fan of teen pop so it only went as far as liking awards show performances and a single here or there. With this album, she made me a believer. From the anthem, Sorry Not Sorry to the closing set of slow burn, 90s and 2000s inspired R&B, it's clear that this is not the same Demi. With the triumphant, pleading chorus of Tell Me You Love Me, the sky high belts of You Don't Do It for Me Anymore and Sexy Dirty Love, the smooth, summery bops Ruin the Friendship and Daddy Issues and the lowkey heat of the slow jams that close the record starting with the Lil Wayne cameod Lonely, Demi shows she's grown up and ready to play with the big girls. Perhaps her next album will get the attention and respect she deserved with this one, probably meant to draw a line in the sand and stamp her place in the industry.   

[Playa Playa]

Wait amazing top 10 singles. I love them all

 

And tbh Demi surprised with me this album. I liked it too!

[Maddox]

Oh i like your top ten  

 

Interesting description on Charlotte Day Wilson, lemme check her out

 

And i agree abt Demi, i enjoyed her album despite not being much into SNS, perched for her next effort

[Pink Matter]

Haven't listened to TMYLM but I heard this was iT. Seen it a bunch of lists so it's definitely getting a listen in due time.

[montrealxo]

#9 Freudian - Daniel Caesar

 

 

This album is, if nothing else, the most beautifully produced album this year. The opener Get You ft. Kali Uchis, also Daniel Caesar's debut single, is a modern r&b masterpiece of smooth bass lines and smooth falsetto. Apart from its sonic beauty, the album boast some of the most gorgeous and thought provoking reflections on emerging, realized and finally, matured love. Each song, showing a layer of depth in the real relationship between Daniel and his girlfriend. The lessons and musings on the ins and outs of new love expressed here are entirely relatable across the human experience. My favorites and highlights include Get You, Best Part ft. Her, We Find Love,  and Take Me Away featuring The Internet front Syd. All gorgeous and well done. His voice is also a thing of remarkable skill and beauty, with a range and complexity not often showcased with male artists. He flits from baritone to near alto to soaring falsetto and back again with what at least sounds like complete effortlessness. At the risk of beating a dead horse, everything about this album is just beautiful. 

 

#8  Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1

 

 

With the lack of activity from most of my faves, 2017 found me listening to full works from artists whose singles I usually overlooked or ignored entirely. For me, the most surprising listen on my part was Calvin Harris's Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. Yes, We Found Love is definitely one of my favorite bops of all time, but by 2012 I was edm fatigued and his rise as one of its biggest stars was met with mostly eye rolls or inattention on my part. With that, I cant say if this was a step forward or backwards from him because I have no want or intention to listen to his earlier work. But this album, featuring some of my favorite new and old artists, at least made me recognize his talent. I'd often seen on the internet that he was more talented than the music he was making and I feel like this album may be the culmination of him trying to make actual music and not just a beat drop. The obvious highlight is Slide ft. Frank Ocean and Migos; a summery retro bop that's in my opinion, the most interesting single of the year. The rest of the album blends edm (in its current and retro forms) with pop, r&b and hip hop in a way that doesn't feel forced. Heatstroke and Feels are both disco-hop (I know that's not a real thing) perfection, with alley oops from Pharrell to pop girls and rap stars in a way that makes you wonder if one is derivative of the other or a sign of the album's cohesion. Either way, both are amazing for what they are. The rap features fit in a way that mainstreams them without compromising their identities. And somehow the thing that I believe makes this a win for Calvin Harris, is that with all the star power, this album still feels undeniably his. 

 

#7 Khelani - sweetsexysavage

 

 

While slightly regressive from her past work, Sweetsexysavage still proves that Khelani is THE new it r&b girl, even if only commercially. While the album is chocked full of filler, it is at least great filler that blends together probably too well. Sometimes it feels like listening to an hour long song. But once you get past this you find an introspective and relatable offering that showcases Khelani's writing skills. The highs are also really high. Distraction is 90s r&b throwback that is as smooth as it is a straight banger. Undercover, Crzy and Get Like are 2000s inspired bops that are fun and well written beneath their catchy surfaces. Other highlights, like Piece of Mind, Advice and Do U Dirty are revealing slow jams that invite you into her real life woes and faults. For all of it's problems, the album is still an effective snapshot of modern r&b. And it show Khelani as the "diamond in the rough" that she is.  There is a classic inside her, and with the right guidance and production we'll perhaps see it soon. 

 

6 blue lips

 

 

Each generation of popular musics seems to have those rare artists whose music blends the mainstream and artisanal into a palatable high art that is still undeniably pop. There was The Carpenters, There was Chic, There was Robyn, Daft Punk, Ray of Light era Madonna, the list goes on and on. For me, that artist right now is  Tove Lo. Reading the lyrics without the dance pop production is like reading poetry. She fits heartbreak, loss and addiction over club music like a glove. Highlights for me were Disco Titis, Shedontknowbutsheknows, Stranger and B*****s. The album's masterpiece is it's closer Hey You Got Drugs. It's a power ballad, over electronic music that simmers with the relatable "hey big head" text remnant lyrics over sparse keys that ascends to a booming chorus. A perfect ending for an album that, if released by a bigger artist, would be a definite pop classic. 
 

