No matter how you’re celebrating your long weekend this 4th of July — socially-distanced with family, on a virtual hangout with friends, or just alone in your personal bubble — you’re gonna want to make sure you have the right music for it.
Luckily, Billboard has you covered. Below, check out 25 of the hottest tracks in pop, hip-hop, dance, country, rock and more as you get ready to enjoy whatever facsimile of a normal summer you’ve managed to arrange for yourself. Scroll to the end for the Spotify playlist.
1. Lil Baby, “The Bigger Picture”
Yes, it’s a holiday weekend, but total escapism isn’t something any of us can really afford right now even on our days off — so let’s begin with this emotionally wracked protest anthem to get us on the appropriate world-weary foot.
2. Doja Cat feat. Gucci Mane, “Like That”
You might’ve finally hit your limit on “Say So” — or not — but luckily, this follow-up single with Gucci Mane ensures that there’s still a freshly blissful Doja Cat hip-pop jam to blare out of your speakers this summer regardless.
3. Saint Jhn, “Roses” (Imambek Remix)
Finally hitting the Hot 100’s top five for the first time this week, this not-so-slow-burning banger seems ready to properly enter the Song of the Summer race.
4. Harry Styles, “Watermelon Sugar”
If you don’t have this song stuck in your head for at least half of this weekend, you need to look into alternate barbecue or cookout plans for next July.
5. Beyoncé, “Black Parade”
The Queen’s latest might not be tabbed for top 40 omnipresence — it debuted at a solid-not-showy No. 37 on the Hot 100 this week — but its beaming pride and booming bass still make it a must on any self-respecting holiday playlist this summer.
6. Sam Hunt, “Hard to Forget”
A generation-spanning country radio-killer that (like many of Sam Hunt’s biggest and best hits) carried the whiff of novelty at first, but was revealed through heavy rotation to simply be a future classic.
7. Jack Harlow feat. DaBaby, Tory Lanez & Lil Wayne, “Whats Poppin” (Remix)
Just when you were worried Jack Harlow’s breakout banger was starting to get stale, here comes the song’s All-Star remix to make it crisper than ever — and Harlow more than holds his own among the established hitmakers with his new verse.
8. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain on Me”
We’re not sick of it yet, are you?
9. Jawsh 365 and Jason Derulo, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)”
If you are at a family function this weekend, this is a great chance for the under-20s to break out their hip-swiveling TikTok challenge dances, while the over-30s look on in stupefied horror (unless, of course, one of those in attendance is Dame Judi Dench).
10. Pop Smoke feat. Rowdy Rebel, “Make It Rain”
By 4th of July, the entirety of Pop Smoke’s much-anticipated posthumous LP Shoot For the Stars, Aim For the Moon will be out, so feel free to substitute your favorite track for this one — or just queue the entire thing up for after our mix is over.
11. Haim, “The Steps”
Gotta have some electric guitar on 4th of July weekend, which Haim’s excellent new Women in Music Pt. III album provides with particular aplomb on this early highlight.
12. Sebastian Yatra, Rauw Alejandro & Manuel Torizo, “TBT”
This sentimental reggaetón-pop jam just hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay listing, and should absolutely be on all your summer playlists if it isn’t already.
13. Lil Mosey, “Blueberry Faygo”
Doesn’t seem coincidental that Lil Mosey’s sunny crossover hit finally hit the Hot 100’s top 10 just in time for 4th of July weekend — as its pool party music video ably demonstrates, this one was meant to be (responsibly!) enjoyed outdoors.
14. Lil Baby & 42 Dugg, “We Paid”
If you think two Lil Baby smashes is too much for our playlist, better keep your radio off and windows and streaming services closed for the rest of 2020.
15. Dua Lipa, “Break My Heart”
Speaking of artists with concurrent pop smashes — the undeniable “Break My Heart” almost certainly would have gone top 20 by now on the Hot 100 if “Don’t Start Now” wasn’t still hanging around in the top 15.
16. Chloe x Halle, “Do It”
With an acclaimed new album, a buzzy BET Awards performance, and now their first-ever Hot 100 entry for “Do It,” Chloe X Halle are getting closer than ever to earning write-ups that can get through a whole sentence without mentioning Beyoncé.
17. Breland, “My Truck”
Speaking of recent Hot 100 debuts, rising hip-hop/country artist Breland finally saw his viral hit grace the chart this week — and once this insidious heater finds its way into your space, it’s not gotten rid of so easily.
18. Black Eyed Peas, Ozuna & J.Rey Soul, “Mamacita”
If you ever doubted that the combination of the Black Eyed Peas, reggaetón and pop hits from the previous century would be a recipe for success, their second such crossover hit of 2020 should probably convince you.
19. Shamir, “On My Own”
Billboard Pride’s artist of the month for June found the perfect balance between his indie roots and his pop aspirations on this genre-mashing gem from earlier in the month.
20. Blackpink, “How You Like That”
The public’s answer to the Korean girl group’s title question here has been unsurprisingly affirmative, as the video for the barnstorming single has already broken multiple records on YouTube.
21. Megan Thee Stallion, “Girls in the Hood”
Not that anyone was skeptical about the kick-down-the-door potential of Megan Thee Stallion going full Straight Outta H-Town, but its desert-set virtual performance at the BET Awards proved it anyway.
22. NSG, “Grandad”
A thoroughly irresistible Afrobeats groover from London sextet NSG that has the potential to be 2020’s “Drogba (Joanna)” if New York radio gets its hands on it.
23. Drake feat. Fivio Foreign & Sosa Geek, “Demons”
Even your 12-year-old cousin is probably rolling their eyes at the “Toosie Slide” by now, but they might still have time for Drake’s most recent (and more electric) drill flirtation, co-starring ascendant New York MCs Fivio Foreign and Sosa Geek.
24. Jessie Ware, “What’s Your Pleasure?”
Again, the rave reviews for U.K. singer-songwriter Jessie Ware’s disco-flavored latest LP basically answered her question for her.
25. DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (BLM Remix)
We close here with another single that reminds us of the urgency of the moment — with a more topical spin on an already half-incendiary (and fully triumphant) single, which also happens to be the biggest in the country right now.
