2018 Year End Lists Chapter 5: Singles Of The Year

The music industry runs on the single, and it always has. Whether its a surprise midnight drop, a breakout hit, a big budget music video, or a largely anticipated return singles can be pockets of the most exciting parts of what the music world has to offer. 

Here on this list we count down our top 100 singles of the year, this includes any lead-up or promotional tracks to albums or any songs that received videos or promotional material after the fact. Unlike the songs list it takes into account the full scale of what a song has to offer including its context and and promotional material dropped along side it. Also unlike the songs list it is limited to one song per artists as it is after all not just a strict grade of quality and with the nature of promotion we would like to include as many acts as possible.

If you wanna listen along to the tracks check out the playlist at the very bottom of the list!

100. Kimbra - Human
Kimbra scored big on our singles list last year with Top Of The World and this time around she lands a song that is more emotional in nature. Kimbra's voice has always been a talent to behold and on Human she strips back anything that could get in the way of you experiencing it. 

99.Franz Ferdinand - Feel The Love Go
Franz Ferdinand may be a long way from the world dominating Take Me Out but that doesn't mean their singles have nothing to offer. Feel The Love Go is an effortlessly cool and groovy disco rock track that missed its time to be a hit, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great song. 

98. Cardi B - Be Careful
Despite the numerous great songs we heard Cardi on this year Be Careful turned out to be the best single she released, a downtempo and lesson teaching ballad about playing with the heart of one of raps baddest bitches, don't do it. 

97. Trippie Red - Topanga
Trippie surrpised dropped Topanga after having already released a studio album earlier in the year that was met with overall meh results. But this track foreshadowed the better album that was coming soon after with tighter hooks, better performances and more thought tied into every element of the track. 

96. Matt And Kim - Happy If You're Happy
Matt and Kim carry of their history of catchy and fun singles with a song that professes love in silly and cute ways for its just under 2 minute run time. Implementing electronic effects and blistering keyboards over everything in the mix the song embodies a brief period of bliss from which we never wanna escape.

95. Andrew W.K. - Music Is Worth Living For
Andrew has always had a pretty unique blend of positivity frat rock with the arena sized composition of prog. He brings it again with an extra dosing of positivity in Music Is Worth Living For a huge anthemic rock song that presupposes nothing is wrong in your life that music can't fix. The songwriting is pretty solid and the sort of world-building put into the songs image of reality is an intoxicating one that makes this one of the most fun and in the moment songs all year.

94. Clipping. - Face
Clipping's 3rd studio album has been one of our most anticipated at the start of each year and it looks like we may be waiting well into 2019. But in the meantime they dropped their Face EP and the hard hitting rapid fire title track lands here on the singles list. For just under 2 minutes Daveed Diggs drops a series of hard hitting lyrically dense bars completely absent of a chorus or any hook structure. The beat takes the backseat and gives him a shot for shot series of booming base hits to support the brevity of what he's saying, making for one of the most interesting rap singles all year.

93. Preoccupations - Disarray
With the excellent Continental Shelf and the absolutely incredible Memory under their belt as high rated singles on our list it was easy to predict that Proeccupations would end up back here again. While Disarray doesn't quite live up to those tracks it does bring some of their typical sound and a lot of the detailed and distant post-punk elements that made the band such a success only a few years ago. With a fantastic instrumental and some great deep cuts lining the album the best advice we could give to the band for next time around is just to release some bolder singles. This is the group that released the masterpiece 11 minute Memory just two years ago after all. 

92. King Princess - Pussy Is God
Pretty, feminine, powerful, pop. Pussy Is God is everything contemporary millennial pop should be. Go listen to it very soon. 

91. Cloud Nothings - The Echo Of The World
The Echo Of The World was our first taste of Cloud Nothings in 2018 and it felt so welcomed. The relatively short time since they dropped Modern Act a great single just last year the gap they leave whenever they disappear is certainly a noticeable one. No indie act blurs the line between reverb heavy indie jams and true 80s fundamental punk and Echo scratches every itch the band has been filling in for a full decade now.

90. The Decemberists - Traveling On
The Decemberists made a triumphant return at the tale end of the year to the sound that made them famous on their Traveling On EP and this single leading up to it was everything to the projects success. Delivering their catchy melodies and gorgeous harmonies over folk inspired and more conventional Decemberists instrumentation was a decision that came to benefit their music in a big way on songs like this. 

89. Pretty Little Fears - 6LACK
6LACK and J. Cole combine on Pretty Little Fears for a lengthy song for its genre but one that doesn't take your attention lightly and gives you plenty of reason to slip around. 6LACK brings one of the best hooks of his career on top of some well thought out and executed vocals also mixed in with a bridge that nearly steals the show. And after a slow start to his verse by the time Cole picks up he is riding the beat and dropping some interesting a memorable bars that we kinda wish had ended up on his KOD album, but that's history. 

88. Tim Hecker - Keyed Out
Keyed Out is one of the tougher tracks to quite nail down. While it got many fans excited the change in style for the always evolving Hecker also made some hesitant, but by the time the album rolled around many had already come around to the strange alien textures and metallic edges the song fits into its composition. Putting a song so indulgent and obtuse into a singles list is a bold move on its own but the composition of Keyed Out and its layers of detail make for a song that is well worth your time to take a deep dive into, as well is the rest of Hecker's work.  

87. Daughters - The Reason They Hate Me
Daughters are far from a band that thrives off the success of their singles. On The Reason They Hate Me the band does nothing more than provide solace to long time fans that they are indeed back and as good as ever. The noise rock project didn't have the biggest name to live up to but this was their first move in assembling a fantastic year for themselves and setting up those expectations for the future. Any fan of post punk or post rock would be a fool to miss this cut.

86. JID - Off Deez
JID and J. Cole team up for a fast paced and high adrenaline series of bars over an absolute banger beat that allows them to both do what they do best. The track leeks out charisma and both MCs sound as in control of the track as they have at any other point in 2018, this is a combination to keep an eye out for moving forward in both their careers.

85. Remo Drive - Blue Ribbon
Last year Remo Drive dropped Yer Killin Me not only one of our favorite singles of the year but the freshest sounding emo song since at least the early 2000's, which gave them large shoes to feel. Thankfully in prep for their follow-up EP they dropped the multi-faceted and smart track Blue Ribbon. Everything that makes Remo who they are appears on the track and the only thing left to wish for is for it to take off in a similar way to the song that put them on the map.

84. CZARFACE/MF DOOM - Bombs Thrown
Bombs Thrown is an old heads dream in 2018. A track that would fit as comfortably in the 90s abstract rap cannon as it does today. Deck and Doom trade off bars over a bass heavy and well sampled classic rap style instrumental and ride the flow with lights out persistence. The track doesn't overstay its welcome or force anything too heavy on you, its just a nostalgia trip for people who think Madvillain is the greatest hip hop album of all time.

83. AFI - Trash Bat
Trash Bat is one of the most exciting AFI singles in almost a decade. Since Snow Cats narrowly missed the 2017 single section they redeemed with a track that is impossible to ignore. Given their inconsistencies over the years it is incredibly refreshing to see the band drop a song so wild and youthful as Trash Bat. While The Blood Album last year was their best in years it mainly stuck to consistent execution of the established AFI formula but this time around Trash Bat successfully throws a wrench into the machine and forces the band to think on their toes with fast riffs and a hard hitting vocal melody that reminds of a much younger time for the band. The future of AFI is actually looking about as good as you could expect in 2019.

