The Hit List 2020 (NOT A RANKING - Best Songs of 2020 According to the Staff at ToughTune.com)


Intro Blurb

Back at it again! I know you’re thinking “It’s almost 2023… How you dropping a Best of 2020 list right meow?” Well at ToughTune.com we dare to be different, and the plan was to drop a “Best Of” the previous year while everyone else dropped a “Best Of” the Past year (so at the top of 2022 when everyone drops a Best Of 2021 list, we’d drop a Best Of 2020). Why? Contrarian for contrarian’s sake? No you silly goose! It gave us more time to digest the music, to really suss out what we like the most, and because it gives us a chance to restore the feeling, remember the times. Enough time has passed. For most, these tracks are outta rotation and now you can go back to em and think about all the good (or bad) times that were had by all. Also, instead of highlighting all my favorites on some of my favorite albums that dropped in 2020, I just picked one song. But there’s a blurb for all those, so you know which albums I was really fucking with. So without further ado, I present to you Niggas: The Hit List 2020! 

PS: Oh yeah, I organized the list by “time I added it to a playlist” (not when it dropped) so some songs may have come out earlier but I heard it later. I’m also a fan of the Oxford Comma if you can’t tell and I bastardize the English language because nobody can tell me what to do! (at this time) 

January-Ish

Drakeo The Ruler ft. ALLBLACK, G Perico & Ohgeesy - Ion Know Nothing (Remix)

DJ Carnage ft. Tyga, Takeoff, Ohgeesy - Hella Neck

Khalid ft. Summer Walker - Eleven

Stylz & Wells ft. Nipsey Hussle, Rezee & Just Liv - Product of the GHETTO

dvsn - A Muse

Pouya ft. Boobie LootaveliBitch - Park Backwards

Big Havi ft. Lil Baby - 9 Times Out of 10

Kodie Shane ft. Trippie Redd - NO RAP KAP

TechN9ne - Outdone

Chiiild - Hands Off Me

Iann Dior - Good Day

February-Ish

Russ ft. Rick Ross Guess What: This track is one of the best songs of 2020. Jazzy beat, Russ smokes his verses while bragging about his accomplishments. The beat is tailored-made for Ross and he smokes his verse too.

Yung Tory - 2020

Childish Major ft. BEAM - Dem Know

Elon Musk - Don’t Doubt Your Vibe: We all knew he was talented, but we didn’t know he was this talented.

Jucee Froot ft. Rico Nasty - Psycho (Remix)

Kota The Friend - Volvo: One of them ones. Top 10 song of 2020 (and one of my favorite tracks of all time). Laidback vibes, acoustic guitar chords as Kota takes you through his day to day. He gets his bread right and gets his head right. He puts his chair where the grass is cut. That’s his queen and she bad as fuck. Bad vibes is so yesterday. He hopes you niggas get up out the bed today.

Meek Mill ft. Roddy Ricch - Letter to Nipsey: “I wish I knew when the storm came! How many tears did you cry when you lost someone?” Roddy Ricch belts this out from the heart. I know he was in the studio feeling all the feels. Meek pays homage to the slain LA King, Nipsey Hussle. Everytime he sees fire, he sees Blue. And everytime he closes his eyes, he says his fallen homie Snupe & Nip. The situation got Meek shook to go out without his flame on him. As the Marathon Continues he keeps running. RR was in Miami when he found out and was bawling. He keeps the legacy going by Hussling & Motivating, being Prolific, and holding it down for Nip’s loved ones. 

Eminem ft. Juice WRLD - Godzilla: Em had a dope JuiceWrld collab in the tuck, released not too long after the Young Chicago artist’s untimely death. Funky little beat, Eminem uses the track to flex his lyrical abilities (especially at the end when the beat flips and he starts rapping in hyperspeed). If anyone asks why Em is considered one of the all time greats, look no further than this track for a rapping masterclass.

Famous Dex - Mini Mo

Luke James ft. Big K.R.I.T. - Traveling

Lil Mosey - Blueberry Faygo

Fetty Wap - Just For You

Zaytoven x Lil Gotit - Drip Jacker

Ace Hood - Big Fish

Lil B - Harry Potter

A Boogie ft. Lil Uzi Vert - Luv Is Art: A Boogie’s Album “Artist 2.0” has not one, but two Lil Uzi features, both slappers. Luv is Art has a Latin feel and is dedicated to the ladies in their life. The title is a play on their names (LUV = Lil Uzi Vert and A Boogie’s government name is Artist).

