Keeping up with all of the music from 2018 was a full-time job, with loads of songs releasing every week and not enough ears to keep track. But the volume of music comes with an advantage: there’s something for everybody. Fittingly, our list of the 25 Best Songs of 2018 represents the multi-genre mayhem that is in everyone’s playlists this year.
Some of the entries on our list, like cuts by Drake, Travis Scott and Childish Gambino, were at the forefront of the conversation in 2018, dominating streaming services and radio around the country. Indie darling Saba made waves, and he’s included here as well. Jazz wizard Kamasi Washington dropped some of the best protest music of the year. But there are also some songs on this year’s list that spoke to the VIBE Tribe in a different way. Cardi B had hits all year, but an album cut impressed us most; Usher and Zaytoven’s new album didn’t make a huge splash commercially, but one of its songs appears here. And Beyonce appears on one of the best songs of the year that never even saw an official release–but that didn’t stop us from including it here.
Music broke the rules this year, and so did we. Read below, and tell us what surprise choices are making your songs of the year list.
READ MORE: Debate Us: The 30 Best Albums Of 2018
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“God Is A Woman” – Ariana Grande
Image Credit: Apple Music If you focus too much on her relationships with Mac Miller and Pete Davidson or the tragic terrorist bombing at her concert in Manchester, England, you may have missed that Ariana Grande‘s album Sweetener melded her previously global superstardom with the maturity of womanhood. One example of her growth is “God is a woman,” her seductive single that ensures her lover that a night together will be a spiritual experience. Her dynamic vocals and ILYA’s tantalizing instrumental make it one of the sexiest songs of the year. —William E. Ketchum III
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“Anna Wintour” – Azealia Banks
Image Credit: Apple Music Azealia Banks always has her fair share of trouble in TMZ headlines and social media posts, but when it comes to music, the Harlem bombshell always delivers. On an Instagram post about “Anna Wintour,” the first single from her upcoming second studio LP Fantasea II, Banks says the following: “I wrote this song about finding myself and finding God. Not at all specific to any religion, this song was written to embody the feeling felt when you connect to the universe.” She also says that she connects to how Wintour packs a powerful personality into a petite body, and the song is a fitting ode to the Vogue editor-in-chief. Azealia ably sings and raps (and in the music video, dances) about how the world stops as soon as it gets a glance of her, over a Junior Sanchez beat that’d be the perfect soundtrack for a runway show. Hopefully her next album can put her talent ahead of her controversy once and for all. —WK
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“Get Up 10” – Cardi B
Image Credit: Apple Music Between her anthemic No. 1 hit “Bodak Yellow” and the charming, hilarious authenticity she shows on reality TV and social media, everyone was rooting for Cardi B in 2018. But her debut LP, Invasion of Privacy, was anticipated with just as much nervousness as excitement. Would she be able to make a quality body of work, or was she just another TV personality cashing in on an opportunity? “Get Up 10,” the album’s intro, provided all the proof that fans needed to hear. With no hook or showstealing beat to hide behind, Cardi spit 100 bars of proud, authoritative rhymes about her inspiring rise from the bottom and her refusal to let naysayers steal her success. “Went from makin’ tuna sandwiches to makin’ the news. I started speakin’ my mind, and tripled my views. Real bi**h, only thing fake is the boobs,” she asserts. The song set the tone for a dozen more tracks that showed Cardi isn’t just using music as a hustle, but as a genuine form of expression, and that she had the chops to put together one of the best albums of the year. —WK
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“This Is America” – Childish Gambino
Image Credit: Apple Music On his hit FX show, Atlanta, Donald Glover uses surrealism and street-savvy situational comedy to give commentary on race, pop culture, and social issues through the lens of a group of black men in their late 20s or early 30s. “This Is America,” the first release before his final album as Childish Gambino, has similar aspirations. Fueled by an ambitious, one-take music video by Hiro Musai (who also directs episodes of Atlanta) that drove the Internet into a frenzy this spring to break down all of its symbolism, Gambino teams up with a deceptively-used Young Thug and to drop abstract vocals about the United States’ generational troubles with gun violence, materialism and police brutality, with references to the popular rap choruses by the likes of Migos and Lil Pump sprinkled throughout. Slim Jxmmi, 21 Savage, Quavo, and Blocboy JB provide ad-libs, adding a different dimension to the track. It’s a long way from the psychedelic soul of his Grammy favorite 2016 album, Awaken My Love, but it’s the same thoughtful, subversive Glover that we’ve grown to love over the years—and it’s just like him to keep us guessing. —WK
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“Twerk” – City Girls feat. Cardi B
