The Genius Community’s 50 Best Songs of 2022

Arriving just five months after the group’s debut, Afro-Latin influenced “ANTIFRAGILE” leads LE SSERAFIM sophomore EP with the same title. With the song, the five-member girl group shares the story of the rookies by highlighting their struggles to overcome as they pursue their ambition to become successful. The intense “Anti-ti-ti-ti-fragile, fragile / Antifragile, antifragile” refrain sang over rhythmic beats focuses the listener’s attention on the main message of the song—it conveys the reasserting spirit of embracing self-power to preserve and face whatever the world throws at us during hard times. No wonder the song became a hit not only in South Korea or Japan but also globally, making LE SSERAFIM the quickest and best-selling K-pop girl group to enter the Billboard 200 chart. —Siannve

The great emo revival affectionately known as the ‘Rawring 20s’ climaxed this year with Paramore’s highly anticipated comeback single released in September. Rather than relying on a cynical nostalgic pop punk cash-grab, “This Is Why” sees the core trio of Taylor, Zac and Hayley exploring new musical territory by blending chaotic guitar riffs, thumping drums and their trademark angst at the world for a distinctly 2020s sound. The little band that could have gone through their fair share of public and private drama, but this lead single promises to showcase a band more confident in their own space than ever. —Kevin Loo

Ninth track from Shygirl’s debut album, Nymph, is definitely a solid 9 on the scale of—well, 1 to 9. Co-produced by Danny L Harle, Sega Bodega and Shygirl, the trio combines heavy bass rhythm with organ synth to produce Eurodance beat over which Shygirl’s soft, dreamy vocals guide listeners through a story of constant back and forth relationship. While she approaches post-chorus break, the listeners are left in a trance hypnosis before her poison brings them back for another round. As a strong standout track from Shygirl’s first album, it’s no surprise the song got a special Club Shy remix after it was received with well-deserved popularity. —Dušan

When My Chemical Romance announced a slew of reunion shows in 2019, which ultimately got postponed due to COVID-19, fans didn’t know quite what to expect. A handful of concerts? One last tour before they headed back into the shadows? Whatever our expectations were, we didn’t expect MCR to offer us a surprise-drop as moving as “The Foundations Of Decay”, a rousing anthem about making the most of your life and refusing to let the hardships you face get the best of you. The song returned to the themes of war, destruction, and subsequent empowerment that the band have been exploring since 2002’s 9/11-inspired “Skylines and Turnstiles.” A worthy comeback song for a long-awaited reunion, “The Foundations Of Decay” is the culmination of all the band’s previous work, and it also (hopefully) marks the start of a new era. —Madison Murray

Charli XCX is a name synonymous with pop futurism, yet on her fifth album CRASH, she ravenously revives the past forty years of dance music with a glossy hyperpop sheen. Paying tribute to 90s house, Charli presents a carefree yet scathing attitude on “Used To Know Me", an ode to independence channeling the anthemic energy of Robin S. club classic “Show Me Love”. Charli leaves old labels and lovers in the dust with the volcanic force of bouncing beats and vintage synth sparkles in one of the most infectious and irresistible UK dance cuts of the year. —Rhett Logan

“PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ,” the fifth track on Atlanta native Future’s highly acclaimed ninth studio album, I NEVER LIKED YOU, shows Future in a calm and laid-back setting, likely off of the effects of him “puffing on zootiez,” a term more simply referring to the act of smoking marijuana. The eerie instrumental, produced by Nils, TooDope, and TM88, serves as a juxtaposition to the highly relaxed flow. The track serves as a standout on the album, as Future’s soothing tone is in contrast to his lyrics, which note the effect of drugs on his body. —@TrippleTripple123

