Tracks Ranked
A little over a year ago, Ariana Grande made the pop world a little bit lighter with the release of Eternal Sunshine, her seventh studio album. Crafted in the afterglow of her divorce from realtor Dalton Gomez during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes that paused Wicked production, Eternal Sunshine arrived atop the Billboard 200 (her sixth […]
Selena Gomez figured it out five years ago. With Rare, her third solo studio album, the former Disney Channel breakthrough-turned multi hyphenate superstar distilled her skills as a recording artist into a slinky, sumptuous dance-pop record, full of self-empowering lyrics and midtempo earworms that understood precisely how to utilize her singular tone. Gomez earned the […]
From ballads like “Die With a Smile” to dance-pop anthems like “Abracadabra,” see where every song on Gaga’s long-awaited seventh studio album wound up on our ranking.
Rapper, vocalist and now actress LISA continues to expand her solo artistry with the highly anticipated project Alter Ego. Fresh off her acting debut as Mook, a hotel staff member on HBO’s original hit series The White Lotus season three (which premiered Feb. 16), the Thai superstar leveraged the social satire’s cross-generational appeal to cement […]
Just over one year ago, in Dec. 2023, Tate McRae released her celebrated second album, Think Later. The punchy pop project debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 – and introduced fans to McRae’s alter ego: Tatiana. She said in her Billboard cover story at the time that Tatiana is her tour persona, and described her as being “ballsy, so loud and obnoxious.” Those traits came alive on Think Later, especially on breakthrough hit “Greedy,” which became McRae’s highest-charting Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 3.
On So Close To What, McRae dives deeper into that charismatic cool-girl confidence. She previewed the album with a three-peat of hits: “It’s Ok I’m Ok,” which hit No. 20 on the Hot 100; “2 Hands,” which hit No. 41; and “Sports Car,” which has hit a peak of No. 21 so far. The 15-track set, which clocks in at just under 45 minutes, features just two guests: Flo Milli on “bloodonmyhands” and McRae’s boyfriend The Kid LAROI on “I Know Love.” McRae teamed back up with songwriter-producer Ryan Tedder for much of the album, alongside collaborators including Amy Allen, Julia Michaels and Blake Slatkin, among others.
Earlier this week, Spotify hosted an intimate listening party of So Close To What in Los Angeles. McRae was not only in attendance, but also spoke with her friend and social media personality Jake Shane about the album’s inspiration and challenges. “The album title encapsulates how I felt turning 21,” she shared, “feeling like you’re finally a woman while also wrestling with how the media portrays you.”
She also confessed that “Tatiana, my alter ego, wrote a lot of the songs on the album – including ‘Sports Car.’”
Come March, McRae will head out on her second world tour, named after this album’s lead track, “Miss Possessive.” The outing begins in Mexico City and includes dates across Europe and North America, wrapping in September.
Until you can catch McRae in your city, So Close To What is out now. Below, find Billboard’s ranking of the album’s 15 tracks.
“Purple Lace Bra”
12/12/2024
See which is the No. 1 track of the year, according to Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors.
12/12/2024
The intergalactic rap star is back with the sequel to 2020’s Eternal Atake. Read Billboard’s preliminary review and track ranking.
Over the past year and a half, Jelly Roll has ascended to selling out arenas across the country and earning five No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, as well as Grammy nominations and the Country Music Association’s new artist of the year award — and, in another signifier of his career rise, he’s nominated for the CMA’s coveted entertainer of the year honor at the upcoming ceremony on Nov. 20. He is also up for male vocalist of the year and album of the year for his debut country album (Whitsitt Chapel).
But perhaps most importantly, the Antioch, Tennessee, native has forged a reputation as a quick-witted singer-songwriter who traded his criminal past and previous career as a rapper for a mantel as a country-rock music purveyor and exemplar of redemptive change, an artist whose songs offer a vessel of elevation for those with checkered pasts, regrets, current struggles and hopes for a brighter day. Meanwhile, the preacher-fervor in Jelly Roll’s gravel-filled vocal delivery and onstage banter offers listeners an encourager and champion that those aspirations can become reality.
He continues that mission on his just-released new album, Beautifully Broken, a sprawling 22-song set that finds him doubling down on his message of redemptive arcs, starting with the image set forth of a man visiting an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Beautifully Broken‘s opening song “Winning Streak.” Along the way, he touches on the emotional impact of his life-changing success, pens skillful love songs, and gets vulnerable in the hopes he has for his family. Over the past year or so, it seems Jelly Roll has collaborated with the bulk of major country artists in some way; on this set, he nods to his rock and rap roots, through collaborations with MGK, Ilsey and Wiz Khalifa.
Though his 2023-released, 13-track Whitsitt Chapel just missed the crowning spot on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart (and debuted at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200), he seems poised to best those numbers with his new album.
One song from the album, “Get By,” has already been chosen as ESPN’s college football anthem for the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Jelly Roll has been bringing his redemptive songs to audiences across the country (including coveted performance venues such as Madison Square Garden) on his headlining Beautifully Broken Tour, which runs through November. With this album, he seems set to have plenty more life-giving songs to add to his live shows.
Below, we rank all 22 songs on Beautifully Broken.
“Unpretty”
Last November, Post Malone stunned with his CMA Awards performance, for which he paid tribute to late revered country artist Joe Diffie alongside HARDY and Morgan Wallen. Later, backstage, he teased something many fans had long been hoping for: a country album of his own. Now, that project has finally arrived. Titled F-1 Trillion, Post’s […]
Who’s ready to enter Big Mama’s house? After scoring a pair of Grammy nominations off the strength of her monster hit “Big Energy” and topping the Billboard Hot 100 with her Jung Kook collab “Seven,” Latto has finally dropped off her third studio album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea. A lush, 17-track ode to her hometown […]