Kylie Minogue raced back to the center of the dance floor with a viral smash. A surprise Shakira track broke the internet. Sexyy Redd owned every summer DJ set. And NewJeans rode a drum-and-bass beat to pop heaven. It was a massive year for música Mexicana and Afropop, for noisy guitar bands, left-field hip-hop, and fearless country storytelling. Taylor Swift had a pretty good year too.
Foo Fighters, ‘Under You’
But Here We Are, the 11th album from Foo Fighters, explores grief in unflinching detail — it was recorded in the wake of Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins’ March 2022 passing and the death of leader Dave Grohl’s mother a few months later. “Under You” has the sunny power-pop-adjacent feel of earlier Foo Fighters tracks like “Learn to Fly,” but its lyrics depict Grohl being nearly suffocated by the pain of losing someone. “Someday I’ll come out from under you,” he declares, well aware that despite the catchy melodies he’s laying down, grief still hangs over him. —M.J.
Jung Kook feat. Latto, ‘Seven’
BTS member Jung Kook’s soulful vocals are backed by an insistent garage beat on this swirling confection that’s squarely focused on getting down every day of the week. He drives home his lust with some well-placed falsetto runs, while his foil, the “Big Energy” MC Latto, delivers a winking verse that manages to turn the dance-floor-filling DJ staple “Cha Cha Slide” into a teasing come-on. —M.J.
Hemlocke Springs, ‘Enknee1’
Don’t let Hemlocke Springs’ beloved TikTok bridge “girlfriend” give you the wrong impression — this new indie artist is no one-hit wonder. “Enknee1” is both a hyper-pop sensation and a sharp coming-of-age analysis — and who better to reflect on that subject than a Dartmouth Ph.D. hopeful turned viral star? “But I have learnt people aren’t puzzles (No),”she sings before sliding into the sweeping synth chorus emblematic of her awkward, authentic charm.“But thеy puzzle me, be thе things they don’t want to be.” She turns that confusion into something relentlessly catchy. More, please. —C.J.
Geese, ‘Mysterious Love’
These Brooklyn kids are just passing the age when they can order an IPA in the bars they play, but they’ve clearly spent plenty of their prodigious youth immersed in the vicissitudes of their parents’ (OK, grandparents’) record collections. They really know how to f*ck up the oldies. “Mysterious Love” sounds like post-punk guerrillas laying siege to a classic-rock radio station, piling up prog power, avant-rock chaos, boogie wonderment, and psychedelic sprawl. It’s proof that their 2021 hype-magnetdebut Projector was no fluke. —J.D.
Addison Rae feat. Charli XCX, ‘2 Die 4’
Addison Rae’s pop career felt conspicuously short after she dropped her debut single, “Obsessed,” in 2021. But after several songs leaked online — and exploded on TikTok after— it was abundantly clear that was only the beginning. The star of the leaks was “2 Die 4,” a slinky hit with the type of ear-worm hook that burrows in your brain forever. For the official release, Rae linked up with Charli XCX, who adds a little sexy soul to match Rae’s budding pop princess prowess. —B.S.
Aespa, ‘Spicy’
The K-pop group Aespa tried something new this year with “Spicy,” the lead single from their third EP, My World — The Third Mini Album. Previous releases had an experimental sound and leaned heavily into AR and virtual reality with a unique concept featuring an imagined world, villains, and avatar members. “Spicy” showcased a new side of Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning. With strong vocals, grimy synths, rolling bass, and huge drum buildups, the song brought the girls closer into the real world of universal pop thrills, reminiscent of early 2000s pop a la Britney Spears. As they tell us in the lyrics, it’s a “10 out of 10, honestly.” —K.K.
Samia, ‘Charm You’
On “Charm You,” Samia makes a cathartic breakthrough over a sunny, simple instrumental. “I just saw my whole life flash before your eyes/and I don’t want to charm anyone this time,” she sings. A declaration that vulnerable might deserve either pity or fanfare, but Samia sounds surprisingly relaxed as her vocals float over buoyant guitar strums. The effervescent track is a standout on Samia’s second album, Honey, which showcases what she does best: pointedly chronicle the nuances of desire, devastation, and the delight of learning how to dance through it all. —L.L.
Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris, ‘Miracle’
Nearly a decade had to pass for Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris — the duo responsible for“I Need Your Love” and “Outside” in 2013 and 2014, respectively — to reunite for another electro-pop smash. “When you have that connection with someone, you miss it,” Goulding told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “It’s hard to just put that aside.” The result of their unique chemistry was “Miracle,” a psychedelic EDM hit in which Goulding asks, “Are you too cynical to believe in a miracle?” in her effervescent voice, backedby ethereal piano, Nineties synths, and a pumping bass. It was a gift to see these two back together. —T.M.
J Hus feat. Drake, ‘Who Told You’
Beautiful and Brutal Yard, the J Hus album from this summer, had the feeling of being just ahead of its time. Hus, a reliable provider of diaspora-spanning hits, connected with Drake on the pitch-perfect “Who Told You.” Of all of Drake’s globe-trotting ambitions, his forays into Afrobeats and sounds from West Africa bear the most fruit. Here we’re greeted by “One Dance” Drake, laying on the accent just a tad more subtly. Along with J Hus’ infectious hook, the song is an ideal anthem, one that I suspect finds a permanent spot in the pantheon of summer hits. —J.I.
Tove Lo, ‘Borderline’
Tove Lo co-wrote “Borderline” with fellow pop titan Dua Lipa, and it’s brimming with the kind of unforgettable melodies that are a hallmark of both artists’ best work. Built on a foundation of burbling bass and a Prince-like drum pattern, the song puts Tove Lo’s edgy lyrics about insecurity and codependence front and center. “I like to push you to the edge as long as you say you’re mine,” she sings, ramping up the intensity for an almost-shouted chorus that promises to make this relationship work, whatever the personal toll. Deeply unsettling in all the right ways. —J.F.
Tierra Whack, ‘Chanel Pit’
The bars might look silly on paper (“What is that sh*t I smell?/I am that sh*t you smell”), but that’s half the point — the way Ms. Whack sends that nonsense caroming off the music-box beat, bouncing new flows like rubber balls, is what makes this absurdist gem shine. And, as always, her brilliance doesn’t come into full focus until you see the video, where she raps the entire thing while going through a car wash, minus the car. Plenty of artists made music that addressed the world’s pain and suffering in 2023. Let’s hear it for someone who knows how to keep it fun. —S.V.L.
Soccer Mommy, ‘Here’
Sophie Allison, the indie-rock singer-songwriter who records as Soccer Mommy, delivered a great covers EP this year with Karaoke Night. Along with songs by Taylor Swift, R.E.M., Slowdive, and Sheryl Crow, she delivered a for-the-ages version of Pavement’s classic powerless-ballad “Here,” tapping into the heartbreak that only exists on the edges of Stephen Malkmus’ imperious performance on the 1992 original. It takes guts to throw yourself into a sacred indie-rock text like this, but she lovingly makes it her own to give us one of the all-time great Nineties covers. —J.D.
Myke Towers, ‘LALA’
There’s magic buried in the vocal chant from “LALA,” making the track so catchy that it stays planted in your brain long after it’s ended. The song has been blasting out of cars pretty much from the moment a snippet first came out in June — and that infectious sample sent it flying around TikTok with force. In a flash, it rose up the charts, making it onto the Billboard Hot 100. It also became testament to Myke Towers’ star-powered versatility: The sharp-as-nails spitter can launch caustic raps like no one else, but he’s also down for upbeat bangers that turn into streaming goliaths. —J.L.
Dijon, ‘Coogie’
Dijon has never been afraid to expose the cracks of his voice in his folk- and R&B-inflected songs, but “Coogie” reveals him pushing himself and his songwriting to wrenching effect. As he sings of being held down by some inherent “meanness” or a bad spirit, he sounds increasingly more raspy and self-destructive. Along with an equally haphazard electric guitar, everything sounds like it’s drowning underwater. As the song never reaches a climax or moment of release, Dijon keeps the listener tight within his gripping performance — making way for a raw and slippery vision of indie music. —M.H.K.
