Best Song of the 2010s Bracket

[Quinctilius Varus]

Hi! I'll be running a single-elimination bracket to determine the best song of the 2010s. Hopefully this list strikes a good balance between critical acclaim and popular appeal. I'm sorry if your favorite song didn't make it in - this is just scraping the surface of the amazing tunes released this decade! Feel free to express your approval or disapproval over the seeding in the replies. Since this is in the high school section, be warned that there is some profanity and crude language. The play-in game will be open until Friday night at 11:59 p.m. central. Finally, please listen to both songs before voting.


#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3


Here's a Spotify playlist with the songs (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Si0Z ... zViByJ7gkg). The entire bracket will be finalized and posted sometime before Thanksgiving.


Complete Bracket (voting opens on Saturday):

JISOO SECTIONAL
#1 Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. #16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
#8 Drake - Hotline Bling vs. #9 Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
#5 Bon Iver - Holocene vs. #12 Perfume Genius - Queen
#4 Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. #13 Björk - Stonemilker
#6 Beach House - Space Song vs. #11 Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
#3 LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. #14 Vince Staples - Norf Norf
#7 Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. #10 Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
#2 Grimes - Oblivion vs. #15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZEMo ... hY_9_Eau1w

JENNIE SECTIONAL
#1 Daft Punk (ft. Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers) - Get Lucky vs. #16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness
#8 Taylor Swift - Blank Space vs. #9 Jamie xx (ft. Young Thug & Popcaan) - I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)
#5 Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Company vs. #12 M.I.A. - Bad Girls
#4 Solange - Cranes in the Sky vs. #13 Deafheaven - Dream House
#3 Mitski - Your Best American Girl vs. #14 Snail Mail - Pristine
#6 Sufjan Stevens - Fourth of July vs. #11 Chief Keef (ft. Lil Reese) - I Don’t Like
#7 Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) vs. #10 Tyler, the Creator - Yonkers
#2 Kendrick Lamar - m.A.A.d. City vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5VvFw ... CU6nSkCToA

ROSÉ SECTIONAL
#1 Kanye West (ft. Pusha-T) - Runaway vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#8 Sky Ferreira - Everything is Embarrassing vs. #9 Ariana Grande - thank u, next
#5 Gotye (ft. Kimbra) - Somebody That I Used to Know vs. #12 Danny Brown (ft. Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, and Earl Sweatshirt) - Really Doe
#4 Lorde - Royals vs. #13 Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
#6 Death Grips - On GP vs. #11 Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel
#3 Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me vs. #14 Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me
#7 Vampire Weekend - Hannah Hunt vs. #10 Kacey Musgraves - Merry-Go-Round
#2 Beyoncé - Formation vs. #15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nUCa ... oUO7nsBLbg

LISA SECTIONAL
#1 Lana del Rey - Video Games vs. #16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
#8 Childish Gambino - This Is America vs. #9 Weyes Blood - Movies
#5 M83 - Midnight City vs. #12 Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars) - Uptown Funk
#4 Azealia Banks - 212 vs. #13 Fiona Apple - Every Single Night
#6 Adele - Rolling in the Deep vs. #11 Earl Sweatshirt - Solace
#3 David Bowie - Lazarus vs. #14 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
#7 Car Seat Headrest - Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales vs. #10 Radiohead - True Love Waits
#2 Frank Ocean - Pyramids vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5WZUq ... m8JQtwRBDQ

Visualized Bracket

[kammajos000]

Thanks for putting this together, William. Seems like it'll be fun. My vote:

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Auroni]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa - extremely
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Bosa of York]

i cant wait to make this data way more noisy with my bizarre, terrible, and inconsistent taste

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

(also thanks a ton for the playlist so folks don't have to just google all of these)

