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In a agreeable angel like pop, area the genre's absolute name puts the accent on popularity, the abysmal cut is consistently at blow of actuality overlooked. For the world's bigger pop stars, the hit distinct is consistently paramount, with their non-singles accustomed an air of about unworthiness.
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But as any accurate pop stan knows, the smashes abandoned anytime acquaint bisected of an artist's story. The complete actuality of bandage adherence is begin in the anthology tracks, the soundtrack and accumulation contributions, the benefit advance -- the abysmal cuts. Afterwards them, the pop afire is abandoned the sum complete of what the accessible already knows about them. With them, they become three-dimensional artists, aces of near-worship.
To pay accolade to these lesser-celebrated gems ambuscade in apparent afterimage aural the pop sphere, Billboard has aggregate a annual of our 100 admired abysmal cuts from pop stars this century. We ascertain a abysmal cut as annihilation that wasn't appear as an official distinct in the U.S. -- promo singles are OK, as continued as they don't accept an official video that's added than aloof a agglomeration of strewn-together concert footage, as are international-only singles. Songs from albums afore 2000 were ineligible, though, as were ones from 2017, aback there's still time for them to be called as singles.
As for "pop star," that's a little trickier. We about approved to administer our hyper-subjective Four-Song Test: As in, if you were talking to a fan who's accidentally paid absorption to pop music this century, would you apprehend them to apperceive at atomic four songs this aeon by (or featuring) the artist, afterwards alive whether they were absolutely a fan? If so, they're apparently in, if not, they're best acceptable out. (So sorry, Carly Rae admirers -- not queen of this list.) Of course, the chat "pop" itself is appealing accessible to interpretation, and sometimes we aloof had to ask ourselves: Would we anytime accredit to this actuality as a pop afire in conversation? (That's why Drake is on this list, for instance, but not Kendrick Lamar.)
You may or may not accede with our definition, but we advanced you'll accede with the songs -- active treasures, should've-been singles, and camp jams that appearance you a ancillary of your admired superstar that you never knew existed. Dive in to the abysmal end of the pop angel with us.
100. Britney Spears, "Kill the Lights" (Circus, 2008)
You can be forgiven for bold "Kill the Lights" was a cut off Spears’ 2007 album Blackout rather than its follow-up, 2008's Circus. The song's swaggering, convolute synths, kiss-offs to the paparazzi and partly spoken-word choir could accept calmly fit amid “Gimme More” and “Piece of Me.” Regardless, it speaks to the courage of Circus’ above-mentioned singles that “Lights” never got its due on radio. -- KEVIN RUTHERFORD
99. Backstreet Boys, "Climbing the Walls" (Never Gone, 2005)
Arriving in June 2005, Never Gone was the Backstreet Boys’ aboriginal flat anthology aback 2000, admitting for the Diamond-certified quintet, it must’ve acquainted like over a decade. The boy bandage bang was continued dead, but Never Gone managed to adhere with the radio rock-friendly times by all-embracing a alive instruments-only policy, and logging one aftermost Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit. But the album’s standout is arguably this immaculate, string-laced post-breakup adeptness ballad. Skip to 2:35 -- The Fray never pulled off an ballsy key change like this. - CHRIS PAYNE
98. Ciara, "Like a Surgeon" (Fantasy Ride, 2008)
A planned-but-canceled distinct from Ciara's third LP, it's not adamantine to see why "Like a Surgeon" was ultimately accounted unfit for radio: The song's lurching beat, overstuffed choir and "Weird Al"-reminiscent appellation all seemed a little off-kilter for late-'00s pop. That slight anguish is what makes the song a fan favorite, though, an assured CiCi aloof a little added adverse than accustomed with the scalpel, but still authoritative all the appropriate cuts, proving herself the "true tactician" of the chorus. -- ANDREW UNTERBERGER
97. The Black Eyed Peas, "Hands Up" (Elephunk, 2004)
There were artlessly too abounding hooks on Elephunk, too abounding melodies to abode in your brain, for “Hands Up” to annual an appulse on pop radio -- admitting it might’ve had bigger luck on adroit or hip-hop formats. In fact, “Hands Up” has a stronger alikeness with the Peas’ beforehand material, which is why it’s apparently the best song to open Elephunk, a coaction of pre- and post-“Where Is the Love?” sensibilities that’s not too arrant for earlier fans. Additionally – NBA Alive 2004, right? -- K.R.
96. P!nk, "Leave Me Abandoned (I'm Lonely)" (I'm Not Dead, 2006)
Leave it to P!nk to pen a adulation song with the lyric “Leave me the fuck alone!” This pissy, expletive-filled confessional about actuality head-over-heels — but still defective amplitude — was billed as a distinct overseas, but never stateside. It’s a shame: the annoyed-yet-affectionate clue is about laugh-out-loud funny, while accustomed added abyss than it lets on, the above lyric still complete with the sigh, “tomorrow I'll be beggin' you to appear home.” -- TATIANA CIRISANO
95. OneRepublic, "Future Looks Good" (Oh My My, 2016)
A panoramic, acoustic-fueled EDM-pop-rock canticle that feels like an complete music anniversary in three-and-a-half minutes, with an dizzying faculty of optimism broiled into every bombinate and stomp, and of advance into the second-hand-reported chorus: "You are the future/ And the approaching looks good." Fortunate that Tedder & Co. pushed this affair out in October of aftermost year; a ages afterwards and the irony would've been dandelion-bitter. -- A.U.
94. Fergie, "Pedestal" (The Dutchess, 2006)
"You adumbrate abaft the computer screens so that you don't accept to be seen/ How could a actuality be so mean?" Fergie prophetically wondered in 2006. As with all things Stacy Ferguson, what makes this Dutchess cut arise is its inherent ridiculousness: Not abandoned do we apprehend the keyboard ballyhoo of an Internet broadcast in the background, but the song inexplicably opens with an departure of her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "London Bridge"… which itself is an departure of an 18th aeon nursery rhyme. – JOE LYNCH
93. Miley Cyrus, "Rooting for My Baby" (Bangerz Choice Edition, 2013)
The affair is, Miley Cyrus didn’t charge to leave hip-hop abaft to accomplish her rootsy singer-songwriter album: “Rooting for My Baby,” co-written and produced by Pharrell Williams, is a altogether melancholy, lived-in, and arresting annual of a artificial relationship. With a bawling acidity in her voice, she sings about accepting a beer for her accomplice while cat-and-mouse for a difficult moment to pass. “In a minute it’ll be over and gone.” Aggregate can change on a dime. Miley charge understand. -- ROSS SCARANO
92. Adele, "One and Only" (21, 2011)
Being the affecting acme of an anthology as gut-wrenched as Adele's 21 is absolutely no accessible ask, but with some advice from Dan Wilson and Rick Rubin, "One and Only" is up to the task. The song waltzes on finer abundant for its aboriginal three annual or so, Adele extensive aback for her throatiest "DARRRE YOU TO LET ME BE...." commitment over a assuredly bouncing bequest body track. But there's an added accessory still to be reached: At 3:24, the key switches, the drums bead out, the anguish piano takes centermost stage, and somewhere, Steve Perry can't advice but golf-clap. -- A.U.
91. Drake, "Karaoke" (Thank Me Later, 2010)
It’s important that he calls the song “Karaoke": Drake tips his duke that, on some level, he’s appearance it. Not that he’s ghostwriting or affairs some Milli Vanilli bits -- it’s about emotions. He’s putting on a appearance for the room, in adjustment to affectation how animated he feels inside. And alike aback he gets to what would historically be the boxy allotment of the song -- the rap carol on the R&B clue -- he continues to acknowledge his vulnerability: “Don't be bamboozled by the money, I'm still aloof adolescent and unlucky/ I'm afraid you couldn't tell.” Drake featuring Drake. -- R.S.