Taylor Swift, ‘You’re Losing Me’
For her Eras Tour stop at MetLife Stadium in May, Taylor Swift caused mastermind chaos by exclusively releasing this Midnights-era track on a CD sold only at that weekend’s shows. That hasn’t stopped fans from turning to bootleg YouTube uploads to hear one of Swift’s most devastating songs about a relationship on its last pulse. Over a sample of her heartbeat, she delivers a gut-wrenching bridge that only a Sagittarius could write: Swift proclaims, “I’m the best thing at this party,” then immediately confesses, “I wouldn’t marry me either.” No bait-and-switch has ever cut so deep. —M.G.
Hotline TNT, ‘I Thought You’d Change’
A proud son of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (well, probably not that proud), singer-guitarist Will Anderson has wound up in New York in his mid-30s fronting the fantastic shoegaze band Hotline TNT, unfurling his Midwestern sad-guy glory on the band’s new album, Cartwheel. On “I Thought You’d Change,” he takes a wicked case of relationship malaise, slathers it in gilded distortion and surging melodies, and what comes out is at once heartsick and heroic. The “you” in question probably won’t be changing anytime soon, but the noise in our boy’s head is there to pull him through. Always has, always will. —J.D.
CMAT, ‘Have Fun!’
Since debuting a few years ago, Dublin’s Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has distinguished herself for songs long on clarity, wit, and killer melodies. This standout starts off vivid (and clear): “One hundred bright green birds atop a Tesco in Clapham/Me on you, it didn’t make sense, but it happened.” From there,Thompsonlaments a sh*tty relationship while riding bright, piano-led funk, flowing catchily as violins slash in and out and those damn birds start to haunt her. It adds up to something irresistible, and one of the year’s best breakup songs. —C.H.
The Rolling Stones feat. Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’
“Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the Stones’ greatest latter-day gospel-rock rave-up, reaches an emotional peak two minutes and 38 seconds in, when Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga bellow, “I’m not going to hell in some dusty motel/And I’m not going down in the dirt … I’m finally quenching my thirst.” It’s a genuinely moving moment of catharsis, like they’ve survived some dark night of the soul, and it builds from there into soulful jam reminiscent of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” or Sticky Fingers’ “I Got the Blues,” thanks to Stevie Wonder’s funky keyboards and a fiery horn line. Has any other band sounded this good 60 years in? —K.G.The Hives, ‘Bogus Operandi’
Twenty years ago, the Hives blasted out of Sweden with their matching suits, over-the-top bravado, and killer garage-punk tunes. After a long break, they came back this year with a new album, predictably titled The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons. “I go to work!,” Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist shouts on their blazing return single, and his fellow Hives answer his call with the same sugar-sharp energy that made them such a blast back in the day. Times may change, but some operandi remain as beautifully bogus as ever. —J.D.
The Last Dinner Party, ‘Nothing Matters’
The U.K.’s latest buzzy export is a baroque-rock dream. On “Nothing Matters,” the group is part ABBA, part Nineties Brit-pop throwback, and entirely bewitching. Lead singer Abigail Morris resigns herself to a surface-level romance of “a sailor and a nightingale dancing in convertibles.” The juicy chorus is increasingly raucous as the song wears on, exploding into irresistible, singalong-worthy “da-da-da”s. The song was a success on alt-rock radio this fall, and the band’s been getting themselves on the road ahead of their debut album,Prelude to Ecstasy, meaning that “Nothing Matters” is just the appetizer. —B.S.
Feeble Little Horse, ‘Freak’
With a name like Feeble Little Horse, the chances for dinky annoyingness are staggeringly high. But this Pittsburgh twee-noise band don’t just not suck, they transcend. “Freak,” from their album Girl With Fish, goes by in the space of a hardcore blurt, at just 1:47, with singer-bassist Lydia Slocum’s voice barely rising above a shy mumble as she sings, “I know you want me, freak/Sports star honeybee, on my team.” Yet she exudes tepid swagger, and the guitars go off like a mushroom cloud inside a snow globe, creating a lush little biosphere of shy, torrid gorgeousness. —J.D.
