Top 100 Songs of 2021

After listening to 62,510 minutes of music, 1,377 Artists, and 149 genres, I’ve digested a lot of tunes in 2021! There are so many different sounds and styles to this year’s playlist, it may be the most eclectic mix yet! We have a West African artist (Falle Nioke), a Turkish band with all sorts of influences (Altin Gun), a rock band in Niger (Mdou Moctar), a rapper from Chattanooga, Tennessee (Isaiah Rashad), an indie band from Minneapolis (Hippo Campus), masters in electronic music from across the pond in England (Disclosure), one of the more consistent electro-pop bands out there from Scotland (Chvrches), the best rock band I’ve heard in years, hailing from Baltimore (Turnstile), and so many more!

There’s rap, rock, soul, ballads, electro-pop, electronic, spoken word, funk, and who knows what other “genres” Spotify might class these songs as.

Nonetheless, there’s something for everybody, and hopefully a ton of new music* to discover.

*If you really like a song, check to see if that artist’s album is on my Top 25 Albums of 2021, and that’s a good indicator it’s a great album :)

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 190

Did I mention last week that Billie Eilish released an album? Well, the first track on this week’s mixtape is breathtaking, raw, vulnerable, sexy, and unlike any song I’ve ever heard. It’s so unique it’s haunting. She’s an original. And her brother, FINNEAS, producing all these tracks really does show his genius.

Isaiah Rashad is one of the most original voices in rap in a decade. No one sounds like him. You can definitely say he can sounds like Outkast and is influenced by certain sounds or genres, but his production, flows, and changes in vocals from silky smooth to smokey gnarl to in-between is rare. He’s rare, and while he’s on one of the hottest labels around (TDE, same as Kendrick, Schoolboy Q, SZA, and Jay Rock), he’s still underrated and under appreciated. Don’t just listen once to this guy and give up, listen A LOT.

Listen to his flow in RIP Young and how he transitions from a verse in a spitfire of syllables to instantly pumping the brakes in a cooled down chorus (starting 1t 0:35):

Verse
My dog out layin' down the law, ain't breakin' no laws or serving out the rock /
Southside still fuckin' in the car, still flippin' in the car, still shootin' out the car /
Lil' hotbox smokin' our jar, now I'm fuckin' on a star, hold up, I got a call /
My dog out layin' down the law, ain't breakin' no laws or serving out the rock /
Southside still fuckin' in the car, still flippin' in the car, still shootin' out the car /
Lil' hotbox smokin' our jar, now I'm fuckin' on a star, hold up, I got a call /

Chorus
Bitches say that I'm a cool cat, fuck that /
Tell them bitches I'm a Top Dawg, get shot /
Roll the window, let the propane outside /
Bunch of niggas doin' donuts /
Got the money in a headlock, big dog /
Every time we hit the red lights, just shine /
It ain't nothin' but a good day, don't die /
They ain't teach 'em how to pump fake, big shot

In other news, one of my favorite bands of the past five years, Hippo Campus, just released an LP, Good Dog, Bad Dream. Still haven’t decided on my favorite track, but I love how this bass line guides the song the whole way through.

M.A.G.S. continues to impress me with every single he releases. Who the hell is this guy??

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 188

My apologies, it’s been over month since I’ve posted! Eons in the world of the blogosphere, so I am glad you’ve come back to take a peek into some new music to whet your whistle.

Before we start with the new, let’s prance in the past with a really fantastic ballad by Post Malone from his sophomore album. Despite his overall ridculousness from the face tattoos to the album names, Malone is a seriously talented pop star. “Stay” is a beautiful track, and that’s not something you’d expect to hear about a Post Malone track from an album called beerbongs and bentleys.

This topic of beautiful songs seems to be the theme on this week’s mixtape. Cautious Clay, a solo act with pipes and soul, showcases his depth, and new artist, Joy Oladukun, has to give some of you older folk Tracy Chapman vibes.

Billie Eiiish brings her brand of beauty, a slowly haunting, whisper of a track that builds and builds until it falls off a cliff, as we fall back to the start.

