The 113 best songs of the past decade, ranked

• Insider ranked the 113 best songs of the 2010s, taking into account both quality and cultural impact.
• "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn took the top spot.
• "Nights" by Frank Ocean, "Formation" by Beyoncé, "Alright" by Kendrick Lamar, and "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift rounded out the top five.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

There's an endless number of ways to judge a great song.

Is it something you can listen to over and over without getting tired of it? Is it something you can only listen to sparingly because it makes you feel all the feelings? Did it pioneer a totally unique sound, or does it perfectly harness a musical trend that you already enjoy?

There are many beautiful songs that are best heard within the context of an album, when an artist has weaved their tracklist together seamlessly and gracefully. (Fiona Apple and Mitski come to mind, for example, as well as two of this year's best albums: "Norman F---ing Rockwell!" by Lana Del Rey and "Igor" by Tyler, the Creator.) But which songs can be pulled out from an album or discography and still be just as good, if not better?

This process becomes even more complicated when you're asking how a song fits into its own era (in this case, its decade). How do we measure musical legacy?

Here at Insider, we don't have definitive answers — only educated suggestions. Our list attempts to consider both cultural impact (ubiquitous bangers, meme-able anthems, social commentaries, record breakers) as well as innovation and quality.

Our 113 best songs of the 2010s are ranked below, in descending order.

SEE ALSO: Insider is documenting the Artists of the Decade with a series of essays

DON'T MISS: The 10 best and 10 worst one-hit wonders of the 2010s

113. "Baby" by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris

This absolute smash — the second song in history to be certified diamond, by the way, and the first in 13 years — was unleashed unto the world on January 18, 2010. What a way to kick off the decade.

112. "Sucker" by the Jonas Brothers

"Sucker" was the perfect comeback song for this century's most beloved trio. After an agonizing six-year breakup, the Jonas Brothers could've released any kind of catchy radio hit or "Burnin' Up" knockoff and it would've been embraced by fans. Instead, they returned with a delightfully weird, tropical pop-rock banger and triumphantly asserted their dominant role in 2019 as more than a nostalgic fluke.

111. "Sit Next to Me" by Foster The People

I feel sorry for anyone who thinks Foster the People is a one-hit wonder band. After "Pumped Up Kicks" stormed our collective consciousness at the start of the decade, Foster the People hasn't had another massive radio hit, but has consistently released quality music — and "Sit Next to Me" is their shimmering, neo-psychedelic masterpiece.

110. "Face" by Brockhampton

Brockhampton is a remarkably prolific boy band, but this deep cut from their first-ever mixtape has remained a standout. Drawing from the innovations of artists like Frank Ocean and Solange, "Face" is smooth and warm and exquisitely minimalist.

109. "F--- With Myself" by Banks

"F--- With Myself" is edgy, chilling, darkly contoured, and extremely gutsy. It also boasts some of Banks' most captivating songwriting to date. Confessional and subversive, the song gracefully captures that tender line between self-inflation and self-sabotage, giving the enigmatic lyrics many possible interpretations.

108. "XO Tour Llif3" by Lil Uzi Vert

"XO Tour Llif3" is arguably the defining song of SoundCloud rap and its stratospheric rise this decade. The lullaby-trap fusion — which sees Lil Uzi Vert sing-rapping about nihilism and dead friends, barely bothering to enunciate — came to feel like a natural representation of Gen Z's distaste for polished industry professionals and sharp nose for phonies.

107. "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man

You might think you've gotten sick of this song, and then you hear it again and you're subconsciously head-bobbing the entire time.

Portugal. The Man's surprise smash, with its funky melody and falsetto chorus, hinges on a retro-pop vibe — but it's not shallow catchy, like previous pop-rock crossover hits that quickly grew tired (Fun's "We Are Young" comes to mind). As Billboard's Lyndsey Havens noted at the time, there's something about the chorus' rallying lyric, "I'm a rebel just for kicks now," that felt especially resonant in the tense, high-stakes atmosphere of 2017.

106. "New Rules" by Dua Lipa

"It's a song about how not to behave after a breakup, sure — but it's also an anthem for self-care in a moment when so many of us felt unmoored," Raisa Bruner wrote for Time when she ranked "New Rules" the No. 1 song of 2017. "As an escapist fantasy of girl-power, it's a triumph, but as a rallying cry to buck the status quo, it's even better."

105. "Girl" by The Internet featuring Kaytranada

Syd, the lead singer of The Internet, has written that she "wanted to make this song feel like a love trance," and she succeeded: It's a melodic, silky, hypnotic account of passion and pining.

104. "Lover" by Taylor Swift

Although "Lover" is such a recent release that we can't yet be sure of its legacy, it feels fairly guaranteed that it'll play an indispensable role in Taylor Swift's discography — as well as in wedding ceremonies for decades to come.

