It’s as simple as the title, these are the top 20 songs so far of 2020! There is no sort of ranking within this list, as they’re in alphabetical order by song name. It’s all about the music and hopefully sharing these amazing songs with people that don’t know them. There’s a Spotify playlist at the bottom with all these songs in them, including a few more that didn’t quite make it onto this list. Remember that this is my list, not yours, so feel free to put your own favorite songs this year in the comments.
The Strokes - “At The Door”
I thought I had a grip on what The Strokes would sound like after seeing them live at Lollapalooza last year, but this immediately surprised me. It’s a minimal, synth lead ballad where Julian showcases how great his voice can be. There’s also a heavy emphasis on the lyrics as well, where he’s talking about a failed relationship and an endless goal that he can never achieve. When he transitions into the chorus, the entire production of the song changes from these dark and heavy synths to an angelic choir background with some plucky guitar lines. The extended outro with Julian singing through some autotune provides a really emotive ending. And for this to be the lead single to their album just shows how much they stand out compared to other older rock groups.
Thundercat - “Dragonball Durag”
Yes, this song is literally about a Dragonball Durag, but it’s still amazing. Thundercat brings his normal brand of funk and jazz inspired vibes to this song, along with his patented humor. Not many people could say, “I may be covered in cat hair, but I still smell good,” and not have the listener instantly cringe. The video is just as insane, with Thundercat finding the Dragonball Durag by a dumpster, and then trying to seduce some of his famous friends while wearing it; including Quinta Brunson, Kali Uchis, and HAIM. But as funny as the song is, the song structure is also very different than most in popular music, as it’s just verse after verse the entire song, no chorus. They all include a variation of the refrain of him saying “Baby girl, how do I look in my durag?” but it’s not enough for the song to not feel like one long verse. It’s one of the most fun songs of 2020, and one of his best songs ever.
The Weeknd - “Faith”
“Blinding Lights” was technically released in November of 2019, so I can’t pick that one, but “Faith” is still a fantastic song. This song is traditional Weeknd, with him talking about heavy drug usage. Except before it was from the context of partying and just wanting to have fun, but this song is from the perspective of him heartbroken and using drugs to escape the pain of not being with her. He even goes as far to say, “But if I OD, I want you to OD right beside me.” But then the song transitions into this outro where The Weeknd is continuing being at rock bottom, this time in the back of a police car. This story actually happened in 2013-2014 when he was arrested in Vegas. He even transitions the song into “Blinding Lights” with the line, “The lights are blinding me again.” This song is him at his absolute worst, both in his destructive mindset and physically being arrested. It’s a song that makes more sense in the context of the album, but it’s still an incredible song by itself.
100 gecs - “gec 2 U (Remix)” [Feat. Dorian Electra]
100 gecs have been releasing remixes of their 2019 studio album, 1000 gecs, with some fantastic artists. While this song doesn’t have as many high profile features as their “Ringtone Remix”, I think Dorian works better with them than any other artist so far. They’ve worked with Dorian Electra multiple times before, as Dylan Brady (one half of 100 gecs) has produced many tracks for Dorian, including their newest single, “Sorry Bro (I Love You)”. Dorian’s androgynously pitched vocals work really well on this song. 100 gecs do a great job of changing the production from the original, and it progresses especially well. It could just be the bias of seeing them both live earlier in 2020 before COVID, but this is my favorite of the remixes so far, and hopefully there’s some tracks of this quality on their upcoming remix album, 1000 gecs & The Tree of Clues.
070 Shake - “Guilty Conscious”
070 Shake came onto the scene in 2018 from Kanye’s album, Ye, where she was on the standout track, “Ghost Town”. Her anthemic outro of talking about achieving freedom by any means left many people anxiously waiting for her next album. Her newest album, Modus Vivendi, is full of psychedelic pop tracks with the patented Mike Dean synths all over them, but this song instantly stood out. The synth-pop chorus that drives the entire song is maybe the most catchy chorus I’ve heard all year. The chorus and song is from a boy’s perspective who catches his partner cheating on him, but he had also cheated on her and was never caught. It’s a bit weird meaning for a song like this, but that’s what 070 Shake is all about.
Mac Miller - “Hand Me Downs”
Circles is a special project, and this is a special song. Mac had been becoming more melodic vocally, as well as more full and luscious production, but this song ventures further down that alley than he ever had before. Some slow drums help drive the song, and then a guitar is added to help with the melody. When the guitar comes in, it already makes the song feel melancholic. But when Mac’s voice comes in, it takes it to a completely other level. When his voice comes in singing with the line, “I’m thinking maybe I should thank you,” it’s just heartbreaking to listen to knowing that he’s gone. It’s one of those moments that’s just above description. Sometimes, music is just special.
