13 E Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason | Playlist 🎧

1. Taylor Swift, “Exile”

Ft. Bon Iver

💿 Folklore • 🏷 Taylor Swift • 🗓 2020 

“I think I’ve seen this film before / And I didn’t like the ending / You’re not my homeland anymore / So what am I defending?” 💿 Folklore is the very best 🎙 Taylor Swift album to date– 💯.  🎵 “Exile” featuring 🎙 Bon Iver is arguably the crowning achievement of folklore. First and foremost, the musicianship truly stands out on “Exile,” with the expressive vocals of 🎙 Justin Vernon complementing Swift exquisitely.  Swift never forces things from a vocal perspective, and it really pays off here.

The songwriting is gorgeous, both lyrically and instrumentally.  The crème de la crème? The chorus is exceptional, but maybe the nod goes to the extended outro, where we’re blessed with that incredible chemistry established between Swift and Vernon (“All this time / We always walked a very thin line / You didn’t even hear me out (Didn’t even hear me out)”). Brilliant!

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2. Lil Baby, “Emotionally Scarred”

💿 My Turn • 🏷 Quality Control Music • 📅 2020

“I know I wasn’t there for you, at least I said I’m sorry / You know what it was, I told you that I was heartless / I’m emotionally scarred, that ain’t even your fault…” 🎙 Lil Baby has had an incredibly successful year in 2020 – understatement.  While nothing eclipses his best moment of the year, 🎵 “The Bigger Picture”, 🎵 “Emotionally Scarred” from 💿 My Turn, is definitely pretty awesome.

On “Scarred,” Lil Baby enlists the services 🎛️ Twysted Genius behind the boards, and, well, the ‘Genius’ definitely delivers the goods.  The sound of the record is both warm, with the fluty synth, and hard-hitting, with the animated drum programming. Combine that instrumental goodness with one of the most authentic, energetic, and potent flows from the southern rapper, and “Emotionally Scarred” is certified bop.

3. Billie Eilish, “everything I wanted”

🎵 “everything I wanted” • 🏷 Darkroom / Interscope • 📅 2019

“I had a dream / I got everything I wanted / But when I wake up, I see / You with me.” You know, they say that the rich get richer.  That seems to be the case with 🏆 Grammy-winning alternative pop artist 🎙 Billie Eilish, who came through big at the 2020 Grammys with 💿 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?.  Once again, Eilish is nominated for more Grammys, thanks to her post-album single, 🎵 “everything I wanted.” Once more, Eilish enlists the services of her bro, 🎛️ FINNEAS, working those boards. As always, Finneas provides his sister with some musical magic.

“If I could change the way that you see yourself
You wouldn’t wonder why you hear
‘They don't deserve you’.”

Billie Eilish is not a flashy singer – understatement.  Once again, she delivers a calm, cool, and collected vocal performance on “everything I wanted.” Even so, the listener leans on every word and every note that Eilish sings – she’s quite hypnotic, sucking you in.  Adding to her own hypnotic approach, Finneas’ production yields a similar effect – well put together, yet much more subtle as opposed to overt.  The end result is a gorgeous record that honestly provides just about “everything you’d want.”

4. Troye Sivan, Kacey Musgraves, “Easy”

Ft. Mark Ronson

🎵 “Easy” • 🏷 Capitol • 📅 2020 

Matters of the heart fuel 🎵 “Easy” , a consistent theme throughout 💿 In a Dream, the 2020 EP by the always compelling 🎙 Troye Sivan. Within the standout, the relationship has gone south, yet Troye isn’t ready to let go just yet.  He’s not the guilty party as it seems his boyfriend has messed up, seriously putting a damper on things.

The chorus, the centerpiece, sums things up awesomely:

“I can’t even look at you
Would you look at the space just next to your feet?
The wood is warping
The lines distorting
This house is on fire, woo!
Burning the ears right out my face
What the hell did we do?
Tell me we’ll make it through.”

On the remixed version, 🏆 Grammy winner 🎙 Kacey Musgraves performs the second verse.  What I love about the performance is how well the gentle, lightness of her voice fits.  She blends well with Troye on the following iteration of the chorus, with Sivan mixed towards the front. “Easy” was originally written by 🎼 ✍ Oscar Görres and Sivan, with the remix adding a 🎼 ✍ Kacey Musgraves writing credit.  The production, in all its excellence, on the remix is handled by Görres, 🎛️ Picard Brothers, and 🎛️ Mark Ronson.  That’s a dream team, right?

