koganbot | We live on the surface when our hearts search for the deep (Top Singles 2020 through October)

Great year for excellent murk, a lot from Atlanta's Spillage Village collective, Dreamville Records, EarthGang, JID, gumby flexible voices, a sense of motion at the side or just out of the frame, like an Altman movie. So you've got your rap or your melody but the surrounding sound as well, just a lot of stuff, the street fair, the campfire, the ballroom, gymnasium.

And then South African house — amapiano, gqom, Semi Tee, Kabza De Small — a similar effect by way of an opposite route: the main show is stripped away, so you get the highway, the tires, the feet — a big open space and lots can pour in.*

Here's the list, and first the playlist:

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1. Deante' Hitchcock ft. JID "I Got Money Now"
2. Full Tac ft. Lil Mariko "Where's My Juul??"
3. Major League & Focalistic ft. Moonchild Sanelly, Kabza De Small & The Lowkeys "NdiKuze"
4. Kabza De Small & DJ Maphorisa ft. Semi Tee, Miano & Kammu Dee "Lorch"
5. Dreamville ft. EarthGang & Reason "Still Up"

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6. Billie Eilish "No Time To Die"
7. Spillage Village, EarthGang, JID ft. Jurdan Bryant, Mereba, Hollywood JB "End Of Daze"
8. J Balvin "Morado"
9. Semi Tee ft. Focalistic "Mercedes"
10. Sexyy Red "Northside"
11. Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa ft. Aymos, Samthing Soweto, Mas Musiq & Myztro "eMcimbini"
12. Bob Mabena ft. Kabza De Small, Madumane & Tyler ICU "Drip Drip Juluka"

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13. DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small ft. Qwestakufet "Mi Amor"
14. Rosalía "Juro Que"
15. WayV "Turn Back Time"
16. Blackpink "How You Like That"
17. H.E.R. ft. Pop Smoke, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie & Chris Brown "Slide (Remix)"
18. Ninety One "Lie"
19. StrongBangwaBoy "237 Njangi"
20. Focalistic ft. Vigro Deep "Ke Star"
21. Lil Loaded ft. YG "Gang Unit Remix"
22. MC Yallah, Eomac "Mama Waliwamanyii"

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23. Sunmi "Pporappippam"
24. Lil Pump & Anuel AA "Illuminati"
25. Saucy Santana ft. LightSkinKeisha "Back It Up"
26. Gorillaz ft. slowthai & Slaves "Momentary Bliss"
27. Kidd Kenn "Benji"
28. Yaori "Last Reunion"
29. Irene & Seulgi "Monster"
30. DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch "Rockstar"
31. Miley Cyrus "Midnight Sky"
32. Barbi Recanati "¿Qué Le Ves?"

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33. Babes Wodumo ft. Mampintsha & Skillz "eLamont"
34. Zebra Katz "Ish"
35. Spillage Village, JID, EarthGang "Baptize"
36. Taylor Swift "Cardigan"
37. Playboi Carti "@ MEH"
38. IDK, JID, Kenny Mason & Dj Scheme "Cereal"
39. Benzil ft. Ridimz "Belle"
40. Lorenzo BITW ft. MC Yallah & Swordman Kitala "Basta"

Plague notes: I'm sure a lot of this music was conceived before most of us figured out we were in a pandemic. —Evil I see in-person is people not willing to be inconvenienced so not waiting a minute for someone to clear an aisle before waltzing on by, or not putting on a mask for the 30 seconds they're in the hallway. So obtuseness and laziness not malice, not trying to hurt people but not thinking not to. And the reaction in my head often is malice. Of course every day online I read malice and read about it, a surfeit and smorgasbord of evil. But also I read joy and via remote teaching** read a few 10-year-olds for whom writing suddenly flips away from being a task, and now there they are alive in their words. And adults can be in their words, some fewer than 280 characters and there they are too! And in the lyrics that come with these songs, those that I understand, wordplay and adventure and personality, even if the message is dumbshit stuff about how I'm more clever in how I phrase shooting you than you are shooting my death back at me.

Good luck. Stay safe out there.

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