The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2019 REDUX

 

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2019 REDUX

Hey everyone, it’s Fire from Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes and today, we’re reexamining the top 10 best hit songs of 2019!!

So let me not mince words, as I stated in my worst list redux, despite being slightly better than I remembered it being, 2019 was still one of my least favorite years for pop music ever. I already hashed out why I felt this way in my worst list redux so I won’t bore you guys with the details again. So instead, let me talk about why this was a great year for the Hot 100 in many aspects. The pop music scene in 2019 was kinda shaped by the sudden dominance of “Old Town Road” on the charts, meaning for possibly the only time of my life, the Hot 100 itself felt relevant, and I don’t mean the songs charting, like the chart itself. People I follow on Instagram (mainly acquaintances in school that as far as I know don’t follow the Hot 100 at all) were posting stuff about “Old Town Road” breaking the record for the most weeks at #1. This was also the start of Tik Tok growing to dominate pop music into the early 2020s, leading to a bunch of weird flukes and novelties where there was no telling whether any of the novelties could have any meaningful impact beyond 2019. And in a way, that made this year a very wild and colorful year for the charts. What I’m trying to say is that 2019 was the year where the Hot 100 felt like it mattered as a chart to the culture in a way we haven’t really seen since or might ever see again. So, even if I personally don’t think 2019 was a very good year for the Hot 100, I’d be lying to myself if I were to say it wasn’t a very important one either. And all this meant that most of the stuff that the industry pushed without any organic groundswell was what made up most of the worst hits of 2019 - probably why country music had a pretty bad year - but the stuff that found organic growth was truly special, and hell, even some of the industry payola shit could be truly great! I actually found myself having to make a few really tough cuts!!

The songs eligible for this list are anything that debuted on the 2019 Hot 100 YE, or if they were on a previous YE list, ranked higher on the 2019 YE or made the YE top 20 for 2019. So let’s prep ourselves for a fun time by looking at my original best list!

HMS:

Saweetie - My Type

Lil Nas X - Panini

Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger

Post Malone - Circles

Ariana Grande - breathin’

Dean Lewis - Be Alright

Ariana Grande - thank u, next

10. Post Malone - Wow

9. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved

8. Lil Nas X f/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road

7. Pink - Walk Me Home

6. Lauren Daigle - You Say

5. Khalid - Better

4. Bazzi f/Camila Cabello - Beautiful

3. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho

2. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower

1. Post Malone f/Young Thug - Goodbyes

Okay, there’ll be some notable shifts here I can already see haha. Now, let’s finally get things started with our honorable mentions!!

HM #1: Drake f/Rick Ross - Money in the Grave (YE: #34, PEAK: #7)

I mean, where. The fuck. Should I. Even really start? Okay, all jokes aside, Drake may still have been riding his criminal overexposure in 2019, but “Money In The Grave” has always been a good song and has only grown to be great in my eyes over the years. The beat is dark and allows for Drake to really go all in on it. He sounds super engaged and sharp in a way that he arguably really wouldn’t sound again until the 2024 beef with Kendrick Lamar. Admittedly, I think Drake actually carries this song quite a bit, he sounds way sharper than Rick Ross. But I will give credit where it’s due, Rick Ross does do a decent job of holding his own on the darker production as well. Not much else, this a real banger and for a brief shining moment, we got a glimpse of why Drake was still one of the biggest names in music in the late 2010s.

HM #2: Post Malone - Circles (YE: #62, PEAK: #1)

Posty makes arguably the least rap song of his career at that point and he becomes a staple of Hot AC stations nation-wide and your mom-friendly rapper. Okay, but seriously, while “Circles” has definitely faded on me over the years from extreme recurrent airplay on the radio, there is a reason it still gets a lot of recurrent airplay. It feels really timeless and could play well no matter the season - yes partly because of the “seasons change” line - and the sunny yet cold production that’s drawing inspiration from Tame Impala helped keep this pretty fresh for me! Great song, but Posty did have better music this year.