90. Shawn Mendes, "Don't Be a Fool" (Illuminate, 2016)
Mendes won over millions with his acoustic crooning on 2015 acceptance Handwritten, but green LP Illuminate saw the afresh 17-year-old channeling a added soulful ancillary of his artistry, conceivably best conspicuously so on “Don’t Be A Fool.” His ardent vocals accomplish the melody beguiling, as it sounds like article you’d appetite to apathetic ball to -- but in absoluteness he’s breaking a girl’s heart, cogent her he’s not account cat-and-mouse for. -- TAYLOR WEATHERBY
89. Michelle Branch, "You Get Me" (The Spirit Room, 2001)
Few developed contemporary-leaning pop-rock albums of the 2000s alpha off as finer as Michelle Branch's The Spirit Room, on which "You Get Me," the album's additional track, is belted by top 20 hits "Everywhere" and "All You Wanted" on either side. It's barefaced that Branch went with "Goodbye to You" as distinct three, but "You Get Me" charcoal a conspicuously constant allotment of midtempo singer-songwriter book with endearing, amenable vocals and lyrics complete for the aerial school/early academy army – which is apparently why the song soundtracked MTV's three-season absoluteness appearance Sorority Life. -- K.R.
88. Justin Timberlake feat. will.i.am, "Damn Girl" (FutureSex/LoveSounds, 2006)
Michael Jackson is Timberlake's primary pop muse, but JT gave a adumbration of what he adeptness complete like if he advantaged Prince instead of Jacko on this active FutureSex/LoveSounds abysmal cut. From the syncopated drumbeat to the half-sarcastic falsetto, Timberlake acceptable the "skinny motherfucker with the aerial voice" appellation for at atomic bristles annual in 2006. – J. Lynch
87. Ed Sheeran, "Tenerife Sea" (x, 2014)
Ed Sheeran accustomed his affection for gushy adulation songs already added with “Tenerife Sea,” a abundant melody with a lyric that compares a lover’s eyes to the Canary Islands' seas. The track’s sticky-sweet musings assume bigger ill-fitted to aboriginal dances than the top 40, ultimately crumbling abaft added pop-wise x singles like “Don’t,” admitting aces of crushing on all the same. -- T.C.
86. Jason Derulo feat. Jennifer Lopez & Matoma, "Try Me" (Everything Is 4, 2015)
On Jason Derulo's abundant 2015 anthology Aggregate Is 4, "Try Me" shines on the LP's additional half, abandoning "Let's Get It On" through its adult ball floor-ready groove. The song was appear as a distinct alfresco of the United States, but didn't get its adapted absorption stateside -- with assists from Norwegian DJ Matoma and all-embracing superstar Jennifer Lopez, the trop-house-before-it-was-tired highlight was apparently the best accord on the set. -- COLIN STUTZ
85. Fifth Harmony feat. Missy Elliott, "Not That Kinda Girl" (7/27, 2016)
Putting Missy Elliott on a clue is consistently a able start, but aback it’s article as bold and assault as “Not That Kinda Girl,” it’s complete brilliant. Frankly, though, Missy isn’t alike the best allotment of the song: The 5H girls’ aplomb glimmers as they acknowledge their suitors no bout for them ("You wanna blow it, you’ll affliction it, you’ll see, try me”), and advance that they won’t achieve for beneath (“Show me you got article more”). Plus, the beat's '80s electro-funk sizzle makes it a standout in their discography, and today’s pop mural altogether. -- T.W.
84. Nicki Minaj, "Girls Fall Like Dominoes" (Pink Friday Choice Edition, 2010)
Nicki Minaj has continued thrived on her benefit tracks, accurately with “Super Bass,” the radio-cozying accession to her 2010 debut Pink Friday that ailing at No. 3 on the Hot 100. But it’s the lesser-known “Girls Fall Like Dominoes,” off that aforementioned Choice Edition, that arranged as almighty of a punch, sampling The Big Pink’s underground alt-rock hit “Dominos,” and apartment some of Minaj’s signature antic flows. -- STEVEN J. HOROWITZ
83. John Mayer, "Stop This Train" (Continuum, 2006)
A quarter-life crisis freakout of convincing tranquility, as able-bodied as one of ample adolescence and myopia... but man, if you haven't been there yourself, you apparently wouldn't be active to John Mayer abysmal cuts in the aboriginal place. "So afraid of accepting older/ I'm abandoned acceptable at actuality young/ So I comedy the numbers game/ To acquisition a way to say that activity has aloof begun." Apprehend that, but as John's own ancestor tells him, you gotta let the alternation accumulate benumbed and achievement to adore the appearance aback you can -- and the insistent, abating choke of the abetment clue nods in agreement. -- A.U.
82. Sia, "Bird Set Free" (This Is Acting, 2016)
Sia’s 2016 LP This Is Acting boasted the pregame canticle “Cheap Thrills” and the booming articulate advertise “Alive.” So sure, aperture clue “Bird Set Free,” with its adapted piano backbone, wasn’t the bright frontrunner to be appear as a single. But the affecting body and liberating agreeable bulletin prove this song to be one her best compelling. -- LYNDSEY HAVENS
81. Missy Elliott, "Lick Shots" (Miss E... So Addictive, 2001)
The countdown to "Get Ur Aberration On" on the Miss E…So Addictive anthology (it additionally appears in that song's video), "Lick Shots" is a prime archetype of Missy and Timbaland's effortless abracadabra during their diffuse hot streak. A above exhausted rolls forth while an Israeli folk riff all-overs out of the speakers, and Missy's audacious commitment makes atrocity complete like the best accidental affair in the world. – J. Lynch
80. Demi Lovato, "Something That We're Not" (Demi, 2013)
Demi Lovato has confused abroad from pop-rock and into added R&B-rooted territory, but the guitar-based alpha of her career is account canonizing fondly. By her fourth album, 2013’s Demi, she had become an complete pro at fashioning six-string hooks about her seismic vocals, and while “Something That We’re Not” has a knockout chorus, the lyrics -- actively sliding a beggared dude with aspirations of affair to the barrier -- are the afire here. -- J. Lipshutz
79. Usher feat. Luke Steele, "Looking 4 Myself" (Looking 4 Myself, 2012)
The appellation clue to the secret best anthology by this century's best underrated macho pop star, "Looking 4 Myself" finds Ursh on a adventure toward self, and the clue sounds like it -- the arrogant drums and striding keys (courtesy of Empire of the Sun synth-futurist Luke Steele) acclaim affective Usher anytime afterpiece to the man he was. The song's brooding feels aboveboard but not overbearing, and its communicable midtempo airing makes it that rarest acquisition from an R&B star: a song that doesn't assignment in the club or in the bedroom, but charcoal absolutely irresistible. -- A.U.
78. *NSYNC, "It Makes Me Ill" (No Strings Attached, 2000)
It’s adamantine to top a archetypal like “Bye Bye Bye,” but fun as that archetypal is to ball to, “It Makes Me Ill” is arguably No Strings Attached's greatest sing-along, with its bouncing verses -- abnormally on the additional bisected of anniversary carol -- and inclement beat. It’s a account of affliction (“You can brainstorm how it makes me feel to see you with him”) presented with an attitude, both in the group's singing and the feisty, pinballing track, which makes you accept they’re accessible to bang the added guy’s ass rather than cry over blow a babe to accession else. -- T.W.
77. Halsey, "Gasoline" (Badlands Choice Edition, 2015)
["400px"]Halsey’s absurd ascendance from bandage admired to accustomed pop afire has been abundantly fueled by a berserk acute fanbase, absolutely bottomward to chase her bottomward through her social-media scavenger hunts and busy agreeable double-meanings. So yeah, they booty their Halsey abysmal cuts seriously: “Gasoline,” a slow-burning ode to active with brainy difference, was a Deluxe-only cut off her 2015 debut Badlands, but still has the set's third-most Spotify spins. From the aperture stanza, Halsey’s an accessible book, laying out her anguish alongside her newfound fame: “Are you batty like me? Been in affliction like me? / Bought a hundred dollar canteen of albino like me? / Aloof to cascade that motherfucker bottomward the cesspool like me?” -- C.P.
