Warm Tunas is back to predict the Hottest 100 for another year

With voting for the Hottest 100 opening earlier this week, another tradition has arrived right on cue; the annual predictions thanks to Nick Whyte’s Warm Tunas.

For a couple of years now, the annual Hottest 100 has been preceded by some social media-based predictions, and subsequently posted on Nick Whyte’s Warm Tunas website.

Having started back in 2015, where Whyte predicted the top three spots in the countdown, it returned in 2016 with a much more slick interface. While Whyte’s website predicted a flip between the #1 and #2 songs, it was still pretty accurate, and managed to guess the top spot last year.

So how does it all work? Well, like previous Hottest 100 predictions, it’s all about social media – most specifically Instagram in this case.

Warm Tunas goes along and follows all the hashtags pertinent to the countdown, such as #hottest100, #triplejhottest100, #triplejhottest1002018, #hottest1002018, #triplej, and then collects and collates the votes that folks have shared with that hashtag.

This year though, Nick Whyte is allowing voters to do some of the legwork themselves, and is not accepting direct messages via the Warm Tunas Instagram account.

So far, the site has collated over 7,000 votes from almost 800 images, equating to a sample size of approximately 0.33%. Last year’s final result took into account roughly 67,085 votes, which was a sample size of about 3.20%, so we still have a way to go before it can be considered fairly accurate.

Check out the Warm Tunas Hottest 100 Spotify playlist:

Of course, the question on everyone’s lips is, “well, what’s going to be #1?” At this stage, it’s early days, but it’s looking like the ARIA chart-topping ‘This Is America’ by ol’ mate Childish Gambino is the front-runner.

Further down the list, it’s a pretty solid showing of Aussie talent, with Ocean Alley, Amy Shark, DZ Deathrays, and Ruby Fields among the top ten. In fact, with only three international acts in the top spots, it’s looking like local artists could again be on track for another year of domination.

Check out the top ten Warm Tunas predictions below, and check out all the data at the official site.

In related news, Tone Deaf recently published a list of the Hottest 100 songs to never make the countdown over the years. If you’re keen on checking out all the songs that should’ve gotten a spot but didn’t, check out the full list here.

Check out Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’:

Check out the Warm Tunas Hottest 100 top ten predictions:

1. ‘This Is America’ – Childish Gambino
2. ‘Confidence’ – Ocean Alley
3. ‘I Said Hi’ – Amy Shark
4. ‘Like People’ – DZ Deathrays
5. ‘MANTRA’ – Bring Me The Horzon
6. ‘Be Alright’ – Dean Lewis
7. ‘Dinosaurs’ – Ruby Fields
8. ‘Losing It’ – FISHER
9. ‘SICKO MODE’ – Travis Scott
10. ‘I Miss You’ – Thundamentals

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine