Biggest hits of the 2020's so far II

This is part II of my list for the biggest hits of the 2020's so far here in Australia. The reason why I divide these lists up is so that these webpages don't crash from loading all the images I use to present each entry (that and so that I don't get accused of making soulless content from those too exhausted to read my lists in one go.)

Given how it comes from an album titled Future nostalgia, you can imagine that this and the other tracks from the album are throwback tracks to the glory days of pop music (the 70's and 80's for the uninitiated.) The album was a massive hit as is, although I can only imagine how much bigger it would've been without the pandemic.

This was released in 2021 to deafening silence for Latto, likely because no one cared that it sampled "Fantasy" from Mariah Carey which in turn sampled "Genius of love" from the Tom Tom club. It was given a second chance when Mariah hopped on the remix which helped it find an international audience.

If you need any more proof that Sabrina Carpenter is the star of the moment, consider the fact that we've only just passed the halfway mark on this list and she already has three out of four entries from her breakthrough album on this list, with said breakthrough only coming out five months ago as of this writing.

Prior to this becoming a massive hit for Doja Cat, she was known as a lolcow in the music industry (for the uninitiated, a lolcow is someone deemed exceptionally foolish) due to her novelty track "Bitch I'm a cow." She managed to escape such a fate thanks to this throwback track which featured disco production from disgraced producer Dr Luke.

This is one of the first songs that likely would've fallen into obscurity were it not for its popularity on Tik Tok, it was in 2019 that charts around the world considered it a streaming service, meaning this repetitive track designed to be enjoyed in fifteen second intervals benefitted from the site.

This is another track that became huge due to Tik Tok, although it had more of a point to its lyrics as opposed to several other entries on this list that got big off the site. Roddy of course became a household name with his collaboration with DaBaby from earlier on this list.

If you're looking for a rage bait track, then this latest hit single from Meghan Trainor (or Mrs. Bitchfire as I once called her) is for you as it's tailor made to offend those who disliked her music and overall attitude during the height of her popularity in the mid 2010's. Suffice to say, many people took the bait and inadvertently made it a hit.

Oh Lizzo, how public perception has turned against you in recent years due to your behind-the-scenes antics towards your loyal staff. If you can separate her behaviour from her music, you'll be able to see why she was so big from 2019 to 2023 due to her "I live for myself" attitude which ironically didn't come off as preachy or pandering.

For a while, this was the last we heard from Lady Gaga given how she's only recently resurfaced in the mainstream with her earlier entry as well as her role in the critically panned Joker folie a deux. Here she it with Ariana Grande with a song that's been described as the best in both their respective catalogues by critics.

We've seen plenty of album bombs so far this decade, however only the album bomb Guts created managed to spawn a string of hits for the artist in question as this was just one of several entries on this list to become a success when the album dropped for Olivia Rodrigo.

It's a bit surprising to see this remix of the 2006 hit of the same name from Cherish on this list given how the original didn't even chart here in Australia, in fact I'm willing to bet that this was the introduction to the original for many Aussies when this became a hit for Acraze.

Well, the transition from the 00's to the 2010's gave us Young money, so naturally the transition from the 2010's to the 2020's would give us a new batch of rappers who has a cash theme for their posse. Enter Internet money who scored a massive hit with this gem at the start of the decade.

This is the final hit that Tones and I has scored in her catalogue, this was before she dropped her debut album which was such a critical and commercial failure that it put an end to her winning streak in the music industry. Her second album did even worse, so much so you likely didn't realise she had a second album.

One of the more revered films of the 2020's is the Elvis Presley biopic from 2022, it was a huge critical and commercial success due to respecting the legacy of the king of rock and roll while also not shying away from his many controversies. It also spawned a huge hit for Doja Cat with this theme song she provided the film with.

This song has two things going for it, the first is that it samples "The message" from Grandmaster Flash forty years after that song came out. The second is that Coi Leray is the daughter of Benzino who was a massive figure in 00's hip hop, one who famously feuded with Eminem during the height of his career.

This is another carryover from 2019 given how it was released late that year, to date it's Meduza's final hit given how their 2020's output hasn't been successful despite EDM somehow thriving during the pandemic and beyond. They did have a hit in the UK with "Paradise" in 2021 for what it's worth.

