Top Songs of 2007

As a little appetizer to this year's Top 25 albums list, here's a rundown of the top singles of 07 (in my not-so-humble opinion).

J-POP
5) 木村カエラ - Yellow
4) RIP SLYME -
スピードキング　
3) 島谷ひとみ - Neva Eva
2) YUI - CHE.R.RY
1) 安室奈美恵 -
Baby Don't Cry

This one was easy. Amuro dropped "Baby Don't Cry" way back in January, and I've been listening to the song probably every day since then, but incredibly, I've yet to get tired of the damn thing. "Baby Don't Cry" sounds like a mid-tempo 90's R&B joint with some serious bass, and though fans who like her dance stuff might argue otherwise, I honestly think that this is her best song ever, no question. I was always peculiarly attached to "Never End" for personal, nostalgic reasons, but everything about "Baby Don't Cry" is so, so slick and seamless. There were a ton of awesome J-pop songs this year, but everything comes in a distant second to this track. YUI's typically great "CHE.R.RY," Shimatani Hitomi's fun, ridiculously over the top "Neva Eva," RIP SLYME's dope, NES-ish "Speed King," and Kaela's rockin' "Yellow" round out the rest of the top 5.

US
5) Talib Kweli feat. will.i.am - Hot Thing
4) Feist - My Moon, My Man
3) Big D and the Kids Table - Shining On
2) Rilo Kiley - The Moneymaker
1) Kanye West - Stronger

Things stateside were a tad more tricky. Big D's "Shining On" effectively blew RBF's "Cheer Up" and TB's "No Good Very Bad Day" out of the water as my new no-frills, totally happy song. If you sit through "Shining On" and don't have a giant, shit-eating grin on your face by the end of the track, there's something seriously wrong with you. I really wanted to give Rilo Kiley's saucy "The Moneymaker" the nod, because that song is just stupid catchy - in a grimy, half-wanton way - but in the end, I went with Kanye West's "Stronger." Even ordinary Kanye fluff is better than good by today's standards, but "Stronger" is really the best thing he's put out since "Through the Wire" and "Jesus Walks." Some will inevitably point out that the Daft Punk sample is doing most of the heavy lifting on "Stronger," but honestly, would the song have worked with T.I. rapping? Ludacris? Jay-Z? Unlikely. Perhaps more importantly, would any of those guys have thought to do it in the first place? Love him or hate him, it's difficult to dispute that Kanye is one of the few (if not the last) creative artists left on mainstream radio today.