After years of singing of love stories based in fantasy and embellishing the details of failed courtships, Swift found a mature groove on this Mazzy Star-esque love song, writing from within a long-term relationship — a place of security and frustration and comfort and understanding and persistent, abiding, I'll-run-away-with-you-if-you-ask passion.

103. "Attention" by Charlie Puth

How does one explain the genius of "Attention" by Charlie Puth? It's something about thinking you've got the song figured out, and then instead of the chorus giving you a dramatic beat drop, it pulls back and gives you that bass line — minimal yet confident, and powerfully seductive. The beat slowly returns, the synth drums continue to build, and then by the end of the song, Puth has you convinced. She probably did just want attention.

102. "Dang!" by Mac Miller featuring Anderson .Paak

Mac Miller was known for brutally honest lyrics that explored addiction and death, and his most personal songs are some his most beloved. But with "Dang!" — the lead single from his fourth studio album, featuring his friend Anderson .Paak — Miller tapped into a jazzy optimism that heralded his most creative, most fun, and overall best music.

With any luck, Miller will be remembered for the confidence and sheer joy we hear in "Dang!" — because, despite the lyrics hinting at a breakup, the two rappers sound contagiously happy, grateful to be alive, and inspired by love.

101. "No Role Modelz" by J Cole

"No Role Modelz" remains a fan favorite from J. Cole's deeply mythologized "2014 Forest Hills Drive," his most famous and best album. The irresistibly animated song illustrates Cole's unshakable nostalgia and storytelling prowess, musing about father figures and Hollywood women and the nature of fame.

100. "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith

Sam Smith's exquisite vocal range could make any gospel-inspired ballad feel alive, but it's really their stirring emotional depth and honesty that made "Stay With Me" such a sensation.

99. "What's My Name?" by Rihanna featuring Drake

Before there was "Take Care" or "Work," there was "What's My Name?" — the first collaboration between Rihanna and Drake, with a hook that's probably been on a loop in your reptilian brain for 10 years. In retrospect, it was the perfect way to kick off their side-by-side decade-long reigns.

98. "Caroline" by Aminé

Perhaps Aminé's greatest skill is his ability to manifest sheer joy. He became an essential figure in this decade's "emerging hip-hop counternarrative," as the New York Times called it, "centered on enthusiasm and occasional silliness."

His goofy, gleeful breakout hit "Caroline" manifests joy better than any popular rap song in recent memory. It's like D.R.A.M.'s "Broccoli" or Chance the Rapper's "Angels," only better — elevating this optimism with vivid storytelling, a hint of rebellion, and a fresh melody that would make Pharrell proud, or feel at home on Outkast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

97. "I Like It" by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin

"I Like It" is an important song within multiple narratives: For Cardi B, one of this decade's most prominent breakout stars, it made her the first female rapper with two No. 1 hits, as well as the first female artist with multiple No. 1 songs from a debut album since Lady Gaga in 2009; for Bad Bunny and J Balvin, it helped cement them as spokespeople for the world's growing obsession with Spanish verses and reggaetón; it was nominated for record of the year at the 2019 Grammys.

All this success aside, it's also a phenomenal song. It's better than all three of the rapper's previous singles — brighter than "Bodak Yellow," far catchier than "Bartier Cardi," and more representative of her infectiously carefree personality than "Be Careful." Thus far, it's the song that best encapsulates the force that is Cardi B.

96. "1950" by King Princess

It's true that King Princess' recent debut studio album, "Cheap Queen," is brimming with soulful and mature pop. But her breakout single, the effortlessly anthemic "1950," is The Song we'll all refer to when we're reminiscing about her rise to stardom in 10 years.

"1950" is especially impactful coming from King Princess, aka Mikaela Straus, an out-and-proud lesbian who gleefully eschews gender norms and the feminine pop star paradigm. It's the kind of earnest, transcendent love song that queer kids have craved for decades.

95. "Fallingwater" by Maggie Rogers

The obvious choice here would've been Maggie Rogers' viral, Pharrell-approved "Alaska," but "Fallingwater" does everything her breakout hit did, only better. The lyrics and production are just as intimate, just as shimmery, but stronger and more confident. "Fallingwater" is the Clefable to "Alaska's" Clefairy (Rogers would definitely be a rare fairy-type Pokémon that thrives in the moonlight, right?).

94. "Prblms" by 6lack

The sinister, industrial production of "Prblms" intensifies a lyrical message that's shockingly blunt and actually kind of cruel, but in a disturbingly real and relatable way. Everything 6lack (pronounced "black") says feels true — which makes sense, since he built the track using lines from real-life conversations, arguments, and text messages. "Everything in the song was verbatim what I was dealing with at the time," the rapper revealed.