Faye Webster is a gem. She’s a mix between Natalie Prass and Kacey Musgraves with the rhythms of hip-hop.

And then there’s Sault. I’m not sure what to say of Sault other than they are very different and making some great music that the world is starting to wake up to. Keep your eyes on this band.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 185

You’re getting transported on this week’s mixtape: Biking along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, whatever your friend gave you an hour earlier starts to kick in when the trippy track by the appropriately named Holydrug Couple rings through your eardrums, creating colors and sounds over the ocean like rainbows raining…Now as your mind and self are adequately disoriented, Wolf Alice wakes you, rocks your core as you stumble off your bike unbalanced, falling...Oidar’s track may sound a bit more clear and down the straight and narrow, but you gain consciousness in a maze of mirrors. The only way out is up, and the vocals lift you to the clouds…you’re weightless, sitting on pillows whiter than snow, as the sounds of an acoustic guitar envelop you, and an angel with a voice like Billie Eilish serenades you as you drift off to sleep…and dream something akin to a masterfully choreographed iPhone commercial with Madlib’s jazzy choral track as the conductor… your outfit changes to a faded light jean jacket and same-colored jeans, an 80s vibe and neon lights as Ryan Adams’ big head rises like the moon and sings to you...You’re back home, laying in bed. It’s bedtime. In another language, one last song speaks to you, and no translation is needed as you drift to sleep.

The magic of music compels our days.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 173 - Introducing the World's Next Pop Star - BENEE

All I can say is BENEE enraptured my attention from the the first note of the first track I heard, the first track of this week’s Monday Mixtape, “Happen to Me.”

Every once in a while, a song really catches my attention, but when it’s a new artist I’ve never heard, I’m usually skeptical. It’s probably a one-off, I think to myself. But I have to look into the album where the song came from when I hear a track like this. And so begins my love of BENEE.

BENEE is of the Lorde / Billie Eilish / Grimes / SZA mold, I guess, simply because she’s a young (20 years old!) female with a sound that resonates with the times. Like Lorde, she’s from Auckland, New Zealand. Like SZA, she’s got more soul, R&B, and funk in her songs than any of the others could even try.

More importantly, the others got massively popular with the release of one album, and I think the same is going to happen to BENEE. She’s got six or seven big hits on her just-released album, Hey u x.

She’s got a great voice, a sweet wispy, almost husky serenade. Her vocals really shine when she’s performing on bare tracks like “C U,” “Want Me Back,” or when she shows up as a feature like Joji’s “Afterthought.” (which isn’t on this playlist!)

She’s got a better voice than Lorde, Grimes, and Eilish, but her lyrics are pretty usual, at least in Lorde standards. She’s not the creative solo genius that Grimes brings to the table, but almost every one of her songs is catchy, and there aren’t bad tracks. They all have great drum beats, lay on the synths and spacey effects when needed, and her vocals and intonations always make the song stronger. Her album sounds like a team that’s been playing together for years, seamlessly in sync at every bridge, chorus, intro, and outro.

I also hear influence from other bands I love, like the xx (if you don’t hear the xx on “Happen To Me” than you crazy!) and Beach House. Her songs, like theirs, can be very subtle: a guitar lick (the one on “Monsta” is so sick), a drum beat, her vocals, and occasionally bits of keyboards and synths too add some memorable spice. She makes subtle sweet and powerful.

On Spotify, she’s currently 343rd in the world. Not bad (seriously)! I’m going to go on a limb and guarantee she’ll be in the Top 50 by the end of 2021.

This is your year, BENEE!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 127

This week’s mixtape is for all the lovers of singer/songwriters, the rambling poets exhaling smoke, folk, and lullabies in the wind.

Every one of these artists I’ve only recently discovered (and Townes Van Zandt has been making music since the 70s! Guess I got some work to do for him), and it’s like they all hit me in a slow motion hurricane. These are all beautiful songs in their own right, but the songs all move at a soft, steady pace. This is music to burn a fire to. Let the embers and colors float amongst the darkness and close your eyes. Escape to the sounds of the crackling fire, like a record player, play the night away.

And let yourself fall asleep…