12.04.2011

BEST OF 2011: Songs

Here's my list of the best songs of 2011. There were some amazing jams on the radio (and not on the radio) that I loved this year. Obviously, there's gonna be a lot of Soulja Boy and Lloyd, but there might be some curve balls. LEGGO:

15. Chris Brown - "Deuces"
First of all, obviously it's hard for me to put someone like Chris Brown on two of my year end lists, but he's so good. This is my fave song off of F.A.M.E. and the remix is amazeballs. Andre 3000's verse is really out of this world. Plus Rick Ross rapping over a slow beat is hilarious. I identify with this song because I often feel like throwing up the deuces to some triflin' dude that I'm keeping around for Lord knows why. Nah mean?

14. Beyonce - "Girls"
Over the summer, I went to a live taping of 106 & Park and my friends and I were the only white people there and we were put in our section of the audience, which was fine with me, I was just happy to be there. The audience coordinator (whose job is just to pump up the crowd for the camera) knew all the dance moves to this song and it was hilarious. Obviously, a Beyonce song on 106 & Park is gonna get played more than "Yonkers" at an LA skate park, but you know. Great jam, so inspirational. Great job, B.

13. Wale, Rick Ross, Jeremih - "That Way"
Rick Ross and Wale were recently on the cover of The Source, which is a huge deal, partially because of this song. What a hit. Great rapping from both Wale and Rick and Jeremih adds the R&B flavor to this rather slow song.

12. The Weeknd - "The Morning"
While The Weeknd is a little boring and definitely targeted towards lame white nerds who view Pitchfork as the absolute music gospel, but this song is amazeballs. For a Canadian R&B singer who is BFF with Drake, he's got an amazing voice and this song was beautifully produced. The build up and the drop of this song are just amazing. I found out about The Weeknd because Soulja Boy has a video where he's riding around in a drop top Rolls Royce bumping this song.

11. Drake ft. Nicki Minaj - "Make Me Proud"
I was completely thrown off by how good Take Care was and this song was equally as surprisingly good. The ascending and descending beat matched with Drake's real rapping and Nicki's perfectly commercial verse makes this song one of the best of the year. Good job, Drizzy.

10. Lil Wayne - "6 Foot 7 Foot"
When Wayne got out jail, I said "man, I hope he got better in jail" and when I heard this song, I immediately thought "YES!!!" I love this song, his rhymes are so good. It's reminiscent of Carter III-era mixtapes. Unfortunately, the rest of his album, Tha Carter IV, is not as amazing. In fact, it lacks what we've come to love from Wayne and adds his ever-present penchant about cunnalingus. Disgusting.

9. Kelly Rowland ft. Lil Wayne - "Motivation"
I know Beyonce is probably the most famous person from Destiny's Child (obviously), but nobody forgot about Miss Kelly. I really like this song, despite how dirty it is. Weezy's verse is great too.

8. Big Sean ft. The-Dream - "Live This Life"
Big Sean's album Finally Famous is really good, surprisingly, and this almost-titular song (the chorus says, "Oh shit, I'm finally famous and I'm rollin' with the motherfuckin' top down) is one of the best. I really like anything The-Dream is involved in, and Big Sean is a hilarious/decent rapper, so this matchup is fantastic.

7. Soulja Boy - "No More Holding On"
This is the song I tell people to listen to if they want to change their opinions on Soulja Boy. From his best mixtape this year, Supreme, this song is the best. It has a sweet Kanye-esque 1960s sample and an awesome beat, plus this rapping is some of Soulja's best. He pours his soul into this song and it really shows. This is definitely my favorite Soulja Boy song to date, it's so incredible.

6. Drake ft. Rihanna - "Take Care"
The titular title off of Drake's shockingly amazing album is really out of control. It doesn't really build up to anything, but somehow that fits. The lyrics, the beat, the melody all blend together in perfect R&B/pop harmony. Love it.

5. Beyonce ft. Andre 3000 and Kanye West- "Party"
Besides the disgusting "swagu" reference this is an excellent 90s-inspired radio hit. Beyonce really outdid herself with 4, it's so amazing.

4. Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj - "A$$ (Dance)"
I've said this before and I'll say it again: "A$$" is the 2011 version of the great American classic, "Thong Song." It's so raunchy and ridiculous, but the beat/sample ("Hammertime") is amazing and it's really catchy. "Kiss my ass and my anus cause I'm finally famous" will be what I say when I'm finally famous. I freak out every time this song comes on the radio, but it's edited, cause you know, ass is such a bad word.

3. Terius Nash ft. Big Sean - "Ghetto"
A few months ago, mega producer The-Dream put out a "free album" (aka a mixtape) under his real name, Terius Nash. 1977 is a great transition from his previous "Love" series of albums. He has said that he won't be making anymore albums, which sucks, but if he keeps putting out free albums like this, I'll be happy. "Ghetto" serves as the lead single and it's pretty much a hit. I haven't heard it on the radio, but it definitely has potential to be on it. The Big Sean verse is perfect and the slowed-down Atlanta/Houston/Detroit feel of this song is really outstanding. It's a great song.

2. Bei Maejor ft. J.Cole - "Trouble"
I cannot stress enough how much I like this song. Bei Maejor is mainly a producer and he is also an R&B singer and he is very comparable to The-Dream. That's probably why I like him so much. This song is just so good. Even J.Cole's rapping is tolerable. Actually it's more than tolerable, but whatever.

1. Lloyd ft. Andre 3000 - "Dedication to My Ex"
Lloyd is just gonna headline all of my year-end lists because King Of Hearts is literally one of my favorite albums of all time. This song was released as the third single and it's the jewel of the who album. The 1960s soul influences fit so perfectly with the nature of the song. Although it's hard to take the normally chivalrous and emotional Lloyd seriously when he says "I'm gonna kill this bitch!" but whatever. I think this is one of the best R&B songs of the past ten years.

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