Things are rocky out there, but music makes it (somewhat) better.
As a species, humankind's vibe for 2017 might as well be "Not great, Bob." While there's little a wicked Kanye song can do about the factors contributing to that overall grumpiness—wildfires and fish growing around litter and elected officials who just can't take a hint—it sure can help you do another rep. So here, 15 tracks that function like a starting gun to get you up and at 'em.
Scream the beginning with me.
I never said this would be pretty, but [single-syllable utterance] if this isn't a turn-up song. Side note: The fashion in this has come full-circle, wow.
You star in your own Adidas commercial. You are faster than Usain Bolt on Heelys. You have your own Wheaties box.
A true Horatio Alger story in a song—if Horatio Alger were a one-time stripper who got her teeth fixed and buys Louboutins now.
This one goes out to everybody trying you, with the suggestion that they'll just be a distant memory soon. "To all the bitch-ass hoes that hate me most / I hate you too?" Pure poetry.
It was between this and "Started from the Bottom" (naturally), but this is harder and madder and a great reminder that Drake, too, was once overlooked. And he hasn't forgotten.
Still bumping this in 2017.
Kanye + a Daft Punk sample = equally appropriate for hyping yourself up to do another set of squats and hyping yourself up again the next day, when you can't get down the subway steps without gripping the railing because everything burns.
Made to be shouted.
When you finally make it, or rather, when you imagine what that would feel like as you listen to this song from someone who's ostensibly been in your shoes pre-making it.
The takeaway: Rae Sremmurd still has haters but keeps grinding, and so should you. (Put that on a plaque.)
For all we know, this could be playing on loop at the IRS. Brrap, brrap, brrap.
Yes, the "I ain't wasting no more time" thing will get you going, but on a larger scale, in the movie of your life, wouldn't you want this playing as you get out of bed and the title sequence rolls?
HUGE sound, loads of sass, a "f*ck 'em" message that works, even if you've been generously single for ages.
Has the requisite BPM (high enough to start running to after you've warmed up the ol' hammies), optimism, and sick guitar licks you'd want in a song of this type.