Robb’s Recs: The Top 250 greatest Songs of the 21st Century
By Robb Laffoon
So last week Rolling Stone released their list of their top 250 songs of the 21st century and while the list was offensive and atrocious, it did get me thinking… What ARE the greatest songs? So, I made a list. It was 25 songs, and then it became 50, and we released it here on the site.
Well unfortunately I have the ESPN strain of ADHD where everything needs to be put into a definitive list and everything needs to be barber shop discourse, so I ended up pushing it to 250. I made a few changes from my original list, wrote it and rewrote it, and now here we are. Here is a photo of me working hard on formulating the list!
Now as my therapist (the horoscope twitter account I follow) always tells me,I suffer from crippling indecision so I didn’t do a true numerical ranking. This is more of a tier ranking, I did them in batches of 25 and wrote them down as I thought of them with very few edits so take that for what it’s worth. If that’s an issue then please know that I don’t feel great about it but hey man, it’s better than your list.
Now let's talk about what my parameters were: Music is subjective, so when I say best or greatest I am not speaking pound for pound quality of the track or the production or the performance or anything like that. What I’m doing is combining a few factors which I will explain ad nauseum below:
First and foremost, cultural impact and influence: It’s the music business not the music friendship, and in business success is measured in black and white metrics as well as dollars and cents. What that means is yes, popularity and chart success and the like are fairly important, but I also dug into the intangibles that don’t show up on the stat sheet. For example, did this song move culture? Did it influence music moving forward? Do people remember where they were when they first heard it?
Next up, the quality of the song. Forget what I said a couple paragraphs up, the actual song does matter when making these rankings, it’s just not the be all end all. As an unsuccessful songwriter with a fake music school degree, I consider myself a bit of an expert when it comes to the simple art of songwriting. While making this list I used my Dunning Kroeger expertise to really weigh In which of these songs stood the test of time. Which songs are the most timeless? The most well written, well crafted and well performed?
Last but not least yeah I guess a little personal bias came into play. I dunno man if you have a problem make your own list bro! On principle you will notice a lack of stomp clap and most EDM. Look, you gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything okay? Again, my list my rules. To quote a man who appears in said rankings, it's my way, it's my way, my way or the highway.
Without further ado, here are my top 250 songs of the 21st century, in no particular order:
THE TOP 25
Sean Kingston “Beautiful Girls”
Sampling Stand By Me feels like a cheat code but Kingston’s contributions make it worthy of the list. A timeless song about young love and the pain of heartbreak. This song is so 2007 but it doesn't sound like 2007. Thanks to the 1-6-4-5 doo wop progression, the bouncy pop production and Kingston's vocal delivery, the song feels fresh and timeless everytime you hear it. Also, borderline emo adjacent AF. Damn all you beautiful girls is right, you tell ‘em SeanThe Killers “Mr. Brightside”
Arguably #1 on this list and arguably the most well known and (over)played song of the millennium. Mr. Brightside is the millennial Wonderwall, the Sweet Caroline of contemporary music. Say what you want, it belongs. Sometimes bands work their entire career to write their defining song, sometimes it comes about by accident. This song is not only the latter, but it's one of the first songs the band ever wrote which makes it all the more impressive to me.
Nelly “Country Grammar”
A song so good it makes drive by shootings sound glamorous. People forget this, but during the early 2000s the world belonged to two rappers. Eminem and Nelly. This Is the song that put him on the map and to this day still stands as his greatest track.
*NSYNC “It’s Gonna Be Me”
Surprisingly enough, the only *NSYNC song to ever top the charts. Bye Bye Bye was the first single off this album, but in my opinion this is their best song and the exact moment they surpassed BSB as THE boy band.
Blink-182 “I Miss You”
A song so influential it changed the English language. Don’t believe me? Say the words “where are you?” and TELL ME you didn’t do in Delonge voice. YEAD!? C’MON! The only blink-182 song recorded entirely acoustic, this song was their biggest risk and biggest reward.
The Strokes “Last Night”
Combining Tom Petty, The Velvet Undergound, and The Ramones, this song was like a nostalgic breath of fresh air in a world consumed by JNCO jeans, chain wallet and frosted tips. If Smells Like Teen Spirit killed hair metal, then Last Night killed nu metal.
OutKast “Hey Ya!”
