Header illustration courtesy of Maggie Neill.
It’s officially 2026, and yes, I too am feeling geriatric. Where have all the good years gone? I mean bottle flipping, fidget spinners, Music.ly (wait was that 2015?) the Mannequin Challenge, Tom Holland’s Spider Man, and of course some of the best music of the 2010s. God, it was perfect. In any case, amid the doom & gloom, unrelenting sense of nostalgia and feelings around the idea of adulting (channeling millennial optimism) — here’s five songs to add to that 2016 throwback playlist a decade after they came out.
“I Don’t Like it, I Love It” by Flo Rida (ft. Robin Thicke & Verdine White)
If you had 30-something parents in 2008, chances are you know Flo Rida’s biggest hit, “Low” (ft. T-Pain). However, despite the fact that I may have been the only 12-year-old who was obsessed with the Miami-based rapper, I stand by “I Don’t Like It, I Love It” holding up as a great song in 2026. Now, is it the most deep or insightful piece of art ever made — by no means. Yet its high bpm, pop-rap fusion and upbeat lyrics immediately invoke an instant energy boost. Let’s just say it listening to it now feels like being transported back to that peak summer of 2016. In the 2026, I still think it’s fabulous even though I now understand some of the lyrical referencesthat pre-teen me wasn’t really picking up on.
“Leave Me Lonely” by Ariana Grande (ft. Macy Gray)
One thing that we haven’t forgotten 10 years later, is just how talented Ms. Ariana Grande is. Pre Glinda, our girl gave us one of the best pop albums of the decade in the form of “Dangerous Woman.” Honestly, I could recommend any one of the songs off this album, however, I figure I’d throw in an underrated hit. “Leave Me Lonely” (ft. Macy Gray) captures the sultry, elongated vocals of the album’s eponymous track and slow melody reminiscent of “Let Me Love You” (ft. Lil’ Wayne). It sounds as though it should be the theme song for a James Bond movie (Ariana, I’m looking at you for the next Bond franchise), with Gray’s smooth and seductive voice in a perfect marriage with Grande’s. Although I was, in fact, jamming out to “Side to Side” during 2016 (picture me, aged 12, with a glorified bull cut and capris), but nonetheless my never-ending Ariana Grande-phase has prompted me to include this pick.
“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” by ZAYN & Taylor Swift
If you’re someone who remembers the beginning of Taylor Swift’s snake-gate, Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction and/or Ellen’s cancellation pipeline — this one’s for you. It still baffles me that “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” didn’t receive the Oscar for Best Original Song that year, but I digress. Like the movie whose soundtrack it originates (“Fifty Shades Darker”), this song is a masterpiece. I mean it. While I wasn’t watching “Fifty Shades” at the ripe old age of 12, I was (and I still very much am) a massive fan of both Swift and Malik. The song is a sonic precursor to the former’s “reputation” (this alone should be convincing enough) and a natural successor of the latter’s debut solo album, “Mind of Mine.” Not to mention, it’s an early Jack Antonoff lead production — which as a superfan of his (jack slander isn’t welcome here) — I’m inclined to tell you to add this song to your playlist immediately.
“Kiss it Better” by Rihanna
Lest we forget the golden years of Rihanna making music. To be honest, I believe things went downhill post- “ANTI.” Rihanna, if your reading this, please release the long awaited R8 — times are tough. Nevertheless, “Kiss it Better”— like many of the Fenty Beauty founder’s songs — has made it’s rounds returning to the zeitgeist via TikTok, which is fitting considering it’s masterful, avant garde production. The techno/electronic influences along with Rihanna’s earworm lyricism act as a call to dancefloor r— whether that’s in front of your mirror or the DJ booth. “ANTI” stands as another transformative album to come from the 2010s, and Rihanna herself even declared it her best work in a 2023 interview with Vogue. Other notable songs include, “Needed Me,” “Work” (ft. Drake), “Desperado,” and “Consideration” (ft. SZA)—all which could also fit on your 2016/2026 playlist.
“Ivy” by Frank Ocean
In case you’re living under a rock, now would be the rime to remind you that Frank Ocean’s revolutionary album, “Blonde,” came out on August 20, 2016. Now, I should preface this by saying that personally, I didn’t discover this song until the year I graduated high school. It’s a lyrically dense melody about love lost and fleeting nostalgia (emphasis on the latter). “Ivy’s” genre (along with most all of Ocean’s tracks), is nearly undefinable. It pulls from an assortment of genres — all while blessing the ear with crisp vocals that speak to its lyrical themes. If you were a kid in 2016, “We’ll never be those kids again,” likely hits. If you’re graduating this year like me, it’s a bit of gut punch. But nonetheless — like all these songs — “Ivy” exists in a time capsule of a once perfect year for music (and world, it seems). So, here’s to my final pick to round out your 2016/2026 playlist.
