20 Best Summer Songs of 2016, Ranked

1 – Sledgehammer – Rihanna

I had no way of knowing that my favorite summer song of the year was going to show up on a soundtrack for Star Trek, another movie I cannot comment on the merits of just yet. I have already sung the praises of Rihanna earlier in the list, and “Sledgehammer” gives her a chance to shine on her own at last with her own lyrics and vocal prowess. It’s another brave assertion of independence to join the ranks of “Rise” and “Just Like Fire,” but with the drama and passion only Rihanna can lend to a piece like this. The spirit orchestrations give the whole piece an exotic, otherworldly feel, which matches perfectly both with the song’s placement on the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack and the music video, where Rihanna dances and performs strange magic on an alien world.

Say what you want about Rihanna’s other 2016 songs not making my cut, but this will be my ultimate song for summer of 2016. It was a summer where we all needed to believe that there was something better beyond all this if we could just persist through a bit longer.

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Was your favorite song of summer on the lust? Think our rankings are all wrong? Sound off in the comments!