Even I thought I wouldn't get to this.
Yes, it's finally time to unveil my top 100 for Billboard songs of the decade. Had to wait for the final chart of the decade for any potential adds. Remember, to get on the list, the song had to have charted in the Hot 100 at least one week. I am also making a three-song limit for each artist, just so half the list isn't Bruno Mars and Drake. Features count as one selection.
Release dates for all songs are as singles, not the album they may have came from.
#100: “Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)” by Mr. Probz
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #14 (December 6, 2014)
Cultural Relevance: 2/10. Not much, but enough to push the music video to over 380 million views, and enough to receive the Chris Brown remix treatment.
How weather and seasons affect the reactive mood of the public to certain songs has always been an interesting part of pop history. Each season has its “moods,” shall we say. Spring, then leading into Summer, brings the more upbeat club-jam vibes as the industry’s target audience gets off of school. Fall is just, well, wonky, much like the season it represents. A random October week can bring temperatures in the 20s as easy as it can bring 80-degree heat. Global warming aside, the pop charts can really go in any direction during the September-November period, usually dominated by one or two big artists (this year being Lizzo, the only person who can bring the Vikings to make a playoff run behind Kirk Cousins).
Winter, though, is made for two things. One, love songs, with the marketable Valentine’s Day tracks brought out in late January, just in time to make the soundtrack for the chick flicks. The other is the more low-key track, the songs made more for winter atmospheric than poetry’s sake.
Enter Mr. Probz, who along with producer Robin Schulz, make a track that is as “slowly drifting” as it says. The atmosphere, and mainly unchanging beat, makes “Waves” perfect background music for wintry walks, hence its’ peak charting in early December. Is it tremendous? No, but that’s why it makes a perfect #100. It’s a perfectly acceptable cutoff. If you believe enter song here is better than “Waves,” then it’s in your top 100.
Follow-Up: Not a ton state-side, but Mr. Probz has remained a hit-maker in his native Netherlands, and used the popularity of “Waves” to get a guest feature on 50 Cent’s Animal Ambition album. Schulz is still an overseas star as well, and contributed to the solid “Prayer in C” remix playing around the same time on US charts as “Waves.”
#99: “Suge” by DaBaby
Release Date: April 23, 2019
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #7 (July 6, 2019)
Cultural Relevance: 8/10. One of the biggest songs of the year and helped boost DaBaby into ’09 Wayne territory when it comes to “I need a hit, let’s get him on the guest verse.”
Rap in 2019 had fallen into a deep, deep slog. I don’t know what it was, since the current crop of MCs is the strongest since the mid-90s. Sure, heavy hitters like Drake and Kendrick Lamar were mostly absent, but I don’t think it was that. It was more a combination of sound and lack of personality. The SoundCloud-inspired dreary trap sound doesn’t inspire much in the way of pop-rap, and having to hear the same Migos track recycled by lesser artists was pretty cringe-worthy.
Thank the Lord for DaBaby, who blessed color unto the rap world of grey. The moment I saw his “Walker, Texas Ranger” music video, I knew he would blow up, but was tepid to say he would be the “next big thing.” Then, Mal of “The Joe Budden Podcast” gave him praise on Spotify’s top show, putting him in the ear of millions. After that came some radio play, as “21” got a little shine. Finally, the blow up was cemented with “Suge,” becoming a phenomenon over the summer.
Bless DaBaby for bringing a rapper with actual character and a funny/killer on-off switch possessed by most of the greats before him. The track, with its’ west-coast beats and threats of violence (played off like they weren’t just said), pays fitting tribute to its namesake, for better or worse. I think for better. Listen, it’s rap, we can’t “cancel” someone like Suge Knight for committing acts of violence. If that’s the case, everyone is cancelled.
Can’t let this one go without mentioning Nicki Minaj’s remix, which goes back to my original point about originality. Not even a minute in, I hear about how Minaj (a made millionaire) is “whipping it up in the kitchen.” No, Nicki, you’re not. Nobody buys this, and to see someone who did have personality resort to the most basic of trap brags was sad. I would clown on her more, but she did it to herself. The less said about this and her “Thotiana” remixes, the better.
Follow-Up: Another banger-filled album with Kirk, an SNL appearance, and like I said, every feature you could ever want as an artist. Good times ahead for DaBaby.
