5 Tracks That Could Hit #1 In This Year’s Hottest 100
Who has your vote?
Voting for triple j’s Hottest 100 officially opened this morning, which means it’s time for you to start shortlisting your favourite tracks of 2017 and start voting.
It’s also the time of year we start thinking about what song might take out the #1 spot in the annual triple j countdown. While it’s sometimes obvious who is poised to win the Hottest 100 — 2016 was always going to be Flume’s year — 2017 hasn’t delivered a hit on the scale of ‘Never Be Like You’, which means picking the winner is a whole lot trickier.
That’s not to say there haven’t been many, many fantastic tunes, there’s just not one that really stands above the rest. So who will ultimately triumph? We’ve taken a closer look at the five songs we think will be battling it out for the title.
Kendrick Lamar — ‘HUMBLE.’
The biggest song from one of the year’s biggest albums — you would need to have rocks in your head to think that Kendrick Lamar’s incendiary ‘HUMBLE.’ won’t place up the pointy end of the count.
But will it get to the top? With the exception of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ‘Thrift Shop’, no rap song has ever taken out the #1 spot (and let’s be real, ‘Thrift Shop’ is barely rap) so a ‘HUMBLE.’ win would be a triple j first.
But a win for Lamar would definitely make up for his loss in 2015, when his track ‘King Kunta’ was pipped at the post by the seriously inferior ‘Hoops’. #NeverForget
Lorde — ‘Green Light’
Back in 2013 Lorde’s breakout hit ‘Royals’ narrowly lost to Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ — yet another example of a great song losing out to a less worthy contender.
But now Lorde’s back in with a real shot, this time with one of the best pop songs of the year in ‘Green Light’. ‘Green Light’ carries with it a significant amount of crossover power, which is crucial if you want to land in the top ten of the countdown.
Lorde also has something that Kendrick doesn’t: local favour. Sure, she’s from New Zealand, but that’s basically the same as being Australian. And if there’s one thing triple j audiences love, it’s a homegrown hero.
Peking Duk — ‘Fake Magic’
It feels as if 2017’s countdown will be the year of the runners-up. Kendrick, Lorde, and Peking Duk have all come in at #2 over the years, generally to way worse songs. Now all three of them are back in with a good shot.
Peking Duk are coming armed with ‘Fake Magic’, a by-the-numbers dance pop banger featuring London’s AlunaGeorge. It’s one hell of a bop, and has the requisite amount of ‘Summer Anthem’ feeling to carry it over the line.
Gang Of Youths — ‘Let Me Down Easy’
With a stellar album under their belts and a swagload of ARIAs in their pockets, you can expect to hear a lot of Gang of Youths in the countdown this year.
The problem is that Gang of Youths will most likely have a number of songs in the countdown — they have good chances with ‘The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows’, and ‘Atlas Drowned’ — so their total number of votes will be split, meaning it might be harder for them to get a song at #1. This was Lorde’s problem back in 2013.
That said, ‘Let Me Down Easy’ is an extraordinary song — and we wouldn’t be surprised if it went all the way.
Khalid — ‘Young Dumb & Broke’
Never underestimate the power of the underdog.
Texan crooner Khalid dominated the charts this year with his album American Teen, led by its sultry lead single ‘Young Dumb & Broke’ — which we named one of the best pop tracks of the year.
‘Young Dumb & Broke’ might not have the in-your-face immediacy of the songs listed above, but it’s a slow burner. There’s a good chance this could sneak over the line.
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