Method dressing has been one of the decade's hottest red-carpet trends, and one actor who's really risen to the challenge is Cynthia Erivo, whose Elphaba-inspired looks have been stellar throughout the "Wicked" press tour.

Woolf told BI, "I think the way she embodied her character from the movie in a red carpet fashion perspective was really interesting and really elevated."

It "still gave a character, but it didn't verge on costume, but it still gave fashion," he added.

Of all her press looks, Woolf said he was a fan of the Thom Browne dress she wore in Mexico City (above left), the Schiaparelli gown she wore for the London premiere (above middle), and her work with Louis Vuitton (above right).

Erivo spoke with Vogue in November about the electric-green vinyl Louis Vuitton gown she wore to the film's LA premiere, telling the publication that the look let her character "own the green color in such a big, bold way!"

"I thought the fabric choice was strong and divine, which is how I see my character," she added.

But what elevates Erivo's press tour looks from her counterparts?

To Woolf, it's a combination of the designers' interpretations, who's wearing the clothes — the same garment on two people can translate completely differently — and an understanding that "less is more."

"When you're giving a nod to a theme, it can simply be the color, like Cynthia Erivo wore green. So, I think it's less is more, and just taking one element and not making it a whole thing," he said.

Fashion nerds keeping an eye on the Cannes Film Festival this year would've been quick to spot Yseult in a new iteration of Christian Dior's "New Look," popularized in his first collection from 1947.

"I thought, I'm going to do Cannes — and I want to feel strong, I want to feel fierce," Yseult told the Washington Post in May.

She added, "I think why people love how I fit this dress is because of my body. My body is unique. I'm a plus-size girl, you know, and I really embrace all the curves. I really embrace myself. For the first time we see a body — a plus-size body — in [this look]."

Yseult's candor is exactly what excites Mays.

"She's partnered with Dior frequently, which I am so excited by because I think, so often, our understandings of size inclusivity are kind of skewed in the fashion world. You get something that's a size 16 and it fits like a 10," Mays told BI. "But to see somebody that actually looks like me and to be celebrated in a luxury space and to do it in a cool way, and I think she's another one that kind of plays on this notion of gender fluidity," noting that she can go from wearing a vintage-inspired Dior gown to a suit and tie.

"I think when you can do that, it's such a marker of someone that has true style," Mays said.

Woolf told BI that the "Rustin" actor is "definitely one of the best-dressed males consecutively throughout the year."

"I think the main thing with Colman is he's not afraid to take risks," he added. "And he carries clothes well."

Such risks can be taken with colors, silhouettes, and fabrics, and one look that embodied them all was the mustard-yellow Valentino suit and gold glitter coat Domingo wore to the Critics Choice Awards in January (above right).

Domingo's stylists, Wayman + Micah, told Vogue in October that the actor "really loves to play and have fun in every facet of his being so his style and sense of fashion fully thrives."

"We love putting him in tailored fits that highlight his stature, and we love using accessories to innovate and elevate his looks," they added. "To top it all off, Colman's energy, confidence, and charisma always take every red carpet moment to the next level."

Domingo has credited his style to both his stylists and the people he saw growing up in Philadelphia.

"We know how to dress. I grew up with men who wore pinky rings … and you know, men who kept their nails clean and long, and like love to wear high-waisted suits; and I feel like I dress like Teddy Pendergrass, The Isley Brothers … I dress like the sound of Philadelphia," Domingo told "Jimmy Kimmel Live" guest host RuPaul in August.

There was no escaping "Brat" this year and that's all thanks to British singer Charli XCX.

Fe thought the artist's tour looks were "really cool" and said that her style feels "more refined to her right now," defining it as daring, unapologetic, and fun.

She added she appreciates the wide range of brands Charli XCX and her stylist Chris Horan have worked with, citing looks from both big fashion houses like Balenciaga and from younger designers like Dilara Findikoglu, whom she wore during her hosting gig at "SNL" (above right).

"What I really like is when an artist has a specific branding or theme for an album, I can appreciate when the artist, creative director, or stylist, or whoever, really sticks to that. And it's a red thread throughout the whole entire album cycle. And I think that they did a really good job of doing that throughout the whole entire 'Brat' era," Fe added.

In July, Horan told Who What Wear that in this era of the "360" singer's career, "she's giving like very much fashion girl" and that "she doesn't play by anyone's rules."

He also said she looks for comfortability and "elements of movement" in her tour looks. He added that comfortable shoes are also important to her, but said they're "the worst part of making a performance look" because he wants her to wear "the highest shoe possible."

Canadian actor Taylor Russell has emerged as a rising star on both the silver screen and the red carpet, where she's known for striking the delicate balance between sexiness and elegance.

Fe said it's "really refreshing" to see a young person on the red carpet in such stunning pieces that aren't all about showing skin.

She added she's also seen Russell find ways to make vintage pieces feel very modern and that she likes how Russell chooses proportions: "It's really beautiful to see."

Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, spoke about his relationship with the actor — who's a global ambassador for the brand — with Vogue in May, telling the outlet, "When we work together, it's always an incredible creative dialogue — she is an amazing collaborator and a very special friend."

Another frequent Loewe collaborator is the multitalented Dan Levy, who was also recently named one of the most stylish nepo babies (his dad is actor and comedian Eugene Levy).

Mays told BI that Levy is one of her personal style inspirations who does "classic menswear with a little edge, and a little hint of something else there."

"And also, I love that he's made eyewear sort of his iconic thing," she said. "You don't think about Dan Levy without just a really great pair of frames."

And as for his best looks of the year? Mays said his Met Gala (above left) and Academy Museum Gala (above right) looks were standout moments.

On his Met Gala suit, Levy told The New York Times in May that he and Loewe "wanted a swerve to simple" with this year's look compared to what he and the brand chose for his gala debut in 2021.

"For the longest time, men's fashion was so square. Women had all the fun. That all changed over the past 10 years, so now I'm leaning into everything playful, flamboyant and exciting," he said.

Mays said Stefon Diggs is "pushing the needle forward in terms of style in the sports space" and a "classic street style icon."

"I think he's so cool in the way that he dresses. It feels obviously trend forward, but there's something really powerful about the way he gets dressed," she said. "I think he also plays with gender fluidity in a way that's interesting, but also authentic to himself."

