Image via Complex Original
It’s already December. That means Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is right around the corner, and then that's it for 2013. All there is left to do is some holiday shopping and read a bunch of year-end lists. That’s right, there’s nothing that says “holiday season” like the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" piped in through the speakers at Rite-Aid your in-laws sleeping on your couch year-end lists.
It’s been an eventful year. (It's kind of hard to imagine an uneventful year, isn't it? A year's a pretty long time. There are bound to be some events to fill it up.) So much has happened over the past eleven month, it’s hard to even remember every song we fell in love with. There were the massive Billboard hits we couldn’t escape like Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” the street anthems that blasted out of passing cars like French Montana’s “Ain’t Worried About Nothing,” the indie gems we couldn’t stop telling our friends about like Autre Ne Veut’s "Counting," and those album cuts that we kept on repeat (even if it sometimes felt like we were the only ones) like Eminem’s “So Far.”
Like every year, new artists showed and proved, big stars shined even brighter than they had before, and wily veterans found yet another way to impress us. Okay, so let's start our annual look back at the year that just was. Here are the 50 Best Songs of 2013.
RELATED: The Best Songs of 2013 (So Far)
RELATED: The Best Albums of 2013 (So Far)
50. Lorde "Royals"
Album: The Love Club (2013)
Label: Lava, Republic
Producer: Joel Little
At this point, the Lorde backlash is in full effect. But that was inevitable. It happens every time one of these songs comes out of nowhere and gets played into the ground. It happened with Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" and fun.'s "We Are Young," and 2014 will undoubtedly bring a couple more of these slowly spreading hits that end up being the most popular and most hated on songs in the country at the same time. (Damn.)
When it comes down to it, the appealing thing about Lorde's "Royals," from the start, was that it was different. Sure, it was catchy as hell and easy to digest, but it wasn't like your typical pop radio hit. The production was minimal, the slower tempo wasn't for the dance floor, and the lyrics denounced the lavish world that Lorde would unknowingly soon become a part of. But when she wrote it, she was a 16-year-old from New Zealand who hadn't yet left the country.
About a year after "Royals" was uploaded to a Soundcloud that nobody was following, it became the No. 1 song in the U.S. By that time, it had already topped the charts in many other countries. And now "Royals" has lost some of the appeal of being different because it is the song playing in every grocery store across the country, no longer the buried hit that nobody knows about. It's the norm now, but that's the reason it's so important to 2013. Whether intentional or not, and no matter how much hate she receives for it, Lorde proved that different is something that a lot of people have been waiting for. —Jacob Moore
49. Young Jeezy f/ 2 Chainz "RIP"
Album: It's tha World
Label: Def Jam, Corporate Thugz
Producer: DJ Mustard
Jeezy has spent the last few years trying to catch up to hip-hop's evolving zeitgeist, so it was a relief to see him take a bold step forward on "R.I.P.," a collaboration with hip-hop's next super producer, DJ Mustard. It's a textbook example of the so-called "ratchet" music that Mustard has branded over the last few years, and Jeezy deserves credit for hopping on the trend earlier than most non-Cali rappers. While Mustard is an L.A. native, "R.I.P." betrays his obvious Bay Area influences—the bulbous bassline and electric handclaps are straight from Too $hort's classic mob music, while the simple, repetitive hook and shouting sample hark back to the hyphy movement. Derivative or not, Mustard's sound has a new momentum that can't be stopped.
Jeezy sounds like he's having fun, bragging in reverse by rapping from the perspective of his sour-face haters: "Who the nigga think he is, Slick Rick or Dana Dane?/Think he Rakim or something, look at his chain." Most notably, he manages to avoid getting murdered on his own shit by 2 Chainz (as was the case on the pair's last duet, "Super Freak.) No small feat when you have to compete with a knockout one-liner like "Attached to your girl like a JPEG."
But really, this song is all about the hook, creeping up on you with the low-key chant "r.i.p....r.i.p....r.i.p...r.i.p." before smacking you in the face with "R-I-P WE JUST KILLED THE CLUB!/TOOK PATRON TO THE HEAD, ALMOST KILLED A THUG!" Between signing L.A.'s new star YG, aligning with Roc Nation, and showing new signs of life on "R.I.P.," Jeezy could very well have the game in a body bag in 2014. —Brendan Frederick
48. Earl Sweatshirt f/ Frank Ocean "Sunday"
Album: Doris
Label: Tan Cressida, Columbia Records
Producer: Frank Ocean & RandomBlackDude
When "Sunday," the two-hander from Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean, finally splits open, when the big organ riff falls out like at morning mass and the rest of the drum kit starts snapping, Earl goes in: "State to state for the profit, it ain't a stain on me, nigga/My momma raised me a prophet, I play for dollar incentive." The rhyming of profit and prophet, the way the roar of the music confirms his anointment, is a clear high point on a sometimes sleepy album. But then Frank Ocean begins to rap and you start rethinking what it is exactly you want from the R&B singer—maybe you'd rather he rap.
In a thoroughly brilliant verse, Ocean takes a few bars out of his thoughts on Los Angeles and drugs to dismantle Chris Brown, "I mean he called me a faggot/I was just calling his bluff/I mean how anal am I gone be when I'm aiming my gun?" If he was feeling merciful, he might've stopped there. But he continues, "And why's his mug all bloody/That was a three on one?/Standing ovation at Staples, I got my Grammys and gold/Polda dots on my Brit, I'm not supposed to be stunting." And yet here he is, putting these words together about beating Brown for Best Urban Contemporary Album earlier this year, and alluding to the altercation between Brown and Ocean outside an L.A. recording studio. Ocean won, on every count. Now let's all stand up and applaud. —Ross Scarano
47. ZMoney "Regular"
Album: Rich B4 Rap
Label: N/A
Producer: JNealTheGreat
If ZMoney's "Regular" continued on the course it starts on, it would be a great song. The first 50 seconds are catchy and oddly compelling thanks to ZMoney's jumbled rapping under his breath and those two bass notes that hold the entire song together. But 50 seconds in, things get really irregular. ZMoney unhinges his voice completely, employing a drunken flow that flirts with the point of ridiculousness. It's reminiscent of Gucci Mane at his weirdest, and at 20 years old the Chicago rapper seems to understand that the right amount of humor and quirkiness paired with an aloof demeanor can be way more appealing than falling in the line with the regulars. —Jacob Moore
46. Justin Bieber "Hold Tight"
Album: N/A
Label: Island, RBMG, Schoolboy
Producer: The Audibles
Justin Bieber has made more headlines this year for his indiscretions than he has for his music, but that doesn't mean his upward-climbing sonic maturity fell completely by the wayside. With his #MusicMondays singles release program, his given listeners a view into the R&B refinement that's dictating his sound. While there have been a handful of songs to note (the Craig David-sampling "Recovery" and "Wait a Minute" featuring Tyga are also good) "Hold Tight" is the standout. His desire is palpable, particularly when he sings, "missing you is like adrenaline... I'm a fan and you're the rock star." As he says, "visualize a monster," take note: if Bieber continues like this, his superstardom might get downright scary. —Claire Lobenfeld
RELATED: Leave Bieber Alone: A Non-Belieber Defends The Biebs' Recent Music In Light of His Recent Headlines
45. Travis Scott f/ 2 Chainz & T.I. "Upper Echelon"
Album: Owl Pharaoh
Label: Grand Hustle, Epic
Producer: Anthony Kilhoffer, J Gramm, Mike Dean & Travis Scott
Up until snippets of this song first surfaced, a lot of people were still trying to piece together the scattered fragments of Travis $cott they had been hearing about over time. Like, you had heard of him, but you hadn't really heard him. Although it was not his first "official" offering (with his debut single "Quintana" having just dropped), it took the synthesizer maelstrom of "Upper Echelon" to cement his presence amongst the new-wave rap considerations. With this hit, plus his contributions to two of this summer's biggest albums, Yeezus and Magna Carta Holy Grail, in a year when people were acutely aware that there's levels to this shit, Travis was up near the top shelf. —Brandon Jenkins
RELATED: Who Is Travi$ Scott?
