10 Songs: The Best Hits of 2020

collage by Maryam ElSharkawy

everything i wanted - Billie Eilish

2019 was a momentous year for Billie Eilish, with her achieving a chart-topping hit, Grammy wins, and a highly successful debut album. The public waited with bated breath to see how she would follow all that up. What we got was “everything i wanted”, a single featuring some of Eilish’s most poignant writing to date. The song is a thoughtful reflection on the pressures of fame and the lifelines she’s found along the way. “If I knew it all then would I do it again? / would I do it again?” she muses. FINNEAS’ minimal yet pointed production choices balance dark bass and sun-dappled keys but ultimately let Eilish’s vocals shine and welcome the listener to ruminate along with her. 

Supalonely - BENEE ft. Gus Dapperton

“Supalonely” danced its way onto the charts, and into our hearts right when quarantine hit. When you take a step back, it’s not hard to see why its appeal was so potent. There’s something about the pre-chorus growl of frustration  immediately followed by tongue-wagging la-la-la’s and a healthy dose of self-deprecation that make the song effortlessly likeable. With its bouncy pop groove and quirky presentation, “Supalonely” reflected the anxieties of the year with a wink and a smile, but also just enough emotional honesty to keep the chipper energy grounded. 

You Should Be Sad - Halsey

Halsey making one of the year’s most successful country songs was unlikely. The result, an emotionally potent breakup ballad rife with underlying grief, was even more so. And yet, it’s here. Halsey’s vocals take on a bit more twang, the guitars range from intimate finger-plucks to searing electric shreds, but the emotional core of the song remains in the midst of it all.  However, after Halsey has spent the whole song lamenting her anger, the truth of her own underlying grief is revealed in the final line: “I feel so sad / you should be sad.” One can’t help but feel the heartbreak along with her. 

Rain On Me - Lady Gaga ft. Ariana Grande

“Rain On Me” was a single so anthemic, so blissfully immersed in its sweet pop production that it seems to have been airdropped in from another year. Perhaps it’s a long-lost relic of the early 2010s, when Lady Gaga had pop music at her beck and call, when artistic team-ups felt so much more common and when bouncy synths were the mainstay of the charts. But dig a little deeper and “Rain On Me” is as current as it is nostalgic. With its main line “I’d rather be dry / but at least I’m alive” Gaga and Grande encourage you to let your feelings flow with every listen, no matter how hard the current circumstances may make that be. 

The Box - Roddy Ricch

When “The Box” stole the number one spot from Justin Bieber’s divisive comeback single “Yummy”, it seemed to signal a turning tide. Long gone were the days of superstars being handed number one hits just because of sheer fame and promotion. Instead, the power was in viral groundswell, (TikTok, in this case,) and, dare I say, from thinking out of the box. “The Box” does a great job synthesizing popular hip-hop tropes with a new idiosyncratic spin. The beat has some nice, foreboding synths, and Ricch ad-libs windshield wiper-like squeaks over them. He’ll establish a catchy rhythm with his line delivery, and then leaps to a different one in the middle of verses. It all comes together to form one of the year's catchiest, most enigmatic hits. 

Roses (Imanbek Remix) - SAINt JHN

The original “Roses” by SAINt JHN was a drowsy trap cut from 2018 that met moderate success. Who knew that two years later a viral remix would have the song tearing up the charts, leading to it gaining over a billion streams by the end of 2020. Remixes, especially on the current Billboard landscape, so often feel redundant, not actually doing anything to breathe new life into the song. The Imanbek version of “Roses” does more than breathe a new life into the song, it twists and morphs it into something completely unrecognizable, locking down a completely new appeal. SAINt JHN’s original vocals are pitch shifted beyond comprehensibility, but it doesn’t matter what’s being so much as how the new textures contribute to the propulsive thrum that makes the song irresistible. It’s a song that seems content to coast off the pure, infectious vibes, welcoming the listener along for the ride. 

Adore You - Harry Styles

Harry Styles had two smash singles in 2020. While “Watermelon Sugar” was a refreshing slice of summery pop rock that managed to snag the #1 spot for a week, it felt more of a victory lap set up by its predecessors. “Adore You” felt like an instant classic from the very first listen and with each repeated spin. The glistening, 70s inspired instrumental was perfect to sway to, peppered with ghostly ad libs for an extra ethereal touch. Paired with its zany music video and viral marketing scheme centered on a fictional island, it was the perfect hit for Styles to cement himself as a certified pop star of his own making. 

Don’t Start Now - Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa ended her first album cycle with a solid crop of singles under her belt but a question mark over her potential for stardom, (dancing memes aside.) “Don’t Start Now” is the best kind of follow-up single, one that transforms a fresh faced newcomer still finding their footing into bona-fide superstar. Every element of the song is polished, poised, and focused dance-floor funk, from the groovy bass line to the flurry of strings that usher in the bridge to the unexpected yet welcome rattle of clave on the chorus. And Lipa carries it all, her delivery of the song’s kiss-off just as assured as the instrumental propelling her. “Don’t Start Now” was the lead-single teaser into just how focused Lipa’s pop artistry would be in the year to come, and an excellent entry into her growing list of hits along with it. 

WAP - Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion

The raunchiness of “WAP” is delivered with such unapologetic intensity (it’s literally baked into the beat) that it challenges you to take it that seriously. And many people did. “WAP” arrived in a flurry of controversy, but it didn’t take long for pearl-clutchers to be overshadowed by the song’s undeniable likeability. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have incredible chemistry as performers, handing off the mic between each other to deliver clever lines with ease. Where else this year did we get a song with an over-description of a uvula followed by a vine reference? “WAP” has been called many things, scandalous, promiscuous, empowering, but on top of all that, it’s just a ton of fun. 

Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

Upon its initial release, it seemed as though “Blinding Lights” may be overshadowed by its accompanying single, “Heartless”, only becoming a top ten hit during its eleventh week on the Hot 100 chart. But once it was there, it stuck, clocking in a record-breaking forty two weeks (and counting.) But when you take a step back, smash success is baked into the song’s DNA. The spacey, synthwave inspired production is a concoction of hitmaking legend Max Martin. The drumline samples the classic track “Take On Me” by Ah-Ha. And with several hits under his belt, The Weeknd has established himself as an icon in the making. “Blinding Lights” will definitely go down in history not just for how it conquered the globe, but as one of his clear career highlights. Really, what else could the best hit of the year be?