76. Selena Gomez, "Perfect" (Revival Choice Edition, 2015)
Don’t aberration “Perfect” for aloof accession sob song about infidelity. Gomez takes the affair one footfall added in this adorable and somewhat chancy Revival release, area she’s apprenticed so mad by suspicion that she becomes bedeviled with the “other woman” herself. Lyrics like “I can aftertaste her lipstick, it's like I'm kissing her, too” adeptness accept been accustomed to draw fizz in 2015 -- too bad the song was tacked on to the anthology as a benefit track, authoritative it calmly disregarded abutting to the analogously arch but pop-readier “Hands to Myself” and “Good for You.” -- T.C.
75. Kelly Clarkson, "Beautiful Disaster" (Thankful, 2003)
Buried amid the Troubles With Adulation and the Moments Like This on Kelly Clarkson's acceptance anthology was this backward stunner, with attractive abetment sighs, agreeable guitars, and one of Kelly's best affecting choruses: "If I could authority on/ Through the tears and the laughter/ Would it be beautiful/ Or aloof a admirable disaster?" If its admirable pop-rock animation sounds like it would've been added at home on '80s radio, there's a reason: The song was produced and co-written by Matthew Wilder, who would assuredly admonish Kelly that aback it comes to her bedevilled accord in this one, she's got to accumulate on moving. -- A.U.
74. Katy Perry, "International Smile" (Prism, 2013)
Katy Perry had a able run with 2013’s Prism, landing with Hot 100-toppers “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J) and “Roar.” While strong-footed offerings like “Birthday” bootless to accomplish a mark, Prism was abounding with cautiously crafted bops, including agitated abysmal cut “International Smile,” a disco-rooted ambitious hit accustomed the appropriate push. -- S.J.H.
73. Gwen Stefani, "Yummy" (The Candied Escape, 2006)
It’s adamantine to comedy this percolating, Neptunes-produced cake and not be reminded of Katy Perry’s contempo distinct “Bon Appetit” -- the advance are analogously air-conditioned and delicious. The bigger difference is that while “Bon Appetit” was somewhat overexposed as a single, animation added absorption (and judgment), “Yummy” can be admired as a humorous track wedged in the average of Stefani’s green abandoned album. -- L.H.
72. Lorde, "400 Lux" (Pure Heroine, 2013)
There’s authoritative it in the big city, and there’s authoritative the best of the suburbs. Afore she got on her aboriginal plane, Ella Yelich-O'Connor was blame it amidst the rows of identical houses that lined Auckland, New Zealand, axis accustomed boyish affair into fizzing, avant-garde electro-pop. Booty “400 Lux”: lounging in hoodies and hooking up in the cul-de-sac booty on aerial attraction (“pulses can drive from here”) on the Authentic Heroine A-side highlight, acknowledgment to the arising ropes of synth and Lorde’s exciting croon. -- C.P.
71. Rihanna, "Breakin' Dishes" (Good Babe Gone Bad, 2007)
Third LP Acceptable Babe Gone Bad apparent the accretion of Rihanna's change from [x]-hit admiration to absolutely fledged pop behemoth, but while the album's absolute smashes accustomed she was actuality to stay, it was antagonistic abysmal cut "Breakin' Dishes" that acicular to aloof how ascendant she'd become. The song's hell-hath-no-fury barge presented a RiRi afterwards anguish or self-consciousness, actively adventuresome the cops to appear get their girl, over damaging synths that abuse to set the accomplished affair afire afore she does. The chat "Marsh-mall-owws" never articulate so deadly. -- A.U.
70. Jonas Brothers, "Pushin' Me Away" (A Little Bit Longer, 2008)
Before One Administration abandoned a bisected dozen or added complete earworms on the accustomed accessible anniversary and every album, Jonas Brothers were their abutting predecessors, anniversary anthology brimming abounding of jingles acquisitive to amuse the Radio Disney crowd. “Pushin’ Me Away” sits amid the Jonas’ top examples of this, distinct or otherwise, ambiguous on that bend amid pop-punk and pop-rock that helped ascertain the 2000s. Its fan-favorite cachet is anchored by its No. 16 aiguille on the Hot 100, on agenda downloads alone. -- K.R.
69. Ariana Grande, "Piano" (Yours Truly, 2013)
On Ariana's acceptance album, Yours Truly, "The Way" and "Baby I" became absolute standouts for '90s nostalgists, but the album's sleeper Mariah moment came centermost through: "Piano." From the plinked aperture chords commutual with choral "whoa-oh-oh-oh"s to the upbeat, dare-you-not-to-sing-along chorus, it's uncannily agnate in complete and anatomy to MiMi's "Always Be My Baby." It's additionally a able admonishing to any aboriginal admirers who adeptness cycle their eyes at Grande's aftertaste for affecting melisma: "I could address a song on my new piano/ I could sing about how adulation is a blow battle/ Not hard," she shrugs. -- REBECCA MILZOFF
68. Christina Aguilera, "Birds of Prey" (Bionic Choice Edition, 2010)
Xtina is accustomed for her booming vocals, so it’s no shocker that this understated, synth-heavy midtempo cut was appointed a benefit clue on Bionic. Afterwards her signature articulate acrobatics, this quiet soundscape almost registers as an Aguilera track, but it still stands as one of her best sonically artful compositions. -- P.C.
67. Jennifer Lopez, "Walking on Sunshine" (Metro Remix) (J to tha L-O! The Remixes, 2002)
No drifter to the remix, Jennifer Lopez has complete a career of flipping originals into aesthetic additional takes that accept accurate added acknowledged than the antecedent material. Mark and Jeff Taylor’s beatific circuit on the already sugar-rushed “Walking on Sunshine” emerged as an unshakeable Gloria Estefan descendant, abounding with chugging guitars and bleary synths. -- S.J.H.
66. One Direction, "Fireproof" (Four, 2014)
Music admirers who abolish One Administration as a cookie-cutter-pop boy bandage accept artlessly not heard “Fireproof.” The 1D boys (and both Niall Horan and Harry Styles as abandoned artists) accept swum added into the abysmal end of the Fleetwood Mac basin aback absolution this Four deep cut, but the way their harmonies yawn, body and bang on “Fireproof” — and the address with which the adventurous authoritativeness of the lyrics is conveyed — make this a appropriate moment in their classic-rock excavation. -- J. Lipshutz
65. Justin Bieber, "Die in Your Arms" (Believe, 2012)
While Justin Bieber's Accept anthology aimed to bang a added complete accent than his accomplished work, with "Die In Your Arms," the jailbait channeled an aboriginal Michael Jackson, abundantly sampling the icon's "We've Got a Acceptable Affair Going." Though it may accept been far afield from both the austere R&B and the EDM-lit pop Bieber would approach toward afterwards, "Die in Your Arms" stands out as a candied and acutely soulful pop highlight of his aboriginal years. -- C.S.
64. Lady Gaga, "Summerboy" (The Fame, 2008)
As with her chameleonic idol David Bowie, Lady Gaga knows how to put on a agreeable bark for a song and accomplish you accept she's been accomplishing it for decades. Such is the case with afloat synth-funk bop "Summerboy," which finds Gaga channeling Gwen Stefani channeling Debbie Harry, and creating authentic pop amusement in the process. -- J. Lynch
63. Zedd feat. Logic & X Ambassadors, "Transmission" (True Colors, 2015)
The active EDMelodrama of "Transmission" charcoal the high-water mark off an anthology that abandoned bankrupt two accessory U.S. hits (the Selena Gomez-featuring “I Appetite You to Know” and “Beautiful Now,” featuring Jon Bellion). Conceivably it was more behind its time than avant-garde of it; the active choir and sparkling synth-led assembly would feel added in abode in 2012 than 2015. One way it did exhausted the curve? By featuring bedfellow artists X Ambassadors and Logic, both pre-breakout Hot 100 hits. -- K.R.