82. The Wombats - Cheetah Tongue
Cheetah Tongue is right in line with what The Wombats should be doing at this point in their career. Putting out consistently catchy, clean and zany pop tracks. Even if it's not gaurentee they will drop fantastic albums you can always expect at least one excellent single and in 2018 Cheetah Tongue was it.

81. Lil Wayne - Uproar 
Lil Wayne's 2018 was one of his best years in a long time as it saw the long awaited release and relative acclaim of The Carter V as well as the big success of Uproar. The track is an outlier in the scope of modern hip hop yet it succeeded anyway due to a beat that is nearly impossible not to dance to and the always catchy slant rhyming of a veteran hitmaker. Uproar is far from the best Wayne song you can hear from this year, including numerous quality features, but it is an excellent single added onto an already great discography. 

80. Gorillaz - Humility
Humility is Gorillaz surprising hit this year coming from what is essentially a vibe tape in The Now Now. The album doesn't really lend itself well to releasing singles but in spite of that Humility managed to be an alternative radio success in the wake of many long time fans turning their back on the band. Damon successfully assembled a song so breezy and passive that almost anyone can enjoy it, just know that it's better with its full length counterparts. 

79. Nine Inch Nails - God Break Down The Door
Never try to anticipate what Trent Reznor may do next, halfway through what sounds like one of the best Nine Inch Nails songs in years it breaks into an industrial and distorted saxophone piece. If you haven't heard this song you probably just left to listen to it and now that your back let me just confirm to you that it was real and yes, it really was pulled off that well. 

78. Gerard Way - Baby You're A Haunted House
Dropping his first single in 4 years the former My Chemical Romance frontman returned to the spotlight with a low-fi dancy rock hit in Baby Your A Haunted House. When combined with its cheeky skeleton banded music video the song is a great segue into a new era for his solo work and a song that calls back much stronger on his older days than any of the electro pop singles off his last album Hesitant Alien. 

77. Charli XCX/Troye Sivan - 1999
If you could get on this list simply by having the best music video of the year then it would be a shootout between this track and Ariana Grande's thank u, next. While the singles list does take stuff like that into concern 1999 is not just a fantastic nostalgia trip but a very catchy pop tune. Troye and Charli team up for a bubbly and fun radio pop tune and then don numerous looks in the incredible music video they released in conjunction. Playing a fun game of get the reference is as much a part of this track as singing along, which makes this a successful single. 

76. Rae Sremmurd - Powerglide 
Rae Sremmurd may spend a long time trying to match the success of Black Beatles and its viral mannequin challenge and while Powerglide was successful it didn't reach that mark. What it did to is provide 5 minutes of trendy, catchy and hilarious bars from Swae Lee, Slim Jxmmi and Juicy J. Each one contributes some of their best elements to the song and there is really no guess work involved to pin down why it was a success this year.

75. Iceage - The Day The Music Dies
Iceage has never been a singles band necessarily, in 2014 they dropped The Lord's Favorite the bands career anomaly and huge indie success as a single but besides that they are much more of a full length experience. The Day The Music Dies however is a song that sounds destined to be a single and one that in spite of Iceage's history could even potentially be a more commercial success. They bring their fantastic performances to some more conventional song structure without giving up the depth that makes their music so engaging, and mix in a tight and catchy chorus/riff combo to build a track that stands out in their discography but could be equally successful in its own right. 

74. Vince Staples - Get The Fuck Off My Dick
Vince most notably dropped his FM! EP later in the year which saw him return to some conventional old school west coast hip hop, but it's easy to forget about Get The Fuck Off My Dick the aggressive single he dropped earlier in the year. Jumping over a much more sparse and distant beat than we are used to from Vince it was a great indication of how much he is willing to experiment with not only his own sound but also the general sound of hip hop. Some hilarious wordplay and a catchy flow makes this track one of those non album singles that doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

73. Jay Rock - King's Dead
Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future and James Blake team up for one of the most viral songs of 2018 for the Black Panther Soundtrack. That's one of those sentences you see generated from a simulation. Despite the strange lineup each member really delivers, even Future's strange falsetto bars that became infamous meme material generate a lot of fun on the first half of the track. With one of the most nonsensical and fun music videos to pair with the song it was the definition of viral this year.

72. Mark Kozelek - The Mark Kozelek Museum
Every year the music Mark makes under his own name, the Sun Kil Moon moniker or any of his numerous collaborations, it becomes a little bit more Kozelek each time, and the cult like following he has finds themselves on the defensive side of his music often. On The Mark Kozelek Museum he takes a 10+ minute diatribe over a spare acoustic guitar lined instrumental. The formula may not sound all that out of the blue for big fans who have been following the slowcore legend since Red House Painters but once again he has told another story nobody else could have. The section that gives the track its title is the highlight where he discusses his legacy an whats its worth, followed by whether or not his endeavors could afford a Mark Kozelek museum in San Francisco, both his adopted home and a place with notoriously expensive property. The track is yet another entry into the growing 3rd act of Mark's career where transparency with his real life and complicated history is at an all time high. 

71. Idles - Danny Nedelko
Idles are the model of what hardcore and punk should be in 2018. Radio friendly power chord rock with an edge that they may say something provocative step aside, Idles has now dropped two albums in back to back years packed full of fiery performances and scathing critiques. The best single to exemplify their success this year is the explosive yet catchy Danny Nedelko. Much like Stendhal Syndrome did last year the tracks assembles its got takes into an effortlessly catchy punk/hardcore fusion where the performances take the spotlight, but the reward for listening deeper is well worth it. 

70. The Voidz - QYURRYUS 
Qyurryus was part of The Voidz coming out party in 2018, the project dropped their original name while keeping Julian Casablancas of The Strokes as its lead. They also effectively announced that their music was about to get a lot brighter and many in the indie community listened.  Despite dropping numerous good singles we are going with Qyurryus as both a sign of its fantastic songwriting and by how much it stands out in the modern indie scene. Not only is the riff that carries the song an effective one but Julian's upper register and auto-crooned singing are so unique in this landscape that they were impossible to ignore making for one of the most fun and surprisingly dancy songs of 2018.

69. The Good The Bad And The Queen - Gun To The Head
The Good, The Bad And The Queen didn't get nearly the attention they deserved for their sophomore album this year Merrie Land. Whether that was a result of the ten year wait between releases or simply not enough of a desire for the dreary political music that cuts through 2018's jugular, the bands work was under-appreciated. Gun To The Head was the second single and is here because it may be the catchiest track on the album. It takes a little less of a deep dive than much of the other records material and that may lend a hand to it being a good single, but it certainly flashes some glimpses of what makes this band and their album so special, but that's for another list. 

68. Iglooghost - Niteracer 
Niteracer is one of the best Iglooghost tracks to date, despite it having all of the elements that have always made his music great the song just executes its style in such a fantastically convincing way. Niteracer sounds like a far cooler soundtrack to something like Tron or Akira with rapid fire blistering neon keys and distant warbled robotic vocals.  With no discernible words Ghost uses what feels like thousands of sounds blended effectively over each other to create a night time atmosphere that is intoxicating and impossible to ignore. No producer in 2018 more effectively work in as jittery and exciting electronica as Iglooghost. 