HM #3: Lizzo - Truth Hurts (YE: #13, PEAK: #1)

The exasperated clapback that gave us so many quotables that we absolutely wanted. Yes, the song can be a bit obnoxious at points, but Lizzo has insane charisma to make her delivery feel more memorable than obnoxious. A lesser performer wouldn’t have managed to pull this off. But Lizzo just really tears into this guy who broke her heart by cheating on her and she rubs it in that she’s got herself a new man while this useless ex can fuck off with his new girl that he cheated with on Lizzo. And Lizzo’s personality is really what makes this song for me, from “I just took a DNA test…” to “I put the ‘siiiiing’ in ‘single’”, that personality makes every quotable line pop off the page and feel iconic

HM #4: Saweetie - My Type (YE: #76, PEAK: #21)

Yeah, female rap had a pretty fucking great year in 2019. Saweetie rides the sample of “Freek-A-Leek” by Petey Pablo quite well and lets the beat handle most of the heavy lifting to compensate for her admittedly limited personality (probably why she hasn’t seen another hit since 2021). It isn’t a particularly inspired way to sample an older hit as it’s just taking the original beat and having Saweetie rap new lyrics over it, but it's certainly a considerable amount better than a lot of the lazy sampling we get in the 2020s. Even if Saweetie wasn’t really able to translate this song into a longer-term career, this is still a real gem. I can see why all these basic hoes pissed.

HM #5: Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing with a Stranger (YE: #14, PEAK: #7)

Sam Smith is at their best when they have a production as dark as this that they can ride effortlessly. It happened on “Latch” with Disclosure, and “Dancing With A Stranger” might honestly be even better. Part of that is thanks to Sam Smith and Normani having great chemistry with each other, but there’s also the fact that “Dancing With A Stranger” is just a really well-produced pop song that still feels super fresh. You can practically feel the tension on the dancefloor as the two partners lament their separation and are seeking cheap rebounds, where the connection for the new person isn’t as strong as it is for the ex. This is an absolutely great song and I wish Sam Smith and Normani made more music like this, because this is a bop.

HM #6: Dean Lewis - Be Alright (YE: #54, PEAK: #23)

Yeah, I get why this might be put in a similar category as any of the white male singer-songwriter breakup songs like stuff from Lewis Capaldi or Passenger, but fuck it, I’ve always loved “Be Alright” because unlike something like, say, “Let Her Go” by Passenger, “Be Alright” isn’t trying to lash out at anyone passive aggressively, it’s much more focused on Dean Lewis’s grief and journey in moving on. It’s really well-written, showing Dean’s anger and feeling of betrayal without wallowing too much in douchiness and then him getting support from his friends saying that it hurts now, but it’s time to move on. So if I think it’s so well-written, why isn’t this on the list proper? Well, this is where I will say that Dean Lewis’s voice sounds a bit faceless, even if he sells his heartbreak really well. That said, this song is definitely overhated, underrated, and incredible.

HM #7: Post Malone - Wow. (YE: #5, PEAK: #2)

Now as opposed to “Circles”, if you want a celebratory banger that’s arguably the last real “rap” hit Posty ever had, you can look to one of the absolute biggest songs of the year in “Wow.”. It’s a song that probably could’ve afforded to be at least 30 seconds longer, but still manages to shine because Posty leans into the disposability of the song to make a celebration of his success where it sounds earned. He brings tons of charisma and personality to the track, including dropping into a rap cadence that sounds really good!! He also brings a lot of memorable lines, like the igloo in his mouth when he’s grinning or how your grandmama probably knows him. Yeah, this is amazing and up there as one of Posty’s best songs, but still not even his best hit this year!! Stay tuned...

HM #8: Pink - Walk Me Home (YE: #99, PEAK: #49)

I know, it’s a deliberate callback to the indie boom of the early 2010s, with the stomping percussion, the borderline singalong anthemic hook, and what might as well be a millennial whoop. But I’ve always loved “Walk Me Home”. It might be partly because the indie boom of 2012 is pretty much directly in my nostalgia window, but I have to admit that I think Pink just sounds amazing on this song, the stomping percussion gives the song enough power and also enough room for Pink’s vocals to shine through. And for a blatant callback to the early 2010s, it’s pretty excellent and somehow not even the only early 2010s callback on this list, stay tuned.

