| Hot Mix 2014 on Spotify |
| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
60. Nicki Minaj featuring PTAF “Boss Ass Bitch (Remix)”
Pitchfork likes this one enough that it placed decently well on their 2014 faves. The blurb writer's approach shouldn't have surprised anyone considering P4k's more recent slant towards feminist music criticism: "It’s likely that many dudes who came around to Nicki early this year have already lost interest, having deduced that The Pinkprint won’t actually be Illmatic With Tits." Likely, sure, and obviously sad if true. As the past year of news feed algorithms continued their bias towards feminist essays, we found it upsetting to witness non-feminist circles watering down the term's true impact, until it was eventually trending with enough hashtags that someone working at MTV was influenced to have Beyonce sing in front of 30-foot letters spelling "feminist" in all caps.* (Hah, you actually thought that was Bey's idea?)The louder perspective in our heads is always the one that recognizes Nicki Minaj as the most exciting and best current lyricist in hiphop. And we shouldn't have to follow that up with the phrase "regardless of gender" because that phrase sucks.
This was the first new song we heard in 2014 way back on 01.01.14. "Boss Ass Bitch" arrived with an immediate impact courtesy of the sample's crushing minimalist attack (doing wonders for our New Years hangover). This not only inspired a few lyrical peaks in the "badass" category but also showed her artistically turning to a new chapter. Frequent homages to Biggie weren't just limited to "Four Door Aventador" (reviewed a few pages back), but at least one web source also noted the first 3 of her "10 Boss-Ass-Bitch Commandments" (with #4-#10 coming soon, hopefully). The song also kicked off Pinkprint anticipation. Throughout the year, the gusto in her guest-verses felt supplanted by sadness, which only made the 11-and-a-half month waiting game seem even longer. But now it's here, and for the moment it sounds like it might be her most consistent record. The lows aren't nearly as low, but also the highs aren't as high, making it also her least impressive. But either way, her genius is present enough that it still has a very strong shot at placing in our (eventual) top 20 of the year.And rull quick before we close the door on this one, here's some excerpts from probably our favorite Rap Genius annotation of 2014:
- "Good pussy is pussy that is warm (hot) and wet, which describes a tropical environment, which is where Nicki wants to vacay to."
- "You hoes need to get vaginal rejuvenation on your pussy to make it tight again!"
- "The line is too long to get with Nicki’s pussy, so you should make a reservation."
- http://images.rapgenius.com/cbc7abc7353dbc85cac785df54d06f25.750x571x1.jpg
(*On a personal note: As someone who has a phobia of signs with large scary letters, I found it horribly frightening and difficult to watch.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBY38tgQmzs
59. Angel Olsen “Hi-Five”
In the January 1999 issue of SPIN, Sasha Frere-Jones described Rufus Wainwright as "a singer/songwriter, in that order - a rarer animal than you think." At least one good example of this arrives every few years, but rarely with Angel Olsen's overwhelmingly intense sadness. And it's not like her songs aren't awesome. But Jesus... Not many recent songwriters express as much pain in their hearts simply through singing, an element that sets her apart from Laura Cantrell or Lucinda Williams. She's actually a lot closer to the elite inner circle with homegirls Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette. "Hi-Five" might be the one song that made it toughest to keep from filing her album under "alt-country" (as opposed to "indie-rock with C&W vox").https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL_3Y4zNnqg
58. Grass Is Green “Scattering Ram”
TMK: Tell us a little about "Scattering Ram."Devin McKnight: "That's a J.Weiss tune. A lil' Jesse Weiss: The man, the myth, the legend."
Andy Chervenak: "'Scattering Ram' is sort of kinky for some reason. It's about some weird dude and a sexual repression kinda thing."
Devin: "It's got my Talking Heads solo at the end. It's a complete ripoff. I didn't mean to."
TMK: You think so?
Devin: "Well, Jonah from Krill was like 'what is that from?' And then, Luke from Krill figured it out and verified the song."
TMK: Which song is it from?
Devin: "I don't remember what it's called, but it's got this guitar part with a harmonic thing and this whammy bar thing. I knew it was from something. It makes me feel good that I was mistakenly referencing something that's widely known."
