The Dean’s Top Ten Songs of 2011
Apologize for the delay as well as the rush on these posts. I am currently celebrating the New Years on a weekend bender in New York City seeing Afrojack and Avicii back to back so for lack of better words I am not in the right mind set to write exceptionally coherent posts…hope you enjoy the list and Happy New Years. See you at Avicii.
10. “Not Over You” by Gavin DeGraw
Did I start this countdown off with a track coming way out of left field? Yes. Does that mean I don’t absolutely love this song and I am not afraid to say it? Absolutely not. Like I said this is my personal opinion and in my opinion my boy Gavin absolutely did his thing in pursuit for a comeback via this track. Co-written by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, “Not Over You” is the quintessential “Boner Jam”: catchy chorus, great melody, and has Top 40 written all over it. Unfortunately, this track is not getting the love it deserves because you have everybody “Moving Like Jagger” and taking up all the spotlight from this song which is absolute Horse Shit. You can say what you want about my first pick because I know it is controversial because I have never even mentioned it on the site but it looked as though this track was going to come and go without getting the recognition it deserved and I couldn’t let that happen. To quote myself during a Taylor Swift concert in London, “I love this shit!”
9. “Motivation (Remix)” by Kelly Rowland Feat. Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Fabolous, & Busta Rhymes/”Sure Thing (Remix)” by Miguel Feat. Pusha T
Helll yeah boi these tracks are my joints right here. First off, if you didn’t find yourself loving “Motivation” as your guilty pleasure then we got problems. My girl Kelly absolutely went in with the sexy on this one, showing up her peer Beyonce in both vocals, appeal, and overall swag and showing her up real nice. Also you got to show love to the producers of the track Jim Jonsin and Rico Love, because this production is on point. If I ever meet those dudes I’m going to give them a serious dap for bringing back Mainstream R&B back to it’s glory days of the Late 90′s and Early 00′s with a production so smooth it could even make Ginuwine and Usher feel awkward in comparison. And note I have put the Remix because Mr. Steal Your Girl, Busta, and Fab take the track to the HNL and make it one of the hottest R&B tracks of the year and officially putting Ms. Rowland back on the map. I also got to talk about my man Miguel because I know he has spoken out about being snubbed out of Grammy Nominations this year an the man has a point. I mean theres a reason why this track is the top played song on my iTunes (Yes I admit it and I don’t hate it). Miguel has a unique smooth sound along with the production on this track makes for pure listening bliss. It is like you can hear the emotional pain and anguish in his crooning which you really can’t hear in many artists of today. Isn’t that what the “B” in R&B is all about? Also Pusha T absolutely kills it on his verse on the remix and is probably one of the most underrated verses of the year. R&B is making a powerful coming in music right now, primarily lead by artists such as Kelly and Miguel but directed into a new frontier as I will explain later on in the countdown.
8. “Freaks and Geeks”/”Bonfire” by Childish Gambino
I absolutely love this dude. Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino is straight killing it in life right now, whether it’s writing for 30 Rock or starring in Community or releasing music as Childish Gambino. To put in perspective what he as accomplished as a rapper given all of his other endeavors is absolutely amazing. 2011 was a huge year for Donald releasing the absolute banger “Freaks in Geeks” this past spring establishing himself as an elite master of witty and clever hard hitting punchlines that made Weezy even seem unoriginal (Sorry Weezy the whole jail thing really did a number on ya…I tried to enjoy Tha Carter IV I really did). He even went head to head with Drizzy in the release of his first album Camp which did surprisingly well for an up-and-coming artist (Mind you he is balancing dominating three spectrums of our Popular Culture, not the easiest thing in the world). I love Childish because he is a real artist, something becoming more prevalent in music but not as much as it should. He know exactly who he is and what he is all about and that is what he talks about in his songs, I swear he talks more about why people hate on him than actually talking about his success, something you never hear rappers of today talk about unless you’re Eminem in the final battle in 8 Mile. Does that make him a pessimist or just a realist? I’m not sure and as far as am concerned it doesn’t matter. As long as he keeps putting out clever and catchy rap songs and real lyrics he’ll be just fine and push the rap game into a direction it has yet to see. I mean the guy was in Forbes Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30,” he’s going to be alright and I don’t hate it.
