In most people's minds, 2016 has not been a particularly good year. While it has been a strange year yes, most would not associate the word good with it, unless you were paying attention to the music coming out this year. 2016 has to be one of the better years for music in a while. My friend from home, Christi, and I were texting about this earlier this month while we bonded over our love of Childish Gambino's new album, Awaken, My Love! So not only did Gambino come out with a new album that was almost perfection, there was great music from J.Cole, Kid Cudi, Lady Gaga, Chance the Rapper, Tegan and Sara, Bruno Mars, the Lumineers, the 1975, Bastille, and so many more. Music was the one redeeming factor of the year known as 2016.

Now I don't know if you use Spotify all that much, but that is where I usually listen to music. At the end of the year, Spotify always puts together a "Year in Review" playlist of your top songs of the year. Since this was such a good year for music, I thought it'd be cool to go through my top 10 songs and explain why I listened to them so much, or explain what makes the song so good that you should listen to it over and over again. This was definitely one of the best years for music in a while.

1.) History Has Its Eyes On You- Hamilton Cast

The reason this song is my most played song of the year is because of my acting process. As an actor, for me the easiest way for me to get into character is by listening to a song that I feel exemplifies what the character is feeling in that moment. So in the spring when I was in a production of The Laramie Project, I had a lot of downtime backstage in between scenes for my characters. One of my characters was the grandmother who raised one of the men who killed Matthew Shepard.

In rehearsal with my director we talked about how my character would feel during this moment in time. We discussed how she felt like this could be the one opportunity to change the trial; to show the jury and the court that her grandson, Russel,l doesn't deserve to be locked away for his life. So in essence, history would have its eyes on Lucy because she could potentially change the outcome with her speech. This naturally to me felt like "History Has its Eyes on You" from "Hamilton" would be perfect to get into that mindset, so I would listen to that song on repeat before I went on stage as Lucy for every single performance and full run of the show.

2.) Non-Stop - Hamilton Cast

Yeah there's another "Hamilton" song on this list. If you happen to know me, you'll know that I'm absolutely obsessed with the show "Hamilton." I find it to be a very inspiring show with characters that feel so real and are easy to connect to, that I can't help but constantly listen to the cast recording. Now this song is the last song of Act 1, so it's a really big song that combines pretty much all the main musical themes of the show so far.

It's also a song mainly sung by Aaron Burr, our narrator throughout the show and the character I identify with most. For Burr, a lot of this song is about how he'll catch up with Alexander Hamilton and finally show that he is just as good as Hamilton, which I can relate to a lot. I always feel one step behind everyone else, but I know I'll catch up and be just as successful. That's why I listened to "Non-Stop" so much this year. Actually, I could sort of consider this one my anthem of the year.

3.) 24K Magic- Bruno Mars

If you listen to top 40 stations at all, you've probably heard this song a lot recently. Bruno Mars' new album came out back in November and it's pretty much a feel good, retro, party album. It has a lot of 80s and 90s R&B influences that make it so fun to listen to. This song in particular is the perfect pump up song or hype song on the album. I expect that once I turn 21, I'll be hearing this song every time I go out to a club.

It's that perfect mix of fun lyrics, a beat that just makes you want to move, and throwback vibes so large you can't help but enjoy it. Honestly, I'm so glad this song is on here, because it's awesome to just jam to. So next time you may be in a little bit of a funk, turn this song on, because it will definitely help you get out of that.

4.) A Head Full of Dreams- Coldplay

This is the first track off of Coldplay's album that the put out earlier this year. This was one of the first albums of 2016 that I was really excited for. I love Coldplay and think their music is artfully crafted. Their music has impactful lyrics usually paired with the perfect instrumentation, and the uplifting vibe of this song is a perfect introduction for what became an album all about creativity and dreams. It made for one of the best summer vibe albums of the year.

5.) Boyfriend- Tegan and Sara

The first single off their new album "Love You to Death", Tegan and Sara debuted an upbeat song that actually held a much deeper meaning. I actually already wrote about this song in my review of the album, so I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote then here, because it's still relevant and how I feel about the song.