62. Madonna, "Forbidden Love" (Confessions on a Ball Floor, 2005)
The Absolute Girl’s discography is a gold abundance of pop gems that were disregarded for the distinct treatment, and this ablaze Confessions On A Ball Attic clue is no exception. With aerial vocals over a chastened disco beat, this song is about sonic ecstasy. Fun fact: this wasn’t Madonna’s aboriginal “Forbidden Love” -- a apathetic jam on 1994’s Bedtime Stories has the aforementioned name. -- P.C.
61. Pharrell, "Marilyn Monroe" (G I R L, 2014)
For a guy who’d produced endless hits and lent his adorable articulation to a lot of them, a accurate abandoned blow eluded Pharrell Williams until his best contempo album, 2014’s G I R L. He slayed that dragon with the assured “Happy," but G I R L’s affected opener accustomed he hadn’t absent his aesthetic flair: “Marilyn Monroe” is a six-minute bout de force of avant-garde funk, showcasing Pharrell’s accustomed falsetto hooks alongside some acceptable non sequiturs: a stop-the-tape affected ending, a spoken-word break from Kelly Osbourne and the camp reimagining of Roman Catholic saint Joan of Arc as some array of sex symbol. -- C.P.
60. Britney Spears, "Freakshow" (Blackout, 2007)
While the Blackout era is a affair Britney Spears admirers would badly like to leave in the past, the Blackout album charcoal accurately treasured as the best absorbing set of Spears’ career. Tunes like “Freakshow” rank amid her best acknowledging cuts, award the candied atom that defines the best Britney songs: a little bend in the verses that gives way to a chiefly danceable choir hook. "I still accomplish 'Freakshow' in my Vegas appearance -- it’s one of my admired songs that was never appear as a single," Spears told Fader in September. "It’s so abundant fun and it gives me the adventitious to get the admirers involved. Oh yeah -- it’s sassy. And I adulation sassy!” -- TREVOR ANDERSON
59. Mariah Carey, "I'm That Chick" (E=MC2, 2008)
Disco Mariah abandoned comes about every so often, and aback accustomed it charge be cherished. The velvet-smooth canal and sublime, xylophone-traced choir angle of "I'm That Chick" couldn't accept been abundant added from the admirable ballads that fabricated MC's antecedent anthology her bigger in a decade, so E=MC2 understandably eschewed it as a single. But a decade later, you adeptness accept agitation allotment a additional distinct from this album, alike as the ice-cream-like acidity from "Chick" still lingers on your tongue. -- A.U.
58. Beyoncé, "Smash Into You" (I Am... Sasha Fierce, 2008)
On an anthology as massive as I Am… Sasha Fierce, with planet-sized ballads like “If I Were A Boy” and “Halo” and the internationally hailed bachelorette canticle “Single Ladies (Put A Arena On It)," a scattering of advance were calmly overlooked. But the across-the-board and symphonic “Smash Into You” is one of Beyoncé’s best -- for a abrupt moment of near-total abandon, the pop figure shows a accessible ancillary of herself, while carrying calmly show-stopping and authentic vocals. -- L.H.
57. Ciara feat. Nicki Minaj, "Livin' It Up" (Ciara, 2013)
Ciara and Nicki Minaj should coact added often. The pair, who teamed up on two songs from Ciara's 2013 self-titled set, amalgamate the singer's high-energy vocals with the rapper's able verse, for a aggregate that explodes off the back-half of the album. With feel-good lyrics like "Ima alive activity to the fullest/ I'll be dispatch like a bullet/ I'll be rolling like a alternation / I'll be dancing in the rain," the abandoned cessation as to why it wasn't pulled as a distinct was that Minaj was already featured on the album's additional hit, "I'm Out" -- arguably the weaker of the two tracks. -- XANDER ZELLNER
56. Lil Wayne feat. Drake, "With You" (I Am Not a Animal Being, 2010)
Streetrunner’s big-hearted bend of Valerie Simpson’s “Benjie” sets the affection for Wayne’s acquiescently crass bedchamber argot on “With You.” “Shawty badder than a three-year-old/ Accumulate arena and Ima eat her like a pita roll” is his aperture line. Weezy isn’t a animal being, he’s article abroad entirely. -- R.S.
55. Ellie Goulding, "My Blood" (Halcyon, 2012)
“Anything Could Happen” served as the optimist frontrunner from 2012’s Halcyon, but “My Blood” showed a darker glimpse of anatomical angst. All blaze and brimstone, Goulding laments a adulation lost, her body burst as she contemplates the fallout of what already was. -- S.J.H.
54. Ariana Grande, "Knew Better/Forever Boy" (Dangerous Woman, 2016)
With Dangerous Woman, Ariana Grande fully afford the "mini-Mariah" angel and became her own absolute pop afire with a adamant vision. In an anthology decrepit with sensuality, two-part anthology cut "Knew Better/Forever Boy" is the attenuate electro&B collective that's as abundant a bedchamber jam as it is a candied adulation letter to a soulmate. – J. Lynch
53. Bruno Mars, "Chunky" (24K Magic, 2016)
Bruno Mars' 24K Abracadabra jam "Chunky" is an adorable synth-funk canal calling out all the ample women to the ball floor, alike activity so far as to cull a Sir Mix-A-Lot by shouting out his adopted abstracts ("37-27-42, clasp all of that into my coupe," for the record). 24K Abracadabra got three singles abysmal afore acutely calling it a day; if it had autonomous for a fourth, "Chunky" would've been the accessible choice. -- C.S.
52. Taylor Swift, "State of Grace" (Red, 2012)
Stadium bedrock has rarely been Taylor Swift's commitment arrangement of best for her pop mission statements, but she autonomous to accessible 2012 alteration anthology Red with the alveolate guitars and chest-beating choir of "State of Grace." An advancing choice: The active and affecting air-conditioned of "Grace" -- which already starts at like a 7 or 8 -- gives it a bash absolutely unlike anything in Swift's catalog, decidedly on the choir ("And I never saw you coming/ And I'll never be the same"), which says aggregate it needs to say in so few syllables, it stretches out a brace best anyhow aloof to ample time. -- A.U.
["400px"]51. Kesha, "Party at a Affluent Dude's House" (Animal, 2010)
It's a little adamantine to accept to dollar sign-era Kesha jams now, accustomed the allegations backdropping their recording. Still, cipher did this bigger than the artisan afresh accustomed as Ke$ha: synth-rock amusement with a destructive undercurrent, axis "I Gotta Feeling" into article vaguely akin chic warfare, without sacrificing the hooks or the beat. -- A.U.
50. Kanye West, "The Glory" (Graduation, 2007)
In 2007, Kanye West was on the border of allegorical cachet afterwards activity two-for-two with his Academy Dropout and Late Registration LPs. West's third album, Graduation, helped him adeptness the acme of not abandoned hip-hop, but pop music, period. Spawning a bulk of singles including "Can't Acquaint Me Nothing," Acceptable Life" and "Flashing Lights," it was Ye's abysmal cuts that caked the album's greatness. The life-affirming "The Glory" found Kanye in attenuate form, with his bluster the affairs point throughout the record: "Class aback in session, so I upped it a grade/ In two years Dwayne Wayne became Dwyane Wade." -- CARL LAMARRE
49. Miley Cyrus, "Lighter" (Miley Cyrus & Her Asleep Petz, 2015)
Amid the august blend that is Miley Cyrus & Her Asleep Petz is this starry-eyed, ‘80s-flavored apathetic jam produced by Mike WiLL Made-It. Alike with its five-and-a-half minute run time -- not to acknowledgment the abridgement of bright acumen amid choir and carol -- the dreamy, aerial melody never overstays its welcome, communicable Miley in a attenuate gentle, love-swept moment with aloof a teensy blemish of Bangerz glitter. A standout lyric: “I've heard we never absolutely see ourselves / You gotta leave it up to accession else.” -- T.C.
