Like every year, our team vote for their favourite tracks of the year. You can stream this list, as well as other tracks that were close to entering the top, via our Spotify and Apple Music playlists below. You can also check our Best Albums and Best EPs/Mixtapes of 2020.

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50. Julia-Sophie – “x0x”

49. Blue Hawaii – “Not my Boss!”

48. Zelma Stone – “Fly”

47. Young Ejecta – “Crayon Cactus”

46. Sedona – “Crying On My Own”

45. Zoee – “Rio’s”

44. Prince Innocence – “Angelyne”

43. Laura Groves – “Foolish Games”

42. Cindy Lee – “I Want You To Suffer”

41. Lido Pimienta- “Eso Que Tu Haces”

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40. Jayda G – “Both Of Us”

39. NNAMDÏ – “Perfect In My Mind”

38. Lomelda – “Hannah Sun”

37. Braids – “Young Buck”

36. Against All Logic, Estado Unido, FKA Twigs – “Alucinao”

35. oklou – “unearth me”

34. Kate NV – “Sayonara”

33. Agar Agar – “Nap”

32. Annie – “The Streets Where I Belong”

31. Beadadoobee – “Worth it”

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30. TOPS – “I Feel Alive”

29. Yves Tumor – “Gospel For A New Century”

28. Dua Lipa – “Physical”

27. Cakes da Killa, Proper Villains – “Don Dada”

26. Namasenda – “Wanted”

25. Ultraflex – “Never Forget My Baby”

24. Shamir – “On My Own”

23. Discovery Zone – “Dance II”

22. Couch Prints – “Of Drawing”

21. Nilüfer Yanya – “Crash”

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20. Cindy – “2y & 6m”

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19. Bullion – “We Had A Good Time”

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18. Kelly Lee Owens – “Melt!”

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17. Phoebe Bridgers – “Garden Song”

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16. Waxahatchee – “Can’t Do Much”

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15. Maria Minerva – “Apology”

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14. Shygirl – “FREAK”

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13. Jónsi, Robyn – “Salt Licorice”

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12. Perfume Genius – “On The Floor”

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11. Ela Minus – “Megapunk”

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10. Romy – “Lifetime”

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9. SAULT – “Wildfires”

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8. Soccer Mommy – “circle the drain”

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7. Eartheater – “Below The Clavicle”

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6. Helena Deland – “Comfort, Edge”

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5. Fiona Apple – “I Want You To Love Me”

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4. Charli XCX – “Forever”

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3. Dehd – “Loner”

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2. Christine and the Queens – “People, I’ve Been Sad”

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1. 070 Shake – “Guilty Conscience”

The music industry’s precious little secret has gotten too big to strap down. Jesse Saint John has been a songwriter and creative director for a couple years now, working with music industry forces like Britney Spears, Charli XCX, and Selena Gomez to curate undeniably powerful bodies of work, along with launching a solo career as an artist whose sound is as personable as the narratives behind them.

Recently charting in the Top 10’s for R&B/hip-hop and rap songwriters for Billboard, Jesse Saint John has made 2019 his year. He’s followed up from debuting his solo artist career in 2018 with tracks like “Move,” “What Do You Like,” and “Fake It” by releasing don’t stop dancing. life gets sad. earlier this year — a forward-thinking pop EP that redefines the boundaries of traditional pop music and exposes his inner thoughts to the world. As a therapeutic form of acknowledging one’s darkness, the singer-songwriter synthesized what it’s like to strive to be the best in today’s fast-paced digital age, with societal pressures and all, within this project. Tracks like “Wiser,” a star-studded music video with friends and contemporaries, depict the push-and-pull struggle dealt with putting out music as an artist and selling yourself as an artist. With an innate knack for creativity (especially having been a visual creative director for other artists), the video shows different versions of himself which captures his close-to-manic feelings of unsettlement, as he sings on loop, “what if I’m not getting any wiser?”

