SUMMER JAM
RANKING EVERY ‘SONG OF THE SUMMER’ FROM THE PAST 20 YEARS
Summertime requires its own soundtrack. And every year, pop stars compete to deliver the “song of the summer,” the track that defines the season on the charts and in listeners’ memories.
Officially, the song of the summer is the track that spends the most time atop the Billboard Hot 100 between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But to listeners, who can remember the pool parties, barbecues and communal gatherings they spent listening to the summer’s biggest hit, the title carries an added meaning.
It’s too early in the season to choose this year’s song of the summer, though Despacito has dominated the season’s charts thus far. In the meantime, we’ve analyzed the last 20 years’ worth of songs of summer, identifying the best and worst singles of years past. Some of these songs are still classics today and would fit perfectly on any beach or cookout playlist. As for some of the other tracks — what were we thinking?
1. CRAZY IN LOVE BEYONCÉ FEAT. JAY-Z (2003)
Not only did Beyoncé make the best song of the summer of the modern era, but she did it with her debut solo single. Crazy in
Love was the first track Beyoncé shared from 2003’s Dangerously
in Love, and it’s as perfect now as it was then, all horn blasts and clattering hi-hats as Bey tells a story of a girl in love.
2. HOT IN HERRE NELLY (2002)
Of all the tracks on this list, Hot in
Herre is the most inseparable from summer, sweaty to the point that it’s almost cloying. The lyrics’ middle schoollevel lewdness are less sexy than endearing. But for all its goofy nostalgia, Nelly’s 2002 hit is a quintessential summertime song.
3. BLURRED LINES ROBIN THICKE FEAT. T.I. AND PHARRELL (2013)
Upon Blurred Lines’ release, some listeners were quick to point out the track’s less-than-feminist politics. Unfortunately, it’s still a great song; so good that it inspired a failed lawsuit from Marvin Gaye’s estate charging it sounded too similar to Marvin’s
Got to Give It Up. At least they chose a summer classic to
kinda-plagiarize.
4. UMBRELLA RIHANNA FEAT. JAY-Z (2007)
Rihanna may earn her second song of the summer with her current DJ Khaled collaboration, Wild Thoughts, but Umbrella, which remains her all-time-best collaboration, sets a high bar.
5. U REMIND ME USHER (2001)
A wistful summertime classic, Usher’s early hit gets the nod for being a little more upbeat than Confessions Part II.
6. CONFESSIONS PART II USHER (2004)
Both of Usher’s song-of-summer winners earned top placement on this list. His Confessions album is a classic, and Confessions Part II still has fun with its tortured narrative of infidelity, but the song isn’t exactly feel-good summer material.
7. CALL ME MAYBE CARLY RAE JEPSEN (2012)
Call Me Maybe is the archetype of the modern song of the summer, an earworm that listeners can’t escape, no matter how they try. And yet, we were always glad to hear Call Me Maybe, which launched the career of one of pop’s most effervescent stars.
8. THE BOY IS MINE BRANDY & MONICA (1998)
Monica has confirmed in interviews that she and Brandy won’t be releasing an updated version of the song, and rightfully so — it’s a ’90s R&B classic.
9. WE BELONG TOGETHER MARIAH CAREY (2005)
Another weirdly emo choice to hit No. 1, We Belong Together is an essential later-era Mariah Carey hit and well-deserving of its song-of-the-summer title.
10. I GOTTA FEELING THE BLACK EYED PEAS (2009)
Is there another track that has compelled as many secular listeners to scream “Mazel Tov!” across the dance floor as the David Guetta-produced hit? I Gotta Feeling isn’t a great song, but that doesn’t mean it’s not iconic.
11. I’LL BE MISSING YOU PUFF DADDY AND FAITH EVANS FEAT. 112 (1997)
I’ll Be Missing You was an elegy for Notorious B.I.G, and thanks to its May release, one of rap’s most depressing hits also became the year’s song of the summer. While it’s a classic, it may not belong on your pool-party playlist.
12. ONE DANCE DRAKE FEAT. WIZKID & KYLA (2016)
Drake’s dancehall phase produced a string of enjoyable singles. And while One Dance may not have been better than
Controlla or Too Good with Rihanna, the rapper was on top of the world in 2016, which rightfully included a song of the summer.
13. CALIFORNIA GURLS KATY PERRY FEAT. SNOOP DOGG (2010)
Lorde and music theorists agree that Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream is her creative masterwork. Unfortunately, it arrived on the charts in August 2010, too late for summer domination, and the vapid California Gurls was her summertime hit.
14. PROMISCUOUS NELLY FURTADO FEAT. TIMBALAND (2006)
As mortifying as the lyrics of this song can be, Nelly Furtado is as good a rapper as Iggy Azalea, if not better, and her Timbaland duet is bizarrely enjoyable.
15. GENIE IN A BOTTLE CHRISTINA AGUILERA (1999)
Xtina is a ’90s icon, but nostalgia isn’t enough to earn one of her duller hits a higher ranking.
16. CHEERLEADER OMI (2015)
2015 was a particularly boring year for summertime releases, save for Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen, which peaked too early in the year. But according to the listeners that sent Cheerleader to No. 1, OMI’s breakthrough single was the best of the worst.
17. FANCY IGGY AZALEA FEAT. CHARLI XCX (2014)
Fancy will be remembered more as the song that introduced Iggy Azalea to the public consciousness and less for its actual quality.
18. BENT MATCHBOX TWENTY (2000)
Matchbox Twenty make plenty of good songs and Unwell and
3 a.m. are classics of the ’90s micro-genre the band inhabited. Unfortunately, Bent isn’t their best.
19. I KISSED A GIRL KATY PERRY (2008)
2008 was a different time, before social media grew into a powerful tool fans used to instantly flame pop stars for their missteps, and I Kissed a Girl’s icky queer-baiting likely would’ve fared worse today against Internet skeptics.
20. PARTY ROCK ANTHEM LMFAO FEAT. LAUREN BENNETT & GOONROCK (2011)
After subjecting us to hearing “Every day I’m shufflin’” on loop for an entire summer, the neonclad, uncle-cousin duo LMFAO put listeners out of their misery in 2012, announcing their indefinite hiatus.