There’s only a few weeks to go until triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018 is revealed, meaning now is the time we gaze into our crystal streaming service ball and speculate wildly as to which track will take out the top spot.

In past years there have been fairly obvious frontrunners for the top spot — think ‘Never Be Like You’, or ‘HUMBLE.’ — but 2018 hasn’t quite delivered us a standout track on that level, meaning the playing field is well and truly open.

So who will take it out? A dark horse? Or a mega international? We’ve taken a closer look at the six songs we think will be battling it out for the title.

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Childish Gambino — ‘This Is America’

There’s no doubt about it: ‘This Is America’ was one of the biggest tracks of 2018. It was, as contributor David James Young wrote in our Best Songs of 2018 list, “the most abrasive, aggressive and genuinely shocking singular moment within mainstream music in 2018.”

Its ubiquity and critical success (it’s been nominated for a stack of Grammys, including Record of the Year) positions it as the track to beat in the countdown. If it were to win, it be only the second time an artist of colour has topped the poll, following Kendrick Lamar last year.

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Ocean Alley — ‘Confidence’

If any track has a chance of pulling a ‘Hoops’ this year, it’s Ocean Alley’s ‘Confidence’.

Thanks to a groundswell of support from a bunch of triple j meme groups (Sultanaposting, we’re looking at you), ‘Confidence’ is being pushed as the local track with the biggest chance of beating ‘This Is America’ — like how The Rubens scraped past Kendrick Lamar back in 2015.

So will the meme groups win out? Well, according to vote aggregator Warm Tunas, they’re well on their way to victory — ‘Confidence’ is currently sitting comfortably at #1.

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Ruby Fields — ‘Dinosaurs’

Never discount a dark horse — and this year that horse comes in the form of a dinosaur.

Cronulla songwriter Ruby Fields scored a couple of breakout tracks back in 2017 with ‘I Want’ and ‘P Plates’, and she’s been backing it up ever since — first with the EP Your Dad’s Opinion For Dinner in early 2018, then with the heart cracking ‘Dinosaurs’ in September.

It’s not often a slow tempo track makes it to the top of the countdown — the last being Chet Faker with ‘Talk Is Cheap’ in 2014 — but we wouldn’t bet against Ruby Fields.

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Fisher — ‘Losing It’

As our contributor Jack Tregoning noted, not many records label launch with a hit track. But for Fisher’s new Catch & Release imprint, success came almost instantly thanks to a little tech house crusher known as ‘Losing It’.

‘Losing It’ is the dance track of the summer — a successor to Pnau’s ‘Chameleon’ in 2016, or ‘Go Bang’ in 2017 — and it recently scored a hefty boost after being nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

Dance acts haven’t had the best of luck with topping the poll — only Flume has done it so far — but Fisher could very well pull it off.

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Amy Shark — ‘I Said Hi’

Amy Shark cleaned up at last year’s ARIA Awards, nabbing Best Pop Release, Best Female Artist, and Album of the Year for her debut Love Monster — so the Gold Coast songwriter definitely has the momentum to carry her high up the Hottest 100 poll.

Lead single ‘I Said Hi’ has the best shot of placing in the top ten, owing to its ubiquity on alternative and commercial radio, and wild crossover appeal. Shark’s victory lap could very well continue come January 27.

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Mallrat — ‘Groceries’

If the Hottest 100 has taught us anything, it’s to never, ever underestimate the power of the charming underdog. And if there ever was a charming underdog, it’s Mallrat.

The Brisbane singer/rapper/all round legendary human is riding a wave of popularity thanks to her 2018 EP In The Sky, which spawned hits like ‘Groceries’ and ‘UFO’.

If her recent packed set at Field Day is anything to go by — you remember, the set in which she brought up The Veronicas to sing ‘Untouched’ — she’s got a lot of fans in her corner. Look for ‘Groceries’ at the pointy end of the poll.

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The Hottest 100 will be broadcast on triple j from midday on Sunday, January 27th.