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel. Hard to find a better example of a pure pop song, this deserves some wins.
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…. Bad Guy is cool I guess, but I doubt I'll think about it in three years. That Tribe album is very memorable.
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia. Years (and several albums) later, still my favorite Flying Lotus song
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us. Once c. 2017 I'm at the club with some acquaintances, and when the flute for this song comes on one of the girls freaks out, yells "OH MY GOD MASK OFF THIS IS MY ISH" and rips her shirt open popping buttons off and then awkwardly danced while holding it closed for the rest of the song and then went home to change right after. I don't like this song as much as she does, but it's pretty fun.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work. I'M GONNA RIDE FOR THIS SONG TIL I CAN'T NO MORE. It hurts to say good-bye to the pans so soon though and ANTI- deserves consideration for the decade's best pop album, non-Beyonce division.
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa.
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko. Whatever
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3. No thanks

[TheScientists]

Here goes nothing:
#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work - Alright, I know this is a controversial take but Old Town Road has been shoved down my throat so much, Work feels like a breath of fresh air. (Other Lil Nas X songs are amazing ngl)
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko - I personally don't like either song, but I can appreciate the instrumental in Danny Nedelko (despite the vocals feeling really shitty). Super Bass has no good qualities.
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Tippy Martinez]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel

Believe it or not, I love both of these songs! But St. Vincent is criminally underrated, so I'm giving it to her.

#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….

This really isn't a contest IMO. bad guy is an ok song, but We the People (and the rest of We Got It From Here...) is phenomenal.

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia

Voting against Kendrick??? Me?? Yeah. I love both of these songs but Never Catch Me isn't close to Kendrick or Flying Lotus' best work, so I'm giving it to Carti. Magnolia is peak trap and I love it.

#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

I guess Come Down to Us is a cool song, but Mask Off is just so much more fun to listen to. That sample is amazing!

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work

Both great songs, but I just prefer OTR a bit more.

#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa

Two great examples of what I like to call "quizbowl-core." One I'm a fan of, and one I'm not.

#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko

Super Bass is an ok song at best. Danny Nedelko is some of the best punk of this decade. Sorry Nicki.

#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

Courtney is some more classic quizbowl-core. I really like this song, but I'm giving this one to XO Tour Llife3. Uzi comes off extremely authentic and devastated here, and I freaking love this beat.

[Auks Ran Ova]

Gonna try to stay involved with this one; seems like a good way to stay relatively current/expose me to new music I don't have as much time or inclination to otherwise keep up with.

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel - tough one, but Teenage Dream is just a really good pop song.
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…. - kind of a tossup.
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia - interested in learning more about Flying Lotus; can't stand mumble rap. Easy choice.
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us - The flute sample in Mask Off is cool but I'm kind of blah on the other elements of the song. Come Down to Us was neat.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa - both new to me, both had strengths. had to give the one that wasn't a mumbly seven-minute folk song the edge over the one that was, though. Also, current voting suggests we won't be seeing Kozelek's return, which means I'll only have to make one of these jokes. Hooray!
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko - unfortunate matchup for Super Bass--I assumed I'd snap vote for it but Danny Nedelko was actually really good!
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3 - Courtney Barnett is good! I predict I'm going to be shrugging at a lot of trap in this bracket.

[Tippy Martinez]

can't stand mumble rap.

Why do olds hate fun???

[Quinctilius Varus]

I've updated the original post with the complete bracket. Voting for the first quarter will begin on Saturday, and I'll add a playlist once the #15 and #16 seeds are determined.

EDIT: changed it from Monday to Saturday

[Red Panda Cub]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Sylvia Pankhurst]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[VSCOelasticity]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[ryanrosenberg]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[MiltonPlayer47]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel (toughest choice of this round, but I will go with the fun pop song over the good indie tune)
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia (abstain)
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us (abstain)

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Auks Ran Ova]

can't stand mumble rap.

Why do olds hate fun???

You are free to enjoy whatever you like, my tiny baby son.

[Wartortullian]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
I didn't expect this to be such a hard choice!

#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
I've avoided Billie Eilish so far, because in my mind, "Wish You Were Gay" is Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" but with the word "here" replaced with "gay," and I really wanted to believe such a song exists. Now that I've actually heard her music, I kinda get the hype, but it's not really my thing.

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
"Never Catch Me" is amazing. Also, what Rob said.

#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us
I'd never heard anything by Burial before, but this was great!

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
The latter has never exactly been my cup of tea, but it's well-executed and has more going for it than just meme value.

