Spotify Wrapped 2023 and My Favorite Song list of 2023

My Spotify Wrapped 2023

I'm not actually sure if the automatic list Spotify puts together for you is called My Favorite Song list of 2023, but you know which list I'm talking about. The one they link on the Wrapped and you can save it into your library. So, I'm gonna go through the statistics of the Wrapped and then the entire playlist, and give some commentary along the way.

"Your favorite genres. Pretty tasty. Pop, alt z, alternative metal, Finnish hiphop & gothic metal."

Alt Z is apparently one of many many genres Spotify has made up. It's alternative music made by/for Gen Z. I think the implication is "by Gen Z", but i.e. Ash is included and she was born 1996, she's a Millennial (barely, but she is). Idk where all the non-Finnish hiphop went, that I've been listening to...

"You listened to 5623 songs in 2023. One of them *really* hit you."

No wonder I feel overwhelmed sometimes :D So many fucking songs and an internal feeling like I should be writing about all of them into this blog, when that's not true... The intention of this blog is to get my music-related thoughts out of my head, onto "paper". So that I can go back and look at who have I listened to, what have I thought of them, etc. But I don't like all the songs I hear, I don't write about all the songs I like (if they're just 'ok' - I'm pretty generous with the likes, but more selective when it comes to whom I write about - like is just one click, but writing takes a bit more effort, especially when it comes to being a person who suffers from motion sickness and writes a majority of the Weekly Recaps on the bus. I use the Notes app, cause it saves automatically. And then I just copy+paste and edit the headlines etc on Sundays (or Saturdays/Mondays), add tags of the artists that really stood out (another way a song can get "lost", because usually they don't all fit into the tags, so I have to prune the list again) and post the thing.

In the ~2 years I've been a Spotify user, I've only liked 4956 songs. Case in point.

"Your favorite song was Cry by Ashnikko ft. Grimes. You listened to it 46 times this year, for the first time in Jan 12th. It still sounds perfect."

It sure does. It's a 10/10. Absolutely perfect song, would not change a thing.

Cry and Panic Attacks In Paradise were supposed to be the lead singles of Ashnikko's album, but they decided to scrap that album idea and went with another idea instead, resulting in Weedkiller.

"Your most popular songs" 😂

Yup. I sure love me some Ash. This year I really learned to like and appreciate rap music, and you can tell it by looking at this - I didn't get songs like Nice Girl or Manners before, because they lean so heavily on the hiphop side of Ash's music. Nice girl with the rhythmic aspects and Manners with the doubles. But then I'm still a metalhead at heart and that's why Cry and You Make Me Sick! are songs I've listened to this much as well. You Make Me Sick! was also the new lead single of the album, Weedkiller.

Unfurl is my favorite song by Katatonia.

Last year my top 5 was 1. Dua Lipa - Levitating, 2. Katatonia - Deliberation, 3. Katatonia - Behind the Blood, 4. Bad Religion - American Jesus & 5. Luude ft. Colin Hay - Down Under. (I have screenshots saved, that's how I "remember".)

"You listened for 38 400 minutes. That'd be 26 consequent days."

Compared to last year, when I listened for 17 952 (which was 70% more than other people in Finland). The distance I have to travel to/from work has doubled, so that explains the majority of this. Lets do the math! (I suck at math, but I'll try!) It takes me an hour to get to work on the bus, and an hour back, except once a week my fiance picks me up and we go grocery shopping... I also have vacation days etc, but that gets too complicated... 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, means 10 hours a week, minus the one hour is 9h a week, and there are 52 weeks in a year, so... that's just 468 hours = 28 080 minutes. (Minus the vacation days when I don't go to my work place.) The majority of my listening, as I said. But there's still 10 320 minutes I listen to outside work travel, and that doesn't include YouTube, only Spotify.

"Your peak was Aug 17th, when you listened for 692 minutes. You're in the top 8% most active listeners in the world. That's great."