44. Tyler, The Creator f/ Domo Genesis & Earl Sweatshirt "Rusty"
Album: Wolf
Label: Odd Future, RED, Sony
Producer: Tyler, the Creator
Your love for Tyler (and Odd Future in general) can waiver depending on how deep into the OFWGKTA chamber you've descended. But for those who might question Tyler's mic prowess, "Rusty" is the song for you. Sergeant Domo sets the song up perfectly before Tyler comes in rhyming about how he's "harder than DJ Khaled playing the fucking quiet game" and the frustration he felt when Earl's mother was giving him shit for corrupting her son, when he'd done so much to help his career.
For all the flack Tyler catches, this is a verse where he truly expresses himself about how people view him. Less, umm, offensively than usual. Instead of going down the "die, faggot, die" route, he honestly reflects, trying to make sense of his life. "Rusty" is an amazing track on an interesting album from one of the more captivating artists making music today. —khal
43. Chinx Drugz f/ Diddy, French Montana & Rick Ross "I'm a Coke Boy (Remix)"
Album: Cocaine Riot 3
Label: N/A
Producer: Harry Fraud
Harry Fraud made this song. Without his light, scratchy instrumental, the words "we talking bout helicopters landing on cribs" would not have ever so playfully plucked at the jealous heartstrings of haters everywhere—at least not as effectively. The structure of the song is reminiscent of "U.O.E.N.O.," in that it plays a lyrical game with a list anchored to a certain concept: "I could have been" such and such. You may find it hard to believe that French Montana "could have been a doctor," but we prefer him being a rapper who wears "that same shit Jesus used to wear." —Alexander Gleckman
42. Run The Jewels f/ Big Boi "Banana Clipper"
Album: Run the Jewels
Label: Fool's Gold
Producer: El-P
When Killer Mike and El-P decided to release music under the banner Run The Jewels, the rap community wasn't exactly sure what it was going to get. While R.A.P. Music was a collaborative effort, the album was ultimately Mike's blend of militant and introspective content over El-P's frenetic production. This would be the first time the two would be rapping together on an entire project. Would Mike's direct approach mesh well with El-P's indirect stylings?
The project turned out to be a full dose of riotous wordplay over thunderous bass, and "Banana Clipper" epitomizes what the group is about. Mike and El trade verses back and forth about topics ranging from suicide ("You want to hang bring your throat/I got stools and a rope...") to Star Wars ("It's time for Skywalker talk /'Cause meet the true Darth Vader...") While guest star Big Boi joins in with a blistering attack on the state of rap in 2013. And the beat? Mike sums it up best, "Producer gave me a beat said it's the beat of the year/I said El-P didn't do it so get the fuck outta here!" —Dharmic X
41. Eminem "So Far"
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Label: Aftermath, Shady, Interscope
Producer: Rick Rubin
Eminem has spent the last decade working with a select few producers—namely, Dr. Dre, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto, and himself. Going into The Marshall Mathers LP 2, the big news was that he was working with the living legend, Rick Rubin. Rubin was already having a big year thanks to his contributions to Kanye West's Yeezus (and for sleeping on Jay Z's couch in that Samsung ad). Although Kanye consistently praised Rubin's guiding hand in the process for his album, it was hard to pinpoint how he influenced the album sonically. But with songs like "So Far," you don't need to read the credits to know Rubin is there.
The album highlight samples Joe Walsh's '70s rock anthem "Life's Been Good" and Schoolly D's '80s hip-hop classic "P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?)"—two songs that were surely an influence in Eminem's Detroit upbringing, but also the kinds of songs that shaped Rubin's early career. Much like Walsh did with his hit—which meditated on the spoils of being a rock star—Em uses the song to take a look at his life of living in the glass house of fame. He even takes time to wonder what it means to be a hardcore luddite and still have so many friends on Facebook. Celebrity ain't what it used to be. —Insanul Ahmed
RELATED: Interview: Rick Rubin Talks About the Making of "The Marshall Mathers LP 2"
40. Vic Mensa "Lovely Day"
Album: INNANETAPE
Label: N/A
Producer: Peter Cottontale & Vic Mensa
Vic Mensa raps his way through "Lovely Day" like he's had too much orange soda to drink and he's now racing for the nearest bathroom stall. Yet his spastic flow has a certain charm to it. A charm that becomes more evident as he splits time making humorous references to Drake and Tom Cruise while charismatically rapping his ass off.
It's something similar to what we heard earlier this year when the young Chicago MC teamed up with fellow Save Money crew member Chance the Rapper on "Cocoa Butter Kisses." Like Chance, Mensa veers off into funky lyrical spaces and does so with unfettered confidence and a smile on his face. And the production from Peter Cottontale and Mensa on "Lovely Day" is just as entertaining as the rhymes.
The song glides with smooth drum kicks and a light piano vamp before the chorus hits with a bravado that knocks the listener off their feet. His breakout mixtape INNANETAPE is a musical testament to this distinct style, and "Lovely Day" is the celebratory cherry on top. —Edwin Ortiz
39. Kanye West "I'm In It"
Album: Yeezus
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Producer: Arca, Dom Solo, Evian Christ, Kanye West, Mike Dean & Noah Goldstein
Yeezus, the most challenging album of Kanye West's career, is also the one most suffused with weaponized dancehall sonics. It's not like Yeezy hasn't shown his love for reggae in the past. After all, he's the producer who sampled Max Romeo on Jay-Z's "Lucifer" and wove a demented Fuzzy Jones intro throughout the G.O.O.D. Music radio killa "Mercy." But on Yeezus Kanye's raggamuffin quotient gets turnt all the way up.
Four of the album's 10 tracks include dancehall vocals, but while the others are samples (of Beenie Man, Capleton, and Popcaan), "I'm In It" boasts a fresh verse by the gruff-voiced dancehall veteran Assassin aka Agent Sasco. Never mind the fact that Assassin's bad-man lyrics (which he recorded without hearing Kanye's part) have nothing to do with the rest of the song's over-the-top sexual themes. What Sasco's saying really doesn't matter for most of Kanye's fanbase. The dancehall verse just sounds right juxtaposed with Ye's borderline psychotic dirty talk and the seething stripped-down instrumental.