Image Credit: Apple Music The City Girls got a taste of viral fame with their feature on Drake’s chart-topping “In My Feelings” but they’re clearly determined to stand on their own two feet. The ladies’ debut album, G I R L C O D E, carries the same youthful, woman-first energy as their mixtape Period, and few songs replicate that as well as “Twerk,” their collab with Quality Control teammate Cardi B. Over a perfectly-flipped sample of “Choppa Style,” the duo embraces their Miami roots while flexing empowered rhymes about bending men to their will. “I could buy my own, but I’d rather buy yours, ni**a,” Yung Miami insists on the last verse. Women ran rap in 2018, and this single is just one of many that show the skill and excitement that ladies have brought to the game this year. —WK
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“Nice For What” – Drake
Image Credit: Apple Music Drake ran the radio, club and streaming worlds as usual in 2018, with his album Scorpion being one of the most meteoric releases of the year. The OVO king has plenty of options for lists like these, but the VIBE Tribe selected “Nice For What,” his song that somehow finds a way to mesh Ms. Lauryn Hill’s somber classic “Ex-Factor” and Mannie Fresh’s celebratory “Get Your Roll On” for an undeniably catchy NOLA bounce anthem of female empowerment. While Drake often makes music that pairs social media intergazing with his own insular world of career success and failed relationships, “Nice For What” gives as authentic support for independent ladies as we’ve ever heard from him. It’s one of three No. 1s and three more Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 songs from Drake’s bulky double disc that dropped at the top of the summer. Drake’s dominance may be dependable and predictable at this point as his career creeps into its first decade, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less unprecedented. —WK
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“Fate” – H.E.R.
Image Credit: Apple Music Being unsure will always be the new black, but pretending as if you have it under control is high fashion. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. isn’t concerned with what the kids are doing, and that ability to craft stories true to her experience has earned the musician several Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.
H.E.R.’s honesty is just as rich as the broth of her voice, and she proves this with “Fate” from the second half of I Used To Know Her. The mysterious artist stands naked before fans and boldly shows scars as she battles feelings of confusion, envy and the difficulties of chasing a dream (How come/when I’m looking at everyone/they get away with having their fun/I’m paying these dues when they don’t mean nothing).
The piano-laden track is less somber than it is reflective and declarative. The true gem, however, is that she isn’t providing an answer, nor is she asking a question. Instead, H.E.R. is standing in the truth of the matter. Where she is, is what it is and for all that she keeps hidden behind her shades, she’s also having everything revealed. —Shenequa Golding -
“Nostalgia” – Jacob Banks
Image Credit: Apple Music On “Nostalgia,” a standout from his 2018 album Village, Jacob Banks coyly tells his lover about how they’re addicted to his love, using beautiful metaphors for drugs and Las Vegas memories to show how inescapable his hold is on them. But the real substance here is Banks’ voice: a deep, dense baritone that’s guttural but somehow stays light enough to float over the song’s soulful, bluesy guitars. Village, the debut full-length from the Nigerian-born and Birmingham, England-raised singer, has been getting repeated spins from the staff since its November release. —WK
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“APESH*T” – The Carters
Image Credit: Apple Music Since Jay-Z and Beyonce first made their union official in the early 2000s, fans have wanted them to make an album together – a real best of both worlds, not the forgettable albums that Jay made with R. Kelly in the early 2000s. Well, after Lemonade and 4:44 portrayed their respective perspectives on a marriage marred by turmoil and infidelity, Everything Is Love showed the couple’s jubilant survival after coming out on the other side. Few songs on the album portray that joy as clearly as “APESH*T,” which has husband and wife flossing excess with Migos adlibs and a trappy backdrop by Pharrell. Queen Bey gets on the mic and keeps up easily with her GOAT of a husband, flexing some of the best flows you’ll hear all year. The video ups the excellence to even greater heights, with Jay-Z and Beyonce taking over the historic Louvre museum in Paris, France to fill it with images of beautiful people of color dancing, standing at attention, and attentively picking hair, all while The Carters enjoy the view and each others’ company. “I can’t believe we made it,” Beyonce sings. The refrain is both a celebration of them persevering their marriage as adults, and the adverse circumstances they grew up with as children. After putting in the work, black music’s royal family deserves some time to celebrate their triumphs. —WK
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“Fists of Fury” – Kamasi Washington
