It’s basically still January, right? Time to kick off my year-end content. My year end stuff took a lot longer to get out this year, partially because there were a bunch of records that I didn’t get a chance to listen to or couldn’t find before the end of 2019 and partially because I couldn’t decide how to approach it. In the end, I decided a more scaled back approach for this year (fewer charts and graphs) felt right. In total, I ended up listening to 459 records released in 2019 and I’m kicking off the only slightly belated year-end content with my top songs of the year.
This data was mostly curated from my Spotify listening and skews heavily towards singles or individual songs I listened to repeatedly (rather than full albums). It’s also a little taster of some artists that will be popping up again on my other year-end lists. One final caveat is that I listen to Spotify a lot at the gym and while trying to wake up, so that further skews the list towards more raucous/upbeat songs than my usual listening. Enough rambling, here are my 51 favourite bops and bangers of 2019.
Hip-Hop / Rap
- 22Gz – Spin the Block (Feat. Kodak Black) ▶
- Band Gang Lonnie Bands – Shred 1.5 (Feat. Shredgang Mone & Cash Click Bong) ▶
- Beast Coast – Bones (Feat. The Underachievers, Nyck Caution & Kirk Knight) ▶
- Chynna – iddd ▶
- clipping. – Blood of the Fang ▶
- DaBaby – Taking It Out ▶
- Earthgang – Proud of U (Feat. Young Thug) ▶
- Future – Unicorn Purp (Feat. Young Thug & Gunna) ▶
- Hook – more ▶ (link is to “Stand It”)
- JPEGMAFIA – Papi I Missed You ▶
- Lil Tecca – Ransom ▶
- Megan Thee Stallion – Sex Talk ▶
- Pop Smoke – Welcome to the Party ▶
- Q Da Fool & Kenny Beats – Work (Feat. SPLURGE) ▶
- Sada Baby – Dumbass ▶
- Schoolboy Q – Numb Numb Juice ▶
- Thouxanbanfauni & UnoTheActivist – CHOPPA DOWN ▶
- Tyler, The Creator – WHAT’S GOOD ▶
- Young M.A – Bleed ▶
Rock / Metal
- Charly Bliss – Capacity ▶
- Cherry Glazerr – Daddi ▶
- Kim Gordon – Sketch Artist ▶
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Self-Immolate ▶
- Mannequin Pussy – Who You Are ▶
- The New Pornographers – You’ll Need a New Backseat Driver ▶
- Oso Oso – Basking in the Glow ▶
- Pom Pom Squad – Cherry Blossom ▶
- Sleater-Kinney – Hurry On Home ▶
- Tegan and Sara – Hello, I’m Right Here ▶
- Tool – 7empest ▶
- The Twilight Sad – [10 Good Reasons for Modern Drugs] ▶
Electronic / Experimental / Pop
- 100 gecs – money machine ▶
- Billie Eilish – bad guy ▶
- Black Dresses – There’s Nothing Here Worth Dying For ▶
- Black Taffy – Windflower ▶
- Bon Iver – Hey, Ma ▶
- Boy Harsher – Fate ▶
- Chromatics – Whispers in the Hall ▶
- FKA Twigs – Cellophane ▶
- G Jones – Dark Artifact ▶
- HEALTH – Feel Nothing ▶
- Jai Paul – He ▶
- Jenny Hval – Accident (Feat. Laura Jean) ▶
- The Juan Maclean – Zone Non Linear ▶
- Juia Kent – Sheared ▶
- Karyyn – Aleppo ▶
- luthorist – Prism ▶
- Moodymann – I’ll Provide ▶
- Rian Treanor – ATAXIA_B2 ▶
- Octo Octa – Imminent Spirit Arrival ▶
- Vagabon – Flood ▶