7. “We Found Love” by Rihanna
This song is so damn good. Calvin Harris made the perfect beat that is so impossibly Poppy but appeals to EDM scene just the same and Rihanna is so damn likable and her vocals are irresistible. Rihanna successfully made the perfect party track on this one…dude’s AND chicks be getting loose and crazy to this one. Rihanna was the hottest female artist of the year and this track is the reason why. That’s pretty much all I have to say about this track but I don’t think I have much reason to say anything else…this track is unreal.
6. “Give Me Everything” by Pitbull Feat. Ne-Yo & Nayer
I distinctly remember the first time I heard this song: It was on my birthday and I was in an apartment in Barcelona pre-gaming to see Afrojack DJ at my favorite club in the world Opium Mar right on the beach at Port Olympico. The moment I heard this song I knew it was something special and needless to say that ended up being the best night of my life. Aside from the fact that this track was a huge commercial success and you probably are just becoming more accepting to listen to it again after it was rotated like crazy over the radio but you can’t deny that this song absolutely killed. My man and one of my favorite DJ’s in the world Afrojack absolutely did his thing on the production on this making a sick Electro-pop track that appealed to the masses while staying somewhat true to his own form. Ne-Yo crushes the chorus (How convincing is he when he tells you to “grab somebody sexy and tell them hey”? Oh hell yeah he sounds like that shit actually works)T and Pitbull actually does a nice job on the bridges (Where is Nayer exactly on this track?) One of the first songs this year showing the success to be had bridging the gap between EDM and Mainstream music, this track was a universal chart-topper and for good reason. As I wrote as my thesis for my final paper for my Latin Music class this semester, Pitbull has found a unique niche in American Mainstream music that has allowed him to change his sound and persona to the popular music of the times allowing him to remain relevant in American culture. Thus, Pitbull is not going anywhere anytime soon and I bet you we’ll be seeing a lot of tracks that are carbon copies of “Give Me Everything” hit the Top 40 charts in 2012.
To see the Top Five Songs of 2011 hit the jump
5. “All of The Lights (Remix)” by Kanye West feat. Lil Wayne, Big Sean, & Drake
Oh damn this was that shit right hurr. The thing that makes this track so banging is that it had the perfect balance of quality and quanity: high quality artists killin unreal verses. Weezy, Big Sean, and especially Drizzy…all these dudes just straight banggg. Also this track was notable as it was Drake’s debut into 2011 and in a huge way. That verse was something serious…absolutely loved it and I love him as you will see later on in the countdown.
4. “Ni**as in Paris” by Jay-Z & Kanye West
This shit was cray…nuff said. Dudes expanded their egos with banger tracks and it paid off in a huge way. Rapping about being bosses and running the world is pretty dope isnt it? Also Hov had an exceptionally good verse so that was nice to see.
3. “I’m On One” by DJ Khaled Feat. Drake, Rick Ross, & Lil Wayne
By far the best hook of the year, similar to the “All of The Lights (Remix)” just a high quantity of high quality rappers absolutely killing it on their verses. “I walk around the club…fuck everybody.” You are lying to yourself if you didn’t yell that line out when this song was on while you belligerently drunk at least 30 times.
2. “The Morning”/Essentially All of House of Balloons by The Weeknd
2011 was the year of the Weeknd. By himself revitalizing the R&B genre this year I absolutely love this dude. His sound and the auroa around his music and production are so impossibly unique and needs to be applauded. Like DJ Khaled said, he da best.
1. The Entire Take Care Album Plus The Other Stuff Drake Dropped This Year
You had to of known this one was coming. Literally every track this year from “Dreams Money Can Buy” to “Marvin’s Room” to “Club Paradise” was groundbreaking in it’s own right and 2011 was a much needed year for Aubrey to shift in his image in a way that is most true to him as well as appealing to his fans. I do have an unbelievably bias towards Drake and at this point he would have to do something pretty horacious to get me off this wagon. I love him so much and you should too.
+7 rating, 17 votes- Posted by The Dean ·
- Saturday, Dec 31, 2011 @ 8:46 pm
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jake link to this
Jan 4, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Nice list totally agree!