2015 was a great year from music.  From Kendrick Lamar’s masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly to Miley Cyrus’s weird AF Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz, there was a lot to listen to.  Since we’re not robots, obviously a song or two is going to slip through the cracks.  It’s too late to make these 13 shamefully slept on songs a big part of our year, but it’s never too late to fall in love with your new favorite song.

‘Kamikaze’ – MØ

“Kamikaze” is the second collaboration between Danish pop star on the rise MØ and Diplo.  Fun and carefree with a bit of a jagged edge, this party anthem only gets better the more you listen to it.  Premiered as the hottest record of the year, MØ is one artist to keep your eye on in 2016. 

‘The Way’ – Kehlani ft. Chance the Rapper

http://kehlanimusic.tumblr.com/

One of the highlights from Kehlani’s debut commercial album is “The Way”, a duet of sorts about the things that keep us enamored with our partners.  Featuring Chance The Rapper, “The Way” is sexy, slinky and effortlessly listenable.

‘Lottery’ – Kali Uchis

Photography by Charlotte Rutherford

Colombian-born R&B artist Kali Uchis is one of the music industry’s best kept secrets, even though Snoop Dogg has been bragging about her for a while now.  Between her cool R&B songs, neo-chola aesthetic and pastel-filled visuals, the only thing wrong about Kali Uchis is that she’s not famous yet. 

‘Inhalf Exhale’ – NAO

NAO // Facebook

London-based singer-songwriter NAO studied vocal jazz at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama before breaking out on her own to craft her own stunning hybrid of neo-soul, electronic, and alternative R&B sound.  Instead of focusing on the label, our advice is just to focus on letting the music move you. 

‘Rewind’ – Kelela

Kelela (pronounced ku-luh-lah) hasn’t even released her first full-length album and she’s already making the alternative music world shiver with anticipation.  Her Halluncinogen EP got critical acclaim across the board, and her leading single “Rewind” is as good as it gets. 

‘Lonely Town’  – Brandon Flowers

If you’re in your 20s right now, changes are you remember a time when The Killers was a band you wanted to listen to.  Fast forward a couple of years and even though some things have changed, the spirit of the Killers is alive and well in Brandon Flowers, their used-to-be frontman, who’s taking on the pop world with his synth, 80s sound. 

‘Hands All Over Me’ – Tamaryn

Tamaryn was one of our girl crushes this year, and we still can’t get enough her dreamy, synth-pop rush of adrenaline better known as “Hands On Me.” 

‘Never Enough’ – Allie X

In “Never Enough” Allie X, “explores the idea of being in ‘love’ with someone to the point where a relationship self implodes. Very often people feel a ‘burning love’, but that feeling doesn’t seem to sustain itself. ‘Love’ isn’t enough to keep two people together”.  Ouch, but so true.

‘Lemmie Know’ – Vince Staples, Jhene Aiko, DJ Dahi

Danny Liao / LA Weekly

A lot of people slept on Vince Staples’s debut album Summertime ’06, and that’s a shame.  In addition to a slew of catchy songs that expose the not-so-secret sordidness of gangster life without glamorizing any of the gritty details, the album also features “Lemmie Know”, which takes Rihanna’s infamous snippet of a song “Birthday Cake” and elaborates on it.  Even if you’re not so big into rap, this is a song you’ll want to listen to.

‘Standard’ – Empress Of

empressof.com

How Empress Of made a song about wage inequality so catchy may be one of 2015’s biggest secrets, but one thing’s for sure: it’s the one of the most memorable songs of the year. 

‘Sandra’s Smile’ – Blood Orange

Dev Hynes // Instagram

For as many highs as 2015 has given us, it’s been a year marked by police brutality.  From Eric Garner to Trayvon Martin, we’ve lost too many innocent lives because of handful of police officers thought with their racist hearts and not with their rational minds.  Written as a tribute to Sandra Bland, “Sandra’s Smile” proves that it’s possible to write a catchy pop song that’s imbued with political overtones.

‘My Love’ – Majid Jordan ft. Drake

V Magazine / Chalotte Wales

Majid Jordan are the same duo that brought you the everlasting groove of “Just Hold On We’re Coming Home” and even though “My Love” didn’t get anywhere near as big as their last Drake collaboration, the song is still all vibes and feels.  Warning: shit might get moody.

‘Them Changes’ – Thundercat ft. Flying Lotus & Kamasi Washington

At the end of the day, who doesn’t need a good dose of funk?  Have no fear, “Them Changes” is here.  Just sit back, relax, and let it happen.

This post, The Most Shamefully Slept On Songs Of 2015, by Maria Pasquini, appeared first on Galore.