1. Migos - "Stir Fry"
Back when the Neptunes had their first run of hits, major labels were still figuring out what to do with southern hip hop, and invariably a lot of guys who had a more regional sound got thrown into the one-size-fits-all Neptunes/Timbaland sound machine, sometimes for better and sometimes for worst. That phenomenon is mostly over, but Pharrell is as relevant as ever, so we still occasionally get ATL rappers with their own roster of ATL producers getting thrown in the studio with Skateboard P for something different. Pharrell isn't really as versatile as he's made out to be, you really just have to hope that whatever wonky groove he's peddling in the studio that day actually sounds good with whatever act he happens to be in a session with. But I feel like I've heard enough Migos songs in their core style to last a lifetime, so I'm really happy to hear a change of pace like "Stir Fry," it's almost as good as "Feds Watching" by 2 Chainz. Here's the 2018 singles playlist I update every month. 

2. Brothers Osborne - "Shoot Me Straight" 
The first Brothers Osborne album was really good, but didn't have as many guitar solos as the lead single had led me to hope for. So I'm glad they're kicking their new album off with a killer 6-minute single with an extended outro jam, just so there's at least one if they don't have more songs like that coming. 

3. Darius Rucker - "For The First Time"
Hootie and the Blowfish were basically a country band anyway, so Rucker's transition into country stardom was pretty natural, and he has a great voice for it, but none of his solo singles ever really stuck with me before this one. It kind of feels conceptually like the flipside to Brad Paisley's recent single "Last Time For Everything." 

4. Troye Sivan - "My My My!"
They put Troye Sivan on "SNL" to perform this right after it was released in January and I feel like he's getting the push to be a big star this year. But this song hasn't really been big on pop radio, which is a shame, because it's better than most of the stuff in heavy rotation, I love that gently pulsing groove and lilting melody. 

5. H.E.R. - "Focus"
H.E.R. first appeared in 2016 as a mysterious 'anonymous' R&B act in the vein of early The Weeknd, before it eventually came out that she's Gabi Wilson, a former child prodigy who sang on "The View" and the BET Awards and has had her Sony deal since 2011. Which is fine, really, if a singer wants to reboot as alt R&B, I don't really care. But "Focus" is really nice, I feel like this and Daniel Caesar's "Get You" and even SZA's hits have kind of brought delicate slow jams back in fashion on R&B radio where for a few years everything that young acts were doing on the radio was pretty clubby and hip hop-influenced. 

6. Jason Aldean - "You Make It Easy" 
I've only liked a handful of Jason Aldean's many past hits, but it's hard not to root for the guy after one of his concerts became the site of a horrifying mass shooting last year. And I think it's probably for the best that his lead single coming back from that is just a very simple, beautifully produced bluesy ballad, one of the best songs of his career. 

7. Chris Stapleton - "Broken Halos" 
Chris Stapleton had a big 'arrival' moment in late 2015 when Traveller swept the CMAs and rocketed to #1 on the charts, but since then his stardom has largely been measured in awards, good reviews, and touring receipts, he hasn't been much of a hitmaker. So it kind of feels like early 2018 has been another arrival for him: "Broken Halos" is his biggest country radio hit to date, at the same time that Justin Timberlake's "Say Something" has been his big breakthrough on the Hot 100 and pop radio, and "Midnight Train To Memphis" has become his rock radio breakthrough, with all 3 of his albums doing well on the Billboard 200. 

8. Kesha f/ The Dap-Tones Horns - "Woman" 
Considering the circumstances of Kesha's long absence from the spotlight, I guess it makes sense for her to reboot her image with a song like "Praying." But I think it's kind of a shame that for the first 6 months or so of her comeback all that's really been on the radio is "Praying" and that bland Macklemore song, "Woman" retains more of the humor and personality she's known for while not resembling her earlier work that much, I feel like they dropped the ball by waiting until the momentum has slowed down to promote it to radio. 

9. Janelle Monae - "Make Me Feel" 
It's been a long decade of respecting Janelle Monae's undeniable talent and individuality but not really hearing what other people hear in her music. And I didn't necessarily want her to pursue bigger hooks and more accessible sounds, since "Yoga" was kind of terrible. But "Make Me Feel" feels like a breakthrough in terms of her going pop in a way that feels natural and exciting. Obviously the song is full of nods to Prince, who was apparently helping her 'collect sounds' for this album, and his DJ said he'd been playing "Make Me Feel" for people before he died. So I'm pretty curious if he actually worked extensively on this song, or if he just gave her some files of Prince-y sounds to make her "Kiss" homage with. 

10. Ne-Yo - "Good Man"
D'Angelo and Ne-Yo are on different enough ends of the R&B spectrum that the latter sampling "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" looks pretty weird on paper. This turned out really well, though, DJ Camper really doesn't get enough props. 

Worst Single of the Month: Blac Youngsta - "Booty"
Songs about booty are basically a cornerstone of popular music in my lifetime, and I feel sometimes like we don't acknowledge that most butt-themed hits are actually pretty varied and high quality. It actually makes me sad when we get something uninspired like "Anaconda" on the charts. Blac Youngsta is too much of a goofball for me to act like it's a pity that he's let down the genre of songs about ass, but this song really does suck.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 11:25 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.