The best songs of 2017:
1. Cardi B, “Bodak Yellow”
It’s amazing that Cardi’s beautiful bundle of trash talk made it all the way to No. 1 without a traditional hook — until you realize that every phrase she blurts has its own ticklish melody, its own whiplash rhythm. She doesn’t need a hook. She’s pure musicality.
2. Kendrick Lamar, “DNA.”
Mini-hot take: Like 2Pac before him, Kendrick is more of a singles artist than an album artist — a virtuoso who shines brightest in tight spaces. Here, he decodes the American rap genome in roughly three minutes.
3. Lee Ann Womack, “The Lonely, the Lonesome and the Gone”
Why do we keep turning to old country songs for solace when the 21st century keeps inventing new ways to kill us? Womack, sounding better than ever, tiptoes through this riddle with care: “I don’t know why no one sings about drowning in pitchers and half-price wings, and trying to wish back everything they’ve lost.”
4. GoldLink, featuring Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy, “Crew”
The currents of rap music still flow fast and hot — which made this song’s slow-motion bloom from local anthem to platinum-selling hit feel every bit as cool as its refrain.