This is the only hit that Imagine Dragons have had in recent years given how they've been banished from the mainstream much like Maroon 5, even then this was only a success due to it being the theme song for the Netflix series Arcana league of legends which was a massive success on the platform.

Like many artists of the 2010's, Ariana Grande has struggled to retain her popularity throughout the 2020's for a myriad of reasons. That said, she did tread water with this title track to her sixth album Positions before she seemingly went dark for a few years. She returned in 2024 with her seventh album to massive success.

You'd think that K-pop would've been all the rage this decade given how well loved it is on social media, alas it appears this genre is simply amplified on social media by voices from a very niche demographic. One of the few success stories was this entry from K-pop group Fifty Fifty.

Justin Bieber's 2020 album Changes was such a disaster that he was forced to course correct with a new album in less than a year after its initial release. This was the lead single to that album which was a sign that JB was back on the right track after a disastrous year in the music scene.

Like many people, I've come to despise Disney in recent years due to a myriad of reasons that I won't go into detail here. This was the big hit the company had from their movie Encanto, a movie that looks amazing due to gorgeous animation but is otherwise your typical tale of generational trauma we've all become fed up with from the company.

This is the final hit from Travis Scott given how it was the last thing he released before the infamous Travisworld err.... travesty where several of his fans died due to poor crowd management. Admittedly this was a remix of an album track from his 2016 album Birds from the trap sing McKnight.

We have one final entry from the Kid Laroi on this list, this is also the most recent entry from an Australian artist as the YouTube algorithm officially took over our charts around the time this became a hit for the RNB singer. This was in mid 2022, meaning no Aussie has had a hit in two and a half years as of this writing.

This was one of the final songs to be released in the 2010's, so naturally it would be a carryover from 2019 for Billie Eilish given how she released it with the deluxe edition of her album When we fall asleep where do we go. The song basically sums up how she's been handling her career since its release.

So, Chris Brown is still having hits in the 2020's, admittedly this came from his 2019 album Indigo but for whatever reason wasn't released as a single until 2022 which was three years later. I'm not sure if we'll be hearing anything more from the troubled RNB star as his subsequent releases have all flopped.

Given how he ended the 2010's with one of the biggest hits of the decade, it makes sense that Lewis Capaldi would begin the 2020's with a massive hit which he did with this track from the deluxe edition of his debut album. It was slightly better received than "Someone you loved" but still widely mocked.

This is the final entry from Post Malone, although here he plays second fiddle to Taylor Swift who selected this collaboration as the song to lead off the album cycle for the Tortured poet's society. If the rise of Sabrina Carpenter wasn't a sign that the Taylor Swift era was over, the album's negative reception sure is.

This was originally released in 2011 to deafening silence for Miguel, likely because it didn't fit in with the club boom of the era. It was given a second chance over a decade later when it was featured in Tik Tok videos which allowed it to find a new audience years after its initial release.

I bet you weren't expecting to see filthy frank on this list; however, he managed to score a massive hit with his alter ego Joji which is a major departure from his edge humour from when he was initially famous. ARIA is so desperate for Australian representation that on their website they consider him an Aussie due to having Australian relatives.

Given how the media loves to shove this woman down everyone's throats, you'd think Megan Thee Stallion would have plenty of representation on this list outside of this and her earlier entry. Alas it appears the rapper is a mere two hit wonder, neither hit being the infamous "body ody ody ody" the media loves to play in everything.

I had to look up who Artemis is given how there's male and female vocals on his one and only hit to date, after scrolling past the Greek god on google, I found out he's a British DJ who was clearly inspired by the EDM of the 00's which was perfect for the 00's revival the 2020's is currently going through.

Much like Juice wrld and XXXtentacion, Pop smoke was an up-and-coming star who was tragically killed by his own foolishness, in this case posting where he was staying that his enemies were able to obtain to assassinate him. Following his untimely death, he scored a bunch of hits with this being the biggest of the bunch.

This is the final entry from Olivia Rodrego on this list, it's another song to become a hit from the album bomb her debut caused in 2021 which immediately put her in the same league as Billie Eilish given how these two women were the only artists to score multiple hits from the same album at this point in the decade.

