Similar to previous years I have set some rules for myself for choosing my Top 10, namely I will only choose one song from any one artist or album. This is always a challenging task especially when most of the albums I loved this year are full of bangers and I could choose a top ten from any one of them.
There are some great songs that missed the cut this year including Gadigal Land (feat Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs & Bunna Lawrie), which is probably my favourite song by Midnight Oil from their latest album ‘The Makarrata Project’. I love this album and I’ve been a fan of the Oils ever since I was a teenager and maybe on another day ‘Gadigal Land’ or ‘First Nation’ or ‘Wind in my Head’ or any one of the other songs from this album may have made the top 10. It was a difficult decision to leave the Oils out but on a positive note I can’t wait to see the Oils play live at the rejigged Womad in March next year.
Another song that didn’t make the cut was Horrorshow and Ziggy Alberts collaboration Heaven Pt. II, two of my favourite artists but I just couldn’t find room for them either. The final song I want to recognise that didn’t make the cut this year is Second to None by Vida Sunshyne. Another favourite artist of mine but I couldn’t get this track in either unfortunately.
Anyways, enough about those that didn’t make it, here is my top ten songs for 2020.
Public Enemy released their 15th studio album in 2020, ‘What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?’ and it contains a remix of one of my all-time favourite songs, ‘Fight the Power’, which was first released some 31 years ago. Ive read some mixed reviews about the PE’s latest album but I love it and I couldn’t leave out their latest version of ‘Fight the Power’, it’s a banger.
- Baker Boy & Dallas Wood – Better Days (feat Sampa the Great)
Baker Boy still hasn’t released an album yet but consistently releases bangers and has featured in my top 10 since 2017. I have chosen ‘Better Days’ for my top ten as it’s a positive song about overcoming obstacles in life and never giving up, ‘standing strong in the dark times’. It also features Dallas Wood and Sampa the Great who are also artists who are becoming favourites of mine.
Baker Boy released two songs this year, the other being Move which is also a great track and one that would get any dance floor pumping.
- Okenyo – Solo
Okenyo released an EP, Solo, in May this year and it has been on high rotation in my playlists ever since. Probably my favourite track on the EP is Eyes to the Sky but it was actually released last year as a single. I have picked the title track of the EP for my top 10 as it is a positive song about loving yourself and being happy in your own skin, something that many of us should remind ourselves to do.
Okenyo also released a single this year, Anthropology which is also a great song.
- Aurora – Exist for Love
I have been a massive fan of Aurora since I first heard her last year and her albums are regularly on my playlist. She released a single in May this year called ‘Exist for Love’ and it is her first ever love song and is apparently the first glimpse into what she describes as a new era in her career with the upcoming release of a new album. I can’t wait to listen to it.
Aurora also released several other singles this year which have also been regulars on my playlist including Stjernestev and a cover of Thank U which was originally released by Alanis Morissette.
- Benee – Happen To Me
One of the most difficult decisions for my top ten is choosing a favourite song from Benee’s debut album ‘Hey u x’. She has also released two EPs in 2019. ‘Hey u x’ is just one of those albums where every song is a banger and each song is as good as each other. I was very close to choosing Winter (feat Mallrat) but ended up landing on ‘Happen to Me’ as it’s the opening track for the album and always puts me in a good mood as it begins the experience of listening to her album, there is something about Benee’s music that just lifts my spirits and relaxes me.
- JK-47 – The Recipe
I first learned about JK-47 from Jimblah who was promoting JK-47’s debut album through a Facebook post. JK-47 released his debut album this year called ‘Made for This’ and it is a brilliant album filled with intensity and honesty. He also recently became a father and I love the following quote by JK-47 about his music, “I want to make music that my son can listen to and be proud of, that won’t lead him astray. I want to write the type of music he can show his friends and learn from, grow with. Not just my son but everyone who listens to my music; I want to help them grow and have a positive effect on their lives.”