93. "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood

"Sweater Weather" felt impressively ahead of its time upon its release in 2012, a year largely defined by maximalist pop and EDM. The Neighbourhood's alt-rock, dark-pop hit preceded a landscape that has welcomed similar genre-bending sounds from Post Malone and Billie Eilish — and it still feels like a fresh new listening experience every time autumn rolls around, begging to be intimately cataloged and tenderly narrated.

92. "Chandelier" by Sia

No one can actually hit that note (you know the one) when we scream-sing along to the chorus of "Chandelier" — at least, no one can hit it with the same tone and conviction as Sia — but that doesn't stop us from trying. 

While it's unlikely the song would've been the cultural moment it became without its unhinged music video — starring then 11-year-old Maddie Ziegler, choreographed by Ryan Heffington, and co-directed by Sia herself — there's still a cathartic, anthemic quality to the confessional song that keeps us all singing along.

91. "Lemon" by N.E.R.D featuring Rihanna

"The truth will set you free. But first, it'll piss you off." Phew. I mean, "Lemon" would've been an arresting song even without the stroke of genius that is a Rihanna verse. It's one of those rare tracks that gets more and more addictive the longer you listen.

90. "Get You" by Daniel Caesar featuring Kali Uchis

"Get You" sounds like the daydreams you have when you're in love. Somehow, Daniel Caesar managed to precisely crystallize that euphoric disbelief, that constant sensation of floating — and then enlisted Kali Uchis for her characteristically surreal vocals to amplify the effect.

89. "Delicate" by Taylor Swift

As Rob Sheffield (Rolling Stone's resident Taylor Swift expert) wrote, "'Delicate' is her triumph on 'Reputation,' a whispery vocoder rush that sums up everything she's about."

"She spends 'Delicate' talking herself out of that midnight confession, but when it spills out — 'I pretend you're mine all the damn time' — the moment feels cataclysmic," Sheffield wrote. "Let's face it, Tay will always fail spectacularly at playing it cool, because she will never be able to resist saying way too much of All That. Yet as 'Delicate' proves, All That is what she was born to say. Isn't it?"

88. "Latch" by Disclosure

"Latch" is a spectacularly weird song — so weird that Disclosure felt sure it wouldn't be well-received. It messes with the standard chords, melodies, and classic 4/4 tempo typically used in house music, and Sam Smith's robust vocals gave the song a hint of soul. But it was precisely thanks to all those idiosyncrasies that "Latch" became a hit with general public, breathing fresh air into a crowded EDM scene and minting a brand new pop star in the process.

87. "Missing U" by Robyn

Eight years after her monumental album "Body Talk," Robyn lured us back into her chromatic world with "Honey" — more specifically, the album's opening track "Missing U." 

As a dance anthem about heartbreak, the song bears similarities to her beloved sad girl bop "Dancing On My Own" — designed for times when your feelings are so strong, the only thing left to do is to let them run all the way through you and out the other side. But it has also become a poetic symbol of Robyn's enduring power.

"'Missing U' is a song about this trippy thing that happens when people disappear. It's like they become even more clear, it's like you see them everywhere," Robyn said. "And it's also maybe a little bit of a message to my fans. That I've missed them."

Despite her absence for much of the decade, despite the sorrow she's had to turn into glass, Robyn and her euphoria remain unvanquishable.

86. "Slow Burn" by Kacey Musgraves

"Slow Burn" is the perfect introduction to Kacey Musgraves' ethereal, dewy-eyed, rosy-cheeked world in "Golden Hour," her Grammy-winning opus. Though it's clearly one of the singer's most autobiographical songs, there's something about its glimmering, winking quality that makes "Slow Burn" feel like a soothing balm prescribed for your own individual soul.

85. "We Found Love" by Rhanna and Calvin Harris

"We Found Love" epitomizes many of our musical obsessions in the first half of this decade: EDM, cathartic bass drops, anthemic choruses (easy to memorize, easy to scream at the top of your lungs and mean it), and Rihanna.

Combined with Calvin Harris' slow-burn rise to stardom, it's no wonder why "We Found Love" remains one of the most successful singles of all time. It's the song you want to hear when you're out dancing and the night hasn't quite hit its potential yet. As soon as that first note of "We Found Love" rings out, the atmosphere shifts; in exactly one minute and seven seconds, everyone will be losing their minds.

84. "Gasoline" by Halsey

"Gasoline" isn't Halsey's breakout single ("Ghosts"), nor is it her biggest hit ("Without Me"). But it is the song that feels most quintessentially Halsey at this point in her shape-shifting, multi-colored career.