Producer Evian Christ professes to love Assassin’s part: "he absolutely killed it," Christ told Pitchfork. Meanwhile featured vocalist Justin Vernon admitted "I have no idea what the Jamaican dude [Assassin] is saying. At all. But it's fucking awesome as hell." And while Assassin has been politely appreciative of this next-level look, he clearly wouldn't mind joining Mr. West on stage. Maybe the creative mastermind who signed D'Banj to G.O.O.D. Music should take Assassin up on the offer. It would be cool to see them both up in it. —Rob Kenner
38. Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop"
Album: Bangerz
Label: RCA
Producer: Mike WiLL Made It
This year has been one big Risky Business moment for Miley Cyrus, who spent 2013 sliding into America's living room wearing nothing but her underwear. "This is our house! This is our rules!" she announced to anyone who dared ask where her parents are. "We Can't Stop" is graduation party music, a rumspringa of reckless abandon that serves as the perfect mission statement for Miley's bold new perspective on life.
When the news came out that Miley had recruited Mike Will Made It to be the Timbaland to her Timberlake, it seemed like an obvious move. But rather than creating a clone of Rihanna's "Pour It Up," the duo did something much more nuanced. Sure, it references strip clubs, molly, and getting "turnt up," but musically, "We Can't Stop" has little in common with the sinister 808 trap music that Mike Will is known for.
If you saw Miley's stripped-down SNL performance, you may have noticed that the song is actually a rather traditional acoustic ballad, somber and hopeful, dressed up in some scuzzy synths and sprinkled with a handful of ratchet hip-hop signifiers. It's an against-all-odds love song disguised as a party song, and it's this juxtaposition that gives "We Can't Stop" it's peculiar power. Change the lyrics a little bit, and this is "Love Is a Battlefield" 2.0.
Miley's chosen subject matter might seem shallow to jaded adults, but to a former repressed teenager like herself, the right to party is the only thing truly worth fighting for. This is her call to arms. —Brendan Frederick
37. Action Bronson f/ LL Cool J & Lloyd Banks "Strictly 4 My Jeeps (Remix)"
Album: Saaab Stories
Label: Vice, Atlantic
Producer: Harry Fraud
Religious people will tell you that the Lord works in mysterious ways. And LL Cool's J's 2013 stands as a good example of what they're talking about. After making a very famous song with Brad Paisley that you will not find on this list—and after, frankly, stinking it up, rapwise, for the past, oh, 18 years—LL surprised everybody this summer.
Jumping on a special "Queens Day" remix of Action Bronson's "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" (a remake of EPMD's boom-bap classic "Rampage," which he murdered back in 1990), sounded hungry and energized in a way we hadn't heard this century. "The ripper/The master/The charismatic bastard..." he announced himself in the very first line. Reminding us, if only for a moment, of how monumentally great he used to be. —Dave Bry
36. A$AP Rocky f/ Gunplay & ASAP Ferg "Ghetto Symphony"
Album: Long.Live.A$AP (2013)
Label: A$AP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA
Producer: Jonathan "MP" Williams, LORD FLACKO & V Don
A$AP Rocky's "Ghetto Symphony" is just as much about guest rappers A$AP Ferg and Gunplay as it is about their host, if not more. On this bonus cut from LONG.LIVE.A$AP, Gunplay delivers a selective version of the irreverent brilliance he's becoming so well known for. "Show me what you owe me," he barks. "And a porterhouse with that..." Stealing the show, his verse is part Trick Daddy, part Kenny Powers, blended to produce a brand of eccentric awesomeness that you get the feeling has yet to see it's full fruition. (Gunplay, please finish you album!)
Fergenstien, on the other hand weaves his animated flow around the beat, poeticizing about death as only he can, informing anyone in ear-shot that he's up next. "If Rocky spit like Andre," he says. "Then I'm gonna kill 'em like Big Boi." Rocky 3000 steps aside here, probably happily. —Brandon Jenkins
35. Lana Del Rey "Young and Beautiful"
Album: The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film
Label: Interscope
Producer: Rick Nowels, Al Shux
There is no better fit for The Great Gatsby than Lana Del Rey. Her music and persona is infused with the hollowness of the upper class and American decay—the two main themes in the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. While the soundtrack to this year's film version itself was a giant letdown, Lana's haunting vocals make it all worthwhile. Lana sings about a distant future that embraces an inevitable honesty: We only have our youth for so long. While it was Gatsby who sought after the past in vain, Lana sees today as the day we'll one day look back on. Like a dropped ice cream cone on a hot summer day, it's all just melting away. —Insanul Ahmed
34. Drake "5AM In Toronto"
Album: N/A
Label: OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Producer: Boi-1da & Vinylz
If there's an expectancy for a certain amount of music per artist per year, 2013 ends in a surplus of Drake. It felt like every few weeks, a new verse or a new song or a new video would come along, which is to say nothing of an album or a massive stadium tour. Over the summer, four new Drake tracks surfaced over one weekend. All of them were solid.
But of all the Drake to be released in 2013, no song did more for his credentials as a technician, as a craftsman, and simply as a straight-up rapper as "5AM in Toronto." This isn't Drake in hitmaker mode, though it's definitely a hit of a certain stripe. It's not Drake in R&B soothsayer mode, either, but there's some of that towards the end, too. This is Drake, quite simply, rapping his ass off.
This is an aggressive, confrontational, self-aware track. A victory lap is one thing. This is Drake getting his Sun Tzu on, burning the stadium down on his way out of the building. You can't deny a certain amount of projecting when Drake goes in on the ginned-up violent claims of every other rapper in 2013, rapping that he could "Load every gun with bullets that fire backwards/You wouldn't lose a single rapper." In other words, you might've called Drake out for rhyming about "catching bodies" in 2011, but it's not like any of these other rappers did, either.
There's signature Drake wordplay delivering some of his most memorably absurd boasts ("Sinatra lifestyle/And I'm just being Frank with you"), but a few of them actually transcend typical levels of pro-forma rapper hyperbole into the kind of fuck-off-own-this-game lines that Kendrick got more credit for this year. Kendrick's verse was great. But it was as much as PR play as it was a verse. As opposed to the moment when you heard "that's why every song sound like Drake featuring Drake."
When you heard that, you didn't think: Wow, what a stunningly astute critique on the state of rap music this year (even though that'd be totally fair). You thought: "Shots. At everyone." And they were. And yes, we all saw Drake and The Weeknd hug it out at OVO Fest. And we all saw Kanye get on stage with Drake at OVO, and look, hey, everyone's friends, right?
Jokes are funnier when they're true. But they sting more then, too. So how do you think every other rapper reacted when they heard Drake rap that "a lot of niggas PR stuntin' like that's the movement/And I'm the only nigga still known for the music," huh?
Probably like they needed a hug, or a really important cosign. And it's just the most perfect indicator of how much Drake's winning—how far into the truth all of the lines on "5AM in Toronto" reach—that be it Kendrick, or Kanye, or Migos, or Weeknd, or Cole, or whoever, the simple truth of the matter is that in 2013, Drake was so often the one who gave it to them. —Foster Kamer
33. August Alsina f/ Trinidad James "I Luv This Shit"
Album: The Product 2
Label: Def Jam Recordings
Producer: Knucklehead
Back in January, The-Dream-protégé and New Orleans-native August Alsina generated moderate buzz with this heart-wrenching single "I Luv This Shit." The lead single from his excellent mixtape The Product 2, the song is a gauzy, horn-laden cut about being too far gone, but continuing to push it to the limits.
At year's end, it's starting to get the radio push it deserves via a sexy makeover and new verses from Trey Songz at his most vulgar and Chris Brown in a surprisingly romantic mood. And while it's great to see Alsina gain attention from beyond the R&B nerd constituency, the original remains the real stunner.
