[Playlist] My Apple Replay - All Time (So Far)

Talking about my road trip soundtracks, after the break! 

Back in 2016... during the early days of the music streaming wars... Spotify, Tidal, Apple, and many other smaller platforms were vying for our attention and monthly subscription fees. All promising some form of gimmick like exclusives, higher quality audio, and ease to consumers. I felt the winds were changing, but this listener was ultimately looking for a lifestyle change. Had a new car & wanted a new way of absorbing my music. No longer chained to constricting CDs that required micromanaging. A new experience... something fully organic... that complimented my busy life & every-changing moods.

I ended up committing fully to Apple Music for my car rides by summertime 2016 because I had an iPhone (& iPad) at the time. Test drive new singles / albums at home with Spotify, YouTube, & Amazon and adventure with them later on Apple Music became a weekly trend that continued for nearly 10 years. Those energetic morning drives defined the final months of "Bored 4 Music / Late Nights: LA" through the early incarnation of That Buzzing Sound as I wrapped up my decade-long journey in Hollywood. 

Most of the top-ranking songs below are from that 2016-2017 hours-long carpool karaoke time frame, representing my love for mainstream hip hop, pop, and... Broadway show tunes? Will explain all this soon. Don't worry. 

Upgrading to Unlimited Phone Data this year took my very selective musical choices, which had to be downloaded onto my phone before, into a full moody soundtrack that changes constantly. I will say... have total freedom is a little too "freeing", if you catch my drift? Still trying to find a balance. That's why I'm no concerned by any major name dominating the list. Probably have another decade's long soundtrack to challenge for the top spots. (Here's hoping the Hamilton selects move further down!) 

Below, with little humility and no reservations, you will find my unfiltered Top 100 Songs streamed from Apple Music over the last 9 years (shared via Spotify hehe) with some comments on why it is... what it is. 

Enjoy!

My Apple Replay - All Time (So Far) [as of July 2025]

Listen on Apple Music!

Track List (with Commentary Below*):

1. Ed Sheeran - The A Team *
2. Drake - Do Not Disturb *
3. Drake - 0 To 100 / The Catch Up
4. Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry - Non-Stop *
5. Regard, Troye Sivan & Tate McRae - You *
6. Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry - The Schuyler Sisters
7. P!nk - Beautiful Trauma *
8. Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits
9. Kendrick Lamar - DNA.
10. Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.
11. My Chemical Romance - The World Is Ugly *
12. Kendrick Lamar - LOYALTY. (feat. Rihanna)
13. Drake - Madiba Riddim
14. Kendrick Lamar - LOVE. (feat. Zacari)
15. Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Wait For It
16. Drake - Portland (feat. Quavo & Travis Scott)
17. Thayne Jasperson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Farmer Refuted
18. Kendrick Lamar - ELEMENT.
19. Drake - No Long Talk (feat. Giggs) *
20. Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Your Obedient Servant
21. Drake - Gyalchester
22. Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry - Satisfied
23. 2 Chainz - Big Amount (feat. Drake) *
24. Joyner Lucas - Is*s (feat. Logic) *
25. The xx - Dangerous *
26. The Weeknd - Starboy (feat. Daft Punk)
27. The Weeknd - Gasoline
28. Bruno Mars - That's What I Like
29. John Mayer - Last Train Home
30. Drake - KMT (feat. Giggs)
31. Drake - Passionfruit
32. Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Renée Elise Goldsberry - Take a Break
33. My Chemical Romance - Burn Bright
34. French Montana - No Shopping (feat. Drake)
35. Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake - King's Dead *
36. CHVRCHES - Screaming *
37. Marshmello & Southside - Been Thru This Before (feat. Giggs, SAINt JHN)
38. Drake - Blem
39. The Weeknd - Dancing In The Flames
40. Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - What'd I Miss
41. Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - The Room Where It Happens
42. Fall Out Boy - The Last of the Real Ones
43. CHVRCHES - Over
44. Drake - One Dance (feat. Wizkid & Kyla)
45. DJ Khaled - I'm the One (feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne)
46. The Weeknd - Reminder
47. Drake - Pop Style (feat. The Throne)
48. Drake - Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)
49. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - My Shot
50. The Weeknd - Party Monster
51. P!nk - All I Know So Far
52. Drake - Fake Love
53. Big Sean - Bigger Than Me (feat. The Flint Chozen Choir & Starrah) *
54. My Chemical Romance - The Light Behind Your Eyes
55. Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)
56. Mike Posner - Move On *
57. Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Right Hand Man
58. Drake - Hotline Bling
59. Ed Sheeran - Cross Me (feat. Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock)
60. Kanye West - Fade
61. Drake - Back To Back
62. Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - History Has Its Eyes On You
63. Migos - Bad and Boujee (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
64. Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Alexander Hamilton
65. Bruno Mars - Chunky *
66. Bleachers & Charli xcx - Rollercoaster *
67. Rita Ora - Your Song *
68. Drake - Sneakin' (feat. 21 Savage)
69. Kanye West - Famous
70. Miguel - Simple Things
71. DJ Khaled - For Free (feat. Drake)
72. Chance the Rapper - Summer Friends (feat. Jeremih & Francis & The Lights) *
73. Phillipa Soo & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Helpless
74. A$AP Rocky - Praise The Lord (Da Shine) [feat. Skepta]
75. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry - It's Quiet Uptown
76. Travis Scott - goosebumps
77. Paramore - Pool *
78. Travis Scott - wonderful
79. The Weeknd - Out of Time
80. The Weeknd - Take My Breath
81. Drake & Future - Diamonds Dancing
82. Chance the Rapper - No Problem (feat. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz)
83. The Weeknd - Faith
84. Drake - Signs
85. Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
86. The Weeknd - Six Feet Under
87. Drake & Future - Digital Dash
88. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? *
89. Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" - Hurricane
90. Justin Bieber - Love Yourself
91. Drake & Future - Big Rings
92. Kendrick Lamar - tv off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)
93. Kendrick Lamar - FEEL.
94. Drake & Future - Jumpman
95. Eminem - Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD)
96. Childish Gambino - IV. Sweatpants (feat. Jason Martin)
97. Phillipa Soo & Lin-Manuel Miranda - That Would Be Enough
98. Travis Scott - NC-17
99. Drake - Ice Melts (feat. Young Thug)
100. Calvin Harris - Heatstroke (feat. Young Thug, Pharrell Williams & Ariana Grande)

