There have been tons of trending songs this year, but only a few of those songs stay on top above the rest.
Starting strong, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” by PinkPantheress and Ice Spice. With the original song without Ice Spice released Nov. 30 of 2022, Ice Spice jumped on the track by February 2023, and the song took off. Selling over two million copies within the two months of release, the single claimed a platinum award from the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Not only did the song get a platinum award, they also surpassed one million streams within 23 days of release. As of Dec. 2023, the track has over seven hundred million streams on Spotify alone. This song is still perfect even after ten months, where some songs are overplayed and over loved. “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” is a top song from 2023. Around the same time of “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” being released, another iconic song of 2023 arose.
South Korean girl group, FIFTY FIFTY unveiled the hit “Cupid – Twin Ver.” The song is sung by two members of the former girl group, Sio and Aran, both of whom have since left the group. It is one of the first Korean pop songs to claim global success not coming from one of the big four Korean music producing companies which include companies HYBE, YG, JYP and SM. The sound of the group’s music was tailored to succeed internationally rather than just for Korean listeners. Scrolling through social media, now you can hear this song and its other variants such as the sped up version, the original and even the remix with western artist, Sabrina Carpenter. What makes this song so lovable is not only the relatability of the lyrics but also the mix of bubblegum pop, synth pop and Korean pop. Creating a timeless hit, FIFTY FIFTY now only consists of one original member, Keena due to the other three members terminating their contracts with Attrakt.
Former Disney actress claims “Top Radio Song of The Year.” Miley Cyrus, daughter of famous country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, composed the song “Flowers.” Within only five hours of release, “Flowers” gained over six hundred thousand streams. It spent eight non-consecutive weeks on the Hot 100 and 18 consecutive weeks on the top radio songs. “Flowers” is the most-streamed, most-downloaded and most-heard song on the radio for the first six months of 2023. Cyrus has broke the record for becoming the fastest song to reach a billion streams on Spotify. Cyrus also broke Adele’s record for longest command for a song by a woman. Overall, Cyrus has made her impact on the music industry and left her mark on all charts and in music history.
Taking home ten awards at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, Taylor Swift released the album “Midnights” in 2022, though she still ended up in the top of 2023. Swift has been remastering her old albums from when she was with a record label. In October of this year, she released “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” including well-known songs “Shake It Off” “Bad Blood” and “Blank Space.” Along with “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” Swift also released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).” Though she has released two full albums this year, her album “Midnights” appears on the top tracks of 2023. “Anti-Hero” claimed the MTV Video Music Award for song of the year. Swift also takes TIME’s title of “Person of the Year” for 2023. Swift’s mark on the music world is both extensive and lasting.
Taking the highest grossing Warner Bros. film and highest grossing film ever from a female filmmaker at the domestic box office, “What Was I Made For” from Billie Eilish took viewers of “Barbie” by surprise. “Barbie” earned more than $1.38 billion worldwide. Eilish has recieved five nominations for the Grammy Awards, which will take place Feb. 4 of 2024. Besides her nominations, Eilish has already won “Film Song of the Year” by Variety’s Hitmakers and “Best Original Song in a Feature Film” from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Though Eilish is known for her dark and alternative pop, she has proven that she can create heartfelt and slow songs. Even though Eilish did not intend to relate to the song and wrote it specifically for the “Barbie” movie, after writing the lyrics Eilish realized she was talking about herself in the third person. Eilish has created one of the most popular slow songs of 2023.
