100. Amaarae – “Co-Star” (2023)
Every astrological sign gets a shout out on this standout single from the still underrated alt-R&B artist’s great sophomore release.
99. Playboi Carti – “Slay3r” (2020)
Trap hooks and trademark ad-libs fly unrelentingly on a highlight from Playboi’s third great full-length in four years (’17-’20).
98. HAIM – “Gasoline” (2020)
The remix featuring Taylor Swift made clear to a wider audience that this was one of the pop rock band’s most expertly-constructed euphoric statements of their already-phenomenal career.
97. FKA Twigs – “Eusexua” (2024)
The only track heard so far from her upcoming album of the same name is on brand in her transcendent progressive pop style.
96. Doss – “Strawberry” (2021)
An album has yet to form from Aimee Bowen but this shoegaze trance joint has left everyone who comes across its path desperately wanting more.
95. Big Thief – “Vampire Empire” (2023)
This one-off single — later redone for Adrianne Lenker’s solo album — immediately became part of their gnarly romantically-cursed canon,
94. Chappell Roan – “Red Wine Supernova” (2023)
The clearest sign that she would become the new face of pop music was in this Midwest Princess highlight where an infectiously huge sing-along chorus perfectly counteracts the goofy DGAF energy of the verses.
93. SZA – “Good Days” (2020)
For a good while, this downtempo R&B single — maybe the most exquisitely produced in her career — bridged the gap between two modern classics in CTRL and SOS.
92. Mitski – “My Love Mine All Mine” (2023)
A short ode to the moon and love with an elegant slide guitar will be near the top of Mitski’s most played for the forseeable future.
91. Lil Baby (ft. 42 Dugg) – “We Paid” (2020)
In this tag-team hit, 42 Dugg’s wheezy-voiced feature seamlessly rhymes “curious” and “jewelry” and calls into question the basic nature of the English language.
90. The Weather Station – “Robber” (2020)
This sophisti-pop jazzy epic with a clever metaphor on Canada’s colonial past turned Tamara Hope’s project into a critical darling overnight.
89. Cole Pulice – “If I Don’t See You in the Future, I’ll See You in the Pasture” (2023)
A punny 22-minute repetitive ambient saxophone EP release from a relatively unknown artist is on few people’s radars, but those that click play get immediately sucked in a trance.
88. Harry Styles – “As It Was” (2022)
Every fiber in my being wants to hate this guy whose young One Direction stardom put his music career on easy street from day one, but pop perfection like this single is simply undeniable.
87. Charli xcx (ft. Lorde) – “Girl, so confusing (Remix)” (2024)
Along with the universally-lauded BRAT, what has been as integral to Charli’s current cultural zenith is this much-hyped remix album highlighted best by the welcomed return of Lorde as sad feminine pop royalty.
86. Saweetie (ft. Doja Cat) – “Best Friend” (2021)
Around the turn of this decade, Doja Cat was one of the most reliable hit-makers with features like this epode to the wonders of having a best friend you simply want to tout.
85. Sudan Archives – “Home Maker” (2022)
One of the biggest glow-ups this decade was with Brittney Denise Parks and her eclectic brand of R&B best exemplified in the Natural Brown Prom Queen opener.
84. Snail Mail – “Valentine” (2021)
Gen-Z’s greatest indie rock hope already has a legendary setlist brewing, and this title track single features one of the most iconic chest-bursting choruses of the decade.
83. Tyler, The Creator – “LUMBERJACK” (2021)
Missing from Tyler’s commercial and critical resurgence since Flower Boy was a cocksure hip-hop banger reminiscent of his “Yonkers” early days, so this greatly filled that void.
82. Blake Mills – “Vanishing Twin” (2020)
This multi-instrumentalist producer expertly crafted one of the most indelible ambient pop soundscapes here drawing more from Talk Talk and Eno than anything happening elsewhere in contemporary music.
81. Water From Your Eyes – “Barley” (2023)
It’s impossible to multi-task as this tour de force of experimental noise pop plays asking you to “count mountains” — a phrase with unclear meaning but leaves a great imprint when sung by Rachel Brown.
80. Perfume Genius – “Describe” (2020)
Deafening tones are nothing new for Mike Hadreas, but this noise pop single with a subdued vocal performance and a serene ambient outro was a freeing expansion of his aesthetic.
79. Flo Milli – “Like That Bitch” (2020)
To this day, she’s inescapable on TikTok or any Gen-Z-centered playlist, but still untainted by overexposure is this early single that can be treated as her theme music.
78. The 1975 – “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” (2020)
For all of Healy’s performative antics, the most notable aspect of the Cheshire band remains their warm blanket of ’80s-inspired alternative pop at their best like this single from the criminally-underrated Notes on a Conditional Form.
77. Nilüfer Yanya – “Midnight Sun” (2022)
Yanya remains a peculiar underrated presence in indie rock, eschewing the trendy therapeutic lyrical approach of her contemporaries and instead opting for killer percussive instrumentals and a choppy, hook-heavy singing style.
76. Megan Thee Stallion – “Plan B” (2022)
More than any artist in hip-hop today, Megan looks to the ’90s for inspiration in her large unrelenting Biggie-esque flow and explicitly through samples like Jodeci/Wu-Tang Clan’s “Freek’n You” found here.