The Radio Killa-signee dishes depression with a quivering beauty. And while in December 2013, a guest verse from Trinidad Jame$ may seem undesirable, "Luv" was released at the height of the "popped-a-molly-I'm -sweating-whoo!" moment. And it works. Alsina might still be bubbling under, but "I Luv This Shit" proves he's got the heat to reach a full boil. —Claire Lobenfeld
32. G Dragon f/ Missy Elliott "Niliria"
Album: Coup d'etat
Label: YG Entertainment
Producer: G-Dragon, Missy Elliott & Teddy Park
Korean pop superstar G-Dragon (the subject of a Complex digital cover story back in August) has the power to do whatever he wants, so it was nice to see him bring Missy Elliott out of unofficial retirement this past summer when they debuted this culture-clashing collaboration to thousands of screaming fans at an L.A. sports arena.
Produced by longtime collaborator (and former member of 1TYM) Teddy Park, the beat is pure Timbaland-in-his-prime surrealism, flipping a traditional Korean folk song into a piece of booming club music. "I know on the other side of the world, they're always dying to hear something ethnic," Teddy told Complex. "Like M.I.A., or even what Timbaland did with Egyptian music and Indian music. I got those for days."
With a few electro and 808 flourishes thrown in the mix, "Niliria" manages to sound more like an updated version of Timbaland than anything on Magna Carta Holy Grail. Maybe Missy should consider signing with YG Entertainment for that comeback album. —Brendan Frederick
RELATED: G-Dragon Interview: Frequently Flyer (2013 Cover Story)
31. James Blake "Retrograde"
Album: Overgrown
Label: ATLAS, A&M, Polydor
Producer: James Blake
Sitting as the perfect centerpiece to James Blake's Overgrown, "Retrograde" anchors the whole album. The four songs before it meander and float, touching on some brilliant ideas along the way, but within the first few seconds of "Retrograde" it's clear that this project is having its moment. Fans will remember the first time they heard that haunting hum, the mournful piano, the first time Blake reaches deep and pulls out that remarkable "You're on your own..."
For all of Blake's undeniable talent and cutting edge sensibility, his best work sometimes flickers with a few great elements of melody and vocals dressed in masterfully scanty production. This minimalism is part of what makes even the smallest moments on a James Blake song feel important. "Retrograde" is an outlier in that regard: it holds its weight not in its pieces, but in its wholeness. It may be the most complete song Blake's ever released. It may also be the best. —Jacob Moore
30. YG f/ Young Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan "My Nigga"
Album: My Krazy Life
Label: Pushaz Ink., CTE World, Def Jam
Producer: DJ Mustard
To YG fans, it may have come as a surprise that "My Nigga" took off the way it did. After all, dude had been making comparable if not better and catchier songs with DJ Mustard for years. Somehow though, the stars aligned for this one, and by stars we mean Rich Homie Quan and Young Jeezy.
Having catapulted himself to the forefront of catchy-hook stardom with that song about vague emotional responses to jealousy, Quan was able to strike again while the iron was still hot with the "My Nigga" chorus. YG himself switches up his own flow for this one, sing-rapping through his ode to his fellow man. Young Jeezy comes through as the older brother to shine his veteran sense of camaraderie onto the young bucks, and it feels genuine. Having one of Mustard's meanest beats set the didn't hurt, either. —Alexander Gleckman
29. Disclosure f/ AlunaGeorge "White Noise"
Album: Settle
Label: PMR, Island
Producer: Disclosure
Crafted by brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, the guys from Disclosure, this second single off AlunaGeorge's debut album, Settle, offers a best-of-both-worlds taste of current British electroduos. Incredibly infectious, with pop sensibilities that match it's smooth flowing synths, it two-steps it's way into your ears and refuses to leave. Not that you want it too. AlunaGeorge's vocalist, Aluna Francis, sings in a cool, '90s-R&B inspired tone as the beat build. It's hypnotic, and when Aluna makes her accusation: "You just wanna keep me on repeat and hear me crying," you can't disagree. You find yourself pressing "previous" like seven times in a row. —Brandon Jenkins
28. ScHoolboy Q f/ Kendrick Lamar "Collard Greens"
Album: Oxymoron
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment, Interscope Records
Producer: Gwen Bunn & T.H.C
It's so funny hearing ScHoolboy Q and Kendrick on record together. And to imagine the scene in the studio. Teetotaling Kendrick, so precise in his rhymes that you picture his soft, high-pitched voice balancing on its toes when it walks on a tightrope. And then ScHoolboy's gruffer, far looser vocals emerge from a dusty cloud of smoke—like Pigpen from The Peanuts. "Kush be my fragrance," he says. "Me love marijuana..."
Oh wait no! You know what its like? It's like the Odd Couple. Kendrick is the neatnik Felix Unger to ScHoolboy's slovenly Oscar Madison. The studio is like the apartment they shared on the show—can't you just see Kendrick following a stumbling ScHoolboy around, trying to hold an ashtray under his blunt. (I really think I'm onto something here.) Anyway, they both handle the throbbing, bouncy beat that producers THC and Gwen Bun made for them with aplomb, proving why the TDE formula works so well. —Dave Bry
27. Chance The Rapper "Acid Rain"
Album: Acid Rap
Label: N/A
Producer: Jake One
Chance The Rapper had an incredible year in 2013. Like a few other artists—Drake, Pusha T—he could easily have placed a few songs on this list as a result. Never mind "Juice," the first song that drew significant major label attention. There was his tape-stealing moment on Lil Wayne's "You Song." His high profile collaboration with James Blake. His slept-on appearance on Rapsody's "Lonely Thoughts (Remix)." His standout guest spot on Joey Bada$$'s "Wendy and Becky." And countless appearances with Chi-town compatriots from Vic Mensa to ProbCause.
But it all paled next to "Acid Rain," the second single to drop in the lead-in to his Acid Rap tape. Produced by contemporary underground boom bap king Jake One—who Chance would later admit he didn't even know by name at the time this song was recorded—"Acid Rain" is melancholic nostalgia, somber memorial, and mind-expanding experiment. It isn't his most technically complex rap exercise. But this enables him to take a more creative approach to his delivery ("As of late, all my verses seem not so verse-y"), and underlines his straightforwardness.
There are clever poetic images ("the richest man rocks the snatchless neckless/Spineless bitches in backless dresses"), but it's the moments of bare honesty that feel the most compelling. There's a profundity to simple observations ("Sometimes the truth don't rhyme/Sometimes the lies get millions of views") that might not be immediately apparent but feel particularly wise both in and out of context. ("Acid Rain" was recorded when Chicago's drill scene was at its peak of media attention.)
Perhaps the toughest moment, though, is the passage which talks about the death of Chance's friend, Rodney Kyles, who was stabbed and killed in front of Chance the previous year. It built upon the hook of another song (unreleased) recorded by Chance and other members of Save Money earlier in the year ("My big homie died young, just turned older than him") and has a rawness and vulnerability that carry a world's worth of pain and intensity.