For a singer-songwriter who could be described as "punk" just as easily as "pop" — whose defiance, sincerity, and vulnerability seem just as important as her talents for singing and hit-making — what song could speak to her budding legacy more than an outsider's anthem on her debut album, only included on the deluxe version, that prematurely meditated on her own power and went platinum without any promotion?

83. "This Is America" by Childish Gambino

"This Is America" wouldn't have become the phenomenon it is without its absolutely genius music video and painfully relevant timing. Though it's certainly his most viral, it's not Childish Gambino's best song.

But it's also true that "This Is America" is a disturbingly danceable earworm, blending Atlanta trap and Soundcloud rap and gospel pop and shrewd lyrics in a way that, it seems, only Donald Glover can.

82. "Don't Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes

You're bobbing your head to a funky guitar riff when, all of a sudden, you hear it: Thirty-eight seconds in, that "spine-tingling squeal" makes you realize this is a song you're going to be thinking about for a loooong time.

As Rolling Stone's Jon Blistein wrote, "Singer-guitarist Brittany Howard goes on to deliver a dizzying vocal performance that splits the difference between James Brown and Barry Gibb."

81. "Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monáe

This Prince-indebted ode to sexual fluidity is the perfect way to summarize Janelle Monáe's magic.

"When we were writing it and me and [cowriter] Julia Michaels referenced 'sexual bender,' we weren't thinking of it as gender-bending or bisexuality, but rather a sexual or drinking bender," lyricist Justin Tranter told MTV. "That's when you're a f---ing artist like Janelle Monáe: when your cowriters aren't even thinking of something and you turn it into an important statement in [the guise of] a party song."

80. "God Is a Woman" by Ariana Grande

If "No Tears Left to Cry" was Ariana Grande's triumphant comeback single, confirming that she hadn't lost her optimism or range in the face of trauma, "God Is a Woman" let us know that we actually had it all wrong. "Sweetener" wouldn't simply be a comeback: It was a rebirth, the work of a new-age icon approaching her creative peak — and "God Is a Woman" was its thesis statement.

Generally, Grande's futuristic-angel album is best heard as a complete experience, with each song playing off and elevating the others. Listening to "Sweetener" feels like hopping from one cloud to another. But "God Is a Woman" exists in its own universe, taking a detour beyond the visible atmosphere and skyrocketing into Grande's vividly feminine paradise.

79. "Breezeblocks" by Alt-J

This song seamlessly blends graphic imagery with a sense of innocence, using multiple references to the children's book "Where The Wild Things Are" to communicate an unguarded — and, in some interpretations, manipulative or violent — sense of desperation. It coaxes you to feel sympathetic, to relate to that vulnerability, but then repulses you. All the while, those kaleidoscopic emotions are woven together with glittering synths and rippling melodies.

78. "Chanel" by Frank Ocean

Whether "Chanel" was intended as an ode to bisexuality or not, Frank Ocean's first solo single as an independent artist was a massively earned flex. Alongside the song's "dizzying piano melody and muffled beats" (Rolling Stone), Ocean put his knacks for vivid imagery and genius wordplay front and center.

"The boastful first few bars of Ocean's new song might be the coldest, gayest, and most securely masculine flex in the history of rap," Austin Williams wrote for The Undefeated after its surprise release. "Elegant and mellow, the song's lyrics read as a deliberate ode to duality and non-heteronormative binaries — an ambition, that since the death of Prince Rogers Nelson, is sorely missed in black music."

77. "Cheerleader" by St. Vincent

"Cheerleader" is the threateningly beautiful core of St. Vincent's third album, an avant-garde protest song that juxtaposes her ethereal vocals with thorny observations about objectification, internalized misogyny, and societal expectations.

76. "Take Me to Church" by Hozier

"Take Me to Church" is one of those ornate gospel-pop songs that will never quite feel tired. Sure, it was over-played for a moment there in 2014, but it's powerful enough to beg our devotional attention years later. It almost dares you not to feel Hozier's soulful wails in your bone marrow.

75. "Track 10" by Charli XCX

As Hanif Abdurraqib wrote for Pitchfork, "Charli XCX is sonic science fiction," which is best exemplified by the closing track on her experimental mixtape "Pop 2." 

"Track 10" would eventually become her polished, Lizzo-featuring single "Blame It on Your Love," but in its rough original form, we get a peek into Charli's process — which is to say, the process of one of this generation's most forward-thinking singer-songwriter-producers.

"At her best, which she is here, Charli XCX cracks a key pop music code: doing as much with as little language as possible," Abdurraqib wrote. "The chorus of 'Track 10' consumes and consumes, until it ends, and the listener can't remember living in a world before they heard it."

