| Follow "Straight Fire 2017" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 || #165 - 131 || #130 - 101 || #100 -71 || #70 - 41 || #40 - 21 || #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
165. Ryan Power “The Cavalry”
164. Headroom “How To Grow Evil Flowers”
163. Tera Melos “Don’t Say I Know”
162. Code Orange “Kill the Creator”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-Ka0YhwegU
161. Pile “Texas”
160. Two Inch Astronaut “Snitch Jacket”
159. Miguel “Harem”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AvKmWO5_vw
158. DiCaprio “Ectoslavia”
157. Ariel Pink “Time To Meet Your God”
Free video idea: The priest calls out, "Congregation, please rise for our hymn." Everyone has really serious looks on their faces and stands up and then everyone sings "Time to meet your God / Time to meet the Lord thy God / Time to get with God / Time to face the firing squad." VHS & drugs. Nothing's changed.
156. YG “Fuck It Up”
YG channeling Nelly. Mom approves.
155. C Struggs “Go To Jesus”
The history of hiphop continues its proud tradition of very large rappers who straight murder on the mic.
154. Migos “Call Casting”
153. N.E.R.D. f/ Gucci Man & Wale “Voila”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK57YRwYGvY
152. Dreamdecay “Ian”
Brace yourself for the freakout.
151. Palehound “Room”
150. Leikeli47 “Money”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAM_ONZgPnE
149. Maren Morris "Sugar" / Maren Morris “Rich”
Sugar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiNvbXUE2M4
Rich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsC0x-LSLNo
148. Lil Yachty f/ Young Thug “On Me”
"22 hoes on me." It's one of those songs where we were going to make a joke about getting the lyrics wrong, but we looked it up on Rap Genius and those are the actual words.
147. Elder “Blind”
146. Selena Gomez “Bad Liar”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVtzQms7lps
145. Liars “Cred Woes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkvbO0cY1TE
144. WV White “Broken Arm”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFCjGuApohg
143. Potty Mouth “Twisted”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp24x3JD6Ho
142. MOZART “Love Knows No Bounds”
141. Ty Dolla $ign “Message In A Bottle”
A greatest hits album with all of his best solo tracks would fill up an impressive collection of 12-14 very hot jams. Throw in a bonus disc of his best 12-14 featured tracks from the past 5 years, and we got a sizzling commodity on our hands. "Message In A Bottle" is one of the best late night summer driving songs of the year.
140. Charli XCX f/ Carly Rae Jepsen "Backseat"
An historic pairing for sure. Hopefully the first of many.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiGqKwy4yM0
139. Weaves “#53”
138. 03 Greedo “Mafia Business”
"Mafia Business" was a nice mix of hazy purp. It's probably 03 Greedo's last time placing on this list for a very long while since he was just sent to jail for like 20 years.
137. Vince Staples “745”
136. Dua Lipa f/ Miguel “Lost In Your Light”
Yes, we like this one way better than "New Rules." You wanna fight?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-AuLm7S3XE
135. Palberta “Pick Up The Phone”
134. Tyler The Creator “I Ain’t Got Time”
133. Squidnice “Trap By My Lonely”
132. Alex G “Guilty”
131. Lil Pump f/ 2 Chainz “Iced Out” / Lil Pump “Gucci Gang”
| Follow "Straight Fire 2017" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 || #165 - 131 || #130 - 101 || #100 -71 || #70 - 41 || #40 - 21 || #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
Just saw the commercial for the new Kidz Bop and it should come as no surprise that "Rust" and "Gypsy's" are tracks 1 and 2 respectively. Makes complete sense if you know brats like we do; all 4th through 7th graders love dissonant drone and the sound of flushing toilets; they love PC Worship and know all the words to Social Rust; when they get bored, they draw PC Worship logos on their Surgery Channel trapper keepers. I'll never understand these fuckin' kids these days and their Surgery Channel. It's just like sometimes you don't wanna see that stuff, you know? Like you're just flipping through the channels looking for Charles Barkley porn or whatever and BOOM there's Little Richard on MTV getting open heart surgery. There's this wolf pressing his face against the window and he's like screaming at us right now. 
We were starting to miss T.I. and figured he was a goner. Leave it to Floyd Mayweather of all people to get T.I. back into the spotlight of buzz and gossip. At that point, returning to the radio was a no brainer, as he prepped the same checklist as everyone else who charted on hiphop stations in 2014. After crossing "Call DJ Mustard" off his list (resulting in "No Mediocre"), he did the other thing everyone else did: Stealing the triplet-rap thing from Migos' "Versace," a mostly annoying and timely trend which probably just recently died alongside the end of 2014 itself. Migos doesn't even use it anymore. "About the Money" is probably the only other charting instance besides "Versace" that accents the triplet cadence in an interesting way, while the keyboard loop seemed suspiciously familiar. It's not from Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At," but possibly something similar.
