10. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – “Shallow”

A Star Is Born OST

Sounds Like: An Oscar-winning classic we’ll hear in every Oscar montage forever

Key Lyric: “I’m off the deep end, watch as I dive in/ I’ll never meet the ground” but only after the “Ohhhh ahhh ooohh” part

Why It Matters: Rock ‘n’ roll movies suck, remakes are even worse, and yet somehow, A Star Is Born comes away unscathed. Much of it has to do with the chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, namely how we’re meant to believe in a world where the Fame Monster would ever fall in love with the “Better Man.” But, we do, and that conviction is all over the film’s strongest and most emotional anthem. –Michael Roffman

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09. Childish Gambino – “This Is America”

Single

Sounds Like: A million red MAGA hats being removed so that their owners can scratch their heads and shrug

Key Lyric: “Yeah, this is America/ Guns in my area/ I got the strap/ I gotta carry ’em”

Why It Matters: In a time when leadership is in short supply, voices can emerge from the most unlikely of places. Enter Childish Gambino (aka actor and comedian Donald Glover), who has largely been maligned over the years for his nerdy raps and viewed as more of a comedian than a legit emcee. But with one song — and a music video that college students will be writing thesis papers on — Gambino reminded us of the black experience in America: joyful one moment and tragically cut short the next due to a ever-brewing storm of chaos, racism, and violence, all while distractions from the trauma and injustice are easy to find. –Matt Melis

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08. Mitski – “Geyser”

Be the Cowboy

Sounds Like: A siren song of assertive artistry.

Key Lyric: “And hear the harmony/ Only when it’s harming me”

Why It Matters: “Geyser” excels in spite of the traditional song format, much like Mitski excels in spite of the traditional artist. She often sings about her art and processes in her music, speaking directly to herself and her abstract muse while exploring romance and loss. In “Geyser,” she offers a thesis of this ideology by joining together three separate but equal melodic ideas into a stunning tower of flawed emotion that does as much to enhance the esoteric nature of her art as it does to show the cathartic significance of her music. –Doug Nunnally

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07. Jamila Woods – “Giovanni”

Single

Sounds Like: That moment you catch yourself in the mirror and you’re looking and feeling good as hell.

Key Lyric: “None can take that energy away from me”

Why It Matters: The act of self-love has been a huge movement in 2018, but perhaps no song captures the badass bravado side of it better than this one from Jamila Woods. Empowered by the strength of her family and ancestry, especially its women, the CoSigned, Chicago-based soul singer quashes any hints of doubt — from the haters, from within herself — by flexing true fearlessness and pride. –Lake Schatz

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06. St. Vincent – “Fast Slow Disco”

MassEducation

Sounds Like: “Slow Disco”, but if it was meant to be played in an actual discotheque.

Key Lyric: “Am I thinking what everybody’s thinkin’?/ I’m so glad I came, but I can’t wait to leave.”

Why It Matters: With MassEducation, St. Vincent highlighted how just damn heartbreaking her songwriting on MASSEDUCTION really was. “Fast Slow Disco” gives you that same poignancy while reminding us that it’s possible to dance through the sorrow. Lord, did we need some of that in 2018. –Ben Kaye

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05. Kanye West – “Ghost Town” (feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR, Kid Cudi, and 070 Shake)

Ye

Sounds Like: In all seriousness, it sounds like someone’s on his meds, and they’re working wonders for him.

Key Lyric: “And nothing hurts anymore/ I feel kinda free/ We’re still the kids we used to be”

Why It Matters: Kanye West may never have another year like 2018, which would probably be fine by everyone, including himself. In a year that found the self-proclaimed genius and God manipulated and making a fool out of himself with several ignorant, hurtful outbursts, “Ghost Town” finds West at his very best: backed by a killer, old-school sample; surrounded by friends; and delivering a liberating, back-to-basics message. As it turns out, Superman doesn’t need his little, red hat to soar. –Matt Melis

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04. Cardi B – “I Like It” (ft. Bad Bunny, J Balvin)

Invasion of Privacy

Sounds Like: A bunch of nigg*s being proven wrong … in Spanish no less.

Key Lyric: “I like proving nigg*s wrong/ I do what they say I can’t”

Why It Matters: While 2017’s “Bodak Yellow” demonstrated that former dancer and Internet celeb Cardi B had legit moves, a long line of doubters got disses added to insult with the hip-hop star’s follow-up campaign in 2018. Whether it was sending an album’s worth of singles directly up the charts, blowing minds at Coachella, or stunning audiences with a dramatic baby bump reveal on SNL, 2018 has been all Cardi all the time. And at the center of it all has been, as our own Clara Scott puts it, “club banger ‘I Like It’, which meshes B’s Latinx roots with brutal and striking mic skills.” Let’s face it: Cardi B ran 2018 like cardio. –Matt Melis

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03. Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”

Dirty Computer

Sounds Like: A seductive rubber band that vibrates all the right notes.

Key Lyric: “Should know by the way I use my compression/ That you’ve got the answers to my confessions”

Why It Matters: Even at its most bombastic moments, “Make Me Feel” is effortless funk flowing out of an artist storing her heart and soul within the song. There are no metaphors or similes here, just unfiltered emotion that does as much to define the inclusive empowerment of today’s culture as it does to expand upon it, similar to the past icons who influenced this song and provided Monáe the perfect foundation upon which she’s established herself as a truly incomparable artist. –Doug Nunnally

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02. Ariana Grande – “God is a woman”

Sweetener

Sounds Like: Toppling the patriarchy and then celebrating with the most euphoric bedroom romp.

Key Lyric: “Baby, lay me down and let’s pray”

Why It Matters: Ariana Grande turns religion on its head, proudly extolling great, carnal sex (taboo!) and (gasp!) placing women on pedestals where they belong. While “no tears left to cry” heralded the pop singer’s return following the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, “God is a woman” officially confirmed that Grande would be dominating 2018 and that we should all be honored to have such a worthy figure to worship. –Lake Schatz

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01. Kendrick Lamar – “All the Stars” (with SZA)

Black Panther: The Album

Sounds Like: “The Song” Marvel has been severely lacking for over a decade

Key Lyric: “I want the credit if I’m losin’ or I’m winnin’/ On my momma, that’s the realest shit”

Why Song Matters: Both Kendrick Lamar and SZA were coming off their biggest years to date, making “All the Stars” something of a victory lap. Except, it’s anything but that; in fact, it’s more of a comedown, a reflection by two of the nation’s biggest stars, contending with their tortured love toward all their own dreams and successes. That this became their most mainstream and accessible hit — and yet also doubles as a spiritual theme for a Hollywood blockbuster; not to mention, the first major black superhero movie — only solidifies how much these two are legit natural stars. Unreal. –Michael Roffman

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Top 50 Songs Playlist