74. "Habits (Stay High)" by Tove Lo

It's difficult to imagine another singer-songwriter who can pull off a club banger that opens with the lyrics, "I eat my dinner in my bathtub, then I go to sex clubs / Watchin' freaky people gettin' it on."

But "Habits (Stay High)" became a sensation for that very reason. Only an exceptional hitmaker like Tove Lo could write a seedy, explicit ode to post-breakup depression — full of confessions that an average person wouldn't utter to their best friend, let alone the world — and turn it into an anthem.

73. "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West

Remember when Kanye West was sort of punk rock? *Sighs wistfully.*

The explosive energy of "Black Skinhead," one of West's most subversive songs in a discography full of rebellion, didn't feel unwise or misinformed, like the vast majority of his recent work.  It felt righteous, intoxicating, and impressively ahead of its time. It still does.

72. "F**kin' Problems" by A$AP Rocky featuring Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar

To paraphrase a bunch of comments under the "F**kin' Problems" music video on YouTube, this song is what happens when all the smartest kids in class are assigned to the same group for a class project. Getting an A is all but guaranteed.

71. "Despacito (Remix)" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber

There's a reason why "Despacito" broke the dam holding reggaetón back from mainstream US charts, and why it was the first Spanish-language No. 1 since the novelty 1996 hit "Macarena."

Of course, the song was already dominating worldwide charts, but Justin Bieber's involvement marked a turning point in pop music. It reigned over the Billboard Hot 100 for an unprecedented 16 weeks, tying Mariah Carey's record from 1996. Its music video became the first-ever on YouTube to pass 3 billion views, and still has more views than any YouTube video in history. It became the most-streamed song of all time.

While "Despacito" lost all three historic Grammy nominations, the sheer outrage inspired by that snub speaks to the song's power. It captivated the world — and judging by the number of hopeful copycats that have popped up in the years since (Latin pop hits now regularly feature everyone from Beyoncé and Drake to Selena Gomez), it's not done yet.

70. "Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane

Having inspired a viral challenge, "Black Beatles" could have been a passing craze — but instead, Rae Sremmurd tapped into something so beautiful and bizarre that it feels fresh and exciting every time you listen to it. 

In the words of legendary Beats 1 host Zane Lowe: "There's a hook every five seconds. One of the craziest things about that record is how strange it is. It's really inclusive, it references old geezers and all sorts of mad reference points. It's quite psychedelic. It's a really odd record."

69. "Hold Up" by Beyoncé

"Hold Up" is the delightfully unhinged cornerstone of "Lemonade," upon which all other pieces are stacked. Without the swagger and smirk of "Hold Up," the rage and apathy and acceptance and forgiveness that follows in Beyoncé's redemption tale would have felt incomplete. The outro's Soulja Boy sample is just the ingenious icing on top of the cake.

68. "Sober" by Childish Gambino

For an experimental song that sits in a quietly released EP, "Sober" has impressively enormous staying power. As an exquisite blend of tropical pop and R&B with a climactic swerve into punk-rock territory, it's both a product of its genre-bending era and a timeless, sexy slow burn.

67. "Antidote" by Travis Scott

Travis Scott's official debut single "3500," a seven-minute statement with high-profile features, was ostensibly meant to announce Scott's entrance into the top tier of rappers — while its follow-up "Antidote" was a throwaway that he planned to leave off the album ("This is for the real fans; the real ragers! This is some vibes for the summer. This isn't on Rodeo… it's coming soon," he wrote on SoundCloud).

Instead, it was the toned-down "Antidote," intended just for the "real fans," that heralded the domination of Scott's hallucinatory brand of rap in the latter half of the decade. The genius was buried in its deceptive simplicity.

"It's essentially one line of melody, one two second phrase, yet somehow it feels good for four minutes," Lorde once wrote of "Antidote" on Twitter. "The higher line of melody happens (and it's really just the original line a bit higher) and by then we're so unwittingly thirsty for a lift. That its BLISS! Travis gives us crumbs in this militaristic melodic eatery and we consume them like a feast!"

66. "Congratulations" by Post Malone featuring Quavo

No other song captures the allure and staying power of Post Malone more effectively than "Congratulations," with its intoxicating hook and central screw-the-haters rallying cry: "They said I wouldn't be nothing / Now they always say, 'Congratulations.'" It's a universal jam that gets the the people going, regardless of whether you're dead asleep or too young to understand the lyrics.

65. "Slide" by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean, Quavo, and Offset

The 2017 posse cut "Slide" is the most fascinating, irresistible pop song from a traditional DJ in recent memory. As Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal wrote at the time, the combination of Calvin Harris' sleek California funk, two of rap's most adaptive guest stars, and Frank Ocean's "subtle radicalism" makes for an effect that is "magnetic and a little startling."

