The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1994

 

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1994

Hey y’all!! It’s Fire back for the top 10 BEST hit songs of 1994!!

As I expressed in my worst list, 1994 is arguably the year the 90s officially started. The 80s leftovers had mostly disappeared outside of very few legacy acts. It felt like the decade was finally starting to gain an identity—hip hop and eurodance had great years alongside R&B, alt-rock, and whatever fascinating oddities managed to break through. I still would hesitate to call it a great year, but you could absolutely call it a good one! And while most of the worst hits of 1994 were just tedious and boring, the best stuff was pretty great, even if it doesn’t quite hit the highs of other years of the 90s. As usual, the songs eligible for this list must have met at least one of these rules:

• They debuted on the 1994 Hot 100 YE

• Repeating songs are eligible if they beat or matched their previous standings on this YE

• Any songs in the YE Top 20 are eligible regardless of the first two rules

• The same rules apply to the Hot 100 Airplay YE

As such, if you wanna see the full pool of songs I listened to for this list, check out this Spotify playlist here.

So let’s get started by looking at our honorable mentions!!

HM #1: Madonna - I’ll Remember (YE: #13, PEAK: #2)

Starting off with a song that works a lot better than it probably should here, because this usually would seem like a track I’d dismiss as boring AC radio schlock. But that’s what happens when you give the track production that actually has teeth to it—the sophisti-pop production feels lush and that trip hop percussion makes the whole song feel dreamy. It also helps that Madonna actually sounds like she cares about what she’s singing and sounds great!! For a song about remembering the strength someone from her past gave her, it’s well within her wheelhouse to make a song like this! It’s a song where Madonna is in her comfort zone, but not to the point of the song losing all of its identity. It’s not my favorite Madonna song when 1998’s “Ray Of Light” exists, but this is still something worth...well...remembering.

HM #2: Elton John - Can You Feel The Love Tonight (YE: #18, PEAK: #4)

I know, the pop crossover covers of Disney classics are always seen as much inferior versions of the original film version. I’ve certainly had plenty to criticize about these covers in the past, namely when the “A Whole New World” pop cover made my 1993 worst list. And when The Lion King is very universally considered by many (including myself) as one of the all time greatest Disney films, I can see how a pop cover of any of its songs feels like killing a sacred cow. But Elton John gives “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” a level of immense respect that most pop covers don’t. Elton has the conviction as a performer to make the song soundtracking the reunion of Simba and Nala feel just as magical out of context of the film as it is in context. Hell, even the production’s dynamics rise and fall more than average for a pop cover! I wouldn’t be all that surprised if this respect comes from the fact that Elton actually cowrote this (I literally only found this out as I was writing this entry)—his sincerity really shines through. Yeah, truly great song, and one of the very few pop covers that Disney actually got right, in my eyes. The love for this feels palpable tonight.

HM #3: Queen Latifah - U.N.I.T.Y. (YE: #82, PEAK: #23)

That production is just *chef’s kiss*. The jazzy boom bap beat has a sort of darkness to it to complement the really heavy subject matter—taking on themes of discrimination and violence towards women. And Queen Latifah’s flow is tight and she delivers every line with the sort of brutal honesty that makes this more righteous. It makes the part where she says she doesn’t want her kids to see dad smacking her around feel so much more powerful. It’s not my favorite hit this year with this subject matter, but it’s still a great song, and a pretty great moment of solidarity and righteousness.

HM #4: 10,000 Maniacs - Because The Night (YE: #40, PEAK: #11)

Okay, after all the covers I put on my worst list, it’s only fair that I highlight a hit cover from this year that’s actually great. I already put the original “Because The Night” by the Patti Smith Group on my best list for 1978, and while this cover isn’t as incredible as the original, it’s still great. Frontwoman Natalie Merchant might not have the distinct voice that Patti Smith has, but she’s certainly doing a great job at handling the rock groove—it might be a tad too close to a pale imitation, but fuck, it’s still a damn great cover.