If Mr. Brightside isn’t in the top spot of this list, it’s because Hey Ya! Took its place. This song felt like such a departure for Outkast when it dropped in 2003 but it went on to become bigger than the both of them. I dunno why I’m even typing all of this, you don’t wanna read this you just wanna dance…
Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
Does this need any explaining? Easily one of the biggest and greatest pop songs of the 2010s. A song so good that it relegated CRJ to a one hit wonder label despite releasing some of the best pop music of the decade after Call Me Maybe.
Nickelback “How You Remind Me”
The national anthem of Canada and the most played songs of the 2000s, you could not escape this song on rock radio. Never made it as a wise man, never made it more than 20 minutes without hearing this song between late 2001 and early 2003.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
One of the most beautiful songs of all time. The pounding floor toms, the droning guitar notes ringing out. The song is already perfect before Karen O even comes in, taking it from great track to all time classic.
Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”
The greatest pop hit of all time, musically speaking. An absolutely perfect song that would be in the top 5 if this list was ranked. The youth only know Katy as the embarrassing wine drunk auntie, but for a moment there in the early 2010s, she was doing numbers only matched by Michael.
Chief Keef “Love Sosa”
A song written and recorded by a teenager while he was at home serving a school suspension, this is maybe the greatest and most important hip hop song of the decade. At a time when rappers were becoming the new pop stars, Chief Keef stormed in like Sid Vicious, spitting and sneering at the establishment. In my opinion, one could argue that Chief Keef was the last great rockstar, a punk rocker who broke the mold and forced his way from a kid in a bedroom to a major player in the world of hip hop. Shoutout Sosa.
[REDACTED] “Ignition (Remix)”
I wish I could praise this song as much as I want to but I’d rather take this time to suggest you watch Surviving R Kelly. Losing this song bums me out, but it doesn’t hold a roman candle to the pain these women dealt with at the hands of this jabroni.
The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”
The most iconic guitar riff of the century so far, you can not go to an arena or stadium anywhere in the world without hearing this. Between Jack White’s masterful yet simple guitar work and Meg White’s primal drumbeats, The White Stripes were so special they were able to tell the world they were brother and sister and people just kinda went with it.
50 Cent “In Da Club”
Much like Katy Perry, the youth will never understand the force that 50 Cent was in the early to mid 2000s. He eliminated Ja Rule and for a moment in time he was even bigger than his mentor Eminem. It would take a guy from Chicago in pink polos and a backpack to end G Unit’s reign of terror over the rap game. Seriously though, go listen to this song if it's been a while. Very few things jump out of the speakers in the way this song does.
LCD Soundsystem “Dance Yrself Clean”
If Last Night is the obvious choice for greatest song of the 2000s indie sleaze era, then this is the cool choice. The build up, the drop, the frantic yelps from frontman James Murphy. What a song, what an era.
Kanye West “Runaway”
It’s hard to say this now given his recent, uhhhh, transgressions, but for a good stretch Kanye was making a strong argument for greatest artist of his time. Recorded In Hawaii following the loss of his mom and the VMA fiasco, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his greatest album and Runaway is the song that ties it all together. The emotional climax. Let’s have a toast for the douchebags.
Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom”
Already well established in the indie rock world as one of the greatest power pop bands of their time, Stacy’s Mom took them into a whole different stratosphere. Arguably one of the most well known songs of this time and an absolute masterclass in pop perfection. The best part? This isn’t even in the top 5-10 Fountains of Wayne songs.
All American Rejects “Gives You Hell”
I really wasn’t sure about putting this on here, but only because Swing Swing and Dirty Little Secret also exist. Although their albums are very good, AAR were definitely more of a “singles” band and Gives You Hell is their greatest one. A song so big that Tyson Ritter was scared to release it, this song was inescapable when it was unleashed on the world in the summer of 2008.
Fall Out Boy “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down”
The absolute best song to come out of the 2000s hot topic emo boom, Sugar We’re Goin’ Down is truly evergreen. From the drum intro to the soaring guitars to the way Patricks vocals dance around in ways no vocalist in the genre ever had before. Rolling Stone put this on their list somewhere in the 60’s but this RL would put the song in his personal top 3.