Image Credit: Apple Music “Fists of Fury” is primarily known as one of the most popular 1970s martial arts films starring the iconic Bruce Lee, but Kamasi Washington – a renowned Los Angeles saxophonist and bandleader who has worked with the likes of Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar and Run the Jewels – has another battle to bring to the forefront. On the introductory song for his brilliant new album Heaven and Earth, vocalists Patrice Quinn and Dwight Tribe arm up for their liberties. “We will no longer fight for justice, we will take our retribution,” they hauntingly croon. Meanwhile, Washington gives a sprawling, nearly ten minutes of pianos, horns, and drums that capture the urgency of such heroic freedom fighters – and the impending doom of their oppressors. —WK
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“King’s Dead” – Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake
Image Credit: Apple Music Kendrick Lamar‘s solo albums have been some of rap music’s most visual, ambitious endeavors of storytelling in recent years, so it only makes sense that he and his TDE crew would be enlisted with handling the soundtrack to Black Panther, Marvel’s first film dedicated to a black superhero and majority black cast. Album standout “King’s Dead” sees Jay Rock, K. Dot and Future, with a brief assist from James Blake, all capturing the chaotic nihilism unleashed by the villain Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan) after he threw the protagonist T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) over a cliff and became king of Wakanda, preparing to implement a lifelong goal of leading the fictional African country to carry out his nationalistic, imperialist agenda. Or, if you’ve been living under a rock and you somehow haven’t seen the film, it works perfectly fine as a sh*t-talking trunk rattler with three of the best artists that rap has to offer. Either way, everybody wins. —WK
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“Uproar” – Lil Wayne
Image Credit: Apple Music Lil Wayne’s long-awaited Tha Carter V was full of surprises: appearances by the likes of XXXTentacion, Kendrick Lamar and his mother, with fictional stories about unfaithful women and autobiographical raps about attempted suicide. But arguably the biggest curveball is “Uproar,” a song that unexpectedly sees Weezy rapping over a Swizz Beatz-produced flip of G. Dep’s 2001 hit “Special Delivery.” Wayne sounds like he’s having just as much fun as he ever had, and a viral challenge with his children had young’ns around the world learning the Harlem Shake while adults got to celebrate their own tall tee nostalgia from the early 2000s. Only time will tell how much longer Wayne will keep making music, but we know this much – he’ll keep everyone guessing. —WK
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“Lavish Lullaby” – Masego
Image Credit: Apple Music Masego refers to his music as “TrapHouseJazz,” and a listen to “Lavish Lullaby” shows why. The Jamaican-born, Virginia-raised singer soundtracks a proposal for a one-night stand with a lush bed of thumping drums, hazy coos and a bridge that throws jazzy strings and keys into the mix. But the genre-bending doesn’t stop with the production: vocally, Masego oscillates between a Future-like dip, a druggy autotune, and a tender soprano, depending on wherever the beat goes. He refers to himself as “Kobe with the loving” while rocking Gucci sweats, and he puts up all-star numbers on his Lady Lady debut. —WK
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“Cocaine” – Royce Da 5’9″
Image Credit: Apple Music It’s not uncommon to see Royce Da 5’9” on many best rapper alive lists; after all, not many can even hang with Eminem once, much less for years’ worth of collaborations. But “Cocaine,” from his revealing new album Book of Ryan, shines because Royce doesn’t need to rap circles to make his point. Royce uses mournful melodies and a sparse, distant number by DJ Khalil to portray memories of his father’s drug addiction while Royce looked on as a child. He wonders aloud if his father’s substance abuse led to his own alcoholism, which landed Royce in prison and led to both of them being negligent to their families. Luckily, both father and son eventually went to rehab to conquer their demons. Royce solemnly wonders “how did I inherit so much pain” on the chorus, and concludes the song by thankfully singing, “my father chose me over cocaine.” In stark contrast to Em scornfully chastising his mother’s addiction on “Cleaning Out My Closet,” Royce simply tells his story and expresses gratitude that they could both overcome addiction and tend to what’s important. “Pop I love you unconditional, and thanks for loving me,” he sings. Just as powerful as any bar he’s ever spit. —WK
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“PROM / KING” – Saba
Image Credit: Apple Music Saba dealt with immense loss with the death of his cousin John Walt, and his new album Care For Me pays homage while channeling his grief to create a masterpiece. “PROM / KING,” the LP’s emotional, penultimate climax, sees the Chicago lyricist using candid, personal writing to describe how he and Walter got close (he hooked up a dateless Saba with a girl to go to senior prom with), and how the pair were seemingly on the fast track to success until Walt, after multiple brushes with death, was killed. Just like the pain of loss doesn’t easily go away over time, even repeated listens don’t make the record’s pain any less palpable. Saba frantically builds tension at the end of the song, remembering the desperate phone call from his aunt as she’s looking for her missing son. It’s one of the most heartbreaking stories of 2018, told by one of hip-hop’s most promising voices. —WK