Although he had a ton of buzz in his native UK, this was the song that made Central Cee a household name internationally. This is bizarre considering the song is confusingly named after Doja Cat but is in reality him denouncing his homophobia by proclaiming "(his) bitch is gay" which translates to "I'm OK with my girlfriend sleeping with other women."

We have another entry from Chris brown on this list, this time it's with the lead single to his 2020 album Slime and B with Young thug which means he has at least one hit this decade that wasn't recorded in a different one. This is the last we've heard from Young Thug as he dropped off the face of the earth after this collaboration.

Given how popular his earlier entry was on this list, it makes sense that Jason Derulo would score a second hit during the height of the pandemic which led him to becoming a household name on Tik Tok given that's how he scored his comeback in the first place. He's since fallen off the face of the earth.

Now I've mentioned the pandemic multiple times on this list, however no song on this list was created specifically to cash in off everyone being trapped in their homes. No song other than this as Drake shamelessly created this song and have a choreographer create a dance to go along with this cash grab.

We haven't had many non-American artists on this list, however of the few we have seen, they tend to be from the UK drill scene which has been massive over there throughout the 2020's. One of the bigger names is Russ Millions who managed to score a worldwide hit with this number during the height of his popularity.

This is not only the only Oscar winning song on this list, but also the only Oscar nominated song as despite there being plenty of entries from films on this list, this ballad from Billie Eilish is the only song to be both a hit and worthy of Oscar contention so far this decade.

And we're not done with Billie just yet as she managed to score a hit in 2020 with this advanced single for Happier than ever, an album she delayed due to the pandemic as did many artists who released singles in 2020 but not an album. For what it's worth, "No time to die" also won an Oscar despite the Bond theme flopping.

Gunna got his start with "Lemonade" from earlier on this list, so naturally he was a name to look out for in the hip hop scene even if it took him three years to finally score a hit of his own following said breakthrough. This was that hit which managed to outdo "IDGAF" in getting a curse word to play on radios.

There are two versions of this track, we have the original which was released when Ariana Grande dropped her sixth album Positions and there's the remix which rebounded months after the album dropped. Both versions have a separate music video, the former being a nod to Austin Powers whilst the latter having her dance with the two features Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion.

I hope you're ready for some Beyonce on this list as she managed to score multiple entries despite having no singles success throughout the 2010's. This is her biggest entry on the list which showcases a kinkier side of her, it's certainly a welcome change from her (in my opinion) tiresome misandry anthems her fans eat up.

This seemed to be tailor made to be a cash in for the pandemic given how much forced positivity there is throughout its runtime, however it turns to this was released in 2019 to deafening silence and only became a hit in 2020 due to trolls playing it to get on people's nerves during the lockdowns.

This was released on the fortieth anniversary of the Men at work classic, so naturally this remix of the Australian classic was bound to be a success for Australian DJ Luude upon its initial release. The real surprise is that it was a much bigger hit internationally due to the drill production elements.

This is to date Cardi B's final hit, mainly because she alienated her fanbase in 2019 with her inappropriate comments about sexual consent as well as perceived transphobia (from people who aren't even trans mind you.) Admittedly it could also be that her novelty had worn off by this point as many people (me included) think her music sucks.

This is the final entry from Zach Bryan on this list, it's the lead single to his fifth album which didn't do as well for the country star as his fourth album. We'll have to wait and see if his time in the spotlight is up as this is another entry from 2024 that became a hit more due to its refusal to die on our charts.

The Weeknd has been seeing diminishing returns in recent years from his critically panned TV series the Idol to fans thinking his music isn't as good as it was before, even so, he still manages to score the occasional hit such as his latest release which was a huge hit towards the end of 2024.

Djo is actually the stage name for Stranger things actor Joe Keery who scored his first big hit in 2024 with this number. It seemed natural that the actor would score such a big hit in the music industry given how Kate Bush was able to return to the mainstream with her earlier entry because of the show.

So, Eminem is still a thing, although I think this is the first time he scored a hit with a blatant sample meant to nostalgia bomb the listener whenever it plays. The sample is of "Abracadabra" from the Steve Miller band, a song that many people (me included) is one of the worst of the 80's to become a hit.

OK it turns out Drake wasn't the only person to cash in off the pandemic as the record label for Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber convinced the two to record a duet about how wonderful it was to be locked indoors with each other and........ *insert rant about the pandemic here*. Supposedly this was a charity single, however the proceeds went towards the children of essential workers, not the workers themselves, but their children.

This is one the more recent songs on this list, this comes to us from the most recent artist to score a hit as Gigi Perez hasn't had a hit prior to this breakthrough of hers in 2024. People have questioned if Gigi is trans due to her butch delivery, however she simply has a singing technique similar to that of Joni Mitchell or Linda Perry.

Following the disaster that was Changes, JB needed to revamp his career which he did by accompanying the songs on his next album with bizarre music videos. This one has him as a heavyweight boxing champion which.... I mean come on, the jokes right themselves.

If there's one thing I heavily despise, it's artistic grave robbery which is what Marshmello did when he took a previously unreleased track from Juice wrld and made it his own with this number. It became a hit for the DJ due to distraught fans of the late RNB singer wanting some reassurance he wasn't really gone.

This is where it all began for Jack Harlow as he wasn't an industry plant like so many other artists on this list, even so he was able to make connections fairly quickly which resulted in a remix of this track with some of the biggest names in hip hop which finally got it mainstream attention.

If you didn't know, the Anxiety is a duo consisting of Willow Smith (of "Whip my hair" fame) and her boyfriend Tyler Cole who true to their name, has a subject matter about dealing with anxiety and depression. It really is a stark contrast to Willow's early career which consisted of childish kiddie pop.

This is the only other entry from Miley Cyrus on this list as her pivot towards rock and roll hasn't been well received by her fans (it has been well received by critics however.) This was the encouragement Miley needed to revert to her pseudo feminism she displayed on her 2013 album Bangerz with her earlier entry.

For some reason, this list feels naked with the lack of presence from Nicki Minaj. Indeed, she only scored a hit with this track due to the blatant nostalgia bombing it creates for "U can't touch this" from MC Hammer or "Super freak" if you're a real fan of 80's funk as even her fans will tell you how irritating this is.

This is the most recent entry on this list, it's a collaboration between K-pop singer Rose (who incidentally was born in NZ and raised here in Australia) and Bruno Mars who's currently on a roll following his collaboration with Lady Gaga from earlier on this list.

We have one final entry from Sabrina Carpenter as this was a surprise hit from her album bomb despite not intending to be a single, it became a single shortly after the album's release due to how popular it was with her fanbase as well as it being a genuine hit compared to other officially released singles.

Lil T'jay was a rapper who got big with his association with Pop Smoke right before the latter died, naturally he would release his own material which includes this giant hit he had shortly after he scored a hit with his fallen friend. Sadly, this is the last we've heard from the up-and-coming rapper.

It had been three years since Ariana Grande troubled the charts with her earlier entries on this list, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her back on the charts with this lead single to her most recent album. Her comeback became complete with the success of her theatrical debut in the film adaptation of Wicked.

Not only was Eminem able to have a hit with his earlier entry on this list, but he managed to begin the decade with this collaboration with Juice wrld mere months after his untimely passing. Unlike the Marshmello track, I'm willing to give this the benefit of the doubt and suggest this track was complete before Juice's passing.

Given how this became a surprise hit in 2020 due to it being heavily featured in a Tik Tok video, I can now feature one of the most easily recognisable songs of all time on my site as it infamously bombed in the southern hemisphere back in the day. For what it's worth, this was a Billboard chart topper for the band in 1977.

The last time Charli XCX troubled the charts anywhere in the world was with "Break the rules" from 2014, fast forward a decade and she scores the biggest hit of her career (as a lead artist that is) with this collaboration with Billie Eilish during the height of Billie's popularity.

Following the success of her earlier collaboration with Sza, Doja Cat released this lead single to her second album which came complete with a titillating video that depicts her as an alien from the Marvel franchise. This was more of a sleeper hit as were the other singles from Planet her, hence its low placement on this list.

Up until recently, this was the only success that Bruno Mars had in the 2020's, it's a collaboration he has with Anderson Paak which they referred to as Silk sonic (which ranks up there as one of the worst band names ever.) Strangely enough, this didn't do as well here in Australia as it did internationally for the duo.