I checked and Aug 17th was a regular ass Thursday. I was working and everything. Commute to+from work is only 120min. 692min is 11,5 hours. I do remember being very stressed about work in August... But where have I found the time to listen for 11,5 hours? I had about 2-2,5 hours of customer service and I work 7h a day. So that's max 5h I can listen to during the work day. With 2h of work commute, that's 7h. And then I still listened to 4,5 hours on my free time? Wow. 

"You listened to 3154 artists this year, but one was a clear favorite. Can you guess your favorite?"

Katatonia or Ashnikko. Obviously. My favorite band and my favorite artist.

"Here's your favorite artist: Katatonia. You're in the most active 0,5% of the fanbase and you spent 4373 minutes together."

Last year I was also in the top 0,5%, but I listened to only half the amount... Can't do the math, but it doesn't add up... I know it's possible to be higher on the list than in the top 0,5%.

"You couldn't get enough of the song Unfurl. Sending fan mail..."

It IS my favorite song by them. I've talked about it in the Artist Highlight I made of them.

"Thank you, Katatonia, for being my favorite artist of 2023."

Instead of sharing it on my private Instagram where the band has 0% seeing it, I'll share it here, where the chance is a tiny bit bigger.

Thank you. Your music means the world to me. It is one of the only things on this entire planet that calms me down when I'm nervous or anxious. Ironically enough, considering the lyrics, this music is my happy place.

"Your favorite artists: 1. Katatonia, 2. Ashnikko, 3. Knox Hill, 4. Ian Taylor, 5. Asa"

I truly do listen to A LOT of Katatonia and Ashnikko. I also have this Spotify playlist called Rap & Hiphop, that I listen to several hours a week, and it has about 80 songs by Knox (all that I've liked on Spotify, minus a few interludes), 83 by Ian and 58 by Asa. There's a ton of Ashnikko there as well, maybe 40-50 songs, but the rest is just random 1-10 songs per artist. And the list's 44,5h long.

Asa is a Finnish rapper, a GOAT. Phenomenal lyricism. And he's been doing his things independently about 20 years (he resigned from the record label after the first album, he hated that someone else had a say in his creative process). In 2008, he won both an Emma and a Teosto award for his album Loppuasukas. Emma is like the Finnish Grammy. Teosto is this nonprofit third party organization that tries to ensure songwriters get paid for the music they write and that people who want to use copyrighted music can get the permit easier. They also give out 0-4 awards annually for the songwriters they've liked most that year.

Last year my top 5 was: Katatonia, Billie Eilish, Ashnikko, Dua Lipa & In This Moment.

"1. Katatonia. Top month of listening: August."

Was very stressed about work stuff in August, makes sense.

"2. Ashnikko. Top month of listening: September"

Makes sense, Weedkiller album came out in August.

"3. Knox Hill. Top month of listening: March"

I listened through all his music in March, in one day actually. I just didn't have this blog yet, so there's no Deep Dive post about it. I've been meaning to get deeper into my favorite songs by him, but for one reason or another he doesn't seem to be very good at posting his own lyrics online. Usually he either forgets or tries to get them up on Spotify and they never show up. I don't understand why can't he just post them on the video description, to a pinned comment under the video or on his website. I guess it's just not a priority to him. Which kinda sucks for us, who don't speak English as our first language. His target audience seems to be American hiphop fans, but still...

"4. Ian Taylor. Top month of listening:  July."

Yup, did the Deep Dive around that time. Last summer when he was doing the livestreams. Slowly listened through his entire discography in about 1,5 months, whenever I felt like it. The post is on this blog.

"5. Asa. Top month of listening:  July."

"Wait a minute, there's someone waiting on the other line"

And it was Katatonia! ^^ Thanking the fans for listening to their newest album.

There's an option on Spotify to see the others as well, artists that you listen to a lot. Mine had Katatonia, and the others I remember were Dorian Electra and Banshee. And I think Scene Queen did one as well? The rappers on my 2.-5. did not.

"You listened to this for 856 minutes. You're among the top 5% of most active fans. Lets make this one-way call a two-way one. Thank them"

The only podcast I listen to. Ian Taylor and his brother Cooper talk about history. It's educational AND hilarious. 10/10, would recommend.