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“Issues” – Teyana Taylor
Image Credit: Apple Music Fan reaction for Teyana Taylor’s sophomore G.O.O.D. Music album K.T.S.E. was seemingly split down the middle: while many of her fans were satisfied with the long-awaited follow-up to her 2014 album VII, including Teyana herself, were dissatisfied and felt that it sounded incomplete. But it’s tough to dispute that the immensely talented singer/dancer made the most with what she had. On “Issues/Hold On,” Taylor demands her husband to do right by her by returning the love and loyalty that she gives him. “This is deeper than you and other women, this is daddy issues,” she reveals. “This is years putting up with the wrong type ni**as.” Ye flips a soulful sample for his signee, and Taylor does it justice with vocals that are equally strong and controlled. —WK
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“Sicko Mode” – Travis Scott feat. Drake
Image Credit: Apple Music It’s not often that Drake, the biggest pop star in the world, isn’t the main attraction on a song. But that’s exactly what happens on “Sicko Mode,” the larger-than-life single from Travis Scott’s ambitious opus Astroworld. Drizzy’s crooning provides a great start, but Trav has bigger things in mind: a rollercoaster of a track that somehow unites samples by Houston legend Big Hawk and The Notorious B.I.G., booming 808s, and Tay Keith’s signature bounce, with Travis’ own recognizable autotuned melodies floating through his verse. Drake returns at the end to deliver a standout verse that has some of his most memeable lines of the year (“Out like a light, ay, like a light”), he’s only one instrument in a chaotic string of ideas, combined into one. There’s a lot going on throughout the song’s five-plus minutes, but Travis Scott’s astute musical compass keeps everyone on track as always, maintaining the production and curator extraordinaire penchant for knowing what fits where. “Who puts this sh*t together, I’m the glue,” he boasts at the end of the second verse. Lead the way, La Flame. —WK
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“Taste” – Tyga
Image Credit: Apple Music Never count out Tyga. Some may hate the Cali rapper for his reality TV personality or his Kardashian affiliations, but he always manages to come from nowhere with a hit. “Taste,” his 2018 single with Offset of the Migos, is his highest-charting song since his breakout 2011 strip club anthem “Rack City.” With producer D.A. Doman’s bouncy drums and sing-songy sample, Tyga and Offset drop one of the most club-ready singles of the summer. Of course, Tyga will likely disappear again—just to come back when we least expect him. —WK
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“You Decide” – Usher
Image Credit: Apple Music Nearly 15 years after his classic album Confessions, Usher is still letting quality women slip away. But if anyone can make mistakes sound good, it’s him. On “You Decide,” from he and producer Zaytoven’s surprise collaborative album A, Usher uses his velvety vocals and a backdrop of sprightly flutes to beg for his lady to give him another chance. The source of Usher’s transgressions—infidelity, dishonesty, a side baby, all of the above—is never made clear. No matter: with the song’s lightheartedness and Usher’s confident singing, there’s no question about who gets the girl in the end. Usher isn’t growing up yet, and thats perfectly fine. —WK
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“Big Bank” – YG feat. Big Sean, Nicki Minaj & 2 Chainz
Image Credit: Apple Music YG held his own without his longtime producer DJ Mustard on his harrowing sophomore album Still Brazy, where he portrayed the paranoia from being shot and nearly killed in 2015. But the hit-making duo reunited for his 2018 effort, Stay Dangerous. And it’s all for the best, because they’re a great team. “Big Bank” uses a bouncy, simplistic xylophone ditty – similar to the formula of their previous hits – and gets one of the best collections of talent you’ll her all year: 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj. All four rappers drop enjoyable, quotable verses, with Sean’s verse enjoying a quick bit in the news because the videogame Madden NFL 2018 stripped his namedrop of Colin Kaepernick, who’s suing the NFL for being blackballed after he kneeled during the national anthem. No matter: the song made it to No. 16 on the Hot 100, No. 13 on the Rap/R&B chart, and a standout performance at this year’s BET Awards. —WK
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“Everybody Mad (Remix)” – O.T. Genasis feat. Beyonce