Until I began constructing this list, I didn't realise that Dua Lipa had a third album. I mention this to bring up how quickly her hype had died out following the success of Future nostalgia as this only became a hit due to her artist momentum which seems to have completely fizzled out.

It looks like Camella Cabello was able to score a hit in the 2020's even if she required the assistance of Ed Sheeran on this track, this is technically Ed's final hit anywhere in the world even if he's playing second fiddle to the former key member of Fifth harmony on this track.

This ties with the collaboration between Rose and Bruno Mars as the most recent entry on this list, this comes to us from Gracie Abrams who is the daughter of the critically panned film writer and director JJ Abrams. Let's just say that Gracie is far more well-loved than her father ever was.

Given that Beyonce is from Texas, you'd think she would've dabbled in country music much sooner in her career. Many people made this observation which led to multiple accusations of her hopping on the country bandwagon less for artistic merit and more to pander to an audience she previously ignored.

We have one final entry from Beyonce for this list, this time it's the lead single to her album Renaissance which was a massive success likely due to it expanding the subject matter of her songs from her (seemingly) tumultuous relationship with Jay Z. Indeed, this has a positive message about being overworked and how you shouldn't have a job just for the sake of it.

Drake released a collaboration album with 21 Savage in 2022, this was the big hit off that album despite it being panned by critics as has everything Drake has released since the start of the decade. It's to date his final hit given how he lost the (admittedly pointless) feud he had with Kendrick Lamar.

*I found this picture on the internet and used it as a substitute for the album art as this song was never released as a single.*

For such a huge album, it's shocking to see that this was the only other hit to come from Harry's house following "As it was" from the start of this list. Even though these were the two big hits from the album, people homed in on "Music for a sushi restaurant" due to...... it being a song called "Music for a sushi restaurant."

Even though Happier than ever was a huge hit for Billie Eilish, it didn't spawn as many hits as When we fall asleep where do we go which meant she was in danger of being considered a has been by the midpoint of the decade. She addressed this by giving a tempo to the music from her third album which gave her this hit.

Gracie Abrams has been active in the music industry since the start of the decade; however, it was only in 2024 that she finally started scoring hits given how this became a surprise hit for her right before her earlier entry became a more solid hit.

I did mention there were two songs to become a hit by sampling "Blue" by Eiffel 65, this was the first song to do so this decade which was released in Europe on the twentieth anniversary of the original. It took a while to crossover here in Australia, hence why it wasn't as successful among us Aussies.

This is another entry that made the cut due to the lack of competition there was for 2024, although this does feel like the type of adult contemporary ballad that became a hit during the second half of the 00's. I guess you can argue that Michael Macargi is ahead of the curve when it comes to tapping in that sort of nostalgia.

Here's another hit that Pop Smoke had mere months after his death, this time it's with Lil Baby and DaBaby which coincidentally wasn't their first collaboration as they previously worked together on "Baby" (because they're both babies) although this was the big hit they had together.

Vance Joy has seen a resurgence in popularity due to the success of "Riptide" following its tenth anniversary rerelease (even if it's a sleeper hit) however he did manage to achieve a hit with a new song this decade given how this managed to be a hit for him following the end of the pandemic.

Here's the other big hit that Tiesto has had this decade so far, this time he recruits Tate McCrea making this her third entry on this list and likely what gave her a second chance in the mainstream following the backlash "You broke me first" gave her. We'll have to wait and see if either of them can score another hit in the 2020's.

I bet you were wondering if Calvin Harris managed to score a hit this decade like his French rival David Guetta, it turns out he did, and it was with a regular client of his as Ellie Goulding manages to score a hit with this entry for the first time since 2015 with her hit single "On my mind."

You knew this was coming, time to look at the song that by all accounts should've killed Justin Bieber's career given how ridiculous the song and ESPECIALLY its music video is. The worst part about this song's success is that JB tried to get it to number one by giving step by step instructions to the Beliebers on how to exploit Spotify's system.

We have one final entry from Pop Smoke on this list, this time it's with Lil T'jay who we looked at earlier on this list, making this the song that put the up-and-coming rapper on the map. Sadly, this is the last we'd hear from Pop Smoke on a count of being you know, dead.