Diggs told VMan Magazine in March that his upbringing in the DMV (the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area) helped shape his style.

"My mom has a picture of me wearing cowboy boots in the summertime, just because I loved cowboy boots at the time," he said, adding that although his parents didn't let him wear whatever he wanted, "they were able to balance out being yourself with being presentable."

Diggs added that he's a "texture guy" who likes to wear pieces that align with his mood.

"If I can wake up and something feels good to put on and it puts me in a good space energy-wise, I'm gonna wear it. It could be raining or hot outside, and I'll still have on leather. It doesn't matter. It's all about how I feel that day," he said.

Mays added that while Diggs does have moments where he leans into exclusive pieces — he's a fan of Birkin bags — her favorite looks are the ones that feel aspirational but approachable at the same time, like when he pairs a tank with a cardigan, cargo pants, and jewelry, like he did at the GQ Sports Super Bowl Party in February (above left).

With projects like "The Perfect Couple," "Special Ops: Lioness," and "Babygirl" on her calendar, it's been an exciting year for Nicole Kidman's red-carpet style.

Woolf said her style has become "more refined" since working with stylist Jason Bolden (whose other styling credits include Erivo, Cara Delevingne, and Storm Reid), highlighting the Schiaparelli gown she wore to the Venice Film Festival (right).

"I think the brands she's wearing … I think they're just more fitted to her body and her silhouette," Woolf added, noting that he's also a fan of her collaboration with Balenciaga, whom she's been a brand ambassador for since December 2023.

"It's a really good match for her, and her body, and her look," Woolf said.

Rapper and certified fashion icon A$AP Rocky "really plays well with accessories," Mays said, adding that she loved his December 2023 campaign with Bottega Veneta — it "feels authentic and elevated and family friendly, but still, like 'I'm cool and I'm smoking my joint but I have 17,000 barrettes in my head.'"

The Bottega campaign caught Fe's eye, too. She called it "a really cool standout moment."

And, of course, it's hard to mention A$AP Rocky without mentioning Rihanna (who, yes, could be on this list every year). Whether they're going out to dinner or walking a red carpet together, they don't match all the time, Fe said.

"They know themselves and they're not dressing for each other … I think that's really important to stay true to yourself and not lose that," she said.

The "Sundress" rapper told People at the Footwear News Achievement Awards on December 4 that his style is "way more focused" since becoming a dad to RZA, 2, and Riot, 1, whom he shares with Rihanna.

"Prior to that, it was more absurd outfits and just mixing and matching everything for the sake of it. Now, it's a bit more quiet luxury," he added.

2024 has been a breakout year for rapper Doechii, who's earned three Grammy nominations for 2025, including best new artist, best rap performance for "Nissan Altima," and best rap album for her August mixtape "Alligator Bites Never Heal." Kaytranada's remix of her song "Alter Ego" is also nominated for best remixed recording.

Woolf, who's been Doechii's stylist for nearly two years, said "she's a super creative person" who has a lot of ideas, so the pair will collaborate on looks based on things they both like.

One example of such collaboration was her look for Willy Chavarria's New York Fashion Week show (above left).

Woolf said that Doechii had already expressed an interest in not wearing shoes, and creating a look with toe socks. So, when he suggested that she wear a pair of the brand's underwear and go for a "muddy and dirty" look, they knew that was the perfect moment for their ideas to work together.

"Doechii understands fashion," he said. "She knows what looks good, she can see colors that mix well, textures that mix well; she understands and she always wants to break boundaries and make a statement."

One theme that can be seen throughout her style is her willingness to show the "things that are meant to be hidden" like face tape or undergarments, Woolf said. "We incorporate all of those things and we show it all."

When a song resonates so broadly and intensely that it becomes the longest-reigning No. 1 hit in Billboard Hot 100 history, a music critic needs to pay attention. Thankfully, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" is well worth the focus.

Shaboozey's breakout hit came on the heels of his star-making turn in "Cowboy Carter," an album that knows the value of an unpredictable, well-placed sample. Shaboozey used that strategy to great effect, flipping J-Kwon's 2004 club hit "Tipsy" into a heady pub chant. It was a Beyoncé-level stroke of genius; the hook has shown to transcend both genre and generation.

If you like this, listen to: "Anabelle," "My Fault (feat. Noah Cyrus)," "Vegas"

Just one month before Sabrina Carpenter released "Espresso" and commenced her plan for world domination, she stole the show in "You Need Me Now?" with a cheeky fourth-wall break.

Carpenter presumably crossed paths with Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, the darling of sapphic bedroom pop, while they were both booked as openers for the Eras Tour. At first glance, this feels like an unlikely team-up — but Carpenter's polished vocal shimmer is the perfect foil for Ulven's grittier vibe.

"You Need Me Now?" was released as the third single from Ulven's sophomore album as girl in red, "I'm Doing It Again Baby!" Her unrelenting, feisty tone recalls the fan-favorite track "Serotonin," while the lyrics reveal a scathing kiss-off to an ex, which turns out to be Carpenter's specialty.

"You know what would be really fucking cool on this? Sabrina," Ulven declares in the bridge, turning a solidly good indie-rock song into a lively, interactive experience. Now that Carpenter is as famous as she is, Ulven's epiphany feels slightly prophetic — and Carpenter's enthusiasm is even more delightful.

"Oh my god, you're so right!" Carpenter cuts in, eager and prepared for her moment. "I'm gonna sing now."

If you like this, listen to: "Too Much," "Phantom Pain," "New Love"

Hana Vu is only in her early 20s, and she already has a timeless song under her belt.

The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is truly of the millennium (she was born in 2000, making her the same age as Ice Spice and Reneé Rapp), and yet, her single "Care" is not mired in trends or modern touchstones. (Sure, there's a thinly veiled jab at consumerism, but it's not like Gen Z invented existential ire toward the status quo.)

This isn't the case for all of Vu's music; in 2019, she named her EP "Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway" after her two favorite actors. But "Care" is an extra special song, anchored by Vu's lush melodies, soulful delivery, and ever-relevant ruminations — about what it means to be human, to love, to hope, and to "find it all too much."

If you like this, listen to: "Hammer," "Dreams," "Find Me Under Wilted Trees"

Katie Gavin is known as the lead singer of MUNA, but in her debut solo album, "What a Relief," she strips away much of the band's arena-sized bravado to make room for more intimate meditations.

