The Greatest Pre-Game Songs of the Last Five Years

There's nothing like a good pre-game mix to get your night off on the right track.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

If you’re being honest with yourself, you have to admit that the pre game is more times than not more fun than what comes later. It’s all about potential: You and your best friends, in the comfort of a living room, discussing all the possibilities the evening has in store, already breaking into your favorite bottle of liquor you've been saving for a special night. Where should you go? Who will hook up?

As any seasoned partier can tell you, the pre game is the time to get yourself properly hyped before a night on the town. That means you’ll need the perfect playlist of music that hits the mark between upbeat tunes and classic sing-a-longs, with a few semi-ironic detours thrown in. This is the time to drop hip songs that your best friends know every word to. Whether you are "losing yourself" with Eminem, or tryna be "famous" with Kanye West, these tried and true tracks are so perfect that will pump you up and see you through the best nights of your lives... although you may forget everything by morning.  

 

With that in mind, here is a list 15 of the best pre game songs released over the last five years. Start your night right: play these beats on and you may wind up never leaving your apartment.

Daft Punk f/ Pharrell “Get Lucky”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2013

“Get Lucky” was one of those tracks that everyone—your friends, your neighbors, and your mom—could rally behind. Nile Rodgers’ looped guitar and Pharrell’s smooth (but slightly imperfect) vocal delivery made for a track that you could play on repeat without anyone complaining. It’s a song that transcended genres and decades, forming a pop diamond that’s still impossible to ignore when it hits your speakers.

Big Boi f/ Gucci Mane “Shine Blockas”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2010

“Shine Blockas” has a message that anyone can identify with: When you’re in the right mood, nobody can bring you down. As two Southern rap gods trade equally smooth verses, the flow becomes a mantra. “Don’t block my shine” is all about feeling good.

DJ Snake and Lil Jon “Turn Down for What”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2014

“Turn Down for What” sounds like it was engineered in a laboratory for maximum party potential. Everything about the track, from Lil Jon’s nostalgic crunk shoutouts to DJ Snake’s weirdly minimal production, is flawless. That the video is also an infinitely re-watchable piece of weirdo art is just the cherry on top. (Remember the first time you heard the beat drop? Mind. Blown.) Pull it up on YouTube and it may be the only thing you listen to all night long.

Kanye West and Jay Z f/ Frank Ocean and The-Dream “No Church in the Wild”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2011

Everyone has their own favorite era of Kanye and Jay Z, but when it comes to putting the two together, it's hard to argue that “No Church in the Wild” is the duo at their absolute peak. The two trade equally impressive verses, with Frank Ocean and The-Dream adding a spectral quality to the affair. Watch the Throne may be a party from start to finish, but nothing tops the opener’s production value or intensity.

Kendrick Lamar “Backseat Freestyle”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2012

Most of Kendrick’s good kid, m.A.A.d city is the sort of cerebral, infinitely dense rap that you’re more likely to play on your headphones or while cruising around town than at a pre-party. “Backseat Freestyle” though is a straight-up great time. The striving lyrics and propulsive Hit-Boy beat will make anyone with eardrums ready for a night on the town. This is Kendrick at his hungriest and most accessible.

A$AP Rocky “Wild for the Night”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2013

When it was first announced that A$AP Rocky would be collaborating with Skrillex, some fans scratched their heads: Would the Harlem rapper and dubstep superstar mesh together? What could it possibly even sound like? As it turned out, there was no need to fret. “Wild for the Night” was one of Long.Live.A$AP's standout tracks—a club banger that doubles as a mantra for aspiring partiers everywhere. And who cares if singing along to Skrillex’s synth stabs makes you look like a goofball? That’s what going wild’s all about.

Rae Sremmurd “No Flex Zone”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2014

With “No Flex Zone,” the Tupelo brothers created a no poseurs anthem to end all anthems. That Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy do it with such effortless swagger, even throwaway lines like “Won a gold medal/And a gold bezel” just add to the brothers’ low-key charm. These kids have a bright future ahead of them, but “No Flex Zone” is the perfect place to start.

G.O.O.D. Music “Mercy”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2012

Try to remember just how weird “Mercy” sounded when you first heard it. This was pre-Yeezus, where dancehall samples weren't the norm and Big Sean was just some dude Kanye happened to co-sign. The beat, with its chopped sample of Super Beagle’s “Dust a Sound Boy,” was abrasive and enormously catchy at the same time. Just two years later, “Mercy” may sound downright normal, but Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz can still take you for a Lambo ride that you’ll never forget.

Waka Flocka Flame “Hard in da Paint”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2010

“Hard” is the operative word here. The fact that this track was a bona fide smash is still sort of mind-blowing. It’s loud, abrasive, and in-your-face in the way that all the best Flocka tracks are. But it’s also fun as heck to dance to, whether at the club or in your kitchen. And that Lex Luger beat is as epic as the day it first dropped.

Chris Brown f/ Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne “Look at Me Now”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2011

Can you believe “Look at Me Now” is four years old? The beat—a collaboration between Diplo, Afrojack, and Free School—still sounds like something from outer space or the future—or both. Sure, the track could probably do without Chris Brown’s rapping, but even he has become impossible to separate from the track’s bizarre appeal. Let’s be real though: This is a Busta song; Brown and Wayne (as excellent as his verse may be) are just icing on the cake.

Tinashe f/ ScHoolboy Q “2 On”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2014

“2 On” is Tinashe and ScHoolboy Q essentially doing a 2014 version of a Ciara and Ludacris track. While that may sound like a throwback or even a retread, DJ Mustard makes the song sound futuristic and nostalgic at the same time. Even the lyrics, cliché-filled though they may be, just add to the effect. There may not be much nuance in lyrics like “Get ratchet, go dumb,” but subtle isn’t what you want when you’re getting too on.

Kanye West f/ Jay Z, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, and Rick Ross “Monster”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2010

“Monster” is great for a handful of reasons, but the reason it makes the list is singular: Nicki’s verse. Even now, she hasn't topped the vocal acrobatics, double-time raps, and myriad characters that she jams into the track. If there’s a more fun song to rap along to that came out in the last half decade, we can’t think of it.

Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”

Not Available Interstitial

Yeah: 2012

No, “Call Me Maybe” isn’t “ironically” good. It’s just good. Carly Rae Jepsen might have gone down as a one-hit wonder, had she not released “I Really Like You,” but the success she reached with “Call Me Maybe” alone is better than most artists manage for an entire career. When it first came out, “Call Me Maybe” was slow to catch on, but then it took an excellent twist and turned it into a worldwide smash.

Migos f/ Drake, Meek Mill, and Tyga “Versace”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2013

“Versace” has been undeniable since it first dropped in 2013. The track, which introduced Migos to a wide audience, is simple enough, with the word Versace repeated ad nauseam. Still, the Drake co-sign (doing his own take on the Migos flow) and the infectious, free-associative rhymes remain a club staple and pre-game necessity.

Drake f/ Lil Wayne and Tyga “The Motto”

Not Available Interstitial

Year: 2011

There’s a Drake song for every situation that you can imagine. There’s sad Drake for when you’re bummed, romantic Drake for when you want to set the mood, and party Drake for when you want to up the energy. “The Motto” may be the finest instance of the latter category, seeing Drake and his mentor coining the catchiest slogan of the 2010s. YOLO indeed.

Latest in Music