67. Tyler The Creator - OKRA
Tyler had himself a 2017, dropping his most critically acclaimed and popular album to date. So 2018 became a victory lap including the publicizing of an Instagram account tracking the making of Flower Boy, dropping the instrumentals to his previous album Cherry Bomb and finally releasing a handful of loosie tracks. While most of these are decent vibes and cutting room floor moments OKRA, stands out among the bunch as one of the most full bodied songs. A heavily distorted beat and rattling drums is the surface for Tyler to drop some of his fieriest and most heads up bars in years. Tyler channels his youthful style of old in the lyrics but over a beat that calls back to some of Flower Boy's hardest tracks. OKRA will certainly be one that's hard to get out of your head. 

66. The Carters - Apeshit
A song that combines the charisma and legacy of filled up stadiums with the modern flare of a track intended for Migos, this combination begs to be taken on by Jay-Z and Beyonce and the combo is what made it so successful. While the original trio still contains adlibs across the track mostly during its chorus Queen B's suprisingly savage flow pairs perfectly with Jay's relaxed but worldly bars. The two have taken over the world and they both know it, and so does everyone else after hearing this track. 

65. Torres - Two Of Everything
Torres has one of the most personal and emotionally raw styles of music that exists in the modern day. Not very much is left to the imagination as her voice lulls and sways over sparse instrumentals and engaging bedroom pop melodies. Both her songwriting and spectacular and powerful voice are completely on display and like always, she nails both aspects on Two Of Everything.

64. The Weeknd - Call Out My Name
A distant and somber relationship ballad about Abel and Selena Gomez' recently cancelled relationship is almost like an AI generated topic for a Weeknd song, and thankfully Abel nails it here. The opener to surprise EP My Dear, Melancholy, Call Out My Name is a departure from the upbeat and energetic pop fusion we last heard from Abel on Starboy but the change is a welcome one to long time fans as the song sees a return to the chilling and emotional R&B that he made his name off of in his early days. Every dramatic peak is met with a capable vocal performance and the lyrics play an even larger role than usual as Abel drops in vague and engaging lines in reference to the very publicized elements of his relationship with Selena. All culminating in a track that was hard for anybody to look away from this year. 

63. Kero Kero Bonito - Time Today
Kero Kero Bonito put out both a quality EP and a fantastic full length album full of radiated synth pop mixed in with brash electronica and sporadic rock passages to create one of the most interesting listens all year. Songs like Only Acting and Make Believe put a spin on their conventional sound but its Time Today a track that would fit in with everything else the band has done up to this point that truly stands out. Its a blissful, well performed and insanely catchy little synth pop number that calls back to both its inspiration in the 80's and cute girl era pop music of the late 90's for a song that sounds both out of place yet comfortably at home in 2018. 

62. 6ix9ine - TATI
Capitalizing off of the success of Day69 and its trademark single GUMMO 6ix9ine had a very busy 2018 dropping hit after hit. The best of this bunch if definitely TATI, even if some album tracks like KANGA with Kanye West may fare better. TATI has as fantastic as ever a hook for Tekashi's shout rap style and beyond that he is going through the motions. Fanciful and provocative modern rap lyrics delivered over one of the hardest beats heard all year and an effortlessly enigmatic performance from Tekashi was a winning formula in 2018 and TATI is just one example of the fruits of his labor coming to fruition.

61. Poppy - X
Though Poppy is technically an AI we have decided to allow her on this list as she just keeps making music that is so good. Unlike her single last year on our list the glittering and shiny I'm Poppy, X is a song that paints the picture of a perfect Poppy world before destroying it with nu-metal grade screams and chugging guitar riffs. That transition is one of the most genuinely surprising in any synth pop album in years and gives Poppy an edge of never knowing exactly what to expect that not only garnered her attention with a popular music video but also got so many of us excited for what was gonna come next. 

60. Ray Lamontagne - Such A Simple Thing
Ray has been far from a one track mind but everywhere he has ventured into he's found success. Such A Simple Thing returns to his passionate folk singer routes. The stool and guitar style track is one of the most genuinely emotionally captivating songs all year. The rawness of the recording and performance is everything for a track that highlights Ray's lyricism and passionate vocals. While it is an out of its era cut the song brings up memories of Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan, some good names to be associated with. 

59. Tune Yards - Heart Attack
As one of the first moves in Tune-Yard's chess game of returning to indie musics spotlight after a long absence was to drop one of the catchiest tracks from their newest album as a big single. Heart Attack is everything that makes Tune-Yards captivating and fun bottled up and spliced together with some new ideas that comfortably keep things fresh and interesting. Heart Attack started the year off with a bang for indie music and kept our attention locked on a band that had been a far cry from headline dominators for years. 

58. Flatbush Zombies - Headstone 
Unfortunately Flatbush just hasn't found out the exact formula to create albums with the appeal of their early tapes in the major label environment. Headstone is one of the handful of songs they dropped this year that remind us all of the time they were one of the brightest young groups in hip hop. Headstone is the perfect equation of Zombie success, captivating beat and smooth, raspy or straight up zany verses from each of the unique members respecitvely. Its success is no fluke as the boys found a way to turn back the clock with this fantastic single.

57. Bhad Bhabie - Gucci Flip Flops
Bhad Bhabie has been one of the biggest surprises of the year. More so her continued success than the quality of her work but Gucci Flip Flops is a grand outlier. The Lil Yachty featuring track is a succinct series of brags and claims heavily inspired by Cardi B where the young Danielle Bregoli shit talks like a professional. The mixing a production builds an ideologically tasteful trap chorus but its her personality that really sells it. After some decent singles and a mostly forgettable album Bhad Bhabie can rest assured that her mark on 2018 has already been well set since March. 

56. J. Cole - KOD
The title track to J. Cole's most recent studio album wasn't a promotional singe, and much less surprisingly, contains no features. KOD pronounced itself as strangely as any Cole project as it was announced within a week of its release and there was much stirring in the rap media about what its acronym may stand for, all before Cole put to rest the idea that it had any particular meaning while announcing it had 3. Even though suspicion over the albums quality is likely to follow you even after you've heard the whole thing, its title track says firmly from the very beginning that there is nothing to worry about. KOD is a catchy, anthemic and utterly contemporary rap track that takes a heavy hand to his typical bragging and conscious rap bars. What the song holds true that the rest of Cole's recent works lacks is both a fantastic sense of wordplay and flow, mixed in with a sense of humor and egde that doesn't make the words he's saying a slog to get through. KOD ultimately is one of the easiest to vibe to rap tracks all year and there is a very good reason for it.

55. Beach House - Dark Spring
Dark Spring isn't simply a fantastic song from Beach House, a band with a long history of fantastic songs. Dark Spring is a beacon of hope that the future of the band will be one where they continue to evolve and innovate the genre they helped popularize. Mixing in genres like shoegaze and drone that helped work towards what would eventually become Beach House's brand of dream pop the song is so captivating in its expansive beauty that it reminds us all of the first time we ever heard classic singles from the band like Zebra and Myth. Giving even more credit to the comparison Dark Spring serves as the opening track to 7. The song is mystifying and translucent in every way you can ask some beautiful layered dream pop to be.

54. Jack White - Ice Station Zebra
Jack White has always been an enigma, its impossible to pin down what he will do next and what it will sound like. In the case of Boarding House Reach it took until the moment we heard the album for anybody to understand what direction it was heading in. The 4 singles went in completely different directions and its easy to fall to any one of them as deserving of a spot here, but we have settled on one of the most off kilter yet easily accessible tracks in recent memory. Some flashy guitar work and catchy brooding drums are good support but what really makes the song a confusing alt-rock hit is Jack's vocal performance. Spinning a quick series of lyrics about individualism in art the song is surprisingly hookless for one that sticks so well in your head. Despite a change-up in the tracks second half the energy of its introduction looms enough to consider it one of this years musical high points.