You'd think Drake would've been laughed out of the industry with "Toosie slide" from earlier, however it turns out he scored immediate success with the second single he released in the decade which was a collaboration with an up-and-coming rapper known as Lil Durk. Durk has seen minor success with "All my life" since this came out.

This was originally part of the album bomb that Midnights created in late 2022, however it qualified for this list thanks to an Ice Spice remix which helped it become a hit outside of the context of the album. This and "Boy's a life" are the only hits that Ice Spice has achieved before becoming a lolcow in 2024.

Although Sza had massive success with the likes of Maroon 5 and Kendrick Lamar in the 2010's, this was the first hit she had on her own which set her up as one of the hot new names of the 2020's which she's effortlessly lived up to given what we've looked at on the list already.

While there's been plenty of hip hop on this list, we haven't seen a lot of variety when it comes to the rappers themselves. Here's one of the fresher faces of the bunch as Polo G managed to achieve a massive hit with this number thanks to how popular it was on Tik Tok during its initial release.

We only have one entry from Kanye West, and it's an entry that has many speculating on his mental health given how unhinged he sounds on the track. If there was any proof that hateful content can succeed in this day and age, this song's placement on this list should be it.

We have one final entry from Justin Bieber for this list, this one featuring him as a motorcyclist which admittedly isn't as ridiculous as some of the other entries we've looked at on this list. Now that I think about it, it might be the most normal entry from him on this list all things considered.

We have a second entry from an African artist on this list given how Ckay is from Nigeria, this is also the first song to become a hit from the Afrobeats genre, although it sounds more like reggae to me (call me culturally unrefined if you like.) We'll have to wait and see if there's a second hit from the singer.

We have a second collaboration from Drake and 21 Savage for this list, although this one comes from Drake's solo album Honestly nevermind which was a massive dud for the Canadian rapper much like the rest of his material from this decade not featured on this list.

*I found this picture on the internet and used it as a substitute for the album art as this song was never released as a single.*

Given how well received his collaboration with Dua Lipa and Pnau was from earlier on this list, it makes sense that Elton John would repeat the formula by collaborating with Britney Spears to make another mashup with sings from his catalogue. The results weren't as well received, hence why he hasn't made another track like this.

We have a solo entry from Central Cee, so it makes sense that Dave would also have a solo entry given how he too is a massive household name in the UK drill scene. This isn't anywhere near as infamous as "Doja" from Central Cee, which is perhaps why it didn't do as well internationally.

We have one final entry from Dua Lipa on this list, this is another song that became a hit from the album bomb that Future nostalgia caused during the height of the pandemic and likely caught on due to sharing its name with the biggest hit of the 80's on the Billboard charts.

There haven't been any covers in recent years, that's mainly because artists tend to use samples for nostalgia bombing rather than their own takes on a classic. This is a rare exception as we have a cover of a 00's hit from someone called Ritt Momney which received a lot of flak following its release.

Most people confuse this for a Post Malone track given how similar Trevor Daniel sounds to Posty on this song, indeed Trevor admitted that he was inspired by Post Malone when this became a surprise hit for the singer right as the decade had begun. Unsurprisingly, he hasn't had any further success since this made it big.

Well, this is the mother of all bad timings, again you can't fault Drake or Future for releasing a song called "Life is good" right when the pandemic struck, and the world had gone through the worst period in history since the second world war. It doesn't erase how much of a cruel joke this felt like to listeners.

We have one final hit from both Halsey and Marshmello who were both on a roll during the height of the pandemic when this came out, indeed were it not for the bad connotations that their earlier entries on this list had, they likely would've thrived throughout the decade due to how well they were doing entering it.

This was a surprise hit for Doja Cat given how this was from her first album despite becoming a hit almost a full year after the success of "Say so" from earlier on this list, I guess this was the real incentive for her label to give her a second chance which of course led to the success of her second album Planet her.

This is the final entry on this list, it comes to us from Giveon who released this just before JB ruined his career with his collaboration on "Peaches" from earlier on this list. Admittedly this does a better job in showcasing Giveon's vocal talents which naturally led to the Canadian pop star to seek him out for his hit.