The internet buzz suggests a few of the songs on Eyehategod's outstanding self-titled have been floating around and performed live since as early as 2008. While the uncharacteristically energetic "Agitation Propaganda" or the death-puppet dangling limbs sludge-romp of "Nobody Told Me" could have fit into our Hot Mix just as easily, "Robitussin and Rejection" wins for cutting the deepest. With agonizing, devastating hopelessness intact, nothing beats the lowest depths. At that point, just say fuck it and find literally any fucking drug you can get your hands on. If you can't find money for real drugs, then go raid your parents' closet or your girlfriend's bathroom or anywhere, and just swallow the first thing you can find. Mom's got Robitussin. Cool. Wash it down with your own piss. Numb the pain and move on.
The NY girl's Boston tribute. It's our 2nd favorite song on Broke With Expensive Taste after "212," but mostly because it doesn't confront the listener with the album's predominant excessively-musical production which removed all the grit and rawness from almost all of its other new songs. A few instances on BWET get so EDM-corny and unnecessarily melodic that it sounds like she's rapping or singing over MarioKart (and not in a good way). "BBD" unfortunately indulges the OTHER thing that brought down this record: Her impeccable rap flow on "212" seems to have been completely abandoned in favor of a quieter lower-register Missy Elliott impression meshed with a thick, heavy Long Island accent. Although in this instance, the "BBD" recipe actually works: dancable, catchy, fun, and just minimal enough that it made almost no difference. As much as we love "212," part of us wishes she hadn't included it. While we understand why it's there (money), it supplies a glaring reminder of what we're not receiving. (Note: Well we're not changing this now, but it turns out this song was actually released over 2 years ago on 1/1/13 and isn't one of the album's 12 newer songs. Go figure.)
Probably the best from the more traditional-sounding half of Salad Days. The subdued chorus doesn't resolve itself until after returning back to the verse section, suggesting an unsettled, bittersweet type of freedom. It's kinda weird and lame how stupidly large the Demarco-backlash has grown over the past two years. Yeah, of course he's a fucking weird rockstar, but he's a weirdo who basically invented his own specific combination of recording technique, guitar timbre and tone, achieving a distinct and instantly recognizable atmosphere. And he's still able to write very good songs within the somewhat strict parameters he's built for himself. And what's more, it kinda sounds like Pod-era Ween. All of these things rule. If a few fans of Vampire Weekend or The 1975 or Neutral Milk can't take another weirdo in the world, what difference does it really make? Haters gon' haight.
DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK.
This guy REALLY wants to bring in the katz. We’re assuming the vocalist is Pork Chop, who sounds suspiciously similar to 
Everything we want to say about “Fatherland” has pretty much already been said in our “Believing and Shitting” entry, but we’ll try our best. The vocal delay, stabbing guitar tones and dissonance are set in place here just as effectively as on the EP’s 5 other outstanding tracks, although Fatherland’s eponymous screamer is its only moment that could have been on Faith No More’s Angel Dust. Its vocal performance similarly combines the best elements of both John Lydon and Mike Patton, two of rock’s most confrontational and artistically challenging lead singers who have actually scored MTV hits. (“Rise” and “Epic,” respectfully.) While we're unsure what the lyrics are about, we've somehow associated the term “fatherland” with its prominent usage on In Living Color’s 
Centipede Hz is Animal Collective’s Back to the Future Part 2. The record presents an alternate version of what direction AC could’ve taken following 2005’s Feels and 2007’s Strawberry Jam. It still follows the “childhood memories drug flashback” theme that underlines their entire catalog, but takes it in a different direction than what evolved into 2009’s hugely acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavillion. MPP was hugely overrated, while Centipede is hugely underrated, splitting the difference of their relatively equal value. They’re both right around 8.7 out of 10. And we understand this to be a highly unpopular opinion, but if y’all don’t like it, y’all can bounce. Like seriously... We’re not sure how songs like "Today's Supernatural" or "Applesauce" are considered any worse than “Grass” or “Peacebone.” They're fucking awesome. GTFO with your bad attitudes.
We tend to favor songs with handclaps, although the claps in “Losing You” strangely do not encourage clapping along. A sample of a “female shriek” also appears in every measure, similar to the one in Janet Jackson’s “Alright.” The success of Solange’s EP seem far more reliant on those same pop elements that assisted Janet’s late-80’s output, as opposed to traditional R&B. It seems wrong to label “Losing You” (or Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange for that matter) as part of the current “movement” of “hipster-friendly R&B” described by SPIN and Pitchfork and like 500 other online music publications. We’re also noticing that Solange’s words are not especially deep, and the compelling nature of “Losing You” has more to do with her presence and Dev Hynes’ production. We hear Twin Peaks in the ominous synth outro (a TV show which premiered during the same era as Rhythm Nation 1814). Chill vibes.
