Nicki Minaj has the most interesting pop song so far this year. "Starships" is a fun song to listen to and slightly better, in my opinion, than "Take Care" by Drake, with Rihanna.
Drake's hit single is graced by the beautiful singing voice of Rihanna. She is one of the best singers and maybe the very best of them all right now. I don't think it would have been in the top 2 without her.
Another great song is "Leave You Alone" by Young Jeezy and it features the superb singing of Ne-Yo, which made the song even more impressive, and with a lot of feeling.
This brings up a question that is so hard to answer that I won't today: Who is the best pop vocalist of 2012 to this point? I would have to say Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, and Ne-Yo, whose his singing is brilliant on "Leave You Alone" and other songs, are the three main contenders.
There are many others including Nicki Minaj, Mackinzie, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, who came very close to getting on the list with "Give Your Heart a Break" and Carly Rae Jepsen, also with a fine song "Call Me Maybe". My problem was identifying when that song was actually released. I read that her single was released in 2011 and it could appear on my 2011 list (if I do one) or my 2012 (complete year) Best Pop Songs list, which won't be until after this year is over. That will include some crossover songs by artists from other genres.
My goal was to give all the new songs a chance to get on the list; hence most of the songs I considered were released this year, except (as far as I know) two songs, one by Britney Spears and the other by Nicki Minaj, which were released in December according to what I read. My reason was there were large numbers of listeners to those songs on YouTube this year. Also, I don't recall hearing either song on the radio, which is another reason I allowed it, and that's to say what's getting played and what's not by radio DJs is all messed up. If the songs on YouTube are better, then that's the way it is.
However, my emphasis was on including radio singles, although the number a song got to on a hits chart didn't matter to me, and yes, I do my own thing here. I also listened to many songs by new(er) artists on YouTube and a large number are unsigned artists. These days anyone can write, record, and release songs this way. While I have a limited amount of time, I will spend some of my time listening to these songs. I hope to hear more of these artists.
Drake's hit single is graced by the beautiful singing voice of Rihanna. She is one of the best singers and maybe the very best of them all right now. I don't think it would have been in the top 2 without her.
Another great song is "Leave You Alone" by Young Jeezy and it features the superb singing of Ne-Yo, which made the song even more impressive, and with a lot of feeling.
This brings up a question that is so hard to answer that I won't today: Who is the best pop vocalist of 2012 to this point? I would have to say Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, and Ne-Yo, whose his singing is brilliant on "Leave You Alone" and other songs, are the three main contenders.
There are many others including Nicki Minaj, Mackinzie, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, who came very close to getting on the list with "Give Your Heart a Break" and Carly Rae Jepsen, also with a fine song "Call Me Maybe". My problem was identifying when that song was actually released. I read that her single was released in 2011 and it could appear on my 2011 list (if I do one) or my 2012 (complete year) Best Pop Songs list, which won't be until after this year is over. That will include some crossover songs by artists from other genres.
My goal was to give all the new songs a chance to get on the list; hence most of the songs I considered were released this year, except (as far as I know) two songs, one by Britney Spears and the other by Nicki Minaj, which were released in December according to what I read. My reason was there were large numbers of listeners to those songs on YouTube this year. Also, I don't recall hearing either song on the radio, which is another reason I allowed it, and that's to say what's getting played and what's not by radio DJs is all messed up. If the songs on YouTube are better, then that's the way it is.
However, my emphasis was on including radio singles, although the number a song got to on a hits chart didn't matter to me, and yes, I do my own thing here. I also listened to many songs by new(er) artists on YouTube and a large number are unsigned artists. These days anyone can write, record, and release songs this way. While I have a limited amount of time, I will spend some of my time listening to these songs. I hope to hear more of these artists.