Being one of his most vulnerable tracks since the release of his sophomore album 2 and a half years ago, Harry couldn’t have made a better comeback than with the release of “As It Was,” the lead single from his 3rd album, Harry’s House. Reminiscent of 80s Pop-Rock, the song proves Harry’s versatility with the upbeat music accompanied by his soft, soothing vocals and lyrics that discuss loneliness, transitions and bittersweet nostalgia—making it easy for everyone to relate to it and find their own interpretation. “As It Was” definitely solidifies him as an artist with one of the greatest potentials out there right now. —@anastasijam27

Its candle lit by Danny L. Harle’s always memorable production, “Billions” is the year’s best glitch-pop track, glowing with excess. A hallucinogenic embrace of abundance backed by kinked up percussion. Á la French modernist poet Bauelaire, “Billions” takes up a philosophy of idealizing the heaping horn of plenty, “cup overfloweth” with vice and pleasure to cope with an immoral world facing emergency. Since her days in Chairlift, Polachek spellbinds with her voice; “Billions” is no different. When she relents in the final minute to a soaring British children’s choir, a lyrical landscape of headless angels and real estate proceedings left behind, we face only bliss. —Max Zhang

On “pg baby,” redveil shows love to his hometown of Prince George’s County, Maryland. The lyrics of the song see redveil warning his competition that he is only getting better and better, and he delivers every lyric with confidence. redveil wrote, produced, and engineered “pg baby” by himself with a rearranged sample of Band of Thieves’ “Love Me or Leave Me.” This song’s mastery didn’t go unnoticed, either—Denzel Curry co-signed and hopped on the official remix. —@ByronStylez

From the haunting harmonization in its chorus to the textured verses, South Korean girl group IVE’s “LOVE DIVE” became one of the most popular songs of the year, skyrocketing the group to mega-stardom. IVE’s confident delivery of the song solidified IVE’s place in K-Pop and the global stage. Describing a deep addictive love, “LOVE DIVE” has the catchiness of a timeless K-Pop song, which is bound to make it a hit for years to come. —Saquib Syed

When Spanish superstar Rosalía first teased “HENTAI” on TikTok in mid-January, some listeners lambasted it, rejecting its straightforward eroticism as crude and regressive compared to previous lyrical nuance. Really, the world just wasn’t ready to receive the year’s sexiest ballad. Piano twinkling in Disney-like fashion, gentle vocals lush with desire, drums quivering in mid-track, “HENTAI” collides the delicate, the sexual, and the humorous expertly. Co-produced with some of the best in the industry (Pharrell Williams, Michael Uzowuru, Sir Dylan, Noah Goldstein), “HENTAI” represents such an intimate, velvet chronicle of getting down and dirty. —Max Zhang

Between releases from titans like Kendrick and Drake this year, JID proves his worth as one of the most underrated rappers of the new generation. “Dance Now” is a standout track off The Forever Story, with impressive flows and lyrics addressing topics as wide as God vs. the devil, poverty vs. excess, and gangbanging in Atlanta. Including guest features from fellow Atlantean Kenny Mason and a spoken word outro from reggae visionary Jesse Royal, “Dance Now” is a concise package that addresses relevant topics but delivers strong on its promise of still being a completely danceable vibe. —Kevin Loo

First teased in 2020, SZA tested our patience and the wait was worth it. “Shirt” exploits one of the artist’s greatest talents: her ability to convey the cruelties of modern love. “Shirt” traces the difficult path to self-healing without losing the rhythm—over heavy drums and a haunting 808—she sings in a painful but sultry voice: “Still stressin' perfection/ Let you all in my mental/ Got me lookin' too desperate, damn.”
Moreover, SZA and Lakeith Stanfield expand on these themes in a captivating Bonnie-and-Clyde-style video, echoing the song’s destructive relationship dynamics. —Layla​