"Thank you for my favorite podcast of 2023"

Thanks guys. I fuckin love ya.

"Shapeshifter. One moment you're crazy about an artist, the next you're crazy about something else. Some think you're erratic, we think you understand nuance/subtlety."

Yup. My taste in music is YES, PLEASE. Any genre goes.

 My Favorite Song list of 2023 (Spotify automatic list)

• Ashnikko ft. Grimes – Cry (Yes. A perfect song. 10/10.)
• Ashnikko – Nice Girl (Only learned to appreciate this one this year, because it’s so rap-technical heavy compared to an average Ashnikko song and I just didn’t get it before. "Dust yourself off, girl, keep your chin up / You wanna hold a gun, but they made you a pin-up")
• Katatonia – Unfurl (My favorite Katatonia song ❤)
• Ashnikko – Manners (Another one I just learned to appreciate this year, because it’s full of doubles and last year I didn’t know what double were… Definitely gonna talk about this more on a later date! There's too many bars to mention them right now.)
• Ashnikko – You Make Me Sick! (Came out this year, it’s an absolute banger and has a metal scream in it 💙 The "mommy's ok!" is her consoling her dog Wednesday, btw 🤣 the dog was worried for mommy screaming into the mic 💔)
• Ren – Illest Of Our Time (The atmosphere, the raps… Also, came out this year. First single Ren released after I discovered his music.)
• Katatonia – Decima (Beautiful. 10/10.)
• Mariska – Mariskalaatio (😃 Mariska is a Finnish rapper, a GOAT, and this song is a cover/re-iteration of Stig Dogg’s Stigidilaatio. My translation blog has translations on both, the songs are in Finnish.)
• Ashnikko – Weedkiller (Came out this year. I bet Cheerleader would beat Weedkiller on this list, if I didn’t opt out for me music video when I want to hear that one. Weedkiller's a good song, too, though.)
• Ren – Dominoes (This cured my insomnia for a few months, it makes me feel so understood and like I can take on anything that the next day will bring ❤)
• Katatonia – Lacquer (Gorgeous singing, some of Jonas’ best vocals.)
• Dana Dentata – pantychrist (I had a short obsession with this song, I’m pretty much over it now. I still like it, though, and I should check out more of her stuff. I just don’t get her “thing” properly yet, and that’s been putting me off.)
• Ashnikko ft. Princess Nokia – Slumber Party
• Poppy – BLOODMONEY (Poppy is amazing. One of the most diverse singers I know. I especially enjoy her metal songs, like BLOODMONEY and I Disagree, but I like Girls in Bikinis as well, it's a catchy pop song.)
• Katatonia – Pale Flag
• Scene Queen – Pink Panther (Omg :’D I can’t believe this is my most listened Scene Queen song… this year, on Spotify. It’s the song she used to come out as bi and it’s about “getting pussy like Pink Panther” xD)
• Ashnikko – Maggots (My actual favorite Ashnikko song. I just prefer the Vevo Live version, that’s on YouTube. It has more attitude, this is very polished ‘cause it’s done in a studio.)
• Banshee – YES ALL MEN (…yes. She’s saying all men should stand with women on the fight against patriarchy and rape culture. And I agree with that. Men who claim to view women as equals should stand with women on these issues, as much as the women do, you know. Your own safety comes first, just like women shouldn't feel pressured to step in if they feel threatened, but if you don’t feel physically threatened personally, speak up and stand up for women. If you don’t believe me, that that’s what she’s saying, read the pinned comment on the YouTube video.)
• Katatonia – Old Heart Falls (So beautiful ❤️)
• Knox Hill ft. CHVSE – Animal (Coincidence. These Knox songs are not the ones I consider to be my favorite. I’ve liked 70 songs by him and mostly listen to him on this Spotify playlist I have called Rap & Hiphop. The list is currently 44,5h long, but because Knox is relatively well-presented on the list, his music comes up quite often, and the songs that come up are not decided by me, they’re decided by the algorithm of the list on shuffle.)
