Stephanie Salas-Vega
From Ska Punk Anthems To Bedroom Pop Favorites, The Top 100 Songs Released In 2021 By North Texas Musicians Proves Now Is The Time To Pay Attention To Local Music.
We spent the last few weeks listening to every track we featured on Song of The Day (and then some) to find out what the best 100 tracks of the year were. Not the easiest task to do, but our late-night listening parties were pretty fun.
From the nearly 300 songs we listened to, our emotions were way out of wack. We danced to disco pop songs, rapped along to the most powerful versus and reflected back on our lives with indie emo tracks. At that point, it didn’t matter whether these acts were, where they came from or if they had received high-praised accolades for their music, it only mattered what they meant to us — but also to themselves.
Among this list you will find artists whose tracks went viral on TikTok and reached the top charts in a blink of an eye — something they could have never envisioned. We also found some hidden gems that we can’t stop playing in our heads and wanted so badly to share with you. Some of them are brand new to this scene, while others made a comeback this year. Most importantly, the ones who really shined this year are the bedroom-producing 20-something-year-olds and acts who play to small crowds at Deep Ellum bars.
However, we can’t forget the big-named Dallas musicians who have made us proud since they too were young and hungry artists.
Those acts who have yet to be recognized by Dallas listeners, soon will be. As we all know, the internet does a funny thing of making songs pop off randomly. Anything is possible, but the only thing we can do is continue to write about them.
If we could rank every song we mentioned in our articles, we would. Actually, we think it would be easier than narrowing it down, but there’s only so much time in a day!
So, here’s our top 100 instead. Listen now because now is the time. We even made you a playlist with the songs available on Spotify, but you can also find them in the links.
Thanks for listening.
100. Porte Diferente — “Dices Que Cambiado feat. Junior H”
99. Vandoliers – “Every Saturday Night”
98. Joseph M – “Haunt”
97. Nicole Marxen – “Tether”
96. Starfruit – “Song for K”
95. Amari Amore – “Dream”
94. Frozen Soul – “Arctic Strangehold”
93. Mutha-Falcon – “End Of Oblivion”
92. Dustin Massey – “Bad Love”
91. Monica Saldivar – “Soy Mas Fuerte”
90. Tusing – “Up My Sleeve”
89. House Parties – “Collateral”
88. Tears – “I Wish”
87. Skinny Cooks – “For”
86. Land Mammal – “Psychedelic Hand”
85. GOD OF LOVE – “Black Beyond”
84. From Parts Unknown – “Blood and Teeth”
83. Earl Hartley & Thrift Star – “Dream Crusher”
82. Phantomelo – “The Tempest”
81. Catamaran – “Don’t Even Try”
80. BeMyFiasco – “Bad Dream”
79. Paris Pershen — “Paris Pen 2”
78. David Morgan – “Saturday” feat. Maurice
77. Sarah Jaffe – “Frances McDormand, Catherine O’Hara”
76. Estacado – “Monsters”
75. Character – “The Game (You Just Lost)”
74. Sleepy Atlantis – “Strangest Place (Strangers Mix)”
73. Wolfgang Hunter – “Molly”
72. Jack Diller – “Seasons”
71. Alex O’Aiza – “Runnin 2 Death”
70. Fishing in Japan – “Better and Worse”
69. Sordelo – “Lunas de miel”
68. Bastards Of Soul – “Lizzie Louise”
67. Zeke Forever – “fade” feat. Global Octopus
66. Josh Young – “P’s”
65. Withered Blooms – “Amelia”
64. Upsetting – “Scrooged Starring Bill Murray”
63. The AbNormals – “Make Time”
62. Seizure Sister – “Witness”
61. Johndavid Barlett & Acid Carousel – “Delphi”
60. Bubby – “Lost Shadow”
59. New Avenues – “Taking Flight”
58. Penny Bored – “Gemini”
57. The Beckleys – “Tu Recuerdo”
56. Cameron Smith – “There is a Price”
55. Meach Pango – “Wander”
54. Lorelei K – “Take The Blame”
53. Ruff Wizard – “By Your Side”
52. Cryptolog – “Do Me a Favor (Blind Love)”
51. Ozone – Give It A Rest”
50. Maggie Lindeman – “Scissorhands”
49. Justin King – “Kickback”
48. Chancy – “Saturday”
47. Hannah Jadagu – “Think Too Much”
46. Joshua Ray Walker — “Sexy After Dark”
45. Hess – “Island Girls”
44. Colab – “FTC”
43. Trapboy Freddy – “Laugh Now”
42. Party Hats – “maybe (Party Hats)
41. St. Vincent – “The Melting Of The Sun”
40. Psychic Love Child – “Golden Tongues”
39. Leon Bridges & Keite Young – “Like A Ship”
38. Caftan – “All In You”
37. Yalc123 – “Let U Down”
36. Yella Beezy – “STAR” – Feat. Erica Banks
35. Donovan Bogney – “RUSH”
34. Kid Ransom – “Back to Back” Feat. Neko Savvy
33. Jacks Haupt – “35mm”
32. Buffalo Black – “Flawed”
31. Siobhán Linnane – “9 To 5” Feat. Donovan Bogney
30. Bayleigh Cheek – “Release Me”
29. 88 Killa – “Stockyard Swangin’”
28. Pretty Boy Aaron – Delfino (Feel This Way)” Feat. Bruhnice
27. FIT – “Modern Lovers”
26. P$O Kwama – “Night in Dallas” — Jay Luse, Dandii Sun, Rodney Blu & EBO
25. P.P. – “Great”
24. Noogy – “Teen Idol”
23. Genius Christ – “Stray”
22. ULTRAVIOLETENVY – “Toxic”
21. “214 To Your City” – The Waiting List, P$O Kwama, Graham Malice, Capshun
20. Flight By Nothing – “Calm Down”
19. Averi Burk – “Miley Cyrus”
17. Rosegarden Funeral Party – “In the Wake of Fire”
16. Justin Christopher – “Embrace”
14. Zachary Bynum – “SO FAR, SO GOOD”
12. Kyoto Lo-Fi – “Emotional Hangover”
11. LiL Lotus – “Think Of Me Tonight”
10. Kacey Musgraves – “simple times”
9. Ariel & The Culture – “Push To Start” Feat. Pretty Boy Aaron, Bruhnice, Khalid Abdul
8. Cure For Paranoia – “DOLLA DOLLA BILL Y’ALL
7. Electric Tongues – “Black Magic” feat. Graham Malice
6. Tay Money – “The Assignment”
4. Luna Luna – “One Thing” Feat. The Undercover Dream Lovers
3. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – “B-Side”
1. Bobby Sessions – “Triple Deity”