I have chosen ‘The Recipe’ as my favourite track from the album as it’s got a great beat and is JK-47 announcing himself on the scene and I love the chorus which goes …
I got the recipe
Chef with it ‘cause this rap be my specialty
Yes indeed, I be ahead of ‘em, see
Because I’m never letting anybody get to me
Best believe (what?), I got the recipe
Give me feta, give me cheddar, I need extra cheese
Yes indeed (Ayy), I be ahead of ‘em, see
Because I’ll never break or let the haters get to me (Uh)
- Jimmy Nice – Janet’s Son
Jimmy Nice is one half of Spit Syndicate (the other half being Nick Lupi) and released his debut solo album ‘Madidea: A Rap Motion Picture’ this year. The album is a compelling tribute to his mother whom Jimmy became a full time caregiver for during 2019 before she passed away. Jimmy said this of the album, “It’s healing for people who listen to it and have had similar scenarios but its closure for me as well. It really feels like an achievement and a mountain has been climbed.”
My favourite track from the album is ‘Janets Son’, I love the lyrics and word play in the song and the final interlude which goes, “Figure out what it is you have to say. Shit, once you find that, figure out how to say it.” I am still trying to figure out what I have to say!
- Tuka – January 1st
Tuka is a member of one of my favourite bands, Thundamentals, but is also a solo artist in his own right and released his fourth solo album, ‘Nothing in Common But Us’ in July this year. To be honest the first time I listened to the album it didn’t grab me, but after a few more listens it has grown on me to the point it is one of my favourite albums of the year.
I like the way Emma Jones describes the album in her article that is found on the Purple Sneakers website, she says Tuka “…explores the different stages of a relationship. Positioning the relationship itself as an almost third entity it its own right, Tuka takes a peculiar and curious look at what it means to be human with other humans in all its messy glory. In doing so, he emerges triumphant not just in how he has managed to overcome his own personal adversity, but also in that he now has an album that is worthy of the deep evolution he’s undergone…”
Some of my favourite tracks on the album include How to Fly, Trailer Trash and Haunted as well as a great interlude called Nothing Ever Happens in the Burbs which is a spoken word piece by Anne Casey (who actually coined the phrase ‘Nothing in Common but Us’), but I have landed on ‘January 1st’ for my top ten. This song reflects much of what I was also thinking at the start of the year as it was hard to celebrate a New Year when much of our country was experiencing a bushfire emergency.
When I first heard Jimblah’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ for Like a Version in January this year I knew it was a strong contender for my number one song for the year and held that mantle until it was knocked off when L-Fresh the Lion released his album, ‘South West’ in July this year. Jimblah is one of my all-time favourite artists and I just love the vibe of this song with the backup singers all having a great time.
Jimblah also released a single, About These Demons, this year and it was hard not to choose it for my top ten as well but I had to keep with my rule of only one song per artist. This is a very important song as it expresses Jimblah’s frustration at white Australia for consistently pushing the struggles of First Nations people to the side and pretending what’s happening in America isn’t also happening here.
According to Jimblah, “What these songlines represent is, we as First Peoples don’t want to see this happening, the difference is we aren’t able to just turn our backs on it … We don’t have that option. So we have to be active about confronting these demons, we have to activate in a way that is working towards this healing of Country. So many people claim they love this Country, but the truth is – they love to exploit this Country. If they really loved this Country, they would love us, & we would be side by side battling these demons together.”
“We need every single person who stands on this sacred Country to be activated, not just on socials, but at the dinner table, at the march, at the workplace, on the stage, in the board rooms, at parliament – that’s what true reconciliation will look like – when we are actually working together on this healing and it’s not just on the First Peoples to rid this Country of its on-going genocide and our beautiful way of being.”
This song has been part of the inspiration for me to write a blog about the #BlackLivesMatter movement which can be found here.
