Year Ender 2018

1. Alaska | YBN Cordae

The song is about racism faced by a young African American boy in US. YBN Cordae's "Scotty Pippen" had a name change twice, going from "Whip It Up" to "Alaska".

2. Epiphany | BTS

Lightning strikes in the form of BTS member, Jin’s solo single, Epiphany. Initially released online as a teaser for the album on August 9, the bleeding-heart pop-rock track is nothing short of inspirational. Jin’s flawless vocals float on a dreamy, slow-building melody of acoustic guitar and piano as he comes to the emotional realization that the one he should truly love and treat well is not someone else, but himself. “I’m the one I should love in this world / Shining me, precious soul of mine,” Jin croons. “I finally realized, so I love me / Not so perfect but so beautiful.” A goosebumps-inducing anthem, “Epiphany” is simple, but feels even more powerful and cathartic given that young people all around the globe will be singing along to a song championing self-love and self-care.

3. Get It | Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas return with a new single called “Get It” alongside a provocative video premiering on Noisey. The visual, which was directed by Pulse Films’ director Ben Mor, depicts aggressive police brutality and emphasizes how important it is for our culture to be aware of the realities of what it is like to live not only in this world, but in America.

4. God is a Woman | Ariana Grande

God is a woman is the second single from Ariana Grande’s fourth studio album, Sweetener, which refers to the pleasures of sex and, consequently, encourages the message of female sexual liberation and domination.

5. Love It If We Made It | The 1975

This song is made up of references to controversial social and political topics that point to a trend of regression leading to dark times. While current circumstances may seem hopeless, the song title and repeating chorus saying “I’d love it if we made it” is offering a hopeful and optimistic message of finding a light at the end of the tunnel.

6. Love Wins | Carrie Underwood

The song covers the aspect that we may feel that we’re all divided, but are connected by love. The song was written by Underwood, Brett James, and David Garcia. Underwood said of the song, "I do think that we as humans are inherently good and we need to remember that. Because we're different, that doesn't make somebody else bad, it just makes us different. We wanted that song to be hopeful and to maybe make somebody stop and think about that."

7. Nameless, Faceless | Courtney Barnett

Nameless, Faceless is the lead single from Courtney Barnett’s second solo studio album Tell Me How You Really Feel. The song deals in a direct way with toxic behaviour, violence, and misogyny. The chorus paraphrases a Margaret Atwood quote which reads: "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them; women are afraid that men will kill them."

8. Neon GraveStones | Twenty One Pilots

Neon Gravestones attacks society’s practice of glorifying those who have committed suicide, and romanticizing the idea of taking your own life. Twenty One Pilots have never shied away from talking about suicide with their lyrics. The duo has been making music about mental illnesses and talking about social taboos as well as taking us on a journey through their own experiences with depression and anxiety. Their entire album Trench released in 5 October 2018 revisits the subject of mental illness in the form of an allegory.

9. This Is America | Donald Glovar

Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino’s viral video of his latest song, This is America is a powerful take on gun violence, racism and police brutality in America. The video has addressed a lot of issues which have happened in recent news. The video features Donald dancing with a group of people but if you take that out of it, you will pay attention to hard-hitting facts that he has portrayed behind the dance sequences.

10. Youth | Shawn Mendes feat. Khalid

Shawn Mendes penned down the lyrics of his latest song Youth (featuring Khalid) after Manchester’s terrorist attack that took place on May 22 at Ariana Grande’s concert followed by another attack on the London Bridge on June 3, 2017. The opening lyrics to his song say, Waking up to headlines, filled with devastation again / My heart is broken, but I keep going. Shawn said in an interview that he felt that he is losing out on his youth because of the amount of violence he is seeing at his age. He wanted to make a statement with this song and also performed it with Khalid at the recent Billboard Music Awards as a tribute to students affected by gun violence.