KennyHoopla - “how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//"
This track brings together a myriad of different genres; from a catchy indie pop chorus, to the punk sounding vocals, and even an alt rock sounding instrumental. Even with all of these sounds clashing, the song is still one of the most unique and catchy songs I’ve heard this year! If this song came out 15-ish years ago, it would’ve been huge. This song should be the one that brings him to the mainstream. I know I’ll say that a lot of these songs have anthemic choruses, but I don’t think any song exemplifies that as much as this song. It’s nice to know that people currently living in my home state of Wisconsin can still make some amazing music.
Rosalia - “Juro Que”
I’m not someone that loves a lot of Spanish music, mainly because I can’t understand the lyrics right away, but Rosalia is an exception. Her voice and combination of flamenco pop with current elements is something special not only in Spanish music, but music in general. Juro Que’s sound is a throwback to her 2018 album, El Ma Querer. She takes the flamenco style pop and updates it for current times. The instrumental only contains a plethora of handclaps and a guitar where she performs vocal acrobatics over the course of these two verses. But towards the end of the second verse, she starts to use autotune on her voice. It’s obvious up to this point that she doesn’t need autotune to sing, but it’s use here brings the flamenco style into something I’ve never heard before, which is what makes Rosalia special.
AG Club - “Memphis”
These guys have loads of potential, and this song is the closest it comes to being realized right now.. It’s basically just a flex song made to help people feel good, but everything that artists need to be successful is in this song. Each rapper on the song provides a great verse with multiple quotables, the chorus is extremely catchy and memorable as well, but the outro of the song takes it from really good to great. It turns the song from a banger to a melodic pop song while still using the same lyrics. The video also drives home the fact that this is an all-around collective of artists, and not just musicians, as it’s one of the best videos I’ve seen this year. You could try to make comparisons to other artists like Brockhampton, A$AP Rocky, or Three 6 Mafia, but these guys are bringing something unique for this new generation of kids that want to do DIY music. As they start out the song saying, “AG putting on for the 99s and the 2000s.”
Kenny Mason - “Metal Wings”
Kenny is probably my favorite artist I’ve found in 2020, and this song provides a good example of his stuff. It starts out as an aggressive rap infused banger with a bit of rock influence. But by the end of the song, it goes full rock with it’s blaring guitar chords that turn this rap banger into something that sounds like a Pixies song. As with most of Kenny’s songs, it has a dark subject matter. “Metal Wings" refer to when Kenny was shot in his back in 2014, “Big metal wings. In my back, now they growing back, devil wings.” It shows the potential that Kenny has to make some of the most unique and genre blending music that there is.
RMR - “Rascal”
I’m still surprised that this song didn’t become huge. Simply put, it’s a reimagining of Rascal Flatts’s hit, “Bless The Broken Road”. RMR turned the song into a trap ballad, with lyrics about getting out of the hood and wanting to stop drug dealing. He even has what seems like a prayer to God during the chorus when he says, “Show me a better way, promise I’ll quit this game.” His voice instantly stands out and instantly becomes recognizable. The video especially contradicts the song, with it all being people pointing guns at the camera like it was a drill song promoting violence instead of a country/trap ballad. And for an artist that’s managed to stay anonymous and get this much notoriety, he’s got a bright future in front of him.
Megan Thee Stallion - “Savage (Remix)” [Feat. Beyonce]
"Savage" was already becoming one of the biggest songs in the country before the remix, but this song only pushed it over the hump. Beyonce fits in with Megan perfectly, and proves once again that she could make a quality rap album if she wanted to. The song brings back the remix where the entire song is changed. The chorus and beat stays the same, but the each verse whether it’s Beyonce or Megan is different from the original, unlike most remixes now where the only difference is an additional verse at the end. They come through with one of the greatest flex songs of the year, especially with Beyonce’s many lines, including, “If you don’t jump to put jeans on, baby, you don’t feel my pain.”
Fiona Apple - “Shameika”
Fiona Apple’s album is still one of the most unique and dense albums I’ve heard in 2020, but this song has especially stood out among the rest. That driving piano melody is so ear grabbing, but the rest of the song includes all these little noises in the instrumental that help paint the atmosphere of this track. The story of her childhood bully leaving an impact on her life, even 25 years after the fact, shows how important stuff like this is. Her voice fits this song perfectly, especially compared to the other songs on the album. The almost spoken word bridge helps bring a nice change of pace to the song. One of my favorite indie songs of the year.