Commentary

1. Spoken about how "The A Team" was probably my first ever iTunes download... when "Team Jobs" gave us free songs constantly. Knowing this song is #1 means that old records were probably accounted for. That's kinda awesome. So is the track. 

2. "Do Not Disturb" defined 2017 & the years that followed for me. Such an introspective track that chronicled my final days at the TV day job which brought my journey to some truly humble days. Have I turned off our "Do Not Disturb" sign yet? I don't think so. Life continues to be wonderfully peaceful with it on. 

4. I listened to "Hamilton: An American Musical" Broadway recording so much in 2016... it gave me a small depression. Look at the list! I couldn't stop ingesting Lin-Manuel Miranda's masterpiece. Finding new details in each play. "Non-Stop" remains my favorite as it blends all the thematic songs into a medley hinting at the rough road ahead in Act II. A song that matched my workaholic lifestyle during that phase. This listener never wanted to reach that point again. Happy I haven't since. 

5. A song that soundtracked a Northwestern post-pandemic vacation back in 2021. Had "You" on repeat while traveling for hours because it gave me such comfort. 

7. "Beautiful Trauma" held me close in 2017 and returned multiple times in the years that followed, especially when P!nk dominated my stereo in 2023. Great album. Amazing title track. Still puts my life in perspective. 

11. I bought My Chemical Romance's "Conventional Weapons" B-Side singles on each release date. That's why my favorites are listed above. "The World is Ugly", which should've been included on 'Danger Days...', continues their 2012 project's thematic soaring anthems. Still holds true to this day. Totally recommend it!

19. Made me a UK hip hop grime fan. Ended up supporting hundreds of artists from across the pond since 2017. 

23. So happy 2 Chainz made the list!

24. Shocked I listened to Joyner & Logic's tag team so much honestly. Logic brings a whole another level to his feature.

25. "Dangerous" bangs in the car. 

35. "King's Dead" continues to get played in 2025. Listened to it yesterday actually. Such a fun, hard hitting, empowering song.

36. Played 'Screen Violence (Director's Cut)" a lot on our 2022 Hawaii vacation and "Screaming" took over my life during this trip. Became one of my top 5 favorite Chvrches anthems. 

53. No recollection why Big Sean's meaningful 2017 'I Decided' track about love, drive, and family made it so high up but makes a lot of sense after hearing it recently. 

56. "Move On" might be #56. However, Mike Posner's haunting heartwarming confession on how to move on after his father's passing probably is my most meaningful song of the past two decades. His shoes were my shoes as the way forward felt cloudy. I heard the track before leaving on a post-mortem vacation & spent the rest of 2019 by its side. Helped me more than you can possibly know. Having it immortalized here means heaps. Should've been higher! 

65. Got my old boss - "Philly" - back on Bruno Mars around '24K Magic'. We spent a lot of time in our office playing "That's What I Like", the title track, and "Chunky". A soulful poppy soundtrack as we were closing up shop. 

66. Have never been a Bleachers fan, but Charli XCX's cover of Rollercoaster... which originally was apart of a 2014 viral YouTube commercial for Kia's In-Ride Sessions I believe... bangs. Would listen to that small portion of "Rollercoaster" in my office chair on-repeat. I played serious catch up after discovering ''Terrible Thrills Vol. 2' randomly. Made plenty of road trip playlists since!

67. The music of 2017 made a major impact on my Apple Music listening snapshot, didn't it? I totally forgot that I was obsessed with Rita Ora's "Your Song" back then. Was the first song that truly shocked me during this 2025 session. Haven't thought about it despite knowing how happy I was when I was playing it on the daily. The darkness couldn't break me. 

72. A big reason why Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' became my favorite album of 2016 was because I vividly remember the Friday morning I downloaded the album on Apple Music & listened to it on the freeway drives to and from work. Made for musical magic. That was a great day. The change I had hoped to experience truly came to form. Incredible those memories haven't been broken by time. 

77. Happy Paramore made the list! Go listen to "Pool" sometime. I've been listening to a lot of their classics recently.

88. Started to fall in love with Creedence's songbook around 2016 but it became a huge playlist favorite post-pandemic. Happy I got to hear John Fogerty sing there song in Vegas back in January! 

100. Vaguely recall listening to "Heatstroke" on-repeat when constructing That Buzzing Sound for Wordpress. Or was it "Electricity" by Silk City & Dua Lipa? Both bring back that memory. Though the time frames don't match. Strange...

Thanks for reading!