As much attention as has been paid, deservedly so, to Chance's poetic turns of phrase and technical command as a rapper, "Acid Rain" more than any song captured someone who was utilizing all these tools in order to communicate something greater. —David Drake
26. Childish Gambino "Pound Cake Freestyle"
Album: N/A
Label: N/A
Producer: Boi-1da, Detail, Jordan Evans & Matthew Burnett
Yeah, yeah, I hear you. "What are you doing picking a radio freestyle?" Well, let me tell you a story. This is the story of how I came to appreciate Childish Gambino.
I knew who he was before, of course. I'd watched one of his comedy specials, and had seen his name on the Internet, heard he was starting a rap career. I saw that painfully awkward interview he did with Chief Keef. Nothing was telling me to go listen to Childish Gambino right now, though... Until he hit Sway in the Morning and I watched him rhyme over Drake's "Pound Cake," with Drake's pop's "gravely" voice in the intro.
See, I'd heard about the real life that cat born Donald Glover had been dealing with. I'd seen what he was posting to Instagram, and given his position of being a multi-talented brother with few avenues to truly express himself in today's world, I could understand his frustration. This freestyle? This summed up a lot about Childish Gambino, answered some questions that I had.
Could he spit? Yes! In fact, he puts words together in a way that many rappers on his level don't often bother to do, with a balance of humor and #reallifeshit that only a few of them ever achieve. No-holds-barred honesty like "silver-spoon coon," and that multi-level line about "niggas quit being hot, man/Cold turkey." That's really catching my ear. And when he digs into his peers who have made millions, from Haim to Kendrick Lamar, and how he could've done this if he wasn't "in his feelings." And then he does something that truly dropped my jaw: he stops flowing to really just talk. Like the hook to this freestyle (if freestyles can even have hooks) is a conversation he's having with Sway about the importance of money. And then, just as Sway starts saying that his words are "on point," what does he do? He jumps right back into spitting. And, again, very, very well!
Sold. Won over. Childish Gambino is for real. —khal
25. Danny Brown "Dope Song"
Album: Old
Label: Fool's Gold
Producer: Rustie
If Danny Brown's sophomore album Old was a Shakespearean play, then "Dope Song" would be the Greek chorus before the second act. After a jarring first half of about his days selling the crack that kept groceries in the fridge and designer duds in his closet, Brown is ready to leave it behind for his success with Fool's Gold Records and a whole new set of concerns.
Here, he matter-of-factly lays out exactly what and why he was selling over a party-ready beat that a superficial listen could easily take for just another a turn-up cut. Right before the song ends, though, he turns the mini-memoir into an indictment of rich rappers so far removed from selling drugs that they shouldn't be writing about it anymore: "I'm sick of all these niggas/With their ten-year-old story/You ain't doing that no more.../So take this as a diss song/'Cause this is my last song/Not my last dope song/But my last dope song." —Claire Lobenfeld
24. Lil Durk "Dis Ain't What U Want"
Album: Signed to the Streets
Label: OTF, Coke Boys Records, Def Jam
Producer: Paris Bueller
Something like what the late Harlan Howard said about country music, Lil Durk's appeal banks off a rearrangement of familiar tropes in a new pattern: it's all autotune, 808s, and truth. But what he does with these tools epitomizes how limitations and paucity of opportunity creates new pathways for creativity. For him this seems to mean stripping everything to its electro-skeleton, draining the euphoric Xanax-high of the rapper's Down South (Rich Kidz) or Out West (Sicko Mobb) cousins, replacing them with intensity and tension.
Paris Beuller's beat is dramatic and dark, drawing attention to individual details like the tight, repeating snare pattern that closes every couple of bars. Its evident purpose, though, is to frame Durk's rap style, which prizes directness above all else, letting phrases echo through your head long after the song has come to a close: "Daddy doing life, snitches doing months," "Fuck TMZ, fuck Breaking News and ABC/I can't do no shows cause I terrify my city...They say I terrify my city." —David Drake
23. Mike Will Made-It f/ Miley Cyrus, Juicy J, & Wiz Khalifa "23"
Album: Est. in 1989 Pt. 3.
Label: EarDrummers Entertainment, Interscope Records
Producer: Mike Will Made-It
Miley Cyrus wasn't supposed to be on "23." When Mike Will Made It originally made the track, he had put a verse of his own on it, but he really wanted a girl to do it. And with his collaboration with Miley, "We Can't Stop" popping on the pop charts, he knew she'd make it even better. And she does. If there was one thing this year to give evidence that her status might actually be hood—aside from naming OJ Da Juiceman as her favorite rapper back in 2010—it's this.
While the beat is perfectly primed for Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J (it sounds like it could have been the lead single from Juicy's album Stay Trippy) she outshines them both, White-Girl-Mobbing atop the hip-hop wooziness. A pop starlet still making infectious songs for the radio while crossing over to urban? Best of both worlds. —Claire Lobenfeld
22. Pusha T f/ Kendrick Lamar "Nosetalgia"
Album: My Name Is My Name
Label: GOOD Music, Def Jam
Producer: Kanye West & Nottz
Whooo! You can just hear Pusha T's reaction the first time he heard to the crying-guitar sample that producer Nottz layed over those bongo drums. Whooo! he must have said. That's a mean, mean sound. And Pusha does some mean, mean rapping on this standout from his excellent My Name Is My Name album. And you can imagine what he said the first time he heard the mean, mean guest verse Kendrick Lamar gave him to put on the song, too, the one that starts with a devilish invitation to join a trip down memory lane to Boyz N the Hood-era Compton. "Wannna see a dead body?" Kendrick asks. Whooo! You know Pusha said. —Dave Bry
21. French Montana "Ain't Worried About Nothin"
Album: Excuse My French
Label: Coke Boys, Bad Boy Records, Maybach Music Group, Interscope
Producer: E, Earl & Rico Love
This one kept burning all year long. Sure, some argued it was simply a sequel to Lil Wayne's "No Worries," but when all's said and done, French gets the nod when it comes to the best no-fucks-given rap jam. The breezy hook sounds just perfect over the eerie keys and rattlesnake percussion assembled by Rico Love, Earl & E. Tough day at work? Ain't worried about nothing. Relationship problems? Ain't worried about nothing. The feel-good banger of the year is not only a favorite of ours around the Complex offices, it was the victory song of choice for the Miami Heat when they won their second consecutive NBA title in June. Good choice, champs. —Joe La Puma
20. Jay Z f/ Rick Ross "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt"
Album: Magna Carta... Holy Grail
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Roc Nation, Universal
Producer: Boi-1da, Timbaland & Vinylz
Sure, it's more of a Rick Ross song than a Jay Z song, but pretty appropriate that for Jay's big cell phone marketing ploy, he also managed to swindle Ross's only meaningful hit of the year (give or take a controversial "U.O.E.N.O." guest appearance). Kicking off with the audio of Pimp C defending the younger generation's fascination with all that glitters, the song seethes with restrained potential energy, which Ross and Jay mirror in their respective start-stop verses.
With a cascading synth line behind them and a roiling bassline offering an ominous surface to stand upon, the two sound like the last rappers on earth, or the first to the moon. Either way, Ross's biggest moments in 2013 (this, "U.O.E.N.O.") sounded massive in the absence of bombast, in their collected reserve. It's something Jay has mastered—that coiled, conservative presentation. It should tell Ross something that his biggest songs were also his smallest, musically, and might suggest a change of direction for MMG. —David Drake
19. Ariana Grande "Baby I"
Album: Yours Truly
Label: Republic
Producer: Babyface
In 2013, Ariana Grande was R&B's A$AP Ferg. Whereas he transformed '90s street rap into a bunch of abstracted reference points and sonic tools to craft a lush rap album full of hooks-on-hooks, Ariana and her crew did the same with the touchstones of '90s R&B (down to the samples). It was like today's pop world, reimagined as a universe in which EDM doesn't exist, and R&B and hip-hop remain the primary source of pop music's sonic template, modernized only according to the pleasure principle.