"The Baton" is Gavin's masterpiece: stark, folksy, and acutely compassionate. The song pays homage to her mother, who guided Gavin's growth, and the hazy silhouette of her future daughter, for whom she'll follow her mother's example.

"I'd pass her the baton and I'd say you better run / 'Cause this thing has been going / For many generations," she sings, suggesting an optimistic inversion of Fiona Apple's "Relay." Still, Gavin's lens is not entirely rosy: "There is so much healing / That still needs to be done."

Unfortunately, "The Baton" hits way harder post election, now that women and queer people across the US are getting ready to fight for control over their own bodies — and, ideally in doing so, to protect future generations from having to do the same.

If you like this, listen to: "As Good As It Gets," "Sanitized," "Sparrow"

Earlier this year, acting on little beyond a gut feeling, I was lucky enough to catch Fabi Reyna, aka Reyna Tropical, perform in Brooklyn. I found myself hypnotized by her organic production style, her seamless weave of multicultural traditions (Reyna was raised between Mexico, Texas, and Oregon), her tender embrace of queer themes, and, most of all, by "Conocerla."

Now, whenever I return to this song, I have a hard time putting my finger on what it is I love so much — but I always have the same recurring, insufficient thought: "This is the coolest thing I've ever heard."

Luckily, for Reyna, that instinctive pleasure is the whole point. She told Paper that "Conocerla" is about "personal exploration" and creating a space to nurture emotion, not logic. "Through art and music," Reyna explained, "we can hold more than we realize when we don't rely solely on our minds."

If you like this, listen to: "Cartagena," "Lo Siento," "Conexión Ancestral"

Donald Glover's final release as Childish Gambino, "Bando Stone and the New World," is an apocalyptic concept album that follows his character, also a musician, while he navigates doomsday on a remote island.

"Bando Stone" is presented as a holistic body of work, but as with many survival epics, the hero is better off with some company. The album hits its peak when Glover is joined by Jorja Smith and Amaarae for "In the Night," which soundtracks a humid, nocturnal love affair. The women strike conspiratorial tones, singing about lustful dreams and illicit rendezvous; the mini-drama seems immaterial to the end of the world, but it succeeds in infusing the saga with fresh textures and intrigue.

If you like this, listen to: "Lithonia," "Talk My Shit (feat. Amaarae & Flo Milli)," "Running Around (feat. Fousheé)"

Immediately upon the release of "Eternal Sunshine," Ariana Grande's sixth studio album, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" became the runaway favorite across the board. Fans sent it straight to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Keith Urban called it "audible heroin." Many critics (including myself) compared the sparkling synths and propulsive rhythm to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," a compliment of the highest order among pop nerds. (Max Martin, who produced much of "Eternal Sunshine," has also worked with Robyn. The pair earned two top-10 hits in 1997.)

"We Can't Be Friends" is patently a reaction to Grande's recent divorce, but subtextually, it confronts the inevitable public fallout — that is, the stigma of being a famous woman with a string of romantic missteps. Still, at least in song, Grande can emerge from the fray with her ecstatic falsetto, unashamed and resilient as ever. "Know that you made me / I don't like how you paint me," she insists, "yet I'm still here hanging."

If you like this, listen to: "Don't Wanna Break Up Again," "Eternal Sunshine," "I Wish I Hated You"

Maggie Rogers has always been an exceptional producer, as evidenced by her famous Pharrell critique (or, more accurately, his lack of critique) that catapulted her from NYU student to indie darling.

In her underappreciated sophomore album "Surrender," Rogers pivoted from folk-electronica to a more organic rock sound as she came into her own as a vocalist. "I learned how to use my lower register," she told The New York Times, "to just sing with my whole body."

When it came time to record her third studio album, "Don't Forget Me," Rogers was already equipped with these polished-up skills. This time, it's her songwriting that comes into clearer focus, totally shorn of self-doubt and pretense.

This is especially true of the title track, in which every word has been chosen with keen precision. Throughout each verse and chorus, Rogers paints miniature portraits of Sally (a vision of domestic bliss), Molly (a besotted portent of mediocre love), and herself (an autonomous woman with a lust for emotional heirlooms).

As Rogers explained in her email newsletter, some of these details were invented for the song. "Pen to paper. Fully formed. There they were," she wrote. But that doesn't make them feel any less lifelike: "I think in this way, some of the deepest truths about my present were able to come forward."

If you like this, listen to: "The Kill," "If Now Was Then," "On & On & On"

Grace Cummings makes music as though she's building a bridge between the old and the new. Her album "Ramona" is vivid and nostalgic, saturated with hues of old-school blues, yet dauntless in a distinctly modern way — the kind of music that a Gen X dad and Gen Z daughter could play on a roadtrip and equally enjoy.

The centerpiece is "Common Man," which juxtaposes vintage instrumentation and familiar pastoral imagery (thunder booming overhead, a sunrise on the horizon) with Cummings' singular, androgynous, anything-but-predictable voice.

Even in this wide-open landscape, her belting easily swells to fill the space. So when Cummings delivers the song's thesis, "I can't stand to be the common man," it's no challenge to believe her.

If you like this, listen to: "On and On," "A Precious Thing," "Help Is On Its Way"

"Too Sweet" is Hozier's highest-charting song ever on the Hot 100, which is kind of a miracle, since he didn't even bother to include it on his latest full-length album, 2023's "Unreal Unearth."

Thankfully, "Too Sweet" didn't get buried forever. It was released seven months later on the EP "Unheard," a brief collection of songs from the "Unreal Unearth" sessions that Hozier had scrapped "for different reasons."

Perhaps Hozier felt the song was too radiant and playful — or, ahem, too sweet — for the album's conceptual journey through the nine circles of hell. That could explain it, although the narrator is certainly at risk of being punished for gluttony (he has a whiskey habit and a 3 a.m. bedtime, so I'm assuming he's not a fan of moderation). Or perhaps Hozier sensed that he had a smash hit on his hands, and didn't want it to overshadow the rest of the project, like "Take Me to Church" did with his debut.

We may never know his reasons for unleashing "Too Sweet" when he did. We can only be grateful that he did it at all — and maybe consider this a learning experience. As his career trajectory has proven, he's a more patient man than most, and something this sweet is worth the wait.

