My top 30 songs of 2024

Hello everyone, today I will be going over my top 30 songs of 2023. Just like last year, there is no criteria for this list, it just has to be songs I liked. Let's get into it. Although this year, there will be some songs on the list that I never would have heard if I was not listening to Daniel's Hits Of The Future show.

And that includes this first song:

30. Jordan Suaste- The Devil

I don't know. This one just does it for me. The beat is quite catchy and Jordan Suaste sounds pretty good here. Glad Daniel added this to HOF.

Up next is the first of two songs from Post Malone's F1Trillion album that made the list:

29. Post Malone/ Morgan Wallen- I Had Some Help

And this is the one that started this really unique area of Post Malone's music. This is really good. I like the beat this has and Post Malone and Morgan Wallen sound quite good together. Glad this was as much of a hit as it was.

28. Lil Nas X- J Christ

At least this made some year end list given how much it flopped at the beginning of 2024. But all jokes aside, I still enjoy this one a decent bit. It's a standard fun Lil Nas X song that goes kinda hard. Although I wish it hadn't flopped as much...

27. Coldplay/ Burna Boy/ Little Simz/ Elyanna/ Tini- We Pray

What is possibly Coldplay's most overstuffed collaboration ever somehow worked. The beat is quite good here and goes well with everyone's voices, especially Burna Boy's. Definitely the best Coldplay song I've heard in a little bit

26. Kid Rain- 21st Century Love

Again, something I'm glad Daniel added to HOF as I never would have heard it otherwise. I like the production here and Kid Rain sounds like a better version of Henry Moodie mixed with Matty Healy from The 1975 (whose voice I have high tolerance for, btw). The lyrics are kind of relatable, too. Great song.

25. Central Cee/ Lil Baby- Band4Band

I don't think Central Cee will ever fail to impress me with any of his songs. Drill production always goes well with Central Cee's voice, and this song is no exception. Lil Baby also does a good job here. Glad this was a small hit.

24. Hozier- Too Sweet

If there was one surprising hit of 2024, it has to be this one. Prior to this song, Hozier had only one huge hit, that was Take Me To Church ten years ago. Too Sweet may have been more huge, and while I liked Take Me To Church, this might be better. It's quite upbeat and in the key of G Minor, and Hozier delivers one of the better vocal performances I've heard from him. I have no doubts that he will perform this on SNL later this week, and I hope he does.

23. Moneybagg Yo/ Morgan Wallen- Whiskey Whiskey

Moneybagg Yo definitely got ideas from Lil Durk. Anyways, this is as good as the two songs Lil Durk and Morgan Wallen did together in addition to having a similar format to those songs. And this works well too. Morgan Wallen sounds quite good here per usual and I like Moneybagg Yo's verse. More rappers should collaborate with Morgan Wallen, because those have worked so far.

22. Arrested Youth- Is It Too Late To Start Over

I'll admit, when I first heard this on HOF, I was reminded a little bit of I Miss You by Blink 182. That definitely makes it a good song. The beat is fun and the lead singer of this group sounds pretty good here (though not exactly like Tom DeLonge or Mark Hoppus). Good song.

21. Alex Warren- Carry You Home

It was definitely a huge year for Alex Warren, not just because he scored his first few hits, but also because he got married over the summer, and this song was the official soundtrack for his wedding. So yeah, it goes without saying that this is a really good song. The lyrics are extremely sweet and are backed up by solid production, and the song being in G Minor really makes this work. 

20. Eminem- Houdini

Quite the throwback to Eminem's best era. The beat is solid, the callback to Without Me at the beginning works quite well here, and Slim's flow is on point. I do question some of the lyrics, most notably "If I was to ask for Megan Thee Stallion if she would collab with me, would I really have a shot at a feat" and "My shit may not be age appropriate, but I will hit an 8 year old in the face with a participation trophy." But it's fine, it doesn't bring the song down for me a whole lot, if at all.

19. Marshmello/ Kane Brown- Miles On It

I was definitely excited to hear whatever sequel to Marshmello and Kane Brown's 2019 collab One Thing Right would sound like, because I quite liked that song. And this one is also quite good. Marshmello's production slaps and Kane Brown sounds quite good over it, and the truck references are moderately interesting. Amazing sequel to One Thing Right.

I said earlier that there would be two F1Trillion songs on here, and while this second one isn't a single, it was easily my favorite from the album:

18. Post Malone/ Hank Williams Jr- Finer Things

And if you listened to F1Trillion too, you could probably see what I mean. It has a fun beat and is in G Minor, so the whole thing makes me want to do surveying work in Nashville. It had my favorite hook from the album, especially when sung by Hank Williams Jr. And the guitar solo after the hook ties this all together. So yeah, great song.