57. Schoolboy Q “Break the Bank”
Even if the title of the song wasn't "Break the Bank," the music already sounds suspenseful enough to soundtrack the perfect heist. You know how every time you watch the movie Heat, you're like "I wanna do that!" You just wanna be runnin' down Main Street with an AK47 screaming "WHERE'S THE VAN? THE VAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE." That guy on the computer is like "Gimme a minute. Dude, I need one more minute to hack into the mainframe." There's always that guy on the team who's a last minute replacement. He's not one of the original gang, but one of the other guys vouches for him. "Dude, trust me. This guy's cool. He's solid and he's cool." But he's not cool. He doesn't really say anything ever, and then at one point he's like "Let's kill these bitches." (This is a way better bit than we remembered.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc-Vqcud32I
56. Dej Loaf “Try Me”
Viral-crossover jams are injecting a freshness into hiphop stations unlike any other point throughout the 2010s. Radio programming hasn't felt this adventurous in at least a decade, even pushing a song as weird as OG Maco's "U Guessed It" to #90 on the Hot 100. Does every generation of hiphop radio get the "Funk Dat" it deserves? And should we expect more of them to sound like a prank from the OFWGKTA kids?Hailing from the freshly non-bankrupt mean streets of Detroit, Dej Loaf ultimately became the most beloved of the 2014 crossovers, even encouraging Buddyhead (of all places) to reserve some web space for expressing their appreciation. Aside from Pharrell and Pusha T, it's the only hiphop review they've written in almost two years. (The website's not quite as active as it was 10 years ago, but honestly we're just pumped it's still around.) The review's actually pretty informative. Apparently, "Try Me" was discovered after Drake quoted a line on his insta, ultimately leading Dej Loaf to a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Records, enabling her to quit her job as a janitor at "the Chrysler plant." Dream big.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1T_NGBlr0Q
55. Aphex Twin "minipops 67 [120.2] [source field mix]"
This is the song that gets stuck in the heads of every character in David O'Reilly's The External World, including the enormous penis that ejects from the fax machine. It sounds like little anthropomorphic dudes being bizarre and very matter-of-factly, as if it's the way things should be. A few noted the '90s-ness of Syro, which can really only be attributed to how strongly RDJ's music is connected to that era despite resting outside of the range of decade-association; "Girl/Boy Song" is somehow both a distinct product of 1996 while also otherworldly enough to leave a blurred timestamp. "minipops 67" might sound ok on an album sequence alongside "Ventolin" or "Come to Daddy," but it just wouldn't be the same. There's one part in this that sounds like "Love Bites" by Def Leppard.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUAJ8KLGqis
54. Katy Perry featuring Juicy J “Dark Horse”
In August 2013, two lead singles from two of the music's biggest names debuted very nearby each other. Accordingly, a PR strategy involving friendly competition was set in motion, including performances of Katy Perry's "Roar" and Lady Gaga's "Applause" at the 2013 VMAs. A few weeks later, the numbers returned with Katy hitting #1 while Gaga stalled at #4. This marked the start of a solid year where Katy found herself alone at the top with no actual competition, crowned with the heavyweight title of "biggest U.S. Top 40 singer" (up until she was dethroned in August 2014 when "Shake It Off" conveniently coincided with the the end of Prism's promo cycle). Katy Perry is now the only artist who's had the biggest song in the country at least once a year since 2010.Despite Gaga's commendably tireless edginess, "Applause" exemplified a disappointing deficit of freshness that casual fans might have been expecting after Artpop failed to ride the momentum of her earlier megahits. Her efforts to set trends were never as sure of a bet as riding those that had already been set in motion, a large part of the formula that Max Martin and Dr. Luke have exploited to help ensure Katy's success for the past 7 years. She's not a chameleon so much as a conformist. She's all things to all people. Her hits are never behind nor ahead of the curve, frequently hitting while their trending elements are about 70% through their shelf life.
So now we're imagining a hypothetical scenario where Teenage Dream was released in 2008 and Prism in 2010. If the writing and production techniques on these albums were far less tired in those days, would these records be considered critical favorites? Would the hits
from these albums have performed nearly as well 3 years earlier? Are we wrong to suggest that their success can be entirely attributed to timeliness? Is it possible that the success of these songs has anything to do with listeners growing accustomed to ephemeral trends?Regarding that last question: It's entirely plausible that Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco collaborated on Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" right around the same time as what was considered its sister-jam, Katy's "California Gurls." And yes, Katy got stuck as the scapegoat. "Tik Tok" was released first to test the waters and also to introduce Ke$ha to the world with a fresh-sounding single, hitting #1 at the very beginning of 2010, while "California Gurls" hit #1 six months later. If "Tik Tok" hadn't been a success, "California Gurls" might not have been the album's lead single.
