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“11 Totally Animalistic Songs” features songs exploring the inner animal – rawr!  Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj & Queens of the Stone Age appear on this playlist.

Whether you’ve “got the eye of the tiger, a fighter” or you simply “can’t be tamed”, everybody’s got some animal spirit inside of them.  If you’re like The Spence Lee Band, well, then “the wolf comes out tonight”. That’s right, we’re all animalistic when it comes to something.  The 11 songs feature on this playlist, 11 Totally Animalistic Songs, all explore the animalistic spirit in a variety of contexts.  Yes, sex is the most popular – hey its popular music people – but there are other avenues explored as well.  Artists appearing on this roaring list include Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Queens of the Stone Age, Sia, and Trey Songz.

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1. Queens of the Stone Age, “Domesticated Animals”

Villains • Matador • 2017 

“Pretty pets once were wild / Domesticated, love slave, give us a smile.” Queens of the Stone Age a hard task on their hands on their 2017 Grammy-nominated album, Villains.  What was that task prey tell?  Following two juggernauts: “Feet Don’t Fail Me” and “The Way You Used to Do”. Despite this arduous task, QOTSA are successful on “Domesticated Animals.” “Domesticated Animals” retains the ferociousness that made the opening duo superb (honestly, if you haven’t heard the aforementioned songs, you’re totally missing out).  The guitars roar, while the presence of the bass adds to the darkness. Josh Homme sing with mad attitude, yet also, shows more tenderness when appropriate and applicable. Notably, “Domesticated Animals” has a throwback rock sound – the riffs are reminiscent of “Smoke on the Water.”

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2. Trey Songz, “Animal”

Tremaine The Album • Atlantic • 2017 

“I ain’t gonna lie but baby, you get pretty wild, girl / When you take it off, take it off.”  On “Animal”, sex remains the motivation for Trey Songz.  Playing true to its animalistic title, Trey offers no shortage of sensual metaphors, namely the reference to his anaconda – cue up Nicki Minaj, please (or just wait for later on this very list!). Even with his filthy mind working on overdrive, “Animal” isn’t overtly explicit…somehow. Still, he desires to “Get to your forbidden fruit” and “Turn the bed into a jungle.” Predictably, he delivers a reference to dogs and cats:

“I’m a dog, I’m a dog / I’m a eat that pussy cat.” Go ahead and roll your eyes now.

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3. Martin Garrix, “Animals”

Animals – Single • Spinnin / Silent / Republic • 2016

Dutch EDM wunderkind Martin Garrix delivered the thrilling “Animals” in 2016. This energetic, mostly-instrumental gem is set in a minor key, yet still bursts with brightness in light of its dark key.  What makes “Animals” so great is Garrix’s colorful variety of synths, pummeling drum programming (sick beats), and thoughtful musical contrasts throughout the course of the record.  As aforementioned, this is ‘mostly-instrumental’ only because there are a few vocals that actually play more of an instrumental/sound effects role.

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4. Dr. Dre, “Animals”

Ft. Anderson  .Paak

Compton • Aftermath / Interscope • 2015

“And please don’t come around these parts / And tell me that we all a bunch of animals / “The only time they wanna turn the cameras on / is when we’re f**kin’ shit up.” Da-yum, what a powerful hook from Anderson  .Paak. Clearly, Dr. Dre offers a different perspective on “Animals” from his long-awaited, Grammy-nominated, 2015 album, Compton. Instead of being concerned with sexual matters like Trey Songz who precedes, the good doctor concerns himself with the portrayal of blacks.  On his verse he asks:

“Damn, why the f**k are they after me? Maybe cause I’m a bastard / Or maybe cause of the way my hair grow naturally / Still tryna figure out why the f**k I’m full of rage / I think I noticed this bullshit right around fifth grade.”

Dre gets even more heated at the end of his verse, serving up the ‘realest’ of talk regarding the treatment of his people.

“Not all of us criminals but cops be yelling, ‘Stay back n***a!’ / We need a little bit of payback / Don’t treat me like an animal cause all this shit is flammable / Don’t f**k around ‘cause when it’s done, it’s done / F**k you!”

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5. Maroon 5, “Animals”

V • Interscope • 2014

“Baby, I’m preying on you tonight / Hunt you down, eat you alive / Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals…” Hmm, wonder what this one’s about?  “Animals,” a controversial hit single by Maroon 5, drew its fair share of criticism for its music video that “confuses violence and love”, according to Charlotte Alter (Time).  Yes, the music video is sketchy as a four-letter word, involving butchery, sex, stalking, but the lyrics can also be considered sketchy as well.

The song is utterly catchy, but like the video, the lyrics send a potentially ‘animalistic,’ bad message.

