Top Songs of 2022: USA

Apple Music’s end-of-year charts are based on plays between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022. Anyone listening knows that hip-hop is the dominant sound in American pop. Less obvious is how much the sound and feel of hip-hop has changed. Drake continued to dominate charts, both through club-influenced tracks like “Sticky” and “Massive” and his ruthless, more traditional collaborations with 21 Savage (“Jimmy Cooks”, “Knife Talk”). But Bad Bunny was an incredible presence this year too, reflecting a shift in the style and demographics of hip-hop not just stateside, but worldwide (“Tití Me Preguntó”, “Me Porto Bonito”). In an unexpected turn, the English art-rock icon Kate Bush managed a Top 10 single with a song—“Running Up That Hill”—that came out nearly 40 years ago, proving not only the power of smart placement (the song was featured in the show Stranger Things) but the ability for a great song to transcend era and context. And did you talk about Bruno? Or should we say, did you not talk about Bruno? Because, man, a lot of people listened to “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” this year—and the rest of the Encanto soundtrack was pretty sticky, too. Revisit Apple’s most definitive, listened-to tracks of 2022 here.