15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It

Reading Time: 15 min read

15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It features music courtesy of BLACKPINK, Conan Gray, Green Day, Omar Apollo, and SZA.

Don’t let it KILL you! What, precisely? Well, anything mind you! It’s not so bad when 🎶 music 🎶 is killer, however, or utterly kills it! OK 👌, Here’s the deal. On this playlist, 🎧 15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It, you, the listener, have no threat, whatsoever, to be killed. That’s good news! Even better news is the fact that the soundtrack is KILLER – it bangs 🤘! 🎧 15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It features music courtesy of 🎙 BLACKPINK, 🎙 Conan Gray, 🎙 Green Day, 🎙 Omar Apollo, and 🎙 SZA among others. That’s a star-studded music compendium, folks! So, without further ado, let’s dive right into these KILLER songs!

1. Conan Gray, “Killing Me”

🎵 “Killing Me” • 🏷 Republic • 🗓 2023

“Now you’re tossin’ a rock 🪨 at my windowpane 🪟 / Said, ‘I don’t wanna talk, just go away’ / But you claw at the locks 🔒 ‘til I let you invade.” Those are some emotionally driven lyrics, 🎙 Conan Gray. Of course, Conan is renowned for honest lyricism, as well as his magnificent voice. Gray dropped his single, 🎵 “Killing Me”, in 2023. He penned it alongside elite, super producers 🎛 Max Martin and Oscar Holter with incredibly positive results.

Thematically, matters of the heart ❤️ dominate “Killing Me.” Conan Gray is in pain – love pain! “I love you bad, that’s the problem occurrin’,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, “Better love I deserve, and I’m hurtin’ / But sadly, I worship every moment we meet.” So relatable! Ultimately, in the chorus, where the tempo picks up, and the kick-@$$ groove kicks in, he makes it clear his lover is killing him, yet, despite this, “I can’t let go of your heart ❤️.” It all comes to head in the bridge, where he asserts, “I wanna die, but you keep me alive /… Fight to survive, oh, love of my life / You’re killing me.” Dramatic! The ear candy is decadent AF on 🎵 “Killing Me”, period. High-flying vocals, tuneful melodies, stellar production, and relatable songwriting make this joint right here a surefire bop.

2. SZA, “Kill Bill” (Ft. Doja Cat)

🎵 “Kill Bill (Remix)” • 🏷 Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA • 🗓 2023

“I might kill my ex, not the best idea,” 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter 🎙 SZA asserts on 🎵 “Kill Bill”,  one of the very best songs from her critically acclaimed sophomore album, 💿 SOS.  In the record, she sings gorgeously despite being pissed off.  Like the 🎬 Quentin Tarantino films she  references, she’s angry at her ex, eventually confirming she kills him and his new girlfriend 😮.  Ultimately, her love pain, and violence, is our listening pleasure, accentuated even more on 🎵 “Kill Bill (Remix)” featuring fellow 🏆 Grammy winner, 🎙 Doja Cat.  Doja appears at the beginning of the remix, replacing the original verse by SZA.  It is colorful, painting a violent picture, as a result of her ex-boyfriend being a dick.  Doja ends up going to his new house, the new girlfriend is angry, and ultimately, after the new girlfriend charges at Doja, she shoots her.  Memorably, she closes the verse with a bang: “Y’all crisscrossed, saw her fall to the floor / Then you paused there in horror, that shot wasn’t for her.”  From there, we get the rest of the original “Kill Bill,” beginning with the unforgettable, ex-killing chorus, and second verse by SZA (“I try to ration with you, no murders, no crime of passion / But, damn, you was out of reach”). Stellar track! 

Appears in 🔻:  

3. Omar Apollo, “Killing Me”

💿 Ivory • 🏷 Warner • 🗓 2022 

“What I do makes me wonder if I’m alight / Holding back feelings like it’s the end of my life.” Woo – don’t die 🎙 Omar Apollo! Whoever is killing my boy Omar on 🎵 “Killing Me”, a single from his 2022, full-length, debut album, 💿 Ivory, is breaking one of the ten commandments 🚨! As the scripture reads, ✝ 13 “You shall not murder.” Credited as the sole songwriter, Apollo produces on this ‘murderous’ cut alongside 🎛 Mike Hector, Carter Lang, and Oscar Santander.

The sound of “Killing Me” isn’t ‘killer,’ but it is certainly a big time V-I-B-E.  Omar Apollo excels with a chill, guitar-fueled backdrop. The production has an R&B aesthetic. Vocally, he sings with ease, never forcing things.  Even his scandalous f-bomb slips right off the tongue with little force: “Love me like I’m gonna die / Fuck me like you fantasize.” Woo! Thematically, “Killing Me” isn’t about murder but rather those pesky matters of the heart – LOVE.  “That’s right, you’re killing me,” he asserts in the chorus, as he analyzes the universal four-letter word.  Omar sings well, the music is chill, and the theme and lyrics are enjoyable, relatable, and effective. 

Appears in 🔻:  

4. Ashnikko, “WEEDKILLER”

💿 WEEDKILLER • 🏷 Parlophone • 🗓 2023

“I go Liam Neeson in the movie Taken, ah,” 🎙 Ashnikko, a one-of-a-kind, eclectic artist asserts on 🎵 “WEEDKILLER”, the short but incredibly potent title track from her debut LP, 💿 WEEDKILLER. Co-written with  🎼 ✍ 🎛 Slinger, who also produces, the backdrop is electric.  The synths sizzle and the beat is fierce providing Ashnikko with fuel for her fire.  Ashnikko lacks no energy, bringing the heat with biting rhymes and sounding equally intense when she sings.  The songwriting is what truly catches the ear with aggressive, incredibly assertive lyrics.  She opens with a bullet: “Twiddlin’ my thumbs, yeah, I’ve been patient /  Lobotomize a bitch ‘til their eyes vacant.” WOO! She also memorably asserts, “I’m gonna photosynthesize” in the pre-chorus.  In the chorus, she embraces the weedkiller role: “I will be the one to eliminate you.”  For good measure, she adds, in the outro, “I’ve been training for murder.” 🎵 “WEEDKILLER” runs a mere two minutes and change which is enough for Ashnikko to deliver an AGGRESSIVE, ENTERTAINING, MURDEROUS, MEMORABLE, SLICKLY PRODUCED, SUREFIRE VIBE!  YES, IT SCREAMS AT YOU!!!  

Appears in 🔻:

Awesome Songs: April 2023

5. Green Day, “The American Dream is Killing Me”

💿 Saviors • 🏷 Green Day / Reprise • 🗓 2024 

“The American dream is killing me.” Longtime, 🏆 Grammy-winning, alternative collective 🎙 Green Day returned at the tail-end of October 2023 with 🎵 “The American Dream Is Killing Me”.  “The American Dream Is Killing Me” serves as the promo single from their 2024 LP, 💿 Saviors. 🎙 Billie Joe Armstrong is turned TF up criticizing the attainability of the American dream, In fact, following exuberant, loud guitar riffs at the onset, the front man unveils the honest, tuneful chorus:  “When it’s all double-talk of conspiracy / The American Dream is killing me.”  One of the pros of “The American Dream is Killing Me” are the clear, youthful-sounding vocals by Armstrong.  Thematically, Armstrong highlights all the problems that have derailed The American Dream.  In the first verse, he asserts, “Bulldoze your family home / Now it’s a condo.” There is a nice change of pace during the bridge prior to the second verse, which embraces more chamber pop music sensibilities: 

“People on the street 

Unemployed and obsolete 

Did you ever learn to read the ransom note?”  

Other moments from “The American Dream Is Killing Me” also shine. The instrumental section is a strong selling point. Also, the American nature of the third verse is cool 😎 too (“From sea to shining sea / Whitewashed upon the beach / My country under siege / On private property”). All told, 🎵 “The American Dream Is Killing Me” is a thought-provoking record 🤘!  

6. Queen, “Killer Queen”  

💿 Sheer Heart Attack • 🏷 Hollywood • 📅 1974 

🎙 Queen = one of the greatest bands of all time.  Honestly, that goes without saying! What is more fitting for a band the caliber of Queen than a song about a 🎵 “Killer Queen”! “Killer Queen” graced the iconic collective’s 1974 album, 💿 Sheer Heart Attack.  In the US, “Killer Queen” gave the progressive rock band their breakthrough hit, which peaked at no. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 19 weeks on the chart.  While Sheer Heart Attack arrived the previous year, “Killer Queen” first charted as a single in 1975.

