“‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…”
Love it or hate it, Taylor has a point – and that point was played over and over (and over) this year.
Which is why she’s at the top of out list of the biggest hits of the past 365 days.
And as 2014 comes to a close, there’s one thing we can say about its music – it was the year of women.
New faces, booty obsessing, and some our old favourites writing about their love struggles – this list could have been ladies only. We thought we’d be fair though and include a couple guys. Sorry Ariana Grande fans, whoever you are – you just didn’t love her hard enough.
TAYLOR SWIFT – SHAKE IT OFF
There’s no denying this song as the anthem of 2014. Even the biggest pop hating hipsters were falling over themselves to get their dance on because of this song. The beat is incredibly catchy, and the message is simple but much needed. We’ve shaken off many of the less pleasant parts of 2014 because of 1989.
IGGY AZALEA – FANCY
We had no idea who she was until this single dropped, but she’s been literally everywhere in 2014 ever since, and we’re pretty okay with that. We all tried and failed to learn to rap because of this song.
SAM SMITH – STAY WITH ME
Like Iggy, Sam Smith seemed to come out of nowhere and it seems as though he’s not going away anytime soon. Stay With Me was the song that put him on the map, because we can all relate to that feeling of needing someone there – despite its futility – just to avoid being alone.
KATY PERRY – DARK HORSE
It’s sad to say, but divorce can sometimes bring out the best art in people. Katy Perry’s PRISM album had ladies on their feet feeling stronger than ever throughout 2014, no matter what life had in store for us.
CHARLI XCX – BOOM CLAP
This will forever go down as the song of summer romance in 2014. Admit it, it made you wistful for your teenage puppy love days, too.
SIA – CHANDELIER
While Sia had been around for years writing gigantic hits for other pop stars, this was her first time in the spotlight because of her massive songwriting skills. If the song wasn’t beautiful enough on its own, the gorgeously choreographed video made us all stop and look at mental illness in a different light.
MEGHAN TRAINOR – ALL ABOUT THAT BASS
The first in a series of singles that put booty on the map this year, it might have hit the overplayed limit a while ago – but that doesn’t stop it from making our list because of its truly positive message. Finally, a song that tells girls it’s actually a good thing to be eat food and be a healthy weight.
NICKI MINAJ – ANACONDA
While this butt song wasn’t quite as inspiring for girls around the world as the above booty song, it definitely had people on the dance floor going crazy. And the video gave boys around the world something to watch that would get past their parents’ safety filters.
JENNIFER LOPEZ – BOOTY
The final in the series of booty songs, this one hasn’t yet reached levels of overplay that the previous two reached, but it certainly cemented the fact that 2014 was the year of the booty. And it’s the first J.LO song we’ve been okay with in a very, very long time.
DJ SNAKE & LIL JOHN – TURN DOWN FOR WHAT
Where wasn’t this song this year? We’ve all learned to respond to someone’s criticism of us with the inevitable response: turn down for what? Keep living loud and doing you in 2015, young professionals.
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