Year in Review: The Best Songs of 2016

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Aaron Eck
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Song: “Dang!”
Artist: Mac Miller 
Album: The Divine Feminine
Label: Warner Bros. 
Released: September 16

The song “Dang!” embodies feelings of both vibrancy and cheer and features horns by Julliard students as well as Anderson Paak. In this song Miller explores the rather difficult terrain of misunderstanding while still allowing his creativity to flow, and because of this the song possesses the ability to light up any dance floor.

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Song: “1996”
Artist: Brand New 
Album: 3 Demos, Reworked
Label: Procrastinate! Music Traitors 
Released: May 13

After 16 years of creating some of the most thematically deep pop and post-punk records of this generation, Brand New is finally ready to call it quits. This song is a reworked track that sounds quite similar to the original demo with British influences such as the Smiths and New Order being relevant. With the fact that the band is breaking up being a hard pill to swallow, this demo collection allows adoring fans to bask in the final days of their music.

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Song: “For Free (feat. Drake)”
Artist: DJ Khaled 
Album: Major Key
Label: Epic
Released: July 29

Although DJ Khaled’s presence has been known for some years now, his popularity didn’t hit its peak until fairly recently with the creation of his snapchat account, and with that his collaborations with well-known artists like Drake have earned him a spot amongst some of the most loved celebrity figures.

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Song: “Hated”
Artist: Beartooth
Album: Agressive
Label: Red Bull Records
Released June 3

Beartooth vocalist, Caleb Shomo, stated that it was “a song that promotes individuality and insecurities” and the inspiration behind the song makes listening to the music that much more enjoyable.

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Song: “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”
Artist: Rob Zombie 
Album: The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser
Label: T-Boy
Released: April 29

“Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a UFO” reminds me of the old school Rob Zombie which I happen to be a big fan of.