Here is the bottom half of my favorite 50 songs of the year! The top 25 comes out on December 23rd, and there will be a Spotify playlist with all of these songs in there. It's also worth noting that there is only one song per artist on this list. Just a reminder that this is my list, not necessarily the best 50 songs of the year. Feel free to comment and let me know some of your own favorites! Every song is linked below the description if one song sounds particularly interesting!
50. Frank Ocean - “Dear April (Acoustic)”
Coronavirus may have robbed us of a Frank Ocean performance in 2020, but at least we were still lucky enough to get two new songs out of Frank this year. As the acoustic label implies, the instrumentation is extremely bare with only some minimal guitar and organ behind Frank’s voice. Over this backdrop, he weaves a tale about a failing relationship. As with most of Frank’s music, it could double as pure poetry. This song is especially evident of that with Frank not having much of a lyrical structure, but rather returning to a few phrases that morph throughout the song. There’s so much symbolism and meaning in just these few phrases that show how powerful Frank’s writing can be.
49. The Scotts - “The Scotts”
Travis Scott and Kid Cudi originally previewed the song through a Fortnite event, which makes it seem like it would be a corny song just to capitalize off the promotion, but it surprisingly came through really well. It shouldn’t be surprising that Cudi and Travis work well together, as Travis uses “Scott” in his name partly because that’s Kid Cudi’s first name. The production is this simple, but extremely effective instrumental that is fit for an intergalactic vibe. It’s very much in the vein of what Travis usually does, but Kid Cudi sounds great during his verse as well. The song also has a classic Mike Dean outro with these otherworldly synth swells and layering that is always a cherry on top. The song also debuted an official group for the duo, The Scotts, and also teased toward a project which has yet to appear. The song isn’t that complex or new for fans of either one of them, but it’s great hearing two extremely popular artists that have changed hip hop coming together on one track.
48. Tierra Whack - “Peppers and Onions”
There’s not many artists more unique than Tierra Whack and she manages to make a wacky, self love track perfect for everything from an Apple ad to chilling around the house. Her only album is full of only minute long songs, and this is maybe her best normal length song yet. The instrumental is full of deep bass and playful tongue clicking during the chorus that shows the dichotomy of Tierra’s music. She can take the traditional hip hop sound and make it sound all colorful and playful. Her incredible ability to make a chorus stuck in your head is on full display here. The refrain is very simple, but still leaves the listener with a smile, “I’m only human. Sometimes happy, sometimes nervous”. If Tierra’s project is full of songs like this, it will definitely be one to remember.
47. Jay Electronica - “The Blinding” (Feat. Travis Scott)
Even though Jay Electronica inadvertently had to put out another album later in 2020, this song was still the highlight of his 2020 return to music. It helps that he also has Jay Z on the track to go back and forth with every couple bars. Swizz Beatz also provides the maximalist, hard hitting instrumental for the first half of the song for these rappers to destroy. It really seems like Jay Z helped bring the beast out of Jay Electronica for this song, but Jay Z still ends up being the highlight with lines like, “Listen, I named my son, Sir, so you gotta call my son, ‘Sir’. That boy already knighted, he ain’t even out his romper.” It doesn’t even show either of them at their peak, but even that is still better than most.
46. NIKI - “Switchblade”
NIKI fans may not have been expecting a song like “Switchblade” to be her lead single for her debut album, but it sets the tone perfectly. It’s extremely mechanical and cinematic and even without seeing the video, the song sets the scene in the listener’s mind immediately. The character is setting out on her journey to a new land. She’s not timid about it either, but ready to take on any challenge that gets in her way, “What is this place? The skies are vast and no one’s a familiar face, but I’m not afraid”. The story is fictional, but is also paralleled with NIKI moving to the United States from Indonesia for college and to pursue her dreams. It also shows NIKI succeeding in a new direction of music, as her older music used to be very R&B focused, but this is full on world building pop music at it’s best.
45. Billie Eilish - “my future”
Even though Billie didn’t release a project in 2020, she still gave fans quite a few songs this year, including the first single to her upcoming album and the new James Bond theme song. “My future” shows Billie taking a more symbolic approach with the production, as half the song is a traditional piano pop ballad and the other half has a groovy, funk inspired instrumental. It shows Billie talking about her future in a positive, uplifting way. Her self-love versus and chorus make the song just puts the listener in an uplifting mood. Even upon deeper listens, it has all the details that will leave fans finding new things upon each listen.
44. Lil Wayne - “BB King Freestyle” (Feat. Drake)
Mixtapes have become a thing of the past, so much so that most of the new generation doesn’t know how to download a tape from Datpiff, but Wayne brings it back with this new track with Drake. Even in true mixtape fashion, DJ Khaled restarts the song a few bars into Drake’s opening verse. Wayne’s collabs have always brought the best out of Drake, and this is yet another example of this. Drake has gotten into his rapping bag before this year, but arguably none better than this verse. Almost every line is a double entendre, pop culture reference, or a look into his personal life. But even with that great verse, Wayne proves once again why he’s king of these mixtapes by giving a better performance in half the time. Another addition to their decade of quality hit songs together.
43. Busta Rhymes - “Look Over Your Shoulder” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Kendrick may have only had one verse that came out during 2020, but it still made it onto one of the best rap songs of 2020. Just on the surface of the song, it’s Kendrick Lamar and Busta Rhymes spitting over a piano loop with a Jackson 5 sample; there’s no way that this song could possibly go bad. Of course, both Kendrick and Busta provide some amazing verses filled with wordplay. Busta does his thing for the second verse, including his classic voice and fast flows. Kendrick’s verse was definitely from the TPAB era, and you can feel that in his delivery and flow. But even with the verses, the production and sample makes it the extra something special. It turns it into this timeless, instant classic track between two rappers that most would consider in the top 50 rappers ever!
42. Fiona Apple - “Shameika”
Fiona’s 2020 album is full of insightful, thoughtful art-pop tracks, but none hit harder than the single “Shameika”. The song was written about a middle school acquaintance who left a sizable impact on Fiona by saying one thing, that she had potential. It’s obviously not the most potent thing in the world, or something that seems like it would have a lasting impact, but sometimes it doesn’t have to have to be special for it to stick. Of course, the song is sonically appealing well with its driving piano and unique vocal layering. “Shameika” actually had a special moment as well, as it allowed Fiona to reunite with Shameika herself. Turns out, Shameika is a rapper herself and they made a response track together from Shameika’s perspective. It completes this unique dive into how childhood memories affect you as you grow up.
41. Lianne La Havas - “Bittersweet”
There was no way I could leave this song off of the list for one simple reason, her voice. That’s not to say the song isn’t written well, it is. It’s a bit lyrically all over the place and up for interpretation, but the lines hit and give a glimpse as to what’s to come with the rest of the album. But Lianne's vocal performance is something special that is almost unmatched by anything else in 2020. She has so much control and passion behind her voice that she makes these extremely difficult vocal lines feel like child’s play. And she doesn’t just hit these notes, but belts them out with an intense fervor that gives me goosebumps most listens. It’s hard to find a better vocalist than Lianne La Havas, and this is one that’ll set the bar for everyone else.
40. Phoebe Bridgers - “Kyoto”
Phoebe Bridgers has had a phenomenal year. Her album, Punisher, has easily become one of the most acclaimed albums of the year and helped her get nominated for four Grammys, including Best New Artist. She also covered “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls with Maggie Rogers and raised over $170,000 in 24 hours on Bandcamp, and enough people bought it during those 24 hours for the cover to land on the Billboard 100 chart without any streaming. She even worked with her namesake, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, on her new video and is on the new Kid Cudi album. With this song, “Kyoto” is easily the most uplifting, and fast paced song on the album that is perfect for any time of listening. Everything from the lyrics to the horn section is a perfect indie song. I’m glad she’s getting all the attention, but for my own personal taste, I would love to see her do a full project of songs like this.
39. Kid Cudi - “Lovin’ Me” (Feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
Is it really a surprise that Kid Cudi and Phoebe Bridgers would make a fantastic, emotional song? As with most of Cudi’s anthems, this is a song about the relationship we have with loving ourselves. The line “As I stare at Scott, I know he’s all I got,” really drives home the point of the song. No matter who you are around, you will always have yourself. That relationship will always be the most important, as we should treat it as such. Phoebe also provides a fantastic verse and her voice pairs perfectly with Cudi’s. The outro of them harmonizing is the cherry on top to the already tear jerking tune. It may not live up to Cudi’s generation defining classic songs, but there’s not many people in hip hop making this emotional and timeless music.