#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
I really like the arrangement in "Motion Sickness," and living in Boulder for 3.5 years has burned me out on everything folk-related.

#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
Another extremely difficult choice, but I'll be voting for Runaway in the next round either way, so I didn't think too carefully about this. Say what you will about "Super Bass," but the chorus is catchy AF.

#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3
No strong opinion on either.

[34 + P.J. Dozier]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us
I can stand mumble rap.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

Thanks for organizing this, William! It looks super fun.

[Arabidopsis failiana]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Apocolocyntora]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work Oh man I love Rihanna but Work is awful
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Charm Bison]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
Sorry, but good pop is good pop.

#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
I'm pretty sure I haven't stopped listening to this song in the three years since it came out

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
I'm going for the actually interesting one here

#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us
Before this I had never heard a single song from Burial, and now I feel like I have to listen to their entire discography. This is STUNNING.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
Give in. You know you love it.

#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
I'm not a particularly discerning music-listening-type-person. That's not the only reason I'm picking the non-seven-minute track here, but it helps.

#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
Starships might've won, but not Super Bass.

#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3
OOF this is hard. XO TOUR Llif3 is probably my favorite emo rap song, by a mile. It's just got this floaty atmosphere that meshes so well with the lyrics to create such a specific kinda headspace while you're listening to it that I love. Courtney Barnett is great, but Uzi gets my vote this time.

[Harpie's Feather Duster]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel

First time listening to the St. Vincent. Teenage Dream is good but there are better pop tracks in this bracket to vote for.

#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….

I think "bad guy" is the only Billie Eilish song I like, but it's great! A nice breath of fresh air on the radio until it got played a billion times. I prefer other songs on "We Got It From Here"

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia

FlyLo is cool, Playboi Carti has never really done much for me, easy pick

#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

Mask Off is aight. I hadn't listened to Burial but it's really interesting, which gives it the edge despite the length.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work

come on people, Old Town Road doesn't belong near this bracket

#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa

I love Mark Kozelek's voice and writing, but "Carissa" is a little on the long side and doesn't hold up as well outside of the context of the album imo. I hadn't heard "Motion Sickness" before this but I really liked the overall mood and killer chorus.

#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko

Another fine song vs. "I hadn't heard this before but thought it was good!"

#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

I like both of these a lot! XO Tour Life's crazy-good chorus pushes it over the edge for me.

[merv1618]

Sup folks

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
It's worth noting that this pairing stinks: Eilish is a rising star and Bad Guy delivers, but We Got It from Here is just too good of an album.
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
No contest; You're Dead! is still a fantastic listen.
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us ABSTAIN


#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
Old Town Road was good. So was the remix. Honestly so was the EP.
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
Easiest choice of the round.
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3
Hadn't heard Pedestrian at Best before but it's got a good old school punk feel to it.

[merv1618]

can't stand mumble rap.

Why do olds hate fun???

Having just turned 28, I heartily endorse Rob.

[women, fire and dangerous things]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us - this is probably my favorite song of the decade

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[BenWeiner27]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Wynaut]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[wjg]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3

[Quinctilius Varus]

Here are the results for the play-in round. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's commentary, and I hope you discover more interesting songs in the upcoming rounds!

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel (14-11)

#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People…. (9-16)

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia (17-7)

#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us (10-13)

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work (18-6)

#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa (19-6)

#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko (9-16)

#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3 (15-9)


Voting for the first quarter of Round 1 has now begun. It will last until Monday night at 11:59 p.m. Seeds can be found on the original post, and the Spotify playlist is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZEMo ... sq0njEbaog. Happy listening!


Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[Zealots of Stockholm]

#15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream vs. St. Vincent - Cruel
Hadn't heard the St. Vincent song before, it was okay. Teenage Dream is a super good pop song.
#15 Billie Eilish - Bad Guy vs. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People….
This one was pretty easy; I'm not the biggest Tribe fan but this song is clearly better, although I personally will be using popularity as one factor in my voting.
#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
Here's a good chance for me to complain that maad city was chosen as Kendrick's entry for this tournament. I realize its his most popular song, but I think for someone who's produced as much conscious rap this decade as Kendrick has, it would have made more sense to choose "Alright" as his most political song which also had mass appeal, or "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst" as just his best song (much like "Runaway" was chosen for Kanye).
#15 Future - Mask Off vs. Burial - Come Down to Us
it.