Tems, ‘Me & U’
Tems builds this sweet jam on supple Afrobeats with the simplest of words, and if its title conjures Prince, so does its conflation of the spiritual and the carnal, which comes across despite Tems’ professed intention to write about her relationship with Jesus. Between this, her co-writes with Rihanna, and her breakthrough cameos with Future, Wizkid, and Drake, this Nigerian queen clearly remains choosy about the company she keeps. —W.H.
Eladio Carrión feat. Bad Bunny, ‘Coco Chanel’
With the help of Bad Bunny, “Coco Chanel” — and its dembow influences and sexy lyrics — served as the anchor for Eladio Carrión’s great LP 3MEN2 KBRN. In its bars, Carrión and Benito reference everything from Ferragamo and Sega video games to Julieta Venegas and Avengers’ Thanos. When it dropped, the track also fed speculation that Benito was dating Kendall Jenner with the line, “The Puerto Rican sun is warmer than the one in Phoenix,” which was taken by many as a clever reference to Jenner’s ex, Devin Booker of NBA’s Phoenix Suns. —T.M.
XG, ‘Left Right’
On “Left Right,” XG masterfully creates the kind of late-Nineties and early-2000s-channeling hit that would otherwise only emerge from the use of an obvious sample. The record is nostalgic in presentation, but futuristic in delivery. The seven-piece Japanese girl group — based in South Korea — are evident students of the K-Pop titans. Each member’s strengths are highlighted as they demonstrate a vocal expertise that brings to mind their other prime influences: the R&B girl groups of the TRL era. —L.P.
Drake feat. Sexyy Red and SZA, ‘Rich Baby Daddy’
Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” sounds like an outtake from a So So Def Bass All Stars comp. It gets plenty of fuel from a Jessica Domingo vocal loop sample and kicks off with a command by Sexyy Red to “Bend that ass over! Let that coochie breathe!” In short, it’s a song where Drake lets women’s voices take center stage, even as he chimes in to add, “I’ve got some love inside of me/Please drag it out of me.” A guest vocal from 2023 MVP SZA only adds to the appeal of “Rich Baby Daddy” as a sweet and summery confection. —M.R.
Fifty Fifty, ‘Cupid’
The breakthrough single from K-pop group Fifty Fifty is a delectable chunk of happy-sad bubblegum, its plush harmonies and sing-song lead vocals making its gently frustrated lyrics (“So skeptical of love … but still, I want it more, more, more”) feel like they were transposed straight from a fluffy pink diary with a stubborn lock and entries written in loopy, heart-adorned script. Sadly, Fifty Fifty’s tenure was as fleeting as the romance “Cupid” longs for; three of its four members were cut from the group by its agency Attrakt in October, a few months after the track peaked in the Hot 100’s Top 20. —M.J.
Summer Walker feat. J. Cole, ‘To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)’
Summer Walker reportedly cried when she heard the “audio hug” J. Cole recorded for her 30-minute EP Clear 2: Soft Life. Indeed, “To Summer, From Cole” is a showcase for the North Carolina rapper, a soothing neo-soul track he co-produced with Kelvin “WU10” Wooten. “I just heard you had you another little baby, congratulations/I hope you got through it with no complications,” he raps in a mellow, gentlemanly tone. “On days you feelin’ like you on your own/I wrote this for you to put on.” Walker opens and closes the song with a simple melody and the words: “Call me when you need some love.” —M.R.
Chris Stapleton, ‘White Horse’
“White Horse” is a powerhouse rock anthem that presses into uncharted territory for Chris Stapleton. “If you want a cowboy on a white horse/Ridin’ off into the sunset/If that’s the kind of love you wanna wait for/Hold on tight, girl, I ain’t there yet,” he belts over a stadium-worthy guitar riff. Co-produced with his wife, Morgane Stapleton, and Dave Cobb, and co-written alongside Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, “White Horse” served as a rocking reminder that Stapleton isone of the greatest voices we’ve got. —J. Lonsdale
Armand Hammer, billy woods, ELUCID, and EL-P, ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’
“Your money’s no good here,” warns ELUCID on this standout cut from Armand Hammer’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. It’s a roundelay between two Brooklyn rappers who offer riffs on a Eurocentric world in disorder as they portend a post-apocalypse society where money and celebrity are meaningless. “White women with pepper spray in they purse/Interpolating Beyoncé/Illegal formations,” raps billy woods with brutally dry wit. Meanwhile, El-P of Run the Jewels accompanies the duo with a loopy, arrhythmic beat that mimics a globe slowly spinning off its axis. —M.R.