75. Beyoncé – “VIRGO’S GROOVE” (2022)
Previous disco explorations like “Blow” felt like practice runs for this RENAISSANCE centerpiece, a sexy club thumper that would own the night scene at any point in the last fifty years.
74. The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights” (2020)
Even after becoming one of the most popular songs of all time, this synthpop banger still always plays, led by an iconic keyboard riff and Abel Tesfaye never killing the euphoric vibes.
73. Rina Sawayama – “XS” (2020)
On her best single, Sawayama throws every early-aughts influence into the melting pot creating an irresistible nu-metal-inspired glam pop masterpiece.
72. boygenius – “Not Strong Enough” (2023)
The sadgirl indie rock supergroup trio reached its full potential on this debut album standout with all three trading soul-torching sing-along performances.
71. Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – “family ties” (2021)
K-Dot returned after a three-year hiatus to turn his cousin’s solid single into a culture-defining epic, a hip-hop party starter as soon as the horn intro begins.
70. I. JORDAN – “For You” (2020)
With each cycle of new voices in electronic music, the night scenes become an even more inclusive space, and the era’s most defining track is from this trans UK house DJ explicitly including any listener in its power.
69. PinkPantheress – “Just For Me” (2021)
This short 2-step R&B single was the climax of a string of releases that formally announced this UK artist’s cultural-defining aesthetic.
68. Noname – “namesake” (2023)
This Sundial centerpiece is the all-encompassing Noname experience: a jazz funk beat, an effortless steamroll of a performance, stacked choruses galore, and political stances sure to piss off most Americans.
67. Maren Morris – “Circles Around This Town” (2022)
Despite country music moving the cultural needle about as much as any genre in America nowadays, few artists actually “say something with meaning,” so it was delightful to hear this self-determined, fuck-the-industry anthem from Morris.
66. Troye Sivan – “Rush” (2023)
With this last album cycle, Sivan truly embraced being an openly-gay male pop star to sexy euphoric heights on this funky house album opener.
65. Amaarae – “FANCY” (2020)
Those that haven’t gone back to visit Amaarae’s debut are missing out on one of the most joyous R&B albums in some time, best exemplified on the first proper track on it.
64. MJ Lenderman – “She’s Leaving You” (2024)
Even with just a few months of listening to this Manning Fireworks single, it’s clear that every slacker indie playlist will need to feature this anthem in perpetuity.
63. Sexyy Red – “SkeeYee” (2023)
If you’re like me, then hearing the “SkeeYee” hook for the first time was all that was needed to have it permanently implanted in your brain, and it’d be overthinking things to not simply recognize the musical power in that.
62. Nourished by Time – “Daddy” (2023)
Like clockwork, a new voice in bedroom pop comes along to revive your musical spirits, and Marcus Brown’s baritone and synthpop stylings is that case.
61. Perfume Genius – “On the Floor” (2020)
With Blake Mills playing and behind the boards and Phoebe Bridgers subtly providing backing vocals, “On the Floor” is a sultry psychedelic disco pop stomper for the ages.
60. NewJeans – “Super Shy” (2023)
Other K-Pop acts have more aggressively broken through commercially this decade, but NewJeans craft their addictive pop tunes with an ear for cooler contemporary drum & bass and R&B sounds meant to expand their audience outside of the otherwise-insular community.
59. Fiona Apple – “Ladies” (2020)
One of the most spacious songs in her catalog, this underrated Fetch the Bolt Cutters gem lets Apple “ruminate” on the struggles of trying to befriend every woman she can while society teaches them to tear each other down.
58. Monaleo – “Beating Down Yo Block” (2021)
Already one of the most iconic debut singles in hip-hop history, this immensely quotable song has yet to leave the zeitgeist belonging in the shit-talking rap canon.
57. Big Thief – “Simulation Swarm” (2022)
With a lullaby-esque melody running through every line, perfectly-executed rise-and-fall pattern and a distinctly plucky guitar riff, this Dragon New Warm Mountain highlight ranks among the best in Big Thief’s steep catalog.
56. Jessie Ware – “Please” (2021)
The great What’s Your Pleasure? album run continued with the deluxe edition and this single, the most jubilant peak in her iconic nu-disco aesthetic.
55. Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso” (2024)
What initially felt curated too perfectly as a summer anthem eventually became pop bliss as Carpenter’s unrepentant silly phrasing and lithe hooks kept rattling around in everyone’s heads.
54. Charli xcx – “forever” (2020)
In a discography stacked with electropop anthems, this how i’m feeling now highlight stands out for essentially never letting its foot off the gas with a new synth arrangement or melodic hook to completely overwhelm the senses in the best way possible.
53. 100 gecs (ft. Fall Out Boy, Craig Owens & Nicole Dollanganger) – “hand crushed by a mallet (Remix)” (2020)
That ’00s emo pop-punk era is not a deep well of great material in my eyes, but leave it to this hyperpop duo to dredge up those distinct sounds to craft such a gloriously weird and cathartic masterpiece.
52. Wizkid (ft. Tems) – “Essence” (2020)
Wizkid is a solid pop reggae artist, but the star here is Tems who sings the hell out of the first verse and chorus over such a luscious beat from P2J and Legendury Beatz that ended up one of the most popular Nigerian songs in American chart history.
51. Future & Metro Boomin (ft. Kendrick Lamar) – “Like That” (2024)
The diss war this started should not distract from the fact that Future is still more than capable of dominating the hip-hop charts and clubs like he did last decade.
Bitter Melodies 