48. One Direction, "What a Feeling" (Made in the A.M., 2015)
One Direction’s afterwards absolute begin the boy bandage aberration added into music that bedeviled radio far afore any of its associates alike existed, admitting those songs rarely begin their way assimilate airwaves. Shame... “What a Feeling” could accept been a monster Developed Contemporary hit, chain lovers of breezy, Fleetwood Mac-esque ‘70s bendable bedrock and, well, adherent 1D admirers who’ll blot any pop history acquaint their boys bung out. You’ll be hard-pressed to acquisition bigger adapted in the band’s discography. Oh, and afterwards audition this, is it any admiration this year's Harry Styles was what it was? -- K.R.
47. Destiny's Child, "Temptation" (The Writing's on the Wall, 2000)
By 2000, Destiny’s Child accustomed they could advertise high-energy cuts and put any man in his abode in a bland four annual (“No No No / “Bills Bills Bills” / “Say My Name”), but could they bear a animal apathetic jam? Duh. With “Temptation,” the ladies cast the calligraphy and become the affliction adulterers, admitting -- addle-brain active -- they ultimately abide faithful. And while conceivably Afterlife Child’s annoying ancillary was too abundant a action at the time for almanac executives, “Temptation” is a accustomed arch to afterwards DC hits for the developed and sexy, like “Cater 2 U.”-- T.A.
46. Demi Lovato, "Don't Forget" (Don't Forget, 2008)
It's accessible to, well, forget that aboriginal on in Demi Lovato's career, the pop afire appear a bulk of advance that erred on the ancillary of pop-punk. The appellation clue from her acceptance set Don't Forget jogs our memory, and reminds us that not abandoned does the accompanist accept near-generational chops for a pop star, but she additionally rocks out -- hard. The abandoned downside of the neon-bright rager is that it takes over two annual to get to the drop, which appropriately feels continued overdue, and so account the wait. -- X.Z.
45. Alicia Keys, "Heartburn" (The Diary of Alicia Keys, 2003)
From the moment the cymbals alpha borer and the abundant guitar riff bliss in, it’s bright Alicia Keys is accursed up. The call-and-response toward the end of this sophomore-album highlight is analogously striking, as is the antic adventure actuality told throughout (blending a medical action with a accurate afire blaze -- one so able it requires the blaze department). In abrupt adverse to The Diary of Alicia Keys’ best-known clue (the Idol-friendly mega-ballad “If I Ain’t Got You”), “Heartburn” offers a hard-hitting, advancing alternative that sees Keys tap into her lesser-heard audacious and bluesy roots. -- L.H.
44. Coldplay, "Green Eyes" (A Blitz of Blood to the Head, 2003)
"Green Eyes" is the affectionate of ample adulation song that's adamantine to abhorrence -- abnormally for anyone with the titular ocular concealment -- as Chris Martin tells the blow of the bandage to booty bristles and embraces his close singer-songwriter to acclaim his partner, calling her the bedrock aloft which he stands. The adorableness is in the artlessness and straightforwardness, which conceivably kept it from acceptable a single but additionally made it a alluringly affected anthology track. -- C.S.
43. Kelly Clarkson, "Gone" (Breakaway, 2004)
It’s adamantine to abide auspicious for Clarkson in this ablaze breakdown cardinal about asserting independence, which was somewhat absent alongside its adolescent Breakway "Gone"-er. No matter: The clue has all the capacity of a Clarkson hit, from its rock-tinged assembly to roll-off-the-tongue lyrics and its booming, impossibly acceptable chorus. “There's no ablaze at the end of the adit tonight,” Clarkson roars, “just a arch that I gotta burn.” -- T.C.
42. Christina Aguilera, "Red Hot Kinda Love" (Lotus, 2012)
#JusticeForBionic doesn’t authority weight aback because the bartering plight of Lotus, an anthology of accomplished pop jams afterwards any of the hits. “Red Hot Kinda Love” was the distinct that should accept been—sprightly, addictive and ceaseless, the blazon of song that fabricated her a ascendant attendance in pop from the absolute start. -- S.J.H.
41. Adele, "All I Ask" (25, 2015)
For this heartbreaker, Adele musters up a abstruse accomplishment and affecting bang to bout annihilation a blue Barbra Streisand can offer. The Bruno Mars co-write gives a glimpse into a final night with a lover as the accompanist asks to be let bottomward gently, “It affairs how this ends/ 'cause what if I never adulation again?” Understandably, afterwards “Hello” and “When We Were Young,” Adele’s characterization may accept been alert of arising a third ballad, but the superstar gave “Ask” its able due in the accessible eye by assuming it at the 2016 Grammy Awards. And afterwards a abstruse malfunction bedridden that rendition, she advised admirers to an encore, malfunction-less adaptation on The Ellen DeGeneres Show later that week. -- T.A.
40. Sia, "Reaper" (This Is Acting, 2015)
Even Sia has accustomed she didn’t advanced the sunshine-y “Reaper,” originally bound for (then scrapped by) Rihanna, would accomplish it assimilate her 2016 LP This Is Acting. But we’re animated it did. Co-produced and co-written by Kanye West, the cavernous canticle is a acceptable dosage of “not today” attitude — alike if it was ultimately overshadowed by its Hot 100-topping Acting acquaintance “Cheap Thrills.” -- T.C.
39. Katy Perry, "One of the Boys" (One of the Boys, 2008)
The Fountains of Wayne-flavored appellation clue to Katy Perry's aboriginal anthology (not counting her Christian music attack as Katy Hudson in 2001) is a far cry from the candy-coated anthems that would accompany her to all-embracing acclaim in 2010, but it proves she's as abstruse a apprentice of the Warped Bout bulk as she is of Max Martin's. That actuality said, we're still cat-and-mouse to apprehend you belch the alphabet, Katy. – J. Lynch
38. Drake, "Come Thru" (Nothing Was the Aforementioned Choice Edition, 2013)
Watching Drake accomplish “Come Thru” at Barclays Centermost in 2013, he stepped out of the action of the outro’s melody to absolutely explain to the audience, in his speaking voice, that by “you deserve circuit tonight,” he meant “rounds of sex.” Which is accession way of adage Drake is consistently aiguille Drake. His sex cuts accept gotten sleeker -- studies appearance that sending the YouTube articulation to “Come Thru” as a “u up” argument will get exponentially added absolute after-effects than “Find Your Love” -- but he can’t advice actuality a cornball. Still, with 40 abaft the boards, chopping up the vocals and befitting the low-end annular and consistent, everybody goes home happy. -- R.S.
37. Beyoncé, "Blow" (Beyoncé, 2013)
"Pink that's the flavor/ Solve the riddle," Beyoncé challenges at the centermost of this ode to, um, Skittles. No decoder arena all-important actuality -- "Partition" is advancing in a few tracks' time anyhow -- but the important affair is that the clue sounds like candy, both of the child-friendly array and adult-themed adaptation Bey is added absent with. With Pharrell and Timbaland abaft the decks -- seemingly in the brume of the aforementioned Justified-era disco acerbic anamnesis -- and Ms. Carter tickling her aerial annals to coo "Blow-oh-ohhhh," it's affirmed to accommodate a blitz of some kind. -- A.U.
36. Calvin Harris, "The Rain" (Ready for the Weekend, 2009)
2011 was the year of the saxophone in U.S. pop music, alternate by afire turns for the apparatus on “The Bend of Glory,” “Last Friday Night,” “Midnight City” and more. Had “The Rain” been appear afresh and not on 2009’s Ready for the Weekend, conceivably the squelching electro-pop banger might’ve begin an admirers (or conceivably not; it wasn’t until the afterward year aback Harris became added of a domiciliary name in the States). Sax abreast though, it’s apparently the best Chromeo song Chromeo never wrote. -- K.R.
35. Rihanna, "Watch N' Learn" (Talk That Talk, 2011)
Education is important, and abandoned a fool would apathy Prof. Fenty aback chic is in session. "Just because [she] can’t kiss back, doesn’t beggarly you can’t kiss that": Bold the actuality on the accepting end of those instructions hasn’t asleep from the shock of the invitation, it’s a abundant assignment plan. Booty it to heart, ladies and gentleman. -- R.S.
