Here’s one thing I love about today’s semi-democratized, perpetually chaotic digital music space: Two of the most intimate ballads I heard in 2023 are nominated for song of the year at February’s Grammy Awards, while another one of my faves — a regional rap hit whose video has miles to go before its YouTube views even begin to sniff six figures — feels larger than life. Great songs need not be big to feel big. From nano to mega, these are my 2023 favorites.
10. Maz G, AyooLii, ‘Jack Tapp’
Greetings from the epicenter of the Milwaukee rap scene, where the music feels mischievous and exhilarating; where young rappers are playful and prolific in mutually reinforcing ways; where the drum machine hand claps that seem to materialize on every eighth-note feel like perpetual slaps to the face; where mosh pits are said to break out at basement shows; where Maz G and AyooLii’s “Jack Tapp” embodies the energy of the whole scene, but with an exuberance that can’t quite be matched.