Adele “Someone Like You”
Is this the greatest ballad on this list? Of all time? Originally written by Adele and Semisonic’s Dan Wilson, she took this song to Rick Rubin with the intent of making a massive pop production, only to end up stripping it down to the original demo. The raw simplicity combined with Adele’s out of this world vocals make Someone Like You a song that will outlive us all.
Lil Wayne “A Milli”
With all due respect to Eminem, Nelly, Kanye or any other rapper on this list, Lil Wayne is the greatest of this century. The best rapper alive until he wasn’t, but man he really was for a while. If Weezy retired from the game after going to Rikers Island, this man is in a conversation with Pac and Biggie. A Milli is a 3 minute and 40 second barrage of bars from a guy so on top of his game he didn’t even write shit down because he didn’t have time. Weezy F Baby, and the F was for phenomenal.
Sum 41 “Fat Lip”
I don’t think any song encapsulates early 2000s suburbia the way Fat Lip does. A charming blend of pop punk, hip hop and metal, this song showed us that Sum 41 wasn’t your typical pop punk band of the 2000s, sloppily slamming out power chords. Also, the greatest use of the word “abortion” in a song ever, unless I’m forgetting one.
MGMT “Kids”
In America in the year 2008, the only thing more beloved than Obama was the song Kids by MGMT. Coming out at the tail end of the hot topic mall emo era and just barely before the decade of DJ’s and stomp clap, this song is the whiteboy equivalent of Custards Last Stand. Caucasities last taste at cultural relevance before they cringed it all away. It’s truly impossible to not feel good when this song comes on, no matter how far removed we are from the Great Recession years.
Songs 26-50
Lady Gaga “Poker Face”
Lady Gaga is like Madonna, Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland wrapped up in one, and the only reason she hasn’t consistently been the biggest pop star on the planet for the last 17 years is because she doesn’t care to be. Poker Face is a tour de force that never lets up with its throbbing beat before kicking into one of the recession pop eras greatest and most grandiose choruses.
Miley Cyrus “Party in the USA”
If you hear this song and don’t immediately feel good from the second that guitar kicks in, then brother you need to check for a pulse. Ironically enough this song has a bit of a Born in the USA thing going on. Since the song was written by British pop star Jessie J, the lyrics can really be taken as a fish out of water story from the perspective of a European in a foreign land but with Miley, it feels like a small town girls first taste of Hollywood. Party In The USA felt novelty at the time due to Miley still being a Disney star at the time, but time has been very kind to this song and I would love nothing more than to see Miley Cyrus close out a Super Bowl halftime show performance with this song.
Kendrick Lamar “Not Like Us”
The national anthem of LA, performed by the cities unofficial mayor and most beloved citizen. It felt weird putting a song this new in the top 50 because of recency bias, but if you can write a song where you accuse your opps of funny business and then perform it in front of over 100 million people while winking at the camera and saying their name, your cultural impact cannot be understated. WOP WOP WOP WOP WP DOT FUCK EM UP!
Kid Cudi “Pursuit of Happiness”
The most late 2000s song to ever exist maybe. This song smells like salvia rips in your buddies first apartment. It tastes like the four loco laced blue dream you used to wash down your $5 footlong from Subway. Day N’ Nite is the song that put Scott Mescudi on the map, but Pursuit of Happiness is his victory lap. Perfectly assisted by Ratatat, this song will sound good 500 years from now.
Ke$ha “Tik Tok”
I caught some heat for saying this online, but Ke$ha crawled through broken glass so Charli XCX could run. This song was so out of pocket when it dropped. In an era of picture perfect pop stars, Ke$ha showed up two hours late smelling like menthols and mad dog and completely took things over. There’s no telling how much more successful she could have been if she wasn’t held down by Dr. Luke, but her career is still nothing to scoff over. Truly a legend.
Jay Z “99 Problems”
One of the most iconic songs of all time. This Rick Rubin produced heater off of what was supposed to be Jay-Z’s last album is a no nonsense onslaught from a man who was essentially ’98 Jordan at this point.
Eminem “The Real Slim Shady”
Y’all act like you’ve never seen a white person before?! Look I know Lose Yourself gets all the love and My Name Is was the beginning of it all, but this song is when Eminem truly took over the entire motherfucking planet. I’m not sure any musician has ever had a high like Marshall Mathers did from about 99 to 03.
Jimmy Eat World “The Middle”
Arguably the most popular and well known song by any emo band, this song was a surprise hit, catapulted by a post 9/11 americas urge to find positivity.
Green Day “Holiday”
I would personally argue that this is the greatest punk song of the 21st century. A lot of American Idiot feels a little too bloated to me, but Holiday is a perfect pop punk song that comes out and kicks you in the dick repeatedly from start to finish.
Phoebe Bridgers “Kyoto”
A gorgeous song about complicated relationships and the weight that feeling homesick can add to them, this song always felt like it could be a Mark Hoppus sung blink-182 song if you picked it up about 20 bpm.
Vanessa Carlton “A Thousand Miles”
What needs to be said about this song? Whether you picture Terry Crews or Vanessa playing her piano around LA, if you were alive in the early 2000s you have an immediate visual that comes to mind when you hear the opening of this song. Also, real ball knowers will tell you this song is quite possibly about Glenn Howerton, aka Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Dashboard Confessional “Hands Down”
No song this side of “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain has gotten white boys with guitars laid like this song did. Vindicated is the big song because of the spodermin film, but Hands Down is where Chris Carrabba took the next step from MTV2 darling to borderline mainstream rock star. I literally took his SPIN magazine cover to the hairdresser and asked for his haircut before freshman year. That is true influence. Also, speaking of influence. We have all seen the clip of Tay and Yelyah vibing out to this song. Without this song, does Ashton Kutcher’s butterfly effect come into play and change the trajectory of Taylor Swift and Paramore?
Migos ft Lil Uzi Vert“Bad and Boujee”
Look if you wanna argue Versace for this spot I would understand, but Bad and Boujee is what made Quavo, Offset and Takeoff (RIP) household names. The greatest trio of musical relatives since Hanson, the way these dudes so effortlessly adlib and play off of each other is something that can’t be taught it only comes from blood. I mean, COME ON. “Raindrops, drop tops, smoking’ on cookie in the hotbox. Fuckin’ on your bitch she a thot thot thot. Cookin’ up dope in the crockpot”. Shakespeare could never.
My Chemical Romance “Helena”
In my opinion this is the quintessential “emo” song. When people think of the word emo, most immediately jump to 2000s hot topic. This is the peak of it all. A beautifully poignant song written about the loss of the Way brothers grandma, this song is the moment this band separated themselves from their peers and started on a path towards something bigger than Warped Tour main stagers.
Fetty Wap “Trap Queen”
1738! One of the most iconic songs of the 2010s do not let anyone tell you different. One of the most romantic songs about cooking up crack to ever exist. Ronald and Nancy slowdance to this one down below. Free Fetty.
Soulja Boy “Crank Dat”
Okay okay, let me explain! This man and this song essentially created the blueprint for the last 15 years. The first viral rapper. We cannot act like we didn’t learn this dance in 2007. All of us did. I was there.
Kanye West “Gold Digger”
Kanye took the industry by storm when he dropped College Dropout but it was his next album, Late Registration, where he took the title of hip hops biggest artist. This song crossed the cultural zeitgeist to the point your grandmother would probably recognize it. Man, I miss the old Kanye.
Lorde “Royals”
Released when Lorde was only a teenager in New Zealand, Royals was a true game changer. So sparse, so haunting, Lorde was artistically and intellectually wise beyond her years.
Coldplay “Yellow”
“Write songs for the rooms you want to play in”, well there isn’t a stadium on earth big enough to contain Yellow, a song so massive it just feels like it’s meant to be experienced with 150,000 strangers in a muddy festival grounds.
Justin Timberlake “SexyBack”
A truly revolutionary album that was so good, Timbaland was able to convince us Justin was the next Michael. Fun fact, the back and forth call and response is directly inspired by the Talking Heads.
Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
Set aside how annoyed and fatigued you were with Fergie, Will.I.Am and the other two guys by the time 2010 rolled around and just listen to this with fresh ears. It’s a beautiful pop song, combining the best of American pops reckless abandon and youthful romance with the best of European club music. Also, best use of “L’Chaim” in any pop song goes to Fergie Ferg.
Kelly Clarkson “Since U Been Gone”
Congratulations to Karen O for making the top 50 twice! No but seriously, all similarities to Maps in the bridge aside, Since U Been Gone is one of the greatest pop rock songs of all time. It’s pop punk in Max Martin clothing.
