ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

― lex pretend, Wednesday, January 23, 2013 6:57 PM (2 minutes ago)

lol J0rd

CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

We are off to a screamer of a start here. That Cheryl Cole remix is far from my favourite interzone bubbler from this year but I'm really pleased to see it and I'm wondering if that's the last we'll see of Royal-T.

The Rihanna remix completely bangs and it's like the seventh or eighth best Funkystepz track this year alone.

Death Grips sound hopelessly lumbering in this company.

the original was such a banger already this is like a lil' pinewood derby car

haha

"and it's not even my birthday" was stuck in my head for a good proportion of the year

speeding up the original makes it seem so much less thudding, more teasing

the way funkystepz turn riri's distracted hum into a hook of its own <3

CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK CAEK

otm

"Use Me" is fantastic obv, though left it off my ballot to vote for one of the singles, Cheryl Cole remix is great though I've spent more time with "You're Saved" Royal-T-wise, guess I'll finally hear Death Grips.

ha I didn't know terius is a coproducer on birthday cake

terius stans failed to lmk

afaict this funkystepz remix doesn't even have the crucial fierce kitty yowl of the original, what is even the point?

the "not even her birthday" callback to "I Luv Your Girl" always reminded me of his hand in it

It's so much funkier and more limber and way more fun to dance to.

i don't understand the fonkytimez haterz. It's like they feel threatened or something

http://i.imgur.com/Psd9DgA.png

36. KALENNA "Matte Black Truck" [286 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote]

Youtube

=D

that 1st place vote could only have come from like, one of 3 posters

YESSSSSSS

TOO LOW

my #2 i think

so tim f or rtc?

Neither, is my guess.

This is still an absolute monster, sounds amazing pitched up a bit as well.

I can't believe these things are placing so high with only 9 votes? Is that normal?

I credit "Matte Black Truck" for most of the Wu-Tang I listened to last year, heh. Great track.

most overlooked track (and artist) of the year - didn't see her crop up in ANY other EOY lists

KEEP MY HEART IN YOUR DASHBOARD / I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU SPEED

spoiler: on the mixtape, she does end up cranking wu-tang in her matte black truck

I can't believe these things are placing so high with only 9 votes? Is that normal?

― this customer is a jerk (La Lechera), Wednesday, January 23, 2013 2:14 PM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark

the highest song with single digit votes is #27

if every Kalenna song was as good as "Poison" and "Matte Black Truck" i would totally prefer her to Dawn

btw the production on this totally jacked the melody from outkasts' 'slump'

I don't believe Death Grips aim for a light, skippy sound somehow

Great run - haven't heard the Cheryl and Rihanna remixes before

the sudden shift midway through "matte black truck" is so unexpected and effective. so much tension in the song

tim f (obv) absolutely nailed "matte black truck" in his thread:

"Matte Black Truck" starts innocently (even ignorably) enough, but quickly amasses by accretion a kind of sonic and emotional largesse and complexity that is rarely found in combination in 2012 R&B, and a kind of ambivalence that is even more rarely pulled off so successfully - are the synths squealing or groaning? is the beat bouncing or lurching? is Kalenna declaring love or war? It's this uncertainty that makes the song so addictive, and it's riven with it: "you the motherfucker I need", Kalenna sings blankly, "put it on me / I ain't got time for games / you could put the freeze on me / get on your knees / n*gga put this ring on me." No straightforward promises of devotion, just commands that sound like menacing threats, or threats that sound like seductive commands. "If you leave I'm a crank Wu-Tang in my matte black truck, in my matte black truck / I'm a keep my red cup filled up, in my matte black truck, in my matte black truck" - a premonition of suicide, or a fantasy of resuming control? For Kalenna it's necessarily both, and the choice to frame the chorus and the song itself around a vehicle representing both freedom and danger is hardly coincidental - it's the fact that you never know what’s going to happen, what the fuck girl will do, that makes "Matte Black Truck" so enthralling.

I can't believe these things are placing so high with only 9 votes? Is that normal?

Last year there was a 9-pointer at #24 (Nyan Cat).

last year the #38 only got six votes (2NE1)

LL I imagine once we hit top 10 vote numbers are going to skyrocket

Nyan Cat!

I was gonna confess to being the person who put Matte Black Truck at number 1, but then I remembered that I submitted an unordered list. It's number 1 in my heart.

http://i.imgur.com/Ak3ObKP.png

35. KANYE WEST FT. BIG SEAN, PUSHA T & 2 CHAINZ "Mercy" [286 points, 12 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

mercy was def a track i wasn't feeling initially but i'm cool with it being the big classic rap single from 2012

ditto

same

it was good to hear in communal settings

didn't vote for it though

mercy was probably the track that made me feel most okay that big sean is a presence that's not gonna go away for a while

i see j0rdan's big sean (and pusha t) shade in the choice of image :)

assquake

i'm in hell

It's ok -- I was just feeling like a fringe weirdo, which I should be used to by now!

that's a helluva opening verse #asstate

lol xp

that has to be a poll already right?

i like all the people on this song but i don't really like the song at all

The chorus of 'Matte Black Truck' is great.

That Rihanna remix is hilarious.

Not mad keen on 'Mercy'.

wish they had put somebody else besides kanye on the breakdown but I suppose it just helps to highlight 2 chainz' verse better