BEST SONGS OF 2017

2017 was pretty awful in most aspects - however, the music was an exception. Ditching traditional releases all together, most artists benefited from dropping singles that didn't need to correspond to an upcoming album release, allowing for more freedom and frequency of new music for listeners. Here are my favorites, in order, with links. 

*Critera: must have been released in 2017 (not in 2016 with album in 2017) and only one song per artist. 

1. SUPERCUT - Lorde | Nominated for Grammy's album of the year award, Lorde's sophomore LP is full of gems. Supercut stands out and was my initial favorite because it sounds so cinematic and the production is absolutely lush. Note- If I hadn't limited myself to one song per artist, The Louvre would be in top 5.  Best bit: "In your car the radio up, In your car the radio up, we keep tryin to talk about us ..."   

2. CHANEL - Frank Ocean | Possibly my most played song this year, I love the originality of the song structure and the clever lyrics.  Best Bit: the last 2:20 when the bass kicks in. 

3. ATTENTION - Charlie Puth | I genuinely love everything about this song, and knowing that Charlie produced the entire thing by himself makes me love it even more. Best Bit: the last chorus after he takes a breath to pause. 

4. SLIDE - Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos | The first single from Calvin Harris' foray into a more funky/groovy sound, Slide benefits from a retro sounding beat contrasted with Frank and Migos very 2017 vocals. Best Bit: Offset saying 'Offset! Good Gracious, staring at my diamonds while I'm hoping out a spaceship." 

5. SUPER FAR - Lany | The first song I heard from Lany, the sound reminds me of a sun-soaked southern California bedroom. About feeling disconnected with your partner, Super Far challenges the subject to either leave or go all in with their relationship. Best Bit: "Waking up to nothing when you're super far from home..." 

6. THE DISTANCE - Aly & AJ | Yes, they are still a thing. Aly & AJ returned to music with an atmospheric, 80's rock influenced sound. Their EP, Ten Years, is a flawless release, however, The Distance stands out thanks to it's lyrics which describe the end of a long distance relationship. Best Bit: "I keep on going the distance, time keeps on making me hate this. It was hot as hell, I still feel, as good as it was I just couldn't take the distance." 

7. DNA - Kendrick Lamar | Before DAMN. I was just a causal Kendrick fan, but I remember staying up on the night of this release to make sure I downloaded it and listened first thing. DNA is my favorite song from the record and the last minute is of the song is just bonkers. Best Bit:  The last minute, and the lyric "I don't contemplate, I mediate, then off your fucking head."

8. NEW RULES - Dua Lipa | I've been stanning Dua Lipa since 2015 when she released "be the one" on Soundcloud, and I'm SO glad she found such success after the New Rules video dropped. If you haven't already, please listen to the rest of her album. Best Bit: "1, don't pick up the phone, you know he's only calling cause he's drunk and alone." 

9. MASK OFF - Future | Undeniable. If I had to pick one song to really represent the "sound" of 2017, this would be it. Future's hazy vocals, the FLUTE, of course the chorus, because we all love drugs in 2017.  Best Bit: "Ain't no way, ain't no fuckin' way, you come to play, we didn't come to play." 

10. DELICATE - Taylor Swift | I already obsessed over this song in my Reputation review, but it really is one of the best things she's done. Best Bit: "Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that you're in my head? Cause I know that it's delicate..." 

11. BREATHE - Astrid S | My favorite new artist I've discovered this year, Norwegian pop star Astrid S has a gift for pairing quirky lyrics with breathy vocals and banging production. She's amazing, if you didn't already know. Best Bit: When the beat drops when she says I forget to Brea-ea-eathe. 

12. BUTTERFLY EFFECT - Travis Scott | Few people had a better 2017 than Travis Scott, and releasing Butterfly Effect cemented that. His signature ad-libs and autotune vocal effects over Murda on the Beat's production, plus an extremely catchy chorus made this track stand out. "Heatin' up, baby I'm just heatin up -it's lit- Need ya love, not a need its a must -yeah-" 

13. HAVANA - Camila Cabello | Come on, does anyone NOT love this song? An instant attention grabber, Havana is an infections ear worm that sounded like nothing else out when it was released. Plus, I'm strongly #teamcamila and have loved everything this girl puts out.  Best Bit: "Half of my heart is in Havana oh na na." 

14. BODAK YELLOW - Cardi B | I didn't get this song at first. Then I paid attention to Cardi's delivery of each line and how much personality she injects into every lyric, and of course the undeniable chorus, and I was sold. I think one night I walked home listening to this song on repeat for 40 minutes. Best Bit: "I don't dance now, I make money moves" 

15. CUT TO THE FEELING - Carly Rae Jepsen | Fact. Carly Rae does the "80's sound" way better than Taylor ever did on 1989. Try to listen to this song and not want to dramatically walk/dance down the street with a smile on your face. Carly Rae Jepsen- providing the feel good song of the year at a time when we needed it the most. Best Bet: The euphoric chorus.