Gina Birch, ‘I Play My Bass Loud’
Bassist Gina Birch is a DIY music legend whose work in the iconic London post-punk band the Raincoats helped lay the foundation for Nirvana, riot grrrl, and more. She released her solo debut this year, at 68 years old, and its title track was one of 2023’s most inspiring artistic declarations. The song recalled the Raincoats’ otherworldly feminist statement ”No One’s Little Girl,” with Birch’s joyful bass leading the way as she sang with wit and wisdom about grabbing your instrument and creating music that transforms your life, every time you poke out a note. —J.D.
Del Water Gap, ‘All We Ever Do Is Talk’
Del Water Gap is a master of lovelorn melancholy on “All We Ever Do Is Talk,” a mournful ode to the honeymoon phase. The singer and songwriter finds himself riding a ceaseless emotional carousel in the wake of the realization that he can at once be full of love, but also fully devoid of those early feelings that once sent electricity through his veins. Over a moody Eighties-tinged track, he sprints through a maze of synths in search of understanding, asking over and over: “Will we ever get that feeling again?” —L.P.
Code Orange feat. Billy Corgan, ‘Take Shape’
If your favorite part of high school was screaming along to Incubus on the drive home, don’t sleep on Code Orange. But even if they nail that 2000s period sound, that doesn’t mean they sound like something off an old CD that’s been skittering around on the floor of your car. “Take Shape” — featuring haunting vocals from Billy Corgan — exemplifies everything that makes Code Orange tick: absolutely punishing guitars, Jami Morgan’s harsh yet melodic vocals, and brain-flexing lyrics about breaking free from societal expectations. Just try not to run any red lights while listening to this track. —B.E.
Tyla, ‘Water’
This year, 21 year-old year South African siren Tyla flooded the airwaves with her global smash, “Water.” This summer, after it’s just-challenging-enough choreography became a mainstay on TikToks and Instagram, the song itself rose to the top hip-hop and R&B radio. The fluid Amapiano-meets-Afrobeats production cascades beneath a saturated, choir-style vocal top-line that goads a lover to “make me sweat, make me hotter, make me lose her breath, make me water.” The track and its dance are fun, sexy, inspiring, and even a little humbling–since emulating Tyla’s control of her hips is no small thing.–M.C.
Jisoo, ‘Flower’
Jisoo was the last member of Blackpink to release solo music, creating a feverish anticipation among fans. It was the worth the wait. “Flower” cemented the singer as a certified solo star. A sophisticated track with a staccato, Latin-tinged melody and Caribbean-inspired percussion, “Flower” feels instantly familiar yet unlike anything else on the radio. There’s a confidence to her voice that isn’t always as apparent when it’s blended with three other singers. But on this solo track, it’s clear that Jisoo is firmly in control. —T.C.
Thundercat and Tame Impala, ‘No More Lies’
On this psychedelic-soul gem, Los Angeles is to blame for a relationship that doesn’t quite work. “I’m sorry, girl, didn’t mean to drag you in my dreams,” Thundercat sings, as he and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker create a beautifully hazy track. The two musicians let the groove move them toward a sense of understanding that always seems to be alluringly out of their reach. “It just felt like we were definitely long lost bandmates from another era,” Thundercat told Rolling Stone about working with Parker. —L.P.