NIKI - “Switchblade”
This song was a surprise to me. I’ve been a fan of Niki for a couple years now with her brand of straightforward, 90s pop and R&B music. It hasn’t been anything groundbreaking, but it doesn’t need to be when you’re making songs at 19. This song shows Niki’s experimenting more, and hopefully that will hopefully continue on her upcoming album, Moonchild. This instrumental is a lot more electronic and glitchy than any of her previous songs. Her voice goes from a beautiful falsetto to a robotic, almost rap at the beginning of the second verse. The song ends kind of abruptly, as it feels like it ends on a bridge rather than a chorus, and it leaves the listener wanting more, which makes for a perfect intro track. She ends the song fearlessly by saying, “Lining’s silver, grass is greener, and I’m not afraid ‘cause I’m running with a switchblade.” It shows the protagonist of the album setting out on her journey and I can’t wait to figure out what happens.
Lil Yachty - “T.D” (Feat. A$AP Rocky, Tyler the Creator & Tierra Whack)
Never thought I would have a Lil Yachty song as one of my favorite tracks on any list. But I also never thought he would have three rappers of this caliber on a track with him, but here we are. Lil Yachty basically didn’t ruin the song, while all the features killed their verses. Rocky puts together a pretty good verse, Tyler blazes through a few flows, but Tierra comes through and murders everyone else on the track. She changes flows so many times, brings her patented sense of humor, and does it so well that you don’t even notice that the beat isn’t changing for her like it does everyone else. It’s also worth noting that the song samples “Tokyo Drift'' by Teriyaki Boyz from The Fast and The Furious movie with the same name. This song is even more minimal than the sample, and definitely worth a listen for hip hop fans, even if you can’t stand Lil Yachty.
Jay Electronica - “The Blinding” (Feat. Travis Scott)
After teasing fans for a decade, Jay Electronica finally dropped his debut album. But it’s hard to even call it that, as Jay-Z is featured on about every song as well, making it more or less a collab album, especially with Jay-Z being better on every song he was on. While the entire album wasn’t amazing, this song is something else! Jay Electronica and Jay-Z trade bars back and forth over an insanely hard beat by Swizz Beatz. While the beat switch and Travis’s chorus are both really good and don’t take away from the track, the production on the first half just makes everything else after that feel weak. And with two MC’s the caliber of Jay Electronica and Jay-Z, you already know there’s going to be some insane flows and lyrics, and that’s just what we got on “The Blinding”.
Run The Jewels - “walking in the snow”
Really any song from RTJ4 could be in here, but the immediate nature of this song makes it stand out. Even outside of the potent verses on this song, the beat subtly switches so many times over the course of the track. You can listen to it with it in the background and just appreciate the versus, but I implore you to listen to the song and just listen for the beat switches. Obviously the verses are extremely complex and powerful, especially Killer Mike’s verse on police brutality, which hits harder during the protests. Even though this song will never be the single and is not one of the more accessible songs on the album, it’s the most compelling and thought provoking song out there for these current times.
Teyana Taylor - “We Got Love” (Feat. Lauryn Hill)
Even though this song only came out this year, it’s been available to listen to since 2018. It was originally meant for Teyana’s second album, K.T.S.E. The song leaked about the time the album was released in 2018, but then it was also slated for Kanye’s never released album Yandhi. They even performed it together on SNL. But even after all those, she originally released it late last year, before taking it down and releasing it now with the original Lauryn Hill spoken outro. I still love this song even after all these years and changes. The message of self love still comes through more than ever and the violins at the end that help transition into Lauryn’s outro are gorgeous. Lauryn especially helps sum up the song with her final line, “The value is internal. Your value is internal.”
Jensen Mcrae - “Wolves”
This might be the most powerful song I’ve heard this year. Jensen’s voice immediately stands out among the singer-songwriter scene. But as great as her voice is, it’s the lyrics that stand out the most. She paints these vivid metaphors of how it feels for women that are abused by men. She likens these men to wolves and gives them the traits of a wolf, an example being showing them hunting and stalking their prey. But it all revolves around the chorus, “Now I bury my smile and show no interest. Now I carry myself a little different. Now I avoid the woods. Now I know the wolves.” And the emotion she has when she sings it just cuts deep. It may not be the most replayable song in 2020, but it might be the most important.
Childish Gambino - “53.49”
This is pure freedom in the form of music. He switches from crazily rapping in the verses to providing an heartwarming chorus where he says, “There is love in every moment, under the sun, boy. I did what I wanted to.” He now sees the positives and love in everything, and if he were to die tomorrow, he knows he’ll have lived life to the fullest. Gambino even ends the song with a minute of just encouraging people to dance, which adds to the feeling of a live performance that Gambino has done a lot of these past few years in his music. You can imagine him performing this song live and being in a crowd with thousands of others as Gambino encourages everyone to enjoy the final moment of the show. And considering there’s a good chance this could be the last song Gambino ever releases, what a way to go out.
Spotify Playlist:
Comments