Remember in “Bart the Murderer” when Bart’s having a bad day and ends up 
This is the one where Nicki Minaj sucks her own dick for three minutes, straight-up announcing mid-song “I’m not masturbatin’, but I’m feelin’ myself.” Yeah, no shit. Lame boasts need to be earned, but if anyone deserves them at the moment, Nicki is that chick. Over the past ten years, it wasn’t uncommon to hear of hiphop fans unable to respect the current state of the lamestream, recalling the days when workaholics like James Brown could be correctly regarded as 
Grass Is Green throws a curveball with a song that mentions throwing a baseball. Coincidence? Arguably the centerpiece of Ronson, the uncharacteristically spacious ballad “Somebody’s Something” may be one of those somber “key to the album” moments we’ve noticed on other third albums over the past decade. It’s never intentional, but 
“BENDITOVERBENDITOVERBENDITOVER.” Nothing in this great big world seems to make Big Freedia happier than a club (or basement, or college dorm) full of party animals (usually chicks) bent over at the waste and waving their huge asses up in the air, with the option of cheek slaps, either from the bender or by a close friend or loved one. 
Dan Fogelberg's bad acid trip. Attention to detail appears in elements like the Moog synths, and especially the subtly abrupt fadeout, fitting the song within 2:50 and securing rotation on bizarro AM stations circa 1976. The album lays out its paradoxes more plainly than on 2010’s Before Today. The title track of Mature Themes is sung with an especially silly rhythm, while the themes within his self-referential lyrics are notably less-than-silly. He refers to his age, 35, and his height, 5’4, so he's probably referring to himself. He says “I want it to be true,” but at this point, will Ariel Pink ever be able to display absolute sincerity? This justifies his revivalist nature, borrowing the sounds and spirit of earnest mid-70’s singer-songwriters to say the opposite of what everyone assumes he’s saying, flipping the irony backwards. A sort of reverse meta-irony is his only remaining option for speaking his mind, so that he can mask his honesty. He’s actually not kidding when he sings “I want it to be good” over and over again. “Good,” the most general positive adjective that exists. Not “great” or “amazing.” He knows he can’t provide such things right now. But he can at least strive for “good.”
Similar to Ariel Pink's 2010 album, the most straight-faced and least warped song turned out to be a faithful cover. "Baby" is originally by a band called 
The odds are very good that Hot 97 is playing either this song or "Clique" right now, since they play one of these two songs every 10 minutes or so. Which makes sense. The build in the bridge section does sound pretty great on the radio. And "white girls politickin' that's that Sarah Palin." But seriously, why so much hype? More than half of Watch The Throne is better than this song. Clearly we won't be doing it any justice by discussing it here. Read these instead: 
We figured the “hiphop-song-poem” genre was dead and gone forever. 
Projectile-vomit scream-singing at its finest. The first song on this album is fittingly titled “You Don’t Look So Good,” which really sets the tone for the "all things vomit" that follows, with "Cut to Ribons" as track 2. It sounds like all the stuff that happens after "one too many." Do you ever find buttons in your vomit when you know you haven’t eaten any buttons? 
2012 was the year we kept discovering our new favorite bands who ended up splitting by the year’s end. Free Lunch, Bat Cave, Red Dwarf, Graph, Thank You Mr. Keating... It doesn't end there. Hooking Up’s split was especially frustrating after hearing their near-perfect Groin Pains EP from January of this year. “Bitter” recalls a young Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein yelling distorted obscenities into a 4-track recorder on Sebadoh III, captured in essence by the cover image of the dude on skates. 
While "Bad History Demos" continues floating around on cassette and online as we anticipate the proper version of this album, its lofi sludge still cut deeper than almost any other rock record of 2012. It’s not “Blues” in the classic sense, but at the moment we’re having trouble thinking of a better sonic comparison than Leadbelly, whose recordings were mostly just one guy singing in a room by himself taped with primitive 1930’s recording technology. Sean’s voice is clearly not anything like Leadbelly (closer to the guy from Helvetia) but the aura of this particular recording is such a blow to the gut that we can’t think of anything closer at the moment. We’re hearing its kickoff track “There Goes the Sun” (possibly the sequel to 2011’s “Here Comes the Sun”) as deep meandering transience. The sun possibly returns in the second half of the song, but either way it’s just gonna disappear in a few more hours. 
And speaking of fat history... (Cool transitions today.) Well we looked it up on Wikipedia, and it turns out that 
Muddy weighty overdrive distortion tries to sink us into quicksand, but the song's momentum is too intense, propelling us straight into orbit, blasting across lightyears of stars in under three minutes. Joe "Weirdo" Rockcrit sez: "I liked this band better when they were called Sonic Youth." PFF. We scoff in Joe's face. The production suggests far more than this, and the girl singer sounds closer to Belinda from My Bloody Valentine than Kim Gordon. And more importantly, these songs are killer. Broken Water are our new Olympia heroes. Tempest is solid as fuck. Don't sleep on this one!