Much has been written about “Killer Queen” – plenty of deeper analysis is out there, people! It is one of the band’s most important songs.  It is innovative thanks to the music theory behind it as well as the recording techniques. Thematically, 🎙 Freddie Mercury, who sounds amazing vocally (as always), writes about a rich prostitute, to put it bluntly 😯.  Not only is it musically epic, but it is also lyrically epic too. “She keeps Moët et Chandon / In her pretty cabinet,” Mercury sings in the first verse, continuing, “‘Let them eat cake,’ she says / Just like Marie Antoinette.” Woo! Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus: “She’s a killer queen / Gunpowder, gelatine / Dynamite with a laser beam / Guaranteed to blow your mind.” Also, can’t fail to mention the guitar 🎸 skills of 🎙 Brian May, another facet of “Killer Queen” that has been dissected and emulated.

Appears in 🔻:

11 Songs All About Her Majesty, The Queen, Vol. 2 (2023)

7. The Chainsmokers, “Kills You Slowly”

💿 World War Joy • 🏷 Disruptor / Columbia • 📅 2019

🏆 Grammy-winning dance duo 🎙 The Chainsmokers – 🎙 Drew Taggart and 🎙 Alex Pall – released 💿 World War Joy in 2019. Among the advance singles from the album was 🎵 “Kills You Slowly”. Drew is back on lead vocal duties. Notably, he sounds stronger (compared to the past) as the lead man.  He sounds much more expressive and smoother.  Even so, given the fact that “Kills You Slowly” is a dance-oriented pop cut, the production and sound of the record takes precedence.  The sound is appealing, idiomatic of urban pop.  The melodic lines during the verses are rhythmic, influenced by hip-hop. Add in some profanity, and it’s even more idiomatic.  The chorus is definitely catchy: 

“Hold it, even though it kills you slowly 

Explosion, hidden when we’re in the open 

Keep on smilin’, until it’s over 

Hold it, even though it kills you slowly.”  

“Kill You Slowly” isn’t a life changer, but it’s enjoyable and pleasant, PERIOD.

8. BLACKPINK, “Kill This Love”

💿 Kill This Love (EP) • 🏷 YG Entertainment / Interscope • 📅 2019

“Let’s kill this love / Ram-papam-papam-papam.” Oh, you’ve gotta love the vocal drum sound effects that appear in the chorus of 🎵 “Kill This Love.” A gem from K-pop girl group 🎙 BLACKPINK, the energetic “Kill This Love” serves as the opener from the EP, 💿 Kill This Love, released in 2019. Sadly, on the pop charts, the song didn’t exactly kill it, missing the top 40 (peaked at no. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100). Oh well – can’t win ‘em all! Among the biggest selling points of the song is the electrifying production (🎛 Bekuh Boom, 24, R.Tee, and TEDDY), characterized by its drums 🥁, horns 🎺, and synths 🎹. Besides the backdrop, the girls bring ample attitude to the table – an understatement. The chorus, in all its catchy glory, is the prime example. Still, the verses pack a mighty punch, too. Lyrically, there is a mix of English and Korean – multilingual music is always cool 😎. The melodic lines are rhythmic – another win 🥇. One thing is for damn sure 💯: “Gotta kill this love before it kills you.” WOO!

9. Mad Tsai, “killer queen”

💿 homecoming! • 🏷 Mad Tsai • 📅 2021 

“She’s a motherfucking killer queen / A psychopath at seventeen / A beauty in a blood-stained dress…” Woo, 🎙 Mad Tsai! On the final track from his EP 💿 homecoming! (2021), 🎵 “Killer Queen”, the handsome pop artist goes hella dark 😈.  At first, things seem okay, as Tsai describes this her as “The most beautiful in the world,” and “all the girls in town wanted to be her.” Makes sense – we all envy beauty and perfection. Of course, envy can be incredibly unhealthy, as can being the center of attention, honestly. In the first pre-chorus, we begin to see why Tsai later characterizes her as a motherfucking killer queen: “She’s a devil 😈 in disguise / The prom queen has blood on her hands / Every boy and girl she dates / Disappears without a trace.” JESUS!  Notably, in the second verse, Tsai shows a different viewpoint, which expresses what might’ve pushed the queen over the edge: BULLYING.  Yep, that has sent many people off the deep end, some of which cannot address in a healthier way. Psychopathy certainly is NOT the answer, even if makes for a colorful, alternative pop song.  Of course, a famous film based on a 📚 Stephen King novel seems to be the inspiration (🎦 Carrie).

Appears in 🔻:

11 Songs All About Her Majesty, The Queen, Vol. 2 (2023)

10. Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”

💿 Stronger • 🏷 19 Recordings Limited / RCA • 📅 2011

“Think you left me broken down / Think that I’ll come running back / Baby, you don’t know me, ‘cause you’re dead wrong!” Oh, snap 🫰! Sometimes, it’s difficult for a pop artist to experience a similar degree of success to a juggernaut (the dominant 🎵 “Since U Been Gone” comes to mind). But, that’s exactly what happened when 🎙 Kelly Clarkson released 🎵 “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” as the second single from her 2011 album, 💿 Stronger.  Catchy, encouraging, feel-good, spirited, and uplifting, it’s not surprising that “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” landed multiple 🏆 Grammy nominations. Stronger walked away with the 🏆 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album 💪. See the centerpiece – the crème de la crème – the chorus:

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone

What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter

Footsteps 👣 even lighter

Doesn’t mean I’m over ‘cause you’re gone

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger

Just me, myself, and I

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone.”

Ooh, wee! 🎵 “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” peaked at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent three weeks in the penthouse. It was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Furthering the accolades, the music video 🎶 📼 has amassed hundreds of millions of views.

Appears in 🔻:

Ranking the 20 Best Kelly Clarkson Songs (2018)

11. Don Diablo & Imanbek, “Kill Me Better” (Ft. Trevor Daniel)

🎵 “Kill Me Better” • 🏷 HEXAGON • 🗓 2020

“I fell in love with the warzone / This is not my home / This is just a place where I’ve been…”  Ah, there is nothing like a rad electronic song, is there? Sure, 🎵 “Kill Me Better” possesses a somewhat morbid and contradictory title, but the song itself is rad. Dutch DJ and record producer 🎙 Don Diablo does wonders with his work behind the boards speaking volumes.  🎙 Imanbek, a young DJ from Kazakhstan, joins him.  Sweetening the deal are the vocals of ascending pop singer, 🎙 Trevor Daniel.  

Numerous writers make “Kill Me Better” go. From an instrumental standpoint, it’s awesome, with energetic, inescapable synthwave vibes on full display. There’s an 80s vibe but “Kill Me Better” sounds like a proud product of 2020.  Beyond the masterful production by Diablo, it’s the vocals of Trevor Daniel that bring the record to life.  Daniel brings an emo/punk vibe, which is super cool when mixed with the synthwave sound.  Furthermore, the lyrics add to this emo-tilt, particularly the pre-chorus: 

“Gotta kill another demon left in my head 

He’s been scheming on the walls and under my bed 

It’s these suicidal thoughts that I’m fed 

Welcome to my American wasteland.”    

Diablo, Imabek, and Daniel make one heck of a team. Great production, great writing, and awesome singing make “Kill Me Better” a surefire winner.   

Appears in 🔻:  

12. Kendrick Lamar, “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” 

💿 Good kid, m.A.A.d City • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2012

In the context of the 2012 masterpiece, 💿 good Kid, m.A.A.d. City, 🎵 “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” translates 🎙 Kendrick Lamar’s father’s ‘oldies’ reference from 🎵 “Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter” to soulful production, contributed by 🎛 Sounwave. The production incorporates live strings, background vocals, and a 🎙 Boom Clap Bachelors sample (🎵 “Tiden Flyver”).  While the record has soulful sensibilities, it also possesses a lush West Coast sound. “I am a sinner, who’s probably gonna sin again / Lord, forgive me! Lord, forgive me / Things I don’t understand,” Kendrick Lamar proclaims on the chorus, continuing, “Sometimes I need to be alone / Bitch, don’t kill my vibe!” Lamar admits to his improprieties and ultimately wants/knows he should be a better person but knows he’ll fall short despite this. He also doesn’t want to be compromised as an ‘individual’, hence a play on the line, “Bitch don’t kill my vibe.”  He brilliantly alters his voice and changes inflections, including moments when his flow is ultra-rhythmically contrived. 

Appears in 🔻:  

13. The Buggles, “Video Killed The Radio Star”   

💿 The Age of Plastic • 🏷 The Island Def Jam Music Group • 📅 1980  

“Oh-a oh-a.” Sigh, that’s an iconic moment from an iconic song! The song is 🎵 “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the sole hit by 🎙 The Buggles in the United States.  Of course, such fun, but silly lyrics aren’t the sole reason this 1979 record earned the English new wave band notoriety.  This record reflects on technological advancements, particularly how such advancements have had a negative impact.  “They took credit for your second symphony,” 🎙 Trevor Horn sings in the first verse, continuing, “Rewritten by a machine on new technology / And now I understand the problems you could see.” Does a machine really need to rewrite a masterpiece such as a symphony? Food for thought.