“…Maybe you think that you can hide / I can smell your scent from miles / Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals / Baby, I’m…”

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6.Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”

The Pinkprint • Cash Money • 2014

“Oh my gosh, look at her butt!” Many of the songs on this playlist feature the word ‘animal’ in their song title.  Nicki Minaj breaks with the tradition, opting for a specific animal on “Anaconda.” “Anaconda,” which samples the Sir-Mix-a-Lot classic “Baby Got Back”, blends in perfectly because the songs featured here explore animalistic tendencies in regards to sex.  “Anaconda” is chocked-full of sex and is by far the horniest song to grace this list.  Nicki Minaj not only discusses her ‘assets’ and her private parts, but she also discusses his ‘size’ and how the sex goes down… pretty graphically.  “My anaconda don’t, my anaconda don’t / My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns, hun!” Filthy.

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7. Romeo Santos, “Animales”

Ft. Nicki Minaj

Fórmula, Vol. 2 • Sony Music Latin • 2014

“Quiero que hagamos el amor como animals / Similar a aquella noche cuando fuimos indomables.” What is the always light-hearted, sweet-voiced Romeo Santos getting at on “Animales” exactly? Well, if you don’t speak Spanish, the English translation is roughly “I want us to make love like animals / Similar to that night when we were untamable.”  In other words, this is all about passionate love-making – that bedroom boom. The third verse, performed by Nicki Minaj, is in English and tamer than some she’s delivered:

“Fly me out where it’s warm, it’s cold / And you can hit it like José Canseco / … Baby, you like it rough? / Give it to me all night / Please, baby, rip me right out of my Dolce / Gabbana, like animals.” 

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8. Sia, “Free the Animal”

1000 Forms of Fear • RCA • 2014

“Detonate me (Shoot me like a cannonball) / Granulate me (kill me like an animal) / Decapitate me (hit me like a baseball) / Emancipate me (free the animal, free the animal).” Wow! Fitting the mold of the majority of animalistic songs on this playlist, Sia gets wild and sexual on “Free the Animal,” which appears on her 2014 LP, 1000 Forms of Fear. The innuendo is hella ripe on this energetic number, and Sia is “Hot Hot Hot” – Buster Poindexter.  On the pre-chorus, she asserts:

“The pressure’s rising, I won’t make it through tonight / This love immortal is an assassin’s delight / Just blow me up or run me down, or cut my through / And when it’s time for you to die…”

To quote The Spinners, it’s a “Mighty Love” Sia has… understatement.

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9. 50 Cent, “Animal Ambition”

Animal Ambition • G-Unit • 2014

Indeed, 50 Cent is animalistic on “Animal Ambition,” the brief title track from his 2014 album, Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire to Win. He shows his animalistic tendencies throughout, exemplified as he raps, “I say, say no to drugs, then I do that shit,” and later, “You say you hustle like a hustler I be moving shit / Had a couch and a U-Haul filled up with bricks.” Hmm… Even though “Animal Ambition” isn’t ‘God’s gift to rap songs,’ and listening to 50 Cent “ball” isn’t most people’s idea of enjoyment, the listener knows that the animal is coming out on this joint.  

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10. Neon Trees, “Animal”

Habits • Island Def Jam • 2010

“We’re sick like animals / We play pretend / You’re just a cannibal / And I’m afraid I won’t get out alive.” Before “Everybody Talks” and “Sleeping with a Friend”, Neon Trees released the relatively quick “Animal,” which appeared on their 2010 debut album, Habits.  On the energetic joint, expressive frontman Tyler Glenn is feeling truly animalistic, as he’s ready to be more than friends – dig in deeper into the relationship.  On the chorus he sings, “What are you waiting for? / Take a bite of my heart tonight… / Say goodbye to my heart tonight.” Essentially, whatever risks are involved, he wants it, badly.

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11. Kesha, “Animal”

Animal • RCA • 2010

“So, if it’s just tonight / The animal inside / Let it live and die.” On her shimmering, rhythmic pop cut “Animal,” Kesha wants to enjoy love, even if it’s merely temporary.  From the beginning of the record, she states she’s in love and “star struck with every part of this whole story.”  Later, on the second verse, she’s awake, ready for it to ‘go down’ essentially.  On the hard-hitting, powerful chorus, with the potential for love not to last, she sings:

“This is our last chance, give me your hand / ‘Cause our world is spinning at the speed of light / The night is fading, heart is racing / Now just come and love me like we’re gonna die, oh.”

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Photo Credits: Aftermath, Atlantic, Cash Money, G-Unit, Interscope, Island Def Jam, Matador, RCA, Republic, Silent, Sony Music Latin, Spinnin

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