#Top100of2021

I didn't know if I was going to do this this year, but I ended up getting it done with enough time to publish. So here we go, CU:BS's seventh countdown of the year's biggest hits!

With two number ones and four songs in this list's top 40, Olivia Rodrigo was not only this year's Best New Artist; she also edges out The Weeknd, Doja Cat, and Drake as CU:BS 2021 Artist of the Year. (Hanina Pinnick // New Musical Express)

1. Save Your Tears - The Weeknd feat. Ariana Grande
2. Levitating - Dua Lipa
3. Kiss Me More - Doja Cat feat. SZA
4. Blinding Lights - The Weeknd
5. Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo
6. Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson.Paak)
7. Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
8. Stay - The Kid LAROI feat. Justin Bieber
9. Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran
10. Peaches - Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
11. Drivers License - Olivia Rodrigo
12. Mood - 24Goldn feat. Iann Dior
13. Deja Vu - Olivia Rodrigo
14. Heat Waves - Glass Animals
15. Industry Baby - Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow
16. Fancy Like - Walker Hayes
17. Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf
18. Butter - BTS
19. Go Crazy - Chris Brown feat. Young Thug
20. 34+35 - Ariana Grande
21. You Right - Doja Cat feat. The Weeknd
22. Without You - The Kid LAROI
23. What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke
24. Up - Cardi B
25. Need To Know - Doja Cat
26. Positions - Ariana Grande
27. Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon
28. Best Friend - Saweetie feat. Doja Cat
29. Rapstar - Polo G
30. Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay feat. 6lack
31. Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish
32. Essence - WizKid feat. Justin Bieber & Tems
33. Forever After All - Luke Combs
34. Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5 feat. Megan Thee Stallion
35. My Ex's Best Friend - Machine Gun Kelly feat. Blackbear
36. Way 2 Sexy - Drake feat. Future & Young Thug
37. Dakiti - Bad Bunny feat. Jhay Cortez
38. For The Night - Pop Smoke feat. Lil Baby & DaBaby
39. Back In Blood - Pooh Shiesty feat. Lil Durk
40. Traitor - Olivia Rodrigo
41. Beggin' - Maneskin
42. Shivers - Ed Sheeran
43. You Broke Me First - Tate McRae
44. Good Days - SZA
45. On Me - Lil Baby
46. Beat Box - SpotemGottem feat. Pooh Shiesty
47. Easy On Me - Adele
48. Knife Talk - Drake feat. 21 Savage & Project Pat
49. Every Chance I Get - DJ Khaled feat. Lil Baby & Lil Durk
50. Holy - Justin Bieber feat. Chance The Rapper
51. You're Mines Still - Yung Bleu feat. Drake
52. Whoopty - CJ
53. If I Didn't Love You - Jason Aldean feat. Carrie Underwood
54. Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
55. I Hope - Gabby Barrett feat. Charlie Puth
56. Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) - Elton John feat. Dua Lipa & PNAU
57. Wants And Needs - Drake feat. Lil Baby
58. Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello feat. Jonas Brothers
59. Take My Breath - The Weeknd
60. Girls Want Girls - Drake feat. Lil Baby
61. Bang! - AJR
62. Better Together - Luke Combs
63. Wockesha - Moneybagg Yo
64. Thot Sh*t - Megan Thee Stallion
65. Lonely - Justin Bieber feat. Benny Blanco
66. Anyone - Justin Bieber
67. Streets - Doja Cat
68. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
69. Laugh Now Cry Later - Drake feat. Lil Durk
70. What's Next - Drake
71. Lemonade - Internet Money feat. Gunna, Don Tolliver & NAV
72. Body - Megan Thee Stallion
73. The Good Ones - Gabby Barrett
74. Late At Night - Roddy Ricch
75. Willow - Taylor Swift
76. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
77. Chasing After You - Ryan Hurd feat. Maren Morris
78. Pepas - Farruko
79. My Universe - Coldplay feat. BTS
80. Telepatia - Kali Uchis
81. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
82. Famous Friends - Chris Young feat. Kane Brown
83. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
84. Lil Bit - Nelly feat. Florida Georgia Line
85. Thats What I Want - Lil Nas X
86. Starting Over - Chris Stapleton
87. Smokin Out The Window - Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson.Paak)
88. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams
89. Dynamite - BTS
90. Fair Trade - Drake feat. Travis Scott
91. Glad You Exist - Dan + Shay
92. Good Time - Nico Moon
93. Last Christmas - Wham!
94. Yonaguni - Bad Bunny
95. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
96. Meet Me At Our Spot - The Anxiety feat. Willow & Tyler Cole
97. Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi
98. Permission To Dance - BTS
99. Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah) - CKay
100. Kings & Queens - Ava Max
Bold indicates songs that reached number one on the Hot 100 in 2021. The only 2021 number one not to reach the year-end top 100 was All Too Well (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift.