53. Dirty Projectors - Break-Thru
Break-Thru is a copious blend of indie music past and future. The playing mimics Pitchfork era late 2000's indie folk like Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver but David Longstreth's work behind the scenes sends the track into the stratosphere. It's unsettling and jittery mix is a very welcome element of electronica mixed into indie that both sets it apart from the crowd and does a great supporting job for a track with a very solid base to build on.

52. Amine - Campfire 
Amine is a hot motherfucker. Or so he proclaims at the beginning of Campefire a standalone single featuring Ritchie with a T from Injury Reserve. The song didn't land on Amine's 2nd studio project but its change in vibe and tone makes it easy to see why. Campfire is a track that is very lowkey in its delivery, the beat doesn't command your attention and the verses have a very reserved delivery to them but glossing over this track would be skipping out on not only the fantastic and suprising chemistry between the two MC's but also some hilarious wordplay and a sense of effortless fun that is captured in the nonsensical and random music video. Amine proved he was back in 2018 with a song that perfectly defined his image. 

51. Carly Rae Jepsen - Party For One
Party For One doesn't win Carly her 3rd straight spot on the list following Run Away With Me and Cut To The Feeling, because it reached new heights of popularity for her. The track was as overlooked as the rest of her fantastic recent output but once again it's impossible to deny that she has stumbled into something. Stepping even further into the adult sphere of pop music the song is provocatively sexy, expertly performed and most of all exceptionally catchy.  Not to mention a fantastic music video that still couldn't help propel the song to any decent chart debut. 

50. The Neighborhood - Stuck With Me
Even though The Neighborhood's self titled album is basically a series of pop-rock hits waiting to happen, many of the songs were released in the form of 3 EPs or as singles in 2017. That being said they did save one gem for release this year and its the absolutely spectacular Stuck With Me. A better track compositionally than to be trendy, most of what makes it so good is its second half. "You are stuck with me, so I guess I'll be sticking with you". The words don't evoke Bob Dylan or even Jay-Z lyrical prowess but its the twinkly guitar chords and the earworm delivery from Jesse Rutherford make all of the difference. It's sugary sweet and as overproduced as pop-rock has to be, but done with this level of efficiency the only thing you could wish for is a little more support from the surrounding refrains. 

49. American Football - Silhouettes 
The world where American Football are back and consistently dropping music again is the one we need to be glad we're living in. After dropping their second album in 2016 it felt like we may never hear from the band again and the follow up was just an attempt at rectifying their disappearance  since dropping emo's true masterpiece. Silhouettes thankfully is yet another fantastic return to form as the 7 minute song both mixes in the somber acoustic guitar drives with melancholy emo lyrics, but the song also includes some dreamy and excellently mixed blissful layers of sound in the vein of a Beach House track. It all comes together for a soft but passionate emo revival track from one of the bands that first put it on the map, triumph all around.

48. Grimes - We Appreciate Power
Dropping towards the end of the year Grimes made sure we were all paying attention come December. The only time we heard from her all year in terms of actual music, barring some standout features with Janelle Monae and Poppy, We Appreciate Power  is part electronica part pop and part nu metal rager. Even though the lyrics might call into question Grimes association with noted capitalist Elon Musk they don't appear to be the focal point of the song and with so many excellent sounds surrounding them its easy to see why she felt she could get away with it. What's undeniable is that Grimes is simply thinking ahead of her contemporaries and the music she's making clearly shows how much of a head start she's got. 

47. Juice WRLD - Lucid Dreams 
Nobody could have predicted that this one time SoundCloud loosie would develop into one of the biggest hits of the entire year, stuffed only from a #1 spot by the much maligned Maroon 5 and Cardi B collab. In retrospect Juice WRLD came around at the perfect time to claim the recently vacated sad boi of popular rap fame and Lucid Dreams is his anthem. The opening chants of "I still see your shadows in my room" is one of the most popular refrains all year and all it takes is a quick glance to see why this track is one of the most memorable in all of popular music this year.

46. Jenny Hval - Spells
Jenny Hval is one of the many artists you'll catch on our list who will never have a single see the hot 100 but that's why we take into consideration not only the quality of these songs, but their reception within the musical realms they inhabit. Jenny Hval hit it out of the park with Spells not only a fan favorite and one of her most critically acclaimed singles of her entire career but one she did while taking on a completely new sound. Her intimate a whispered ambient pop is nowhere to be found on this album as she takes dramatic lead vocals over a gorgeous string instrumental. At six minutes Spells takes its time to develop into a surprisingly catchy crescendo and provides some key elements to one of the most interesting compositions passing itself off as a promotional single we've heard all year. 

45. Clarence Clarity - Adam & The Evil
Clarence Clarity is slowly becoming one of those artist that makes his home on the singles list. The last two years some spectacular tracks, Bucked-Toothed Particle Smashers in 2016 and Naysayer Godslayer in 2017 made their way into high spots on the list. This year its not quite as dramatic a finish but Adam & The Evil embodies everything that makes Clarence great. Off kilter and imaginative pop production, provocative and metaphorical lyrics and an absolutely killer hook make this a spectacular addition to the Clarity singles catalog. 

44. Kali Uchis - Just A Stranger
Although this track features more true singles and less promotional releases it is impossible to deny how good Kali Uchis and Steve Lacy's Just A Stranger is. Kali brings her classic Lanaesque vocals to one of the smoothest tracks all year. Not only is it a contender for chorus of the year as Steve and Kali duet the catchy refrain but Uchis spins a Hollywood grade story of fame and the pitfalls that come with those who chase it in her always stylized lyrical tone. Its a song that is a much a bop as a warning, and a sign not to mess with Kali Uchis. 

43. Courtney Barnett - City Looks Pretty 
With City Looks Pretty Courtney Barnett makes her music far more acclimated to the single song format than ever before. Gone are her interesting and unique stories and stream of consciousness style of rock and roll story telling and in their place is a well written and well performed rock tune. Courtney's lyrics are sly and relatable and her singing is subdued just enough to perfectly resemble her slacker image and the self-deprecation of her lyrics. City Looks Pretty is a perfect slacker rock tune for the indie generation complete with a melody driven breakdown in its final stretch that surprisingly adds a lot to its composition.  

42. Kanye West - All Mine
There are some songs just destined to be great singles. Throughout his career, All Falls Down, Gold Digger, Stronger, Heartless, Power, and Facts have been just a few of the great songs he's written to get popular. Even though he didn't have a single dominated 2018 at all, All Mine fits perfectly into the category. The hook is as infectious as any above and the lyrics are so Kanye it hurts, Its catchy, hilarious, well written and performed, one of the best songs on Ye and one of the best singles of the year. 

41. Earl Sweatshirt - Nowhere2go
The writing was on the wall that Earl Sweatshirt's first album in three years would be obtuse and experimental. But still when it came time for him to deliver a single expectations were high, and fans ended up being more than pleased, Not only did the songs incredibly unorthodox and meticulously detailed production signal a more experimental Earl to come, but his spectacular lyricism returned in spades detailing what he describes as one of the hardest points in his life. The layers of detail in ever element of the song make it a wonder to dive deeply into and the track is only heightened by its placement in Some Rap Songs among many other similar tracks. 

40. Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
When Janelle Monae won a grammy for her basically nonexistent contribution to Fun.'s We Are Young it almost felt like a slap in the face, like the artist everyone had fallen in love with was finally acknowledged, but in a way that felt like it didn't even count. Finally after all these years Monae drops the album that brought her all the critical praise and popularity that die hard fans had been begging for since 2010's The ArchAndroid. Make Me Feel is the prototype for an engaging alternative pop/R&B song. With a hook that is impossible to forget and her confronted personality 

39. Moses Sumney - Rank & File
Last year Moses Sumney dropped Aromanticism a spectacular R&B album that was regrettably overlooked and unfortunately this excellent single from its follow up EP this year seems to be going the same way. Sumney delivers a no-nonsense and uncompromising track that swirls you through a fast paced series of anthemic diatribes backed by tribal vocal chants. Its uniqueness is as undeniable as its catchyness. No song as obtuse, obscure and forward thinking as this has any business being stuck in your head but Moses Sumney pulls it off in spades on Rank & File.  

38. Death Grips - Streaky
Death Grips have never been one of those bands that dropped singles to hype you up, the album is an experience and the band sells experiences. But that doesn't mean that they don't drop a great loosie track every once in a while. Streaky is the catchiest the trio have been in years, Stefan abandons his normal shouted vocals for a calculated fast paced delivery of conventionally hip hop bars. It's a successful journey into the world of familiar rap from a group that is well known for turning it on its head. The catchy rhymes are layered over a mix of sounds that align to something that would be conventionally rapped over, but with a touch of Death Grips flare that will surely scare off those unprepared, but with Stefan's tight performance on top it makes one of the only Death Grips tracks in years that seemed destined to be a single. 

37. Saba - Life
2018 wasn't Saba's year for singles. Even though he dropped numerous good features and posse cuts, they didn't gain much traction. The biggest success he saw outside of an excellent album was the change of pace style single Life. This not only marked one of the best solo singles of Saba's whole career but also a big time defining moment, and a sign that the coming album was going to be a well produced and smartly crafted piece of conscious rap. Saba pens fantastic lyrics without making them the only thing worth hearing, his delivery is on point throughout and the beat is made for a song this studied and intelligent. Saba ponders what life means to him and how it differs from those who come from different upbringings, weaving together elements of his own personal story with his thoughts and musings on how he has come to where he is today. Its a track worth revisiting as a single experience and also as a part of the cohesive album it would land on.

36. Car Seat Headrest - Cute Thing
The first single we heard in 2018 that convinced us the remake of CSH's bandcamp classic Twin Fantasy was its 3rd single, Cute Thing. A song that had effectively captured the raw spirit of its original and brought it to a cleaner more enthusiastic space. With more room in the mix to breathe the croons of Will Toledo's chorus make it one of the catchiest garage rock songs all year and one that can't help but infecting you with some of its feelings of young love.

35. Anderson Paak. Bubblin
Anderson Paak dropped his 3rd full length album this year and it was grander and more expensive in every way than its predecessors. But one glaring mistake that seems too tough to overlook is not including the spectacular single that kicked the year off for Paak solo material, Bubblin. A cheeky, energetic, hilarious and undeniably fun track that turned his conventional heartwarming and soulful style on its head and was an indication that he had even more in his repertoire than the already deep back of talents we knew he possessed. The music is so undeniably catchy but at no point in the song or video does Paak seem to be trying any harder than he needs to to make a casual but anthemic banger.

34. Nicki Minaj - Chun-Li
The second half of  2018 was filled with Nicki drama, in between a few good features for Ariana Grande and Playboi Carti, Nicki was taking shots at Cardi B and Travis Scott constantly, and sinking to new levels of petty to try and grab her first evern #1 album. So its hard to remember just how cool we all thought she was when she dropped Barbie Dreams and Chun-Li. Even though some have questions about the authenticity of her references, her self-portrayal as raps bad guy was a self-aware and powerful reflection of her image. Not only one that reestablished Nicki and the baddest bitch in hip hop before she ruined it later in the year, but it also spawned some of the most quoted bars in all of rap music all year. Chun-Li is a sharp, ruthless and accurate piece of Nicki cannon that should go on to be one of her defining singles. 

33. Kamasi Washington - Fists Of Fury
Being a commercially successful jazz artist in 2018 can be tough, not as tough as the last decade but still not a cake walk in the modern day. Just for Coachella to recognize him Kamasi had to both contribute music to Kendrick Lamar's masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly as well as releasing this decades premiere jazz album the spectacular The Epic. All of this gave Kamasi a platform to be heard and not only did he use it effectively, he delivered a piece so infectiously fun that anyone from veteran jazz fans to completely new faces can enjoy this 10+ minute piece. Mixing in old school gospel inspired vocals to the songs driving rhythm its a mix of fiery experimentation we've come to expect from Kamasi with a tangible sense of appealing to the masses, coming together in one of the best jazz singles we've heard all decade. 

32. Azelia Banks - Treasure Island
Azelia Banks is no stranger to the singles list. Since her only studio album Broke With Expensive Tastes she has stuck mostly to singles and mixtapes, but that doesn't mean her quality of releases has slowed down by any means. Dropping two fantastic singles this year it was the first Anna Wintour that grabbed the attention of many, but it was the follow-up Treasure Island that brought together everything we know makes Azelia great. An infectious kick beat and a water drip sample is all she needs to first display some water themed lyricism and her trademark rapid fire flows before the song melts into a swelling mermaid ballad. These two factors trade off to make a single that reminded everyone why we loved Banks so much in the first place and put her firmly back in our heads for another year. 

31. Protomartyr - Wheel Of Fortune
This is one of the most surprising pieces on this list as after dropping their 4th studio album last year to widespread acclaim, they dropped the first EP of their career and its lead single was a no holds barre assault on capitalism and the music industries manipulation of artists. The chanting chorus of "I decide who lives, and who dies" are chilling and the songs piercing introduction are made specifically to say, this isn't easy. But they reward your persistence with one of the best singles of their career and a song that shakes you to your core for nearly 4 minutes, sounds like a good time. 

30. Ought - These 3 Things
It seems like every time a new Ought album comes out there is that one song, that is simply incredible. Habit, Big Beautiful Sky, and now These 3 Things.  It does it with the same formula, tightly composed instrumentation that paints a groovy palette for frontman Tim Darcy to dramatically unfold his metaphoric stories and passionate hooks. His high notes of "Hear my soul" are impossible to forget as he weaves through a shorter and easier to navigate single than previous Ought smashes but one that hits home in all the right spaces to once again be one of the best of the year. 

29. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake
It's easy to understand why so may people were hesitant to get excited for the new Parquet Courts album. They made their name in underground rock music and released an album that pleased many fans just a few years ago with Human Performance. Yet now after some collaborative efforts they were turning to superproducer and hitmaker Dangermouse. Sound familiar? Its what happened to The Black Keys less than a decade ago, and while it gave them a big hit and new found fans and success on alt-rock radio, it took away what pleased so many die hard fans about the music they made their come-up out of. Fortunately, this time DM hit it out of the park and teamed up with Parquet Courts for an incredibly infectious and jazzy anthem that won't let you for a second think it has given up any of its integrity as an indie rock song. Its catchy, hard hitting, dancable and enthusiastic, making for a single you can't miss.