- L-Fresh the Lion – Peace & Light
L’s most recent album, ‘South West’ is a sensation and I love every track. He has become one of my all-time favourite artists, from first hearing his debut album ‘One’ in 2014, his second album ‘Become’ in 2016, both of which are amazing but he has surpassed both these albums with his latest offering.
L has described his third album as a love letter to the place that raised him, South West Sydney and dedicated the album to his 13-year-old self as the record is a collection of lessons he wished he had known as a kid; lessons on how to be confident in yourself and hold pride in your culture. It is an honest album depicting his experience as a second-generation migrant kid existing between two cultures and the ongoing effects of Australia’s inherently racist culture. The album is both a listening and a political experience.
I love Dan Condon’s comments on the album, he said “South West will be a record that some see themselves in. For the rest of us, it is a great way to broaden our knowledge about the complexities of culture and how we can contribute to making everyone in Australia feel proud to be themselves.”
My favourite song from the album, and my number 1 track for 2020 is ‘Peace and Light’ (featuring Mirrah), it contains some great lyrics some of which I’d love to quote here but there are so many great lines I’d end up almost reproducing the whole song so instead I encourage you to get your ears around it and give it a listen.
I love L’s lyrics and he is a true inspiration and I can’t wait to see him perform live again once we’ve sorted our pandemic.
So there it is, my Hottest 100 top ten for 2020. It’s been a challenging and interesting year but one that has been made just that bit easier to deal with by the great new music that has been released. If 2020 has highlighted one thing for me, it is the essential role artists have in our lives and how important they are to put a mirror to our society and raise questions of it inspiring us to identify where and how we can improve our lives. I can’t wait to again witness live performances of some of my favourite artists in the New Year.
All the best to you and thank you for reading this blog.
So what is your top 10 for 2020?
2019 Hottest 100 Top Ten
- Sampa the Great – Final Form
- Tones and I – Never Felt the Rain
- Thelma Plum – Not Angry Anymore
- Billie Eilish – bad guy
- Aurora – The Seed
- Hilltop Hoods – Be Yourself
- Horrorshow – New Normal
- Okenyo – Buckle Up
- Baker Boy – Cool as Hell
- Jimblah and Ellie May – Black Life Matters (Number 1 for the year)
2018 Hottest 100 Top Ten
- Paul Kelly – A Bastard Like Me
- John Butler Trio – Home
- Okenyo – 20/20
- B-Wise – The Key
- Joyride – 6am
- Rapaport – Microphone Check
- Thundamentals – I Miss You
- Omar Musa – Since Ali Died
- The Herd – Bodies
- Baker Boy – Mr La Di Da Di (Number 1 for the year)
2017 Hottest 100 Top Ten
- Thundamentals – Ignorance Is Bliss
- Thundamentals – Everyone We Know
- Seth Sentry – Play it Safe
- L-Fresh the Lion – Our World
- Horrorshow – Eat the Cake
- Joyride – Aunty Traceys Cookies
- Baker Boy – Cloud 9
- Baker Boy – Marryuna (Number 1 for the Year)
- Bliss n Eso – Moments
- Jimblah – My Island Home
2016 Hottest 100 Top Ten
- AB Original – January 26 (Number 1 for the year)
- B-Wise – Smile
- L-Fresh the Lion – 1 in 100,000
- L-Fresh the Lion – Takeover
- L-Fresh the Lion – Get Mine
- Horrorshow – Right Here
- Horrorshow – Push
- Omar Musa – Lak$a
- Omar Musa – Razors Edge
- Mirrah – So Right
2015 Hottest 100 Top Ten
- Jimblah – Treaty 2015
- Tuka – My Star
- Hermitude – Through the Roof
- Hermitude – The Buzz
- Horrorshow – Any Other Name
- Seth Sentry – Dumb
- Seth Sentry – Run
- Briggs – The Children Came Back (Number 1 for the year)
- Chance Waters – Break of Dawn
- L-Fresh the Lion – Get Mine