64. "Praying" by Kesha

All you need to understand the power of Kesha's "Praying" is to watch her passion, her righteous fury, while performing the song at the 2018 Grammys — assisted onstage by women like Camila Cabello and Cyndi Lauper, but in a room full of music industry titans who've probably whispered about her and rolled their eyes at her for years.

That this wrenching, soaring ballad — written about her experience overcoming sexual trauma and abuse  — lost to Ed Sheeran for best pop solo performance, its singular nomination at that very ceremony, only underscores the song's urgent importance.

63. "Garden Shed" by Tyler, the Creator featuring Estelle

This is not Tyler, the Creator's buzziest song ("Yonkers,") or his most beloved (arguably "See You Again"), nor does it even come from his best album ("Igor").

But with "Garden Shed," Tyler does something incredibly rare: He lays himself bare, insecurities and all, while capitalizing on his strengths as a rapper and producer. He raps over a luscious, sparkling chord progression, while employing his characteristic wit — and even reveling in a bit of Odd Future-era shock value — without hiding behind "characters" or disingenuity.

62. "Hannah Hunt" by Vampire Weekend

"Hannah Hunt" is a quintessential breakup song, grappling with themes like youth, redemption, and inevitability with its deceptively simple imagery (the narrator describes, for example, a road trip he took with his ex-girlfriend to Pheonix, a city name that doubles as a symbol of rebirth).

In the song's climax, frontman Ezra Koenig delivers one of the most compelling vocal performances of his career with some of his most impassioned lyrics.

61. "Sunday Candy" by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment

Chance the Rapper is known for uplifting gospel-rap with a jazzy-pop twinge. But while he has creates full narratives on solo projects like "Acid Rap" and "Coloring Book," meandering through his own complex observations about faith and family, "Surf" is a euphoric popcorn mix. The album, which he made with his touring band, Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment, is "a celebration of friendship, and a tribute to the alchemic power of collaboration," (Pitchfork). "Sunday Candy" is its crown jewel.

Later, Chance would perform a Christmassy version of the song on "Saturday Night Live" and again at the White House for the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony — transforming its warm, smiling energy into a small but important moment in American history.

"There was something distinctly special, and spiritual, about it," Sheldon Pearce wrote for Pitchfork. "A prodigious and cheery 'mixtape rapper' singing modern psalms and praises on the national stage at the behest of the first black President of the United States in his last days; the convergence of a God Dream and the American Dream."

60. "Into You" by Ariana Grande

It's difficult to translate the magic of "Into You." The pulsing, scorching single is Grande's best dance floor triumph. When it hits you, it lights up your whole body.

The magic may have been best described by Grande's fellow singer-songwriter, Lorde, who called the song "maybe the closest thing to pop perfection i've ever heard."

"people truly just weren't ready to comprehend that many layers of emotion," she later wrote on Twitter, trying to explain why the song didn't top the chart. "it's like 'run away with me' it's 2 much for the half-open heart."

59. "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn

The power of "Call Your Girlfriend" — an instantly classic pop anthem with a painfully unique point of view — was bolstered by its iconic music video. If you've seen it even once, it feels like a possessive spirit that pulses through your body every time that chord change hits. It might be the closest thing we have to a national dance.

"The comedian Taran Killam has performed a lovingly observed parody, and YouTube is cluttered with step-by-step homages and tutorials," The Ringer's Lindsay Zoladz observed, "which is at once apt and entirely beside the point: The power of the choreography and the one-take video itself comes from how personal, singular, and idiosyncratic these moves feel, like a spontaneous overflowing of Robyn's strange heart."

58. "Primadonna" by Marina and the Diamonds

"Primadonna" is more than just the thumping, infectious, electropop highlight of every party playlist I've ever made. It's the centerpiece of "Electra Heart" (the sophomore release from Marina Diamandis, aka Marina and the Diamonds, who now goes by the mononym Marina), an avant-garde concept album that cheekily exaggerates female archetypes in order to dissect and dismantle them.

"Primadonna" is meticulously constructed and designed to intoxicate you, its vainglorious lyrics punctuated by sugary interjections ("ooh!" and "wow!") that sound almost bored by the song's perfection. Marina, with her uniquely spacious soprano, may seem to be taunting a row of suitors ("Would you get down on your knees for me? Pop that pretty question right now, baby") — but in reality, it's us she has wrapped around her finger.

57. "Norf Norf" by Vince Staples

Vince Staples' enduring ode to Long Beach is both loving and cynical. "Norf Norf" thrives on this duality: a sleek delivery of clever lines that glide on the surface of a tense, twitchy atmosphere.

