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LIFE
Prince (1958-2016)

The 12 best songs of 2015...so far

Brian Mansfield, Elysa Gardner, Patrick Ryan, and Maeve McDermott
USA TODAY
Prince, performing at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore on May 10. He released protest song 'Baltimore' as a tribute to the slain Freddie Gray.

If you think the song of the summer is a tough nut to crack, try the song of the year.

In the first six months of 2015 alone, rappers have surprised (Drake, A$AP Rocky), icons have returned (Madonna, James Taylor), and rising stars have reached new heights (Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots). And yet, none of them made the cut for the year's best singles so far, which USA TODAY's music team attempts to narrow down with these 12 picks:

Baltimore, Prince

"Are we gonna see another bloody day?" Prince wondered in May, as he mourned the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Like everybody else, he had no idea what was coming in Charleston, S.C. Possibly the best Prince track in years, it got no traction on the radio, but it already sounds more poignant, more powerful than it did just a few weeks ago. — BrianMansfield

Fourth of July, Sufjan Stevens

Channeling deep personal loss – the death of his mother – the acclaimed singer/songwriter touched those already familiar with his finely textured work and others. Stark and dreamy, enchanting and unsettling, the song casts a melancholy spell that lingers. — Elysa Gardner

Only One, Kanye West feat. Paul McCartney

Fatherhood brings out the best in rap's most polarizing figure. West's forthcoming album (now called Swish) could drop in our laps any day now, but in the meantime, he's given us a taste of what's to come with the swaggering All Day and somber Sia pairing Wolves. Still, none have affected us quite like the McCartney-assisted Only One, an Auto-Tuned lullaby for West's daughter, North, sung from the perspective of his late mother. — PatrickRyan

I Really Like You, Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen is continually pop music's biggest surprise: she's a 29-year-old from Canada who made 2012's best earworm, Call Me Maybe, and ditched the album cycle to play Cinderalla on Broadway. Her next act: releasing one of 2015's best pop albums, E•MO•TION (out August 21). I Really Like You is the record's bubbliest moment, an ode to millennial kinda-sorta-relationships that, labels aside, still give you butterflies. — Maeve McDermott

See You Again , Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

Grief rarely translates to Top 40 radio. See You Again, though, became as universal as the emotion: What began as Puth's elegy for a friend who died young grew into a farewell to Paul Walker, the late star of The Fast and the Furious films, and beyond, and Khalifa's verses about friendship and family felt like a open-armed embrace. — Mansfield

Should've Been Us, Tori Kelly

The YouTube sensation shows impressive chops and irrepressible spirit on this buoyant but wistful ode to a (possibly) lost chance at love. "We were crazy, but amazing," Kelly sings in the catchy chorus, in a voice that carries promise in its ache and its fortitude. — Gardner

'Cause I'm a Man, Tame Impala

Oftentimes, the most infectious chorus is the simplest one. On this psychedelic slow-burner, Aussie rocker Kevin Parker struggles to find the right words to assuage a lover he's wronged. " 'Cause, I'm a man, woman. Don't always think before I do," he serenades in his hazy falsetto, later concluding, "I'm a human, woman. A greater force I answer to." Write it off as "mansplaining," if you will, but there are clearly higher powers at play. — Ryan

(Warning: Contains NSFW language.)

King Kunta, Kendrick Lamar

Calling out his rap peers, speaking to racial inequality, declaring himself the king of his beloved Compton; Kendrick Lamar's killer first line, "I got a bone to pick," is a gross understatement. King Kunta distills the anger and radical pride of Lamar's third album, To Pimp A Butterfly, into a radio-ready single, wrapping up references to Ralph Ellison and Things Fall Apart and one particular Roots character into a slice of West Coast funk that rides like it's on hydraulics. — McDermott

(Warning: Contains NSFW language.)

Like a Wrecking Ball, Eric Church

Though it first appeared on Church's The Outsiders album in 2014, this country-soul throwback didn't start steaming up country playlists until March. As Church relates in slow, careful detail the house-shaking night of passion he has planned, he sings like a man who's restraining himself but won't be for long. — Mansfield

All Hands On Deck, Tinashe

This chilling, thrilling single set high, twinkly chords over a dark, fuzzy bassline, with Tinashe's voice insinuating and urging. And this rising star has the presence to match her precociously nuanced singing. — Gardner

I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times), Jamie xx feat. Young Thug and Popcaan

Jamie xx's debut album In Colour is a captivating mix of genres and styles, a fusion best encapsulated by this buoyant ode to the good life. Sampling The Persuasions' soulful Good Times, the British producer recruits dance-hall artist Popcaan and of-the-moment rapper Young Thug, who playfully spits rhymes about his lascivious conquests. If Romy's Loud Places is the album's beating heart, these guys are its dancing feet. — Ryan

(Warning: Contains NSFW language.)

Coffee, Miguel

Coffee doesn't leave anything to the imagination — particularly in the song's winking explicit version. That's not Miguel's style, as he peeks at the smaller, quieter details of one special night: his conversation topics, their silly games, how her hair smells. But that doesn't make Coffee any less sexy, Miguel's smoldering drawl escaping like steam curling from a cup. — McDermott

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