99 Lives 2021
It's Rodrigo vs. the world in our songs of the year (guess who wins)
The main compositional change from previous years (aside from no metal because I haven’t been paying attention) is the comeback of African pop, or “Afropop” as we old people used to say. I’m too lazy to check whether the eleven African entries are a record, but previous high points have relied on a generous attitude towards reissue eligibility; this time, only José Carlos Schwarz’s anti-colonial plea is old music. Further, apart from Mdou Moctar and Groupe RTD, the Africans here are very contemporary-meaning-electronic, led by six entries from South Africa, most of which fall under the house umbrella. The one song that clearly falls under the currently marketable Amapiano heading is by Mozambique’s DJ Tarico. If the lesson is that I should’ve been paying more attention to Southern Africa all this time rather than bashing my head in trying to love Nigerian Afrobeats (though Wizkid’s crossover hit, not included here, is likable enough), the Ivovy Coast’s Rémy Adan has the continent’s highest placing hit. It features a dog’s bark, always a good sign.
There’s a three song per artist maximum, which limits only Olivia Rodrigo, but she can afford the hit. Her entries on this list have been played an aggregate of 3.1 billion times on Spotify, whereas the other 96 songs below—which include two Billie Eilishes, two Taylor Swifts, and a decent chunk of the biggest names in rap—total 2.5 billion plays. This shows that the problem with the record biz’s current business model, from the point of view of artists, is deeper than easy (if valid) target Spotify. There’s no way to make a per-play payout model fair when an artist gets multiple orders of magnitude more plays than most others of similar merit. The one song on the list not on streaming service is Maria Schneider’s “Sanzenin”. It’s available on Data Lords, which is twenty-five bucks for a download of a Semipop Life B+. It’s worth it even without accounting for the value of principle.
Songs with fewer than 100k Spotify plays, which includes what I know is the runaway number one not just for me, are bolded for your particular attention, because it would nice if creating one of the year’s best songs paid for a couple of weeks’ rent. There are links to all my singles columns for the year, which are questionable as criticism but sometimes funny.
Mariah the Scientist: “2 You”
Zakes Bantwini, Kasango: “Osama”
Aespa: “Iconic”
William Parker, Eri Yamamoto: “The Golden Light (Hymn)”
Olivia Rodrigo: “Deja Vu”
Taylor Swift: “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version)
Sun-El Musician, Dafro, Simmy: “Love Is Blind”
Robyn Ottolini: “Sincerely, Drunk Me”
Noname: “Rainforest”
Lucy Dacus: “Thumbs”
Oh My Girl: “Dun Dun Dance”
Flo Milli: “Beef FloMix”
Octo Octa: “Goddess Calling”
Maisie Peters: “John Hughes Movie”
Kehlani: “Altar”
James McMurtry: “Operation Never Mind”
Olivia Rodrigo: “Drivers License”
Brockhampton: “Don’t Shoot Up the Party”
Ashley Monroe: “Gold”
DMX Krew: “Wetware”
Penelope Scott: “Rät”
Dinner Party, Phoelix: “Freeze Tag”
Kalie Shorr: “Amy”
Colleen Green: “I Wanna Be a Dog”
Robyn Ottolini: “Hold Me Back”
Aesop Rock: “Long Legged Larry”
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall: “Waxahachie”
Japanese Breakfast: “Be Sweet”
Billie EIlish: “NDA”
Elvie Shane: “My Boy”
Tune-Yards: “Hold Yourself”
Lexii Alijai, Wale: “Hoodie SZN”
Maria Schneider Orchestra: “Sanzenin”
Halsey: “Honey”
Margo Price: “Prisoner of the Highway”
Carly Pearce: “29”
Sun-El Musician, Simmy: “Higher”
Gift of Gab: “Alchemy”
The Plastic People of the Universe: “Apokalyptickej Pták” (live)
Lainey Wilson: “Things a Man Oughta Know”
Sotomayor: “Menéate pa’ mí”
Morgan Wade: “Wilder Days”
Tinashe: “I Can See the Future”
Kanye West: “Come to Life”
DJ Tarico, Burna Boy, Preck, Nelson Tivane: “Yaba Buluku” (remix)
Sa-Roc, Styles P: “Rocwell’s America”
Groupe RTD: “Raga Kaan Ka’Eegtow (You Are the One I Love)”
Lydia Loveless, Laura Jane Grace: “September”
R.A.P. Ferreira: “Cycles”
Nathalie Joachim, Amanda Gookin: “Dam mwen yo”
Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lil Wayne: “Seeing Green”
Section H8: “Track & Field”
Tee Grizzley: “Late Night Calls”
Snail Mail: “Valentine”
Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh, Christian Lillinger: “Natt Raum”
José Carlos Schwarz & Le Cobiana Djazz: “Na Kolonia”
Emperor X: “Sad React”
Ayron Jones: “Mercy”
Rocket Punch: “Ring Ring”
DJ Cleo, Bucy Radebe: “Gcina Impilo Yami”
Mdou Moctar: “Chismiten”
Jazmine Sullivan: “The Other Side”
Joseph Spence: “Out on the Rolling Sea” (live)
Blaq Diamond: “Ibhanoyi”
Olivia Rodrigo: “Good 4 U”
Earl Sweatshirt: “2010”
Bladee, Ecco 2k: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
Arlo Parks: “Black Dog”
Jasiah, Denzel Curry, Rico Nasty: “Art of War”
Playboi Carti, Kid Cudi: “M3tamorphosis”
Kali Uchis: “Telepatía”
Dua Lipa, The Blessed Madonna, Zach Witness: “Boys Will Be Boys” (remix)
Larry Fleet: “Where I Found God”
Lil Baby, EST Gee: “Real as It Gets”
Hamell on Trial: “This Is a Hamell Show”
Parquet Courts: “Walking at a Downtown Pace”
Low Cut Connie: “American Skin (41 Shots)”
Sam Fender: “Seventeen Going Under”
Jorja Smith, Shaybo: “Bussdown”
India Jordan: “For You”
Megan Thee Stallion: “Thot Shit”
Billie Eilish: “Happier Than Ever”
Dustin Lynch: “Momma’s House”
Big Red Machine, Taylor Swift: “Renegade”
The Chills: “The Walls Beyond Abandon”
Miley Cyrus: “Never Be Me”
Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar: “Range Brothers”