#16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix vs. Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
I think I'm one of the last people who isn't sick of this song, but I really do think it's good. And, it completely owned a summer. Also I distinctly remember listening to this remix at least 5-10 times the day it came out.
#16 Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness vs. Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
Two sad songs that I hadn't heard before! "Motion Sickness" was excellent.
#16 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass vs. IDLES - Danny Nedelko
I didn't get annoyed listening to the IDLES song, so it wins.
#16 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best vs. Lil Uzi Vert - XO TOUR Llife3
Mostly because the Lil Wayne version exists and is really good, although Courtney Barnett's album name is high tier.

EDIT: I apparently just missed having my votes counted, but this was still fun to do

Reminder: no swearing in the high school section. -mgmt

[Auroni]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix - gay anthem >>> meme I have at long last gotten tired of

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me - I enjoy “Hotline Bling” but Angel Olsen has the sonically far more interesting song here.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen - I don’t love either of these (especially not Bon Iver, who tricked me into thinking the song was over like twice), but “Queen” has some neat instrumental effects.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker - “Seasons” is decent, but “Stonemilker” is an emotional soundscape and journey. Glad I was able to get into Björk eventually!

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio) - This is a tough pick for me, since I found myself enjoying the Rosalía song upon listening just now much more than I did when I blitzed through the album along with dozens of others from last year in December. “Space Song” is from an album that’s incredibly dear to me (I credit it with getting me back into new music when I first heard it), but it’s sort of a suboptimal selection. Were it “Levitation” or “Days of Candy” I’d be voting the other way for sure.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf - LCD so good

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow - I love “Let It Happen” and the Reichian part where you think your audio player has glitched for like 15 seconds, but “Bodak Yellow” hits.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream - The song isn’t good enough here to overcome Grimes’s powerful cringe, and as others have pointed out, “Teenage Dream” is solid.

[Wartortullian]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
What Auroni said.

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
"Hotline Bling" is fine, but nothing more. I've never heard "Shut Up Kiss Me" before, but I enjoyed it. Really good use of distorted vocals.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Bon Iver, like most self-indulgent indie folk, is boring (though credit where credit is due: For Emma, Forever Ago is one hell of an album name). "Queen" at least has an interesting arrangement.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Extremely difficulty decision. While it's a bit melodramatic, "Stonemilker" has a killer atmosphere, which ultimately caused it to win out. I still love the chorus in "Seasons," though.

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
Another hard choice. I got what the Beach House song was going for, but I just never really vibed with it and it got kinda boring after the first few measures. "Malamente" is a tad repetitive, but still catchy and danceable, so it gets my vote.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
I've never been the biggest LCD Soundsystem fan, and I wasn't really feeling this song at first, but once the low freequency sawtooth wave came in, it just clicked. Not to disparage "Norf Norf," though—I really like that drone-ish beat.

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
I'd like to thank quizbowl for teaching me enough about fashion to recognize the red bottoms and Yves Saint Laurent references in Bodak Yellow. Sadly, that's not enough for it to beat a "Let It Happen," which has a really cool atmosphere and plenty of masterfully used effects.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
I like "Teenage Dream," but not as much as a lot of other Katy Perry songs, and "Oblivion" has a very unique sound that I kinda dig. This could've gone the other way on a different day, though.

