I saw The 1975 at Coachella two years ago enveloped in the desert of Indio as the sun was setting over the tops of palm trees, and the lead singer was draped in a deep V tank top, weighing in at a cool 95 pounds, constantly stroking his sheen of hasn't-been-showered-in-months hair, looking more like the newest member of One Direction than someone I'd ever think would be capable of writing my favorite song of the year. WELL PEOPLE, life is full of surprises, and The 1975' "Somebody Else" was my favorite track this year, eclipsing all sorts of other phenomenal songs.

"Somebody Else" reminds me of what 80s music could have been: a sultry and subdued synth driven jam that cruises to a bass line and the sweet falsetto of said One Direction-like vocalist, Matthew Healy. It was released in early 2016, and I've NEVER gotten tired of it, listening to it an ungodly amount of times.

As it goes for the other 99 songs, there are some usual suspects showing up on the list: Frank Ocean (four songs), Drake (three songs), Radiohead (two songs), and Kendrick (one of his own and featured on two tracks), but there's also two new artists that I have become mildly obsessed with - Night Moves (three songs) and Isaiah Rashad (three songs).

I'm still trying to define Night Moves. They're a rock band with serious range as comparisons between the upbeat rocket "Carl Sagan," the throw-up-your-lighters sing-a-long "Leave Your Light On," and the 70s epic seven minute jam "Hiding in the Melody" end only with the raw beauty of their lead singer's chops. They got soul, some panache, and a collection of tracks that sang to me. But their sound continues to defy comparison, a welcome change in tune.

There are MANY songs that I can point you towards to understand my love of Isaiah Rashad. Prior to his amazing sophomore album released this year, I probably would have said:

Or:

But NOW, it has to be "Free Lunch," this year's #7 track. Rashad is clearly influenced from Tribe's jazzy sounds, but he also has some Outkast in him and an ability to subtly ride along on tracks without being the sole center while keeping his soul in it, see: "4r Da Squaw."

Anderson Paak has to be mentioned. He wins Best New Artist in my estimation. It's hard only to give "Heart Don't Stand a Chance" the #10 billing, but this song has it all, a great intro, a crazy bounce into the groove with Paak's raspy sing-song rapping and R&B'ing, and a funky rollercoaster of a ride in and out of beats.

More and more artists are going the dual threat role of rapper/singer, but Paak embarrasses the most of them because he can sing so well. He's an artist that has become one of the hottest features in rap, showing up on albums all over, including Tribe, Schoolboy Q, Chance the Rapper, Mac Miller, Kaytranda, and The Game.

But speaking of dual threats, let's talk about the biggest dual threat out there: Frank Ocean. This man is the Marvin Gaye of our time. I don't think his voice stands up to Gaye's, but I think his songs are more inventive and solely his own and completely inimitable.

My favorite Ocean track was either "Nights" or "Pink + White," and it took me a while to choose a superior one. I flip-flopped all year but landed on "Nights" because of Ocean's changes in flows and rhythms. The track begins to exit off the highway at 1:39 and slowly fade into another universe, when Ocean croons the catchiest cadence he's ever had (starting at 1:47),

Time to start you daaaaay bruh,
Can't keep being laiiiiid off,
Know you need the money if you gon' surviiiiiive
Every niiiiight shit,
every dayyyyy shit
Dropping baby off at home before my niiiiight shift
You know I can't hear none of that spend the niiiiight shit
That kumbayaaaaa shit
Wanna see nirvana, but don't want to diiiiie yet
Wanna feel that na na though, could you come byyyyy?
Fuck with me after myyyyy shift
Know them boys wanna see me broke dooooown and shit
Bummed ouuuuut and shit,
stressed ouuuuut and shit
That's every daaaaay shit
Shut the fuck up I don’t want your conversaaaaation
Rolling marijuana that's a cheap vacaaaaation
My every daaaaay shit
Every niiiiight shit
Every daaaaay shit
Every niiiiight shit

Just so so beautiful.

"Pink + White" will be played for decades to come, a timeless song that will play in the background of weddings, late night lovin' mixes, and probably the track that showcases Ocean's straight up ability to create something gorgeous. WHO DOESN'T LIKE THIS SONG??? Its should offend absolutely no one and amaze most with his sincere vocals. YOU SHOWED ME LOVE.

Then there's Bon Iver. I wrote this year about my honor to see Justin Vernon at The Fox. It was one of the two best shows I've seen this year (Tame Impala's being the other) and one of those shows where one's brilliance comes to life. I've listened to Bon Iver since I heard:

I thought the second album was a bit critically overrated, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. But the standout tracks from their new album, 22, A Million, play so many tricks on my ears. Listen to these tracks with headphones and try to pick out every instruments. I'm listening to "33 'GOD'" right now (for the 300th time) and just heard a banjo that I've never heard in the track before. Time after time, there are new nuances to identify within these tracks, layers of sounds.

I imagine some of you might have been a bit baffled when you saw that Rihanna was not only on this list but had my #8 favorite song of the year. But have you heard this song?!? This is the most fucking badass song.

Speaking of Rihanna, Drake is all over this playlist. It doesn't matter what year it is, Drake continues to make music that everyone loves. This is not an easy task. He has hooks and melodies for days, rhythm and raps for years on end. Keep it comin', sir.

I still think the best lyrical track of the whole year is Schoolboy Q's "Neva Change." I wrote about this a while back, so please check my piece on it, but it still stands the test of time. And apologies to D.R.A.M. who gets second place with arguably the funniest rap song about weed I've ever heard and one of the best flows and verses of the year:

I got companies and Pesos
I got people on my payroll
She don't do it 'less I say so
I don't smoke if it ain't fuego
I should sauce 'em up like Prego
Fettucini with Alfredo
All I wanted was the fame and every game they made on Sega
I was five or six years old when I had told myself, "Okay you're special"
But I treat you like my equal never lesser
I was twenty-six years old when we had dropped this one amazing record
Had the world steppin'
That's what I call epic
Couple summers later I got paper
I acquired taste for salmon on a bagel
With the capers on a square plate
At the restaurant with the why you got to stare face
To know I either ball or I record over the snare and bass
Rapper face, dread headed
Golden diamond teeth wearin'
They just mad cause I got that cheese, bitch, I keep dairy
Turnt up in the party gettin' lit to Yachty
With a Spanish Barbie, word to my mami

There's too many other artists to name one by one, but needless to say, there's a ton of representation of genres to the point that I even have a country song on here, "Stay a Little Longer." It's a catchy song with a long lost appearance from the guitar solo! There's even a fewelectronic tracks that really resonated with me. "Do It 4 U" is the best buildup track and drop I heard this year ("Let me get you like!"), yet it didn't sound cheesy or overdone like most of them. Just a killer song. Disclosure released another catchy track, and rounding the group was Tourist, who not only had a Top 25 Album but "U" was one of my favorite tracks.

There's something for everyone on this playlist and hopefully some artists you haven't heard that you'll fall in love with. If it's Isaiah Rashad, please just let me know, I love hearing when other people love this guy as much as I do.

Thank you to the people out there for listening, following my playlists, reading my ramblings, and supporting me with comments and inspirations. And COMING NEXT WEEK to the few remaining album listeners out there, my Top 25 Albums of 2016!!