Wheatus “Teenage Dirtbag”
With all due respect to fellow list member Carly Rae Jepsen, this is the greatest one hit wonder of the millennium. Covered countless times by every artist from One Direction to that one random guy on the subway, this song deserves university courses dedicated to teaching the masterful simplicity and storytelling prowess that Brendan B Brown employs for these perfect 4 minutes of music.
Bad Bunny “Titi Me Pregunto”
There’s a reason this man is about to perform at the Super Bowl for the second time, he is a once in a generation global rockstar. Bad Bunny is undoubtedly the coolest dude on the planet and Titi Me Pregunto feels like the part of the movie where he jumps up on the table and takes over the entire party. An artist as critically acclaimed as he is commercially successful, Bad Bunny is the biggest rockstar on the planet right now and that is not changing any time soon.
Flo Rida ft T Pain “Low”
Apple Bottom Jeans. Boots with the Fur. The widespread global introduction to Mr. Teddy P aka the Rappa Ternt Sanga aka T-Pain. This song was the most unavoidable and overplayed song of the 2008 but in hindsight, it holds up. Now everybody stop what they’re doing and give me a “WITH THE FUR!”.
THE REST OF THE LIST
Songs 51-100
Beyonce “Single Ladies”
Linkin Park “In The End”
Taylor Swift “Love Story”
Corinne Rae Bailey “Put Your Records On”
Usher “Confessions pt 2”
Olivia Rodrigo “Deja Vu”
Drake “Hotline Bling”
One Direction “What Makes You Beautiful”
MIA “Paper Planes”
OutKast “Mrs Jackson”
Bright Eyes “First Day of my Life”
Frank Ocean “Thinkin Bout You”
Avril Lavigne “Complicated”
Taylor Swift “All Too Well”
The Throne “****** in Paris”
Missy Elliot “Work it”
Sean Paul “Get Busy”
Good Charlotte “The Anthem”
Mike Posner “Cooler Than Me”
Angels & Airwaves “The Adventure”
Post Malone ft. Swae Lee “Sunflower”
Kanye West “Jesus Walks”
Florida Georgia Line “Cruise”
Maroon 5 “She Will Be Loved”
D’Angelo “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”
Gwen Stefani ft Akon “The Sweet Escape”
P!ATD “I write sins”
Drake “Marvin’s Room”
Arcade Fire “Wake Up”
Kelis “Milkshake”
Rich Homie Quan “Lifestyle”
Justin Bieber “Sorry”
Taylor Swift “Blank Space”
Lil Nas X “Old Town Road”
Nicki Minaj “Starships”
Eminem “Lose Yourself”
Rae Sremmurd “Black Beatles”
Michelle Branch “Everywhere”
T Pain “Buy U A Drank”
Shakira ft Wyclef Jean “Hips Don’t Lie”
Amy Winehouse “Rehab”
Lil Wayne “Lollipop”
Shaggy “It Wasn’t Me”
Beyonce “Irreplaceable”
Rise Against “Swing Life Away”
Cardi B ft Meg Thee Stallion “WAP”
Wiz Khalifa “Black and Yellow”
Mac Miller “Good News”
Nelly “Ride Wit Me”
Foo Fighters “Best of You”
Jay Z “HOVA”
Yellowcard “Ocean Avenue”
Foster The People “Pumped Up Kicks”
P!nk “So What”
Lorde “Greenlight”
Leona Lewis “Bleeding Love”
Kanye West “Heartless”
Bowling For Soup “1985”
Alicia Keys “No One”
Usher “Yeah”
Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball”
Destiny’s Child “Survivor”
Feist “1234”
Drake ft Kanye, Wayne & Eminem “Forever”
Tegan and Sara “Closer”
Katy Perry “Hot and Cold”
Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”
Kendrick Lamar “Backseat Freestyle”
Jason Isbell “Cover Me Up”
Chris Stapleton “Tennessee Whiskey”
UGK ft OutKast “Int’l Players Anthem”
Iggy ft Charli “Fancy”
The Weeknd “The Hills”
Sabrina Carpenter “Espresso”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Limp Bizkit “Rollin”
Lil Jon “Get Low”
Modest Mouse “Float On”
System of a Down “Chop Suey”
Paramore “Still Into You”