#98: “No Hands” by Waka Flocka Flame ft. Roscoe Dash & Wale
Release Date: August 17, 2010
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #13 (January 21, 2011)
Cultural Relevance: 6/10. A fair amount. The song that launched Waka Flocka into stardom, it remains a club standard nine years later.
By the time “got me in a traaaance” hits, everyone knows every word of this song. Nobody knows why, nor how, but the lyrics come through every club-goer of the 2010s like osmosis.
Yes, this one was inescapable in the early part of the decade, and remains played today, and with good reason. It’s fun! We can have a little fun in our pop charts right? That’s what I always look for, actually. If a song is entertaining, or fun, I will allow it to get away with bad lyrics (I mean, the song literally starts with “all that azz…in them jeanz,” I’m not expecting Scarface here). If the intent is to make a club banger, Flocka and company hit a home run. Best verse, as always, goes to Wale.
Follow-Up: Dash attempted to get respect by demanding credit on various songs, including Wale’s “Lotus Flower Bomb.” This did not end well for him. He last released a mixtape in 2016. We’ll get to the other two in a bit.
#97: “Clarity” by Zedd ft. Foxes
Release Date: December 14, 2012
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #8 (August 17, 2013)
Cultural Relevance: 6/10. A big song in 2013-14, Zedd’s track was used as one of the blueprints for bringing EDM to the pop masses.
Until about 2011, I thought techno and EDM was like how Eminem said it in “Without Me,” nobody listens to it. Then came one of the most random booms of the decade, with Skrillex and the Dubstep phenomenon getting high school schmucks like me into it.
At first, I used it as a pre cross-country meet hype-up, since the rest of the team was into it. Then came, literally, “Clarity,” which showed me that EDM tropes can be used not just for random noise, but for succinct pop song construction.
I like to keep my pop simple, and verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus always works when done right, which it is here by Zedd. For a genre known for its kinetic energy and its bounce-off-the-walls mentality, I commend artists like Zedd that harness the power of EDM in a more structured setting.
Follow-Up: Zedd remains one of the biggest EDM artists alive. Foxes last released a studio album in February 2016.
#96: “On Chill” by Wale ft. Jeremih
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #22 (October 26, 2019)
Cultural Relevance: 2/10. Some radio play, little besides that. Not the artist’s fault.
Getting to speak on Folarin twice in one batch of ten songs? Have to love that.
Here, the DMV native gets his victory lap with “On Chill,” one of the many views Wale gives us into his relationships with women on Wow…That’s Crazy. The man himself admits anxiety and constant pressure, and is a man looking to just chill the F out with someone that doesn’t get on his nerves. I think that’s a relatable quality, wanting to put trust and comfort above the generic idea of “love” that we’re given. Really, having someone’s trust is that love, more than what anyone tells you what love is.
Despite problems with his current management and unease with his position in the music industry, “On Chill” became a charter due to Wale’s connection with his fanbase, particularly female. One of the most talented artists of the decade, bar none. Hopefully Wow…That’s Crazy was not the swan song he hinted at.
Follow-Up: For Wale, I’ll use a pro wrestling quote. The only thing sure about Wale is, nothing’s for sure.
#95: “100 Grandkids” by Mac Miller
Release Date: August 7, 2015
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #100 (August 29, 2015)
Cultural Relevance: 1/10. It peaked at #100, I can’t give it much credit. The single was also a failed starter for Mac’s third album, GO:OD AM which sold less than half of Watching Movies with the Sound Off.
I’m hungry writing this, so my mind is going to food. Let’s do a Mac sandwich, with the same sentence as the “bread.”
R.I.P. to Mac Miller.
I say that first and foremost because the “Cultural Relevance” section may make you think that I have it out for the man. I don’t. I’ve written columns about him in the past, seen the man live, and binged his music like no other.
Now, onto “100 Grandkids,” which was a perfect time capsule for how Miller was feeling in 2015. He had calmed down a bit from the hectic days of Blue Slide Park and the “Most Dope” period of popularity. Signing a major label deal with Warner Bros., “100 Grandkids” was the introduction of what I call “straight man” Mac, penning a more traditional single than the off-kilter, smoked-out rhymes of his earlier efforts.
It works just as well, with the wordplay as strong as ever. The words were implemented into a song with thrust, as the beat-change midway switches the demeanor from family-related thoughts to more selfish behavior in Mac’s flows. A smooth listen, as is the rest of the GO:OD AM album, particularly the intro “Brand Name.”