17. The Weeknd/ Playboi Carti- Timeless

This is leagues better than when these two artists last collaborated, which was Popular from last year which also featured Madonna. The beat is moderately unique and both of them sound quite good, Playboi Carti's opening verse might be my favorite part. I'm glad this was at least somewhat of a hit.

16. Orville Peck/ Kylie Minogue/ Diplo- Midnight Ride

This is a near perfect bridge between Summer of Yeehaw and Brat Summer. It just goes so hard. The first positive thing I have to say about this is that Orville Peck's chad voice is fucking legendary and goes quite well with Diplo's production. Kylie Minogue also sounds quite good here, and when she and Orville Peck do the hook together, it just works. Super catchy song.

By complete coincidence, for three years in a row, the #15 song on my best list is from the soundtrack of an animated kids' movie that I haven't ever seen, and this year, that song is...

15. Pharrell- Double Life

Let's be real: they need to continue hiring Pharrell to write songs for the Despicable Me films. And this is probably my favorite that he's done. He does a good job on both the vocals and the production here, and I like how there seems to be a Drake diss towards the beginning of the song (but more on Drake disses later). So yeah, fun song with a super fun bridge.

14. The Chainsmokers- No Shade At Pitti

This was easily my favorite song from the TCS EP No Hard Feelings from earlier this year. They did a great job producing this and Drew Taggart sounds quite good here per usual, and when I hear that drop, I want to ride a motorboat super fast and super uncontrollably outside the Flora-Bama bar near Pensacola. Interesting side note.

13. People R Ugly- Brain Dead

It's going to be a hot minute before I ever get tired of this. This is insanely legendary. The beat here is iconic, and the lyrics are legendary as fuck, most notably that ever iconic opening line "I recently found out that Will Smith was a rapper and Drake used to be a Nickelodeon actor" and the line that follows that line, which is "Apparently, The Lego Movie's great, haven't seen it." So yeah, amazing song, and I will definitely be on the lookout for what People R Ugly have in 2025.

12. Fat Joe/ Anitta/ DJ Khaled- Paradise

Honest confession: I had no idea that Fat Joe still made music in 2024 until the VMAs earlier this year when these three artists premiered this song. But yeah, this is such a fun song. DJ Khaled's production slaps a decent bit and Fat Joe's flow over it is super cool. I also like Anitta's hook here. Great collab that somehow works.

11. Ezra Collective/ Yazmin Lacey- God Gave Me Feet For Dancing

Even I'm a bit surprised at how much I liked this. I like the salsa/ jazz type production this song has and Yazmin Lacey sounds pretty good here. It's catchy, what else can I say?

10. Alex Sampson- Blind

This is the last entry on the list that I never would have heard if I never listened to Daniel's HOF show (the previous entry was also on that list). Anyways, Lil Wayne's Sorry 4 The Wait mixtape must have inspired this song, this song samples Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer in the same way the title track of the aforementioned mixtape sampled Rolling In The Deep by Adele. Also, the melodies here sound somewhat similar to those of Youngblood and Alex Sampson sounds a lot like Luke Hemmings. Super happy this exists.

So Hits 1 has picked up on every Knox song since Not The 1975, except for this one:

9. Hardy/ Knox- Happy Hour

Like some of the collabs earlier on this list that shouldn't have worked but did (and a couple more still to come), this is quite good. The country rock production here is wild and suits Hardy's voice extremely well and Knox sounds quite good here too. Not sure why this had to be the one Knox song since Not The 1975 that Hits 1 didn't pick up on.

8. Kendrick Lamar- Not Like Us

I'm always going to find diss tracks funny, and this might be my second favorite diss track of all time (behind Killshot by Eminem). The beat here is super cool and Kendrick Lamar's flow is kind of funny, and the insults he makes towards Drake are legendary, with my signature favorite being "Say Drake, I hear you like em young, you better not ever go to cell block one." It'll be interesting to see what kind of music Drake will have to put out after this feud.

This next song might be one of the top two strangest collabs I've ever heard:

7. Pitbull/ Bon Jovi- Now Or Never

So basically, this is a Pitbullized version of Bon Jovi's 2000 song It's My Life, and the week leading up to this song's release, I was laughing just thinking about this collab existing. And yes, this was what I thought it would be. The rock/ EDM type production is solid and Pitbull's verses and ad-libs are super cool, and Jon Bon Jovi singing the It's My Life hook over that production is really makes this what it is supposed to be. This will forever be a classic.