5. Kehlani, “Everybody Business”

💿 It Was Good Until It Wasn’t • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2020

🎵 “Everybody Business” marks one of the best moments from 💿 It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, the 2020 sophomore album by the incredibly talented 🎙 Kehlani.  On “Everybody Business,” Kehlani sounds superb vocally, singing expressively and infusing great personality. The production – 🎛️ Go Grizzly and 🎛️ Loshendrix – is sweet as well. This is a soulful cut yet also sufficiently contemporary. Perhaps there’s nothing particularly innovative about the sound, but it’s a solid.

Thematically, it tackles familiar territory – matters of the heart.  She commences with a bullet: “I ain’t never been a half-ass lover / Rather lay out on the train tracks for ya.” The big takeaway is ignoring the haters. On the pre-chorus, she delivers one of the most memorable lines: “At my big ol’ age, I can’t be fazed / By what you mistake as going insane.” The centerpiece is the chorus:

“I hear every word they talk
Try not to care at all
I know it’s frontin’, don’t know me from nothin’
Still learning to shake it off
I know I can take it all
I know it’s frontin’
You know they frontin’, babe, yeah.”

6. Tyler, The Creator, “EARFQUAKE”

💿 IGOR • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2019 

🎵 “Earfquake” is an instant highlight from the incredibly ambitious, 🏆 Grammy-winning 🎙 Tyler, the Creator album, 💿 IGOR. The backdrop is ear-catching, and Tyler sings with pitch-shifted vocals.  On the memorable chorus, he gets a big-time, uncredited assist, courtesy of the soulful 🎙 Charlie Wilson. On the first verse, another surprising guest appearance occurs, 🎙 Playboi Carti, who fits in perfectly and remains true to self. “Earfquake” ranks among the best songs released in 2019 – 13^th best to be exact.

“‘Cause you make my earth quake
Oh, you make my earthquake
Riding around, you’re telling me something is bad
And it’s making my heart break...”

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7. Ms. Lauryn Hill, “Ex-Factor”

💿 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill • 🏷 Ruffhouse • 📅 1998

Grammy-winning hip-hop/R&B musician, 🎙 Lauryn Hill captivated us with the soulful 🎵 “Ex-Factor” from her 1998 masterpiece, 💿 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.  “Tell me, who I have to be / To get some reciprocity.” Those timeless lyrics hail from one of the truly great classics about exes, sigh. Even north of two decades since the release of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, both the album, and the particular single carry ample weight.  Focusing only on the song itself, “Ex-Factor” is a prime example of the plight of love, as well as how potent songs incorporating break ups can truly be.

At one point, Lauryn Hill sings, “And when I try to walk away / You’d hurt yourself to make me stay / This is crazy.” Crazy indeed Ms. Lauryn Hill, but, again, exes and broken-off relationship serve among the preeminent topics in music regardless of genre.  Yes, 🎵 “Doo Wop (That Thing)” remains the crowning achievement (and number one hit) from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but you can totally feel Hill’s struggle with love – it’s so relatable on “Ex-Factor.” My favorite section of the song is the ‘breakdown’:

“(Care) Care for me, care for me
I know you care for me
(There) There for me, there for me
Said you’d be there for me
(Cry) Cry for me, cry for me
You said you’d die for me
(Give) Give to me, give to me
Why won’t you live for me?”

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8. August Alsina, “Entanglements”

Ft. Rick Ross

🎵 “Entanglements” • 🏷 Shake the World / EMPIRE • 📅 2020

“The definition of entanglement / It’s when you’re tangled in the sheets / Girl, I know that we don’t call it a relationship / But you’re still fuckin’ with me…” Sure, 🎙 August Alsina released a new album in 2020 (💿 The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy), but the bigger headline was the his relationship with Jada Pinkett Smith – messy.  What better way to expose the relationship than 🎵 “Entanglements” featuring 🎙 Rick Ross.

Alsina never mentions Jada by name, but he doesn’t have to.  Following the tone-setting chorus, excerpted above, Rick Ross alludes to both Smiths in an absolute bullet:

“Shawty leanin’ on my shoulder, got her questionin’ my willpower
Jaded by her beauty, but her reputation real solid.”

What more can you say but, damn?  From there, August is on autopilot, blowing up all kinds of shit basically.  He references NSA and touts his sex game. Where the real heat comes is when he asserts, “I’m half? No, I ain’t ‘bout to play with that / You left your man to fuck with me, just to pay him back.” Again, damn.  It doesn’t end there, as he goes on to say, “Girl, you fuckin’ with a youngin’, I be doin’ shit you like / Don’t do talkin’ when I see you, all you hear’s love sounds.” There’s even a third verse, which plays directly to the nature of relationship – sex, sex, and more sex.  If there is more to know about the emotional nature of this entanglement, well, Alsina doesn’t inform us of such.

