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theotherboywhonevergrewup · 5 years

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MY TOP 10 SONGS OF 2018

Disclaimer: These are certainly not the “best” in terms of musical quality, nor are they what I think are the “best.” They’re not even my favorite songs of 2018. They are simply the 10 songs I find to be most defined the year 2018 for me.

I think the first thing I should mention is that Rihanna had released absolutely zero songs this year. She did not even feature on one, which is the first year that this has happened ever since she started her career. This also means this is the very first time she has not made this list. Hope to hear new music in 2019! I would also like to give an honorable mention to “Lost in Japan” by Shawn Mendes which was on this list before I arranged it.

10. “Give Yourself a Try” by The 1975

And I was 25 and afraid to go outside A millennial that baby-boomers like Won't you give yourself a try?

I had the honor of seeing The 1975 live in 2017, and it was an incredible show. The band’s lights perfectly matched the mood of each of the songs, taking the crowd through an emotional rollercoaster. Most notably their hit “Somebody Else” took everyone to a different place. Their 2018 release, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, is another definitive 1975 album, with songs like “Be My Mistake,” “Sincerity is Scary,” “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You),” “Surrounded by Heads and Bodies,” “Mine,” and “I Couldn’t Be More In Love” being my favorites. “Give Yourself a Try” gets the 10th place on this list because it was the most prominent single that made the biggest impact on me. In true 1975 manner, it lyrically dives into a dark place with mentions of fear of growing old, STDs, suicide, depression, and drug addiction, but all oddly over Joy Division’s “Disorder” bright guitar riff and bouncy drums. This song is the epitome of singer and writer Matt Healy’s open honesty about such subjects but in a positive way, moreso as advice given to their younger selves but more importantly their fans. Ironically, I also struggled with anxiety and depression when I was 25, so this song speaks to me in that you’re never alone and you live and you learn. He’s encouraging us to let go of all those fears and things that don’t matter and really give ourselves a try.

9. “Get It” by Busta Rhymes featuring Missy Elliott and Kelly Rowland

Every time we step up in the spot Homie, I'ma take yo shine from you Homie, you ain't got the slightest clue Diamonds'll shine with the brightest blue

I’m not the biggest Busta Rhymes fan, but he has been such a constant presence ever since I was little, so his songs have always gotten me hyped up. Even moreso, Missy Elliott was always playing in the house when I was little. “Get Ur Freak On” was one of the most memorable tracks of my childhood. Last but certainly not least, Kelly Rowland is absolutely one of my favorite singers ever. Her new single “Kelly” was her first main artist release in five years and it does not disappoint. It’s such a banger, and I love how she continues to grow in her confidence. Something about having all three of these people on one track really got me going. It felt like bringing back my childhood but also felt so fresh. Busta and Missy do not hold back, and their raps were a stark contrast to the ever-popular mumble rap of 2018. Not saying that there’s anything wrong with mumble rap necessarily; it’s just not my cup of tea. My only gripe with this song is I wish that Kelly was on it more than just the sample. Even then, I can’t be that mad because it goes so hard!

8. “Love Lies” by Khalid and Normani

If you're down, don't hide it Feelin' me, you don't gotta deny it Baby you gon' make me overnight it Tell me, are you down?

Last year, Khalid’s “Location” made my 2017 list. I had mentioned that none of his other tracks really stood out to me, but I was hopeful for his future releases. Well, “Love Lies” certainly does not disappoint. Again, the slower, bumping R&B beat really supported Khalid’s smooth, deeper vocals sliding on top. I am a sucker for duets, and who better to add to this track than the smoothest Fifth Harmony member Normani. While she vocally may be on the weaker end of her former group, her voice perfectly fits this type of song as it flows over the deeper sounds. Normani just oozes sexiness too as she adds a little bit of flair to both the video and live performances of this song with some choreography. She really made 2018 her own, and I look forward to her future releases as well! The only thing that is holding this track back for me is that it is for a film, Love, Simon. I’m always wary of made-for-film songs because I’m not sure how true the artists of the song are being to the piece itself or if has been molded to fit the film’s narrative or theme.

