DIFFERENT KITCHEN’S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2014

Unlike my Favorite Albums of 2014 List posted yesterday there is some sense of what was more liked versus less liked here on my Favorite Songs (not necessarily just singles) List of 2014. The Top 10 is the 10 songs I voted for in this year’s Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll and my number 1 song, “Forever Don’t Last” by Jazmine Sullivan was my favorite by a country mile. Soul for days! If that song doesn’t touch you, you haven’t had your heart broken or been through a break up.

Going down the rest of the Top 10, #2 and 3, “Blue Suede” by Vince Staples and “Hot N*gga” by Bobby Shmurda are pretty much locked in too. Positions #4-10 are a little more fluid and could have changed depending on my mood or if I did this list another day. Anything beyond that would have been pure guesswork so I just listed the rest alphabetically although I will cop to saying Travi$ Scott has an honorary spot in the ‘Top 10’ at #11, that song is just EPIC and L.atasha A.lcindor melted my mind with “Bee.Em”, I just wished it was longer! Some obvious songs like Rae Sremmurd‘s “No Flex Zone” I liked OK but mostly because I heard them so much, not because I genuinely loved them personally so no flame attacks for me missing any obvious ‘big’ tracks along those lines. Although if there are songs you think I’d like based on my picks here, let me know because I’m always looking to check out new music and/or I may already be up on it but have forgotten to include it.

Anyway, here goes my list (note: links in song title go to audio streams via soundcloud & Rdio or posts on The Kitchen about the song or artist or alternatively, check out a playlist of the tracks that were available on Rdio at the bottom of the post)

FAVORITE SONGS OF 2014:
01. Jazmine Sullivan – Forever Don’t Last
02. Vince Staples – Blue Suede
03. Bobby Shmurda – Hot N*gga
04. Kendrick Lamar – i
05. Kaytranada – Leave Me Alone feat. Shay Lia
06. Theophilus London – Can’t Wait feat. Kanye West
07. Saint Pepsi – Fall Harder
08. Tove Lo – Habits (Stay High)
09. Moon Boots – Whatever You Need
10. Jillionaire & Salvatore Ganacci – Fresh

Honorable Mentions:
L.atasha A.lcindor – Bee.Em
Daniel Caesar – Violet
J. Cole – Be Free
Dain the Sire – Dain the Asshole
Drake – 0 To 100 / The Catch Up
Melanie Durrant – Four Seasons
Fatima – Ridin’ Around (Sky High)
Future – Move That Dope feat. Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino
Future Island x Badbadnotgood – Seasons (Waiting On You) (remix)
Gentlemen Thieves – Down
Gold Link – Sober Thoughts
Grandtheft & Keys N Krates – Keep It 100
Nick Hakim – Cold
iLoveMakonnen – Tuesday Feat. Drake
July Child – C O O L (Le Youth Cover) (aka “Cool”)
Junia T – Sky Is Falling (JU$TUNLTD remix) feat. Kemikal
Mono/Poly – Ra Rise
Popstrangers – Distress
Isaiah Rashad – Tranquility
P Reign – DNF feat. Drake
Young Scooter – Bag It Up feat. Future
Travi$ Scott – Don’t Play feat. The 1975 & Big Sean

DIFFERENT KITCHEN’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2014

I explained pretty well the criteria I used to do my year-end list back in 2012 but for those of you too lazy to click that link, this is not a list of the ‘best’, most commercially successful or most critically acclaimed albums. The only acclaim these albums have are that they are my favorites. There are plenty of ‘big’ or notable albums that I may have missed. Feel free to drop a comment on any such records that you think I should put an ear to.

As was the case the last time I did this list I can’t say I had a standout, favorite album of the year or that I could even really order these from most to least favorite so I’ve listed them alphabetically although if you put a gun to my head, I’ll admit that I have played & enjoyed the J.Cole album a helluva lot since it dropped a month ago, that the D’Angelo Black Messiah album was a blessing to finally get although I’m still living with it and think my judgement will continue to evolve on it as I play it more, that FKA Twigs LP1 & SZA‘s Z grew on me a lot after me being lukewarm on both on initial listens, that I think Big K.R.I.T.‘s Cadillactica is amazing and one for the ages after initially being ho-hum on that too and that the Stalley Ohio album is getting slept on in a lot of hip-hop quarters IMHO. Damon Albarn‘s Everyday Robots album still stands up as a great listen after being an out-the-gate winner for me at the beginning of the year while fellow Brits, Jungle dropped an incredible album and played what might be one of, it not the live show of the year for me.

Worst year ever in hip-hop history? Sorry, ASAP Yams, not by a long, long shot. Anyway, the list, flame away (note: album title links go either to full album streams or posts on the Kitchen about the album or artist):

2014 FAVORITE ALBUMS:
Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
BIG K.R.I.T. – Cadillactica
Caribou – Our Love
J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
D’Angelo & The Vanguard – Black Messiah
FKA Twigs – LP1
Rochelle Jordan – 1021
Jungle – Jungle
Logic – Under Pressure
Machinedrum – Vapor City Archives
Mac Miller – Faces (mixtape)
Pharrell – G I R L
Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 2
Skyzoo & Torae – Barrel Brothers
Stalley – Ohio
SZA – Z

Honorable Mentions/Other Mixtapes/EPs etc.:
August Alsina – Testimony
Common – Nobody’s Smiling
Emay – Sinner, Song-Writer EP
Flying Lotus – You’re Dead!
RL Grime – VOID
Havoc – 13 Reloaded
Majid Jordan – A Place Like This
Tory Lanez – Lost Cause (mixtape)
Jai Nitai Lotus – Acknowledgement (mixtape)
Merna – The Calling
K. Michelle – Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart?
M.O.P. – Street Certified
PRhyme – PRhyme
Progress – Night.Rhetoric EP
King Reign – Sincere
The Roots – …and then you shoot your cousin
SBTRKT – Wonder Where We Land?
Sean Leon – narcissus, THE DROWNING OF EGO
Theophilus London – Vibes
Vince Staples – Hell Can Wait EP
Tuku – Moonday Sessions: The Black Mixtape
Watch The Duck – Don’t Watch Me

Live Shows of the Year:
Jungle – Live at The Danforth Music Hall (Oct. 6)
Black Milk – Live at Tattoo (Oct. 23)
Stevie Wonder – Live at The Air Canada Centre (Nov. 26)
Sean Leon – Live at The Hoxton (Oct. 17)
Tory Lanez – Live at the Drake Underground (Oct. 19)

And of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a final, special shout-out to my own album release, the Different Kitchen presents This One Goes To Eleven… 11th anniversary compilation released back in August. If you haven’t listened to it yet and naturally, I highly recommend that you do, CLICK HERE.