If you like this, listen to: "Nobody's Soldier," "July," "Fare Well"

"Soup," the second track and fifth single from Remi Wolf's "Big Ideas," is a shining example of an earworm done right. Backed by Tame Impala-esque guitar riffs and bright '80s synths, Wolf delivers a series of airtight melodies and just the right amount of quirk.

Like all the greatest top-40 bops, the chorus is ideal for screaming in the car — yet there's no risk of tedium or replay-induced headaches. "Soup" can be played on a loop and Wolf's songcraft stays fresh.

If you like this, listen to: "Cinderella," "Toro," "Alone in Miami"

As with the two singles from "Guts" that preceded it ("Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back!"), I remain aghast that "Obsessed" wasn't a No. 1 hit.

Olivia Rodrigo is at her best when she's a little punk, a little rock, and completely unhinged — and this "Guts (Spilled)" deluxe track about developing a fetish for her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend ("I know her star sign, I know her blood type") may be the most loosely hinged track in her entire catalog.

In polite society, it's rare that women are allowed to express the full spectrum of emotion — rage, envy, lust, self-loathing, and, of course, obsession — without getting labeled crazy. Rodrigo actively bucks against that sexist custom with her songwriting, flinging herself into the deepest trenches of her psyche and emerging even stronger. In her capable hands, "I can't help it, I've got issues" becomes less of a confession and more of a rallying cry.

If you like this, listen to: "So American"

I tuned in to Fontaines D.C. last fall, when I saw them open for the Arctic Monkeys' The Car Tour. The Irish band had already released three albums and won a Brit Award, but it still felt like they were on the cusp of greatness, like they were building toward a true breakthrough.

That catalyst arrived seven months later with "Starbuster," the celebrated lead single from their new album, "Romance." The song is punchy and cinematic, like Kasabian's "L.S.F." meets Gorillaz's "Dare" meets the atmospheric, suburban angst of "Skins" (the original UK series, not the busted US version). But despite its traceable lineage, "Starburster" is no mere imitation; it synthesizes its post-punk and rap-rock influences to craft something new.

If you like this, listen to: "In the Modern World," "Sundowner," "Death Kink"

In Luca Guadagnino's horny tennis drama "Challengers," the thrilling reveal of a young, headed-for-stardom Tashi Duncan ("The hottest woman I've ever seen," in the words of Patrick Zweig) is set to the equally thrilling thumps of "Yeah x10."

The aptly named song is the highlight of the movie's soundtrack, created by Nine Inch Nails maestros Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The Oscar-winning duo provides the precise mix of tension, delight, youthful awe, and "unending homoerotic desire" that's needed to match the characters' churning drama.

Tashi (played by Zendaya) struts onto the court, lithe and confident, as her two future suitors (Josh O'Connor as Patrick and Mike Faist as Art) revel in their shared surge of desire. The scene-and-song combo kicks off a riveting chain of events that dominated cinephile discourse this year. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," indeed.

If you like this, listen to: "I Know," "The Signal," "Challengers: Match Point"

In 2022, FKA twigs launched a new era of pleasure with "Caprisongs," an aura-heavy, electro-pop mixtape designed to sweat out the demons.

This year, she doubled down with "Eusexua," the lead single from her upcoming album of the same name. The twigs-invented word seems to be derived from the Greek word "euphoria," modified to reflect something more erotic, something truly ineffable. The song is an intricate choreography of techno beats and cascading synths, the exact kind of soundscape where twigs and her peculiar mystique tend to thrive.

If I had to define "Eusexua" based on how the song makes me feel, it would be "feeling present in one's body." Not the body-positive platitude of "feeling comfortable in one's skin," per se, but a sensation of full aliveness — every hair on your arms standing in salute, your heartbeat thumping in your fingertips.

If you like this, listen to: "Perfect Stranger," "Drums of Death"

Over the summer, shortly before the release of her new single, Raye told me how she's willing to sacrifice profit for her creative vision.

"It upsets me to do a half-assed gig or to do a half-hearted thing," Raye explained. "If I was in this to make money, I wouldn't even be releasing the kind of music that I am."

"Genesis." is proof positive of that credo; the amorphous, seven-minute song is the kind of big swing that artists take after years of hard work and honing their creative vision. During the three-part odyssey, Raye unspools everything weighing on her mind, from algorithmically encouraged envy, self-loathing, and substance abuse to political causes she cares about, like universal healthcare and worker rights. It's a lot to digest in one go, but this song deserves the time and effort.

If you like this, listen to: "Oscar Winning Tears."

The cultural impact of "Not Like Us" is self-evident. By many accounts, Kendrick Lamar was already winning in his rap beef with Drake, largely thanks to his Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrical skill. But then, Lamar did the most devastating thing he could to a chart-topping, best-selling behemoth. He dropped an absolute banger.

It takes a truly remarkable diss track to have consumers, gatekeepers, and corporations alike in a chokehold: No. 1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks; six Grammy nominations, including both record and song of the year; plus a much-anticipated performance at the Apple Music-sponsored Super Bowl in February.

Lamar may be the only artist alive who could've pulled it off — that is to say, the only rapper who's shrewd, ruthless, and respected enough to convince stuffy executives to let him call Drake a "certified lover boy, certified pedophile" on national TV.

If you like this, listen to: "Squabble Up," "Luther (with SZA)," "Heart Pt. 6"

There was a time this summer when I couldn't go on Instagram without seeing "Nissan Altima" shared on someone's story. More recently, videos of Doechii performing the frantic first verse — in which she calls herself "the new hip-hop Madonna" and "the trap Grace Jones" — have taken over my TikTok feed.

Despite the never-ending clips, I have yet to see Doechii botch the lyrics or trip over her tongue. "Nissan Altima" puts her star power on full display; she's a formidable, top-tier rapper with a flair for eccentric phrasing.

Released as the lead single from Doechii's latest mixtape, "Alligator Bites Never Heal," this is the kind of cult-classic crowd-pleaser that, sooner or later, fans will hold up as a turning point in the artist's career.

Although "Nissan Altima" is still relatively niche and has yet to appear on the Hot 100, it has sparked an undeniable groundswell of support, even snagging a Grammy nomination for best rap performance. Don't be surprised when you start to hear Doechii's music everywhere.