7. “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA

I hate people that feel entitled Look at me crazy 'cause I ain't invite you Oh, you important? You the moral to the story, you endorsing? ..., I don't even like you

I’ve been following SZA for a few years now, and I have to say that she is really making a name for herself and changing the R&B game. Of all the megahits this year, this is easily my favorite. It’s received one Oscar nomination and four Grammy nominations, and it deserves every ounce of the respect it’s been given. The simple rocking beat serves as a metronome for some more complicated percussion as Kendrick expertly serves his flow, slowly introducing the synths and strings that allow SZA to take the song to an otherworldly place. The music video is absolutely stunning too. Like “Love Lies,” however, this song is held back for me in that it was also made for a film, Black Panther. I am not saying either of these films are bad necessarily, in fact, they were both fun movies. I’m just saying I wonder where these artists could have taken these songs if they were completely untied from any other projects.

6. “We Don’t Care” by Sigala featuring The Vamps

Try to keep my composure Would be easy if I was sober But you keep getting closer And I'm feeling alright

Another artist that was on my top 2017 songs, The Vamps had several bops this year, including singles “Too Good to Be True,” “Hair Too Long,” and “Just My Type” and non-singles “What Your Father Says” and “Cheap Wine.” I had the opportunity to not only see these guys perform live but also finally meet them! They were the nicest dudes, and it was definitely a highlight of the year. My favorite 2018 release by them though was their feature on Sigala’s “We Don’t Care.” Even though it’s not their track, it harkens back to many Vamps songs just about having a good time, and that stress-free nature is why I love them. Sigala certainly knew how to make the best of this collaboration, and I feel like I’ll be dancing to this for years to come.

5. “Tempo” by EXO

I can’t believe 기다렸던 이런 느낌 (oh) 나만 듣고 싶은 그녀는 나의 멜로디

For reasons I will explain later in this post (see entry #3), I have officially fallen in love with K-pop, and in my search to find more K-pop artists to love, I have oddly landed back to one that I saw live a few years ago, EXO. In 2015 or 2016, my friend Brit became “ill” to K-pop fever and fell in love with EXO. As someone who claims to love all genres (with a few exceptions), she asked me to go with her to their concert in 2016. I did not hesitate at the opportunity, and while I saw that they were truly talented, something held me back from loving them at the time. While I had never really been a K-pop fan in the past, I was aware of what they could deliver. When it came to boybands in particular, I was aware of Big Bang, Super Junior, and SHINee and how different their songs were from American and European music beyond the language they are sung or rapped in. However, I found EXO’s repertoire to be quite lackluster at the time. This was before the release of Ex’Act, so their biggest hits at the time were “Growl,” “Overdose,” “Call Me Baby,” and “Love Me Right.” With the exception of “Overdose,” these songs as well as a lot of their other songs sounded too familiar. They were safe R&B vibes, and as someone who grew up with R&B, these songs did not stand out to me. “Overdose” was somewhat of a highlight, but it was still just a bit lacking to me. My favorite song of theirs at the time became “Wolf” (and Brit aptly made fun of me for it lol). Sure, “Wolf” gets made fun of because it’s kind of a mess of a song, but that’s why I love it. It’s so out there and experimental. It was EXO trying to find their voice. It wasn’t safe; every aspect of it goes hard (maybe too hard). The icing on the cake that “Overdose” was missing? Chen! Let me quickly explain my love for Chen. This man (who I’m exactly only 10 days older than!) has the voice of an angel. Even back then when I went to their concert and couldn’t remember any of their names for the life of me, I remember telling Brit, “The one with the cheekbones has the best voice!” And while “best” is debatable with Baekhyun and D.O. in the group (and even compared to other vocal powerhouses like Super Junior-K.R.Y., and y’all, don’t you dare sleep on Suho), Chen still stands out to me because his vocal quality is 100% the kind of voice that I wish I had. He has this vibrant, clear tenor timbre to his voice that I find so pleasing. Chen is apparently the least favorite EXO member for whatever reason (maybe he’s the ugliest? idk, I’m not a girl/don’t like men), and some people say his voice is less emotional than the others. I disagree, as I think the lightness in his voice just puts the emotion in a different place where people aren’t used to hearing it. Regardless, since “Overdose” was made when they had the EXO-K and EXO-M split before, it largely lacked Chen vocals, and he goes hard in “Wolf.” All this to say, when I revisited EXO’s discography this year, it was chock-full of hit after hit that finally filled that sweet-tooth K-pop craving. They were no longer standard R&B hits. They were each creative directions, starting with “Monster” which built off of many of the same vibes as “Wolf” and “Overdose” but with more expertise and a healthy dose of Chen (“Don’t be afraid / Love is the way / Shawty I got it / You can call me monster” what an english-god! lol), to “Ko Ko Bop” which is a reggae fusion smash (if you know that I love Rihanna, then you gotta know that I love me some reggae fusion and who knew that it would fuse so well with K-pop), to the infectiously fun and upbeat “Power” that they performed at the Olymics closing ceremony.

