Maeve McDermott

USA TODAY

2017 was a groundbreaking year in pop music in which an exciting new generation of young artists bolstered by streaming challenged the big stars and their stale album rollouts to create the most interesting Top 40 music we've heard in years.

This was less a year for the Katy Perrys and the Taylor Swifts than the Cardi Bs and the Khalids, as musicians that began 2017 as no-name artists or Soundcloud oddities are finishing as the year's best-selling artists. It wasn't all bad news for big names this year, though, with some pros releasing excellent work that cemented their place at the top of their respective genres, like Kendrick Lamar with his outstanding DAMN singles, and DJ Khaled with the playground exuberance of his posse cuts.

USA TODAY worked with BuzzAngle Music and Mediabase to pull the 50 biggestsongs by the numbers (taking into account sales and streaming) released in 2017. Then, we ranked them, starting with the year's most disappointing best-sellers, and working our way through the list to determine 2017's defining singles.

More:USA TODAY's 10 favorite albums of 2017

Below, see our ranking of the 50 biggest songs of 2017, ordered from worst to best.



50. Swang, Rae Sremmurd

Sales rank: No. 45 out of 50

Slim Jimmy and Swae Lee's cringeworthy follow-up to their 2016 hit Black Beatles doesn't even come close to its predecessor.





49. Believer, Imagine Dragons

Sales rank. No. 10

Coming from arguably the biggest rock band of 2017, this Imagine Dragons hit is a plodding chore.





48. Perfect, Ed Sheeran

Sales rank: No. 42

This is Sheeran at his schmaltziest, and even the remix's Beyonce guest feature couldn't elevate Perfect beyond his worst single of the year.

47. Now Or Never, Halsey

Sales rank: 46

Just listen to Rihanna's Needed Me instead of this skim-milk ripoff.



46. Bounce Back, Big Sean

Sales rank: No. 21

For a song about taking losses, Big Sean really should've tried harder on this one.

45. Tunnel Vision, Kodak Black

Sales rank: No. 28

During a year when the rapper's breakout hit arrived alongside jail time and assault allegations, Black's 2017 legacy will likely be the inspiration Cardi B drew from his name for her track Bodak Yellow, and not for his own middling musical output.

44. Slippery, Migos

Sales rank: No. 35

A phoned-in Migos track that shows the famously-boisterous rappers near-flatlining.



43. 1-800-273-8255, Logic

Sales rank: No. 15

This track caused a spike in awareness for the Suicide Prevention Hotline of its title, an accomplishment in spite of the painfully-earnest track itself, which saw the questionable rise of Logic as a preachy advocate who hasn't quite earned his pedestal.

42. Slow Hands, Niall Horan

Sales rank: No. 33

Horan has made more of a splash on the carts this year than many people expected from One Direction's meekest member, but unfortunately, his uninspired strumming on Slow Hands falls short of his former band's thrilling classic rock nostalgia.

41. Strip That Down, Liam Payne

Sales rank: No. 37

Then there's Horan's former bandmate Liam Payne, whose new, dutifully steamy R&B persona gave way to the wanna-be banger Strip That Down, a song that's at least amusingly bad rather than forgettably so.



40. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker), ZAYN & Taylor Swift

Sales rank: No. 17

For all the flack Swift got about Look What You Made Me Do, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever is actually the worse song, serving up the same listlessly faked sensuality as the Fifty Shades franchise itself.



39. Look What You Made Me Do, Taylor Swift

Sales rank: No. 39

That being said, LWYMMD isn't much better, and should be enough to dissuade any future pop stars from using any Right Said Fred samples.

38. There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back, Shawn Mendes

Sales rank: No. 26

A Canadian crooner positioned as a safer, sweeter Justin Bieber, Mendes doesn't quite have Bieber's knack for crafting irresistible pop singles, though he gives his all attempting to be feisty on Holdin' MeBack.



37. Magnolia,Playboi Carti

Sales rank: No. 48

Part of Spotify's Rap Caviar generation of young hip hop artists who leapfrogged to fame with the help of the streaming service's influential playlists, Carti is an example of an artist whose story and hype may be more exciting than the actual song he landed on the charts.

36. Shape of You, Ed Sheeran

Sales rank: No. 1

Sheeran's skeezy Shape of You was ubiquitous in 2017, a parasite of an earworm with attempts at romantic candor that always sounded a little goofy.

