I waited all year. No song ever rocked the world the way "Formation" did. A few came close to knocking me off my axis, though. No New York Times narrative or Donald Trump campaign promise came close to capturing Chicago the way "Summer Friends" and "Casket Pretty" do. I cried when Tribe rolled out that Phife banner on Saturday Night Live. And every time "Ultralight Beam" filled my headphones.
I tried to drink it away. I tried to put one in the air. I tried to dance it away.
It took me a month to appreciate Frank Ocean's songs. Then I spent two more rewinding one line over and over again: "Wish I was there, wish we'd grown up on the same advice / and our time was right." If "Ivy" were the only song I was granted in 2016, it would have been a good year for listening.
Some of my favorite songs were important. Some were dumb catchy fun. "With You" is dancing around the living room on Saturday morning. "Frankie Sinatra" is jumping down my street on my nightly walk. Every story I wrote this year included one binge listen of dvsn's album.
(Listen below -- though Beyoncé is missing from all the streaming sites, as is "Serpentine Fire.")
Beyonce - Formation
Chance the Rapper - Summer Friends
Kanye West - Ultralight Beam
Frank Ocean - Ivy
BadBadNotGood - Confessions, Pt. II
Frank Ocean f/ Andre 3000 - Solo (Reprise)
A Tribe Called Quest - We The People
Solange - Mad
Anderson .Paak - The Season/Carry Me
Blood Orange - Best to You
Solange - Cranes in the Sky
DVSN - With Me
Frank Ocean - Self-Control
Kevin Gates - Pride
A Tribe Called Quest - Solid Wall of Sound
Beyonce - Sorry
Drake f/ PartyNextDoor - With You
Kaytranada f/ Anderson .Paak - Glowed Up
Kamaiyah - How Does It Feel
Beyoncé - Hold Up
A Tribe Called Quest - Black Spasmodic
Kendrick Lamar - untitled 06
Chance the Rapper - No Problem
Kamaiyah - Swing My Way
Blood Orange - Squash Squash
Drake - Feel No Ways
Lil Yachty - Out Late
Young Thug - Kanye West
Mura Masa - What if I go?
Childish Gambino - Redbone
Noname - Casket Pretty
Anderson .Paak - Heart Don’t Stand a Chance
The Avalanches f/ Danny Brown - Frankie Sinatra
Kamaiyah - Out the Bottle
DVSN - in + out
Desiigner - Timmy Turner
Partynextdoor - Not Nice
BadBadNotGood - IV
070 Shake - Sunday Night
James Blake - Radio Silence
Makaya McCraven - Butterscotch
Kendrick Lamar - Untitled 02
- Frank Ocean - Futura Free
DVSN - Hallucinations
Lil Yachty - Minnesota
Rihanna - Love on the Brain
Anderson .Paak - Silicon Valley
Joey Purp f/ Chance the Rapper - Girls@
Young Thug - Wyclef Jean
Drake - Fake Love
Danny Brown f/ Kendrick Lamar - Really Doe
Kamaiyah - Ain’t Goin Home
Chance the Rapper - Blessings
Jaylien - We Fcuk
Theo Croker - This Could Be
Noname - Diddy Bop
Kevin Gates - Really Really
Desiigner - Panda
Mitski - Happy
Travis Scott - through the late night
Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam - A 1000 Times
ZAYN - Pillowtalk
D.R.A.M. - Broccoli
The Avalanches - Because I’m Me
Isaiah Rashad - Free Lunch
Travis Scott & Young Thug - pick up the phone
Schoolboy Q f/ Kanye West - THat Part
GTA f/ Vince Staples - Little Bit of This
Anderson .Paak - Come Down
Miranda Lambert - Ugly Lights
Jidenna - Little Bit More
Bruno Mars - 24K Magic
Drake - Controlla
Vince Staples f/ A$AP Rocky - Prima Donna
Kanye West - Real Friends
Partynextdoor f/ Drake - Come and See Me
Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam - When the Truth Is
DVSN - The Line
Chance the Rapper - Same Drugs
A Tribe Called Quest - Dis Generation
Clams Casino f/ Vince Staples - All Nite
Miles Davis & Robert Glasper f/ Erykah Badu - Maiysha
Rihanna - Same Old Mistakes
Kaytranada - Lite Spots
NAO - Bad Blood
Miranda Lambert - Pink Sunglasses
Makaya McCraven - Tomtom
Childish Gambino - Me and Your Mama
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman
Jimi Tenor - Tropical Eel
NAO - Girlfriend
DVSN - Angela
Anderson .Paak - Lite Weight
Khalid - Location
Aminé - Caroline
Waldo - Kobe’s Room
Gucci Mane - 1st Day Out Tha Feds
River Tiber - West
YG - Who Shot Me?