Blank Space
2014 · From 1989
Swift plays her own tabloid caricature, a clicking pen for percussion, and she replaced herself at number one.
★ 7.5
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2014
Showing 43 songs from 2014
Uptown Funk
2014
Six studios, eighty-two takes at the guitar part, Ronson collapsing in the studio, and fourteen weeks at number one.
★ 7.5
Chandelier
2014
Written first for Rihanna, kept by Sia instead, and given a video where an eleven-year-old dancer did the acting.
★ 7.4
Two Weeks (FKA Twigs)
2014
Emile Haynie and Arca build a slow cathedral of bass, and Twigs sings desire in a whisper.
★ 6.5
Seasons (Waiting on You)
2014
One Letterman performance in March 2014, Herring's angular dancing, and Pitchfork, NME and Spin named it the year's best.
★ 6.5
i
2014 · From To Pimp a Butterfly
Rahki built it on the Isley Brothers' That Lady, and Lamar turned self-love into two Grammys.
★ 6.4
Step
2014 · From Modern Vampires of the City
Rostam's harpsichord reharmonizes a melody that traveled from Bread through Grover Washington Jr. to Souls of Mischief, then here.
★ 6.2
Shake it Off
2014 · From 1989
Martin and Shellback stomped the drum pattern on a wooden floor, and Swift turned tabloid noise into fifty weeks charting.
★ 6.2
Thinking Out Loud
2014
Wadge was playing chords while Sheeran showered; twenty minutes later they had a Song of the Year.
★ 6.0
Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)
2014 · From Run the Jewels 2
El-P's beat, de la Rocha recruited a day after a chance encounter, and the fiercest track on the album.
★ 6.0
West Coast
2014
Verses at 123 beats a minute collapsing to 65 in the chorus, cut live with Auerbach's band in Nashville.
★ 5.9
Red Eyes
2014 · From Lost in the Dream
Granduciel spent two years second-guessing these sessions, and the song still turns on one yelp before the chorus.
★ 5.8
Queen
2014
Adrian Utley of Portishead helped build the noise, and Hadreas answers a lifetime of stares with pure swagger.
★ 5.7
Archie, Marry Me
2014
Snowed into a Prince Edward Island farmhouse, Rankin wrote a proposal song; VanGaalen cut it in Calgary.
★ 5.7
Flawless (Remix)
Beyonce and Nicki Minaj
2014
Dropped without warning on a Saturday in August, an Outkast sample underneath, Minaj arriving to claim the rap crown.
★ 5.6
0 to 100/The Catch Up
2014
Boi-1da, Vinylz and Frank Dukes built the boast; Nineteen85 and 40 flip a James Blake sample for the reckoning.
★ 5.6
Do You
2014 · From They Want My Soul
Spoon's eighth album brought in Dave Fridmann and Alex Fischel, and Daniel spends the chorus asking to be understood.
★ 5.4
Stay With Me
2014
One voice layered roughly twenty times into a choir, and a settlement that added Petty and Lynne.
★ 5.3
Brooklyn Baby
2014
Del Rey wrote it with Lou Reed in mind, then sang the Brooklyn hipster caricature straight, deadpan and unbothered.
★ 5.3
Earned It
2014
Stephan Moccio's piano under strings that swing in six-eight, and Tesfaye's first Hot 100 top five.
★ 5.2
Problem
2014
A saxophone loop, Big Sean whispering the hook uncredited, and Max Martin's team handing Grande her first pop blockbuster.
★ 5.0
Boom Clap
2014
Charli offered it to Hilary Duff, whose team passed; a film soundtrack turned that chorus into a top-ten smash.
★ 4.7
Tuesday
iLoveMakonnen and Drake
2014
Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin built the beat, Drake jumped on the remix, and a weeknight became an occasion.
★ 4.7
Move that Dope
2014
P-Nasty and Mike Will Made It's beat, verses from Pharrell and Pusha T, the hardest thing on Honest.
★ 4.7
I'm Not the Only One
2014
Smith and Jimmy Napes wrote it about someone else's marriage, and Simon Hale's strings carry the slow march.
★ 4.6
Don't Tell 'Em
2014
DJ Mustard and Mick Schultz built it on Snap!'s Rhythm Is a Dancer; Jeremih, by his account, skipped the video.
★ 4.6
Tough Love
2014
Recorded low at first until BenZel pushed her up an octave, and the falsetto turned touring loneliness into something weightless.
★ 4.6
Rather Be
2014
Chatto's cello and a chiptune blip riding house four-four, with Jess Glynne's first number one on top.
★ 4.6
Love Me Harder
2014
Max Martin's Stockholm crew wrote it, The Weeknd found the demo generic, and rewrote himself into his first top ten.
★ 4.5
2 On
Tinashe and ScHoolboy Q
2014
Mustard's beat interpolates Sean Paul, ScHoolboy Q scuffs the gloss, and the Aquarius lead single went four times platinum.
★ 4.4
Busy Earnin'
2014
Two Shepherd's Bush friends hiding behind the initials J and T, falsetto stacked over a warehouse full of dancers.
★ 4.3
Fancy
2014
Director X restaged Clueless for the video, and Charli XCX's hook carried both artists to seven weeks at number one.
★ 4.0
All About that Bass
2014
Forty minutes to write, eight weeks at number one, and Kadish playing the drums, guitar and bass himself.
★ 3.6
If I Could Change Your Mind
2014
James Ford produced it, all three sisters wrote it, and the harmonies turn a plea into a groove.
★ 3.3
The Man
2014
A lyric lifted from Your Song put Elton John and Bernie Taupin on the credits of a self-made anthem.
★ 3.3
Bang Bang
2014
Grande recorded it first and disliked her take; Jessie J took over, Minaj added a verse, all three stayed.
★ 3.2
Jealous
2014
Jonas cut it while training for the series Kingdom, chasing what he called a Lionel Richie vibe.
★ 3.0
Play it Again
2014
Davidson and Gorley's tailgate story carried Bryan to the top two Country Airplay spots at once, a chart first.
★ 1.9
Dirt
2014
Clawson and Tompkins built a whole life around one word; the duo nearly cut the closing lines about mortality.
★ 1.8
Burnin' it Down
2014
Two Florida Georgia Line writers, a drum loop, and Aldean pulling country toward R&B; platinum in nine weeks.
★ 1.5
We Dem Boyz
2014
Detail and Choppa Boi built a beat out of space and chant; Nas and Rick Ross joined the remix.
★ 1.3