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More recently, the co-written banger with Lizzo, “Truth Hurts”, has been the number 1 song on the Hot 100 for five weeks now, having overthrown the summer 2019 anthem of “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X which comfortably sat at number 1 for 19 weeks. “Truth Hurts” was released in 2017, however there’s a reason the two year old began to chart. The empowering lyricism and artistic vision set in stone for the track has rode the rising wave of queer perspectives being embrace for radiowaves, creatives, and allies. From talking about real feelings and situations, Jesse Saint John has made a name for himself as an artist both behind the scenes and in the spotlight to not only empower queer artistry, but also lead the music industry sonically in the right path.

Jesse Saint John is a product of his cultural and artistic inspirations and loved ones around him – Of course, with the sparky flair of his own unconventional thinking, he’s created his own image to hint at new paths and new aesthetics for up and coming artists gravitating around him. Take a look inside his mind with his curated Queeropedia playlist.

[su_quote]This playlist is made up of songs I’ve co-written or artists I’ve collaborated with, & a few of my idols. I’m super blessed to work with a huge spectrum of LGBTQ superstars & it’s one of my life’s missions to collab with & highlight LGBTQ talent cuz when I succeed it’s not just for me it’s for my community, & it’s especially for those underrepresented in the mainstream. I love us so much ♥️?[/su_quote]

All the previous episodes of Queeropedia are available on our Spotify profile.

Taken from his last album “Hedonism” released ealier this year, you can follow the young artist having friends while choreographed animations pace the rhythm. As explained by the artist himself to Vibe:

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The track is all about movement, so we [Eric Johnson, animator Ben Marlowe and himself] included some B-roll from a party Eric and I threw. Ben’s animations helped add some dance sequences to the video, because dance culture influences my music a lot, and I feel there is a disconnect between that and rap culture lately.

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You can follow Cakes Da Killa over Facebook, Twitter and check his European tour dates below.

Sat Aug 26 Brooklyn – Afropunk Festival
Sun Aug 27 Chicago – Oakwood Beach
Tue Aug 29 Tel Aviv – Gagarin Club
Thu Aug 31 Berlin – YAMM
Fri Sep 1 Sopot – Soundrive Festival
Sat Sep 2 Oslo – Blaa
Mon Sep 4 Copenhagen – Ideal Bar
Wed Sep 6 Malmo – Inknst
Fri Sep 8 London -Jazz Cafe
Sun Sep 10 Dorset – Bestival
Wed Sep 13 Brno – Fleda
Thu Sep 14 Zurich – Exil
Fri Sep 15 Dudingen – Bad Bonn
Sat Sep 16 Paris – Smile Festival
Fri Sep 29 Lincoln – Lincoln Calling Festival
Fri Oct 6 Haverford – Haverford College
Sat Oct 21 Bristol – Simple Things Festival @ SWX Stage
Sat Oct 28 Tromso – Insomnia Festival

New-York-based rapper is exploring the new technology in this new video, where you get to see dancers moving in the infectious instrumental. The 360-degree visual, directed by Mark Lovato and Gella Zefira, adds a whole new vision to it, creating a more dark space thanks to club where it was filmed.

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Even if “Hedonism” is his first LP, the rapper has released many mixtapes in the past. Nevertheless it is the first time where he applies a whole vision to one single full-length.

You can connect with Cakes Da Killa on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.

BONUS: You can listen to our personal favorite of the album “New Phone (Who Dis)” that deals with break-ups

In this film, Cakes Da Killa explains what it means to be a young gay black rapper nowadays and how he manages to create a true and sincere career. The answer : just be yourself. One thing that we love about him is his complete honesty about the gay community, coming-out, being a rapper, gay sex, the black community all explained with a lot of humor. Filmmaker and rapper collaborated for the video of “Goodies Goodies” released last April that you can watch below. The film was selected for many movie festivals and we wish that their message will get through the young gay generation

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