Even drill, the Chicago rap style that moved on to dominate London and New York, was, in its own throat-grabbing way, joyful, replacing the spaciness of 2010s trap with an energy and immediacy that brought rap back to Earth (Polo G’s “Distraction”). But it felt like people were ready for something brighter-the kind of music that captures collectivity over individualism and extroversion over isolation, whether it was the smart, stylish indie pop of The 1975 (“Part of the Band”) or the cosmic, family-band warmth of Big Thief (“Spud Infinity”). Maybe it was just a swing of the stylistic pendulum. Maybe it was our collective exuberance after the challenges of COVID and its lockdowns. The bounce and lightness of Afrobeats continued to percolate through hip-hop and club music, both through collaborations with Western artists and on its own (Burna Boy’s “Last Last,” Oxlade’s “KU LO SA”), and Harry Styles brought a playful, almost psychedelic quality to his post-teen pop that felt like a spritz of lemon after a long couple of years (“As It Was”). Two of the biggest artists in the world, Beyoncé and Drake, put out albums rooted in the ecstasy and release of dance music, and, in the case of Beyoncé, a queer Black culture sequestered from the mainstream for too long (“CUFF IT”). Looking back over our favorite tracks of 2022, there’s a real sense of joy.
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