9. The Weeknd, “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)”

💿 Beauty Behind the Madness • 🏷 Republic • 📅 2015

One of the sultriest, sexiest songs of 2015 came by way of “Earned It (Shades of Grey),” courtesy of 🎙 The Weeknd. “Earned It” was featured on the 💿 Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack and reprised on his own album, 💿 Beauty Behind the Madness.  In the context of the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack specifically, “Earned It” feels like the crown jewel.  The compound-duple slow jam was definitely inescapable and simply irresistible in 2015, and still feels pretty awesome to date.

The Canadian R&B singer’s sick tenor rises above a retro-soul backdrop, produced by 🎛️ Stephen Moccio and 🎛️ Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville.  Among the bright spots of the production are the moody, dynamic strings.  “Earned It” definitely plays to The Weeknd’s strengths.  What are those strengths, you ask? Well, they include a ripe falsetto and a heaping dose of passion.

10. Post Malone, “Enemies”

Ft. DaBaby

💿 Hollywood’s Bleeding • 🏷 Republic • 📅 2019

“Used to have friends now I got enemies / Used to keep ‘em close now they dead to me / Money tend to show all they tendencies / Enemies, yeah, it’s so sad.” 🎵 “Enemies” is the first number on 💿 Hollywood’s Bleeding to bring in a featured guest.  That’s right. 🎙 Post Malone had been holding down the fort, before enlisting the services of his fellow Grammy-nominated colleague, 🎙 Da Baby.

Prior to the appearance of the 🎵 “Suge” rapper, Post Malone delivers the aforementioned, melodic chorus, in all its glory.  Furthermore, Post delivers an enjoyable, reflective verse about – wait for it – ENEMIES! As expected, DaBaby does DaBaby things on the second verse. We’d expect no less.

“Friends are like the autumn, every year they leavin’
And I’ma rake ‘em in a pile, throw ‘em in a bag
Tie them bitches up and leave ‘em
‘Cause most of these niggas are deceiving.”

11. Cascada, “Everytime We Touch”

💿 Everytime We Touch • 🏷 Robbins Entertainment LLC • 📅 2007

“‘Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling / And every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.” 🎙 Cascada – 🎙 Natalie Horler, 🎙 DJ Manian, and 🎙 DJ Yanou – is known for one hit and one hit only:  🎵 “Everytime We Touch!” Fittingly, “Everytime We Touch” serves as the title track of the German music act’s– 2007 album.

Of course, the part of the song that instantly comes to mind is the aforementioned chorus, period. The chorus continues:

“Can’t you feel my heat beat fast? I want this to last
Need you by my side.”

Honestly, this dance gem is quite tasteful when it comes to matters of the bedroom. Oh, the power of innuendo, sigh.

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12. Bryson Tiller, “Exchange”

💿 T R A P S O U L • 📅 2015

“I don’t wanna get into it – why you stressin’ him? I’ve been drivin’ / Back and forth, from Louisville to Lexington, mileage / On the whip, got your ass in my grip.” Do you recognize those memorable lyrics? Well, they hail from the hit that put platinum-recording artist 🎙 Bryson Tiller on the map, 🎵 “Exchange.” Honestly, “Exchange” is one of the brightest, if not the brightest spots on Tiller’s 2015 debut album, 💿 T R A P S O U L.

So, what exactly was Tiller referencing in the aforementioned lyrics? Why, the trip from his hometown (and my current residence), Louisville to Lexington, the two largest cities in Kentucky.  That trip does amount to mileage – approximately 80.  Of course, that’s not the only selling point of “Exchange.” Tiller raps and sings well, the production by 🎛️ The Mekanics, enhanced by sample, is pretty sweet, and of course, there’s the memorable chorus:

“So, give me all of you in exchange for me
Just give me all of you in exchange for me, for me.”

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13. Sunday Service Choir, “Excellent”

💿 Jesus is Born • 📅 2019

“Oh, Lord / How excellent /… Is thy name.” While the song at hand is sometimes referenced by the name 🎵 “Excellent,” or “Jesus is Excellent,” the proper name of the song covered by Sunday Service Choir is actually “Perfect Praise.” “Excellent” is one of the brightest spots of the Kanye West-associated group’s 2019 album, 💿 Jesus is Born. 

“Perfect Praise” ranks among the most popular gospel songs.  It was written by Brenda Joyce Moore some years ago.  Notably, what makes it stand out are the vocal harmonies, as well as the way the choir sings in parts.  Notably, during the divided section, tenors sing first, altos follows, while the sopranos get the best line (“Every knee shall bow / And every tongue confess / That He is Lord”).  Here, Sunday Service Choir perform a shortened version, which eliminates the ‘B section’ (“There is none like you…”).  Okay, enough nerding out! The point is, gospel choirs and churches of all denominations love “Perfect Praise” for good reason – it’s simply beautiful!  Sunday Service Choir may offer a briefer take, but it’s still spiritually executed! Amen!