"Though every detail is in 4K, the screen flickers," Stephen Kearse wrote for Pitchfork. "The bass quakes and smolders; the synths blare and pulse; the claps tingle. Proud of his home, Staples is at ease within this discord, but he doesn't shy away from its costs. Because he sees his city so clearly, he has no illusions: No one can run forever."

56. "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga

Before every pop star was rushing to pander to LGBTQ fans, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" wasn't a case of coy queer-baiting: It was a confident and technicolor rallying cry, arguably lightyears ahead of its time. Now, looking back on the progress we've made this decade, the song feels downright prophetic. 

"Fifty versions of this song were done to get it to that point," co-producer Fernando Garibay told Billboard. "The song meant more than just, 'Can this be a pivotal moment in pop history?' It was more, 'Can this create change?' And in order to create change, the content needed to be spectacular."

55. "Humble." by Kendrick Lamar

No other rapper captures complexity and contradiction as well as Kendrick Lamar. On "Humble," the explosive lead single from his 2017 masterpiece "Damn," he swerves back and forth between top-of-the-world braggadocio ("If I quit this season, I still be the greatest") and the song's central decree: "B----, be humble / Sit down."

A traditional reading would say he's instructing his competition to be humble and bow down, but then again, Lamar isn't a traditional rapper.

He grapples with his own pride throughout "Damn," often treating it like a temptation, before reminding himself that the afterlife is waiting with a judgment. Perhaps Lamar is talking to himself on "Humble," struggling to take his own advice.

And so the song is a force of nature either way: standing confidently on its own, but also playing an essential role to enhance a larger narrative.

54. "Blackstar" by David Bowie

Just two months before his death, David Bowie continued to do what he always did best: upend expectations, absorb varying styles, innovate, and give us what we didn't know we needed. The titular lead single of his final album is a 10-minute Baroque masterpiece that resembles little from his legendary catalogue — or, for that matter, little in the history of music.

53. "Retrograde" by James Blake

When "Retrograde's" slow burn finally builds to its climax, that buzzing swell of electronic emotion, it feels like you're leaving your body. The hauntingly beautiful, ornate sonic architecture is James Blake's finest work — perhaps best understood by fans of HBO's "The Leftovers," whose showrunners chose "Retrograde" to introduce audiences to its slightly supernatural, rapturous reality.

52. "Love on the Brain" by Rihanna

There is something so deliciously Rihanna about "Love on the Brain," a startlingly beautiful ballad that feels at once vulnerable and combative. It's the dramatic, swaggering, palatial centerpiece of "Anti," her most ambitious and best album to date. It's also the best her voice has ever sounded, showcasing her impressive range to the point that some people thought it was recorded by two different singers.

51. "The Weekend" by SZA

Despite SZA's years-long cascade of beautiful music — from 2014's "Sweet November" to her 2017 album's lead single "Drew Barrymore" — her defining anthem has become "The Weekend," a graceful fusion of a young Justin Timberlake's trance-infused R&B and modern, glittering synths.

With its jarring honesty about monogamy's pitfalls, there is an open-ended strength within SZA's experience that feels available for listeners to latch onto. As NPR's Jenny Gathright noted, by allowing the details of the affair to unfold plainly, without judgment or a defined moral stance, SZA's messiness feels like radical self-care.

50. "High for This" by The Weeknd

In February 2011, no one knew who Abel Tesfaye was. When three songs were uploaded to YouTube under the username "xoxxxoooxo", people thought The Weeknd was a band.

It was amidst this tantalizing mystery that "House of Balloons," The Weeknd's debut mixtape and creative peak, was unleashed unto the world. "High For This" was our official introduction to his hedonistic, depraved world. Like many classic R&B hits, it dripped with honeyed vocals and smirking seduction — but renounced the genre's popular formulas for gothic production, his voice echoing almost creepily through the sonic space he created.

For many of us who listened in awe — fascinated by this anonymous voice who promised, "You wanna be high for this" — that magic won't likely be recaptured.

49. "Ribs" by Lorde

"Ribs" is a singularly unique song that transports you back to high school — but not in the way that popular music from your adolescence is connected to specific memories. Instead, "Ribs" evokes that universal sense of fleeting youth, when everything mattered and also nothing did, when you were worried about all the wrong things but somehow knew more about what mattered than the adults around you.

Lorde — who was still a teenager when she wrote this song — understood that nostalgia before any of us, and perfectly captured those vivid emotions, reflecting them prismatically across her synth-laden sonic architectures.

48. "Marvins Room" by Drake

Before Drake's Instagram-worthy lyrics were considered a punchline, before he was seen as hip-hop's resident sentimentalist, his relatability and sentimentality were innovations.

With lines torn straight from late-night texts, swimming through woozy synths that sound drunk themselves, "Marvins Room" rebelled against the expectation that rappers — and, more broadly, men — should be immovable, untouchable.