• Ashnikko – Daisy
• Kesha – Cannibal (LOL :,D Yeah, I love this song. And Dinosaur. They’re so Gen Z / hyperpop, but came out over a decade ago. She was a pioneer.)
• Katatonia – Departer (❤)
• Leprous – From the Flame (❤!! Einar Solberg’s voice is just… Yes!!)
• Ashnikko – Toxic ("You can't stand to see me shine? Better buy a visor" ;D)
• Scene Queen – 18+ (Scene Queen’s best song, objectively. The one I’d like people to start from.)
• Katatonia – Sold Heart (I'm going to be a broken record and call this song beautiful ❤️)
• Tommy Lindgren – Mitätön (Riisinjyvä) (One of the best Finnish rap songs I’ve heard, lyric-wise. DEEP, a person in an existential crisis. And the amount of rhymes is just… Unheard of in Finnish rap. Tommy Lindgren from Don Johnson Big Band is definitely one of my favorite rappers.)
• Ashnikko – Tantrum ("They wanna keep it PG, all their daughters wanna be me. I'm Georgia peachy, believe me, head out the window, it's breezy. They up my ass like bikinis. I'm not nice I'm a meanie.")
• Arankai – EVERGREEN (Oh yeah, an early-in-the-year obsession, Arankai. He’s great. He’s about to make a breakthrough at some point, I firmly believe that, it’s just a matter of him happening to write an even better song than Evergreen and chance of it hitting the Tiktok algorithm, where he does most of his promoting. Evergreen is just one of those songs that I just get a sudden urge to go and listen.)
• Katatonia – My Twin (Their biggest song to date.)
• Opeth – Soldier of Fortune (Another short-term obsession of mine. They're great, but never quite hit the same as Katatonia did.)
• Ashnikko – Thrust (Best song from the Sass Pancakes EP. "Oh, it's a scandal! How can the world handle a foul-mouthed girl with a plan to dismantle your ideas of what ladies should do? I don'r owe you shit! I bid you adiou!")
• Ren – The Hunger (THE RAP FLOWS!! OOOOOH MYYYY GOOOODD THE EARGASM!!!)
• Katatonia – For My Demons ("You would never sleep at night if you knew what I've been through" 🖤)
• Lil Mariko ft. Full Tac – Boring (🤣 They're hilarious, but it's a quite unique sense of humor, I get that they're not for everyone.)
• Ashnikko – Worms (Maybe the most mainstream hiphop from the Weedkiller album. Some of her best lyrics. Too many good lyrics to pick a quote.)
• Don Johnson Big Band ft. Verneri Pohjola – Jack (Yes! Can't really call this band underrated, they were one of the biggest hiphop groups in Finland in the 2000s, but they'd deserve more international attention. And Jack wasn't a single release so it isn't one of their hits.)
• Katatonia – The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here (They don't have many duets, but man is this duet great!)
• Poppy – I Disagree
• Ashnikko ft. Kelis – Deal With It
• Sleep Token – The Summoning (!!! YES !!!)
• Katatonia – Second (Great song. They have decades worth of great songs, but anyway.)
• Banshee – CHAMBER (Maybe my favorite Banshee song, this or Birth of Venus or Sirencore.)
• Ashnikko – Halloweenie IV: Innards (Best of the five Halloweenie songs. 5th, The Moss King, is second best, then the 3rd, called Seven Days, then the 1st and then the 2nd.)
• Asa – Hidastaa (One of the most recognizable beats in Finnish hiphop. A great song in general, one of my favorites from Asa.)
• Katatonia – Shifts (This and Leaders used to be my favorite songs by them.)
• Banshee ft. ZAND – KILL ALL PREDATORS (This song is insane and I LOVE IT. If someone says their music scares people, play them this.)
• Ashnikko – Special ("The only thing you seem to give me is sex", "your love is not impressive"... she sure knows how to write a diss track!)
• Knox Hill – Off My Chest (THIS is my favorite Knox Hill song. 10/10!)
• Katatonia – Lethean (❤️)