[TaylorH]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[MiltonPlayer47]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
I have never understood the love for Bon Iver. "Queen" isn't that much better, but it's good enough to win this matchup.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
I hate to vote against Tame Impala here, but "Bodak Yellow" was an instant classic that would probably make my own top 10 songs of the decade list. And I was also surprised at how much I like Invasion of Privacy overall.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[Apocolocyntora]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[VSCOelasticity]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[warum]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road – Remix
I don’t enjoy either of these much so I’m picking the funny one.
Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Both are pretty good; this could go either way.
Bon Iver – Holocene vs. Perfume Genius – Queen
I love songs like “Holocene” where there is a gradual buildup of sound layers over the course of the song.
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk – Stonemilker
Only pair of songs in this bracket where I’ve heard neither before, and they’re both fantastic. I’m going to have to choose based on the minor detail that I prefer how “Seasons” places the vocals more prominently in the mix.
Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
While “Space Song” sounded cool at first, it ended up being too long and static for me. That said, I prefer Rosalía’s more acoustic flamenco-sounding stuff over “Malamente.”
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Vince Staples has some good lines, but his voice is too monotone in this song. Some of the timbres on “dance yrself clean” are annoying, but I like its beat a lot.
Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
I like the intensity of Cardi B’s delivery, but the lyrics and production of “Bodak Yellow” don’t do much for me. On my first listen, “Let it Happen” surprised me with how consistently compelling it was across its length.
Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
“Teenage Dream” is such a well-made pop song. Easy choice.

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
Here's a good chance for me to complain that maad city was chosen as Kendrick's entry for this tournament. I realize its his most popular song, but I think for someone who's produced as much conscious rap this decade as Kendrick has, it would have made more sense to choose "Alright" as his most political song which also had mass appeal, or "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst" as just his best song (much like "Runaway" was chosen for Kanye).

While you can make good arguments for a lot of other Kendrick songs including the ones you mention and one of my personal favorites HiiPower, it's pretty weird to claim that Maad City is his most popular song or that there's no other reason to choose it. Humble, DNA, Swimming Pools, and Pray for Me (probably among others) both charted higher and sold/streamed more.

[Wynaut]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
Not even a contest.

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Drake vs. Not Drake, so it's pretty obvious which one I'd favor. Even so, Shut Up Kiss Me stands on its own merits.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Queen sets a very interesting tone, and it feels like I can only enjoy Holocene under limited circumstances.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Probably the toughest decision here. My synthpop bias definitely swung this vote.

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
El Mal Querer is a quality album, but Depression Cherry, especially Space Song, holds a lot of sentimental value for me.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
I had the same reaction as Matt on this one — probably the slowest burn in this group outside of Oblivion.

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
This song is so incredibly well-put together, especially for a song of this length. I was also never a fan of Cardi B to begin with, which made this decision even easier.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
Grimes' voice took some getting used to, but once again, the instrumental sold me. Though Teenage Dream is miles ahead of most of the other possible options for Katy Perry, it's just average to me.

[women, fire and dangerous things]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

[rylltraka]

Wow, I have listened to about two of these songs, total, because I am old. I will get up on this.

[gyre and gimble]

#1 Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. #16 Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix OR Rihanna (ft. Drake) - Work
#8 Drake - Hotline Bling vs. #9 Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
#5 Bon Iver - Holocene vs. #12 Perfume Genius - Queen
#4 Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. #13 Björk - Stonemilker
#6 Beach House - Space Song vs. #11 Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
#3 LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. #14 Vince Staples - Norf Norf
#7 Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. #10 Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
#2 Grimes - Oblivion vs. #15 Katy Perry - Teenage Dream OR St. Vincent - Cruel

I don't have comments yet, only the negative energy of my complaints that you didn't pick Levitation, Should Have Known Better, and Generation Why over Space Song, Fourth of July, and Movies (but I love that you picked Queen instead of No Shape). I also feel like Step captured the "2010s" feel better than Hannah Hunt, even though I like the latter better. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the song choices play out in terms of how certain artists do in this bracket.

[Zealots of Stockholm]

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
Here's a good chance for me to complain that maad city was chosen as Kendrick's entry for this tournament. I realize its his most popular song, but I think for someone who's produced as much conscious rap this decade as Kendrick has, it would have made more sense to choose "Alright" as his most political song which also had mass appeal, or "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst" as just his best song (much like "Runaway" was chosen for Kanye).

While you can make good arguments for a lot of other Kendrick songs including the ones you mention and one of my personal favorites HiiPower, it's pretty weird to claim that Maad City is his most popular song or that there's no other reason to choose it. Humble, DNA, Swimming Pools, and Pray for Me (probably among others) both charted higher and sold/streamed more.