28. Pusha T - If You Know You Know
Of all the statements made in 2018, Pusha T made some fucking STATEMENTS in 2018. If You Know You Know is a moment where Push basically chooses his audience. Either you're in or you're out and you should already know the answer. Most artists don't have the charisma or tact to pull off a song like this but of course, Pusha T does. He pulls off every moment of the song with a tight sense of insidership but not one that comes off as pushy or annoying. No Pusha carries himself with a confidence that lets everyone know he deserves to be exactly where he is now, and that confidence is infectious.

27. Mitski - Nobody 
If Talking Heads paved the way for alternative disco sounds and LCD Soundsystem brought them staunchly back into our palette of indie music, Mitski is reaping the benefits of everyone before her. Nobody is an undeniably dancy indie track that stands out amongst the brief tunes surrounding it on Mitski's album Be The Cowboy. But as a single it is a sharply written and universally acclaimed ballad that invites you in with a warm accessible sound and keeps you there for its cutely delivered but under-cuttingly sinister lyrics. Mitski finds new ways to adapt her sound with every release and what the rock breakdowns of Your Best American Girl did for her two years ago, Nobody is doing now. 

26. Travis Scott - Sicko Mode
DJ Akademiks viral reaction to hearing Drake's intro to the track mirrors what many people probably felt the first time they heard the smash hit and instant banger that is Sicko Mode. Travis Scott, Drake and Swae Lee do their recpective things over a beat that has two major switchups and a track so scrambled and diverse seems like a formula for disaster. But Travis Scott works magic behind the scene calling on hit roots as a producer and turns three interesting tracks into one five minute knock of trendy and captivating trap.

25. Open Mike Eagle - Relatable (Peak OME)
Open Mike Eagle is no stranger to spectacular production, high brow lyricism, witty double entendres and a generally heightened approach to hip hop. But before his 2017 album Brick Bodied Kids Still Daydream what we didn't get from Mike was a sense of emotional openness in his songs.  With the lead single to his follow up EP this year it became clear that vulnerable Mike wasn't going anywhere, and we couldn't be happier about it. Relatable is about being just that, Mike is very much an outsider in the world of popular hip hop but discusses whether of not living in his conscious rap corner is responsible. He also gets very personal about living everyday life and how short it falls of our fantasized image of celebrities, a refreshing series of bars that hits in a place you don't expect to be tugged by a rap song. The lyricism and production are as sharp as ever and there is no denying that Mike isn't still one of the smartest figures in all of hip hop today. 

24. Father John Misty - Mr. Tillman
In 2017 Father John Misty found himself in a peculiar situation, making the music he wanted to make but finding his long time fans disappointed. We here at music corner had grown very tired of the saccharin love tunes pumping out of the FJM camp and considered his third album Pure Comedy by far his best as well as one of the best albums of 2017. So Tillman found truly the only way to walk the line so perfectly between worlds to drop a single that felt smart enough to match the thought provoking and sharp wit of Pure Comedy while creating a catchy indie sound that he was so well known for. With smart references to his own sense of self and mental condition along with a fantastic Wes Anderson-esque music video. The track was exactly what Josh needed to get everyone excited for new music once again and show us that he had a little bit of everything up his sleeve. 

23. XXXTENTACION - Sad
Yet another case of an artist who whether alive or posthumously dropped a number of singles that easily qualify for a position on the list. But unlike successes in years past like Look At Me! and Jocelyn Flores, SAD! is a pop rap tune that lulls you in with an earworm chorus and shimmering production. The fast pacing means over the quick runtime of the track you are never left without a memorable hook or bouncy and charming bars delivered in XXXTENTACION's boyish flows. One of the numerous songs that took on new life after Janseh was murdered earlier in the year the song details two way emotional manipulation in a relationship mixed in with genuine feelings of love and lust it was a #1 hit that became a can't miss song all summer and all for good reason. 

22. Troye Sivan - Bloom
How do you follow up a single like My My My? If you're most artists you coast until its album time, maybe drop a remix and video to try and get it charting again and then push whatever else you have at the last minute as a promotional track. If you're Troye Sivan, you turn right around and drop an even better song. The title track to Troye's 2nd album Bloom is one of the most genuine tribute to bottoming the world has ever seen. Not only a cute and endearing story of pushing yourself and trying new things with someone you love, but also an illustrious metaphor for submitting, being the receiver and in its chorus, just straight up being a bottom. The intimate and personal music video that followed only did more to make a track that hits you its sexuality in all the right ways. The chorus is simple but effective and the softly sung verses help develop an environment we can't imagine anyone wanting to try and escape.  

21. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Hunnybee
Hunnybee may be the best UMO single to date at it is in some fantastic company. The song is unrelentingly catchy and a the band barely has any right to put together what may be one of the catchiest songs all year. A dancy and lowkey track seems right up their alley yet Hunnybee sounds just a little bit different from anything they've dropped before. The whispy sense of dread is gone and replaced with that synicism is an almost cute sense of optimism. All of that emotion and we barely even get into the way that it actually sounds, Ruban Nielson delivers on his soft and distant vocals but the perfect mix of distortion and keys leaves them floating in space so eloquently that the tune he sings instantly becomes one that is impossible to resist. The song was an indie darling all year and one of the most danced to tracks at the least cool parties, those qualities add up to a lot for us. 

20. Arctic Monkeys - Four Out Of Five
Whether you were disappointed by the lack of youthful rock energy in Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, or thrilled that the band stumbled upon some new and interesting ideas, Four Out Of Five is a track that has pleased everybody. A flamboyant and hilarious take on criticism the title is in reference to the recently opened Taqueria on the roof of the titular hotel and a piece of its story. But what makes this track so good is that combination of new and old, featuring a melody and heavy beat that matches some of the bulkier songs on Humburg and one of the catchiest lead melodies they've put together in years, Four Out Of Five us both the emotional highpoint of the album as well as one of its coolest musical moments. 

19. Julia Holter - I Shall Love 2
To capture everything that makes Julia Holter great in one song that is gorgeous enough to be a successful single is truly one of the best feats achieved in 2018. In her past Holter has a huge resume of songs making our Songs Of The Year list, usually multiple every time she has an album drop, but the nature of her pseudo-ambient music style makes it tough to score in the singles list, until 2018. I Shall Love 2 is a masterpiece in every way, in a 2 fold sense it captures Julia's ability to be universally appealing in parts where her voice swells in gorgeous melodies and hook like places. But her completeness as an artist comes from the more abstract and harder to process portions of the track. Its masterful composition and dense wall of sounds all blended perfectly together to create true musical serenity. Its one of the easier to grasp tracks on her album Aviary and the fact that it can still be so obtuse for those unaccustomed is truly a testament to her unwillingness to compromise her sound. 

18. Joji - Slow Dancing In The Dark
Whatever you would normally listen to on the way home from your friend's place late at night and sing along to at the top of your lungs probably got thrown away in 2018. That is due to Joji's Slow Dancing In The Dark a fantastic low-fi R&B ballad that performs well over expectations. It's sparse instrumental and distant vocal performance seemed run of the mill for both contemporary R&B and what we had heard from Joji so far, but when the volume is turned up on everything in the songs explosive chorus both the well composed synthesizers and warbling key-lines create a gorgeous but challenging backing. Surprisingly Joji is well up for it and brings out a spectacular vocal performance that ties the song together in a great way and inspires many far less capable singers around the world to try their own chords out to a snappy and infectious hook. The song is a triumph for an artist many were hesitant to take seriously but had quite a year in 2018. 