16. IT AINT ME - Kygo ft. Selena Gomez | Best Bit: The chorus with distorted vocals "the bowery, that whiskey neat."

17. LOVE GALORE - Sza | Best Bit: "Gimme a paper towel, gimme another valium, gimme another hour or two, I will with you." 

18. XO TOUR LIF3 - Lil Uzi Vert | Best Bit: "push me to the edge, all my friends are dead."

19. BELLYACHE - Billie Elish | Best Bit: "Where's my mind? Where's my mind? Maybe it's in the gutter, where I left my lover." 

20. PASSIONFRUIT - Drake | Best Bit: WHEN THE BEAT KICKS IN.

21. BAD LIAR - Selena Gomez | Best Bit: the kind of awkward, kind of genius verses.

22. I'M THE ONE - DJ Khaled ft Everyone | Best Bit: "We just watchin Netflix she ain't got no cable, okay though, plug, plug, plug, I'm the plug for her, she want a n***a that pull her hair and hold the door for her."

23. 4 AM - 2 Chainz ft. Travis Scott. | "Drop a pin send a location." 

24. ONLY WITH YOU - CYN | Best Bit: "I don't want anything to do with anyone but you." 

25. BANK ACCOUNT - 21 Savage | "bad bitch cute face and some nice titties, seventy-five hundred on a Saint Laurent jacket" 

Honorable Mentions: 

RIC FLAIR DRIP - Offset & Metro Boomin
NO FLAG - London On Da Track ft. Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, and Offset
SLIPPERY - Migos
ON + OFF - Maggie Rogers
PRETTY GIRL (Cheat Codes Remix) - Maggie Lindeman
NO LIMIT - G-Eazy ft. ASAP Rocky, Cardi B
KING OF MY HEART - Taylor Swift
 

TAYLOR SWIFT | REPUTATION

Taylor Swift's 6th album, reputation, was released amidst her most unfavorable public perception to date, after years of consistent media adoration. Wisely taking three years between the Grammy "Album of the Year" winning 1989, an ode to 80's style pop, the direction she would go with her next album has remained a mystery. After the polarizing first single, "Look What You Made Me Do," many wondered if we'd get an album full of songs that address the media, Kanye, Kim Kardashian and "haters," a narrative that was exhausting before it even really got started.

Instead, reputation is an album about the beginning of a relationship when everything else seems to be working against you, finding escape in this new person, and contentment with yourself. In terms of style, reputation sees Swift trying out different genres, from the alternative rock inspired "Don't Blame Me" (hands down Taylor's best vocal performance to date) to the upbeat hip-hop style of "End Game" (featuring Future and Ed Sheeran, probably next single, and all around a fun track.) She closes the album with the piano balled "New Years Day" that would fit perfectly on any of her first four albums, so maybe in that sense the 'Old Taylor' is only dead in theory?

Reputation is more akin to the lyrically rich albums "Speak Now" and "Red," than it is to 1989, the former two both being fan favorites for being littered with intimate details. Such as we see in the song 'Dress:'

"Flashback when you met me
Your buzzcut and my hair bleached
Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me
Flashback to my mistakes
My rebounds, my earthquakes
Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me"

and in the song 'King of My Heart' - which sounds like 3 different songs into one, but somehow works well enough to get stuck in your head:

"Is the end of all the endings?
My broken bones are mending
With all these nights we're spending
Up on the roof with a school girl crush
Drinking beer out of plastic cups
Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff
Baby, all at once, this is enough"

Production, however, is where reputation really soars. The album is split between tracks produced by Max Martin/Shellback (I Knew You Were Trouble, Blank Space, Etc.) and Jack Antoff (most of 1989, also Lorde's album), and features some of the most interesting production of the year. "I Did Something Bad" sounds like it came straight out of a dystopian drama as Taylor flaunts how much pleasure shes taking in being the bad guy for once. I never thought I'd hear gun shots in a TSwift song, but here we are, and it totally works. The refrain towards the end of the song "light me up, light me up" with the thunderous clapping is one of the album's highlights. 

My favorite track of the album is "Delicate" - which seems inspired by Kanye's 808's and Heartbreaks with the use of the vocoder in order to make her voice sound more robotic and icy while singing the albums most vulnerable lyrics. "Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that you're in my head? Cause I know that it's delicate." Seriously, try to listen to this song and not have the urge to hit repeat. A melodic achievement and one of her best tracks, period. 

There are a few "misses" on this album, and I'll admit I've deleted the tiresome "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" (spoiler alert, she's talking about Kanye, or some other famous foe, again) as well as the track "Gorgeous" which just comes off as trite and silly to me with lyrics like "You make me so happy it turns back to sad, There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have." I'm still not even sure what that means but it's a "No" from me. 

The missteps aside, reputation should be applauded for Taylor trying so many different styles of production, owning (for the most part) her tainted public persona and for tracks like "Delicate," and "King of my Heart" being among her best tracks to date. All signs point towards this being available for streaming starting 11/17 - so if you haven't purchased it by now you should be able to hear it on Spotify and Apple Music now that she's crossed the 1M in first week sales threshold. 

LANA DEL REY | LUST FOR LIFE

Depending on if you consider 'Paradise' a stand alone album or not (I don't), 'Lust for Life' is Lana Del Rey's 4th (or 5th) album. Since breaking through the public conscious in June 2011 with 'Video Games,' Lana has come to be synonymous with the 'sad girl' aesthetic, romanticizing toxic relationships, drug use and depression. Often knocked for this, I argue that this is half of her appeal, the vulnerability she shows in her desperation is certainly why so many of us millennials connected with Lana. 

While not a sonic shift, you'll still hear the signature juxtaposition of mellow hip hop beats with cinematic strings and folk influences, 'Lust for Life' is a thematic shift for Del Rey. Instead of being peppered with nods to daddy and wrapped up in self lamenting, she manages to sound more hopeful, and dare I say, more empowered, than ever before. Songs like 'In My Feelings,' see Lana taking control of an unhealthy relationship, calling her beau a 'loser' and demanding he 'get that cigarette smoke out of my face.' She asserts herself in the chorus by saying "who's tougher than this bitch? who's freer than me? You wanna make the switch, be my guest, babe." It's hard to recall a Lana song in which she so defiantly gives the kiss off to her man.

In the album closer 'Get Free,' Lana reflects on some of her darkest days (see- the song 'blackest day' from Honeymoon) by vowing to keep going and change her mindset. The lyric 'sometimes it feels like I got a war in my mind, I wanna get off but I keep riding the ride' cleverly references her single 'Ride' while resolving to just keep going, even when times get hard. 

Another major thematic shift of 'Lust for Life' is seen in Lana's abandonment of self destructive habits. In the song 'Heroin,' she sings about the internal struggle to prioritize self care despite her sadness and all of the external noise that keeps pulling her back into her old ways. The dreamy chorus line "flying to the moon again, dreaming about Heroin" is switched in the final chorus to say "flying to the moon again, dreaming about marzipan, taking all my medicine, to take my thoughts away..... I hope that I come back one day, to tell you that I've really changed." 

Del Rey has often been criticized for being 'anti-feminist,' preferring to play the 'other woman' than the girls' girl. She has been quoted in recent interviews as saying how the current political situation has made her feel threatened (what woman hasn't?), and this feeling of uncertainty has caused her to not only pepper her lyrics with more pro-female lines, but also more political awareness and American skepticism than ever before.  Songs like "God Bless America-And All The Beautiful Women In It" (produced by Metro Boomin') contain a nod to other women "may they stand strong and proud like lady liberty" with two gun shots after each line in the chorus. The gun shot is especially effective because it conveys a duality in her message, she rejoices in her love of women, on the other hand, neither Lana, nor most women, feel safe in America as it stands. Songs like 'When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing' blatantly ask "Is it the end of America?" again, a huge thematic shift from previous works both celebrating and idolizing the country (National Anthem, American, etc.)

In Lust for Life, Lana has given her fans a return, sonically, to some of her most beloved albums, as in terms of production, this sounds very similar to Born to Die, but has managed to mature and evolve in terms of subject matter. She has shown extreme growth as an artist who still struggles to see the light at times, but despite the overwhelmingly desperate political situation and uncertainty, sees a glimmer of hope, which she gracefully shares with her listeners throughout the 16 song record. 

Personal Favorites: 

• Summer Bummer
• 13 Beaches
• Heroin
• Change
• When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing

Most insta worthy lyrics:

• "Hip hop in the summer, don't be a bummer, babe" -Summer Bummer
• Key lime and perfume and festivals" -Groupie Love
• "Past Ventura in lenses plenty in the white sunshine" -13 Beaches

Lust For Life was released on 7/21/17 and is available now.

DUA LIPA | NEW RULES

British singer Dua Lipa has been a favorite of mine since Summer 2015 when her song 'New Love' began making waves in the Soundcloud and blog scene. Her deep, raspy voice and assertive lyrics have made me full on fan girl ever since. Her debut album finally was released this year in June 2017, after seven singles. 

'New Rules' is one of the standouts from her album. The video (below) is getting a ton of hype (Lorde recently tweeted about it) and is currently #17 on trending on Youtube. The songs lyrics depict a one sided relationship in which Dua comes up with her 'new rules' to help her say no to the guy who is "only calling cause he's drunk and alone." Side note: haven't we ALL been there? 

The video begins with Dua in bed looking rather muted and almost zombie like as she laments the lyrics surrounded by girl friends. Throughout the course of the video, we see Dua becoming more empowered (the more she practices the 'New Rules,' the easier it gets to move on from the guy and be strong). The second verse shows her taking a more confident role and advising her girl friends, and by the end of the video Dua is stoically and powerfully walking on water and dancing poolside. The theme of female friendships is one not often seen enough in music videos, and it's important to point out that there are no male actors in the video. Visually, the clip is a dreamy pastel colored aesthetic set in a Miami hotel complete with a flock of pink flamingos that serve as extras for the set. 

Check the video out: