And when I'm hurtin', it's incognito, so everybody thinks I'm a hero



22. High Road by Kelly Clarkson

-Kelly isn't really associated with new music anymore. And who can blame her? She's got that cushy talk show gig and can just pop over to Vegas for a residency whenever she feels like singing. Sounds like the perfect life for a singer right? Well, High Road would indicate otherwise. It's the type of song you sing when talking to people will result in a quote among the likes of "what are you complaing about? your life is great." It's easy to mock this kind of sadness, but its also got to be tough to deal with. What if you had everything and still weren't happy? No wonder celebs turn to cults all the time. Luckily our girl Kel can write her feelings down and share them with the world as a release.

What happens when the ground beneath disappears, what once were days will feel like thousands of years



21. Just The Once by Metric

-Metric are no strangers to lists that I make, placing #1, #8 and #9 in 2018 (I had yet to install the 1 song per artist rule) and #3 in 2022. I'd say they are probably my #2 overall favorite band right now. Usually they take that 3-4 years in between albums though, so announcing that Formentera 2 would come out this year was a huge surprise. They kicked it off with this song, which the band affectionately refers to as 'regret disco.' Coming from the band who kicked off their career with a song called "Dead Disco" that is all too fitting. It's about giving in to temptation and how making resolutions for good deeds in the future is a lot easier than resisting what you want in the moment.

Heebee-jeebie talk crazy to me, but Kendrick know I like irregular girls, I'm not good with the regular girls



20. The Hillbillies by Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem

-Another artist that placed in the top ten last year. Actually double that cause Baby Keem was on Savior too. These two are so good together that I was expecting/hoping that this song would kickstart a new project from them called The Hillbillies in the same way that Killer Mike and El-P's first song together was called "Run The Jewels." Maybe it will still happen one day, but if 2023 has taught us anything it is that not everything has to be a connected franchise.

なんだかキャビの匂いがしてるガレージで, yeah



19. Bloom by Necry Talkie

-This is a song that only the world's coolest people would have heard before, and according to the tv forum that is none of you - for shame!!! Bloom is of course the theme song to the Netflix smash hit Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, but it also works plenty fine on its own just like all the Sex Bomb-Omb songs from the original film as well as the rest of that all-timer soundtrack (it was the first time I heard Metric!) The Scott Pilgrim franchise may not ever catch on huge with the mainstream, but it will always have incredible taste in music! Blending the garage rock with j-pop in this song alone is just brilliant.

Browns are rolling yet again so you all get a bonus song yet again!

But that's what I'm like, I stick my neck right out for love, give my beak and give my blood



18. Have Fun! by CMAT

-Courtney Marie Alice Thompson, shortened to CMAT, was my best new artist last year, placing around this same spot on the Flava'd Fifty and top ten in the best albums list. Many people hit sophomore slumps, but not her! The songwriting is just as pristine as it was the first time around. And though I may prefer the first album overall, I think Have Fun is probably my new favorite song from her. It pairs her witty words with an earworm of a beat to say goodbye to some loser who thought he was better than her but was really just a chump who made bad decisions. Needless to say I'll be highly anticipating album 3 whenever it comes out.

I've been shifting, stumbling, body's numb control means nothing



17. Collapse In The Key Of Fireworks by Johnny Booth

-CITKOF may be the #17 overall song, but its gotta be #1 on the list of best breakdowns of 2023. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Booth live yet but I plan on being extremely hyped for the end of this song and will be throwing some bows. Fair warning to everyone surrounding me. I love me a false ending too, so combined with the absolute brutality its just a breakdown for the ages. The name of the song is pretty sweet too. All in all, Johnny Booth were a very nice fit for my library and one of the better discoveries this year. Check out Full Tilt too if this song got you at all interested.

Wait Gorillaz is the Blur guy? I always assumed they were just some asian DJs or something behind the avatars.

Damon has another band called The Good, The Bad and The Queen too. The dude gets around. Like a record.

I, I have flown us to the moon with a wire I spun from you



16. Brass Bell by Screaming Females

-The #16 song brings some bad news with it as Screaming Females have decided to call it quits after nearly twenty years on the indie-punk rock scene. Now, of course, we all know that they will be back together, touring and making new music, before long but it's a damn shame that it happened now. Just listen to Brass Bell, that's a song that deserves to be played in a huge arena. They should be getting pushed to the moon! But oh well, I guess they deserve a break too. Enjoy your time away and tell me all about in five years or so.

I can make a dope fiend go cocaine-less cause everything I wrote gon' smoke so dangerous



15. Prodigy by Chika

-You may (but probably don't) remember Chika from a few years back when she placed on here with the song Crown. I liked that song alot obviously, but figured that soulful/churchy rap was all she would ever try to do. Prodigy is a brag song, the type of which we've heard before, but different cause of her newfound confidence. This song goes harder than 90% of these songs, yet the ego stays small. It's not a "I'm so good that everybody should bow to me" it's a "I'm good enough to be listed amongst the best" song. Well, here on the Flava'd Fifty, you are.

DNA, it just gets in the way, 'cause people change, but pictures always stay the same



14. Perfect Picture by Hannah Diamond

-One of my favorite parts about modern pop music is that it doesn't have to actually be popular anymore. In the past, someone like Hannah Diamond would either be positioned as the next Britney, Mariah, Madonna, etc... or she just wouldn't be making music at all. Not having to worry about about chart performances has completely opened up the genre and now someone like Hannah can just make the music she wants to make, taking the money she can get while steadily building her credibility in the same way a local rock band would be trying to do. Hannah's insecurity over not being as beautiful or "perfect" as the other pop stars in the world is no longer a death sentence, it is a recipe for terrific art.

Pigeon steps, cause and effects, we hit another wall, take another fall, retroflex



13. It Hurts by Enter Shikari

-Enter Shikari is a group I heard of way back in the day (2006? 07?) whilst looking for artists similiar to one of my then favorites Horse the Band in the burgeoning genre of Nintendocore. That didn't really go anywhere beyond the funny name, and the idea of throwing the word core onto anything else and calling it a genre of music certainly did blossom. Enter Shikari ended up going into a totally different direction anyway, leaning much more into their electronic side than the metal side, ironically enough inspiring the progressive styles of other metal bands like Bring Me The Horizon. And then they come all the way back around with this year an excellent album, lead by this excellent track. Hearing about things hurting might seem like a downer at first, but you take context into consideration and the song before this is called "pls set me on fire."

Bonus Enter Shikari!



Was hard to choose between the two and they work together so well.

You were on a cold streak for a while but Hannah Diamond is a nice find, Enter Shikiri is not bad either.

Got the news just last month that I am exhausting and you're not in love



12. Lost The Breakup by Maisie Peters

-Another great part of the unpopular pop world. Though maybe she is more popular in her home country of England mate? Or maybe people hear the name Maisie and get disappointed when it isn't Arya Stark? This song is basically the lyrical version of assassinating an ex. It's not mean, it's just like "oh hey you dumped me and I still moved on quicker than you." Shit that would hit beautiful young people really hard since they don't know any real problems yet. Like why would you do if you heard an ex singing this song? Be peeved off us is what you'd do. Say "bloody hell I sure bonked things up" is what you'd do. "How dare she have this much fun without me?" is what you'd think but too scared to say out loud. And all the while, Maisie is just living her life making great songs.

It's my dependence on the friction that hinders my progression



11. Cest Comme Ca by Paramore

-#11 is always the hardest song to rank. It's only a one song difference, but it just feels bad to drop one of the best songs out of the top ten. I'm thinking Paramore can take it the easiest since they still have a shot at album of the year (much like like last year's #11 - The 1975) and they also elevated themselves into one of my very favorite artists in music history thanks to, you guessed it, the awesome arena tour! Paramore are a group who like to switch their style up with every single album. Hearing that all clash together could have been jarring for some, but the P just made it work so much and showcased their career in the best way. Speaking of switching up styles, I really like the down verses and up hook for Cest Comme Ca. I can definitely relate to that, and such is life.

Bonus Paramore with a live version of the song they kicked off their tour with!



So for the top ten I will try to get 10-6 tomorrow and then 5-1 on New Year's Day.

A preview: it's got some similiar artists to previous FFs but is truly unlike any before it

If the remaining artists were on festivals:

Five would be headliners
Three would be midcard
Two would be tiny font

Top ten action coming up!

We're all free to some degree to dance under the lights



10. Rescued by Foo Fighters

-Last year, the Foo Fighters were hit by tragedy as drummer Taylor Hawkins suddenly died right before they were about to play a show in South America. Fenanyl is the worst. Many drums could lose their drummer and just move on, but considering how Dave Grohl started as a drummer in one of the most famous bands ever and saw Taylor as a part of his family ... well there was a moment there when it looked like Foo Fighters might just be done for good. Instead, they bounced back with their best album since 2011's Wasting Light with Rescued as the highlight. And honestly, first time I heard this song I wasn't that into it. Didn't sound all that much different from their other recent material except for being so damn sad. I was wrong however, and this is a way of making up for it. Rescued perfectly captures their journey over the last year. It came in a flash, but then it builds up to a rousing ending that is so damn inspirational. Rescue me tonight!! Done and done. If Foo Fighters can recover from this, then what excuse do the rest of us for our own defeatism? None. Rescue me tonight!

You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor, you search in every model's bed for somethin' greater



9. Is It Over Now? by Taylor Swift

-Taylor keeps her top ten streak alive for the fifth straight year (!) Perhaps more important, she had arguably the biggest year of any musical artist ever thanks to the mammoh Eras tour (which I continuosly got waitlisted for ... gee thanks) and the follow up movie. Didn't even need to release a new album to conquer all the others. Though these vault tracks are just as good as a new album. "I Can See You", "Castlings Crumbling" , "Say Don't Go" and "Now That We Don't Talk" were are great too ... as well as all the others. Is It Over Now is definitely the tops though, which I didn't necessarily agree with when it hit #1 on billboard, but over time it became the obvious right choice. Despite this being a song that she supposedly wrote in the mid 2010s, the Jack Antonoffness of it makes it feel like a midnights track that is specifically about the end of her longest relationship with Joe Alwyn. Cya Joe, I always thought he was boring and Travis Kelce seems way more fun to party with.

Dime, ¿esto es lo que tú quería'? Yo soy fino, esto es trap de galería



8. Monaco by Bad Bunny

-I'll be the first to admit that I kinda snubbed Bad Bunny last year, not even bothering to listen to his new album cause I was all like "oh I only like his wrestling themes - Booker T and Chambea." 2022s Un Verano Sin Ti was pretty damn good though, and its top single Titi Me Pregunto probably would have charted in the 20-40 range. I corrected that mistake, and by doing so ended up getting two Bad Bunny albums in the same year! However, this new one, which has a really long name that I don't feel like typing out, is his best work to date lead by the new World Heavyweight Champion of Bad Bunny songs "Monaco." This song just oozes style and coolness. At first I thought it was Bunny auditioning to do the song for the next Bond movie, but Monaco has now convinced me that Bad Bunny would actually be a hell of a James Bond. It'll never happen since he isn't British, but I'm sure we can find a Puerto Rican equivalent to kick some ass and make some great music while doing it.

My dude also had one of the best wrestling matches of the year against Dirty Dominic Mysterio.

I didn't hit the mark yesterday, but that was 2023, it don't count no more. Top 7 coming up!

I just need the world, I ain't hard to plеase, way I keep the knowledge think I'm Socrates, I got 'em levitatin' way off their knees



7. Modern Jam by Travis Scott

-After the Astroworld tragedy, people wondered what would be next for Travis Scott. Would he accept his role in what happened? Would he blame everyone else? The answer was - neither? Apparently Travis decided that if he's gonna treat his concerts like metal shows then he needs the music to sound up to the task. There's an agression in almost every track that wasn't there before the incident. And so far ... nobody has died at any of his newer shows. That could be because he's taken additional steps to keep people safe (stopping the show if someone passes out for instance has become quite common amongst all artists.) Modern Jam, the third track on the album, perfectly this new state of mind. Those drums hit in a way where not only do you have to get rowdy, but everyone knows it going in.

All my worries were a waste of time, had the whole world blurry I was going blind



6. The Surface by Beartooth

-Beartooth are no strangers to the top of the Flava'd Fifty, placing #1 two years ago with "Devastation" and top 5 in 2018 with "Bad Listener." This one was awfully close to matching those feats and I thought it might upon first listening. But let's flash back a few months before that. Beartooth released two singles leading up to this - Riptide and Sunshine. And those songs were... weird. So what, only two years after shouting DEVASTATION WILL REIGN, now Caleb is suddenly all happy and shit? It didn't make any sense. Yet this song is not only great on its own, but makes those other two better as well. The Surface isn't just the opposite of Below, its an endgame. You either go too deep to recover or start back upwards. And realizing that all the things dragging him under were indeed a waste of time ... It warms the heartstring to hear it. So I'm glad for Caleb. If you don't wanna sing anymore hopeless songs then all the better for it.