The Rubens take out triple j’s Hottest 100, criticism ensues

2,094,350votes cast by music fans in 172 countries sent an Australian artist to the top of the triple j Hottest 100 for the third year in a row.

Beating out more that 16,000 other voted tracks, The Rubens’ July-released single Hoops was crowned the winner last night. Meanwhile 2014’s winner, Chet Faker (who topped the list withTalk Is Cheap) came in at #5 this year with his Marcus Marr collaboration The Trouble With Us. 2013’s winner Vance Joy (with Riptide) came in at #16 with Fire And The Flood. Both Vance Joy and The Rubens are signed to Mushroom Group labels Liberation and Ivy League, respectively.

The Rubens with Mushroom’s Michael Gudinski at the Australian Open yesterday

The Menangle-based quintet were brought into triple j’s Sydney studios yesterday to help with the countdown, their reaction was filmed by triple j and posted to Facebook.

Hoops beat out beat out US rapper Kendrick Lamar’s fan-favourite King Kunta, Major Lazer’s ARIA #1 and the most streamed track in Spotify historyLean On, as well as Tame Impala’s critically acclaimed single The Less I Know The Better.

“It’s incredible and humbling to get number 1,” The Rubens told TMN. “There were some great international releases and more importantly some mind blowing Australian releases. We are floored.”

The win marks a career high-point for The Rubens, and further heightens their dalliance with triple j. In 2012 the band were named triple j’s Unearthed Artist of the Year following high rotation of 2011 single Lay It Downon the station.

In fact, 30 songs on the 2015 countdown are from artists first heard on triple j Unearthed, and the aforementioned Rubens track placed at #57 on the Hottest 100 in 2011. In 2012 The Rubens achieved two Hottest 100 accolades when My Gun placed at #10 and The Best We Got placed #66.

Interestingly – given the poll is public-voted –Sydney Morning Herald’s Bernard Zuel has criticised The Rubens’ win, tagging it as “unsurprising and safe”.Sam Margin of The Rubens addressed the article in an interview on the ABC this morning.

“’Unsurprising’ — that’s an interesting way to describe something voted by people, I guess,” he said. “It’s not meant to be surprising.

“I think we were surprised, but I guess I was really surprised at some of the results,” Margin added. “[…] I thought certain songs would have been much higher or lower.”

The list has also received early criticism online for its lack of female artists in the Top 10.

Chet Faker replied to Twitter user Erin Riley, noting that he snuck out of school to attend an audio class and later studied audio engineering at TAFE to get where he is.

Chet Faker later deleted his tweets, saying he had missed Riley’s point entirely.

Perhaps in preparation for ensuing criticism on gender equality – triple j disqualified Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off last year–the broadcaster has noted the number of songs with female vocalistsIn its poll statistics for 2015.

37 songs on the list have female vocals, 33 of those songs contain lead female vocals and four songs have lead female and male vocals. Meanwhile, one of the two artists with the most songs in the countdown is Melbourne Grammy nomineeCourtney Barnett. Barnett and Tame Impala both have four songs each on the list.

10 countries were represented in the countdown, including 54 songs from Australia, 22 from the UK, 15 from the USA, five from Canada and one each from Denmark, France, Germany and New Zealand.

triple j has said its core demographic of 18-24 year olds made up 44% of the voters.

The Hottest 100 is the largestpublicly voted music poll in the world and the second biggest publicly voted poll in Australia, behind the federal election.

