R&B seemed to enter 2023 with a point to prove on the FearlessRiOT Countdown. The genre has had it’s far share of hits over the years, but this year saw a wave of R&B wash over the chart in a way not seen in previous years. Leading the charge: Kiana Ledé, perhaps most recognizable for her 2018 single “Ex” and who’d previously charted several hits on the countdown since first hitting the countdown in 2020 with the #6-peaking “Mad At Me.” from her debut full-length album Kiki. Fast-forward to 2023 with the release of her sophomore album Grudges and she’s charting five songs on the Year-End list, making her one of this year’s chart MVP alongside (unsurprisingly) Taylor Swift.
Included among those five songs is the track that broke the previously Miley Cyrus-held record for most weeks in the Top 10. But Ledé is not the only artist to find success with R&B or R&B-inspired music this year: Usher landed one of the biggest hits of the year, Ari Lennox continued to grow as a chart favorite, SZA saw her biggest charting year to date, The Shindellas brought girl groups back to prominence on the countdown, R&B remained a heavy influence on the blend of sounds in Lauren Jauregui’s string of well-charting hits, Alina Baraz made her return to the chart, and even artists more known for a pop-leaning sound like Jordin Sparks, Tori Kelly, and Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne as a solo act went in that direction for their big songs this year.
That’s not to say other genres and artists didn’t also have a good year. In pop, the aforementioned Taylor Swift’s already huge year complete with a blockbuster stadium tour that spawned a blockbuster concert film is capped off with seven appearances on the year-end list from across four different albums. The act accompanying her on the Latin American leg of her tour, Sabrina Carpenter, landed her 4th and 5th #1 songs, both of which are now her longest charting songs ever. Renee Rapp, star of The Sex Lives of College Girls and the upcoming Mean Girls musical movie had a strong breakthrough year. Olivia Rodrigo came roaring back with tracks from her sophomore effort. Even the soundtrack to the biggest movie of the summer had an impact on the charts in the form of three songs, two of which went #1.
In country, two different projects landed Kelsea Ballerini significant success, leading a country pack that also includes big songs for Ingrid Andress, Chris Stapleton Luke Combs, and Zach Bryan. JID kept his momentum from his acclaimed The Forever Story project going in a year where hip-hop was mostly collaboration-reliant with team-ups ranging from JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown to Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar to Offset & Cardi B to Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj. Even 2000’s rap veterans Paul Wall and Jadakiss landed on this chart courtesy of respective team-ups with promising newcomer That Mexican OT and Wild N Out star Justina Valentine.
Power metal came in loud and hard with hits from German band Powerwolf and Japanese band Lovebites while Metallica, Ghost, Shinedown, Halestorm, Stitched Up Heart, Foo Fighters, and even Linkin Park with a vault song helped keep other forms of hard rock music afloat. 2023 wasn’t k-pop’s most pronounced year on the chart, but their presence is still here, including SEULGI popping up both solo and as part of Red Velvet, as well as Siyeon following in bandmate Dami’s footsteps from last year with her solo track from Dreamcatcher’s [Apocalypse: Save Us] album nabbing a notable chart run. Even the biggest movie of the summer landed three tracks on the chart from it’s soundtrack, including one of the ten biggest of the year.
If anything, 2023 was an interesting year for the FearlessRiOT Countdown and this year-end chart calculated by the weekly countdown’s inverse point system recaps all of it.
#1) “Deeper”
Kiana Ledé
#2) “The One”
Lauren Jauregui
#3) “What Was I Made For?”
Billie Eilish
#4) “Lost”
Linkin Park
#5) “bad idea right?“
Olivia Rodrigo
#6) “Lavender Haze”
Taylor Swift
#7) “Don’t Tell My Mom”
Reneé Rapp
#8) “Feather”
Sabrina Carpenter
#9) “Good Good”
Usher (feat. Summer Walker & 21 Savage)
#10) “IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO)”
Kelsea Ballerini
#11) “Silent Running”
Gorillaz (feat. Adeleye Omotayo)
#12) “White Horse”
Chris Stapleton
#13) “Kill Bill”
SZA
#14) “Anti-Hero”
Taylor Swift
#15) “Don’t Say Love (R&B Version)”
Leigh-Anne
#16) “Jesus He Knows Me”
Ghost
#17) “Grudges”
Kiana Ledé (feat. Kiki & Friends)
#18) “Bruises”
Reneé Rapp
#19) “Flowers”
Miley Cyrus
#20) “Cruel Summer”
Taylor Swift
#21) “Trust Issues”
Lauren Jauregui
#22) “Speed Drive”
Charli XCX
#23) “Karma”
Taylor Swift
#24) “Always Love”
Lauren Jauregui
#25) “Stand and Deliver (Shoot ‘Em Down)”
Lovebites
#26) “X-Wing”
Denzel Curry
#27) “Yearbook”
Ingrid Andress
#28) “Boundaries”
Laura Marano
#29) “greedy”
Tate McRae
#30) “Dead Man Runnin'”
SEULGI
#31) “Focus”
Kiana Ledé
#32) “Snow Angel”
Reneé Rapp
#33) “Under You”
Foo Fighters
#34) “Dance Now”
JID (feat. Kenny Mason)
#35) “Eat The Acid”
Kesha
#36) “Last Night Was Good For My Soul”
The Shindellas
#37) “Ghost”
Ava Max
#38) “Escapism.”