And "Baby I" is a prime example, as songwriter Babyface and Grande herself compress a sugary, giddy pack of Mariah Carey bubblegum into an elastic tribute to melodic excess. It's a joyous record, one that, despite its clear fascination with the past, feels like it's offering us an alternative future. —David Drake
18. Lil Wayne f/ 2 Chainz "Rich as Fuck"
Album: I Am Not a Human Being II
Label: Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Producer: Nikhil S. & T-Minus
By the time Lil Wayne dropped I Am Not a Human Being II in March, a lot of people had already decided that they didn't like Lil Wayne anymore. Fine. Compared to the Mixtape Weezy peak, Lil Wayne now seems tired and less inspired, but there are flashes of brilliance on his latest album, and the simple but effective "Rich As Fuck" is the brightest. With that thick bassline and 2 Chainz' show-stealing chorus to keep the song grounded, even Wayne's exhausted pussy wordplay sounds amazing. The song might not push the limits of art, but when this comes on at the right time, it's the jam, and unlike a lot of the other big hits of the year, it didn't get played out. —Jacob Moore
17. Arcade Fire "Reflektor"
Album: Reflektor
Label: Merge, Sonovox
Producer: James Murphy, Markus Dravs, Arcade Fire
"You know what would be cool?" someone said once. "If LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy produced a song for Arcade Fire." They were right, it turns out, that person. In fact, it's pretty cool, now that it's happened, that James Murphy produced a whole album for the orchestral Canadian art-rockers. The title track, "Reflektor" (that's "reflector" spelled like David Bowie's famous Berlin era) proves that a disco-ey '70s-NYC groove suits the orchestral Canadian art-rockers very nicely. In fact, it leaves them sounding a bit like a nugget from Berlin-era David Bowie, which is an excellent thing to sound like. It seems even David Bowie thinks this, as he sang back-up vocals on the song. —Dave Bry
16. Blood Orange "Chamakay"
Album: Cupid Deluxe
Label: Domino
Producer: Devonté Hynes
The artist is Blood Orange, and Blood Orange is the lo-fi, Prince-adoring project of aesthetic émigré Dev Hynes. But when you play "Chamakay," it's hard to say just whose voice you're hearing at first. Over deep percussion and marimba, a high-pitched line of mhms skate through. The pretty androgyny of the opening is "Chamakay" (and the album Cupid Deluxe) in miniature.
Hynes, a UK native turned New Yorker, the artist who wrote Solange Knowles' "Losing You" and Sky Ferreira's "Everything Is Embarrassing," steps in and out of gender and sexuality like those things were comfortable clothes. "I see you waiting for a girl like me to come along," he sings here, joined by Caroline Polachek of the synthpop duo Chairlift.
Polachek's voice runs up and down the scale like a saxophone while Hynes sings the verses in a breathy falsetto. (It could be Polachek vocalizing at the song's beginning. It could be Hynes. I don't want to know the right answer.) The bass does big, jarring things underneath the back-and-forth drama of the two voices. This is sexy, if you didn't already know.
In the video for "Chamakay," recorded in Georgetown, Guyana, where his mother is from, Hynes vogues in a black NYC cap and a soft looking gray shirt. Whatever "Chamakay" inspires you to do, just know that it's alright. —Ross Scarano
15. Ace Hood f/ Future & Rick Ross "Bugatti"
Album: Trials and Tribulations
Label: We the Best, Cash Money, Republic
Producer: Mike WiLL Made It
A few songs this year have milked the type of ominous, scything synthesizer atmosphere Mike Will cultivated on "Bugatti" (Travi$ Scott's "Upper Echelon" comes to mind.) And Ace Hood's approach to rapping has an anonymous quality that fills a function without drawing much attention to itself ($50 to the first person who heard anyone quoting a line from this song's verses) or undercutting it (an undervalued skill). Rick Ross' guest verse is a solid showing for an aging kingpin, who, despite a recent rough patch, still raps with unexpected intricacy.
But we all know at this point that the real star of the show is the hook. For a rapper who's gotten so much mileage tapping a vein of hip-hop melodicism, it's the single-tone urgency of his "Bugatti" hook that stands apart in his catalog. The hollered declarative manages to pack a bundle of emotions in seven words: confusion, terror, surprise, pride, desperation.
One could write an entire story from those words: How did he get in a Bugatti? Why was he asleep? What was the personal, moral, spiritual cost? Somehow, those seven words manage to transmit more emotion and narrative punch than entire verses from the rest of the song's cast. Thankfully, it's enough to make it one of the best songs of the year. —David Drake
14. Eminem "Rap God"
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Label: Aftermath, Shady, Interscope
Producer: DVLP
Eminem isn't good at very many things. He doesn't know how to use a computer, he hasn't had the best of luck when it comes to women, and he isn't exactly the sharpest dresser. But he does know how to do one thing really, really ridiculously well: He knows how to rap. And thanks to his ability to write endlessly intricate rhymes (and recite them without, apparently, breathing) he's become obnoxiously rich and famous. Still there's basically only one thing he wants to do: Rap really, really ridiculously well.
"Rap God" is another entry in the "Oh My God, This Guy Raps Better Than Anyone On The Planet" category. Eminem has been adding chapters in that book for over a decade now, so it's easy to sit back with your arms crossed and look unimpressed. But don't front. If any other rapper were to spit bars like, "So you be Thor and I'll be Odin, you rodent, I'm omnipotent/Let off then I'm reloading immediately with these bombs I'm toting/And I should not be woken, I'm the walking dead, but I'm just a talking head/A zombie floating, but I got your mom deep-throating," you'd lose your fucking mind. —Insanul Ahmed
13. Drake f/ Majid Jordan "Hold On, We're Going Home"
Album: Nothing Was the Same
Label: OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Producer: Majid Jordan, Nineteen85 & Noah "40" Shebib
Even in the opening breaths of the track—the pitter-patter drum beat, Majid Jordan's faint coos—you know this is not going to be a typical Drake song. And you are right. Because, well, this isn't a typical Drake song. Borrowing from '80s-era Miami disco, "Hold On, We're Going Home" is all cocaine at the dance club and (unlike many Drake songs) it gets bigger and bigger, sounds better and better, with each successive listen.
Much like "Started From the Bottom"—the first single off Nothing Was the Same—its genius lies in the repetitive refrain: "Just hold on, we're going home," Drake sings, again and again and again. Say what you will of Drake's Captain Save-A-Hoe ways, because this is smart song-making: infectious, melodic, and hella fun. —Jason Parham
12. Rocko f/ Future & Rick Ross "U.O.E.N.O."
Album: Gift of Gab 2
Label: A1 Recordings/E1 Music
Producer: Childish Major
The controversy surrounding Rick Ross and the diminishing connection between rapey lyrics and tennis shoe sales could not eclipse how amazing this song is. The lazy, airy, extraterrestrial beat was perfect for rap's favorite spaceman, Future, to provide the hook, while Ross and Rocko play a lyrical game with the idea of your obliviousness—a perfect anchor to keep braggy lines interesting.