Becky G and DannyLux, ‘Cries in Spanish’
As música Mexicanafinds recognition on a global scale, strains of those same folk roots — the lovely melodic turns, those quirky accents in the strings — are beginning to penetrate mainstream pop. A ballad of quiet despair, this track from Becky G’s superlative third album — a tribute to her Mexican roots — reaches a majestic kind of transcendencewhen young prodigy DannyLux enters the stage riding a liltingsad sierreñopattern. The spiraling organ notes at the end add sophistication, but “Cries in Spanish” is all about the vocal luster of its two stars. —E.L.Fall Out Boy, ‘Love From the Other Side’
Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, was the first time they’d worked with producer Neal Avron in nearly 15 years. The record’s lead single “Love From the Other Side,” was proof of how well their reunion was going to work. Everyone was firing on all cylinders: Avron built a soundscape of theatrical urgency around Pete Wentz’s unmistakable songwriting, while Patrick Stump braced for the impact of sacrificing himself to the beast of infatuation. Without falling back on regurgitative nostalgia, they created the most Fall Out Boy-sounding Fall Out Boy song in recent memory. —L.P.
Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera, ‘Frágil’
Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Soy El Único” was the first song to put the Mexican American trio on people’s radars. But “Frágil,” with Grupo Frontera, was the song where they really took off. On the norteño-cumbia track, Yahritza and Frontera’s Payo Solis sing about giving their entire, fragile heart away to a love interest. Yahritza’s high notes complement Solis’ masculine vocals as they sing about an ex-lover “whose soul doesn’t feel pain when it lies.” It was the first track from Yahritza to hit Number One on an airplay chart, and it marked out a pivotal point in Frontera’s ever-growing career. —T.M.
That Mexican OT With Paul Wall and DRODi, ‘Johnny Dang’
One of the feel-good stories of rap in 2023 is the emergence of Virgil “That Mexican OT” Gazca. The Bay City, Texas, artist grinded on the mixtape circuit for years before breaking through with Lonestar Luchador and its centerpiece, “Johnny Dang.” Produced by TobiAli, it’s a legitimate banger where OT bounces all over the track even as he teases, “I’m just rhymin’ words, I don’t even know how to rap.” Guest spots from Freeport’s DRODi and Houston all-star Paul Wall add excitement to a hit that promises to “slide down your block, light it up with flames.” —M.R.
Jenny Lewis, ‘Psychos’
Jenny Lewis proclaims herself a “rock & roll disciple” on “Psychos,” and proves her devotion with a series of truths on the Joy’All soft rocker, custom made for Seventies AM radio. Her Tao includes acknowledging that “life goes in cycles [like] a merry-go-round,” that when you sing about turning down the treble and dropping the bass, your music better sound gloriously tinny, and that, most transparently, “I’m not a psycho/I’m just trying to get laid.” Lewis knows, of course, that it’s that fun and funny candor that won rock & roll all its disciples in the first place. Respect to the guru, namaste. —K.G.
Mitski, ‘My Love Mine All Mine’
When you listen to any love song from the 1940s, you get the distinct sense that everyone’s singing to ghosts — lovers are always lost, lonely, or waiting. Mitski captures that swoony mood of exquisite loss in this goth-country epic, which sees the protagonist asking the moon to remember her to her loved one even after her death. Sweeping and gorgeous, this is as close to a ballad as you’re going to get with Mitski, who — even in her lighter moments — seems always tethered to the fact that even the greatest love stories end. —B.E.
Earthgang and Spillage Village, ‘Die Today’
They make it sound so effortless — like they’re just coming up with these super-catchy hooks and funny-AF lyrics on a summer Sunday, in between hammock swings. But the greats have a way of making the hard jobs look easy. And this track cements Earthgang’s status as one of the greats: loose and free, like your favorite pajama bottoms; witty and a little maudlin, like an episode of Six Feet Under. “Tell me baby if I die today,” the Atlanta duo sing, “Would you come and kiss my cold face?” Sounding like that? For sure. —N.S.
V, ‘Rainy Days’
Each BTS solo project has its own distinct musical personality. V is the member of the group with the deepest love of R&B, soul, and jazz, a fan of legends like Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra who’s also a former saxophone player.He unfurled his old-school credentials on “Rainy Days,” crooning over a forlorn piano and laidback beat as he explored the refined depths of his deliciously cloudy baritone. The result was an undisputedly umbrella-worthy, new-look, quiet-storm pleasure. —J.D.