[montrealxo]

4 hours ago, Playa Playa said:

Wait amazing top 10 singles. I love them all

 

 

And tbh Demi surprised with me this album. I liked it too!

because you have taste!

 

 

I still can't believe she came thru like that! 

 

 

3 hours ago, Maddox said:

Oh i like your top ten  

 

Interesting description on Charlotte Day Wilson, lemme check her out

 

And i agree abt Demi, i enjoyed her album despite not being much into SNS, perched for her next effort

she's amazing. i found her through listening Daniel Caesar.

 

The rest of the album is so good. i get why it was the first single but she pulled an okey doke. it's so soulful

 

2 hours ago, Pink Matter said:

Haven't listened to TMYLM but I heard this was iT. Seen it a bunch of lists so it's definitely getting a listen in due time.

it's amazing if you're into that old destiny's child/brandy/monica type r&b, it's in that category to me 

[soml]

Yass Green Light #3. Slide  

TMYLM is amazing, nice to see her top 10  

[montrealxo]

15 hours ago, soml said:

Yass Green Light #3. Slide  

TMYLM is amazing, nice to see her top 10  

it's so good. i'm still surprised. i wasn't a fan before 

[Playa Playa]

Freudian

 

Blue Lips  Hey You Get Drugs deserves the praise. It's already my favourite Tove Lo song.

[Wicked]

Yeah Demi's album was a surprise, it's a step up + in the right direction. Blue Lips + Freudian are good too. Kehlani put me to sleep tho

[Pink Matter]

Freudian and Funk Wav were great. Didn't bother with Tove since I figured I'd dislike it but Disco **** is a song. SSS was a bit of a disappointment but there were some good song on there.

[montrealxo]

#5 Awaken My Love - Childish Gambino

 

 

Even though, in my opinion, this album gets the attention that Because the Internet deserved, it's still an amazing body of work. With soul, rock and funk infused retro vibes and highlight after highlight, Childish Gambino showed that he's more
than we can even begin to pigeon hole him into being. He's wears as many hats on the album as he wears in real life. His experiences as showrunner, actor, comedian, rapper, singer, writer, etc. come through on the varied musical types and 
tight construction of each track. The album glides from late 60s woodstock era jams on Have Some Love and riot, to 70s and 80s funk influenced Me and Your Mama and Redbone and even to the Beach Boys on California. Gambino had all bases covered for an album so out of it's time but also unbelievably in. 

#4 Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti

 

Sometimes you don't need substance, you just need bops. Not taking anything away from the innovative production and his very unique rap style and adlibs, but I liked this one simply because the music feels good. Obvious highlight is Magnolia, one of my all around favorite songs of 2017. The rest of the album features other A$AP Mob members and frequent collaborator Lil Uzi Vert. The beats are trap inspired with a lux, sleek sounding finish. The distortions and use of auto tune is developed into a distictive style that mixes the trendy sound of today, with the A$AP Mob's NYC influence and Playboi Carti's Atlanta beginnings. It's bop after bop after bop. That's all that really matters when you've had a bad day and want to escape into your headphones or speed home with the music blasting. 

 

#3 Damn - Kendrick Lamar

 

 

To Pimp a Butterfly was a masterpiece not often seen in today's rap. The issue was that Kendrick completely ignored the need for mainstream approval and it's reception from the general public showed this. With DAMN, he found a perfect mix of socially concious lyricism and commercial appeal. Besides achieving the oftentimes overshot rap alchemy that seems to elude many of his peers, K Dot was also able to reflect on bigger themes than his past works such as fame, love and the industry at large. Besides this, has BARS for days. With a plethora of flows and witty one liners, Kendrick proves why he's so often called this generation's best.

 

#2 Ctrl - SZA

 

 

In the world of Bey and Rih, it is an honest and understandable struggle for any female contemporary r&b artist to stand out. Maybe that's why it took an artist who worked with both. With ranges and influences stretching from 90s alternative and r&b to contemporary r&b sounds akin to khelani and chris brown, Ctrl is a sort of time capsule to who we are right now and where the genre wants to be. He storytelling is idiosyncratic, in it's rambles into personal anecdotes and traditional refrains of love, loss and lust. It is honestly hard to pinpoint a high point of this album because each song is it's own universe, with a different SZA to accompany it. My personal favorites are Drew Barrymore, Garden (Say Like That) and Broken Clocks, where SZA exposes her vulnerablities amidst cool, meandering verses and choruses that echo the love she wants but doesn't feel she deserve. I believe we've all been there, and that's why this album resonated so much with me and so many others. 

 

#1 Melodrama - Lorde

 

 

This album is poetry over music. It is art over organized noise. It is THE best written album of the year. As a fan of lyrics and the craft of songwriting, it's hard to not place this at #1 because no one has pulled this off since Blonde. It's a testament to Lorde's determination to stand out for her art above all else. For whatever, reason what I believe is our generation's Jagged Little Pill barely made a splash in the pond this year. Nothing else to say, it's just so damn good. We love a breakup album, even better if it's a masterpiece.