Even though “Video Killed the Radio Star” arrived in 1979, eventually appearing on The Buggles’ 1980 album, 💿 The Age of Plastic, is what the band sings about dated at this point? No, because technology doesn’t stop, and new technology consistently replaces old.  In a musical context, look at how music is consumed these days. sure, “Video killed the radio star / Pictures came and broke your heart” back in the 80s but look at how music is consumed now. Streaming has surpassed physical sales of music, for example.  Trevor Horn, assisted by 🎙 Debi Doss and 🎙 Linda Jardim continues to talk about the changes in the second verse: “And now we meet in an abandoned studio / We hear the playback, and it seems so long ago.” Besides thought-provoking lyrics, tongue-in-cheek vocals, and respectable lead vocals by Horn, the music on this Horn, 🎼 ✍ Bruce Woolery, and Geoff Downes penned track is exuberant – totally rad 🤘. One hit The Buggles may have had, but 🎵 “Video Killed the Radio Star” is an awesome one that never gets old 💯!   

Appears in 🔻:  

14. Roberta Flack, “Killing Me Softly With His Song” 

💿 Killing Me Softly • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 1973  

“Strumming my pain with his fingers / Singing my life with his words / Killing me softly with his song… / Telling my whole life, with his words…” Back in the day – the late 60s and 70s – 🎙 Roberta Flack had a fabulous run.  She had solo hits in addition to striking gold in the duets department.  One of her crowning achievements is 🎵 “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” which, amazingly, wasn’t originally recorded by her.  Even so, “Killing Me Softly…” in her hands became the ‘IT’ version – the definitive recording.  

Why is the Roberta Flack version so good? First and foremost, her voice is angelic, radiant, and incredibly soothing.  Flack has a way of ‘packing a punch’ without having to over-sing. She doesn’t need gospel histrionics to sell the pain that she sings about, even considering this isn’t an original by herself.  It also helps that the songwriting by (🎼 ✍ Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel) is impeccable.  “I felt all flushed with fever / Embarrassed by the crowd,” she sings expressively, on the second verse, adding, “I felt he found my letters / And read each one out loud.”  Throw in colorful production work (🎛 Joel Dorn) that plays well to both pop and soul crowds, and you have a 🏆 Grammy-winning, no. 1 hit.  Hard to imagine anyone topping this ultra-successful version, right? Well, 🎙 Fugees remade this gem with their own epic rendition.  

Appears in 🔻:  

15. Rage Against The Machine, “Killing In the Name”  

💿 Rage Against the Machine • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 🗓 1992

“Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!” Woo – that’s a bold statement 🎙 Zack de la Rocha! Honestly, the entirety of 🎵 “Killing in the Name”  is bold by 🎙 Rage Against the Machine.  This angry, high-energy rap-rock record protests police brutality.  The most famous song of their career arrived in 1992 on their self-titled album, following the infamous Rodney King incident.  Prior to the scathing “fuck you,” de la Rocha asserts on the chorus, “Those who died are justified / For wearing the badge, they’re chosen white.” Wow – potent and sadly, relevant 30 years after the arrival of the record. 

Zack de la Rocha is the star, painting a damning picture of racists and in this case, the police: “Some of those that work forces / are the same that burn crosses.” Besides a dynamic, turned-up performance by de la Rocha, guitar god 🎙 Tom Morello shines, delivering kick-ass jagged riffs and a stellar guitar solo.  Before de la Rocha even performs a note, Morello helps establish the ferocious tone of this 90s classic. Expectedly, a profane rock record protesting police brutality is going to earn a controversial badge and be censored.  Regardless, 🎵 “Killing in the Name” marks one of the greatest songs of the 90s 🤘.

Appears in 🔻:  

15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 19 Recordings Limited, Atlantic, Columbia, Disruptor, Green Day, HEXAGON, Hollywood, Interscope, Mad Tsai, Parlophone, RCA, Reprise, Republic, Sony Music Entertainment, Top Dawg Entertainment, Warner, YG Entertainment; PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay]

15 Electrifying Songs That Utterly KILL It | Playlist 🎧

Published by the musical hype on November 17, 2023November 17, 2023