Image Credit: Kevin Winter Beyonce has already proven herself as one of the greatest performers of her generation, her pristine dance routines and flawless vocals impressing the fans and critics at her tours and festivals. But when she took the stage as the first black women headliner at this year’s Coachella, Bey brought a marching band (like at halftime shows at HBCU football games) and she gave an instantly legendary performance beaming with the black pride that has oozed from her work in recent years. After closing out a live version of Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulders,” Beyonce led the dancers over a triumphant, trumpet-infused version of O.T. Genasis’ “Everybody Mad.” Bey’s brief, surging adlib and a horn loop turned a reasonably solid rap single into one of the most memorable moments of recent black music history. Just another example of how everything the Queen touches turns to gold. [Ed. note: the song never saw an official release, but it lives on YouTube in perfect quality. You’re welcome. —WK
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“Echo” – Swizz Beatz feat. Nas
Image Credit: Apple Music This is a safe space, so we can be honest: NASIR, this summer’s seven-track joint album from Nas and Kanye West, wasn’t what we were hoping for. Kanyes beats weren’t as fiery as his production on Pusha-T’s DAYTONA, and Nas’ raps sounded uninspired, especially considering that it had been a six-year wait since his previous album, Life Is Good. But Swizz Beatz brought something different out of his longtime friend and collaborator for their collaboration on his new album Poison. After Swizz calls a toast and gives an ode in the intro, he steps aside for Nas to give lucid, lifelike images of his hometown of Jamaica Queens during his childhood in the ’80s over a beautiful co-production by Swizz and DJ Scratch. Nas paints the same types of portraits and vignettes that made him a child prodigy in 1994: the first verse alone unveils cops chasing down suspects while residents shower them with urine, a fed up woman shooting her abusive lover in the neck, and Nas’ come up from canned soup and bummy shoes to expensive meals and designer clothing. Who knows when we’ll get another full length album, but it’s a relief to know that God’s Son hasn’t completely left.
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“Django Jane” – Janelle Monae
Image Credit: Apple Music After a five-year stretch of showing off her acting chops in award-winning films like Hidden Figures and Moonlight, Janelle Monae made a powerful return to music this year with her brilliant fourth studio album, Dirty Computer. And while the Atlanta songstress is known for her beautiful vocals and lightning-in-a-bottle dance moves, she uses “Django Jane” to get some bars off. Monae reps for black women (“Black Girl Magic, y’all can’t stand it”), confronts toxic femininity (“Remember when they used to say I look too mannish”), and tells the patriarchy to have several seats (“Hit the mute button, let the vagina have a monologue”), all with the punchlines and swag some of your favorite MCs could only dream of. “Django Jane” proved to be a favorite among the futuristic R&B star’s army of fans with more than 12 million streams on Spotify along with the phrase “highly melanated” becoming apart of black internet culture along with “Black girl magic” and “Melanin poppin.” —Khaaliq Crowder
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“Colored Dreams” – REASON
Image Credit: Apple Music TDE has a strong history of storytelling with the harrowing narratives of Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q, and label newcomer reason joins that rich tradition with “Colored Dreams,” a highlight from his sincere debut, There You Have It. REASON puts himself in the mind of a prisoner serving a 20-year bid for murder, writing letters to his mother and to his slain brother. The gut-wrenching record apologizes to both of them for letting them down–to his mother for breaking her heart with a crime that would take him away from her, and to his brother for leading him down the path of a gang lifestyle that would take his life. The production is just a simple piano loop: a wide open canvas for the Carson lyricist’s gruff voice and regretful, heartbreaking narratives. Many rappers rarely even speak about the realities of prison, much less give detailed accounts of being inside–but REASON offers sincere remorse here, showing the stirring vulnerability that hip-hop classics are made of. REASON came out swinging in 2018, and we can’t wait to see how he ascends with TDE’s support. —WK
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“Trauma” – Meek Mill
Image Credit: Apple Music Meek Mill’s late-2018 contender Championships has two of the biggest songs of the year, with “What’s Free” going viral because of Jay-Z’s verse of the year candidate, “Going Bad” garnering attention because of Meek’s reunion with Drake, and “On Me” doing well because of his on-wax chemistry with Cardi B. But the album’s most powerful cut is the solo offering “Trauma.” Just like on the similarly-titled “Traumatized” from his 2012 debut Dreams and Nightmares, Meek poignantly recounts the violence and drug addiction that he witnessed in his childhood. But this time, with his new position as the face of prison reform, he illustrates how his Philly streets and his recent legal troubles are tied into a scheme of systemic racism. “In the 13th amendment, it don’t say that we kings. They say we legally slaves if we go to the bing,” he angrily proclaims over Don Cannon and Rance Dopson’s picture perfect flip of Havoc’s beat for Mobb Deep’s single “Getaway.” Adding a social justice edge to the harrowing street narratives that he has already built a career from gives Meek Mill a chance to make music that will stand the test of time. —WK