Your votes have been tallied. After unveiling the Readers’ Choice results for Best Albums and Best New Artists of the year, we present your selections for the highly-coveted Best Songs of 2016 list.
Queen Bey trumps the competition yet again. Following a win in both the Readers’ and Editors’ lists for Best Albums of 2016, Beyoncé nabs the top song with “Formation.” Bey also appears at No. 17 with the fiery Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Freedom.”
Coming in at No. 2 is Kanye West’s star-studded “Ultralight Beam,” which features appearances by Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price, and Kirk Franklin. The gospel-infused track worked as a religious thesis for The Life of Pablo the way “Jesus Walks” delivered the good word on College Dropout. “Beam” also allowed Chano to break out, catapulting him to success with Coloring Book, which spawned the No. 9 song on the list, the Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz-assisted “No Problem.”
“Work”-ing it at No. 3 is Rihanna and Drake with their ANTI collaboration. Though their relationship has fizzled, the song is still one of the year’s scorchers. But even as solo artists, fans loved Drizzy and RiRi. The 6 God’s “One Dance” (No. 4), “Controlla” (No. 11), and Bad Gal’s “Needed Me” (No. 6) all make the list.
Rounding out the top 5 is another reported Rihanna ex, Travis Scott. His Young Thug and Quavo-featured “Pick Up the Phone” off Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight had fans picking up the ballots, capping off a huge year for the trio of MCs.
But that’s just the top 5. Take a look at the top 20 list of Readers’ Choice for Best Songs of 2016 below.
Readers’ Choice: Best Songs of 2016
1. Beyoncé – “Formation”
2. Kanye West feat. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price, and Kirk Franklin – “Ultralight Beam”
3. Rihanna feat. Drake – “Work”
4. Drake – “One Dance”
5. Travis Scott feat. Young Thug and Quavo – “Pick Up the Phone”
6. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
7. J. Cole – “False Prophets”
8. The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
9. Chance the Rapper feat. Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz – “No Problem”
10. Desiigner – “Panda”
11. Drake – “Controlla”
12. Rae Sremmurd feat. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles”
13. Frank Ocean – “Ivy”
14. Future feat. The Weeknd – “Low Life”
15. Chris Brown – “Grass Ain’t Greener”
16. ScHoolboy Q feat. Kanye West – “THat Part”
17. Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar – “Freedom”
18. Kendrick Lamar – “untitled 07”
19. Solange – “Cranes in the Sky”
20. Nicki Minaj – “Black Barbies”