If you like this, listen to: "Boiled Peanuts," "Denial is a River," "Beverly Hills"

This time last year, I crowned Chappell Roan's "Red Wine Supernova" as the best song of 2023.

I'm willing to bet Roan wasn't stunned by the praise; "I'm not that surprised people like it because it's really good," she told Dork at the time. But the selection did get some pushback from friends and lurkers online. Back then, Roan was little known by mainstream standards, performing for crowds of a couple thousand at most on The Midwest Princess Tour. Upon its release, "Red Wine Supernova" debuted at No. 75 on the Hot 100 — nothing to sniff at, certainly, but nothing sensational.

Now, "sensation" is just one of many suitable labels for Roan's career. She's become a main character in pop music, performing for massive crowds at music festivals and millions of viewers on network TV. Her rise to stardom has been ferociously analyzed, nitpicked, and gawked at, but as Roan said herself, it should've come as no surprise. She boasts an exceptional, magnetic talent that, once witnessed, makes it impossible to ignore or forget.

This became clearer than ever at Coachella, where Roan performed the as-yet-unreleased single "Good Luck Babe!" with the conviction of a much bigger star. A clip of her singing the bridge while staring down the barrel of the camera, eyes alight with both anguish and clarity, went viral online. There, in the desert, standing face-to-face with "I told you so," she banished every flicker of doubt.

"Good Luck Babe!" is now a top-five hit on the Hot 100, a Grammy nominee for song of the year, and the epicenter of this year's so-called "lesbian renaissance."

In retrospect, it's no wonder that Roan's watershed moment was a song that nods to her own staying power, a magic touch that lingers for a lifetime. She was right all along: You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

If you like this, listen to: Roan only released this one song in 2024, but keep an eye out for her much-teased sophomore album, expected to arrive next year.

It'll presumably feature unreleased songs "The Subway," which Roan has performed at several music festivals, and "The Giver," a sapphic Shania Twain-esque bop that Roan debuted on "Saturday Night Live."

Charli XCX's "Brat" already earned the No. 2 slot on this year's best albums ranking — but I'm breaking my own rule, which forbids overlap on both end-of-year lists, for two reasons.

First, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix does not technically appear on the standard edition of "Brat." It was released as a single before its inclusion on the remix album, "Brat and It's Completely Different But Also Still Brat," which, as the name suggests, is a completely different thing. Second, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix is a force of nature unto itself and needs to be treated as such.

I can't remember another time there was such a consensus, from critics and fans alike, about the year's most affecting, most visceral pop song — let alone a spontaneous remix like this one.

Lorde had already heard the original "Girl, So Confusing" by the time Charli sent her a heads-up that, hey, long time no see, but there's a song about our unspoken rivalry on my album. Any Lorde fan would've expected her to respond with grace and mercy, but she went several steps further, offering a real-time resolution: "Let's work it out on the remix." She sent her entire verse over text, the same way it appears on the track, to which Charli reacted the same way everyone else did: "Fucking hell."

Cultural observers and political pundits have been asking each other all year, what makes someone or something "Brat"? Even Charli has struggled to articulate it, but of course, Lorde understood implicitly. Their public truce encapsulates the true essence and charm of the album: off-the-cuff, unedited, and vulnerable in the same way that throwing up in the club and letting a friend hold your hair back ends up bringing you closer.

If you like this, listen to: "Everything is Romantic featuring Caroline Polachek," "Apple featuring The Japanese House," "B2b featuring Tinashe"

Listen to BI's complete list of 100 best songs on Spotify.

There is no party playlist you could make that would be better than playing "Timeless" top to bottom. Across 21 songs, Kaytranada proves himself a top-notch curator of grooves, summoning the perfect cast of sidekicks for his mission — put simply, to make you dance dance dance dance — from Ravyn Lenae, Tinashe, and PinkPantheress to Channel Tres, Anderson .Paak, Childish Gambino, and Thundercat.

Best songs: "Drip Sweat," "Do 2 Me," "Witchy," "Wasted Words," "Snap My Finger"

Before Kendrick Lamar surprise-dropped "GNX," Vince Staples had hip-hop heads fully covered. The two rappers share an affinity for intellectual lyrics, an aptitude for tackling complex themes, and a history of critical acclaim — but where Lamar's music is at least somewhat motivated by commercial interests, Staples is unburdened by ego and expectations.

"No one's coming to me," he told Zane Lowe, "looking for a single or looking for a party record, or things of that nature. I don't feel those pressures."

Staples thrives in the album's brooding sonic landscape, which invites the listener to stay fully absorbed. Take 35 minutes to do nothing but listen.

Best songs: "Black&Blue," "Shame on the Devil," "Étouffée," "'Radio,'" "Little Homies"

The Last Dinner Party's much-hyped debut album, "Prelude to Ecstasy," over-delivers on the promise of excitement and novelty. Although several of its highlights were released ahead of time as singles, the album's in-between moments are the furthest thing from filler; each composition is lush and grandiose, never allowing for a dull moment. You may be tempted to accuse the British quintet of melodrama, but you get the feeling that's exactly what they were going for.

Best songs: "Burn Alive," "The Feminine Urge," "Beautiful Boy," "Portrait of a Dead Girl," "Nothing Matters"

"Wilson" is Ashe's third full-length album, completing the trilogy that spells out her real name (Ashlyn Rae Wilson), but it's her first as an independent artist.

After canceling her global tour in 2023, Ashe decamped to Nashville, where she'd planted the seeds of her songwriting career. After a period of tending to her burnout and building a life with her now-fiancé, she was able to be creative again for creativity's sake. "I painted the walls and renovated and gardened. I bought power tools and put up the wainscoting in the bathroom. I got dirt under my fingernails," she told Forbes. "That was a huge part of separating myself from what my entire identity was wrapped up in, which was my career."

Ashe has always made music that breaks with trends and conventions, but with "Wilson," her unfettered approach is more apparent than ever. Throughout the album, she sings quite literally about liberation, autonomy, and shedding her people-pleasing tendencies, backed by spacious, soaring production that sounds as free as she feels.

Best songs: "Please Don't Fall In Love With Me," "Running Out of Time," "Cherry Trees," "I Wanna Love You (But I Don't)," "Ashe"

The third studio album from New York-founded foursome Charly Bliss is the perfect musical sugar rush, packed with fizzy vocals and guitar riffs so candy-coated you'll mistake them for synths.