• Mikael Gabriel ft. Cledos – Drama (Mikael Gabriel would probably be higher on the list, if 1. He wouldn't have just made this many songs boasting about money while he's apparently neck deep in debt... 2. If he'd just stick to rap now that he decided to return to rap, and not flip flop between rap and pop. I don't care for the pop, it's dull.)
• Ashnikko – No Brainer ("Now I'm in this bitch's vibrator, now. Now I'm making waves and craters, now" Get it? The vibrator making the skin jiggle and wave vs. her being outrageous and figuratively making waves?)
• Scene Queen – Pink Bubblegum ("I'm about to pop your music bubble, I'll be picking fights, gonna get in trouble, I'm about to pop, fuckin' pop off")
• Katatonia – In The White (Urban Dub) (A SOMEWHAT POSITIVE KATATONIA SONG?! Yes, it exists.)
• Ian Taylor – Record Breaker (Lol. I guess I could see myself being like "I need fast rap, like FAST fast. NOW." And putting this on. But my favorite songs by Ian are Sky, Warning Shot and Controller.)
• Ashnikko – Possession of a Weapon (Ah yes, the vagina dentata, or "pussy teeth" as Ash likes to call them... :D A song about how organized religion sees female sexuality as a threat.)
• Scene Queen – Pink Cocaine (Her saddest song. She's usually either very Barbie/Disney happy, sarcastically, or angry and aggressive. So, her being sad just... hits different.)
• Katatonia – Behind the Blood (One of their catchier/radio-friendlier songs. I love to sing along to the chorus. Jonas also has some pretty fucking great vocals in this.)
• Delilah Bon – I Wish A Bitch Would (Interesting, that this is my top Delilah Bon song! And not the Godzilla freestyle for example.)
• Ashnikko – Working Bitch (there's one bar I don't get, that's why this song is not higher on the list)
• Scene Queen – Pink G-String (It's growing on me. Perhaps her most outrageous song? 🤔)
• Katatonia – Leaders (Still an instant eargasm <3 And the second "Come here" on the chorus always sends me, and then the 15-20sec scream in the backing vocals... This song is SO GOOD. All metalheads should hear it.)
• Knox Hill – 6 Degrees (Coincidence. This just happens to come often on the playlist. The lyrics are good, the rapping's not my favourite by him.)
• Ashnikko – Blow (A good Ashnikko starter song. This or Hi, It's Me. 'Blow' is a thriple for blowing up career-wise, blowing up like you're angry, and blowing a kiss to your girlfriend.)
• Scene Queen – Bring It On (The screams <3 I love how not-pop this song is. And how alternative it is. Sets it apart among her discography.)
• Katatonia – Ghost Of The Sun (Sort of replaced Leaders as my go-to fast song by Katatonia..? How can he sound so angry and menacing without screaming or even raising his voice?? "I trusted you, you lied. It's all I hear, a fucking lie. I don't give a shit, it's over now. It's all I know, you broke the vow.")
• Ian Taylor – Warning Shot (Yes! Very good rapping, very catchy! Makes me feel pumped up!)
• Ashnikko – Hi, It’s Me (A bit more technical rap-wise than Blow. But still VERY radio-friendly and catchy, easy to approach for non-rap fans... Very good starter song if you don't know her.)
• Dua Lipa – Love Again (Last year's #2, Dua Lipa, still in rotation a little bit. One of my favorite pop artists atm.)
• Katatonia – Consternation (Sometimes I just NEED to hear this song. This or Journey Through Pressure. The athmosphere on both makes me anxious, and then releases that, in a way that I just get energized...)
• Knox Hill – Mumble Rap (Coincidence. But it's a decent song, and we both hate mumble rap. Vocals are the first thing I notice about songs, so if yours lack annunciation AND expressiveness... Any substance you may have gets lost.)
• Ashnikko – Little Boy ("Women hold the weight of the world, but you still talk down and call me 'little girl' - I hate that shit. It's a 'no' if she needs to be coerced. My body's not an object or dessert. I am not your bitch. I am not your bitch! Wanna see me switch, get psycho like they say I am? Scared of me you flinch, I don't need your inches, y'all in my mentions..." Iconic. 💙)