HM #9: Marshmello & Bastille - Happier (YE: #6, PEAK: #2)

I feel like I only love this as much as I do on nostalgia haha. Because don’t get me wrong, this song has its problems - the drop is very basic and all of Bastille’s rock timbres are sanded off for an EDM track - and it arguably was the reason why Marshmello was able to chart on Alternative radio. Now whatever else I say about “Happier”, it obviously doesn’t work even remotely as a rock song (seriously Alt radio, just because Bastille is on the track doesn’t mean it’s a rock song lol). But looking at it purely from the perspective of just a pop song, “Happier” is really damn great as a breakup song where the narrator has to end the relationship because he wants his partner to be happier. Dan Smith of Bastille can really sell the mournful tone this song requires and the melody is very strong. Marshmello has gone on to make better music than this in the years since, but I still think this is a real shining, if basic, moment.

HM #10: benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid - Eastside (YE: #17, PEAK: #9)

This was in my top 5 on my 2018 best list and I considered it a “flawless” song. And while I do still love this, it has admittedly faded on me a bit because the more I listen to it, the more I feel like the production is a tad generic. I don’t quite think the production matches the lyrics about a young romance where our two protagonists run away. I can concede all of that while saying that “Eastside” is an excellent song, though. Khalid and Halsey have really good chemistry with each other and I appreciate the little details that help flesh out the storytelling, like how they fell in love when they were young and would sneak out to the “eastside” to hang out and then grow up to live together where their love becomes more mundane as they have to deal with the pressures of life. It’s a forbidden romance story that’s still grounded in reality. And even if I think the percussion is a bit too loud, there’s a place for songs like these. It’s not particularly unique or anything, but it’s a cute little track.

Now for the one ineligible honorable mention...

IHM: Kacey Musgraves - Rainbow (YE: #0 (in my heart), PEAK: #98)

I’ve talked about this song so much on this blog already so I don’t really have anything new to say about this. But yeah, this is still my favorite song of all time and y’all should repent for not making this a hit. It’s amazing enough to have been #0 on this list if it were eligible.

Now for the list proper!!

10...I mentioned in the intro that 2019 was a pretty bad year for country music. Now what about (arguably at least) its complete opposite? How was rap music? Well, it was kinda uneven if I’m being honest. A lot of rap this year came from disposable fluke novelties that didn’t exactly carry a ton of quality. So what happens when you get a white hot established trio of rappers and they collaborate with a producer who was really finding his ground in the late 2010s? Well...

10. Post Malone - Wow Mustard & Migos - Pure Water (YE: #55, PEAK: #23)

Yeah, “Pure Water” is the sort of banger that really forces you to reconsider your opinions of the artist who made it. Because prior to this, Mustard’s most notable feat was arguably in the mid 2010s, when he recycled the same three notes on his keyboard for every beat with little to no variation. And, well, “Pure Water” is like the direct antithesis to that. The beat is still very bassy but there’s a lot more going on here, that shrill synth sticks in your brain and all three members of Migos have tight as hell flows. Really, this is a banger that has only grown on me with time. Mustard has gone on to produce even better than this since, but this is still one hell of a fun track.

9...So Khalid...he’s an artist that I feel often works best when he has guest stars he can play off of. That said, the guy has a ton of talent and he can definitely hold his own, and he didn’t do that on his biggest hit this year. Seriously, y’all are lucky that “Talk” missed the worst list redux. But if you want the solo Khalid hit from 2019 that really works...

9. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved Khalid - Better (YE: #20, PEAK: #8)

“Better” is just an absolute vibe. The production is smoky as hell and when Khalid is on it it feels really sexy. His vocal delivery has a particularly hazy, almost faded vibe to them and if anything that makes him sell the sentiment of loving the sex he has with his partner even more. Plus, this is like perfect driving music at night haha. I do really wish Khalid could’ve lived up to his potential by releasing more songs in this vein, but for now, this is probably his best song, it doesn’t really get better than this.

8...Well, might as well finally get to the other song on this list blatantly calling back to the early 2010s...

