Greatest Hits of 2016

Attention!!!

2016 belonged to EDM, Dancehall and Reggae Fusion. Justin Bieber began the year at the top of the global charts, but it’s Drake whose mammoth collaboration One Dance with WizKid and Kyla that takes the crown this year as chart performance in most of Europe have already been tallied for Bieber’s Love Yourself for 2015. The smash hit collaboration which brought Dancehall into the mainstream also paved the way for veteran Sean Paul to emerge from the depths of the forgotten 2000s to reignite Reggae Fusion which he succeeded with collaborations with Sia on Cheap Thrills and Clean Bandit on Rockabye.

It was an awesome year for most genres. EDM evolved to a stage where Synthpop and Dancehall was incorporated to form a much mellowed tone than that which the previous years produced such as Progressive House. R&B did not entirely disappear from the mainstream as Rihanna’s newest album Anti produced her global hit Work another collaboration with Drake. Alternative Rock music also entered the mainstream once again in the form of Twenty One Pilots whose album Blurry Face is quite reminiscent of the bygone era of Linkin Park. Pop music took on a more tropical feel to keep up with the increasing popularity of Dancehall and Reggae.   

Social media and viral music proved once again to play a massive part in contributing to the mainstream charts. Young stars such as Alessia Cara and Troye Sivan amassed quite a following throughout the year as their hits managed to fare better with social media fame. Viral hits such as Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall’s Juju On That Beat and Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane’s Black Beatles surged to the top of the charts, the former with its unique dance moves and the latter fueled by the extremely popular Mannequin Challenge which was the next best thing after Donald Trump Memes in the last quarter of the year.

Soundtracks continued to be successful similar to 2015 where Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling! from Trolls and almost the entire soundtrack of Suicide Squad particularly Twenty One Pilots’ Heathens faring extremely well on the global charts. We bade adieu to One Direction as the group went on a hiatus in early 2016 and Camila Cabello left Fifth Harmony just two weeks ago which may lead to the end of the girl group which only just received a proper mainstream following.

Justin Bieber has the highest number of entries with 4 followed by The Chainsmokers, Drake and Rihanna with 3 each and Zara Larsson, Twenty One Pilots, Sean Paul, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Adele and Selena Gomez all having two each on the list. So here are the best 50 songs of 2016 was compiled based on worldwide charts, sales and accolades received:

1. Drake ft. WizKid & Kyla – One dance
2. Justin Bieber – Love yourself
3. Sia ft. Sean Paul – Cheap thrills
4. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer
5. Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!
6. Rihanna ft. Drake – Work
7. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber & MØ – Cold water 
8. Twenty One Pilots – Stressed out
9. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – This is what you came for
10. Mike Posner – I took a pill in Ibiza (SeeB Remix)
11. Lukas Graham – 7 Years
12. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don’t let me down
13. Alan Walker – Faded
14. Zayn – Pillowtalk
15. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – Let me love you
16. Shawn Mendes – Stitches
17. Twenty One Pilots – Heathens
18. DNCE – Cake by the ocean
19. Zara Larsson – Lush life
20. Adele – Hello
21. Clean Bandit ft. Anne Marie & Sean Paul – Rockabye
22. Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – Work from home
23. Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This girl
24. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – Black Beatles
25. James Arthur – Say you won’t let go
26. G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha – Me, myself & I
27. Pink – Just like fire
28. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy
29. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – Side to side
30. Jonas Blue ft. Dakota – Fast car
31. Justin Bieber – Sorry
32. Desiigner – Panda
33. Gnash ft. Olivia O’ Brien – I hate u, I love u
34. Drake ft. Rihanna – Too good
35. The Chainsmokers ft. ROZES – Roses  
36. Zara Larsson & MNEK – Never forget you
37. Meghan Trainor – No
38. Flo Rida – My house
39. Little Mix – Shout out to my ex
40. Shawn Mendes – Treat you better
41. Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
42. Coldplay – Hymn for the weekend
43. Enrique Iglesias ft. Wisin – Duele el Corazón
44. Adele – Send my love (to your new lover)
45. Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez – We don’t talk anymore
46. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd – Starving
47. Selena Gomez – Hands to myself
48. Ariana Grande – Dangerous woman
49. Alessia Cara – Here
50. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – Don’t wanna know 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!