34. P!nk feat. Indigo Girls, "Dear Mr. President" (I'm Not Dead, 2006)
P!nk recruited the Indigo Girls for this afflicted accessible letter to then-President George W. Bush, which took the Commander in Chief to assignment on issues like LGBTQ rights, the No Child Left Abaft Act and homelessness. Aback asked if she would amend the song for the Trump era, she tweeted a baking response: “There aren’t words for this base person.”-- P.C.
33. Aaliyah, "Loose Rap" (Aaliyah, 2001)
Saying Aaliyah came into her own with her third anthology would afield betoken she was anytime anywhere else; still, if the aberrant aggressiveness of her self-titled anthology didn't amaze about to the blow of her catalog, it absolutely did compared to turn-of-the-millennium R&B at large. In an era area scrubs were accepting it from all corners, Aaliyah highlight "Loose Rap" brushed off apocryphal macho blowing afterwards so abundant as a beard flip, Babygirl commenting "You could appear bigger than that" out of an compassionate admiration not so abundant to accumulate her own night hassle-free, but to save you from awkward yourself for once. -- A.U.
32. The Weeknd, "Tell Your Friends" (Beauty Abaft the Madness, 2015)
"Last year I did all the politicin'/ This year I'm all focused on the vision." We balloon how absurd it was aloof a abbreviate few years ago that the artisan built-in Abel Tesfaye would reinvent himself on the fly as an R-rated Michael Jackson. Here, over a dank body sample that somehow co-producer Kanye hadn't gotten to before, he explains how, and enlists us to artery aggregation on his behalf. Not absolutely done with the politicin', by the way, contrarily he wouldn't still be accretion up his belvedere so memorably: "I'm that n---a with the hair, singin' 'bout bustling bills, fucking bitches, active activity so trill..." -- A.U.
31. Nicki Minaj feat. Ariana Grande, "Get on Your Knees" (The Pinkprint, 2014)
Before Nicki and Ari accumulated for “Side To Side,” one of the bigger pop cuts of either’s megastar's career, Grande chock-full by The Pinkprint to abetment Minaj with a catchy-as-hell cunnilingus anthem. “Get On Your Knees” is adult and advantageous — the lyrics may be too absolute for radio, but “Get head like a beautician” is amid Nicki’s abundant similes, and Grande sounds aboriginal while absolution “a appealing poet” who won’t get down and dirty. -- J. Lipshutz
30. Backstreet Boys, "Get Accession Boyfriend" (Black & Blue, 2000)
Perhaps the abandoned acumen this song wasn’t best for a distinct was because of its bulletin actuality a little too insistent, with the guys cogent a babe to do absolutely what the song’s appellation COMMANDS. Otherwise, it has aggregate that makes a Backstreet Boys song great: a anguish beat, acute vocals, and an ballsy finish. And in reality, the group's aloof cogent a babe that she’s bigger than the guy she’s with — and aback it's advancing from BSB, who wouldn't appetite to apprehend that? -- T.W.
29. Lady Gaga, "Speechless" (The Acclaim Monster, 2009)
In hindsight, “Speechless” is conceivably a bigger indicator of Gaga’s ultimate agreeable afterlife than say, “Poker Face.” The above offered one of the aboriginal able indicators of Gaga's bent as a acceptable pianist-singer-songwriter, with an avant-garde faculty of music composition, while additionally introducing Mother Monster as an beneficiary to the admirable ballads of Queen, Bowie and Elton John. Gaga, notably, wrote “Speechless” for her ancestor to assuredly actuate him to get an open-heart surgery, assuming the artist’s allowance at axis her claimed anguish into a able aesthetic account -- T.A.
28. JAY-Z, "Lucifer" (The Black Album, 2004)
Buried on the aback end of The Black Album, "Lucifer" has endured for JAY-Z as a fan admired and a concert staple, acknowledgment to afire Max Romeo chop and attentive Jigga lyric that finds him allegory his own devil-chasing, in amid Kanye's animadversion drums and his own D'Angelo references. "Kanyeezy, you did it again, you a genius!" Wouldn't be the aftermost time, either. -- A.U.
27. Janet Jackson, "LUV" (Discipline, 2008)
When Janet Jackson says she's in love, you best accept she's in LUV, L-U-V. For this Discipline almost-single, she feels the affecting bang so acutely she spends best of the song comparing it to a accurate car accident, with Rodney Jerkins' arrant synths aural like the badge and ambulance sirens accession about her as she lies in apoplectic rapture. "He hit me with his love," is all she can animadversion from her athrill daze, and no cartage cop would cartel interfere. -- A.U.
26. *NSYNC feat. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, "Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay)" (No Strings Attached, 2000)
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How abounding added pop boy bands accept a song with a bedfellow rap verse? Not many, alfresco of *NSYNC's best underappreciated jam, "Space Cowboy" -- a adorable pop crossover with a sing-along chorus featuring the backward abundant TLC MC, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Left Eye's fast-paced, abrupt 25-second carol abandoned may be what prevented the song from acceptable the abutting distinct from No Strings Attached, but the clue is clashing any added song in *NSYNC's catalog. -- X.Z.
25. Maroon 5, "Shiver" (Songs About Jane, 2002)
Yes, Maroon 5 was already an absolute bedrock band: four-fifths of the aboriginal associates came calm as Kara’s Flowers, a Weezer-indebted accouterments that appear a Rob Cavallo-produced acceptance anthology for Reprise in 1997. Aback Maroon 5 debuted in 2002 with Songs About Jane, the alt-rock bend was still faintly intact, admitting their focus confused to Stevie Admiration worship, carnal babyish soul, and about any complete that led to Adam Levine demography his shirt off added often. Advance distinct “Harder to Breathe” was a accomplished archetype of this rock-funk hybrid, but you haven’t acquainted it in abounding force until you apprehend “Shiver,” area a slithering guitar riff explodes into a steamy, back-and-forth chorus, and a soundtrack for Levine to bawl about a babe he abandoned seems to get forth with aback the lights are off. -- C.P.
24. Justin Bieber feat. Kanye West & Raekwon, "Runaway Love" (Remix) (Never Say Never: The Remixes, 2011)
Not like this moon-bounce of a Justin Bieber abysmal cut alike absolutely bare a new adapt with verses from Kanye and Raekwon (?!?!?) -- it was still a complete bang alike aback The Bieb was accomplishing his intergalactic arrogant solo. But man, aback you've got cameos from two of hip-hop's greats at their accidental jiggiest, aloof about their IHOP-like endless and balladry "accoutrements" with "Grey Poupon," you've got a once-in-a-lifetime gem aces of a added aristocratic fate than B-side adjustment on a remix EP. Best part, of course, is 'Ye shouting out one of The Chef's signature dishes: "No catechism we the acumen why the summer's blazing/ They say, 'You attractive good, fly black Asian.'" -- A.U.
23. Ariana Grande, "Be My Baby" (My Everything, 2014)
If anything, Ariana Grande has excelled area she’s experimented best -- some of her best abounding productions accept acquired from aback she’s encroached on the margins. That's accurate decidedly accurate with accustomed ambassador Cashmere Cat, who enlisted her for his singles “Adore” and “Quit,” and mans the boards on Ari's own My Aggregate sleeper “Be My Baby,” a dip into cyberbanking pop with little bluff and cautiously agitation textures. -- S.J.H.
22. Avril Lavigne, "Anything But Ordinary" (Let Go, 2002)
It’s adamantine to appear by a pop-rock acceptance anthology added acceptable and complete than Avril Lavigne’s Let Go. With angsty singles like “Complicated” and of-the-times-but-timeless grunge-pop adulation song “Sk8er Boi,” the 2002 LP set Lavigne up for a continued career to come. While a scattering (if not all) of the lesser-praised advance off the anthology could accept landed on this list, “Anything But Ordinary” is the bright standout from the too-real aperture line: “Sometimes I get so weird, I alike aberration myself out." Pleading to be “anything but ordinary” is a around-the-clock desire and allows the song to angle aloof as able today, while the ambulatory cry of “Is it enough?” sustaining the choir is about absurd to resist. -- L.H.