8. Lil Nas X f/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (YE: #23, PEAK: #10)

Ava Max is one of those artists who should really be a one-hit wonder. She’s a singer with an underrated vocal range but not one who exactly is able to build a distinct identity thanks to her hopping from sample to sample. And I’d arguably include “Sweet But Psycho” in that category as well, liberally borrowing its melody from Jay Sean’s 2009 hit “Down” (I know that she didn’t technically sample it officially but given my exposure to her entire discography I still think she sampled it here). But “Sweet But Psycho” is still an excellent song that reminded me of why I considered Ava Max one of my favorite singers in the mainstream. She sells the song with an obvious worship of Lady Gaga’s club boom era output and a really good range. And in a year where we had “Murder On My Mind” by YNW Melly (one of the last cuts from this list actually lol, it’s way better than I remember), I’d say this was the best psychotic hit of 2019. It still bugs me that Ava still hasn’t really lived up to the potential she showcased from this outside of “Dancing’s Done” from 2023, but eh, this is still a cute little track.

7...So you remember from my worst list redux that “7 rings” felt like such a slap in the face after Ariana Grande showed her emotional journey on overcoming trauma? Yeah, this was why...

7. Pink - Walk Me Home Ariana Grande - thank u, next (YE: #12, PEAK: #1)

“Thank u, next” is a song that really reminds me of why I still find Ariana Grande an inspiring artist. To understand fully why I love this song, you need to look at the context. I’m not gonna detail everything here but you don’t really need to know much other than that 2018 was a particularly rough and possibly traumatic year for Ariana. What I’m trying to say is that “thank u, next” is truly a monumental moment in Ari’s career, where she’s able to look past her traumas and reflect on all those, past and present, that helped her move on, including herself. Ari is living proof that you are not defined by your traumas and are capable of moving past your hardships and living your life. This is still absolutely one of Ariana Grande’s best songs. But okay, if I have this much high praise to give this song, why is it so low here? Well, I will admit that the production does sound a bit rushed and unpolished to a bit of a fault. But still, this song is excellent and while I found 6 songs here better, well tell ‘em Ari:

6...Well, back to gems from an uneven year for rap music, and really after this became eligible, was this ever gonna miss this list?...

6. Lauren Daigle - You Say Travis Scott f/Drake - SICKO MODE (YE: #9, PEAK: #21)

I don’t think I can add anything new to the abundance of critical acclaim “SICKO MODE” has received already. It effortlessly hops across the beat switches and Travis Scott and even Drake have solid flows too. The song really gets going when we hit the second part with the bouncy trap beat and Travis Scott just spewing bar after bar and quotable after quotable, like “This shit way too formal, y’all know I don't follow suit” which should really feel corny but somehow works for me!! Drake’s parts are definitely the weakest part of the song but I’d be kidding myself if I said he wasn’t able to keep the energy going. But you don’t need to know why “SICKO MODE” is incredible and a highlight from both artists’ discographies.

5...But speaking of songs that no one should be surprised are making this list...

5. Khalid - Better Lil Nas X f/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road (YE: #1, PEAK: #1)

“Old Town Road” is still a song that feels unprecedented in its utter dominance on both the charts and the culture. A meme trap song that incorporates elements of country going viral to a point that was borderline out of control, it was basically a viral shitpost. I mentioned it in the intro but this song singlehandedly got people who usually don’t follow the charts to actually care about the Hot 100. The chart felt big and relevant in a way that it has really struggled to be since. It also helps that even on its own merits, “Old Town Road” is just an excellent song. Lil Nas X leans directly into the disposability and meme factor of the track and in a way it winds up feeling timeless. And Billy Ray Cyrus steps up for a huge assist comparing himself to the Marlboro Man and just feeling memorable here. I also have a major soft spot for this because when I went to Boy Scouts summer camp in 2019, one night at our troop’s campfire, a kid just started blasting the song and we started singing along to it. That’ll forever be a bright spot of 2019 for me. But “Old Town Road” is excellent, and it definitely feels like a classic, awesome stuff!!

4...But speaking of personal bright spots in 2019 for me (that are associated with Boy Scouts too lol)...

