A Highly Subjective List Of The 20 Best Songs of 2016 (So Far)

By Brooklyn Magazine

“Landslide” — Macy Rodman

The aggressively disaffected brattitude of “Lazy Girl” steals the show on Macy Rodman’s Help EP–I mean, literally what lyric can compete with “I gotta pop a fucking xannie just to make some eggs”? But don’t sleep on the other four tracks on the JX Cannon-coproduced EP, which contextualize “Lazy Girl” within a fuller upswing-downswing depression cycle populated with crush butterflies, anti-transmisogynist revenge fantasies, paralyzing self-doubt, and the occasional flash of wanton optimism. The five-track release closes with a harpsi-Casio cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” live from the bottom of Macy’s emotional bottoming out. It’s touching, vulnerable, and surprisingly earnest. I’d be crying right now if I hadn’t popped a fucking xannie just to write this blurb.—John Walker

“Daddy Lessons” — Beyoncé

I’ve heard many people dismiss “Daddy Lessons” as some kinda kitschy, country novelty–or worse, a shameless cash grab for white radio dollars–but the song is truly the glue that binds Beyoncé’s Lemonade together. The daddy anthem–this year’s best, after Anohni’s choke-me dystopian “Watch Me”–builds on the immediate, romantic pain sung in earlier tracks “Hold Up” and “Sorry,” extrapolating outwards to the familial in an attempt to locate that heartache’s true source. And, in a similar quest for context, Beyoncé’s use of proto-bluegrass/rhythm & blues production serves as a reminder of where essentially contemporary genre of popular music originated: black women. At the risk of plagiarizing John Waters, don’t fuck people who don’t like “Daddy Lessons.”—John Walker