17. Jpegmafia - Puff Daddy
Talk about a fucking banger. For 2 minutes over a Kenny Beats produced instrumental JPEGMAFIA trades out his conventional wit and lyricism for an all out assault on the mind. The shouted verse and chorus conjure up images of 6ix9ine but Peggy channels his energy with a whole new brand of emotion. Calculated, devilish and destructive the track evokes some of the dirtiest feelings we knew we had and every time the chorus comes around its impossible not to shout along. Mixed in with some trademark Pegisms like "I don't even have no gun, I'm like 28 and you have yourself one of the best experimental rap tracks all year. 

16. Denzel Curry - Black Balloons
Denzel Curry had a great year for singles. The party banger Sumo was an instant driving bop on arrival, the fame hungry ballad Clout Cobain provided some of the deepest and most biting Denzel bars ever and the absolute smash Percs took on SoundCloud rap and its drug culture with a scathing critique but nothing hits quite as smooth and flashy as the Goldlink featuring Black Balloons. Denzel relaxes a bit in order to croon out an undeniably infectious chorus that has been stuck in many heads for months and brings out one of his smoothest verses to date that works in both the albums characters and themes as well as some excellent lyricism and double entrendres. Goldlink hits it out of the park with his feature as well taking on those who never believed in him and his already huge legacy as a member of the scant DC rap scene. The song is not only a great example of Denzel's variety but also his decision making as he surrounds himself with talented producers and features to make unbelievably infectious singles like this one happen. 

15. MGMT - When You Die
Last year when MGMT dropped the title track to their 4th album and a song that landed high on my singles list Little Dark Age it was clear we were in for a rendition of this group we had never seen before. The follow up single had big shoes to fill, and did so excellently. When You Die continues the first singles methodology of blending synth pop with goth wave in a way that feels so authentic its almost funny that the song truly is a big parody of itself. The lyrics provide just enough edge and bite to give off a complete authenticity but their tone and context is where the song finds its punch. It shows a clear affection for goth and its origins but the bright palette the band is so familiar with puts it in a new light and allows MGMT to pay homage while simultaneously mixing the style into a completely new element.

14. Brockhampton - 1998 Truman
Much like 2017 it feels like there are a plethora of Brockhampton tracks that could belong in this spot. Wildfire, Diana, Jouver't, and Tonya all make bids of varying quality for this spot. But ultimately the best collection of verses from the talented members and excellent mix from all the boys behind the scenes comes on The Best Years Of Our Lives 2nd single 1998 Truman. The song is one of the hardest bangers in the whole Brockhampton catalog and its success is a direct result of its refusal to let you go from start to front. Even the usually passionate or timid Bearface delivers a short verse at the end of the song that keeps its momentum going. Its a track that once again proves the
boys are capable of stringing together some undeniable hits,

13. Aphex Twin - T69 Collapse
In 2014 Aphex Twin came back from his long absence and released Syro a somber and quiet piano album that masterfully re-imagined his ambient roots. Which is great and all if your  a fan of RDJ for his ambient pieces, but that is only half of his work. So this single came as such a pleasant surprise to fans that severely missed the forward thinking glitchy high energy Aphex Twin, because he is back and as wild as ever. T69 Collapse was teased for multiple weeks and fans had high expectations, thankfully they were met and more by this epic five minute track packed full of more loops and beats and effects than most people will hear in their whole lives. Richard doesn't rest for a moment as the song transitions from one fast paced series of notes onto the next for a high that won't let up and the indicator of so many great things still to come. 

12. Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry
2018 was the year Ari finally nabbed her #1 single with Thank You, Next a solid track that deserved its status if not from the large chart boost as a result of the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller. But with its bright music video, infectious hook and timeless pop appeal the real best single from Ariana this year is no doubt No Tears Left To Cry. If the "Lovin' I'm Livin, So We Turn It Up" refrain's sheer sexiness and undeniable shine isn't enough to sell you on this track alone then strap in for a vocally captivating and overwhelmingly dancy pop tune that replaces any sense of urgency or pressure with an utterly vibrant display of good times.

11. Playboi Carti - R.I.P
Playboi Carti's R.I.P and the album it comes from Die Lit were no doubt some of the biggest surprises of 2018. R.I.P represents the first step on a long indulgent journey of dark and brooding trap bangers and the song mirrors the albums effectively. A non-stop assaulting beat that doesn't even let you breathe in between Carti's rapid fire verses and animated adlibs. The song isn't a delivery of poetry necessarily but Carti uses blunt and in-your-face lyricism and a cutthroat flow that forces you to be unsettled, to fall behind and to one of the fastest and most ruthless rap tracks you'll hear all year. It's music video matches the animalistic vibe and it throws you headfirst into an album that nobody anticipated being as good at it was, which makes the track one of the most effective and high octane singles of the year. 

10. Sophie - Faceshopping 
Sophie's Faceshopping was the song of the summer for people who don't fit in. And not sweater and glasses Instagram models that are #quirky, this thing like the album it came from is fucking out there. A club banger wrapped in a suffocating anti-mainstream image shaping sheen, the track dives into some deep and pulsating industrial instrumentation that belongs on a Nine Inch Nails or Crystal Castles song. Yet the opening refrain is almost whispered into the track by Sophie herself giving it all a tangible sexiness and a unique intimacy that is so hard to find in electronica this abstract. Not to mention the gorgeous breakdown that song goes on in its second half before throwing you right back into the deep end, this is a can't miss banger.

9. Migos - Stir Fry
Migos are the forefathers of the current trap formula and their imitators span the far reaches of the music industry which is why its so impressive that even with their mass of generic tracks they were still able to drop one of the most unique and interesting trap singles of the year, Stir Fry.  The trio teams up with Pharell to put together a track far more bouncy and energetic than most of the generic trap fodder in 2018 and each of the Migos match the energy of the beat. Not only does it bring one of the catchiest choruses rap has felt in years it also gives it up with a spectacular instrumental to dawn in a new trap anthem and one that hopefully will inspire copycats to try and little hard to make something this good. 

8. Drake - Nice For What
This isn't the place to drag Drake for his 2018, after all he did drop one of the highest streaming albums of all time and cement his legacy as one of Billboard's best ever by smashing chart records left and right. No bad reviews of Scorpion or hot takes on his beef with Pusha T could take away the fact that this Lauryn Hill sampling track is an absolutely irresistible. He delivers as accessible a pop rap tune as ever but one that rides a masterful beat and Drake more than does his job on the hooks and verses. His success this year built a lot on mainstream appeal but nowhere did he more come into his own as far as making a deeper and more entertaining tune than on Nice For What. 

7. Lana Del Rey - Venice Bitch
We all woke up the morning Venice Bitch was slated to release like it would be any normal day, but Lana assured us we were wrong. Dropping onto the world an almost 10 minute track, Lana teamed up with Jack Antonoff for a quintessentially Lana ballad with a huge instrumental piece attached. It blends everything we love about Lana's singing and white doll lyricism with the grand composure of many art pop masterpieces. The way we atmusic corner worship Lana you wouldn't think she was a mainstream level competitor in the pop industry but its easy to forget, and in the fragile world of success dropping a nearly 10 minute long single is very bold but in this case it paid off, and then some, with one of the most fantastic single releases of the year.

6. Deafheaven - Honeycomb
Black Metal is one of the toughest musical communities to get into as an outsider, and they like to keep it that way by ostracizing anyone who dare to blend the genre with outside influences. This has created a stigma surrounding Deafheaven that has made them the enemy of deep black-metalheads but also one of the most successful modern bands falling under the genre, so when they drop music people are paying attention. The lead single promoting their third album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love had to prove that they hadn't given in to temptation from either side of the metal spectrum and continued to blend their mix of influences over masterfully assembled long-form compositions and to prove it they dropped what may be the greatest song of their career, or at least since Dream House. 

5. Robyn - Missing U
What a comeback single. The last Robyn solo album was Body Talk in 2010 and after an 8 year wait for new material it's hard to imagine Robyn getting it any more right than this. Rumors of her return swelled in early 2018 and a hectic week led up to the official announcement of the singles release, a bold move allowing die hard fans and pop music observers alike to get excited. What turned out was something very much worth being excited for, a fantastic and mature pop song that shows off Robyn's vocal talent but also a newfound nuance to her personality. The song is profound without being overblown and somber while still being lustful. As far as a lead single goes it's just about the best you could ask for to drum up hype for what became one of the most anticipated releases of the year.

4. James Blake - If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead
Even though we hadn't heard any James Blake solo material since the surprise drop of The Colour In Anything besides his Christmas gift in the form of his official cover of Vincent. So for an out of the blue promotionless single I really don't think there is much more you can ask for than the experimental and out of the box epic If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead. The song is a passionate callback to Blake's early days making experimental and forward thinking bedroom electronica tracks that didn't conform to any particular set of rules. So after finding himself gaining more and more popularity through collaborations in the rap mainstream such as his production credit on Kendrick Lamar's Element as well as his pair of features on the TDE produced Black Panther Soundtrack, many feared that we may see the end of the glitchy out of the box electronica hero of the first half of the 2010's. Part of what makes this single so cool is that James Blake turned his back on selling out for commercial appeal and made one of his most experimental tracks in years combining incredibly textured and vibrant atmosphere with softly sung and distant vocals stuck on loops. It's a song you'd never hear on the radio or catch in a trendy sample but that's what makes it so good. It's a track that would fit in on one of Blake's earlier EPs like Enough Thunder, which is far more serious a compliment that most acts can get about their very early material. The song turns back the clock to a point where there were no rules and acts freely on itself, this is also very well manifested in its sleek and incredibly stylish music video, blending together into a complete package that rides an undeniably moody vibe. 

3. Childish Gambino - This Is America
One of the most viral singles all year that didn't come form routine hitmakers like Post Malone or Drake was Childish Gambino's This Is America. It's a socially conscious and undeniably catchy rap tune that refuses to follow raps conventions while simultaneously intertwining some of the genres trendies features and faces. This Is America was a cultural phenomenon instantly upon arrival and there is plenty of good reason for that. It feels like nobody has walked the line between rap this socially conscious and undeniably catchy since Kendrick dropped To Pimp A Butterfly. Gambino isn't retracing his stylistic steps and with the most talked about music video of the year behind it this song skyrockets up any ranking of the most impactful singles dropped in 2018 and its also a damn good tune. The lyrics are a tight collection of socially critiquing bars that rely on modern context for most of their poignancy, but do so expertly. Adlibers Offset, Kodak Black, Young Thug, Quavo and 21 Savage, among others help to blur the lines between the high impact social rap that obviously inspired the songs origins and the day to day sound of the current rap mainstream. The reoccurring theme here is that Childish Gambino has expertly blended worlds together as effectively as anyone did this year and deserves all the credit in the world for it. 

2. A$AP Rocky - A$AP Forever
When we say that the singles list takes into context the full scope of a songs release, not just the song itself, we mean it. While A$AP Forever is certainly a fantastic tune that will land on our year end songs list no doubt it takes this high a position because of its context. Since we last heard from A$AP Rocky on a studio album A$AP Twelvyy and Ferg had dropped disturbingly poppy betrayal albums to the gritty New York sound that gave the mob their come-up, as well as 2 full legnth A$AP Mob mixtapes which were packed to the brim with trendy and generic trap production and completely forgettable verses and lyrics, all of which is a far cry from what we are used to hearing from Rocky. Even Rocky himself had dropped some unofficial tunes onto his SoundCloud that were so generic and underwhelming many wrote off what Rocky was planning to release in 2018. And even though the final release Testing isn't very good, its not because its boring or generic. Our first taste that Rocky hadn't abandoned his desire to push the envelope was on the albums lead single A$AP Forever. The first half of the track hits with an unrelentingly sticky flow that is as attention grabbing as it is catchy and Rocky takes this opportunity to evoke powerful emotions in all of us that have been following the mob for years. This leads directly into another huge boost for this single, its incredible music video. Its spinning semi-fish-eyed music video is a fantastic and compelling piece that interpolates Rocky and friends living large in the places that inspired them with clips from so many amazing moments in A$AP Mob's history. For the fan that's been paying attention the video is simultaneously a victory lap for their success and also a nostalgic look back to everything that helped them get there. This emotional potency plays out in the second half of the song with some vocal help from Rocky's sister and a perfectly interpolated Moby sample its a minute and a half to consider everything you've just heard and how epic it all was to take in, which completes one of the most unique and emotionally engaging rap singles in years. 

1. The 1975 - Love It If We Made It
No song comes anywhere near defining 2018 as much as The 1975's Love It If We Made It. Singles like Give Yourself A Try and It's Not Living (If It's Not With You) were fantastic examples of songwriting and lyricism alike but nothing compares to just how contemporary Love It If We Made It is. It reads more like a scathing critique of modern living than an effortlessly catchy pop-rock tune. The song cascades from offshore drilling  to police brutality, the death of Lil Peep to the NFL kneeling protests and immigration and Donald Trump and Kanye West's twitter chats. That sounds like Time magazine's year end review and its a testament of how much and Matty Healy and company cover.  But the songs sharp lyrics and well crafted criticism are only half the battle when tackling just how good the tune is. Not only has the band written one of the catchiest hooks all year but the droning synthesizer that opens up the song is everything to its dramatic build. Every single chorus manages to hook you in just as effectively as the last and the buildups that every second of the music works towards are some of the most relieving payoffs you can hear in music this year. Another point of reference is just how spectacular and impassioned frontman Matty Healy's performance is. The songs attention grabbing opening is a point where Matty gets to use his all too often missed shouted vocal pattern. "We're fucking in a car, shooting heroin, saying controversial things just for the hell of it" is such a provocative piece of lyricism that both draws you in and refuses to let you go, but its two-fold because of the dramatic effect Matty laces into the excellent vocal performance, yet he has an even stronger moment later on in the song. The songs bridge is both contemporary and as provocative as the rest of the song but its the explosion into the final verse that really hits home everything the track is about. "I moved on her like a bitch, excited to be indited, unrequited house with seven pools, thank you Kanye very cool" is the moment that drives home both the songs sense of post-modern commentary and its hilarious edge of contemporary humor. The track has the sound of a singalong anthem but the wit of an effective slaughtering of our era. Everything about Love It If We Made It is smart, captivating and spectacular wrapped in a sheen of catchy hooks and shimmering grandeur. Frankly is was a shoe in for single of the year.





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Listen to all these tracks on our Best Singles Of The Year Spotify Playlist!