It was like 2013's answer to, the less-hype older brother of, "Same Damn Time." Except less about simultaneity and more about your awareness to such obvious matters of stunt. It's shocking to become so bluntly aware of certain facts that you were previously so blind to. Future dissolves into a ballad-like piano riff at the end, as if he's lamenting the fact that you hadn't the slightest inkling of the degree to which the song's trio were spending money on material objects and spending time with ladies who don't speak English. Shame on you. —Alexander Gleckman
11. Robin Thicke f/ T.I. & Pharrell Williams "Blurred Lines"
Album: Blurred Lines
Label: Star Trak, Interscope
Producer: Pharrell Williams
"Blurred Lines" was a lot of things in 2013. A megahit that stayed on the top of the charts for 13 weeks, a feminist nightmare, lawsuit fodder, and fantasy material for women who'd like to have their hair brushed by T.I. But it's most important distinction is that it was the song Robin Thicke has been trying to release his entire career. With it, he eclipsed his white whale, Justin Timberlake—in a year that was supposedly devoted to JT's return. What makes it work? It's smooth enough for adult R&B radio, accessible enough for a pop audience, street enough with its inclusion of T.I., and wedding-ready for the rest of time. —Claire Lobenfeld
10. Big Sean f/ Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica "Control"
Album: N/A
Label: N/A
Producer: No I.D.
Originally known simply as the “No ID Freestyle,” the record that later became known as “Control” revitalized hip-hop’s competitive spirit in 2013 like no other record in recent memory. Although it never made Big Sean’s album (for obvious reasons) the song inspired more discussion, debate, and response records than any other record this year. (Check our archives if you missed anything.) If you need any additional proof that no good deed in rap goes unpunished, look no further than this track.
Where else to start but second, with Kendrick Lamar’s scene-stealing second verse, a.k.a. the “shot heard round the world.” More than a consummate vocal performance—showcasing Lamar’s utter mastery of rhymes and flows—it was a master chess move, solidifying K Dot’s spot at the top of hip-hop’s most-wanted list as he called out his putative competition with no hesitation or remorse, informing them all—including the very artist who was kind enough to invite him to spit this very verse—“I’m tryna murder you.” Gee, thanks!
In any other context Big Sean’s opening stanzas would be hailed as some of his best efforts, replete with intricate wordplay, vivid imagery, reflections on his tortured hometown, and just a touch of post–good kid m.A.A.d. city nostalgia. Sean’s lines read like they may have been revised after hearing what Kendrick turned in for his guest spot—because after all, who wouldn’t go back and punch up their rhymes in an attempt to avoid getting murdered on one’s own shit? The telltale section is the part where Sean says: "I'm one of the hottest because I flame drop/Drop fire, and not because I'm name dropping, Hall of Fame dropping/And I ain't takin' shit from nobody unless they're OG’s.”
Jay Elec’s closing verse has tended to fade into the background, although discerning ears like Rick Rubin’s have highlighted its lyrical richness. “I’m spittin’ this shit for closure,” the elusive MC reveals early out, adding poetic lines like “The eyelashes like umbrellas when it rains from the heart/And the tissue is like an angel kissing you in the dark.” Seeming utterly uninterested in stoking the flames of battle, Jay Electricity continues with his PBS mysteries, “tangling with Satan over history,” and dropping an “Alhamdulillah” to all fellow MCs. As one Complex commenter remarked, Jay Elec’s “an aesthetic in itself with lines of cognitive value.”
No matter which verse you prefer it’s hard to deny that “Control” will go down in history as a milestone in hip-hop, and easily ranks as one of 2013’s most important records. —Rob Kenner
9. Autre Ne Veut "Counting"
Album: Anxiety
Label: Olde English Spelling Bee, Software Recording Co.
Producer: Autre Ne Veut
2013 was an incredibly exciting year for pop music. Yes, I realize someone somewhere probably says this every year, but 2013 presented a marked change in which we saw people over the age of 15 actually care about pop music and people below the dolphins-in-my-champagne-hot-tub tax bracket actually care about making it. As the Lordes and Lana Del Reys of the pop world continue to circle the Urban Outfitters clearance rack, more and more independent artists are traversing genre boundaries and realizing, hey, there's nothing wrong with music that just straight-up hits in you all the right spots.
Enter Brooklyn's Arthur Ashin, a.k.a. Autre Ne Veut, whose second album, Anxiety is a goliath of fervent, fiery pop hoisted to sustained climax by R&B, soul, and electronic reinforcements. "Counting," the first single, is a slick, slow-burn ballad that perches on dichotomy: a caressing synth track tempered with jarring, amelodic horn blasts—Ashin's guttingly vulnerable vocals juxtaposed against an almost playfully coy instrumental. This is pop music for smart people. Weird, I know. —Sasha Hecht
8. J. Cole f/ Miguel "Power Trip"
Album: Born Sinner
Label: Dreamville, Roc Nation, Columbia
Producer: J. Cole
"Would you believe me if I said I was in love?" It's a statement as probing as it is bleak, and only made more emphatic by Miguel's glossy falsetto. How far would you be willing to go for your ideal woman, for your "longest crush ever"? On "Power Trip"—the first single from J. Cole's stellar sophomore album, Born Sinner—the North Carolina rapper finds himself questioning many of the same convictions that swirled in "Dreams." And make no mistake: this is as much of a blues song as it is a rap chart-topper. (It peaked at No. 19 on Billboard's Hot 100.)
Employing a searing flute loop from Hubert Laws' 1972 "No More," "Power Trip" explores the lengths to which one man will go for love. But the question remains: After all this time, will she return the affection? "I'm in your city and I'm wondering if you're home now/Went and found her man, but I'm hoping you're alone now," Cole raps. Backed by heart-pounding production, "Power Trip" is about the complicated line between love and obsession, and how delusion has the ability to corrupt completely. Sweetly sinister, Miguel affirms Cole's desires: "Baby, I want you to want me." —Jason Parham
7. Daft Punk f/ Pharrell Williams "Get Lucky"
Album: Random Access Memories
Label: Daft Life, Columbia
Producer: Nile Rodgers
Even in a year of EDM smashes like Zedd's "Clarity," Martin Garrix's "Animals," and Avicii's "Wake Me Up," no song highlighted the importance of dance music in 2013 like Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." Sure, a lot of this had to do with the (admittedly) old-school buzz surrounding the track. In 2013, you might hear a snippet of a track, then you're bombarded with the full version before hearing it everywhere—in movies, on TV, and multiple forms before its release.
"Get Lucky" basically said "fuck all of that," as it was leaked in snippets during late-night TV and as a short live performance at Coachella, prompting a plethora of bedroom producers to piece together their own versions of what they thought "Get Lucky" would sound like before we even heard a full version of the song. You can't do this with many acts, but given the fact that Random Access Memories, Daft Punk's fourth official studio album, was their first in nine years, and they'd spent most of their 15-year-career shrouded in mystery, the anticipation for new material had grown to a fever pitch.
Within the hyperactive EDM scene—full of glitz, glitter, and an ADHD mentality as to song structure—a slowed-down, throwback disco tune about "getting lucky" (a play on sex that was cloudy enough to take on a few meanings, depending on the mood) was a perfect shot in the arm. That early buzz turned "Get Lucky" into the song of the summer and it just kept going, breaking Spotify records and topping the charts in countries the world over.
