The end of 2010 is almost upon us, which is why MTV News is rounding up the Top Songs of 2010. We had over two dozen MTV News staffers submit their own personal lists of their 25 favorite songs, and from those lists we derived a master list whose top 10 will be slowly rolling out over the course of this week. Check out one of the 25 lists below, with an argument or two for the greatness of some of the under-appreciated tunes of the year.
By Kyle Anderson
1. "F--- You," Cee Lo Green
2. "Runaway," Kanye West featuring Pusha T
3. "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)," Rick Ross
4. "Teenage Dream," Katy Perry
Every time I hear "Teenage Dream," I'm transported to that time in senior year when I hopped in the car, cranked up this song and drove north in search of a record shop and a place that sold vegan burritos. Except that story happened in 1999 and was probably accompanied by Built to Spill's Keep It Like a Secret. That's how good Perry is — no, that's how great Perry is: She can make me feel nostalgia for a youth I did not actually have.
5. "Bloodbuzz Ohio," The National
6. "This Too Shall Pass," OK Go
7. "This Ain't No Lil Kid Rap," Rah Digga
Everybody went crazy for Nicki Minaj this year, but I was celebrating the return of one of the best, most underrated female rappers in history. Rah Digga, the former female member of Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad, came out of a self-imposed 10 year sabbatical and dropped an album called Classic that may have been a little spotty, but the single was a punchy, welcome return to form.
8. "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)," Shakira
"Waka Waka" has a lot going for it, including its association with the World Cup (which was great), it's nonsensical chorus (always welcome) and for Shakira's general delivery (which is always blissfully weird). How she didn't end up doing a remix with Waka Flocka Flame is anybody's guess, but there's always next year.
9. "Lisztomania," Phoenix
I'm several years late to the Phoenix party, but I caught up at this year's Lollapalooza. Standing in the midst of all the humanity waiting for the band to start their headlining set on Saturday night, I thought Phoenix would have a rough time of it considering the relatively low energy level of the crowd. But as soon as the first notes of "Lisztomania," everybody lost it. It reminded me that your favorite band can inspire that sort of unadulterated enthusiasm, and it made me feel good about music again.
10. "Hang With Me," Robyn
11. "What's My Name?" Rihanna
12. "When a Woman Loves," R. Kelly
13. "Miles Away," The Corin Tucker Band
14. "Round of Applause," Black Milk
15. "Hard in da Paint," Waka Flocka Flame
16. "Fancy," Drake featuring Swizz Beatz and T.I.
17. "Bottoms Up," Trey Songz
18. "Dog Days Are Over," Florence & the Machine
19. "On Directing," Tegan & Sara
I don't know what it is about this song, but I played it no fewer than 37,000 times the day the video came out. If there's anything this list illustrates, it's that I really dig on people with unusual singing voices, and the Quin sisters both have a weird way with certain phrases (perhaps it's because they are Canadian). No matter what the reasoning, for some reason that line about "talking like a teen" kills me every single time.
20. "Nightmare," Avenged Sevenfold
21. "In My Head," Jason Derulo
22. "Power," Kanye West
23. "Alejandro," Lady Gaga
24. "Hot Tottie," Usher featuring Jay-Z
25. "Undertow," Warpaint