Now let me finally get to why I am obsessed with “Tempo.” Chen opens the song with “I can’t believe” and then silence. I am a Chen fan, so you know I’m already hooked. Then the synths come back in and there are some a capella elements. Baekhyun dares to sing over Chen (just kidding, he sounds good too obviously). Once Chen is done singing, the drums come in leading into the chorus, with the bed squeak which is a R&B/hip hop sample staple. To be clear, I never wanted EXO to leave their R&B roots; I just wanted that and more from them, and this song is it. After the second verse, instead of going back to the chorus, they hit this alternate “slowed down” version of the chorus which again hits different R&B vibes, and this beautiful piano brings us to the a capella portion and oh my. Then Chen’s scream signals the piano, drums, synth, squeaky bed, and everything to go into the last chorus. And let’s not forget his Michael Jackson-esque ad-lib. The line distribution was mostly fair too. I mean, obviously I’m biased, but Sehun got a whole rap section. If anyone, Xiumin and D.O. (and Sehun) probably could have used more lines somehow. Lay was even in the Chinese version (though I’m not sure how many songs he was gone for?) But honestly, zero complaints here. GET IT GUYS.

4. “Remind Me to Forget” by Kygo featuring Miguel

I need you to let go I got these mementos And I'll be alright

Shortly after my breakup this year, I still had tickets to see Miguel and no one to go with. So I asked my ex if she still wanted to go, and she did. He performed all my favorite songs by him, including “Adorn,” “Sure Thing,” and “Pineapple Skies.” It was kind of an ethereal experience in a way. A huge amount of his repertoire is baby-making music, and boy did that make a mood that night. I’m not sure if she realized it, but Miguel was actually what I put on during our second date (I also just remembered that his song was on when we had our first kiss during our first date). But this song (which he did not perform but played afterwards as everyone was leaving the venue) is lyrically actually so significant to that relationship. Kygo’s echoey instrumentals was a match made in heaven for Miguel’s soaring vocals, and while the song doesn’t exactly convey pain, it beautifully encapsulates letting go of a relationship. I still like my ex as a friend, but from experience we know that’s all it should be.

3. “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” by BLACKPINK

두 번 생각해 흔한 남들처럼 착한 척은 못 하니까 착각하지 마 쉽게 웃어주는 건 날 위한 거야

All right, here’s how I became ill with K-pop fever. As I’ve mentioned in entry #5, I try to be a lover of all genres of music. I’m not perfect; I have a few dislikes: parodies (because I want the originals to stand out), covers and remixes (for the same reason), anything I find lyrically too heavy or too opposed to my values, and anything that includes too much screaming. When it comes to falling in love with a genre, I’ve noticed I have a trend: I fall in love with a girl. Sometimes it’s an actual girl that I meet, but most of the time it’s one of the singers. R&B, hip hop, and pop is what I naturally grew up with, but Paramore got me into rock, Kelly Rowland’s collaboration with David Guetta got me into EDM, Whitney Houston got me into 80′s music, Carrie Underwood got me into country, etc. As I’ve also mentioned, K-pop has been on my radar for several years now. I’ve never been opposed to it (with one-ish exception, which I will get to), but I’ve just never fallen in love with it myself. My first real exposure was about 10 years ago from my friend Kalvin. I specifically remember hearing Girls’ Generation/SNSD’s “Gee” non-stop, and I couldn’t blame him. It was catchy! At the time, though I honestly was having trouble loving my identity as an Asian. My younger self wanted to be white or black or latino. Why? Because if you looked at America’s standard of who was famous and attractive, there were barely any Asians, and the Asians who were there were women (Lucy Liu). Anyways, Kalvin and a few other friends such as my prom date Esther introduced me to a few more K-pop artists over the years: Super Junior, Kara, Big Bang (and G-Dragon and Taeyang’s solo music), T-ara, 2NE1, and f(x). I liked them, but again, I never fell in love with them. Then, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” came into the picture. I hated it so much because I knew this song would be many people’s first impressions of K-pop. Psy’s talent aside, it was a song and video that was intended to be funny, almost like a parody. This perpetuated the Western thought of Asian men being only smart and funny, not sexy. Years later, BTS came into the picture. While I didn’t fall in love with them either, I supported them because they are a K-pop artist that America is actually taking seriously. Around the time I heard about BTS was also the time I first heard about BLACKPINK. When it comes to pop music, the girls I like the most are in my opinion not too girly (i.e. SNSD) but also not too unconventional (i.e. 2NE1). I think Rihanna is a good example of that balance. She’ll sometimes wear all pink and sometimes go with a completely baggy hip hop vibe, but most of the time she stays somewhere in between. When I heard “Boombayah” a few years ago, this song was so close to being my K-pop drug, but the “oppa!” and the chanting at the end of the song killed it for me. Stars did not align back then.