Yng Lvcas feat. Peso Pluma, ‘La Bebé’
“Ella Baila Sola,” Peso Pluma’s corrido with Eslabón Armado, was a Top 10 hit, but it wasn’t his only major hit of the year. “La Bebé (Remix),” a Pluma-featuring track by the largely unknown Mexican reggaetonero Yng Lvcas, seemed to dominate Latin nightclubs overnight — and it played a huge role in Pluma’s 2023 takeover. Lvcas and Pluma sing to a muse who just wants to dance to a good reggaetón beat. “La Bebé” delivers exactly that. Mexico isn’t your typical reggaetón exporter, but with “La Bebé,” Lvcas told Rolling Stone he hopes it “propels Mexicans to look at their own people for the genre.” —T.M.Tyler, the Creator feat. Vince Staples, ‘Stuntman’
One of the highlights of Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost deluxe is “Stuntman,” a track that exemplifies his creative genius. Vince Staples opens things up with a characteristically sharp verse over a minimalist mesh of claps, clangs, and colossal 808s, then Tyler arrives with a swagger that he carries throughout. The song’s de facto breakbeat is interspersed by a hook with a crescendo of synths that is indeed a perfect soundtrack for a multitalented artist to let us know, “I’ll show you how to stunt.” —A.G.
Twice, ‘Moonlight Sunrise’
Twice played their first stateside stadium show last summer (which made them the first K-pop girl group to headline a stadium in the U.S.). It was a peak moment in their eight-year run. “Moonlight Sunrise,” the group’s second English-language single, was inspired by the moonlight at that Banc of California Stadium performance. “Baby, you can hit up my line when you need it/Said that you tried?/Baby, you succeeded,” they rap with elevated English skills. Twice underscored their maturity by showing an artistic range beyond their signature bubblegum pop, with a Miami bass-infused R&B track. —K.K.
Tainy feat. J Balvin, Young Miko, Jowell and Randy, ‘Colmillo’
This masterful deluxe-edition bonus highlight from Puerto Rican superproducer Tainy’s stunningly brilliant Data is three or four bangers in one, the sound of an artist chasing his wildest musical impulses in whatever wild-style direction they take him. “Colmillo” opens as a house-music hallucination, then mutates into a club-swallowing reggaeton anthem that invites us to commune with the perreo gods, as if Tainy and his teeming crew of guests (veteran stars J Balvin, plus Jowell and Randy, as well as newcomer Young Miko) are holding our hand as we ascend to a velvet-rope party on the astral-plane. —J.D.
Shamir, ‘Oversized Sweater’
Comfort is the theme of Shamir’s dreamy single, off his 2023 album,hom*o Anxietatem(Latin for “anxious man”). “Oversized Sweater” delivers gorgeously on that warmth and familiarity, with Shamir making a perfect pastiche of Nineties indie pop and soft rock, reminiscent of Liz Phair, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Lisa Loeb. Inspired by a sweater he knitted in the months following a stint at a psych ward, the song is an uplifting tribute to the ways we look to soothe ourselves after a love has gone sour. “So I cuddle in the space/Of my oversized sweater/And sing until I believe in love again,” he sings on the chorus. The song fits as snugly as his favorite item of clothing. —B.S.
Feid, ‘Nx Tx Sientas Solx’
Decades of Latin pop songs have drilled into our heads the questionable message that romantic love is the answer to everything, but Feid begs to disagree. The most intimate track on Mor, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad — the Colombian star’s sixth studio album — this dark expressionist miniature proposes replacing those post-heartbreak tears with an evening of dancing and self-acceptance. Anchored on deep bass accents and a nimble loop whose restless shuffle mirrors the protagonist’s emotional turmoil, “Nx Tx Sientas Solx” underscores the vulnerable, healing side of neo-reggaetón. —E.L.
Troye Sivan, ‘Rush’
A sweaty, lusty ode to physical connection, Troye Sivan’s “Rush” combines a pumping house beat and a horny-guy-gang chant to staggering effect, with the Australian pop enigma playing winking ringmaster at its center. The unrelenting three minutes of “Rush” feel like a snapshot of those summer parties that seemingly never end, stretching from the not-late-enough sunset to the too-early sunrise and beyond, bodies pressed up against each other even after everyone has collapsed from giddy, gleeful exhaustion. —M.J.
