Intro | 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1
80. Malibu - Miley Cyrus
Peak: 10 (June 3); Weeks on chart: 15; December 30 position: NR
Miley Cyrus had herself an interesting few years recently, but her 2017 album Younger Now marked a major reinvention and resurgence for the former teen star. As marked by its most successful single, Miley's latest album shows how through growth and adversity she is happier and more at peace now than she's ever been before. Cyrus's comeback has included her current gig as a coach on NBC's The Voice and an entertaining appearance on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke segment. As someone who wrote her off at least somewhat during the Bangerz era, I am glad to see Miley doing so well and still creating music.
79. Feels - Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean
Peak: 20 (September 2); Weeks on chart: 18; December 30 position: NR
I'll start by saying this. Calvin, Katy and Sean deserve each other. How Pharrell got entangled into this mega-collab is beyond my understanding, but "Feels" is far from being his best project. Chief among my concerns about this songs is its advocating of recreational drug use; there is an epidemic of prescription pill abuse and not only are these has-beens ignoring it, they're actively saying substance abuse is not an issue. There are other smaller problems with "Feels" but I'm not trying to spend five paragraphs discussing them. Suffice to say it will hopefully soon be a forgotten effort for all four artists involved.
78. No Limit - G-Eazy feat. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B
Peak: 7 (December 23); Weeks on chart: 14; December 30 position: 10
The latter parts of this year saw the return of America's favorite copycat rapper to the U.S. music scene. That's right, boys and girls, Big Mac is back! His current track features today's hottest female rapper and some dude whose name pops up on hip-hop hits every couple of years. Eazy's rap style continues to fluctuate between those of Big Sean, Macklemore, and probably a few others. It's possible we'll see "No Limit" somewhere in this same range in the #Top100of2018 as well, and I'll probably say something along the same lines then.
77. Cold - Maroon 5 feat. Future
Peak: 16 (April 1); Weeks on chart: 20; December 30 position: NR
The most successful band of our generation released their sixth studio album late this year. Sadly, I just can't get into Maroon 5's current sound. With multiple crossover collaborations, including this with trap star Future, Red Pill Blues seems to indicate that Adam Levine's superstardom has made him forget that he is a member of a rock band. Maroon 5's music has been trending this way for a while, I suppose, but it seems like the band has enough name-brand recognition that enough people will listen to them regardless. "Cold" is just one of three new Maroon 5 tracks to reach #Top100of2017 status; I'll reveal the other two as the week continues.
76. Bad At Love - Halsey
Peak: 8 (December 23-30); Weeks on chart: 15; December 30 position: 8
Halsey is one of today's underrated musical artists. Her unique vocal style is accented by an equally distinct overall sound and some of the best lyrics of any recent pop music. Halsey's current hit - her first top 10 entry as a primary artist - is one of the better songs off her sophomore effort hopeless fountain kingdom. The openly bisexual singer doesn't try to fit the mainstream mold, including verses in "Bad At Love" about romantic affairs with both a male and a female. This echos a theme expressed multiple time over her 2017 album, including the track "Strangers" - my personal favorite from the album - which was a duet with Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui featuring feminine pronouns where most females would use the masculine.
75. Heathens - twenty one pilots
Peak: 2 (four weeks in 2016); Weeks on chart: 20; December 30 position: NR
After a monster 2016, the neo-rock duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun didn't release any new music this year. Twenty one pilots' biggest moment in 2017 was when they accepted the Grammy for Best Pop Duo-Group Performance in their underwear. It was weird, but the explanation behind it made the stunt a whole lot less weird and a whole lot more meaningful. TOP's last top five hit from last year, "Heathens" stayed in the Hot 100 for the first three months of this year after already finishing 2016 as one of that year's 15 biggest songs.
74. Sign of the Times - Harry Styles
Peak: 4 (April 29); Weeks on chart: 13; December 30 position: NR
Perhaps the most prolific member of One Direction, Harry Styles released his debut solo album this year to much anticipation. What surprised many casual 1D listeners, but made sense to those who knew a little bit about Harry's musical influences, was that his self-titled project turned out to be a bonafide rock n' roll album. Styles, whose personality screams "young Mick Jagger," had manifold moments in the album that sounded like they could've belonged in Rolling Stones music. "Sign of the Times" was Harry's first solo single, but is far from his best track on the album. Nevertheless, it's his only song to reach the top 50 of the Hot 100 this year.
73. All Time Low - Jon Bellion
Peak: 16 (January 14); Weeks on chart: 22; December 30 position: NR
New York-based producer Jon Bellion had a big year. He was the opening act on the final leg of twenty one pilot's massive world tour; his first single to reach the Hot 100 climbed all the way to number 16 at the beginning of the year. "All Time Low" is an infectious bop with a unique sound. The official video for the song celebrates the wildly successful year the 26-year-old Bellion enjoyed. My favorite moment of this song was the cover that Walk Off The Earth did.
72. DNA. - Kendrick Lamar
Peak: 4 (May 6); Weeks on chart: 20; December 30 position: NR
Perhaps my favorite single off DAMN., "DNA." continues the albums overall theme of socially-conscious rap. Kendrick's unique rhythmic staccato tries to get to the core of who he is. The song peaked in the top five in its first week of Hot 100 eligibility, but never shared the success of the lead single from Lamar's incredible second-straight chart-topping album. The Compton-raised rapper has expertly explored his sound, and whatever self-examination he has done with his music continues to pay off.
71. In Case You Didn't Know - Brett Young
Cookie-cutter country stars are a dime a dozen. One of the three country tunes on this year's compilation was released by such a guy. Brett Young doesn't stand out, nor does his music. "In Case You Didn't Know" played well over the summer as a typical country love song. The sweet, entirely unoriginal ditty with four Music Row co-writers launched the up-and-coming Young into superstardom within his own genre, and into a footnote in the ever-expanding textbook of music history.
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