This year, as I continued to grow up, I learned to love my Asian identity more than ever. 2017 was a hear of depression and anxiety and just overall hating myself, so I made a conscious decision to love myself more in all ways. It just so happened that 2018 was the year of films like Crazy Rich Asians and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. The former took a man who I find to be an average or slightly above average looking man (like the Ryan Seacrest of Asia) Henry Golding and made him into a superstar. He even got to star alongside one of my favorites Blake Lively in A Simple Favor as her husband. This amongst other things did wonders for me in viewing myself and Asians as attractive and equally viable partners. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before did something else for me. With that movie, I realized I wanted more young Asian celebrities to fill this void of “there are no sexy Asians” because if I have a child, that child will undoubtedly be at least half Asian. I want that child to grow up to be confident in who they are and find themselves to be absolutely beautiful or handsome. All this to say, yes, I finally started seeing Asian girls as sexy. Then, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” dropped and my life was changed lol. Here were four sexy women (Jisoo is my bias!!) singing and rapping a song that was perfectly in between girly and unconventional. It wasn’t the usual bubblegum pop girly K-pop, and I loved it. After listening to it two billion times, I needed something similar, so I went back to “Boombayah.” I found “Whistle” and then the gateways flooded. I now listen to pretty much every K-pop artist I previously listed and more. I am so proud of these girls charting higher on the Hot 100 than any other K-pop artist other than BTS and Psy. I sincerely hope either BLACKPINK or BTS (or anyone really) beat Psy’s record (thank God for Maroon 5 for preventing Psy to ever hitting #1). Here’s to hopefully a full BLACKPINK album next year and more Asian sexiness!

2. “Dangerous Night” by Thirty Seconds to Mars

I, I am a man on fire You, a violent desire

From the get-go, you can tell that this is not your ordinary Thirty Seconds to Mars track, and that’s because Zedd’s producer mark on it is undeniable. I absolutely love the America album, especially “Rescue Me,” “Great Wide Open,” “Hail to the Victor,” and “Live Like a Dream.” However, Zedd’s spin with “Dangerous Night” makes it hopelessly catchy. It takes the recklessness of entry #6 and combines it with the tumultuous relationship of entry #4. Above all, I had the opportunity to see Thirty Seconds to Mars live and to meet them in person. What a wild night! It was one of the best experiences of 2018. The Leto brothers are so kind and rocked the night away. They fought with security a couple times to let fans do what they wanted (in still a safe way). And the absolute best part was that they invited a random select few in the crowd to go up... including me! It was insane being on stage with my favorite band singing one of my favorite songs “Closer to the Edge” in front of thousands of people. INSANE! Truly a night I will never forget.

1. “Never Be the Same” by Camila Cabello

And I could try to run, but it would be useless You're to blame Just one hit of you, I knew I'll never be the same

Someone who is just looking at this list and my list from last year (where Camila also made #1) might think I’m obsessed with her haha. I swear I’m not. Rihanna will always be my true number one. I honestly don’t even like that many more Camila songs than this and “I Have Questions” (last year’s number one). I mean, I like her songs, but those two are the stand outs for me. Anyways, Camila’s unique voice and creative runs take the cake here on this track over the equally addictive synths and drum beats. Lyrically, the song is about being forever changed by a relationship that she doesn’t outright say is bad but heavily hints at it with the imagery she uses. It’s kind of a love song but has the feeling of a breakup or near breakup song. After my first date with my ex, we sat in my car for a long time just listening to the radio and while there were several cute moments like singing Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect” together, one thing I remember is staring into her eyes while this song was playing. Throughout our relationship, it became apparent that we were bad for each other in a way. And in many ways, I will never be the same. I don’t regret it. I’ve learned so many things. But yeah, even though this is not my favorite song of 2018, it is definitely the most 2018 song to describe my year.

#me

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