triple j’s Hottest 100

1. The Rubens — Hoops
2. Kendrick Lamar — King Kunta
3. Major Lazer — Lean On (Feat. Momomoyouth, DJ Snake)
4. Tame Impala — The Less I Know The Better
5. Tame Impala — Let It Happen
6. Marcus Marr & Chet Faker — The Trouble With Us
7. Jarryd James — Do You Remember
8. Hermitude — The Buzz (Feat. Mataya/Young Tapz)
9. The Weeknd — Can’t Feel My Face
10. Disclosure — Magnets (Feat. Lorde)
11. Meg Mac — Never Be
12. RÜFÜS — You Were Right
13. Duke Dumont — Ocean Drive
14. Drake — Hotline Bling
15. Violent Soho — Like Soda
16. Vance Joy — Fire And The Flood
17. DJ Snake — Middle (Feat. Bipolar Sunshine)
18. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — DOWNTOWN (Feat. Eric Nally/Melle Mel/Kool Moe Dee/Grandmaster Caz)
19. The Weeknd — The Hills
20. Foals — Mountain At My Gates
21. Gang Of Youths — Magnolia
22. L D R U — Keeping Score (Feat. Paige IV)
23. SAFIA — Embracing Me
24. Flume — Some Minds (Feat. Andrew Wyatt)
25. The Amity Affliction — Shine On
26. Jamie XX — I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) (Feat. Young Thug/Popcaan)
27. Vallis Alps — Young
28. RÜFÜS — Like An Animal
29. The Wombats — Greek Tragedy
30. Peking Duk — Say My Name (Feat. Benjamin Joseph)
31. Jamie XX — Loud Places (Feat. Romy)
32. CHVRCHES — Leave A Trace
33. Urthboy — Long Loud Hours (Feat. Bertie Blackman)
34. Tame Impala — Eventually
35. SAFIA — Counting Sheep
36. Snakehips All My Friends (Feat. Tinashe/Chance The Rapper)
37. Kendrick Lamar — Alright
38. Florence + The Machine — Delilah
39. Illy — Swear Jar
40. Florence + The Machine — Ship To Wreck
41. Claptone — Puppet Theatre (Ft. Peter Bjorn & John)
42. Halsey — Hold Me Down
43. Courtney Barnett — Pedestrian At Best
44. Hayden James — Something About You
45. Bring Me The Horizon — Throne
46. The Chemical Brothers — Go (Feat. Q-Tip)
47. Asta — Dynamite (Feat. Allday)
48. Parkway Drive — Crushed
49. San Cisco — Too Much Time Together
50. BOO SEEKA — Deception Bay
51. Chvrches — Clearest Blue
52. Ratatat — Cream On Chrome
53. Matt Corby — Monday
54. ZHU x Skrillex x THEY. — Working For It
55. Unknown Mortal Orchestra — Multi-Love
56. SIA — Alive
57. Alpine — Foolish
58. Parkway Drive — Vice Grip
59. Alison Wonderland — Run
60. MØ — Kamikaze
61. Tame Impala — ‘Cause I’m A Man
62. Disclosure — Omen
63. Boy & Bear — Walk The Wire
64. A$AP Rocky — L$D
65. Alabama Shakes — Don’t Wanna
66. Tkay Maidza — M.O.B.
67. The Wombats — Give Me A Try
68. Skepta — Shutdown
69. Japanese Wallpaper — Forces
70. Florence + The Machine — What Kind of Man
71. Grimes — Flesh without Blood
72. Birds Of Tokyo — Anchor
73. Ngaiire — Once
74. Major Lazer — Powerful (Feat. Ellie Goulding/Tarrus Riley)
75. Courtney Barnett — Elevator Operator
76. British India — Suddenly
77. DMA’s — Lay down
78. Jack Garratt — Weathered
79. The Cat Empire — Wolves
80. A$AP Rocky — Everyday
81. Tuka — Big Jet Plane (Like A Version)
82. Courtney Barnett — Depreston
83. Flight Facilities — Down To Earth
84. Sticky Fingers — Delete
85. Flight Facilities — Heart Attack
86. Bring Me The Horizon — Happy Song
87. Purity Ring — begin again
88. The Bennies — Party Machine
89. Lana Del Ray — High By The Beach
90. What So Not — Gemini
91. The Wombats — Be Your Shadow
92. Golden Features — No One
93. Jai Wolf — Indian Summer
94. Halsey — Ghost
95. Courtney Barnett — Nobody Really
96. Rudimental — Rumour Mill
97. Methyl Ethel — Twilight Driving
98. Major Lazer — Be Together (Feat. Wild Belle)
99. Bring Me The Horizon — True Friends
100. Seth Sentry — Hell Boy