Music
10 Songs of Summer 2015
Major Lazer, The Weeknd, Fetty Wap? Who will own the song of the summer of 2015? Our contenders...
MØ at Governors Ball 2015
© Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Governors Ball Music Festival
Updated July 6, 2015 at 8:13 a.m.
Last weekend marked the Fourth of July, which is the trademark sign that we’re officially knee-deep in summertime. That’s great! Summer is the one time of the year where nothing happens, and we have time to soak up gigantic blockbusters and listen to a ton of dizzy pop music.
Around this time last year we rounded up our favorite summer jams of 2014. It’s interesting to look back on it now. Remember when Sam Smith was inescapable? Or when Iggy Azalea had three colossal singles in constant rotation? It’s funny how that felt so ubiquitous at the time. In retrospect summer jams are always kind of ephemeral, distilled bits of happiness designed for long days and longer nights.
We’ve renewed our tradition this year and gathered our favorite 10 songs from the summer so far. Like last year, we haven’t had a "Blurred Lines"-like chart implosion (the closest would be "Uptown Funk," which came out a little bit too early), but there have still been dozens of fantastically daffy jams to get us through the heat. Enjoy them friends, they’ll be gone far too soon.
10. Major Lazer & DJ Snake: "Lean On" (feat. MØ)
Say what you like about Major Lazer's Diplo, the man knows how to latch onto a trend when it starts getting hot. He gobbled up Riff Raff, threw in with Skrillex, and is now collaborating on gloppy, goofy, post-trap beats with the suddenly famous DJ Snake. "Lean On" is elementary business. Get the very bloggable MØ to carry the verses, fill in the gaps with a brain-melting hook, and just like that you’ve built an automatic summer jam. This probably would be a much bigger deal if Diplo didn’t drop songs like this every other week.
9. OMI: "Cheerleader" (Felix Jaehn remix)
This really has been the summer of fidelity. So many songs this year have been about the very specific sort of comfort derived from sticking through thick and thin with someone you love. Perhaps the best example is OMI, a 28-year-old Jamaican, whose 2012 single "Cheerleader" was remixed by Felix Jaehn and rode a crazy wave of momentum to the tippy top of the charts. Nothing dramatic, not even close, “Oh I think I found myself a cheerleader, she is always right there when I need her.” Let 2015 be the year of co-dependency.
8. Nicki Minaj: "The Night Is Still Young"
You can measure the power of a summertime pop song by how well it can maintain temporary dancefloor friendships. Nicki Minaj has done this before, from "Super Bass" to "Spaceships" to "Beez in the Trap.’ However, "The Night Is Still Young" takes her life-affirming grandeur to fabulous new levels. We can’t think of something wider, dumber and more loving than “The night is still young, and so are we.” Maybe it doesn’t make sense right now, but that’s because it isn’t last night. "The Night Is Still Young" is the exact sort of giddy medicine you need to make those infinite July nights a little bit more primal.
7. Walk the Moon: "Shut Up and Dance"
It’ll be interesting to see if Walk the Moon can make a career out of the success they’re having right now. We’ve seen this story before: Small-town quartet that’s been making records since forever finally breaks through with an underdog single that takes radio by storm. They remind me of other charming, one-hit, tremendously uncool acts like Peter Bjorn and John, and OK Go. It could sustain a career! It could also flame out in the next six months. No matter what, we’re rooting for them.
6. The Weeknd: "Can’t Feel My Face"
We all enjoyed “Earned It," the “50 Shades of Grey” slow-jam that signaled the return of The Weeknd to public perception. But mark our words, 2015 is the year of "Can’t Feel My Face." It only came out a couple weeks ago, but this song will be everywhere by the end of July. Remember how Daft Punk took over 2013 with a glittering take on the vintage '70s disco they grew up on? "Can’t Feel My Face" is basically The Weeknd doing the same for his love of Michael Jackson. A song about love, and dancing, and Quincy Jones.
5. Andy Grammer: "Honey I’m Good."
There’s a prophecy in American music that every decade or so, a generic looking white guy will pick up a guitar and write songs that cut through every trend on planet to take their rightful place on the adult contemporary throne. This year’s model is Los Angeles’ Andy Grammer, who’s sophomore effort "Magazine or Novels” sounds like Tim McGraw, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Nelly all at once. "Honey I’m Good." is a song about devotion tuned to a Florida Georgia Line slab of country-rave, with a solid house groove percolating under acoustic guitar. That’s just random enough to work in our genre-smushed 2015!
4. Skrillex & Diplo: "Where Are Ü Now" (feat. Justin Bieber)
Don’t look now, but the world may very well be on the verge of a Bieber Fever revival. Bieber went from mildly offensive teen heartthrob to TMZ public enemy No. 1 at a remarkable pace, but now, a few years removed from his total eclipse, he’s started to make some indisputably great music. The prime example is “Where Are Ü Now,” which is stewing in the bottom half of the top 20 and seems poised to make a run through the rest of summer. The MVP might be Skrillex and Diplo’s wounded squall, but Bieber croons some of his most relatable pop-star stuff ever on the verses. All we’ve ever wanted from the kid is for him to show the humanity behind the flexes, the same art Drake perfected years ago. Don’t sleep on the Beebs!
3. Wiz Khalifa: "See You Again" (feat. Charlie Puth)
This makes sense when you think about it. For nearly two decades one of the grandest traditions of summertime is the “Fast & Furious” film franchise, renewed once again a couple months ago with the incredible “Furious 7.” But this time of the most indignantly fun events in movies was marked with tragedy, with the shocking death of leading man Paul Walker hanging over the cast and audience. "Furious 7" was capped off with a lengthy tribute to Walker, which featured Wiz Khalifa performing this surprisingly effective pop song-as-eulogy. I don’t know if "See You Again" is a great song on its own, but every time it plays it’s hard not to think of the wonderful, ridiculous memories Walker has given us over the years. Every summer needs a little sorrow in the triumph. Not death necessarily, but lonely drives home after the party as you’re realizing you can’t relate to your friends anymore — that’s why "See You Again" has stuck around.
2. Taylor Swift: "Bad Blood" (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Taylor Swift is a mad scientist. ‘’Bad Blood’ is the ninth track on her October-released “1989,” and it’s been ready to scorch earth since it hit stores. But Swift has immaculate timing, so instead she let singles "Shake It Off," "Blank Space" and "Style" do the heavy lifting and waited for the right moment. The casual, non-album listening crowd didn’t know what hit them on May 17, when the hardest song in the Swift catalog hit radios. That’s right, losers! There’s totally a Taylor Swift song with a Kendrick Lamar verse and a straight devastating break beat. Just like that Swift injected herself into 2015 song of the summer contention and everyone else should be very, very afraid.
1. Fetty Wap: "Trap Queen"
This is your undisputed leader right now. It wasn’t long ago that New Jersey’s Fetty Wap was just another bubbling-under mixtape icon, in fact “Trap Queen” itself was released all the way back in April of 2014. But after more than a year of celebrity endorsements, tastemaker radio play and a coronation from newfound guru Kanye West, it seems like Fetty is ready for his closeup. Great rap music often infiltrates your soul and redefines temporarily your language, and that’s why we’ve found ourselves chiming that sing-song “I’m like hey what’s up hellooo!” every 20 minutes. Fetty put out this song long before he had the dough to snatch up 'Raris for his girl, but that makes sense! This is a love song, and love songs are all about doing things you can’t necessarily afford. It’s beautiful that in 2015 an artist can have exactly one song on Spotify and still be a star, it’s even more beautiful when his breakout single was intended to shatter glass ceilings last summer, but still had the momentum to make it all the way around.