Best songs of the 2020s so far

Not Like Us — Kendrick Lamar▲ Rising

Born from the bloodiest rap beef of the decade, this wasn't just a diss track—it was a public execution set to a bounce so infectious that even bystanders had to dance while watching Drake's career get dismantled. It won a Grammy, dominated a Super Bowl halftime show, and proved that a West Coast party record could double as the most devastating character assassination in hip-hop history."They not like us" became a nationwide chant, a mic-drop heard from block parties to courtrooms, cementing Kendrick's dominance and rewriting what a rap beef record could achieve commercially and culturally.

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Flowers — Miley Cyrus▲ Rising

Dropping on her ex's birthday with a video shot in the house they once shared, "Flowers" turned a breakup into the ultimate self-love anthem, its "I can buy myself flowers" hook becoming shorthand for independence everywhere from TikTok to divorce parties. Sampling Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" as a clever answer record only sharpened the knife, making petty revenge feel genuinely empowering. It spent eight weeks at No. 1 and gave Miley her defining pop reinvention, proving reinvention itself could be the ultimate flex.

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Anti-Hero — Taylor Swift▲ Rising

"It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me" became one of the most quoted lyrics of the decade, turning Taylor's self-deprecating anxiety into a communal shrug shared by millions. The Midnights lead single debuted at No. 1, sparked endless think-pieces about celebrity self-awareness, and proved she could still write a hook sharp enough to cut through her own mythology. It's the sound of a superstar admitting she's messy and making that admission into the biggest song of her career.

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As It Was — Harry Styles▲ Rising

That opening line—"Holly, would you believe it?"—paired with the bittersweet synth-pop bounce made grief sound like a dance floor, and the world couldn't stop moving to it. It became the song of summer 2022, a global No. 1 that captured post-lockdown melancholy wrapped in irresistible melody, proving Harry could turn personal loss into universal catharsis. Its legacy is in how it soundtracked a specific cultural moment of collective reemergence, tinged with loss nobody could quite name.

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Espresso — Sabrina Carpenter

"That's that me espresso" makes no grammatical sense and somehow became the most quoted nonsense phrase since "Damn Daniel," propelling Sabrina from opening act to headliner overnight. The song's breezy confidence and relentless earworm chorus soundtracked an entire summer, turning her into pop's reigning It Girl seemingly overnight. It's proof that pure, weightless fun—executed with impeccable production and a wink—can still conquer the charts in an oversaturated streaming era.

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Good 4 U — Olivia Rodrigo▼ Falling

That pop-punk scream of "Well, good for you!" tapped into decades of Paramore and Avril influence while sounding completely of-the-moment, giving Gen Z their own anthem of weaponized bitterness. It launched a legal controversy over songwriting credits, dominated radio for months, and proved that raw teenage fury, produced with studio polish, could still top charts dominated by TikTok dances. Olivia didn't just have a hit—she reopened pop-punk's mainstream door that had been closed for over a decade.

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Blinding Lights — The Weeknd▼ Falling

That pulsing, retro-synth intro announced a song so massive it eventually became the biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit of all time, outlasting pandemic lockdowns and every viral challenge to just keep climbing charts for years. The Weeknd's fusion of 80s Max Martin-style pop with his moody R&B sensibilities created a genre-crossing juggernaut that soundtracked drives nobody could take and parties nobody could throw. Its sheer, sustained ubiquity—still inescapable years after release—makes it the foundational text for this entire decade's pop sound.

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Levitating — Dua Lipa▼ Falling

With its disco-glitter bassline and lyrics about being swept off your feet, "Levitating" became the great unifying dance song of a pandemic-locked world, a beacon of pure escapism when nobody could actually go anywhere. The DaBaby remix controversy briefly dominated headlines, but the song's legs proved longer than any beef—it became one of the longest-charting Hot 100 hits ever. It's the sound of Future Nostalgia's mission statement fully realized: throwback disco-pop built for a generation that needed somewhere to escape to.

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