This special combination of safeness and freshness leads the list of reasons why "Dark Horse" was the quintessential 2014 pop song, molded by the cookie cutter of the year's trends more than any other. The minimal trap beat - sonically resembling Mike Will Made It - frames a robotic and
lush chord progression in a minor key, vaguely resembling recent hits from Drake, M83 and Rihanna's "Diamonds" (another Benny Blanco hit from months prior). Juicy J was summoned for a cameo not long after the 8-minute "Bands a Make Her Dance (Chopped & Screwed)" went viral. This familiar combination of elements may have played a part in why "Dark Horse" has started to feel like it's been lingering around Top 40 and hiphop stations for the past 3 or 4 years.These elements - the "safe" and timely ones - are actually not why it's one of the best songs of 2014. "Part of [Max Martin's] genius is knowing that little thing that takes a song from 80 percent to 100 percent." "Dark Horse" is all about the subtleties, the moments that revealed themselves months after the song's debut. Some of these occur within the vocal performance - tiny inflections that were probably not an accident, but could have been. The vocals in the verses are accompanied by little more than drums and a 4-note keyboard melody, leaving the chord structure to to the imagination of the listener, a technique that Jermaine Dupri used in Ghost Town DJs' "My Boo." These deep glimmering moments form the basis of the song's transcendence, outliving the shelf life of its trendy sheen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KSOMA3QBU0
53. Charli XCX “Gold Coins”
Ohhhh, we get it now. Gold coins as a METAPHOR, like when Waka Flocka says "I'm so hood rich" - although probably not as rich as that distorted acoustic guitar tone. Scrooge McDuck probably likes this song and pumps it while he goes for a dip in the money bin. Check out her Nardwuar interview: Adorable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7G3I_-IrBQ
52. YG featuring Kendrick Lamar “Really Be (Smokin N Drinkin)”
We haven't seen YG in a Hot Mix since like 2010's "Toot It and Boot It," and he's still got those horrifying body tats. The "James Bond segue" chord makes an appearance (on what might be a Fender Rhodes), assisting the mysterious noiresque production in the verses. It sounds like Portishead's best impression of a Dirty South or a Ludacris beat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIHr_RX5tTY
51. Guerilla Toss “367 Equalizer”
G-Toss played about six bands before the close of SUNY Purchase's Culture Shock concert back in April, prior to both Lil B and Lightning Bolt. About 5 minutes into their set, it seemed like the majority of the audience had just started peaking on molly or some combination of uppers and hallucinogens. And without warning, shit got fucking INSANE. We don't remember if they played "367 Equalizer" at this show, but it's likely since it premiered online only a few weeks later. Either way, it exemplifies the effect they had over everyone in that enormous room, encouraging movement from all 5 senses at once, potentially inducing convulsions and wild fits. They are a 10-speed blender, and their favorite margarita mixes the first Liars album with the PCP freakouts from Black Dice's Repo. Whereas hot jams like "TV Spell" and "Smack the Brick" are on the smoothie or shake setting, "367 Equalizer" chops up the tiny ice cubes for the frozen drink setting. (We're not sure what this means, but we're leaving it.)| Hot Mix 2014 on Spotify |
| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
The “economic climate” theme overshadows a less obvious one about separation, or a blockage from expressing affection. Obstacles get in the way, and “there’s nothing to be done.” Obstruction. #UNFAIR The Drums said “Money” was inspired by the basslines in The Wig, who they called “The poor man’s New Order.” Also, “I want to buy you something, but I don’t have any money” is our new favorite horrible pickup line since “You must work for UPS, because I swore I saw you checking out my package.”
More like an apocalyptic/Halloween song to us, as opposed to "Getting pumped before the big boxing match" music. "John" is a Rick Ross song (originally titled "I'm Not A Star") with vocals added by Lil Wayne, which we feel was a huge improvement from the original. We assumed a Roman-numeral appeared towards the end - “YMCMB Double M / We rich forever” - as another faux-illuminati shoutout, but turns out that it stands for "Young Money Cash Money Billionaires” and the “double M” is “Maybach Music” which is way less exciting than we'd hope for, but either way it's fun as fuck for screaming along while blasting in the car.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space... Staring into the stars & making out forever... The Cure’s influence on Neon Indian doesn’t get enough credit as one of the main reasons his appeal has been so widespread, with “Hex Girlfriend” as probably his trippiest moment yet.