HM #5: Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love (YE: #46, PEAK: #11)

Okay, it’s 90s house—this shit is my bread and butter. If you thought this was gonna miss this list, you clearly don’t know me. But if you’re surprised that this song is only here and not on the list proper...I absolutely get it. And there’s a ton here that really works for me. That clattering percussion and the guitar riffing go unbelievably hard and make the song feel more distinct. And Crystal Waters’s more understated delivery makes this feel like more of a slow burn. At the same time though, my favorite house tracks have a vocalist with a powerful voice. I get that this song’s vocals being understated isn’t a flaw—it’s a feature, but it’s more of a personal preference thing. Still though, this song absolutely lives up to its title!!

HM #6: Janet Jackson - And On And On (YE: #30, PEAK: #2)

The B-side to “Any Time, Any Place”, and while that song is pretty good, I was having a ton of fun with “And On And On” from the first listen. The R&B production is very sunshine-y and happy—perfect for a song simply about how great the summer time is. Janet Jackson’s voice sounds so blissful and it allows you to just sweep yourself up in the happy innocence of summer vacation. And as I’m writing this, as the summer is starting to wind down, this will be the song that’ll keep the spirit of the summer going on and on and on into the fall. Now can we have a hot girl summer again soon? Please?

HM #7: Aaliyah - Back & Forth (YE: #24, PEAK: #5)

This is just one example of all the potential Aaliyah had—I can’t believe she was 15 when she released this!! She’s so expressive and charismatic even as a teenager, as she rides the bass-heavy production with a loose yet confident aura of cool. And honestly, for a song about partying with your friends on a Friday night, the production and her delivery makes the song feel like Aaliyah and her friends are walking into the party as the hottest girls in the room. You can practically hear them slow-walking into the room and turning everyone’s heads. Hell, she blows the uncredited R. Kelly off the stage on this song—he’s an insignificant little atom next to Aaliyah here, which means that his presence doesn’t actually repulse me like it usually does! What a great song, to think this was Aa-wait…”Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H”...sorry, to think this was Liyah’s debut single. All the potential she could’ve had...at least in her short 7-year career, she was already able to establish a legacy in R&B, and rightfully so!!

HM #8: Ice Cube f/George Clinton - Bop Gun (One Nation) (YE: #99, PEAK: #23)

Yeah, there’ll be a ton of hip hop on this list—this year was truly a golden year for that genre. And while this isn’t as great as his classic “It Was A Good Day” from the previous year, “Bop Gun (One Nation)” is still a banger. I didn’t even realize this was a genre until I looked it up on RYM, but this song’s P-funk production makes it feel all the more fun. In a nutshell, P-funk is basically like G-funk but with more disco/funk percussion textures. And that’s a great fit for this party song filled with a ton of sexual metaphors. Ice Cube rides this groove with a surprising amount of looseness and George Clinton’s hook just radiates coolness. Yeah, if this is a groove an entire nation is getting down to for the fuck of it, I think I need to become a citizen of that nation.

HM #9: Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia (YE: #54, PEAK: #9)

If Aerosmith was how legacy acts sustained their career in the 90s badly, Bruce Springsteen is proof that those legacy acts can still produce some awesome music. A somber synthpop ballad written for the film Philadelphia about the main character dying of AIDS, “Streets Of Philadelphia” only picks up more power the more you listen to it. The production cultivates a tragic atmosphere and Springsteen’s raw but understated power only reinforces how quietly devastating the song is. When he says that no angel will be coming to greet him, it evokes the devastating reality that no one’s gonna save this person. But for as powerful as this song is, it really is a “time and place” sort of song—I honestly think I respect this more than actually like it. Still though, this is truly powerful.

HM #10: Warren G - This D.J. (YE: #59, PEAK: #9)

Warren G absolutely capitalized off of Snoop Dogg’s tremendous breakthrough this year. Finding out Snoop Dogg actually cowrote this made Warren G’s flow on that hook make a lot of sense. Warren G rides the G-funk beat smoothly and effortlessly as he reminisces on his upbringing. The references to his other big hit this year (we’ll see it later on this list) and “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” don’t feel forced and help cement Warren G’s place in this song—where he and his friends are reflecting on their journey together. This is an absolutely great song, but Warren G had better this year.