6. Crash Adams- Hotel Party

As much as I usually like Crash Adams' music, I never thought they would ever appear on a best list of mine. But yeah, this goes hard. It sounds like a cross between Kissing Strangers by DNCE and Nicki Minaj and Sorry For Party Rocking by LMFAO, both of which are great songs, and the singer from Crash Adams sounds quite good here. By far their best song.

5. David Guetta/ Alphaville/ Ava Max- Forever Young

No, I have not gotten tired of David Guetta obsessively sampling songs yet, unlike select other people in the Discord. So this song samples Alphaville's 1984 song with that title, and this works really well. Marian Gold singing the original hook over David Guetta's production is super cool and Ava Max also sounds quite good per usual, and I really like the drop here. Banger.

4. Shaboozey- A Bar Song

Ah yes, this song that came this close to breaking the record for most weeks at #1 on the hot 100 set by Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus at 19 weeks. And just like that song, I never got tired of this. The beat here is super fun and goes super well with Shaboozey's voice, and that hook is so fun. Glad this was as much of a hit as it was.

So if you had told me a year ago that this next artist would ever make a best list, let alone this high on one, I probably would have laughed and laughed. However...

3. Chappell Roan- Good Luck Babe

Yeah, this was a well deserved breakthrough single from an artist I had only heard one song from and didn't like that song. Well, since this time last year, I had named Kaleidoscope to the dishonorable mentions section of my worst list and tried to forget that song, then a few months later, right around when she was opening for Olivia Rodrigo, I noticed that a few friends of mine, notably female friends of mine, were posting about going to see her (Chappell Roan), and then by early April 2024, I was following her on IG myself now willing to give her a chance, and then this song comes around that same week, and yeah, it's still really good in the present day. The retro type production is super cool and Chappell Roan delivers one of her better vocal performances, especially when it sounds like she's singing somewhat of a falsetto in the hook, which just makes this song exactly what it's supposed to be when you add the lyrics to this. So yeah, amazing excuse for a second chance (and then I later heard Hot To Go and Red Wine Supernova and liked both of those), and I will definitely be on the lookout for what Chappell Roan has next, and I'm sure everyone else will, too.

2. Linkin Park- The Emptiness Machine

I'm sure a lot of people suspected this would be on the list. Of course, following the death of Chester Bennington in 2017, Linkin Park went on an indefinite hiatus and did not reunite until this past September when they added Emily Armstrong on lead vocals and Colin Brittain on drums and dropped this song as the lead single of their album From Zero, and this is a legendary excuse for a Linkin Park comeback single. The beat here is insane, and both Emily Armstrong and Mike Shinoda sound quite good here. Glad they have returned.

Before I reveal my #1 song o 2024, I'm going to go over some honorable mentions:

Addison Rae- Aquamarine

This should have been a hit instead of Diet Pepsi.

Chappell Roan- Hot To Go

While not as good as Good Luck Babe, still really iconic.

Tommy Richman- Million Dollar Baby

Goes quite hard

Akon- Beautiful Day

Interesting to see Akon having hits in 2024, especially ones as good as this.

Linkin Park- Heavy Is The Crown

The second single off From Zero is as legendary as the first.

Jagwar Twin- The Watchers

Fun song, definitely a lot better than Bad Feeling.

Quavo/ Teddy Swims/ Luke Bryan- Georgia Ways

Released a bit too late, but definitely deserves some recognition.

And so my favorite song of 2024 is...

1. Pitbull/ Ne Yo/ Afrojack- 2 The Moon

It's a known fact that Give Me Everything by Pitbull, Ne Yo, and Afrojack is among the most iconic songs of 2011, but I never thought that song would ever get a sequel, especially in 2024. So when I first saw that these three artists were collaborating again, I had insanely high expectations given how good Give Me Everything was. And when I first heard this... it exceeded my insanely high expectations. Pitbull does a couple amazing verses, Ne Yo's hook is super fun, and Afrojack's production is a million different types of wow. But what makes this better than its predecessor and the top contender for my top song of the year since it came out is that it is in Bb major and the lyrics of the hook, which are "Part of me wants to leave and take me to the car, part of me wants to stay and take me to the bar, all of me wants to be anywhere you are until the moon turns into the sun," are quite relatable to me as that's usually how I feel when I'm out with female friends of mine at the bars. So yeah, insanely amazing follow up to one of the most iconic songs of the best year for music ever, that's why it clinched the top spot.

And that concludes my best lift for 2024, see you guys later this week for my regularly scheduled countdown post.