21. Lil Wayne feat. Babyface, "Comfortable" (Tha Carter III, 2008)
After acceptable the hearts of hip-hop aficionados with game-changing composition Tha Carter II in 2005, Lil Wayne reloaded and took over the angel with the project's follow-up, 2008's Tha Carter III. While the anthology had a great accumulation of adorable smashes, including "Lollipop," "Ms. Officer" and "Got Money," Wayne's heart-pounding anthology clue "Comfortable" begin him showcasing his absorbing side. With Kanye West on the boards and Babyface on the hook, Wayne captivated with a bulk of amusing one-liners for the angel of his eye, like "Bedroom in the bank, babyish we safe." -- C.L.
20. Beyoncé, "Schoolin' Life" (4 Choice Edition, 2011)
It’s arresting to advanced how adequate Beyoncé sounds in new contexts, and 4, her less-than-rapturously accustomed 2011 LP, was abounding of such first-time ventures. “Schoolin’ Life” came as a benefit on the release, and it showed a self-actualized ancillary of the superstar in abounding homesickness mode. The '80s-esque clue took a airing bottomward anamnesis lane, adoring on the canicule area she aboriginal noticed boys and got her aboriginal brace of heels. It’s adorning and centering, all while reinforcing why she’s one of the arch armament in music today. -- S.J.H.
19. Gwen Stefani, "Bubble Pop Electric" (Love. Angel. Music. Baby., 2004)
The appropriately called "Bubble Pop Electric" sounds like a accelerated abscess of electro blips perpetually aggressive to discharge over and bake you. That agreeable calefaction comes address of Johnny Vulture, who additionally guests on the song and sounds cautiously agnate to Andre 3000. But it's Gwen who turns the abscess into an adorable simmer, cautiously channeling the campy, amative Madonna of the I'm Breathless/Dick Tracy era, abnormally during the cartoonishly adult sing-speak portion. – J. Lynch
18. Taylor Swift, "Dear John" (Speak Now, 2010)
On 2010’s Speak Now, a Taylor Swift anthology abounding of affluent abysmal cuts, “Dear John” is the one that building over all of them, a afire appraisal of a assertive earlier singer-songwriter called John that approved the abyss of Swift’s ability. Few artists can adeptness a six-minute song with this abundant accuracy and urgency; anniversary aching affricate is essential, every barmy allegation absolutely formed out, like Taylor is presenting a acknowledged case adjoin an ex. But “Dear John” is not abandoned -- it’s surgical, but abounding of the betrayal that anyone accomplished a aboriginal drove can understand. It’s a complete song to scream forth to with friends, or cry forth with in solitude. -- J. Lipshutz
17. Justin Timberlake, "Pusher Adulation Girl" (The 20/20 Experience, 2013)
How abounding biologic metaphors can fit into one adulation song? That’s acutely what Justin Timberlake set out to acknowledgment with his 20/20 Experience opener — for example: “Be my little bolus and aloof edge into my bloodstream,” “There’s a actor names for your affectionate of chronic,” “I’m aloof a aficionado for your love." In accession to the able lyricism in the eight-minute track, Timberlake additionally makes a rather diffuse tune hypnotizing from alpha to accomplishment by demography admirers on a agreeable ride that starts with a roaring violin and ends with a pulsating alarm breakdown, abounding with aloof abundant of JT’s signature falsetto in between. -- T.W.
16. Bruno Mars, "Runaway Baby" (Doo-Wops & Hooligans, 2010)
Mars, nominated for almanac and song of the year (for “Grenade”) and anthology of the year (Doo-Wops & Hooligans), could accept best any cardinal of singles from his acceptance LP to accomplish at the 2012 Grammys. It’s telling, then, that the animating soul-funk bequest “Runaway Baby” was his choice. In a three-album career dotted with jovial, electric tunes, it charcoal one of the few that adeptness -- adeptness -- argue with “Uptown Funk” on ambitious rankings of Mars’ best danceable songs. Let’s achievement this one stays in his concert set lists alike aback Mars can’t absolutely cull off all the moves anymore. -- K.R.
15. Kanye West, "We Don't Care" (The College Dropout, 2004)
As the aboriginal song on Kanye West's acceptance album, The Academy Dropout, "We Don't Care" adeptness not accept been called as a single, but still served as a feel-good addition to the able newcomer's aboriginal LP. The clue appearance archetypal Kanye production, sampling The Jimmy Castor Bunch's "I Aloof Wanna Stop" to bear beatific hip-hop gospel, inspirationally admonition about accepting avant-garde application whatever opportunities you've got ("Cause ain't no to charge for havin' no ambition/ And ain't no loans for sittin' your ass at home"). -- C.S.
14. Adele, "Right as Rain" (19, 2008)
Amy Winehouse and Adele's careers took such badly altered paths afterwards their acceptance albums that it's accessible to balloon they were already aggregate beneath the aforementioned array of VH1 You Oughta Apperceive umbrella. But Adele's 19 highlight "Right As Rain" could've been appropriate at home on Amy's Aback to Black, in the best way -- the song's communicable Hammond-driven canal and exhausted, self-defeating choir accomplish it an accessible analog to Black standout "Tears Dry on Their Own." "Who wants to be appropriate as rain?/ It's bigger aback article is wrong." Adele would be singing a abundant altered tune in two years' time, but the crackling animation of this one charcoal acutely missed. -- A.U.
13. Usher, "Throwback" (Confessions, 2004)
In 2004, Usher's afire Confessions austere through the souls of R&B listeners. First, the baby-faced apache danced his way into the hearts of admirers with his club banger "Yeah." Then, he slowed the bounce bottomward and delivered his afire distinct "Burn," which begin him drowning in his amiss indiscretions. While those annal were acutely potent, it was his Aloof Blaze-produced, Dionne Warwick-sampling affliction canticle "Throwback" that was the complete livewire. With the Roc-A-Fella ambassador accouterment the canvas, Usher later broke Jadakiss to acrylic his abjure over the blue clue for the official remix. "Should've believed her, now adulatory I could bandy me back/ To that exact atom area we aboriginal begin L-O-V-E at," raps Jada. -- C.L.
12. Lorde, "Ribs" (Pure Heroine, 2013)
Lorde may accept been aloof 16 aback she bound Authentic Heroine clue “Ribs,” but the contemplative song speaks to crumbling (or rather, the apprehension of it) with heart-wrenching precision. Littered with hyper-specific, acutely altered capacity from a abode party, the song itself reads like a crumbling memory, authoritative moments of accuracy like “I've never acquainted added alone/ It feels so scary, accepting old” all the added hard-hitting. And if you bare accession acumen to acknowledge the track, Lorde alike shouts out Burst Social Scene, proving the then-teenaged artisan is aloof as air-conditioned as you advanced she is. Now 21, Lorde faces the aforementioned old demons on her contempo Melodrama, but “Ribs” charcoal her best agitating absorption on the anxieties -- and baby thrills -- of growing up. -- T.C.
11. One Direction, "Where Do Burst Hearts Go" (Four, 2014)
The alveolate exhausted in the aperture of this Four track is aloof the alpha of one of One Direction’s best acclaimed songs in their five-album catalog. The guys’ singing is as activating as the exhausted itself, with every agenda accepting added amorous as the song eventually concludes in a chorus-like bark of the song’s titular question. Lyrically, it's an unconventionally adventurous way for a guy to accept that he shouldn’t accept concluded things (“All the blow of my crimes don't appear close/ To the attending on your face aback I let you go”) and wants his lover back. And with a active power-pop melody to match, it’s adamantine to not basis for the guys to acquisition the burst hearts they’re analytic for. -- T.W.
10. Eminem, "Kill You" (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000)
The best affair aback affronted leaned so far into his heel persona on this Marshall Mathers able opener that he could never be cocked again, toggling amid rapes, murders and worse like an agitable channel-flipper. "Now it's too late/ I'm amateur platinum and tragedies appear in two states," he cackled, mostly amused at his adeptness to get us to booty him actively aback he couldn't alike accumulate a beeline face for the song's aggressive choir ("Cause why?"). In an era with abundant real-life monsters, there may not be abundant charge for a animation one like Em, but the aces wit and self-awareness on affectation actuality explain why we still pay absorption to him through any cardinal of appalling self-serious piano ballads: Bitch, he wrote "Kill You." -- A.U.
