Other songs to overachieve based on Whyte’s predictor included US R&B star Steve Lacy’s Bad Habit (finished fourth, predicted to be 10th) and fellow US singer Lizzo’s About Damn Time (finished seventh, predicted to be 21st). Japanese-born Joji also finished 10th and US rapper Jack Harlow rocketed into the top 20 with worldwide hit First Class (Warm Tunas predicted it to finish 53rd).
But despite the rise of non-rock artists of colour such as Lizzo and Lacy, this year’s countdown also meant still only one non-white musician had won the Hottest 100 since its creation.
“There’s definitely more pop hits coming in higher up in the charts,” Whyte said. “I think there’s definitely more crossover between what Triple J are playing these days and what commercial radio are playing.”
While international artists overperformed, some local rockers didn’t quite achieve the heights they might have been hoping for. Both bookmakers and Whyte’s predictor – which has now picked all but one Hottest 100 winner since 2017 – had considered Gang of Youths’ In the Wake of Your Leave a top-five track, but it came in ninth.
“There was some pretty crazy outliers this year, actually,” Whyte said. “Next year I’m really thinking about trying to find better ways to improve the virality of the collection.”
Still, Whyte’s home-grown passion project managed to predict 78 per cent of the songs in the top 50 (albeit not in their exact order).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s typically hyper-local votes for artists such as King Stingray and Ball Park Music weren’t enough to return an Australian rock monopoly to the Hottest 100, with nine of this year’s top 20 being based overseas.
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Other songs to overachieve based on Whyte’s predictor included US R&B star Steve Lacy’s Bad Habit (finished fourth, predicted to be 10th) and fellow US singer Lizzo’s About Damn Time (finished seventh, predicted to be 21st). Japanese-born Joji also finished 10th and US rapper Jack Harlow rocketed into the top 20 with worldwide hit First Class (Warm Tunas predicted it to finish 53rd).
But despite the rise of non-rock artists of colour such as Lizzo and Lacy, this year’s countdown also meant still only one non-white musician had won the Hottest 100 since its creation.
“There’s definitely more pop hits coming in higher up in the charts,” Whyte said. “I think there’s definitely more crossover between what Triple J are playing these days and what commercial radio are playing.”
While international artists overperformed, some local rockers didn’t quite achieve the heights they might have been hoping for. Both bookmakers and Whyte’s predictor – which has now picked all but one Hottest 100 winner since 2017 – had considered Gang of Youths’ In the Wake of Your Leave a top-five track, but it came in ninth.
“There was some pretty crazy outliers this year, actually,” Whyte said. “Next year I’m really thinking about trying to find better ways to improve the virality of the collection.”
Still, Whyte’s home-grown passion project managed to predict 78 per cent of the songs in the top 50 (albeit not in their exact order).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s typically hyper-local votes for artists such as King Stingray and Ball Park Music weren’t enough to return an Australian rock monopoly to the Hottest 100, with nine of this year’s top 20 being based overseas.
A cultural guide to going out and loving your city. Sign up to our Culture Fix newsletter here.