Top 100 Songs of 2016

1 Somebody Else – The 1975
2 Nights – Frank Ocean
3 The Space Program – A Tribe Called Quest
4 33 "GOD" – Bon Iver
5 Pink + White – Frank Ocean
6 22 (OVER S∞∞N) – Bon Iver
7 Free Lunch – Isaiah Rashad
8 Needed Me – Rihanna
9 Controlla – Drake
10 Heart Don't Stand a Chance – Anderson Paak
11 Hiding In The Melody – Night Moves
12 Self Control – Frank Ocean
13 Feel No Ways – Drake
14 Call To Arms – Sturgill Simpson
15 Neva CHange – Schoolboy Q
16 4r Da Squaw – Isaiah Rashad
17 Totally Mutual Feeling – Lushlife
18 Leave Your Light On – Night Moves
19 Celebrate – Anderson Paak
20 Decks Dark – Radiohead
21 We The People.... – A Tribe Called Quest
22 Ultralight Beam – Kanye West
23 No Problem – Chance The Rapper, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz
24 Solo – Frank Ocean
25 Secrets – The Weeknd
26 Redemption – Drake
27 Amerika – Young the Giant
28 Dark Days – Local Natives
29 All Nite – Clams Casino, Vince Staples
30 Truth Lies Low – Andrew Bird
31 Wat's Wrong – Isaiah Rashad
32 Devastated – Joey Bada$$
33 Vertigo Flowers – Nothing
34 Keep It Between The Lines – Sturgill Simpson
35 Town & Country – Bibio
36 Broccoli – D.R.A.M., Lil Yachty
37 Silhouette – Goldroom
38 Present Tense – Radiohead
39 THat Part – Schoolboy Q, Kanye West
40 untitled 08 | 09.06.2014. – Kendrick Lamar
41 It's All in Vain – Wet
42 Tough – Goldroom
43 Adore – Savages
44 Life Itself – Glass Animals
45 Really Doe – Danny Brown, Kendrick, Ab-Soul, Earl
46 Do It 4 U – Machinedrum, Dawn Richard
47 Get Back – Alex Frankel
48 Alaska – Maggie Rogers
49 Let Me Explain – Bryson Tiller
50 BOSS - Radio Edit – Disclosure
51 Stay A Little Longer – Brothers Osborne
52 Dave's Song – Whitney
53 Every Season – Cousin Stizz
54 Carl Sagan – Night Moves
55 I Got a Lot of Love to Give – Dizzy Wright
56 Woman – Angel Olsen
57 The Ride – Allan Kingdom
58 U – Tourist
59 Flow with It – St. Paul & The Broken Bones
60 I Need A Forest Fire – James Blake, Bon Iver
61 Go Flex – Post Malone
62 Dull Times/The Moon – Band of Horses
63 Snowflake – Carl Broemel
64 La Lune – Billie Marten
65 Atomic Number – Neko Case, k.d. lang, Laura Veirs
66 Fill in the Blank – Car Seat Headrest
67 Fading Lines – Amber Arcades
68 Under the Sun – Diiv
69 Cry – Carly Rae Jepsen
70 Best to You – Blood Orange
71 Housewives – Bas
72 Light Upon the Lake – Whitney
73 If I Ever Was a Child – Wilco
74 Hendrix – Wyclef Jean
75 Into Eternity – Syd Arthur
76 Sweep Me Off My Feet – Pond
77 Friends – Francis and the Lights
78 Rising Water – James Vincent McMorrow
79 No More Parties In LA – Kanye West
80 What Light (Never Goes Dim) – Aidan Knight
81 Here In Spirit – Jim James
82 Deadbeat Girl – Day Wave
83 Devon Loch – Future Haunts
84 Crime Cutz – Holy Ghost!
85 Laugh About It – Tedeschi Trucks Band
86 Hero – Lissie
87 Safe and Sound – Justice
88 Another Youth – Horse Thief
89 Villainy – Local Natives
90 The Sound – The 1975
91 You're Mine – Lola Marsh
92 Marathon Man – Bear Hands
93 Wake The Dead – Nassau
94 First World Problem – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
95 Shoes Off – Swet Shop Boys
96 It Hurts Until It Doesn't – Mothers
97 Like It's Over – Jai Wolf
98 Wings of Love – liv
99 1-5-9 – Koi Child
100 Manastra – Summer Salt