Young Chop ft. Calboy - I Need A Bag

Lil Wayne ft. Jay Rock - Bing James

Smoove’L - 2020

JPEGMAFIA - BALD!   

Drake - When To Say When & Chicago Freestyle (ft. Giveon): Drake dropped a two-pack of gas in early 2020. He does this from time to time to keep the streets fed between projects (thank you 6 God!). “Chicago Freestyle” was the masses first introduction to Giveon and he’s skyrocketed since. He used “When To Say When” to get some shit off his chest (I feel like these songs are therapy tracks for Young Drizzly). 

Thundercat - Dragonball Durag: “Baby girl do you like me in du-rag!” Viral hit from the Cali multi-hyphenate. Dope low-budget video that features fellow superstar multi-hyphenate Quinta Brunson. Thundercat cascades around LA trying to find someone to let him smash in his Du-rag (because it’s only right). She don’t gotta like his video games or his comic books and as long as she ain’t allergic to cat hair, TC is primed and ready to go (if she’s willing of course).

Trippie Redd ft. Russ - The Way: This one of my favorite Trippie songs. A true love ballad. Describes the ups and downs of a courtship. They was lost but they found a way. Russ’ melodic vocals adds some special sauce too.

RMR - Rascal:  So the masked man burst onto the scene with this Country Rap tune (almost like what LNX did with “Old Town Road”). This one was a bit more abrasive as he uses the Rascal Flatts sample to deliver the classic NWA message: Fuck The Police. It’s 2022 and I think we still haven’t seen this nigga’s face.

Calboy ft. Lil Baby - Givenchy Kickin

March-Ish

Giveon - Favorite Mistake: Now that everyone got introduced on Drake’s Chicago Freestyle, Giveon started hitting us with the shit he had in the tuck. Favorite Mistake is a ballad for two star crossed lovers who shouldn’t be boning but they doing it anyway (we’ve all been there). Giveon’s unique voice shines over the minimalist production. 

Lil Uzi Vert ft. Lil Durk - No Auto: “Oh you pussy? Oh you scared huh?” Bro! This flip of Lil Wayne’s “BM J.R.” is the crown jewel of Eternal Atake’s (Deluxe). First off, EA (Deluxe) is one of my favorite albums of all time. When the first part dropped I played it non-stop no skips, I just fuck with those beats and the flows Uzi chose. Then I totalled my car 4 days after it dropped (while this shit was playing). A nigga was sad, this dope album is out and I ain’t got a whip to cruise in. But I had a rental when the deluxe dropped and I was parking at the doctor’s office when “No Auto” came on. Nigga I sat in the pakring lot til it finished this shit knocks. I love how the whole 2nd part of EA (the deluxe if you will) has a mixtape feel. Uzi said he didn’t really think it was his best work but it being 4th highest selling Hip-Hop album of 2020 (behind Pop Smoke, Juice Wrld & Lil Baby, 20 of which passed away) shows that the fans is fucking with it.

Lil West ft. Brevin Kim - Bleach: Delaware’s finest! Lil West has range and has displayed it throughout his career. This has the classic hip-hop love song feel. Bars on the verses with a melodic chorus. It’s gon’ be a long nite (cause the guys gone be fuckin they boo).

Ro James - Touchy Feely

Jasiah - Break Shit

Lecrae x YK Osiris - Set Me Free

Kacy Hill ft. Francis & The Lights - I Believe In You: What I will say about this song is that it caught me from the first listen and I still play it to this day. Something about it just tickles me soul.

Dvsn ft. Snoh Aalegra - Between Us

ALLBLACK - The Goal Line

The Weeknd - Escape From LA: The outro to this song is probably my favorite part of the Weekend’s 2020 album “After Hours” (this the one where his face was all wrapped up like he was in a car accident and 2nd since he cut off his iconic dreads after Starboy). It reminds me of the first three mixtapes that launched his career. Raw and Real. 

Blueface ft. Lil Baby - Weekend

Smino - TEMPO

Lil Tecca ft. Lil Tjay - All Star

Mozzy - Tunnel Vision

Manny Norté, 6lack, Rema & Tion Wayne 4 A.M.

Justin Rarri - Richezza: This is one of the best beats of 2020 and Justin Rarri tailors his flow perfectly to the beat. A true display of musical synergy.

Geko ft. Lotto Boyz - Repeat

Childish Gambino - Algorhythm

Drakeo The Ruler ft. Earl Sweatshirt & 03 Greedo - Ion Rap Beef (Remix)

Smoove'L - Just A Dream


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