We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. In the December issue of The Baffler , journalist Liz Pelly wrote a fascinating, widely discussed dissection of how the algorithms employed by major streaming services — particularly Spotify — are changing music. And even outside those playlists, she suggests, an algorithm is mostly helping you find more of the same. This was the part of the article I wanted to dismiss as premature panic. In other words: How can there be a rule when I have just thought of… one exception? Then, last week, I sold my car — the home of my last CD drive — and threw away a pile of scratched-up mix CDs that had been sitting in my glove compartment for years. She was the person I killed time with before soccer practice every afternoon of what felt like my entire life. Chucking her lovingly crafted mixes into the trash with my eyes squeezed shut, I realized the vast majority of new music I grew to love in had none of this context. Or it was served to me in a Discover tab.
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When talking about so far at Billboard , it's hard to avoid the fact that the chart year has only had 24 editions of the Hot , and Drake has been No. It's the most that any one artist has dominated the listing's top spot in a year's first six months this decade -- though shout-out to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' combined 11 weeks on top in the first half of -- and it essentially leaves the non-Drake part of the field wide open when it comes to discussing the year's best and biggest singles. But that's fine. Beyond the Drakening, has been a year of pleasant surprises on the charts: All-Star teamups we didn't see coming, previously unknown artists coming out with left-field hits, and a handful of big-name comebacks taking us to unexpected new places, all of which made the predictability at pop's highest level forgivable. And besides, those two Drake songs are pretty great too: You'll see them both below as we recount our 50 favorite songs of so far, with a Spotify playlist of all 50 at the bottom. The moment fans have been waiting for since Timberlake and Stapleton collaborated at the CMA Awards finally came in , and it's as special as that instant-classic performance. Not only did the song take JT and Chris' bromance to the next level, it made it very clear that their CMA team-up was no fluke. Jade Bird, "Lottery". Singer-songwriter Jade Bird's brilliance lies in her ability to mesh her British roots with Americana style to create a unique genre Britana?
1. Childish Gambino – This Is America
When Drake dropped two new songs in the middle of the night back in January, we suddenly had a glimmer of hope that would be the year we all needed. That pipe dream quickly faded, but at least we had some great music! From the bangers to the sad songs to the pop hits in-between, we've rounded up the best music this year had to offer. Grab your wireless speaker, incessantly blast the playlist below, and proceed to ignore your passive-aggressive neighbors. You deserve this. Lady Gaga has always been incredible, but her performance in this movie affirms her status as one of the best artists not just of our time, but of all time. Didn't see the movie? Give "Shallow" one listen and you'll see why. Three MarieClaire.
There is no single song that defines We live in an age in which music is more accessible and easier to make than ever before. A kid with a computer could become the most popular artist in the country over night. This is a time when Spotify averages 13, new songs every month. Instead, we bring you 55 songs from —unranked—that provide a cross section of the music that commanded the charts, pushed the boundaries of genre, and captured the political and cultural zeitgeist of You can also listen to the playlist on Spotify. That album marked the moment when the young Odd Future-affiliated rapper started to find his own identity. He had already defined himself as a brilliant, versatile lyricist, but his sound was still something majorly in the works. Earl is very much back. And while it might seem bizarre for a young rapper to focus on a dying medium, Staples seems to be commenting for the most part on how we consume pop music.