Bad Bunny has long been the world’s most dominant popstar (just ask Spotify), but songs like “Otro Atardecer” prove him as one of the most versatile and adventurous too. Benito’s collab with the Marías— the LA-based indie pop outfit led by Puerto Rican-born María Zardoya— starts with an earworm guitar sample and a simple backbeat, then transforms to give the summery melancholy of the lyrics a more textured, more Caribbean backdrop. The pairing might be surprising, but the varied sound is exactly what you might expect in a song by an R&B trendsetter and a reggaetón star who happen to share heritage. If what Un Verano Sin Ti does best is connecting the wide-ranging dots of the Puerto Rican diaspora, look no further. —Chris Ritter

Released in October 2022, “Just Wanna Rock” may very well be the first single off Lil Uzi Vert’s highly anticipated third studio album, P!nk Tape. Being previewed just weeks prior to the song’s release, the Jersey Club influenced track, produced by MCVertt and Synthetic had gone viral on TikTok, making its way into dance videos and clubs through the lyrics, “Ha, sixty in the Glock, I just wanna rock/I just wanna, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah/I just wanna rock, body-ody, yeah.”

As Uzi enters a new era, they prepare to again take over a new realm of music—“Just Wanna Rock" serves as Uzi’s highest charting single since March 2020’s “That Way.” —@TrippleTripple123

Fujii Kaze channels inner peace and happiness with “grace,” a song in collaboration with “KAZE FILMS docomo future project.” The project aims to show that even though the path of life may be tough and narrow, each person is endowed with a variety of special talents. Accompanied by the delicate, rich melody and soulful chord, Fujii sings about his beliefs that everybody is “someone” and everyone is made equal by God on “grace.” Finding inner happiness may be difficult, but dawn will always alight. And sometimes, it is how we choose to look at things that makes the difference. —@TIKTOKTIKTOK

June 6, 2022. That would be the day Joji fans across the world finally saw him break his two-year-long hiatus with the romantic ballad “Glimpse Of Us.”

Joji is as glum as ever on the track, constantly seeing his old lover in the eyes of his new one, tainting his “perfect” relationship. He still tries to make it work in the long run, though. “Glimpse Of Us” checks all of the boxes for a grand lead single: melancholic and simplistic piano, baroque progression, and sweet vocal melodies. And although Joji takes a more minimalistic approach on the instrumental, it only tailors to the raw and heartbreaking emotions he explores in the lyrics.

The song is like the ‘little brother’ of “Like You Do,” a powerful ballad from Joji’s ambitiously-produced project Nectar. While “Glimpse of Us” is more retrospective and “Like You Do” is more introspective, the two songs share the same soft piano, reverb, and libretto. Ultimately, the similarities prove that Joji knows how to make a heartfelt and passionate pianistic masterpiece. —Kwame Hodge

Fans of Steve Lacy have been waiting for him to rise to mainstream dominance for years. Lucky for all of us, “Bad Habit”, a quirky track about what could have been, topped charts worldwide. For a song with tempo changes, multiple vocalists, and an instrumental break, it’s remarkably smooth. Grounded by the simple but effervescent “I wish I knew you wanted me” refrain, Lacy is able to bounce between questioning, flirting, and pleading. It seems like a simple feat due to its effortless excellence, but ultimately, only Steve Lacy could release such a layered and outrageously fun song like this. —Babu Chatterjee

“Diet Coke” is as refreshing and light on the ears as its title suggests. Working with a bouncy soul sample (chopped by Ye but actually based on an 88-Keys beat from 2004), Pusha T manages to rap about cocaine for the umpteenth time without ever sounding tired or tiresome. The enjoyment he gets from weaving in and out of his trademark wordplay is simply infectious. Just like the recipes he references in the chorus, Pusha has long mastered his craft and will continue extending the music-as-drug metaphor as long as he can. —Kevin Loo

Rina Sawayama fought fire with fire on “This Hell,” a powerful anthem for queer individuals who have been condemned for their sexuality. Rather than embrace a homophobic afterlife, Rina contests hate with a country-inspired banger full of gradious statements. The song’s electric guitar riff and addictive hook will make you want to do-si-do with The Devil. Sawayama has always excelled at creating vocally beautiful melodies that will stick with you long after your first listen, and this experimental lead single off her sophomore album did not disappoint. —Joseph Haske