38. Rico Nasty - “IPHONE”
Rico tends to constantly put out new music every few months, but from the first time she premiered this song last year, fans have been clamoring for this one. Produced by Dylan Brady, the song is one of the best examples of Dylan bringing someone into his specific hyperpop sound. The blaring synths and electronic bass pair perfectly with Rico’s chimpmunked vocals for the hook. Rico’s lighthearted, undeniable charm comes through in the verses with references about everything from Tamagotchi to billiards. While Nightmare Vacation is still great and aggressive in it’s own right, everything about this song helps it stand out from the rest of the album.
37. Lil Yachty - “T.D.” (Feat. Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky & Tierra Whack)
Lil Yachty has become a punching bag for hip hop and music fans alike, and for good reason, but at least he assembled these three extremely great rappers on one song. Rocky, Tyler, and Tierra all have created these auras around them that transcends the music. Tyler and Tierra are the weird kids that seem equal parts childish and wise, while Rocky has this artsy and fashionable aura to where he’s more well known as a celebrity than a rapper. But even outside of their personalities, they all are extremely talented artists. Every verse just gets better and better until it peaks with Tierra’s wicked fast flows that demand the listener’s attention. Lil Yachty doesn’t really do much to add or distract from the song, but a song with this many great feature verses and great artists has to be on this list.
36. Run The Jewels - “Ju$t” (Feat. Pharrell WIlliams & Zack De La Rocha)
Run The Jewels and Zack De La Rocha have never missed on a song together, and this is another fantastic combination between the two. As the title suggests, the song revolves around money and its influence on people. Pharrell makes this abundantly clear with his chorus, “Look at all these slave masters posing on your dollar.” It just points out how arguably the most important thing in our life, money, has a bunch of slave owners’ faces on it. Zack De La Rocha proves once again on here that he would make an incredible rapper, as he delivers one of the best featured verses of the year. It’s not surprising that a song with these four people is one of the best this year, and hopefully Run The Jewels continues to bring together seemingly different legends to make great songs.
35. Orville Peck - “No Glory in the West”
Country music is still in a rough time period, but thankfully there are people like Orville Peck that are telling quality stories with their music. “No Glory in the West” is a traditional tale of a lonely cowboy trying to survive in the wild west. But since it’s 2020, he also relates to his personal struggle of being a gay, Canadian cowboy trying to be accepted in country music and the music industry as a whole. Orville’s vocal performance is also a throwback to older country music, Johnny Cash specifically. It builds perfectly, and just does the little things towards the end that makes the song just that much better. The song is extremely reliant on his performance, as the only instrumentation in the entire song is an acoustic guitar. “No Glory in the West” is one example of how Orville Peck is helping bring back a different style of country music to a group of people that don’t listen to country music.
34. Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington - “Freeze Tag” (Feat. Phoelix, Cordae, and Snoop Dogg)
Without even talking about the track itself, just look at the people that are on here. There are some of the most important names in jazz in the last decade, some legendary hip hop producers, and two fantastic rappers. Phoelix provides the luscious and earwormy chorus about dealing with police brutality and wanting to find the ability to be treated as equals. Cordae provides a superd verse that helps elevate this song from the original version. All the parts on the song just come together to make something that lives up to the expectations that having these 7 great artists on one song would have.
33. Conway the Machine - “Spurs 3” (Feat. Westside Gunn & Benny The Butcher)
Griselda has likely the best run in hip hop in 2020, at least from an underground perspective. You’ll likely never hear them on the radio, but these guys are easily three of the grimiest, pure hip hop artists currently out. There’s not much inherently special about the song, as it’s just three great rappers over this insanely nasty beat, but it’s some of the best rappers at their best. The flexing in this track is off the charts, but it’s all welcome for a track like this. A personal favorite line from Conway is, “Cop pulled me over in my imported Porsche. He said, ‘This car must be a hundred K,’ I said, ‘You forty short.’” It shows how unique they all are, but well they can all work together. There’s close to an album’s worth of tracks with these three on it from this year, but this is definitely the best.
32. Stevie Wonder - “Where Is Our Love Song” (Feat. Gary Clark Jr.)
This is probably a biased pick, but I couldn’t have a best songs of the year list without Stevie Wonder, especially when he released new music for the first time since 2009. While his other track is a bit more direct with the social commentary, going so far as to directly call out the All Lives Matter slogan, this one is still about all the injustices that have happened this year. All of those horrific attacks lead Stevie to finally finish a song he started to write at 18, and it ends up being a beautiful track about how we need to have a love for all of humanity. It also features five of his kids on backing vocals, as well as the better of Stevie’s vocal performances. So while I do think it’s amazing that people like Rapsody and Cordae were able to be on a Stevie Wonder song, “Where Is Our Love Song” is the better song that will immediately bring the listener back to his glory days.