Now what songs could possibly have made the list proper over any of those?

10...So it’s impossible to talk about hip hop in 1993 and 94 without talking about one Snoop Doggy Dogg, who rode a cosign from Dr. Dre and his endlessly smooth flow to become a true breakout star of the genre. He was absolutely red hot at the time, with everyone eagerly awaiting how he’d follow up his feature on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, and boy, did he deliver!...

10. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin And Juice (YE: #52, PEAK: #8)

This song just cultivates a great vibe—those G-funk synths sound brooding yet bright to create a hangout vibe that Snoop Dogg rides effortlessly with tons of charisma and smoothness. And that’s really what a great stoner anthem needs. The song is just so chill and Snoop is inviting you to join in on the vibes:

“Everything is fine when you listening to the D-O-G

I got the cultivating music that be captivating he”

I think that sums it up, really—Snoop cultivated music that captivated more than just he. And you don’t need me to tell you why this song is iconic. It’s not my favorite from Snoop this year—stay tuned—but it’s left a legacy, and we’re all the better for it!

9...It’s impossible to talk about pop culture in the 90s, in any medium, without talking about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It started back in the early 80s, but by 1994, it was devastating entire communities. Naturally, it crept its way into the entertainment people consumed at the time (think of how the COVID-19 pandemic completely turned the music scene of 2020 upside down). I already touched on “Streets Of Philadelphia” in the HMs, but we also had this, which at least at first, seemed to narrow its scope from an entire community to one individual. But then the artist took that narrow scope and made it sound huge...

9. Seal - Prayer For The Dying (YE: #83, PEAK: #21)

While “Streets Of Philadelphia” felt very much like a “time and place” sort of song, “Prayer For The Dying” is a synthpop-inflected banger that’s as accessible as it is potent. Written for Seal’s friend dying of AIDS, Seal does a great job at taking that narrow scope and broadening it to be about people about to die in general. It’s a moment of solidarity for anyone on the brink of death. He doesn’t say “you won’t die”, he acknowledges that accepting death is pessimistic, but it’s the tragic reality for so many. And rather than being solemn, the song is bright and comes with a sense of purpose. The line “I may not know what you're going through/But time is the space between me and you” is particularly great because it highlights that death is inevitable for everyone while not brushing aside the fact that some unfortunate people are facing it much earlier than him. And Seal’s voice is great—he has so much command over the production and he sells this with complete sincerity, you believe that he’s actually praying for the dying like a guru or priest. It’s a great song that hopefully answered someone’s prayer.

8...It’s a eurodance song making Fire’s best list...duh...

8. Real McCoy - Another Night (YE: #63, PEAK: #3)

Yeah, be real—you all saw this coming, given how much I really like eurodance—and this song just hits every reward center in my brain—it’s a flood of dopamine. The synth accents sound great and the vocals are loose and playful to make this a fun time. Karin Kasar might not sound as ethereal as the female vocalists on my absolute favorite eurodance songs, but her looseness over the upbeat production keeps the energy high. I also will admit that I don’t fully love O-Jay’s rapping on the verses—he sounds oddly threatening for a song that’s supposed to be lightweight and fun—but that hook is so fun and the song’s strengths massively overpower the flaws.

7...I mean, might as well put another eurodance banger here...

7. Culture Beat - Mr. Vain (YE: #76, PEAK: #17)

It’s rare to get a eurodance song where there’s an actual message beyond partying cliches. But this song is, as you’d expect, about the titular Mr. Vain—a man who charms women who end up getting disappointed that it’s no more than a one-night stand. Tania Evans’s vocals have an aura to them that make it sound like she’s singing about a mythological creature you should beware of, as if Mr. Vain is like Medusa or something. Jay Supreme also steps up to the mic to play Mr. Vain himself, and his rapping is really fun, if not skillful, and he honestly reinforces the idea that this Mr. Vain dude is kinda cartoonishly “evil”, which is a nice contrast to the unbelievably catchy hook. He wouldn’t drop a line like “Yeah, I keep many females longin' for a chance to win my heart with S-E-X and plenty” if he wanted you to actually fear him. Also, the buzzing synths reinforce the fun energy of the song. It’s just a banger, not much else to say here. If this is the culture beat, I want more of this culture.