Now we have reached the lead single of this album, and the one you may be hearing on your radio soon. It starts with an incredibly catchy synthpop beat, going straight into some harmonious synth chords. But despite the upbeat feeling of the song, Sara sings about being stuck in this odd position with their significant other. They act like both best friends and girlfriends, but the other won't or refuses to be public about their relationship. The juxtaposition between the lyrics and then the instrumentation is one of the best things about this song. It's catchy and gets stuck in your head all while being about the frustration of being someone's secret. It also brings a narrative that isn't around in pop music but should be: those dealing with the struggles of being in a same-sex relationship and having trouble with it being public.

6.) Sunrise- In the Heights Cast

Yes this is another song from a musical. I'm a theatre person by nature, and musical theatre is my favorite genre from the theatre world, so I end up listening to a lot of soundtracks. Now I didn't know too much about "In the Heights," other than it was written by Lin Manuel Miranda who also wrote "Hamilton," my all-time favorite musical. Yet I ended up seeing the West End production of "In the Heights" while I was in London in May. That was where I realized that no matter what the subject matter is, Lin Manuel Miranda is a genius at writing songs about anything.

This song takes place about halfway into the second half. It comes after the characters Nina and Benny have finally come together and admitted to one another that they love each other. In the production I saw, it took place out on the balcony of Benny's place in Washington Heights where they both live. The song itself is about telling one another that they love each other and plan to be together even past the beautiful sunrise. It's a gorgeous song that actually sounds like a sunrise coming up. It's incredible.

7.) Fly Into the Future- Lauren Kennedy from Vanities

Yep yet another song from a musical. The reason I listened to this one a lot. though, is because I had hoped to add it to my repertoire for auditions. It's an upbeat contemporary piece that not many people know, which makes it perfect to have for musical auditions. It also fits my mezzo belt range especially well, so it could easily show off my vocal talents.

The lyrics of the song also really resonate with me. The character Mary sings about how she feel so stuck in her life, wants to fly away from it all, to go somewhere she's never been and have a perfect adventure in the future. She just wants to be away from it all to have no commitments, conditions, or anyone to judge her, which is a feeling I've had a lot growing up from middle school until well, now. So there's a reason I gravitated to this song and found it great to listen and sing along to.

8.) Still Hurting- The Last Five Years Cast

While a lot of the other musical songs have been pretty happy or about love, this one is the exact opposite of any of that. The musical the "Last Five Years" has an interesting storyline in that it's all about a five year relationship. But it starts at opposite ends for the two characters in the relationship. Cathy starts the show at the end of the relationship, while Jamie starts at the beginning. And this is the first song of the show from Cathy.

So obviously it's not a happy song. Cathy is lamenting about the relationship being over and how Jamie has left her broken with nowhere to go. She feels like he never thought about how it would effect her and that it's all her fault, not his. Which isn't really the case, but that's how Cathy feels. The song makes a perfect ballad for most mezzo-sopranos if it wasn't so darn overdone. But nonetheless it's a great song to just belt out your feelings to.

9.) Wesley's Theory- Kendrick Lamar

This is another first track off an album, but this one is Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly." Yes, this album may have come out in 2015, but it really was the start of this new era in rap. All of a sudden we have these rap albums from multiple artists that play around with using bits of jazz, soul, and R&B in their rap. I feel like this movement was started by Kendrick Lamar with this album, or at least it was the first album that played around with multiple genres in rap successfully.

There's a reason this album ended up winning rap album of the year at the 2015 Grammys. It's innovative, impactful, and relevant today. The lyrics are some of Lamar's best and most socially aware, which is absolutely shown in "Wesley's Theory" and just continues through the rest of the album. If you haven't listened to "To Pimp a Butterfly" yet, what in the world are you waiting for?

10.) I Feel it Coming- The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk

If I remember correctly this was the second single that The Weeknd released off his new album, "Starboy." Of course "Starboy" came first, but I connected more with the feel of this song. I really love the backing beat of the song that is pretty electronic, which comes from Daft Punk's work on the song as it's definitely a signature sound for them. It compliments The Weeknd's voice and sound pretty perfectly. It makes for a great blend of alternative music with more popular R&B and pop songs.

There's my top ten songs of 2016. As you can tell I have pretty diverse interests when it comes to music. Everything from rap to pop to musicals to classic rock is in my 2016 playlist. But what about yours? Do you have any songs from this year that you feel just absolutely exemplifies how you've felt this year? Or is there another amazing artist that put out music this year that I didn't talk about? Let me know how you feel, I love finding new music. Because 2016 has definitely been the year of music.