92. Fireball (feat. John Ryan) - Pitbull - Globalization





To be honest, I always have at least one Pitbull song at the end of the year that I love. Fireball is that song. I don't know, his music is just so fun and he knows he's just there to entertain. Not even a guilty pleasure. #UnapologeticBloomers.





91. Far Side Of The Moon - Tinashe - Aquarius





"This has to be the end, you won't see me again. Far Side Of The Moon" Hopefully Tinashe wasn't singing of her projected sales . Her album was amazing and Far Side of The Moon is the first of a couple appearances. I love the backing track and the way she stretches out mooooonnn, like she's howling. It adds to the loneliness of the song.




90. Draft Day - Drake - Random Soundcloud Release





"If I would've left that **** to Chance, I would've picked a name like Chance The Rapper." Drake occasionally shows zen-like moments like these. Draft Day uses a Lauryn Hill sample from Doo Wop (That Thing). Some of his soundcloud releases are much better and way more experimental than album cuts. This one is a little messy and cluttered, but it's kind of captivating in its messiness. "Jennifer Lawrence you can get it."





89. Hands On Me (feat. A$AP Ferg) - Ariana Grande - My Evverything





Hands On Me >>>>>>>> Love Me Harder. Hands On Me was an initial standout of My Everything for me. I like it sounds like a 2014 version of a Pussycat Dolls song. The vaguely middle eastern beats works nicely with the vibe Ariana and A$AP Fergie Ferg go for. The energy is pretty intense and charged throughout. I like Ferg's verse also, it's not that impressive, but it's oastful and confident which is what the song needs. (I realize that's not Ferg in the picture)




88. 7/11 - Beyoncé - BEYONCÉ (More Only) - EP





Superpower called it. To me, 7/11 sounds less polished than anything I've heard from Bey this decade. It's a it jarring at first and I prefer her polished perfection to this, but she pulls 7/11 off well. It's a fun track for a re-release and to show us she's capable of letting loose. Fresher Than You!

87. Dust - BOOTS - WinterSpringSummerFall





Disclaimer: That is not the official single art, I just liked it better. Beyoncé makes a case for her being one of the best A&R people out there. BOOTS was unknown before her self-titled album and BOOTS helped on some of the strongest tracks. He released a mixtape last year that was pretty excellent. Dust stuck out to me, it taps into the same eerie R&B vibe as Haunted.





86. Foreign - Trey Songz - Trigga





Just the solo Trey version and not the R&Bieber remix from the album. It's not as white hot as Na Na, but I prefer it. Unlike, say BOOTS, who served a more gritty R&B track, Foreign is highly polished and stylish. Decked out with the trendiest and fashionable R&B production. It's not the smoothest track, even in this batch of 5 (that's the next song), but Foreign is a slick song and helped make Trigga one of the best albums of the year.




85. Aquarius - Tinashe - Aquarius





I wrote it off when I first heard Aquarius as not much of a song. Sure it's not as catchy as 2 On, or All Hands On Deck or any of the other more structured songs on the album, but it grew on me like crazy. Maybe it's because I replayed it so many times while listening to the album to prolong listening to the aimless murkiness and goat bleating of Bet, or maybe it's because I loved the delicate and slinky atmosphere of Aquarius and just was letting it subconsciously sink in, whatever the case, it's a track that I could let endlessly wash over me.





84. Trigger - Phillip Phillips - Behind The Light





Maybe his album flopped because American Idol does not give rock bona fides and a rock artist will never be accepted from such an artificial origin. Maybe there is no market for pop rock any more. Maybe it's because Phil no longer has the exposure to millions of people? Or maybe he flopped because the album wasn't any good and I have flop taste. Trigger is a departure from Home and Gone, Gone, Gone and way more mature and developed than either of those. It's really a great song. It's explosive and delivered musically and vocally as if a hurricane was enveloping him. Trigger wasn't a single so I put a picture of Phil presumably praying for a market for his album, give him a chance.




83. The Crying Game - Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint





Who knew that Nicki was going to serve us tracks like this. Even the early tracks like Chiraq and Looking Ass weren't so introspective. "I'm just abusive by nature, not cause I hate ya / Not cause I wanna get someone to imitate ya / I know it's hard, I know I intimidate ya / But is you stayin' or goin'?[ Who would've thought the woman who rapped Anaconda (instrumental now available at Target for Anaconda karoke) would lay it all out there like that?