Yes, I do my own music (as mentioned in my previous posts) but this blog post is dedicated to music by others.
I will mention top hits as well as songs that were over-looked by the mainstream.
These are purely my opinions and not to be taken personally. So if your favorite song of the year is not mention, it just means I didn't rank it as high as the ones I mentioned.
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First off, I got to give it up to my fellow Hawaii musician Bruno Mars, who came back with another hit. The former "Little Elvis" has made songs in the past reminiscent of James Brown, Micheal Jackson and more. This time, he made "24K Magic" which is so inspired by my favorite funk musicians Roger Troutman (of Zapp) and his #1 sampler DJ Quik). The spirit of the 80s & 90s live on with "24K Magic"
Bruno Mars "24K Magic"
Now for the best non-Hawaii musician of the year, I got to give it up to Chainsomkers!
They started the year collaborating with Daya for "Don't Let Me Down".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMH0Xglh7GA
Then they made the ultimate love song of the year with Halsey "Closer"
Chainsmokers w/Halsey "Closer:
They then ended the year w/Phoebe Ryan "This is all we know"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEi_XBg2Fpk
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The 2 Justins of pop had some major hits as well
Justin Timberlake had the summer classic "Can't Stop the Feeling"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw
Justin Bieber had his EDM slow jams
"Let Me Love You" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMs0GnYze34
and "Cold Water"(featuring MØ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a59gmGkq_pw
And while we're on the topic of MØ, she had her own classic "Final Song", a song that will ring in the final minutes of banquets to come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUcXQ--yGWQ
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Rihanna had her collabo w/Calvin Harris ""This is What You Came For"
Rihanna w/Calvin Harris "This is What You Came For"
but her huge hit was w/Drake "Too Good" and of course .......... "Work"
But Rihanna wasn't the only lady working this year.
5th Harmony also put in some work this year, with guest feature Ty$ helping them "Work from Home"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GL9JoH4Sws
5th Harmony gave a 90's reggae flashback, sampling Mad Cobra's "Flex" for their hit "All in My Head" featuring Fetty Wap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsbeemdD2rQ
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As for Drake, he also had hits without Rihanna.
He had "One Dance" (featuring Kyla & Wizkid) and "For Free" (w/DJ Khaled)
But my favorite rapper of the modern era is Flo Rida, who continued his string of hits including his mega-hit "My House"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo35R9zQsAI
and his over-looked song that should've been a bigger hit "Who did you Love?"
Flo Rida w/ Arianna "Who did you Love?"
and with his fellow Miami rapper Pitbull came "Green Light". Miami rappers always come with the greatest music!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xbhKIiw4Y
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Weeknd had the mega-hit last year with "Can't Feel My Face" which is a very hard act to follow. But he make some more hits with "Starboy", but my favorite which was released towards the end of 2016, and would likely peak in early 2017 is "I Feel it Coming"
Weeknd had the mega-hit last year with "Can't Feel My Face" which is a very hard act to follow. But he make some more hits with "Starboy", but my favorite which was released towards the end of 2016, and would likely peak in early 2017 is "I Feel it Coming"
Weeknd w/Daft Punk "I Feel it Coming"
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For a while, people wondered if Mike Posner was a one year wonder. Wonder no more, because he came back in a major way with "Pill in Ibiza"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUFgjTuvAvs
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One of the former Jonas Brothers had his own band "DNCE" with some cool rock hits. The most popular was "Cake by the Ocean" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaRiD5ym74
, but my favorite DNCE jam was "Toothbrush" (w/Ashley Graham in the video)
DNCE "Toothbrush"
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Jerry Heller (who happened to be another victim of the 2016 curse) once bragged that he managed the "Black Beatles", his term of endearment for the rap supergroup NWA!
But 2016 had a new set of "Black Beatles"........................Rae Sremmurd w/ Gucci Mane
Rae Sremmurd w/Gucci Mane "Black Beatles"
Also in the hip-hop world, Iggy Azalea didn't back down from her racist detractors and came back with the great club jam "Team"
Iggy Azalea "Team"
Iggy wasn't the only white rapper making it big this year. We also had G-Eazy who had his slow jam
w/Bebe Rexha "Me, Myself and I" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSfpSOBD30U
and his reggae collaboration with MarcE Bassy "You & Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUYjxf9rHCY
Also reppin the white boy rappers, we had Dirty Heads "That's All I Need"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjD_R8kWgNY
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Chance the Rapper was hottest rising rap star coming up independently. He refused to sign with a major label, but he still made hits without them. My favorite song from Chance the Rapper was "Angels" (featuring Saba)
Chance the Rapper (w/Saba) "Angels"
Chance the Rapper and Kanye West weren't the only Chicago rappers with impact this year. Common invited his one-time enemy Ice Cube to his Chicago neighborhood and made a great record of reconciliation and unity
Ice Cube w/Common "Real People"
Tech N9ne was long known for his 00's underground hit "Slacker", his crazy personality as well as his red clothes (symbolizing Bloods affiliation). This year, he surprised many with a great socially conscious song & video "If it was Me", which showed an understanding of youths shot by police, as well as an understanding of a police officer, as well as a police officer who hesitated and got shot.
