Continuing my look at the top songs of 2025…
Kendrick Lamar closed out the top 20, and he’s back again at #21. This time he’s a featured artist on a single from SZA’s 2024 album Lana, returning the favor after she featured on his #1 hit ‘Luther.’
This is one of nine collaborations between SZA and Lamar, and the third most successful (after ‘Luther’ and 2018’s ‘All the Stars,’ from the Black Panther soundtrack).
I haven’t done an installment of ‘What the Kids are Listening To’ since last August (not counting the year-end roundup) so I figured it was high time. Over the next two weeks, I’ll offer up the songs currently topping Billboard’s Hot 100.
At #1 this week is ‘luther,’ a collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and SZA, the third single from Lamar’s latest studio album, GNX. This song has been atop the Hot 100 for ten straight weeks, making it the longest running chart-topper for both artists.
Male artists might have dominated the top ten of the year-end Billboard Hot 100, but the ladies hold eight of the ten positions in the rest of the top 20.
At #18 is Chappell Roan with ‘Good Luck, Babe!,’ a song I slot just behind Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ on my own Song of the Year lineup. And coming in at #19, with the first of two tracks in the top 20, is SZA.
In a new annual tradition, I’ll start January by recapping Billboard’s Hot 100 songs of the previous year. If I’ve been good about keeping an ear open to “What the Kids are Listening To,” I should get pretty far down the list after weeding out the songs I’ve already featured.
Last year, I made it all the way to #27 before reaching a song new to the blog. This year, I didn’t do nearly as well. My first entry was the #9 song of 2023.
SZA occupies the #4 slot on this week’s Hot 100 with ‘Kill Bill,’ the fifth and most successful single from her album SOS.
This is a dark revenge fantasy with a distinctly melancholy air, jealous anger expressed in beautifully mournful vocals over hypnotic mid-tempo beats. It’s a great song that has me eager to hear the rest of this album, one I’ve had on my radar for awhile.
Meet Me In Montauk 