While you make a good point, and I didn't look up actual streaming numbers (oops), I think it would be really weird to choose a song from DAMN., mostly because Kendrick had much more popular appeal by that point due to the success of GKMC (and TPAB). And Swimming Pools is just straight up the worst single from that album.

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix. Brutal first round matchup, but Robyn made an absolute classic.

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me. If any Drake song deserves to be on this list, it's his best.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen. Why are neither of these songs bangers?

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker. I've tried to get into Bjork and just never been able to. Seasons, on the other hand, is incredible. I always fall for songs with a contrast in tone between the music and lyrics, and this song does it better than almost any.

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio). Not sure what it says about Beach House that I didn't even notice when the song switched from the Bjork, but surely it says something about Rosalía that her song sounded like a breath of fresh air.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow. The culmination of a long career vs. a star-making performance. Bodak bangs hard, but Let It Happen just sticks in my brain enough that I can't vote it down.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream. If I don't vote for Grimes do I get locked in Elon Musk's house alone for Labor Day weekend?

[Tippy Martinez]

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
Here's a good chance for me to complain that maad city was chosen as Kendrick's entry for this tournament. I realize its his most popular song, but I think for someone who's produced as much conscious rap this decade as Kendrick has, it would have made more sense to choose "Alright" as his most political song which also had mass appeal, or "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst" as just his best song (much like "Runaway" was chosen for Kanye).

While you can make good arguments for a lot of other Kendrick songs including the ones you mention and one of my personal favorites HiiPower, it's pretty weird to claim that Maad City is his most popular song or that there's no other reason to choose it. Humble, DNA, Swimming Pools, and Pray for Me (probably among others) both charted higher and sold/streamed more.

And Swimming Pools is just straight up the worst single from that album.

Bruh what album are you listening to?

More seriously, as quiz bowl's foremost Kendrick stan, I'll commend William for the choice of maad city here. While it probably would be my second Kendrick pick for this list (I'd much rather see The Blacker the Berry,) maad city is a great choice to represent Kendrick. It's a perfect hip-hop song through and through and is extremely indicative of Kendrick's style as a whole. While Humble or Swimming Pools may be more well known, those songs are for sure much more flawed and are much more tuned for radio play, which I don't think gives the real picture of Kendrick's music.

[Tippy Martinez]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix

I'm just going to admit I'll probably never be as much of a Robyn stan as the rest of quiz bowl, no matter how much anyone tries to change that. Robyn is good and this song is also good but man I just really love Lil Nas X and OTR so he's getting my vote.

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me

Two fantastic songs, but picking Angel here. For one, the sentiment of this song is extremely relatable and its got a great groove. Second, Hotline Bling isn't close to Drake's best output this decade so I'm sticking with Miss Olson here.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen

Wow. Okay. Is this what you indie heads are going crazy over? This??? I do not remember Bon Iver sounding this god awful. This song was painful to get through. An otherwise decent at best song is getting my vote here just purely for not being Holocene.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker

Two songs I was not too familiar with before this, so great to get some cool new tunes under my belt. While I kinda see what Bjork is trying to do here, I just like the vibe on Seasons so much more.

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)

It's a shame one of these songs has to go out so soon. Space Song creates such a cool atmosphere and vibe, but man oh man Malamente is just so catchy and so incredibly well made. Rosalia really did it to em here.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Another example of a fantastic hip hop song that's going to leave this tournament way too early because quiz bowlers are allergic to the n-word and 808s. (I *guess* this LCD Soundsystem song is good but c'mon guys. Vince Staples is a national treasure.)

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

By far the hardest choice I had to make this round. Bodak Yellow, while still a great song, has become a little grating to me at this point. I also think Let It Happen could be like 3 minutes shorter, but regardless still great vibes all around. Guess I can't vote for every hip hop song in this tournament, so the Aussies will get my vote here.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

This Grimes song is not good. I don't know why people keep fawning over it. I voted against Teenage Dream last round but it's absolutely getting my vote here.