Drake's mythology probably wouldn't exist in the same way today without the messy confessions of "Marvins Room." Rappers spilling their guts on the radio, crooning their own choruses, and exposing their regrets with voicemail clips only feel so conventional now because "Take Care" rewrote the rules, and "Marvins Room" is the album's most enduring, subversive triumph.

47. "Malamente - Cap.1: Augurio" by Rosalía

"'Malamente' marked the arrival of one of the decade's most remarkable — and unexpected — talents," Philip Sherburne wrote for Pitchfork. "The song's age-old flamenco roots were audible in its fluttering hand claps and in Rosalía's vocal trills, but every other element — the lurching beat, luminous keys, hiccuping ad-libs, and samples of breaking glass — was unmistakably contemporary."

"'Malamente' jacked into a heretofore undiscovered matrix of possibilities, and a whole new world flashed into being."

46. "Zebra" by Beach House

"Zebra" is the clear standout on Beach House's celebrated album "Teen Dream." It swoons and yearns, creating its own plane of existence and swelling to fill it, like gas in a container. Despite its heart-wrenching lyrics ("Don't I know you better than the rest?"), listening to it is how I imagine breathing underwater would feel.

45. "Two Weeks" by FKA Twigs

Although FKA Twigs released one of this year's best albums, her 2014 single "Two Weeks" remains her standalone master stroke.

While 2019's "Magdalene" is a conscious-altering holistic experience, Twigs' debut studio album "LP1" had one clear zenith. The album's lead single, "Two Weeks," is a veritable feast of everything that has made her an indie-pop icon: spectral falsetto, throbbing industrial beats, otherworldly magnetism, and taunting sexual power.

44. "Oblivion" by Grimes

As Laura Snapes wrote for Pitchfork, Grimes' "Oblivion" is both reminiscent of a simpler time (before Grimes swiftly dismantled her own brand by defending capitalist beau Elon Musk) and enduringly futuristic, with a "gargled bass line that still sounds tailor-made for the exact moment when aliens lower their drawbridge onto Earth."

The singer-songwriter-producer, born Claire Boucher, wrote the track to grapple with a violent sexual assault that left her "paranoid" and "feeling powerless."

"'And now I'm left behind, all the time,' she sang, a devastating sentiment rendered in succubus sing-song, and a setback transcended by the track's forward-thinking production," Snapes wrote. "Ultimately, 'Oblivion' galvanized Boucher's pain into a complex anthem of vulnerability and nihilism that defiantly eludes a clear reading — a reminder to never stop searching for nuance as you look ahead."

43. "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus

"Wrecking Ball" isn't fully appreciated until you can play it at full volume and sing along to every word at the top of your lungs. It's a song that's meant to be screamed — throatily, passionately, and with full abandon.

Out of all the excellent songs Miley Cyrus has released this decade, from "Can't Be Tamed" to "Mother's Daughter" and all the bangerz bangers in between, "Wrecking Ball" is a glorious anomaly. It speaks to her talent and power that an emotional breakup ballad could cause such a frenzied devotion — especially in her post-Robin Thicke spotlight, amidst the myriad of ways she was mistrusted and mocked by critics and fans alike. Ultimately, Cyrus' passion and artistry manage to shine through the noise.

42. "Love If If We Made It" by The 1975

Few songs make you want to scream, dance, cry, march, and call your senator all at the same time — and even fewer manage it without feeling pretentious, calculated, or disingenuous. "Love It If We Made It" is a generational anthem in the most literal way possible.

41. "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish

This is one of the rare times that an artist's song — one that wasn't even released as a lead single for her album, one that she actually thought people would hate — has eclipsed the one that made her famous.

"Bad Guy" has become Billie Eilish's defining anthem, illustrating the unconventional spooky pop that has made her so beloved.

Released just before we head into the next decade, "Bad Guy" already feels like something we'll remember as the inspiration behind many copycats, as a song that paved the way for a new kind of radio hit — and perhaps as more than Eilish's defining anthem, but a generation's.

40. "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake

"Sicko Mode" is the crown jewel of Travis Scott's blossoming career, his most masterful combination of trippy and exhilarating. Essentially three songs in one — and a non-stop roller coaster ride from start to finish, somehow only getting better as the minutes tick by — "Sicko Mode" is one of the most delightfully bizarre No. 1 songs in recent memory. Not to mention, it's also the most invigorated Drake has sounded since 2015's "Back to Back."

39. "Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen

"Run Away With Me," the opening track on Carly Rae Jepsen's celebrated pop masterpiece "Emotion," is this decade's most essential '80s revival banger (sorry, "Out Of The Woods").

Many of Jepsen's die-