Charly Bliss has often been described as "bubblegrunge," earning high praise for their poppy takes on '90s indie-rock. "Forever" leans more bubble than grunge, echoing Taylor Swift's "The Archer" in the Jack Antonoff-approved standout "Nineteen" and often evoking Carly Rae Jepsen's beloved "Emotion."

But make no mistake: Even as Charly Bliss' soundscape has evolved, their songwriting hasn't lost its Warped Tour-adjacent angst. "I'm Not Dead" yearns for a life with more fuck-ups and fulfillment ("If I'm a rock star, I'm not doing it right") while "I Don't Know Anything" is explicit about the harrowing realities of the music industry ("You bet on yourself and you lose every day"). But it's the deceptively upbeat single "Back There Now" that contains the album's spikiest turn of phrase: "A boy like you would hang me if I gave you the rope."

Best songs: "Calling You Out," "Back There Now," "Nineteen," "I'm Not Dead," "I Don't Know Anything"

Chinouriri's disarming candor, empathy, and attentiveness come through loud and clear in her songwriting. Listening to her debut album, "What a Devastating Turn of Events," you get the feeling that she walks around with her arms outstretched, ready to engage anyone in conversation. Her best songs are personal but rarely self-serving; she'll narrate tales about a lonely month she spent in Los Angeles ("When you don't belong, the hills will know") or a cousin in Zimbabwe who committed suicide after getting pregnant ("Out of wedlock which her family despised / But if she lost it, it would still be a crime") that double as meditations on racism and reproductive healthcare.

But not all of her songs are heavy. Chinouriri is a proud student of Britpop (Blur, Oasis) and noughties indie-rock (Phoenix, Kings of Leon), though she filters her research through a modern feminine lens (Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen circa "It's Not Me, It's You"). "What a Devastating Turn of Events" strikes a tricky balance between being substantial, at times intense, and being downright fun to listen to.

Best songs: "Garden of Eden," "The Hills," "Never Need Me," "All I Ever Asked," "What a Devastating Turn of Events"

Lorely Rodriguez, known professionally as Empress Of, has collaborated with an array of indie-pop geniuses, from Blood Orange to Caroline Polachek to MUNA and toured with Carly Rae Jepsen and Maggie Rogers.

If you like any of those artists — or, better yet, all of them — you'll love Rodriguez's magnum opus, "For Your Consideration." The compact 11-song tracklist sounds like someone put all the best experimental dance music and punchy synth-pop into a blender and sprinkled it with the essence of Rosalía's "Motomami." The result is a treat that's jam-packed with flavor, made to be slurped and savored.

Best songs: "Preciosa," "Femenine," "Sucia," "Baby Boy," "What's Love"

"Bright Future," the sixth solo album by Adrianne Lenker (also known as the frontwoman for Big Thief), is at once haunting and comforting.

Lenker's singular brand of songwriting honors the traditions of folk music while breaking new ground, unfurling scenes of unrequited queer love ("We could be friends / You could love me through and through / If I were him") and the desire for a gentle, patient life ("Do you wanna dance? / Sometimes I think I try too hard") in her signature one-take warble.

There's a palpable melancholy in her reveries — an awareness that nothing is quite so easy or so pure — but still undeniable beauty in the hope of it all. "I have so much nuance and complexity to what I need," Lenker told Crack Magazine, "and I do not feel by any means I've wrapped my mind around it."

Best songs: "Sadness As a Gift," "Fool," "No Machine," "Free Treasure," "Vampire Empire"

Clairo is doing her best Carole King on "Charm," and she could take this role to the bank.

Much like King's seminal work, "Tapestry," Clairo's third studio album is characterized by billowing warmth, a soundscape largely achieved with jazzy piano chords, woodwinds, and humble lyrics that capture basic truths of love, devotion, and heartache: "It's second nature," "You make me wanna go buy a new dress / You make me wanna slip off a new dress," "Honey, was it enough? Is it ever enough?"

Best songs: "Sexy to Someone," "Second Nature," "Terrapin," "Juna," "Add Up My Love"

Tems has already left her fingerprints across the pop landscape, whether listeners realize it or not. You may recognize her voice from Drake's "Fountains," Future's "Wait for U," Beyoncé's "Move," or, most likely, Wizkid's "Essence," which was nominated for a Grammy and became the first song by all Nigerian artists to reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But Tems was not destined to be a featured guest. Her first full-length album, "Born in the Wild," makes it clear that her fate is musical royalty. (Prophetically, her parents named her Temilade, which means "the crown is mine" in Yoruba.)

"Born in the Wild" pulls triple duty, showcasing Tems as a dynamic vocalist, producer, and, in the words of Boutayna Chokrane for Pitchfork, "author of her own lore." Although the album carries traces of her forebears, from Lauryn Hill, Destiny's Child, and SZA to the reggae-fusion legend Diana King, whose "L-L-Lies" is interpolated in "Gangsta," Tems is credited as the lead songwriter on all 18 tracks. Her voice and vision remain at the forefront.

Best songs: "Burning," "Love Me JeJe," "Ready," "Boy O Boy," "T-Unit"

Halsey has long been devoted to concept albums, whether it's the Shakespearean fever dream of 2017's "Hopeless Fountain Kingdom" or the pregnancy-induced body horror of 2021's "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power."

Their latest album, "The Great Impersonator," both cements and subverts their legacy as a shapeshifter. Across the 18-song tracklist, Halsey adopts different genres, tones, and impressions, but she constantly oscillates between fantasy and sincerity. On the opening track, "Only Living Girl in LA," Halsey takes a cue from Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" — written as a tender farewell to the duo's partnership — while cracking dark jokes about the crowd at her funeral. The PJ Harvey-inspired scorcher "Dog Years" draws a parallel between suicidal ideation and putting down her pet. "Letter to God (1983)" is a convincing Bruce Springsteen pastiche, which nearly distracts from the desperate pleas for divine intervention.

Only by trying on costumes, Halsey seems to suggest, can she feel safe enough to expose her most private fears and urges.

There's a sense of tragedy that pervades this practice, as well as the music itself. "The Great Impersonator" was written during a time of grave physical illness and familial upheaval, or, in Halsey's words, "the space between life and death."

