"There are a lot of names you would expect: Nile Rodgers, Lucinda Williams, Stevie Wonder. And names that make for a pleasant surprise: Missy Elliot, Young Thug, Lana Del Ray. But with only 30 spots there are of course many, many deserving artists excluded. There's Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and Jeff Tweedy as the most notable, but I also felt a twinge of personal sadness to not see the likes of Frank Ocean, Raphael Saadiq, and Lauryn Hill."
"If you check out the Times' insiders ballot, you get a veritable cornucopia of what different musicians, writers, and execs value in songwriting. Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney, one of my favorite writers, has a diverse ballot that includes Kathleen Hanna, Patti Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Missy Elliot, Mitski, and Sufjan Stevens. DMC of Run-DMC includes Beck, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Raitt, as well as hip-hop peers like Chuck D and Slick Rick."
The New York Times released a list of 30 greatest living American songwriters, accompanied by a supplemental list of 11 near-misses. Such lists serve primarily as engagement drivers, sparking debate and traffic rather than definitive rankings. While the list includes expected names like Nile Rodgers, Lucinda Williams, and Stevie Wonder, it also features surprising inclusions like Missy Elliott, Young Thug, and Lana Del Rey. Notable omissions include Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Jeff Tweedy, Frank Ocean, Raphael Saadiq, and Lauryn Hill. The Times' insider ballots reveal diverse perspectives on songwriting excellence, with contributors like Corin Tucker and DMC valuing different qualities across genres, from punk and indie rock to hip-hop and R&B.
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