2009: #3 - "Day N' Nite"

Someday I'll write a hip hop song, and it will sound something like Kid Cudi's "Day N' Nite". When this first came out, a couple friends (who I had constantly bugged about it until they listened and told me what they thought) commented that I probably liked it so much because it sounded like he made it at home in an hour. There's no samples or scratching, and he doesn't even really rap. To be honest, there's not much going on at all.

It works because it's atypical and weird but not inaccessible. At the same time, it's also very familiar sounding, without being retro and faux-"old school" like a lot of bad underground hip hop or neo-soul can be. Similar to something off Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak, it's a little spare sounding and minimal, but the drums are super crisp, all the synths are given the perfect breathing room, and the chorus rips, so it's definitely not underproduced.

I probably played this song more than any other except one in 2009. Before I figured out who sang it, I drove around, day and night, fiddling all over the radio dial just trying to hear it again somewhere, as my wife can attest to. I was obsessed.