Halsey confronts her catastrophes with emotions scaled to match. She is at turns furious, devastated, resentful, resigned, and wracked with guilt — both of the survivor's and mother's variety. "I don't ever wanna leave him," she sings of her young son, Ender, "but I don't think it's my choice."

More than anything, "The Great Impersonator" captures the never-enoughness of life itself. Halsey is doing everything, saying everything, feeling everything, because it might be their last chance — and isn't that the point?

Best songs: "Ego," "Panic Attack," "I Believe In Magic," "Lonely Is the Muse," "Arsonist"

Thanks to her rich timbre and multi-octave range, Brittany Howard's voice is immediately discernible, whatever style of rock 'n' roll she happens to be commanding that day.

As the frontwoman for Alabama Shakes, it was '60s-flavored Southern soul ("Boys & Girls") and psychedelia ("Sound & Color"). In her second solo album, Howard leans even deeper into her soul and funk instincts, swathed in fuzzy guitar licks and jazz-inflected brass arrangements. "What Now" reveals Howard at the peak of her powers, bending every instrument to her virtuosic will.

Best songs: "I Don't," "What Now," "Red Flags," "Prove It To You," "Power to Undo"

Sabrina Carpenter is a pop star with a capital P and a capital S. She knows exactly what she's doing, and this clarity of purpose and personality is what makes "Short n' Sweet" shine through 2024's deluge of pop albums.

These days, most of the top singer-songwriters follow the Taylor Swift Theory of Pop Music, believing they must be confessional and soul-bearing in order for their music to resonate with fans. Carpenter's sixth studio album (yes, sixth, though she considers it to be her second "big girl" album) offers a rebuttal.

That's not to say Carpenter isn't a skilled lyricist; Jack Antonoff, who produced much of "Short n' Sweet," confirmed that Carpenter wrote every word in "Sharpest Tool," the album's best song. She's just a different kind of lyricist, wielding humor, innuendo, and wordplay as many of her peers might wield their diaristic details.

Even the most generalized, nonspecific songs in the tracklist, like the smash hit "Espresso" or the sexy standout "Bed Chem," manage to feel sticky and memorable. Carpenter delivers each line with vocal flair and charisma, reshaping the broadest phrases to fit her specific persona. On paper, "That's that me espresso" could've been written by anyone, but now that we've heard the song, it could only make sense coming out of Carpenter's mouth.

Best songs: "Please Please Please," "Sharpest Tool," "Coincidence," "Bed Chem," "Espresso"

Magdalena Bay is the indie-pop band that every music critic and chronically-online-cool-girl is obsessed with right now.

If you're not familiar with their surrealist TikTok account or the album cover that inspired Rosalía's Halloween costume, the band is actually just two people: Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, both Miami natives with Argentinian-Jewish roots, who met in high school. They're a couple now, though some people mistakenly believe they're related. Think of it like The White Stripes for the digital age — if Jack and Meg White were listening to a lot of early Grimes and doom-scrolling on their phones.

"Imaginal Disk" is the culmination of their 13-year partnership, the fruit of two true creatives who are perfectly in sync. The music is very much of the moment, full of distorted synths and anxious lyrics about "divine digits," warped mirrors, and TV-induced nightmares — but, miraculously, it never strays into the realm of pretentious, patronizing slush. Tenenbaum and Lewin may be preoccupied with the splendors and ills of the modern world, but they're not preaching or speaking down to us because they are us.

Best songs: "Killing Time," "Image," "Death & Romance," "Fear, Sex," "That's My Floor"

Tyla's self-titled is the most impressive debut album of the year, parading an assortment of moods and genres — namely Afrobeats, amapiano, pop, and R&B — with the poise of a seasoned superstar.

Listening to "Tyla," I can't help but remember how I felt listening to Rihanna's "Music of the Sun" in 2005, that flutter in my stomach when I knew something big was about to happen — or, more accurately, someone.

Like most great pop albums, "Tyla" is accessible and versatile with a song for every mood. "Water" may be her "Pon de Replay," but she's also got her independent-girl anthem ("No.1"), her timeless love song ("Butterflies"), her heartbreak memento ("To Last"), and, of course, her party-starters ("Jump," "On My Body"). Through it all, Tyla never sacrifices her signature sound for the sake of mass appeal.

Best songs: "Truth Or Dare," "Butterflies," "On and On," "Jump," "To Last"

Taylor Swift as a concept looms large over her 11th studio album — so much so that it was summarily dismissed by people who've grown tired of "her whole thing." As Swiftian history shows us, this fatigue happens cyclically every few years.

But as Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote in "Heartbreak is the National Anthem," his new book about Swift's place in music history, "Many people often find Taylor infuriating and exhausting. So does Taylor Swift."

That may as well be the thesis for "The Tortured Poets Department." At 31 songs, the album is instantly overwhelming. It's self-effacing and self-aware to a truly comical degree. (I will never forget where I was when I first heard Swift sing, "I'm having his baby. No, I'm not! But you should see your faces.") It's full of heel turns, hallucinations, and contradictions. She pledges, "I can fix him," then ends the same song with, "Woah! Maybe I can't." Later, she swears she'll forget him — in a song that also swears he's a swindler who deserves jail time. She begs God to send her a soulmate, but three tracks later, she compares the sensation of leaving a man to emerging from a frozen lake. In the album's lead single, she literally casts herself as an asylum patient.

As Sheffield notes, "There's something scary about all her try-try-try energy, but that's the only possible way she could write songs like these." Swift is always erupting, never walking it back, and never playing it cool. It's annoying. It's relatable. It's annoyingly relatable. But for her fellow triers, it's sheer magic. It's a crucial part of her allure as an artist, and it's also what makes the "The Tortured Poets Department" — yes, even the extra 15 songs — such a damned, accursed thrill.

Best songs: "But Daddy I Love Him," "Guilty as Sin?," "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?," "Loml," "The Black Dog," "How Did It End?," "The Prophecy"

One year after The Marías released their debut album, 2021's "Cinema," the band reached a watershed moment: They were featured on Bad Bunny's 2022 blockbuster "Un Verano Sin Ti." Their duet, "Otro Atardecer," has over 481 million streams on Spotify to date.