That funky Nile Rodgers guitar! Pharrell's Michael Jackson impersonation! A few decades from now, someone will be retelling stories about how they got their first kiss (or more) to "Get Lucky"—a nostalgic tale told with a smile and a glassy look in their eye. We won't mind at all. —khal
6. Rich Homie Quan "Type of Way"
Album: Still Goin In: Reloaded
Label: T.I.G. Entertainment, Def Jam Recordings
Producer: Yung Carter
Much in the way that Robin Thicke stole Justin Timberlake's blue-eyed-soul swag and danced across the Billboard charts with it all summer, Rich Homie Quan's "Type of Way" was the hit Future needed but couldn't quite locate. (Quan wasn't the only one to swipe and improve upon Future's funk—Que's "Bobby Johnson" is everything "Sh!t" hoped to be).
Striding above his other, less successful anthems ("Differences" and "Party"), "Type of Way" was the kind of hit that at the very least made Quan a real contender. Transforming the concept of ambiguity into a boast, the song was as conceptually clever as Meek Mill's "Levels," but was easily the more distinctive composition. Quan might have been rocking someone else's look, but he used a percussive delivery and novel flow, along with that familiar electroshock-to-the-vocal-cords holler, to carve one of the year's most memorable anthems into the collective consciousness. —David Drake
5. Haim "The Wire"
Album: Days Are Gone
Label: Polydor
Producer: Ariel Rechtshaid, Danielle Haim, Este Haim, & Alana Haim
In the past few years, the influence of electronica and hip-hop on rock and pop music has been heavy. It's been cool to hear all the new and interesting ways genres can work together, but sometimes it has been at the expense of the timeless nature of classic rock elements and live instrumentation. Then three sisters from Los Angeles came onto the scene. They all sing, they all play instruments, and they write catchy, chorus-centric pop music that sounds like what Fleetwood Mac might have made if they had started a few decades later.
Haim's debut album Days Are Gone is full of hits, but "The Wire" is still a standout—a lively, pitch-perfect amalgamation of all the things that make Haim such a welcome addition to the current soundscape. The only thing that tops hearing this one on the album is seeing it performed live. —Jacob Moore
4. Migos f/ Drake, Meek Mill, & Tyga "Versace"
Album: Young Rich Niggas
Label: CTE World, Def Jam
Producer: Zaytoven
In a post-Memorial Day period devoid of any real rap anthems, Atlanta trio Migos formed an unlikely partnership with Drake for a remix of their quirky ode to high fashion, "Versace." The addition of the Toronto rapper took the song from the underground to the world stage, ingraining every facet of the culture with its infectious hook, from Facebook statuses to Twitter memes.
Drake stepped in and stole the show, appropriating the song's flow for a verse that breaks the fourth wall of stunting—predicting (inaccurately, as it turns out) that his then-upcoming Nothing Was the Same album would break a million in first-week sales and boasting that his backyard looks like Metropolis.
This isn't to sell short the contributions of the Migos guys themselves. They invented the flow, after all—as well as all those ad-libs that had partygoers reciting along all summer. ("Damn, I look good!") —Justin Davis
3. A$AP Ferg f/ A$AP Rocky "Shabba"
Album: Trap Lord
Label: ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA
Producer: Marvel Alexander & Snugsworth
In Jamaica the elders talk about the concept of “Word, Sound and Power." To speak the words "Shabba Ranks" is call the name of a king and invoke ancient powers. Just ask A$AP Ferg, who went from being one of many Mob members putting in “Work” to fully verified Trap Lord status with the release of this summer scorcher. The song also features Ferg’s longtime cohort A$AP Rocky, rapping as nimbly on the menacing Snugsworth track as he’s rapped on any track ever. (Just for the record, Ferg’s the short ninja but his dick tall while Rocky’s the skinny ninja but his dick long—exactly the sort of straight-to-the-point lyrics that Shabba himself would appreciate.)
As the son of Trini parents growing up in Harlem, Ferg was raised around Caribbean sounds, so it’s fascinating to see him pay tribute to the dancehall emperor by breaking down Shabba’s essence to a mathematical equation. “Eight gold rings” x “four gold chains” x “two bad bitches” x “one gold tooth” = Shabba Ranks. Getting Shabba to appear in the song’s infectiously raucous video, and later on a remix, is more than a co-sign, it’s a coup de grace that elevates this sure-shot party-starter to more than just a simple shout-out. So when Ferg says “my yute don’t ramp with me,” trust and believe that he knows exactly what he’s talking about. —Rob Kenner
2. Drake "Started From The Bottom"
Album: Nothing Was the Same
Label: OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Producer: Mike Zombie
It might not be the best song of 2013 but it was the most universally appealing, the most agreed-upon, and the most undeniable. A populist anthem, it worked on multiple levels, at once a recognition of the very real obstacles Drake overcame to reach his latest pinnacle, and a troll of those who recognized that those obstacles were hardly the world's worst. But regardless of the step up granted to him by Lil Wayne co-signs, television stardom, or gawkily goofy good looks, Drake tapped into an underlying theme of hip-hop history. "Started" is a "Juicy" drained of details, non-specific enough to be relatable across the board. Everyone has something to overcome. And hip-hop has always been friendly to the underdog. Drake may not have had the hardest life in hip-hop history, but he definitely has been one of the genre's most unexpected success stories.
Musically, "Started From the Bottom" is Drake at his most irrepressibly memorable. Stripped down to a simple piano line and a crisp, unforgettable drum pattern, the song's simplicity gave it a singular fingerprint. It epitomizes the new, clean, minimal direction Drake took throughout Nothing Was The Same, while sounding like no other song on it. It is wistful, atmospheric, as catchy as a nursery rhyme. Lyrically, the song is packed with hooks, each line a mantra of burgeoning confidence, hard-earned. —David Drake
1. Kanye West "New Slaves"
Album: Yeezus
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Producer: Ben Bronfman, Che Pope, Kanye West, Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein, Sham Joseph & Travis Scott
What was the most stunning musical moment of the year?
I will tell you: it was in May, when Kanye West performed two news songs on Saturday Night Live.
As soon as you saw the stage set—dark figures silluetted against a spotlight backdrop with political pop art slogans flashing—you knew this was something very different, very new. "Black Skinheads" was great, but it was the second song he played that leapt out as the instant classic. Those staccato stabs of sound, as much rhythm as melody, without any drums. Gothic, synth rock, but with Kanye’s rapping—all panting Panther anger and pain with a thick gold rope around his neck—translating it into something earthier and raw, something we recognize as hip-hop.
Remember the first time you heard Dre and Snoop’s “Deep Cover?” Those four bass notes? That’s what I thought of first. Paranoid defiance. But this was higher-minded, more ambitious, and aimed at a different audience. (I remembered Kanye's last SNL performance, the ballet.) Kanye is making something much less insular than Dre and Snoop were, trying to shock and impress everybody at the same time. I was impressed. (Needless to say.) And I felt like I got a glimpse of the future, and our place in it. Something about a naked body inside a machine, pushing at the walls.
Plenty of artists sold more records than Kanye West in 2013. No one did anything near to as artistically powerful. "New Slaves" is the best song of the year. And it's not even close. —Dave Bry