The droning, distortion and delay borrowed by RDS wouldn’t mean much to anyone if they didn’t have awesome songs to back up their ambitions. Normally we break ties within the top 10, but the start of this album is so strong that it’s just about impossible to break apart tracks 2 and 3, surely among the best shoegaze since Loveless. Go team Ringo.
The lost Phil Spector epic of 1964, although 60’s pop hits normally weren’t as fragmented as “Buy Nothing Day,” which goes through individual A, B, C and D sections as opposed to a verse/chorus format. (The solo section includes additional mini-hooks that don’t appear elsewhere in the song.) The singer from Best Coast was a great choice for this; although we find her boring while singing her own songs, her innocent “untrained” aura completely syncs. Mom would like this song. P.S. 
Nasty, organic raunch... “Motherfucking” is used just often enough in the lyrics that they essentially translate to straight-up dirty sex-talk, complying with ultra-porno production. But “Wicked Games” isn’t simply throbbing boners pounding juicy vag... It’s the darkest sexual encounter of your life. The ultimate sin. In a year with an unprecedented plentiful abundance of ultra-darkness in our pop music, The Weeknd achieved the absolute blackest.
In case anyone hasn’t noticed, we disagree with Yuck’s “90’s-retro” tag, which was invented by rock-journos and was never confirmed by the band themselves beyond their list of influences, which just happens to include Yo La Tengo and Dinosaur Jr. But we do agree with the reviewers who reacted to its youthfulness: They sound like they've just discovered that loud guitars can help mend a broken heart; throw on "Get Away", and you're back in high school, headphones on in study hall, pissed at the world, breaking pencils as you use your desk for a drum. (
"Rise up from black smoke / Eyes ablaze with fire." Official “Best band / Worst bandname” combination of 2011... Blending all the loudest and best elements from “Helter Skelter,” the self-titled Black Sabbath album, Abbey Road and Hendrix should have been a more obvious combination by now, except “Ritual Knife” is a case where someone finally figured out how to do it correctly. Enough of these angry old people sitting around pissed off because “nobody knows how to rock anymore.” These people need to experience psychedelic-doom. We’re very interested in J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph’s opinions on Uncle Acid. 
We’ve had a year to digest My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and it still sounds labored, containing great songs that mostly suffered due to bloated song-lengths and over-production. Nearly every track contained “intro” and “outro” sections, with layers that built upon each other as the songs progressed, falling in line with the most heralded LP’s of the past five years: it “sounds good,” but it’s just not fun. Ultimately, it’s the only Kanye LP that we have no desire to ever actually listen to.
And we’re probably among the minority (the 1%?) by stating with pride that Watch The Throne is a huge improvement, but facts are facts: Hiphop is always best when it’s spontaneous, playful, and raw. And it’s not like Kanye had to sacrifice brilliant production in order to put together a spontaneous-sounding LP. The complexities are still intact, but far more subtle, and thus, easier for everyone to appreciate, as opposed to removing all subtlety and shoving the complexities in everyone’s faces. 
This is why “N**** In Paris” is still getting played on rap stations every 30 minutes or so, and it still sounds amazing every fucking time. The masses have spoken. We’re having trouble remembering any verses from MBDTF, while “Paris” is probably the first single since “It Was A Good Day” that a shit-ton of people entirely memorized without trying. Not every line is classic, but about 89% of them are. Jay-Z’s verse is probably his best since “Roc Boys,” while Kanye’s is shockingly the better of the two. #CRAY #GoinGorillaz #SufferinFromRealness #FishFilet #DrugsMyDilla #MaryKateAndAshley Fuck, this might actually be his best verse, period. The production matches the tightness of the lyrics, including the slow backwards-piano chord that comes out of nowhere a few seconds before the enormous slow-dubstep coda. And of course the Will Ferrell samples included to justify the entire world of “brilliantly dumb hiphop lyrics” in less than 5 seconds, including “that shit cray.” It gets the people goin’...