6...Okay, so one facet of the AIDS epidemic that should not go unnoted is the enormous amount of discrimination that gay people faced as a result of the stigma that they were burdened with due to the association between homosexuality and AIDS. This meant that for any artist, coming out could be a risky decision that faced the potential of carrying an enormous amount of stigma. But then there was the frontman of this duo, one of the first openly gay popstars in the UK, dropping a hit song that, knowing his sexual orientation, carried tons of subtext, becoming one of the biggest songs in America, and it’s a banger!...

6. Erasure - Always (YE: #73, PEAK: #20)

Who would’ve thought that the song title “Always” would be so popular in 1994, producing two hits that year!! Well, this was obviously the better of the two, with its tight synthpop groove and lush instrumentation that frontman Andy Bell rides effortlessly. And it’s stunning when you look at the lyrics and notice just how much queer subtext there is—from the first verse urging the partner to come [out] into the open and wear no disguise to the fact that there will be “no shame” in the relationship, this is not just a queer love song, it’s a statement of purpose for queer folks. Like, yes, they want to live in harmony with their partners without shame. And yes, that subtext does elevate the song. And I’m not gonna deny that this song being a big hit in the midst of the AIDS epidemic means something. I’m not queer myself, so it’s clearly not my place to say if this is empowering to the LGBTQ community, but I can definitely say that it feels like an important step forward in accepting marginalized people as a whole. And it’s a great track to boot!

5...I think it’s pretty widely known that the 90s were considered a golden age for country music thanks to the wave of neotraditional sounds cutting a swathe across that genre. But you wouldn’t exactly get that impression if you solely looked at the Hot 100 YE’s—at the time, the Hot 100 was more of a pop songs chart than the aggregate all-genre chart we all know today, meaning that in order to chart on the Hot 100, the songs had to be pushed to pop radio. I’m admittedly not familiar with 90s country at all because of this, so I’m aware this might be a weaker entry in the genre during this era. But I can say that we still got a pretty great crossover country hit for the trouble...

5. Tim McGraw - Don’t Take The Girl (YE: #87, PEAK: #17)

Is this a hot take? I saw this top a worst list for this year on YouTube, but at the same time, I don’t really see that much animosity towards this from people online. Either way, I still think “Don’t Take The Girl” is a genuinely great song. It relies on a classic 3-part narrative structure, with each part escalating the stakes subtly. It starts with a young boy annoyed that some girl from his neighborhood joined him and his dad on their fishing trip. The verse ends with the boy saying to his father “please don’t take the girl”, obviously out of annoyance that she’s tagging along. Then the song escalates to this boy at 18 now dating the girl—he’s getting robbed and the boy offers any of his belongings just so the robber doesn’t hurt the girl. It all culminates in the final verse, where the boy and the girl are now married and the girl is dying in childbirth. The boy is pleading with God to take him instead of her. It’s just deeply sad from every angle. The ending is very ambiguous and any way you slice it, it’s just deeply tragic. Whether the boy truly dies instead of the girl or the boy’s prayers go unanswered and the girl dies in childbirth, someone dies. You want to believe that a miracle pulls through and they all get that happily-ever-after, but life isn’t always like that—and that makes the song so heartbreakingly sad. And all this is delivered through Tim McGraw’s soft-spoken sincerity. It definitely relies on a cliche narrative structure, but it executes on that cliche really well.

4...Snoop Dogg was obviously a breakout star in 93 and 94, but we should not forget his cousin, the late Nate Dogg, who formed the hip hop trio 213 with Snoop and Warren G in the early 90s and became legends in the genre. Now Snoop isn’t on this track, but ⅔ of 213 can still make a banger!...

