USA TODAY
USA TODAY's list includes superstar singles by Drake and Childish Gambino and breakthrough tracks from Snail Mail and Troye Sivan, as well as other sleeper classics listeners may have missed.
"Nice for What," Drake
From giving away wads of cash in his "God’s Plan" video to reuniting the cast of "Degrassi" for "I’m Upset," Drake’s 2018 has largely been defined by the rapper staging headline-grabbing stunts to distract from middling singles and a very embarrassing feud with Pusha T. That is, with the exception of "Nice for What," a deliriously addictive single that gets its melody from a Lauryn Hill sample and its spirit from its New Orleans bounce influences, its working-girls lyrics enough to win back even the most skeptical Drake fan. — Maeve McDermott
“God’s Favorite Customer,” Father John Misty
Not only is "Customer" the title track off his latest album, it’s also one of the best ballads Father John Misty (real name: Josh Tillman) has released. Here, the folk-rock singer poetically wrestles with his abandoned Christianity, pairing his tender croon with Natalie Mering’s angelic harmonies as he begs for forgiveness. — Patrick Ryan
"Heat Wave," Snail Mail
The best song from one of the year’s very best rock albums, 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan’s ode to a green-eyed heartbreaker is equal parts salty and sweet, meticulously constructed for emotional devastation. — McDermott
“This Is America,” Childish Gambino
Arguably the most vital music video since Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” last year, “America” paints a visceral portrait of gun violence in the United States and a loss of black innocence. Equal parts disturbing and entrancing, it’s a trap-gospel hymn that takes Gambino (stage name of actor/rapper Donald Glover) to new creative heights. — Ryan
"Drip," Cardi B
Any number of songs from Cardi B’s debut album, "Invasion of Privacy," could belong on this list — especially her J Balvin/Bad Bunny-featuring summertime stunner "I Like It." But a favorite is "Drip," the perfect union between Cardi, her husband, Offset, and her brothers-in-law of Migos, a biting rhyme-off in which Takeoff’s verse has the audacity to steal the whole show. — McDermott
“My My My!,” Troye Sivan
No song in recent memory has better captured the euphoria of first love than this catchy-as-hell, unabashedly queer anthem. Released in January as the first single from Sivan’s new album, “Bloom” (out Aug. 31), it’s a shame this never got the love it deserved on pop radio. — Ryan
"Into It," Camila Cabello
"Havana" and "Never Be the Same" may have been the record label-anointed singles from Cabello's debut, but "Into It" is the album's sleeper hit, another smash single that never was. Borrowing from Ariana Grande's coy sensuality and Carly Rae Jepsen's pop slickness, the track is an intriguing taste of Cabello's potential. — McDermott
"Wasted Times," The Weeknd
After fully leaning into glittering '80s-style pop on 2016 album "Starboy," The Weeknd went back to his sad-boy ways on surprise EP "My Dear Melancholy" — and he's much better for it. This particularly hypnotic, woozy track makes us wish that every high-profile breakup inspired music this good. — Ryan
"Sad!," XXXTentacion
"Sad!," which vaulted to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 following the 20-year-old rapper's murder last week, is an unlikely hit: melancholy and sparse, with mumbled lyrics about loneliness and suicidal thoughts. But in light of his troubled childhood, domestic-abuse allegations and efforts to turn his life around in his final months, it's an eerily poignant reminder of a life cut short. — Ryan
“Oh, What a World,” Kacey Musgraves
Trying to single out just one track from Musgraves’ exquisite country-pop crossover “Golden Hour” is a Herculean task. But "World," with its delicate banjo licks and vocoder-enhanced chorus, makes what could have been a cheesy tune about life's beauty into one of the dreamiest songs you've ever heard. — Ryan
"Night Shift," Lucy Dacus
It’s not often that “excruciating” is used to compliment a song. But "Night Shift," the opening track to Lucy Dacus’ "Historian," is almost unbearably personal in its opening minutes; by the end, when the song’s quiet opening chords have burst open into blown-out guitars and Dacus’ wavering vocals turn into wails, it’s a revelation. — McDermott
“4th Dimension," Kids See Ghosts
Most of Kanye West’s recent contributions to his G.O.O.D. Music label mates are far more interesting than what he did on his scattershot latest album, “Ye.” Case in point: this blazing collaboration with Kid Cudi, which finds West returning to form as he samples jazz legend Louis Prima and delivers some of his wittiest bars since 2015 effort “The Life of Pablo.” — Ryan