Back in 2012, Taylor Swift released the pop-country fusion hit “Red,” which explored the downfall of an adrenaline-filled relationship through color symbolism. Now, 10 years later, Swift revisits that relationship on “Maroon” from a perspective that can only come from a decade of processing and growth—and the knowledge that the relationship was actually a much darker shade than she realized at the time. She once again explores the color red as a symbol of passion, recalling everything from the “scarlet” blush on her cheeks during the honeymoon phase to “the rust that grew between telephones” as things went sour. “Maroon” showcases all the best aspects of Swift’s songwriting and storytelling talents, and in the words of Swift herself, “that’s a real f*cking legacy to leave.” —Madison Murray

In early 2022, FKA twigs marked her comeback with her mixtape CAPRISONGS, which featured The Weeknd-assisted electro-R&B single, “tears in the club.”
The song delivers on the promise of its name, combining an explosive dancefloor beat and atmospheric synths, with lyrics by FKA twigs and The Weeknd full of heartache and angst: “Tears in the club/ Because your love’s got me fucked up.” FKA twigs is trying to get away from hell to get a brief taste of heaven.
The deeply tuned voices of both multi-talented artists serve the sound beautifully. And with its catchy melody, the chorus stays in our head for days. The track is so gripping and dazzling—the bass rumbling in our chest—that it puts the listeners in a state of mind. —Layla​

Zeltron hand-delivered a masterpiece to fans in the form of “Walkin.” We were all ears when the Carol City rapper gave us a taste of his fifth studio album in January. Curry was lyrically in his element, delivering one of the best flow switches while rapping this beautifully written metaphor for racial inequality. The past few years have been tough on everyone, but Denzel reminded us how redeemable we all are, and to keep walking with your head high whenever you think about giving up. There truly aren’t enough words to do this motivational, eye-melting work of art justice. —Joseph Haske

“The Heart Part 5” is a continuation of Kendrick’s long-standing “Heart” series—stream-of-consciousness reflections released outside of his narrative-driven full lengths. In “Part 5”, Kendrick passionately dissects the Culture and how it manifests as a self-sabotaging cycle of destruction. It’s a scathing indictment of every agent in the system: fans, social media, entourages… No one is innocent (“Fuck callin’ it culture”). But Lamar doesn’t stay negative the whole time. He ends the track on a hopeful note by paying homage to recent positive impacts on the culture, thus rounding out yet another exemplary mix of Kendrick’s anger, pathos, intellectualism and poetry. —Kevin Loo

What has always made disco and funk special as genres is how they’ve transformed dance—and pleasure—into a political act. The sensual movement of the body mandated by music is an emphatic reminder of freedom and humanity. On the beating heart of Beyoncé’s Renaissance, “VIRGO’S GROOVE,” those politics are all there, baked into a galaxy of synths courtesy of The-Dream.

Six minutes and eight seconds long, “VIRGO’S GROOVE” represents a musical apex. We’re given some career-best vocals from a superstar 25-plus years into the game, a classic 108 beats-per-minute beat, an absolutely filthy bassline (engineered by a brilliant team including a trio of high-school friends—R&B upcomer Leven Kali, Sol Was, and Daniel Memmi)—and layers and layers of sound. It’s an ocean of a song, with percussion, background ad-libs, and fades all working in fine-tuned harmony—a reflection of its multi-year production process. And penned by an all-star cast including trusted Beyoncé collaborators Nova Wav and DIXSON, the lyrics are deceptively simple, illustrating an unfettered picture of yearning.

But “VIRGO’S GROOVE” is brilliant because it lets go of all notions of what music is “supposed to be” in 2022. It’s without entendre, without anger, without need for virality, and without restraint. It delivers a utopian vision of pleasure. The groove is the message. Love is the language. —Max Zhang