Papa Roach “Last Resort”
MCR “Welcome To The Black Parade”
U2 “Beautiful Day”
Akon “Don’t Matter”
5SOS “She Looks So Perfect”
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee “Despacito”
Twenty One Pilots “Ride”
Taylor Swift “Teardrops on my Guitar”
The Ataris “The Boys of Summer”
Kanye ft T Pain “Good Life”
Christina Aguilera “Beautiful”
Juice WRLD “Lucid Dreams”
Kacey Musgraves “Follow Your Arrow”
Daft Punk “One More Time”
Chappell Roan “Pink Pony Club”
Billie Eilish “Bad Guy”
OutKast “Bombs Over Baghdad”
Tyler Childers “Feathered Indians”
Green Day “Jesus of Suburbia”
Weezer “If You’re Wondering if I want”
La Roux “Bulletproof”
Snoop Dogg ft Pharrell “Drop it Like it’s hot”
Tove Lo “Stay High”
Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop”
Nelly Furtado “I’m Like a Bird”
Lana Del Rey “Venice Bitch”
Cam’Ron “Hey Ma”
Jay Z “Takeover
Simple Plan “I’m Just a Kid”
Dashboard Confessional “Vindicated”
Linkin Park & Jay Z “Numb/Encore”
Kreayshawn “Gucci Gucci”
Adele “Hello”
Lil Uzi Vert “xo Tour Lif3”
Metro Station “Shake It”
Nelly “Hot In Herre”
Gorillaz “Clint Eastwood”
The Killers “When You Were Young”
J Lo ft Ja Rule “I’m Real”
Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
Lifehouse “Hangin By A Moment”
Creed “My Sacrifice”
Britney Spears “Ooops I did it Again”
Willow Smith “Meet Me At Our Spot”
Post Malone ft 21 Savage “Rockstar”
201-250
Missy Elliot “Get ur Freak On”
Gwen Stefani “Hollaback Girl”
Drake ft 21 Savage “Knife Talk”
Taking Back Sunday “A Decade…”
Enrique iglesias “Hero”
Drake ft Lil Wayne “The Motto”
Justin Bieber “Love Yourself”
Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out”
Blink-182 “First Date”
Paramore “Misery Business”
Nicki Minaj ft Lil Wayne & Drake “Truffle Butter”
All American Rejects “Swing Swing”
The White Stripes “Were Gonna be Friends”
Coheed & Cambria “Blood Red Summer”
Cardi B “Bodak Yellow”
Kanye West “Through The Wire”
Bruce Springsteen “The Rising”
Taylor Swift ft Bon Iver “Exile”
The Chicks “Not Ready To Make Nice”
Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
Olivia Rodrigo “Drivers License”
AFI “Girls Not Grey”
Chappell Roan “Hot To Go”
Nicki Minaj “Anaconda”
Phantom Planet “California”
Blink 182 “Always”
Kylie Minogue “Can’t Get You Outta My Head”
Sia “Chandelier”
TI “Whatever You Like”
Estelle ft Kanye West “American Boy”
Janet Jackson “All For You”
Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”
Fat Joe ft Ja Rule & Ashanti “What’s Luv?”
*NSYNC “Bye Bye Bye”
TaTu “All The Things She Said”
Nirvana “You Know You're Right”
J Kwon “Tipsy”
Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah”
Gym Class Heroes “Cupids Chokehold”
Matchbox 20 “Unwell”
Hawthorne Heights “Ohio Is For Lovers”
Beyonce ft Jay Z “Crazy In Love”
The Calling “Wherever You Will Go
Sara Bareilles “Brave”
Justin Timberlake “Cry Me A River”
Kendrick Lamar “King Kunta”
Gotye “Somebody That I Used to Know”
Bruno Mars “Versace On The Floor”
Sheck Wes “Mo Bamba”
Skrillex/JackÜ/Diplo/Biebs “Where R u Now”
To hear what went into this list, as well as more of my thoughts on Rolling Stone’s ranking, tune into the upcoming episode of Emo Kids Anonymous. Amanda and I do a full deep dive on the RS list, our own lists, as well as Taylor Swift (and why none of her songs made my top 50).
And as always, remember that music is objective not subjective, so do not take these rankings with any salt they are to be taken as fact and any disagreement will be seen as personal harassment and possibly doxxing.