4. Bazzi f/Camila Cabello - Beautiful Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower (YE: #2, PEAK: #1)

“Sunflower” just reminds me a ton of early 2019, a happy time before things came crashing down for me mentally. I love the atmospheric and languid production, it’s pure vibes and Posty and Swae Lee sound quite nice on it. But my main memory with this song is that in early 2019, my Boy Scouts troop had gone to a Scout’s house for a backyard campout and we watched Into The Spiderverse at that campout. It just takes me back to that happy time. Incredible little song!!

3...But back to Ariana Grande, her vulnerability across her singles in 2019 made her an inspiring figure that you could look to if you were facing an adversity of your own. Now here’s my favorite Ariana Grande hit of 2019!!...

3. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho Ariana Grande - breathin (YE: #72, PEAK: #12)

“breathin” is a song that doesn’t feel as monumental in Ari’s discography as something like “thank u, next” but it’s still easily my favorite hit from her this year because of how effectively she captures the feeling of anxiety and struggle to calm down. The main criticism I saw get thrown at this song, even among people who liked it, was “well...we all need to breathe to survive Ariana…” and like, I was an idiotic teenager in 2019 and even I knew that she wasn’t telling herself to breathe because she forgot how to inhale oxygen...it’s really not that hard to see this guys; she’s obviously writing from the perspective of being in the middle of an anxiety attack and is telling herself to keep breathing to slow down her hyperventilation and calm down. Even as someone who doesn’t have panic attacks, I could find some pathos in this song, because it really speaks to anyone who could be feeling even a little anxious about anything, like “Just breathe, you can do this”. This and “thank u, next” prove why Ariana Grande deserved being the biggest popstar of 2019. Excellent song!!

2...So I’ll admit that while I liked “Mine” by Bazzi back in 2018, I never really loved it like some do. If you want the Bazzi hit that I’ve always loved though…

2. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower Bazzi f/Camila Cabello - Beautiful (YE: #95, PEAK: #26)

“Beautiful” is just such a genuinely sweet song. There’s something oddly endearing about Bazzi’s very “whiteboy-rapping” delivery mixed with his lovestruck tone that reminds me of why I still love “golden hour” by JVKE. Bazzi sells the song like he means it and it makes it all the more adorable to me. And hell, even Camila Cabello sounds great on here!! Her vocals might be a bit sloppier than they should be, but she and Bazzi have such great chemistry together that it’s easy for me to overlook it!! But yeah, this is a sweet song and was surprisingly close to being my best hit of 2019. So what’s better?

1...I mentioned a lot that 2019 was a really rough year for me personally and that the worst music of that year affected me personally because of how bad my mental health was. However I think by the time 2019 drew to a close, I finally had learned how to channel my negative emotions into pop music, whether or not I had realized it at the time. And there was one song that was in my rotation all year in 2019 going into 2020 that provided me with the exact catharsis that I needed, and it was this...

1. Post Malone f/Young Thug - Goodbyes (YE: #30, PEAK: #3)

“Goodbyes” was my favorite Post Malone song for years. It’s an incredibly bitter song where Posty and this girl finally end the relationship they have and on Posty’s end it’s just pure resentment and anger. The swampy production matches this ugly tone perfectly. Posty’s performance does enough for me to overlook the fact that Young Thug couldn’t stay on the topic of the song whatsoever. And I’ll be honest, a song as ugly and bitter as this provided me the catharsis I needed at the end of 2019, where I finally felt like I could move on and grow from my mistakes and all the drama that I was dealing with in 2019. I wanted the regret and constant guilt I was carrying out of my head, out of my bedroom as soon as possible. And while I do think Post Malone has gone on to make better music in the years since, even 6 years later, I can’t lie, I still feel that catharsis when listening to this. But yeah, “Goodbyes” by Post Malone featuring Young Thug, the best hit song of 2019, was the case back in 2021 when I made the list and it still is now!!

And that’s the best list redux done!! I’m not sure what or when my next list will be, but I do have a few ideas. So stay on the lookout for that and in the meantime, the Spotify playlist for this list is right here and if you have your own lists of the best hit songs of 2019, please feel free to comment below, I’m eager to read them!! Until next time, remember to keep it Fire!!