35. Feel It Still, Portugal. The Man

Sales rank: No. 41

A song that sounds created in a lab to soundtrack credit card commercials, Feel It Still was one of 2017's most formulaic hits that came from a totally unexpected band, longtime indie rockers Portugal. The Man.



34. Something Just Like This, The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

Sales rank: No. 11

This collaboration between two of pop's most white-bread personalities had more of a heft than it should've.



33. Stay, Zedd & Alessia Cara

Sales rank: No. 18

A servicable EDM collaboration that, like much of Alessia Cara's output, is enjoyable in a faceless, Spotify-era Muzak kind of way.



32. Bank Account, 21 Savage

Sales rank: No. 34

The signature song from the king of mumble rap, Bank Account is mischievous in its inscrutability, which is one of the nicest things you can say about a song that contains only about 20% discernible lyrics.





31. That's What I Like, Bruno Mars

Sales rank: No. 4

It takes a lot to become the corniest Billboard No. 1 single in the same year as Shape of You, but by golly, Bruno Mars was determined.

30. Drowning, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie

Sales rank: No. 43

Rappers rarely sounded joyful about getting their money on their 2017 hits, including this Bronx breakthrough star and his track about suffocating in his jewelry over a melancholy piano line.

29. Location, Khalid

Sales rank: No. 12

Location may have been Khalid's breakout single, but it wasn't his best of the year. Plus, a chorus about turning on your phone's location sharing is a little on-the-nose for a track about modern dating.





28. Body Like a Back Road, Sam Hunt

Sales rank: No. 8

Hunt stuffs all the country metaphors you can think of and then some into his breakthrough pop hit, with enough charm to win over the cross-genre masses.

27. Rockstar, Post Malone feat. 21 Savage

Sales rank: No. 16

A drugged-out seance that earned both artists their first No. 1 hit, the song is little more than a looped chorus warped by vocal effects, nutritionally barren yet hypnotically engaging.





26. Thunder, Imagine Dragons

Sales rank: No. 25

Imagine Dragons wouldn't be popular if they couldn't make a decent song, and while Thunder is as subtle as its title suggests, it's a prime example of the knock-down melodies that have won the band so many fans.



25. Portland, Drake

Sales rank: No. 40

Allow Travis Scott and Quavo's near-indistinguishable guest verses on Portland to explain why Drake was able to turn the song's deeply goofy flutes into a minor hit, thanks to a charisma and restless need to experiment that many of his rap peers lack.

24. Unforgettable, French Montana

Sales rank: No. 13

Rae Sremmurd couldn't land a hit in 2017, but singer Swae Lee's vocals on Unforgettable helped elevate reliable hitmaker French Montana's track to summertime perfection this year.



23. Issues, Julia Michaels

Sales rank. No. 14

The co-writer of Selena Gomez's Good for You and Justin Bieber's Sorry, Michaels struck it big this year with her chirpy single, less a musical revelation than a coming-out party for a burgeoning new star.



22. Love, Kendrick Lamar

Sales rank: No. 29

Love was a little too syrupy to become Lamar's best single of 2017, but it was fun to hear the virtuoso rapper attempt Drake-esque, radio-ready crooning.



21. In Case You Didn't Know, Brett Young

Sales rank: No. 47

Sorry, Sam Hunt, but In Case You Didn't Know is the true breakthrough country gem of 2017, a love song that trounces most of the rest of this list in its sincerity.

20. Castle on the Hill, Ed Sheeran

Sales rank: No. 30

Sheeran hits his peak on Castle, the best single from Divide, packaging his emphatic strumming and country-boy references and all of his other trademark flourishes into one high-drama anthem with the power to charm even Sheeran's most devout haters.





19. Sorry Not Sorry, Demi Lovato

Sales rank: No. 36

The ballsy, brassy single many Lovato fans had been waiting for, Sorry Not Sorry showed off the pop star's very best assets: her devil-may-care attitude and and her throat-shredding vocals.

18. Attention, Charlie Puth

Sales rank: No. 27

Who knew, among all the baby-faced young stars of his generation, that the Charlie Puth of hyper-earnest See You Again fame could make creepingly enjoyable pop songs.



17. T-Shirt, Migos

Sales rank: No. 31

Bad and Boujee was the big No. 1 hit off Migos' 2017 album Culture, but T-Shirt showed the group dialed in and nailing their timing, trading ad-libs with military precision.





