“Tightrope” by Janelle Monae (feat. Big Boi)

It’s been long enough since Outkast ruled 2003 with “Hey Ya!” and since then, this single by Janelle Monae is the closest we’ve gotten to another proper Outkast hit - just with Monae playing Andre 3000’s part.

Fortunately, nothing is lost in the process. This song is great partially because it doesn’t take a moment for the song to build up: it’s got an upbeat tempo right out of the gate and doesn’t pause or lose its intensity until almost five minutes later, when the song finally ends.

“Tightrope” isn’t a typical chart hit: it’s almost five minutes long, pulls the listener in many different directions and did Big Boi really rhyme “NASDAQ” with “asscrack”? Yet this song sounds fresh (and clean?) and original each time you hear it. If it’s not my favorite song at the end of the year, it’ll just mean that 2010 was a very, very good year for pop.