9. Britney Spears, "How I Roll" (Femme Fatale, 2011)
Femme Fatale, Britney Spears' aboriginal anthology of the 2010s, came at the appropriate time, with the appropriate sound. While singles “Till the Angel Ends” and “Hold It Adjoin Me” approximated the EDM drop-oriented pop music of the moment, the buzzing, glitching and bustling “How I Roll” stood out as adverse to the rest, a forerunner to the hyper-gleam of PC Music and a brushoff of the scientifically engineered absorption of the day. It’s anarchic and bizarre, and charcoal one of the best songs she’s anytime made. -- S.J.H.
8. The Weeknd, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" (House of Balloons, 2011)
On his aboriginal mixtape, The Weeknd was consistently direct. This music? You should be aerial for it. Your desires? He’s got what you need. And alike admitting it sounds too austere and abandoned and claustrophobic to be true, trust, this is fun for him. “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls” runs Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “Happy House” through a funhouse mirror and the arena reflected aback is angled above all recognition. The aftertaste in your aperture is actinic and your bark feels different. There’s coke on every air-conditioned cellophane apparent in the affair and you’re consistently activity to appetite more. Six years later, it’s still true. -- R.S.
7. Drake, "Feel No Ways" (Views, 2016)
There's not too abounding songs out there that acclaim both Approaching and Anne Dudley from Art of Noise as songwriters, but that's aloof how goddamn acceptable "Feel No Ways" is. A array of airy aftereffect to "Hotline Bling" -- and it should've been aloof as big -- this time it's Drake that's been affecting road, advancing aback to acquisition his babe accepting confused on afterwards him. He squeals petulantly about what's appropriately his ("You got article that belongs to me") amidst echo accusations of such animality ("On purpose!"), but as on best best Drake songs, the abstract abetment clue gives him abroad -- a sentimental, electro-tinged wallow that underlines how what Drizzy's aggravating to say is that he feels all ways, always. -- A.U.
6. Lady Gaga, "Teeth" (The Acclaim Monster, 2009)
Smile! The woman who spent her third distinct gluttonous disco-stick ride acceptance absolutely never capital for continued animal metaphors, so it's not hasty that what makes "Teeth" so arresting isn't its adumbrated animality ("Take a chaw of my bad babe meat") but the barmy assailment ambuscade not far beneath the song's surface. Not that "Teeth" is a BDSM anthem, either -- it's aloof absolute in its demands, and Gaga told MTV that "Show me your teeth" is aloof as abundant a alarm for speaking candidly and carefully as it is for annihilation abroad mouth-related. Regardless, no pop afire aback She Who We Will Not Compare Gaga To had announced so bluntly about what they capital -- and none had articulate so badass accomplishing the spoken-word abetment articulate thing, either. -- A.U.
5. Rihanna, "Desperado" (ANTI, 2016)
Rihanna goes on the lam in this sinister, adult ANTI vibe about the advance and cull of a relationship. Whether the anecdotal and its myth-like “old Monte Carlo” are accurate or emblematic is up to you, and the adeptness to cull off both is aloof what makes the song so excellent. Sure, its loose, circuitous anatomy and affecting storyline adeptness not fit the bill of a accustomed single. But “Desperado” stands out as a blithely crafted mini-drama unto itself, and one that epitomizes the capacity of abreast and disbelief that ascertain the 2016 anthology if you accept adamantine enough. One abnormally affecting lyric sums it up: “There ain’t annihilation actuality for me anymore/ But I don’t appetite to be alone.” -- T.C.
4. Kanye West feat. Bon Iver, "Lost in the World" (My Admirable Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010)
The final able song on Kanye West’s My Admirable Dark Twisted Fantasy blithely translates that album’s appetite into a addictive conclusion: At the end of a activity about fame, power, sex and acute wealth, there is an blank that our hero does not apperceive how to fill. The collaboration with Bon Iver was abolitionist at the time -- afore Justin Vernon had a top 10 anthology or a Best New Artisan Grammy -- but Yeezy tapping the indie-folk newcomer fabricated sense, because the accessible bark at the affection of “Lost in the World.” A few cuts removed on the clue annual from the self-accepting douchebag-toast of “Runaway," West is already afresh banishment himself to be honest about his shortcomings, this time about actuality “lost in this artificial life.” “World” has all the makings of a standout pop track, but as a abysmal cut, it speaks to the power of the project it calls home. -- J. Lipshutz
3. Taylor Swift, "All You Had to Do Was Stay" (1989, 2014)
Obviously, there’s no abashment in not actuality best as a distinct off an anthology with bristles top 10 hits. A prime 1989 deep cut is best pop artists’ advance single, and besides, “Wildest Dreams” and “Out of the Woods” accept annihilation on this aboriginal synth-pop nugget. The breakdown song is absolutely well-mined area for Swift, admitting that simple “Stay!" -- in all its pitch-upped celebrity -- captures the berserk agony of a abrupt breach like few four-letter cries could. There’s no beneath than 25 stays for anybody in the amphitheater or the karaoke allowance to bark out, and the way the choir sprawls out and lets its angle run agrarian -- those “had me in the approach of your hand” genitalia -- drives home the accurate assignment of "Stay": Don’t let go of a acceptable thing, and already you’ve got it, alarm up Max Martin. -- C.P.
2. Justin Timberlake, "FutureSex / LoveSound" (FutureSex/LoveSounds, 2006)
It's not accessible to adumbrate what the approaching will complete like -- all you can absolutely do is accomplish music that sounds like annihilation has sounded afore and achievement for the best. The opener and appellation clue to Justin Timberlake's additional abandoned anthology isn't absolutely afterwards precedent: There's some aiguille Prince in there to be sure, added than a birr of "Another One Bites the Dust," sprinklings of some of Timbaland's added outré assignment with Aaliyah. No song had anytime slithered absolutely like this before, though, not with this analgesic an undertow, not lorded over by a accompanist in such ascendancy it sounds like he's dancing flawlessly in aught gravity: "Just acquaint me which way you like that," JT offers, but like any acceptable lawyer, he already knows the acknowledgment or he wouldn't be asking. Did the approaching of pop end up aural like this? Of advance not, and it's been a abuse black accomplished decade of award that out. -- A.U.
1. Beyoncé, "Freakum Dress" (B'Day, 2006)
"When he acts up, that's aback you put it on." If you anticipation affronted Beyonce debuted on Lemonade, let us absolute you to 2006 green album B'Day and its standout abysmal cut "Freakum Dress." Aperture with history's sauciest Hamlet advertence ("To be or not to be – NOT") and some James Brown-worthy controlling orders ("Bring the exhausted aback – stop! I ain't accessible yet"), it's a relentlessly blue ode to that one accouterments you apperceive will consistently about-face heads… and application it as animus adjoin an absent partner. A arrant New Orleans horn area builds this pissed-off-girls-night-out canticle up to an atomic final carol area Beyonce spits her civil address about advantageous him aback by attractive your best -- and reminding him it's not adamantine to acquisition a replacement.
["400px"]For an anthology with six singles (if we're talking the choice version), it's crazy that "Freakum Dress" wasn't formed to radio. But it's additionally a admonition of Beyonce's boundless standards aback it comes to authoritative albums -- article that's accustomed ability now, but was hardly accustomed as assize aback the blemish afire from Destiny's Child was on aloof her additional album. With a three-minute anthology track, she alien a new byword to our pop ability lexicon, previewed a administration she'd absolutely analyze a decade bottomward the road, and reminded us that aback it comes to top-tier talent, alive the hits is never abundant -- you gotta dive into their archive Scrooge McDuck appearance to absolutely acquire the compensation of their aesthetic riches. -- J. Lynch
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