31. Benny the Butcher - “One Way Flight” (Feat. Freddie Gibbs)
There aren’t many rappers better than either Benny the Butcher or Freddie Gibbs, and there haven't been almost any producers more prolific in 2020 than Hit-Boy, so there’s no way that this song was going to be less than great. The song itself consists of a sample based instrumental that would’ve been great without the drums, but the unexpected drop makes it even better. There’s not really a cohesive theme to the song, but rather just two great rappers flexing their ability. It’s not even like each of their verses are the aweinspring they’ve ever had, but it’s the delivery that they have that makes the song special. Not to say that there aren’t quotables, there are. “Hoes get f****d and sent home early just like The Clippers,” is one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a song all year. There’s no reason to dislike this song, and hopefully the collab project Benny mentioned actually ends up materializing.
30. SZA - “Hit Different” (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
After three years, SZA’s first single back may seem like a bit of a disappointment, but it ends up being one of the catchiest R&B songs of the year! It may help that the song is produced by the legendary duo The Neptunes. Ty Dolla $ign provides a repetitive chorus, but his voice just sells it every time he has a feature. SZA’s vocals are beautiful as always, and she yet again shows her unique ability to provide unconventional melodies in the song. It’s really hard to actually understand what she’s saying, but it helps make SZA’s enchanting voice what it is. It may not be the most unique or best written song that SZA’s ever released, but it’s still another fantastic song from one of current R&B’s best.
29. Grip - “Grip 3:16” (Feat. Kenny Mason & JID)
Songs like these are what make it obvious that Atlanta is the best city for hip hop right now. Atlanta has given birth to some of the biggest rappers of the past few years, including the highly influential Future and Young Thug, older veterans like Jeezy and 2 Chainz, and newcomers 21 Savage and Lil Baby. Even with all those commercial artists, the underground scene is just as strong. JID may be considered a commercial artist now, but it was not long ago that he was just like Grip or Kenny Mason, desperate to prove his skills and claw his way to the top. All three of them bring their A-game to this track over fantastic piano looped instrumental. It’s songs like these that prove that rapping and pure hip hop will be just fine with the new generation.
28. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - “Many Men”
21 Savage and Metro Boomin are one of the best artist/producer duos in the current hip hop landscape. “Many Men” isn’t much that was unexpected from the duo, but it’s the duo at their best. Metro’s production is still layered with these spooky synths over layers of evil 808s. It’s always the little things with Metro Boomin that makes the production and song special, like the congos, the string outro, and haunting vocals in the background. The song pays homage to the 50 Cent song with the same name, as 21 Savage draws a comparison between when he was shot 6 times as a 21 year old, and 50 Cent being shot 9 times. It’s great to hear a new artist in 21 Savage’s lane pay homage to those before him, and just as great to do justice with that sample.
27. Dorian Electra - “Sorry Bro (I Love You)”
Hyperpop has become a phenomenon during the past couple years. It often contains a myriad of genres and different styles mashed together in order to create this immediately catchy song, but with this song, Dorian shows how to make a simple hyperpop still entertaining. Everything about hyperpop that makes it popular is in this song. They manage to pack an entire song structure into only an 87 second song. The lyrics are genderfluid and tongue in cheek, as evident by the line, “That’s why I’m singin’ man ‘cause I want you know, bro, no homo.” The instrumental is extremely electronic and fast paced and produced by Dylan Brady, which it feels like most hyperpop songs are. Even throwing away all the critical talk, the song itself is just a whole lot of fun.
26. AG Club - “Memphis”
Large hip hop collectives have been having a comeback the past decade. Odd Future brought it back at the beginning of the 2010s, and have then been followed by collectives like A$AP Mob, Pro Era, and Brockhampton. “Memphis” doesn’t put AG Club anywhere near the conversation of those groups, but it shows that they’re on the right path. It combines the sounds of Memphis groups like Three 6 Mafia with the accessible sounds of someone like Brockhampton. They came out with not only the music sounding great, but the visuals as well, and that helped them get even more notoriety. There’s a reason why this song has become popular and even got them signed, and hopefully AG Club can capitalize on this potential in the next few years.
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