Here's a Spotify playlist of all those songs:

Hope you enjoy! We'll see if it happens again next year.

Shuffle Challenge 2021

Combing through my Facebook memories the past few days, I've seen a lot of instances of my annual music shuffle challenge. Here's one from four years ago. Now that Facebook notes are extinct (or at least I can't figure out how to compose one), it's time to shift the platform to one that has lasted even longer than Facebook notes.

THE SONG SHUFFLE GAME

The main rules are as follows: (1) Turn on your MP3 player. (I’ll be using Spotify.) (2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode [from the entire song LIBRARY, not a playlist]. (3) Write down the first 25 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please.

1. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant 2. Lady - Lionel Richie & Kenny Rogers 3. Better Than Revenge - Taylor Swift 4. Wasn't That A Party - The Irish Rovers 5. Jealous - Nick Jonas 6. In The Night - The Weeknd 7. Jealous - Labrinth 8. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot 9. Honey Child - Bad Company 10. Safest Place To Hide - Backstreet Boys 11. Maniac - Michael Sembello 12. Can't Knock The Hustle - Weezer 13. Work B*tch - Britney Spears 14. Love Me - Lil Wayne, Drake & Future 15. Going To The River To Pray - Robin Berrygold (this is a terrible cover of Ella Henderson's Ghost, which I removed from my library immediately after hearing the first three lines) 16. It's Gotta Be You - Backstreet Boys 17. Stole The Show - Kygo & Parson James 18. Monday, Monday - The Mamas And The Papas 19. My Way - Usher 20. All Downhill From Here - New Found Glory 21. I Want You To Want Me (Live) - Cheap Trick 22. You Need Me I Don't Need You (Live) - Ed Sheeran 23. Orange Crush - R.E.M. 24. I'm Looking Through You - The Beatles 25. Heartless - Madison Beer

Champ Week Ranks

So after much consternation, my top four are the same as the playoff committee, but in a slightly different order...

The Pitt Panthers dominated the ACC championship to earn a New Year's Six berth (Bob Donnan // USA Today)

1. Michigan (12-1, Last Week: 2)
2. Cincinnati (13-0, Last Week: 3)
3. Alabama (12-1, Last Week: 6)
4. Georgia (12-1, Last Week: 1)
5. Notre Dame (11-1, Last Week: 4)
6. Pittsburgh (11-2, Last Week: 15)
7. Baylor (11-2, Last Week: 14)
8. Oklahoma State (11-2, Last Week: 5)
9. Utah (10-3, Last Week: 25)
10. Ohio State (10-2, Last Week: 7)
11. Michigan State (10-2, Last Week: 9)
12. Texas San Antonio (12-1, Last Week: 18)
13. Mississippi (10-2, Last Week: 11)
14. Louisiana (12-1, Last Week: 19)
15. Iowa (10-3, Last Week: 8)
16. Oklahoma (10-2, Last Week: 13)
17. Oregon (10-3, Last Week: 12)
18. Wake Forest (10-3, Last Week: 17)
19. Utah State (11-2, Last Week: NR)
20. N.C. State (9-3, Last Week: 20)
21. Houston (10-3, Last Week: 16)
22. Brigham Young (10-2, Last Week: 21)
23. San Diego State (10-3, Last Week: 10)
24. Clemson (9-3, Last Week: 22)
25. Kentucky (9-3, Last Week: 24)
Dropped from last week: Appalachian State