YOUR FAVORITE MTV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Pop Quiz: Which Album Track Deserved To Be A Single?

Fixing all the questionable singles strategies

The TRL Pop Quiz works like this: our editors are posed a music-related question and have only 15 minutes and just 100 words to research, choose and explain their answers. This week's question: what is your favorite album track that deserved to be a single?

"Screwed" by Janelle Monae featuring Zoë Kravitz is a bop, and deserves the single treatment. Both women have insane chemistry in this song, and it makes me want to dance. Within Dirty Computer, it transitions seamlessly into "Django Jane," but as it stands alone, we get Monae rapping, references to other songs on the album and social commentary like "Hundred men telling me cover up my areolas / While they blocking equal pay, sippin' on they Coca Colas." Honestly, I would take just the little laugh that Kravitz does at 2:05 as reason enough to release this song as a single. - Leah Williams

I’m an absolute sucker for ballads and two that I wish had been singles were Taylor Swift’s "Dear John" from Speak Now and "Treacherous" from Red! I remember sitting at the Speak Now World Tour while Swift performed “Dear John” and just being completely blown away by the emotion in the song and the punctuated fireworks display. Even though it was never a single, it still charted on both the Billboard and Canadian Hot 100s. “Treacherous” is another track that always gets me right in my feels and builds in such a powerful way. - Kristen Maldonado

There was this weird point towards the tail-end of NSYNC's career where they became obsessed with UK-based two-step garage music, a subgenre of electronic that despite Craig David’s best attempts never quite hit the mainstream. On Celebrity, they try to make fetch happen twice, less notably on the bubbling club blips of "Up Against the Wall." And then there’s "The Two of Us," this wonderfully heart-happy realization that your longtime friend is actually the one for you. The song crescendos into this beautiful, bouncy confession of love and devotion, probably the single best song the boy band ever did. - Terron Moore

Even as a long-term Fifth Harmony Twitter stan, I can admit that not every one of their singles was perfect. That being said, there’s no excuse for their label not making "Body Rock" from debut album Reflection a single. It’s got a great transition from chill verses to a bumpy chorus and fun lyrics that get me up on my feet every single listen. The gay part of the 5H fandom always wanted "Body Rock" to be a single since we could envision it playing in a gay bar. Who’s gonna produce the fan-made music video we still deserve? - Matt Gehring

I think "Palace/Curse" from The Internet’s Ego Death album could’ve been a single. It’s got the same great sound and vibes on par with the actual two singles from the album, “Girl” and “Special Affair.” It features Tyler, The Creator, who has a big following of his own and fans would’ve loved to hear some of his funny personality in this track. Even though this wasn’t a single, the song has enjoyed high popularity compared to other songs on the album. - Landyn Pan

“When I Needed You” is Carly Rae Jepsen’s greatest song and should've been a single, period. I vaguely understand the singles strategy for Emotion: they first picked what seemed most likely to emulate the success of “Call Me Maybe,” then followed with two that felt like the surest signs of her growth as an artist. In the end, they either overthought this or didn’t know what they had: “When I Needed You” is the best of both worlds, a sugar-coated banger that also features the synth-driven instrumentals and thick basslines that make Emotion one of the decade’s brightest pop gems. - Gus Turner

Latest News