RAYE & 070 Shake
#39) “LEFT RIGHT”
XG
#41) “Creepin'”
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, & 21 Savage
#42) “Nonsense”
Sabrina Carpenter
#43) “Lux Æterna”
Metallica
#44) “All In My Feelings”
Lauren Jauregui
#45) “Keep Me In Love”
Alina Baraz
#46) “Baggage”
Bishop Briggs
#47) “Waste My Time”
Ari Lennox
#48) “The Hillbillies”
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
#49) “Kingdom Hearts Key”
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown (feat. redveil)
#50) “Dead Don’t Die”
Shinedown
#51) “Immortal”
Stitched Up Heart
#52) “CUFF IT“
Beyoncé
#53) “Jealous”
Kiana Ledé (feat. Ella Mai)
#54) “Fast Car”
Luke Combs
#55) “Numb”
Sleep Theory
#56) “Arranca”
Becky G (feat. Omega)
#57) “Call My Name”
Jordin Sparks
#58) “Castles Crumbling”
Taylor Swift (feat. Hayley Williams)
#59) “Jealousy”
Offset (feat. Cardi B)
#60) “Terrible Things”
Halestorm (feat. Ashley McBryde)
#61) “A Walk In The Bar”
Lauren Alaina
#62) “Entrancing (Siyeon Solo)”
Dreamcatcher
#63) “Johnny Dang”
That Mexican OT (feat. Paul Wall & DRODi)
#64) “Snooze”
SZA
#65) “THE LITTLE THINGS”
Kelsea Ballerini
#66) “Mo Money”
Justina Valentine (feat. Jadakiss)
#67) “My Love”
Leigh-Anne (feat. Ayra Starr)
#68) “Hard To Love”
BLACKPINK
#69) “Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)”
Taylor Swift
#70) “I Remember Everything”
Zach Bryan (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
#71) “Cobra (Rock Remix)”
Megan Thee Stallion (feat. Spiritbox)
#72) “LMK”
Kiana Ledé
#73) “don’t come back”
Tate McRae
#74) “Too Well”
Reneé Rapp
#75) “Nowhere But Up”
Phony Ppl
#76) “10:35”
Tiësto & Tate McRae
#77) “Calm Down”
Rema & Selena Gomez
#78) “Mermaids”
Florence + The Machine
#79) “Nobody Wants To Die”
Rival Sons
#80) “Is It Over Now?”
Taylor Swift
#81) “We Go Down Together”
Dove Cameron & Khalid
#82) “MORE”
The Warning
#83) “No Prayer At Midnight”
Powerwolf
#84) “uh oh”
Tate McRae
#85) “vampire“
Olivia Rodrigo
#86) “Funk Rave”
Anitta
#87) “Penthouse”
Kelsea Ballerini
#88) “Money”
JID
#89) “Before The Sad Sets In”
Kira Kosarin
#90) “Victorious”
Nita Strauss & Dorothy
#91) “missin u”
Tori Kelly
#92) “superhuman”
Bishop Briggs
#93) “back to the moon”
Gunna
#94) “Rush”
Ayra Starr
#95) “Tomorrow 2”
GloRilla (with Cardi B)
#96) “Dance The Night”
Dua Lipa
#97) “Princess Diana”
Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj
#98) “MONACO”
Bad Bunny
#99) “Letter To Myself”
Morray
#100) “Black Thunder”
The HU (feat. Serj Tankian & Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz)
YEAR-END AWARDS:
Top Artist Solo Song Of The Year: “Deeper” by Kiana Ledé
Top Group Song Of The Year: “Lost” by Linkin Park
Top Collaboration Of The Year: “Good Good” by Usher (feat. Summer Walker & 21 Savage)
Top Pop Song Of The Year: “The One” by Lauren Jauregui
Top Hip-Hop Song Of The Year: “X-Wing” by Denzel Curry
Top Alternative Song Of The Year: “Silent Running” by Gorillaz (feat. Adeleye Omotayo)
Top Hard Rock Song Of The Year: “Lost” by Linkin Park
Top R&B Song Of The Year: “Deeper” by Kiana Ledé
Top Country Song Of The Year: “IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN DOWN TOO” by Kelsea Ballerini
Top First-Timer Song Of The Year: “Don’t Say Love (R&B Version)” by Leigh-Anne
Top Returning Year-End Song: “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift [#39 for 2022, #14 for 2023]
Year-End Top 100 MVP: Taylor Swift (7 Appearances on the Year-End List), Lauren Jauregui (6 Appearances On The Year-End List)
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