Bad Bunny's cosign promised more ears and a much bigger platform; a well-executed sophomore album could change their trajectory forever. It seemed the stars had aligned.

In reality, their path forward wasn't promised. Lead singer María Zardoya and drummer and producer Josh Conway, the duo that founded the band and cowrote the songs, broke up. They'd begun dating shortly after meeting, drawn together by their artistic chemistry. Dousing that spark could've spelled the end of The Marías.

To avoid this fate, the bandmates had the wisdom to impose a six-week sabbatical — the longest they'd been apart in their eight years of knowing each other, Zardoya told Elle. They both took the time to travel. "We were in our 'Eat, Pray, Love' era for sure," she said. "The isolation was necessary for us to heal, then come together and make this project. We overcame a lot to make it happen."

"Submarine" may be the best album written by actively splitting lovers since Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," though The Marías' version is markedly more serene. Zardoya swaps the righteous fury of Stevie Nicks for soothing melodies and abiding tenderness, sounding more like Selena mixed with Sade. Conway compliments his ex's hushed vocals with glinting synths and waves of reverb.

The effect is all-encompassing, fluid, almost reverent — quite like sitting at the bottom of a pool, watching the sunlight glitter on the surface, as Zardoya does in the cover art. There isn't a single dissonant moment or skippable song to pull you out of its depths.

Best songs: "Echo," "Run Your Mouth," "Blur," "No One Noticed," "Vicious Sensitive Robot"

"Hit Me Hard and Soft" is Billie Eilish's third studio album and her best yet by far. Compared to the lonely visions of 2019's "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" or the self-indulgent soliloquies of 2021's "Happier Than Ever," this world feels richer, more curious and expansive.

Although the tracklist only has 10 songs, every chord, every ad-lib, and every transition has been carefully considered as part of a whole. String motifs and key lyrics resurface across the album, and the eerie and reflective closing track, "Blue," fuses two scrapped songs from Eilish's past into something new.

Eilish's brother and collaborator Finneas O'Connell once described this album as containing "real ghosts" because they resurrected old material. This may explain why its centerpiece, "Chihiro," shares a name with the protagonist of "Spirited Away," a movie about stumbling through a portal to an alternate dimension that's full of strange monsters and spirits. Chihiro is thrust into a great adventure at an extremely young age — much like Eilish when she shot to fame as a teenager. His only options are escape or immersion.

Eilish's previous albums ooze with the itch to escape. In "Hit Me Hard and Soft," Eilish finally chooses the latter.

Best songs: "Chihiro," "Birds of a Feather," "The Greatest," "The Diner," "Blue"

The "best" album of the year is always debatable, but one thing is for sure: "Brat" will go down in history as the main character in 2024's cultural discourse.

The artwork's acid green seeped into every corner of observable life, from statue gardens and brand campaigns to Times Square and the White House. Even NASA hopped on the trend, using "Brat" lyrics in an Instagram caption to describe the lingering glow of a supernova. "Buried at the center is the star's tell-tale heart," the agency wrote, "which beats with rhythmic precision." How very fitting.

After many years of languishing in pop's middle class (justice for "How I'm Feeling Now"), Charli XCX broke into the mainstream with her most idiosyncratic work to date. Ironically, it was her previous effort, 2022's "Crash," that was created with the intention of showing off her pop-star chops — both as a cynical stunt and an earnest bid for attention.

At the time, the experiment seemed to fail. "Crash" was well received by critics but failed to lift Charli into pop's upper echelon.

And yet, it was precisely this kind of failure — or, at least, the perception of failure in the competitive world of "stan Twitter" — that made the existence of "Brat" possible. Throughout the tracklist, Charli is haunted by her own legacy. She frets constantly about being compared to other women in the industry. Do they even notice when she's fixing her hair or snagging her tights? Do they see her standing in the background? Do they also wish they could rewind to simpler times, before they cared about Billboard charts and sales numbers? She even wonders whether her music career is worth putting her personal life on hold for.

Even when Charli is playing her familiar role, the "365 party girl," her brags are still legacy-oriented. "I'm your favorite reference, baby," she insists in the opening track, "360." In the standout single "Von Dutch," she teases, "It's OK to just admit that you're jealous of me." Put in conversation with the album's deep cuts, these lyrics seem more defensive than they do at first brush. Charli is ready to call herself an icon, but she wants you to say it back.

"Brat" is a uniquely Charli album, but as NASA accidentally noted, it's also a tale as old as time: Buried at the center, beneath the neon lights and pulsing synths, Charli's tell-tale heart is beating, keeping her alive, begging to be heard.

Best songs: "Sympathy Is a Knife," "Von Dutch," "So I," "Girl, So Confusing," "365"

"Brat Summer" may have taken over the online lexicon in 2024, but once again, it was Beyoncé who made the most technically impressive and thematically effective album of the year.

Following the footsteps of "Renaissance," the best album of 2022, "Cowboy Carter" is part of an ongoing trilogy that probes the limits of genre — and, crucially, the roles that race and gender play in imposing those limits. Beyoncé is the perfect and perhaps only musician alive who could stage such an experiment with this level of mastery, foresight, and cultural impact.

You could pinpoint pretty much any three-track run on "Cowboy Carter," and you'd find proof why it's the album of the year. Take "Ameriican Reqiuem," a mini-dissertation on prejudice in the music industry, then "Blackbiird," an illuminating blend of young Black voices in country music with a classic-rock song that was inspired by the Little Rock Nine, topped by "16 Carriages," a soulful ballad that draws from Beyoncé's outlaw-esque roots, and you've still only covered the first 11-ish minutes.

Beyoncé has many musical gifts, including (but not limited to) identifying fresh talent, reinventing samples, fine-tuning even the tiniest details, and synthesizing many themes and perspectives to form one coherent narrative. Her range is already well established, but on "Cowboy Carter," each of these skills is deployed to its fullest extent.

The album opens with a pointed set of questions: "Can you hear me? Or do you fear me?" But Beyoncé knows the breadth of her power, so she already knows what the answer will be. She closes the album by asking again, but this time, it's tinted by the shadow of a smirk: "Tell me, can you hear me now?"

Best songs: "Ameriican Reqiuem," "Bodyguard," "Daughter," "Alliigator Tears," "II Most Wanted," "Ya Ya," "II Hands II Heaven," "Sweet Honey Buckiin'"