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Music

The 2015 Hottest 100 Was the Most Diverse and Unique Yet

Stats prove that people who call this year’s poll bland are the anti-vaccers of music.

The key moment in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2015 came yesterday at 5:23pm (AEDT). This is when Veronica and Lewis hit play on “Loud Places” by Jamie xx & Romy.

The song polled at #31 and at the time was the 27th that featured exclusively female vocals, beating 2011’s previous record of 26. That record would be extended to 32 by the end of the countdown, and there were a further seven female/male duets for 39 of 100 tracks.

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That’s not equality but it is a definite step in the right direction.

In coming second, Kendrick Lamar joined OutKast as the only black lead artists to score a Top 2 spot (Wanz had a featured artist role on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “#1 Thrift Shop”). A collaboration between an American production outfit, a male French DJ and a female Danish singer came in at #3; the first time a triple-nationality team has cracked the Top 10.

Also charting highly were Australians, Brits, Canadians, Kiwis and a Jamaican. For the first time ever, a Papua New Guinean artist — Ngaiire — made the Hottest 100. With 11 different countries represented, 12 if you count Tkay Maizda as a Zimbabwean-Australian, this was the most international countdown in history. Australia still dominated with 54 tracks, but that’s to be expected with Triple J’s incessant cheerleading for local acts.

This countdown also marked a real shift away from indie/alternative music (you know, guitar rock bands) to a more diverse collection of high-placing rap (like Kendrick and Urthboy and Chance The Rapper), hip-hop (Drake and Weeknd), electronica (Jamie xx, Disclosure, DJ Snake and SAFIA) and dancefloor bangers (Hermitude, RUFUS and LDRU & Paige IV). Sure, there were still plenty of riffs from Tame Impala, Gang Of Youths and winners Rubens to keep the barbecues humming but the stats show there is a real changing of the guard here.

Of course, before the final strains of “Hoops’’” spartan runtime (the third shortest #1 in history) had finished, the mainstream music press were already sharpening their knives. Despite the countdown being the most diverse in terms of sex, nationality and genre, it was being described by that most nebulous of insult: “safe”.

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That really is code for new and different and “I don’t get the kids these days”. You’ll spend a long time trying to find someone who loved the 90s Hottest 100s more than me but don’t for a second think they were somehow diverse or representative. They weren’t as Australian but that just meant American acts dominated. The evidence shows that the early days of the Hottest 100 was a white male alternative fest, with only a few female or rap tracks thrown in every now and then.

Over the first 10-years of the Hottest 100, the average number of female tracks was 15. The average number of nationalities was eight. Sixteen of the Top 20 tracks were alternative rock tracks. And then you tell me it’s safe to have the supercool soul stylings of Meg Mac at #11. The stats prove that Meg Mac wouldn’t have even made a Hottest 100 in the 1990s.

In the wash-up yesterday I reflected on the songs and bands missing from the countdown. Some notable tenured Triple J favourites with plenty of songs on the voting list to be omitted include former winners Mumford & Sons and Muse, runners up Daniel Johns, Blur, Art vs Science, Ben Lee and Of Monsters And Men. Also missing out were Django Django, Last Dinosaurs, Silversun Pickups and Jungle Giants. Replacing these guys were interesting, diverse and new acts like Vallis Alps, Snakehips, Halsey, Jack Garratt and Jai Wolf. I’ll take regeneration over same-same anyday.

So when you hear people whinging that the Hottest 100 is bland or beige or boring or safe, you can point out that the statistics prove it’s actually the exact opposite. It was a great countdown and a great day. My chief complaint was that “Twilight Driving” was only at #97 — what is wrong with you people?!

Patrick Avenell is Sydney writer, podcaster and humorist . Follow him at @Patrickavenell