Tech N9ne (feat. Krizz Kaliko)
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And off course, the hip-hop political statement of the year came from YG & Nipsey Hussle. Both aren't really political rappers, they're gangsta rappers who part of the revival of the West Coast gangsta rap scene this decade. They're from rival gangs (YG was a Blood from Compton, Nipsey Hussle was a Crip from Crenshaw), but they did unite to express their dislike of Donald Trump and his anti-Latino rhetoric. While much of the reporting about black-Latino relations has focused on deadly gang rivalries between African-American & Latino gangs, both YG &Nipsey Hussle expressed that they grew up with both African-American & Latino peers and they wanted to show unity against Donald Trump. They also emphasized that they're not against the "white folk" when criticizing Donald Trump.
So definitely their song "FDT" gained major traction. The song was first released online, and their video shoot got shutdown by the police but by then, there was more than enough footage for the video.
However, as we all know, Donald Trump did get elected. Also, YG later had racism allegations against him, as one of his other songs mentioned that Chinese homes are perfect targets for home invasions. Learn more at http://kore.am/sf-supervisor-calls-rapper-ygs-song-anti-asian-american/
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Beyonce made wajor waves this year for her Super Bowl performance (whose symbolic meaning went over my head when I saw it live, since I didn't know about the Formation video until afters) and her Lemonade album.
But my favorite Beyonce song of the year was her collabo w/Coldplay "Hymn for the Weekend" (which was also played in the Super Bowl but got overlooked by the Formation controversy)
Coldplay w/Beyonce "Hymn for the Weekend"
Beyonce was the Queen of Pop, but the princesses also made some good hits. Ariana Grande had her reggae hit w/ Nicki Minaj "Side to Side" but my favorite was "Into You". Selena Gomes song of the year was "Hands to Myself"
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For the retro vibe this year, we had Kungs sing "This Girl"
Kungs "This Girl"
Shinobi Ninjas had their heavy metal version of Montell Jordan's "This is How we Do it", which also added Busta Rhyme's verse from Scenario.
Shinobi Ninja "This is How We Do It/Scenario"
Another 90s hit reimagined was British alternative band Blur's "Girls & Boys", which inspired hip-hop mega-producer will.i.am and Guam's pop queen Pia Mia for their own version of "Boys & Girls'
Will.i.am w/Pia Mia "Boys & Girls"
Other Retro hits included
Cheat Codes "Sex" (EDM version of Salt n Pepa's "Let's Talk about Sex")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN5IQOx3s8Q
Tory Lanez "Luv" (remake of 90's dancehall hit "Everyone Falls in Love" by Tanto Metro & Devante) & "Say It"(remake of 90's R&B hit "If You Love Me" by Brownstone)
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A movie soundtrack that made waves was the one for "Suicide Squad". The soundtrack produced Kehlani's singing for a desire of a "Gangsta", and 21 Kings singing about their friends who are "Heathens". Alternative rockers Imagine Dragon called themselves "Sucker for Pain" along with rap stars Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Ty$, Logic.
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Now, here's a list of other classics of the year
Kid Ink w/Fetty Wap had their ultimate rap/sung collabo of the year with "Promise"
Kid Ink w/Fetty Wap "Promise"
Zara Larsson & MNEK "Never Forget You"
Zara Larsson & MNEK "Never Forget You"
DJ Snake w/Bipolar Sunshine "Middle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKqNxN4jWM
Hailee Steinfeld "Starving"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwjwCFZpdns
Fitz& the Tantrums "Handclap"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2V6yjjPbX0
Sean Paul, the Jamaican dancehall king of the 00's came back with some hits, the most popular being "Thrills" (W/Sia) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYh-n7EOtMA
Sean Paul also had a great collabo w/Jay Sean "Make My Love Go"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhm9TIQFws
Kent Jones express his love for women worldwide with "Don't Mind"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n49qi-dU9IE
Alan Walker w/Iselin Solheim "Faded"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ItHLz5WEA
Lost Kings w/Katelyn Tarver "You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAgGxPtC36Q
E40 kept hyphy alive with Nef The Pharaoh & DRAM "Slappin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxgTmM-7rm0
Area 21 "Spaceship" (not to be confused with my "Spaceship Track")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7jRV_rgagM
Daya "Sit Still Look Pretty"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPHKkewD1G0
Natalie LaRose w/Tiesto& Oliver Heldens "Right Song"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxEiIeoet6Q
Moby & Void Pacific Choir "Are you lost in the world like me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VASywEuqFd8
MIA w/G-Dragon "Temple"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fGoOEGojY0
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Again, the songs included are just based on my personal opinion of what great songs I heard in 2016. Don't take it personal if your favorite song is not on this list!
