Playlist: Payday Jams To Make Your Money To

Some tunes for you to make it rain to… And then hastily pick up all your wages to.

1. Just Got Paid – N*SYNC

Now I know you thought you had me played
Check is in the mail I got it made

Actually a cover of an 80s RnB track, and produced by the original cowriter, Teddy Riley. Fun fact: Justin has the line “Yo some people say my solo is impossible”… and weren’t they wrong.

2. Luxurious – Gwen Stefani

Working so hard, every night and day
And now we get the payback

Another song which samples a classic RnB track. Gwen definitely knows about luxury, having launched several perfumes, as well as her own designer clothing lines.

3. Millionaire – Digital Farm Animals

I feel like a millionaire

Whenever she comes around

This song has a whopping ten songwriters in its credits. Again, sampling an RnB track – this one by Nelly, which was a hit in its own right.

4. Started From the Bottom – Drake (NSFW)

…just as a reminder to myself
I wear every single chain, even when I’m in the house

Apparently this track was born from Drake mishearing Future saying “start it from the bottom”. This literary device is also known as a mondegreen.

5. Ch-Ching – Chairlift

Nobody will help you ’til you go and help yourself
Take it and don’t wait for it to come from someone else

Chairlift told Zane Lowe in an interview that the track is about the feeling of striking it lucky – certainly relatable when you’ve just been paid, not so much when you’ve just paid your bills. (Bonus nugget: the “27-99-23” in the lyrics refers to the combination of a safe in the recording studio.)

6. Gold Coins – Charli XCX

Money pours like the rain falls
And I’m spending like I don’t care

Considering that Charli is only 24 and already owns a mansion in the English countryside, it’s fairly safe to assume that she probably does have a fair amount of gold coins at her disposal…

7. Material Girl – Madonna

Some boys romance, some boys slow dance
That’s all right with me
If they can’t raise my interest then I have to let them be

Another rich-girl anthem, produced by legendary guitarist and songwriter Nile Rodgers. Madonna apparently grown to hate the ‘Material Girl’ label, saying that the song was misunderstood, and supposed to be ironic.

8. Fergie – Glamorous (NSFW)

I got money in the bank and I’d really like to thank
All the fans I’d like to thank, thank you, really though

Not quite as iconic as “Fergalicious”, but still good to imagine yourself walking in slow motion to. Reviewers were not so fond of Fergie’s tendency to spell things out.

9. Millionaire – Kelis

Papa I’m a millionaire, but I ain’t moving in the right direction
Something ain’t right, I know

If the other songs on this list are about feeling rich, this is the one antidote – reminding us that money doesn’t always buy happiness. The song for when you’re hungover on the Saturday after pay day.

10. I Gotsta Get Paid – ZZ Top

25 lighters on my dressa, yessa
You know I gotta get paid

And so it begins again – the daily grind, the 9 to 5. If you’d like a playlist for that, you can find it right here.

(Okay okay, you want to know what ‘25 lighters on my dressa’ means? Well, it refers to the selling of, let’s say, prohibited substances in empty cigarette lighters. It’s a phrase that’s been used in many hip hop songs – ZZ Top probably took it from one of these tracks.)

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