R.I.P. to Mac Miller.
Follow-Up: Two more albums (the solid Devine Feminine and the excellent Grammy-nominated Swimming), and a lifetime of legacy left behind. I will follow up on Mac later in this list, spoiler alert.
#94: “O Let’s Do It” by Waka Flocka Flame
Release Date: April 14, 2009
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #62 (April 2, 2010)
Cultural Relevance: 2/10. Enough to get Diddy and Rick Ross on a remix, I suppose.
Yes, Waka Flocka Flame made my list twice. The man who, to my knowledge, was last seen campaigning for President with “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, was a genuine hit maker in his day.
Look, I can’t analyze this like it’s some gem on the state of humanity. Waka “F*cks his money up,” robs someone, and then aggressively peddles dope unto others. It is as it says, drug-dealing music. But there is a charm to the ridiculousness, such as Waka rapping over his own chorus and the absurd repetition of lines that don’t deserve a second look. I’ll give him credit; I now know not to travel to Riverdale, GA any time soon. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and thus allows audiences into the stupidity. Pop lets us turn our brains off, and mine was blissfully unplugged for this one.
Follow-Up: Flocka Flamed out (get it?), but still keeps his name out there in social media, including the 2016 viral run with Flair. However, he did influence many club hits to follow in the shadow of “No Hands.”
#93: “Pompeii” by Bastille
Release Date: January 11, 2013
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #5 (March 15, 2014)
Cultural Relevance: 4/10. Was used in a few movie trailers, commercials, things like that.
Creation of strong atmosphere goes a long way in determining the quality of certain tracks, this being one of them. “Pompeii” and its brooding beat, followed by volcanic blasts of chorus, echoes the hopelessness and terror felt by Romans during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The song creates the atmosphere of solace within stress, peace within pieces of a city (or your life) falling around you, and it’s an interesting emotional trip.
How this got on the pure rock charts, though, is a travesty brought about by falling standards of what “heavy” is. I’ve heard both this song and hits from Imagine Dragons on rock stations, mixed in with the Maiden and Metallica. It doesn’t feel right, and it’s not really “rock,” per se. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just not rock.
Follow-Up: A hit making group in the U.K., Bastille’s slumber on the U.S. Charts lasted five years until the collaboration with Marshmello, “Happier,” landed at #2 on the charts and was named the #6 song of 2019 from Billboard.
#92: “I Cry” by Flo Rida
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #6 (December 12, 2012)
Exhibit A in “Don’t judge a Bubblegum artist by their cover.” Mr. Bottles and Models himself, Flo Rida has mainly stayed in the pop-dance lane, sticking to the aforementioned rhyme scheme depicting his lavish life. It’s had hits (“Right Round,” “My House”) and misses (“Whistle,” and, well, “Whistle”), but it’s a consistent career many pop artists would love to have.
With “I Cry,” Flo Rida almost effortlessly steps out of his comfort zone, at least a little. He quiets the champagne talk for the most part, allowing you to understand that the man does have a working social conscience. If you don’t care to listen, that’s fine, the beat does enough of a good job where you don’t have to care for the words (which is my only problem, the mixing makes the beat a little too loud).
Flo Rida isn’t Shakespeare or anything, but he does a decent job getting across things that aren’t his forte, which is commendable.
Follow-Up: Back to the clubs for Mr. Rida, including the “G.D.F.R.” and the aforementioned “My House” becoming hits.
#91: “Help Is On The Way” by Rise Against
Release Date: January 25, 2011
Peak on Billboard Hot 100: #89 (February 12, 2011)
Cultural Relevance: 0/10. A rock band in a pop world. Nothing to see here, unfortunately.
Remember when rock songs could chart in the Hot 100? Good times. Yes, Rise Against wouldn’t be charting in 2019, but 2011 still provided enough platform for the genre to get over real acts, not faux-rock such as the oft-mentioned Imagine Dragons.
“Help Is On The Way” isn’t a particularly great selection from the band’s catalogue, and doesn’t even touch other tracks from their Endgame album, such as “Satellite.” However, it’s still relatively heavy, brings out the trademark yelling from Tim McIlrath, and provides a good look into the injustices victims of natural tragedy go through. I remember rock. Good times.
Follow-Up: Two more albums, The Black Market in 2014 and Wolves in 2017, but no more charting songs. Just the lay of the land.
Coming up: Some EDM, some more rock, and a little Maybach Music to boot.