4. Warren G f/Nate Dogg - Regulate (YE: #22, PEAK: #2)

⅔ of 213 is 142. I’m gonna refer to this collab as a song by 142 now. But anyways, “Regulate” by 142 is an absolute banger. Warren G and Nate Dogg sound amazing—Nate has just as smooth of a flow as Snoop and Warren’s flow is confident and tight. I also love Nate’s singing here. The G-funk production sounds incredible—it’s dark to accentuate the lyrics about 142 getting jumped at a dice game and ending up at a party. The darkness of the production allows you to dive into the hedonism of the experience with them. 142’s calm demeanor shows how they have to keep calm and collected to even stand a chance in the streets. RIP Nate Dogg, you definitely deserve to be better remembered.

3...Okay, if I didn’t put this song in at least my top 3 on this list, I would’ve been lynched in an alley...

3. The Cranberries - Linger (YE: #49, PEAK: #8)

I mean, “Linger” is the defining song from arguably one of the most critically acclaimed acts of the past few decades. And yeah, I absolutely love it too—Dolores O’Riordan’s voice sounds so ethereal against the dreamy strings and guitars. And the entire instrumental palette adds a deeper layer of sadness to the lyrics, where O’Riordan’s betrayal is just laid bare—her partner was just stringing her along...but she can’t stop loving him. O’Riordan’s earnest delivery just makes the song all the more achingly sad. But yeah, this is utterly incredible, so what 2 songs beat it?

2...Okay, I’ve mentioned him a ton on this list already—it would feel wrong if he wasn’t in my top 2...

2. Snoop Doggy Dogg - What’s My Name? (YE: #62, PEAK: #8)

“What’s My Name” is an “I’m here, bitch” single—it’s no surprise that this is very rare. It’s much easier to make an empty song asserting your importance from a position of power than from a place of just starting out—and yes, this was Snoop Dogg’s debut single. So this had the potential to be utterly humiliating if Snoop didn’t follow it up. And that’s all the song is in essence—a declaration that Snoop Dogg is a superstar in the making—the hook is literally just Snoop’s name being said twice in that “classy fangirl” voice (idk what the right term is). And Snoop’s flow is excellent—it’s smooth as always, but with surprising variation that keeps this extremely memorable. And this song was powerful enough to establish Snoop as a household name overnight, and as such, is probably one of the few “I’m here, bitch” singles that actually holds up. So what could be better?

1...So I mentioned back with “U.N.I.T.Y.” that it was a great moment of solidarity and righteousness for women in abusive relationships. This song essentially does something similar, and I knew the moment I heard it that it would be a strong contender to top this list. Yeah, this wasn’t gonna be anything else...

1. 2Pac - Keep Ya Head Up (YE: #61, PEAK: #12)

“Keep Ya Head Up” is so pure in its feminism that it almost becomes corny. But 2Pac’s sincerity across this boom bap beat really makes this work. A line like:

“And since we all came from a woman

Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman (Yeah, yeah)

I wonder why we take from our women

Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?”

Would feel corny on any other song. But 2Pac sounds like he truly means what he says and is enraged by people being shitty to women. A line like:

“You know what makes me unhappy? (What's that?)

When brothers make babies

And leave a young mother to be a pappy (Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah)”

Really cuts through. And in a world where being shitty to women has been so desensitized in pop culture that many of the biggest songs in the country are littered with sexism and misogyny (you’d be shocked how vile some of your favorite songs are to women), it feels like a breath of fresh air for a song to show solidarity for women like this. I’m not immune—I’ve liked plenty of songs that are shitty to women just because they are bangers. But this song is a righteous step forward in sexism and misogyny becoming as scrutinized as racism is. But until we see that day, I guess we just have to keep our heads up. “Keep Ya Head Up” by 2Pac—the best hit song of 1994!!

Alright, that’s that!! My next article should be my Chill Pick article, but we’re almost done with our 90s dive!! Just one more year to explore until the decade-end lists!! 1995 should come in October. So in the meantime, if you’ve got your own lists of the best hit songs of 1994 or predictions for my 1995 lists, feel free to comment them down below! And until the next article, remember to keep it Fire!!