• Billie Eilish – you should see me in a crown (Still? Ok. I guess I still listen to Billie more than I thought.)
• Katatonia – The Day and Then the Shade
• Knox Hill ft. King Blitz – Behind Bars (Another coincidence, but it's still a pretty good song.)
• Ashnikko – Halloweenie III: Seven Days (Fans think it's about a girl's first period, with Halloweenie doubles, of course. Monsters, gore, etc. And the outro of this is just 💙💙💙 🤌🏻)
• Scene Queen – Pink Whitney ("This song is about burning down the establishment. Cause they don't pay you enough!" Also some of her best raps.)
• Katatonia – Serein (🖤)
• Knox Hill – 2084 (Coincidence BUT I like this song more and more the more I hear it. And I should really get on with reading 1984... This song's sort of a new version of that, imagining what the future will hold.)
• Ashnikko – Sass Pancakes (Did a full Lyrical Breakdown already. I'm gonna do all her songs eventually. I've just thought about her lyrics so much I'm afraid I'm going to forget to say something... Maybe I should just start them all and then re-consider posting once I've gathered my thoughts for a few months..?)
• Scene Queen – Pink Barbie Bandaid (I like the idea and the lyrics but the hook is not her best, not as catchy.)
• Katatonia – Quiet World (Coincidence. I listen to their music on shuffle, too.)
• Dua Lipa – New Rules (💖)
• Ashnikko ft. Baby Tate – STUPID (The Ashnikko Trap Song. I like it though. So many rhymeeeess... And the timing of the syllables, whatever that's called... ON. FUCKING. POINT. Goddammit they know what they're doing.)
• Full Tac, Lil Mariko & Rico Nasty – SIMP (I don't particularly care for Rico Nasty, but Lil Mariko and Full Tac are SO funny IMO, like I mentioned earlier.)
• Katatonia – Untrodden
• Scene Queen ft. MOTHICA – The Rapture (but it’s Pink) (My 1st favorite song by her. And I'm glad Mothica kinda made it on my list, I like her a lot.)
• Ashnikko ft. Kodie Shane – Invitation (I don't like Kodie Shane's verse, I prefer the solo version of this song, but there isn't an official recording of it. Just a live version and a fan-made version. Ashnikko's most important song. Solo version is 10/10.)
• CHINCHILLA – Who’s Your Mummy (I'm obsessed with Cut You Off currently, but it's only 3 weeks old at this point. Who's Your Mummy is some boss bitch shit, though! She's on The Voice UK rn, btw! It was filmed in December, before Ren blew up and gave Chichilla's career a push. Lets hope she got from it what she wanted.)
• Katatonia – The Act of Darkening
• Scene Queen – Pink Rover (It's an anti-catcalling song.)
• Ashnikko ft. Daniela Lalita – Super Soaker (From the new album. It's so good! The 90s reference to Super Soakers, plus the doubles of hot steamy wlw sex... It's, like, 100% on brand for her. And for me. I'm the target audience.)
• Don Johnson Big Band ft. Emma Salokoski – Harlem Davidson (Another super duper fast rap song I go to when I feel The Need.)
• Mariska – En osaa (First ever rap song I learned to rap! I've liked her music since I was a teen. And translated all her rap songs on either mt YouTube channel back in the day, like 11-14 years ago, or on my translation blog.)
• Salt-N-Pepa – Push It (Good to have some classics in rotation, eh? This song's on two of my playlists I listen to the most nowadays, one called Rap & Hiphop, the other called Feminine Energy.)
• Ashnikko: Halloweenie II: Pumpkin Spice
• Stepa ft. Are – Reissulaulu (Yksi kerrallaan) (Coincidence. From the Rap & Hiphop list.)
• Bad Omens – The Grey (I TOLD EVERYONE I KNOW THAT BAD OMENS IS GONNA BLOW UP WHEN OTHER METALHEADS HEAR ABOUT THEM AND THEY DID! I'm so proud of myself. If there's something I know, that's metal.)
• Katatonia - Austerity (Oh yey, something from the new album made the list as well :D)