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80 Minutes Or Less: Listen to SPIN's Favorite Pop Tracks of 2011
80 Minutes Or Less: Listen to SPIN's Favorite Pop Tracks of 2011
December 27, 2011

You've read our list of the year's greatest pop albums, now listen to 2011's best pop singles.

1. Adele - "Rolling in the Deep"
Our Best Single of 2011 [Link]: emotionally raw, musically polished to perfection.

3. HyunA - "Bubble Pop"
Ooh ooh ooh ooh! + a seizure-inducing dupstep breakdown.

4. Britney Spears - "Till the World Ends"
Whoa oh oh oh oh ohh oh-oh + a final minute of ecstasy.

5. Nicki Minaj - "Super Bass"
Pink wig, thick ass, give 'em whiplash.

6. Tinie Tempah feat. Wiz Khalifa - "Till I'm Gone"
Hey, the guy who dropped $37K on a pair of Back to the Future sneakers can drop a sweet rhyme, too!

7. Katy Perry - "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
An unintentional set of instructions for how to forget "Friday" (the other one) ever even happened. But why would you want to do that?

8. 2NE1 - "I Am the Best"
K-Pop with a dollop of Bollywood and a truckload of awesome insanity.

9. Katy B - "Broken Record"
The U.K. singer's silky vocals are calm and collected but her lyrics (and the beat) express the turmoil bubbling below.

10. Kelly Clarkson - "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"
Got some news for you, bro: she's still better since u been gone.

11. Emeli Sande - "Heaven"
The first official taste of this budding Scottish singer-songwriter is gloriously decadent: "I wake with good intentions / But the day it always lasts too long."

12. Lana Del Rey - "Video Games"
A melody as pouty and dramatic as Elizabeth Grant's much-discussed lips.

13. Cee-Lo Green - "Bright Lights Bigger City"
A lady-killing retro-soul jam that feels as decadently '80s as anything Jay McInerney imagined.

14. Lady Gaga - "The Edge of Glory"
She needs a man who thinks it's right when it's so wrong. And a Clarence Clemons sax solo.

15. Dev - "In the Dark"
"Like a G6" - those other dudes + slinky sax = radio gold.

16. Sky Ferreira - "99 Tears"
The heart of "Rolling in the Deep," the soul of Paula Abdul.

17. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris - "We Found Love"
RiRi finds love in this club - and with a Euro DJ who isn't David Guetta!

18. Adele - "Someone Like You"
More Adele? Sure! But you may not want to play this one at midnight on NYE.


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