16. Havana, Camila Cabello

Sales rank: No. 49

This swaggering Young Thug collaboration was the moment Cabello convinced many listeners that she was far more than a former fifth Fifth Harmony member, and could have a future as one of pop's biggest young names.

15. Sign of the Times, Harry Styles

Sales rank: No. 50

Fans' first taste of Harry Styles' solo career came via Sign of the Times' sweeping Elton John nostalgia, a preview of one of the most surprisingly solid debut albums of 2017.





14. I'm the One, DJ Khaled

Sales rank: No. 9

A sophomoric joy, this song manages to take a snooze of a Lil Wayne verse and a feature from an overexposed Justin Bieber and spin it into gold.





13. Loyalty, Kendrick Lamar feat. Rihanna

Sales rank: No. 44

Two artists at the top of their respective genres, Lamar and Rihanna don't try to do too much on Loyalty, nonchalantly trading brags on a song that belongs in a time capsule of 2017 superiority.

12. Congratulations, Post Malone

Sales rank: No. 5

Released months before Rockstar launched Post Malone to No. 1 on the Hot 100, Congratulations was a preemptive victory lap for an artist who finished 2017 as one of the year’s most unexpected defining artists.





11. It Ain't Me, Kygo feat. Selena Gomez

Song rank: No. 22

Bad Liar was Gomez’ actual best track of 2017, but her quietly devastating vocals on It Ain’t Me were proof that not every pop stars’ EDM collaboration has to be soulless.





10. Young Dumb & Broke, Khalid

Sales rank: No. 38

A statement-making track from one of pop’s shining young stars, Young Dumb and Broke may not be as of-the-moment as Location, but it's the better song.





9. Mask Off, Future

Sales rank: No. 6

Mask Off finally earned Future a hard-won Billboard No. 1 song, then inspired the year’s most life-affirming meme, with young musicians around the internet flipping the song’s infectiously bleak melody into instrumental creations.



8. HUMBLE, Kendrick Lamar

Sales rank: No. 3

Lamar has never sounded simultaneously more and less than on his bouncing No. 1 track, a pretzel of inscrutable lyrics, oddball references and some well-deserved bragging.





7. Passionfruit, Drake

Sales rank: No. 24

After his maddeningly inconsistent 2016 release Views, Drake became loveable again on More Life this year, with Passionfruit the peak of his island-inspired experimentations.





6. Despacito, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber

Sales rank: No. 2

This groundbreaking achievement for Spanish-language pop was also one of the most perfectly-crafted hits of 2017, with a melody that never stops escalating.





5. XO Tour Llif3, Lil Uzi Vert

Sales rank: No. 7

It wasn’t the best single of the year, but no song better encapsulated the end-of-days climate of 2017 than XO Tour Llif3, from a come-from-nowhere Philadelphia rapper whose ascent to stardom was reason enough to celebrate the song.





4. Wild Thoughts, DJ Khaled

Song rank: No. 23

The pinnacle of the DJ Khaled experiment, a song that combined infectious pop production with a lineup of all-star artists to create a perfectly-engineered hit. But the MVP of Wild Thoughts is Rihanna, who even in an album off year cemented her status as pop’s most consistently entertaining player.



3. Bodak Yellow, Cardi B

Sales rank. No. 20

Not only was Cardi B the Cinderella story of music this year, her breakout single was a fiery, instantly-quotable revelation, a song that became a rallying cry for underdogs and strong women and anyone else trying to make money moves.





2. DNA, Kendrick Lamar

Sales rank: No. 19

The defining single of Lamar’s DAMN era, DNA saw the rapper cementing his status at the top of hip hop, asserting his superiority while challenging every force in his path.





1. Slide, Calvin Harris

Sales rank: No. 32

"Good gracious." Slide wasn’t the biggest-selling song of 2017, or the most influential, but it was the best. Sounding like an endless summer night and combining career-best production from Cavin Harris with on-point appearances from the Migos, the song's real blessing is its rare Top 40 appearance from R&B's mystery man Frank Ocean, whose verses elevate the song from being just another disco-flavored dance single with his casually-sung stories of hedonistic nights "(All this jewelry ain't no use when it's this dark / It's my favorite part, we see the lights, they got so far").

The very best party songs are Trojan horses for bigger emotion, and while Slide isn't interested in getting too deep, Ocean nails the slipperiness of youth and sex and relationships when life seems too full to make anything other than empty commitments, down to the sly come-on of the song's chorus: — "Do you slide on all your nights like this?"