[Zealots of Stockholm]

#15 Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar) - Never Catch Me vs. Playboi Carti - Magnolia
Here's a good chance for me to complain that maad city was chosen as Kendrick's entry for this tournament. I realize its his most popular song, but I think for someone who's produced as much conscious rap this decade as Kendrick has, it would have made more sense to choose "Alright" as his most political song which also had mass appeal, or "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst" as just his best song (much like "Runaway" was chosen for Kanye).

While you can make good arguments for a lot of other Kendrick songs including the ones you mention and one of my personal favorites HiiPower, it's pretty weird to claim that Maad City is his most popular song or that there's no other reason to choose it. Humble, DNA, Swimming Pools, and Pray for Me (probably among others) both charted higher and sold/streamed more.

And Swimming Pools is just straight up the worst single from that album.

Bruh what album are you listening to?

More seriously, as quiz bowl's foremost Kendrick stan, I'll commend William for the choice of maad city here. While it probably would be my second Kendrick pick for this list (I'd much rather see The Blacker the Berry,) maad city is a great choice to represent Kendrick. It's a perfect hip-hop song through and through and is extremely indicative of Kendrick's style as a whole. While Humble or Swimming Pools may be more well known, those songs are for sure much more flawed and are much more tuned for radio play, which I don't think gives the real picture of Kendrick's music.

Am happy to debate GKMC for hours at a time, but I should probably stop hijacking this thread to do so

("The Blacker the Berry" would've been an extremely solid choice too)

[rylltraka]

Hello, everybody. I want to preface this, and all future posts, with the information that I am 1) old and 2) do not listen to pop or hip-hop radio, so most of this music is going to be new for me. Based on what earlier folk have said, I have also avoided oversaturation with ubiquitous songs, so that probably affects my perspective as well.

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix

The Robyn song is workmanlike, professional electronic pop (which I'm generally for), but it doesn't hook me that much. Not sure why it would have been a 1 seed. This "Old Town Road" is a bit funky, has some neat genre crossover; I could easily see myself listening to it again, just to try and figure out all its layers. Easy decision.

Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me

Ah, so this is the Drake person who is really into basketball in addition to his other pursuits. This is an okay piece of hip-hop, and the hook is pretty good, but damn, it's repetitive. And why is his syntax so weird on the title phrase? The second is indie fuzz rock, and doesn't overstay its welcome - I wouldn't say I love it, but I've no desire to hear the line about the cell phone another 30 times, so I'll choose this.

Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen

I'm going to repeat an earlier commentator and just say "wow". Two nearly identical meandering, ethereal tracks, neither of which I enjoyed. Was one actively trying to copy the other? No vote on this one.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker

I like this first one - it's got a little soul, it's got a little funk, although it doesn't wind up doing too much with them. It's miles ahead of seven minutes of bizarrely enunciated Bjork weirdness.

Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)

I don't have anything against the second one - it has sort of the mumbly vocals, but that's not horrible; my Spanish isn't good enough to decipher it. However, I like everything about "Space Song", and look forward to hearing it again.

LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf

I am so glad the LCD Soundsystem song picked up about two minutes in, but still, even after that, it's twice as long as it needs to be. I thought I was going to vote against it until I heard the second track, which has Lil' Wayne style vocal delivery (at least to me), which is just so unspeakably ugly that I have to vote for the other song.

Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

Ah, this is the "money moves" song! I've heard of that. It has a nice groove to it and avoids the clanking and clattering production so often heard in hip-hop, so it gets my vote over the other song, which I forgot no less than five minutes after listening to it intently.

Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

This is by far the hardest matchup of this round. "Teenage Dream" is such a slick, expertly fabricated pop song (I was surprised to see that Katy Perry was the singer); too bad, because "Oblivion" is awesome. This is going to be my personal dark horse prediction, which means it's going to be voted out early, but I'm going to give it a special place in my pop consciousness - sort of like the "Standing in the Way of Control" of the 2010s.

[wjg]

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix
Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
Bon Iver - Holocene vs. Perfume Genius - Queen
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) vs. Björk - Stonemilker
Beach House - Space Song vs. Rosalía - Malamente (Cap.1: Augurio)
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean vs. Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Tame Impala - Let It Happen vs. Cardi B - Bodak Yellow
Grimes - Oblivion vs. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream