The Worst Songs of 2025 (and best too, sort of)

2025! What a year to be alive. A year that only seemed to keep getting worse as the months kept passing by. Everything just kind of sucks around here right now, but at least we got some great music to get us through it all, right? Well, yes and no. Outside of the charts, music was pretty great, and we got a bunch of great albums from established names and even some newcomers. ON the charts, however, it wasn't so hot. 2025 was one of the most stagnant years for pop music in a loooong time, like it was almost shocking how little things seemed to move on the charts. So much so that a lot of the most popular songs of this year were just the same hits from last year. It was so bad that Billboard had to create new rules for how long a song can stay at the top of the charts before being removed completely. I call this the Teddy Swims rule, as his hit song "Lose Control" was on the charts, floating around the top 10 for over two years, until the new rules were established, and it was finally pulled off the charts. A lot of songs were finally removed thanks to this new rule. So, making this year-end list I usually make became pretty difficult when a lot of the songs I had to pick from were songs that were on my list last year. Plus, the fact that most of the new songs weren't really sticking with me much. So with all that out of the way, here are the worst songs of the year! and a couple of decent ones too, I guess. 

THE WORST!

TAYLOR SWIFT - ACTUALLY ROMANTIC

So Taylor released another album this year. I believe that's 6 albums in 6 years now, so she's been pretty busy along with her tours. The Life of a Showgirl is her latest album, and it was received with mixed reactions. Despite that, it still sold a billion copies more or less, and every song on the album charted on the Hot 100. I myself found the album to be a bit of a mixed bag, with some great songs and some duds all wrapped into an okay album. This was probably my least favorite from the album for several reasons. The main one is just how dull the music turned out on this track. The song is carried by an electric guitar strumming some simple chords, but it really sounds weak, along with the rest of the music in this song. Just bad production all around, really. As for the lyrics, well, it's said that this is meant to be a diss track aimed at fellow star Charli XCX, though I don't think Taylor ever confirmed that herself. Even if it's not aimed at her, it's still a pretty weak diss track overall, as Taylor calls out "Charli" for being obsessed with her. The main diss being that "Charli" is giving her so much attention that she must be in love with Taylor. As far as diss songs go, it's a bit childish. 

The song that people say is Charli's diss track to Taylor is called "Sympathy is a Knife." Honestly, after listening to it and reading the lyrics, it really doesn't even seem like a diss song to me. It's more about how insecure Charli feels around a certain person who's possibly Taylor Swift.  

BENSON BOONE - MYSTICAL MAGICAL

It's so great that one of the few songs that really took off this year was also one of the more annoying songs I've heard recently. Dumb lyrics, annoying vocals, and a chorus that only makes me think of the song "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. Benson Boone was coming off a high when his song "Beautiful Things" became a huge hit last year and made him a new star. He tried to take advantage of his new stardom by releasing a new album this year, and it was... well, it was pretty bad actually. It was pretty much the worst thing he could have made right after finding success last year. The album was a mess, but he still managed to get a few hits out of it, one of those hits being "Mysical Magical". I don't know why I dislike this song so much, but it might just be the moonbeam ice cream that he keeps forcing into the song. Gotta get that CRUMBL partnership, I guess? The chorus also gets annoying after one or two listens. That being said, Benson Boone is still a decent artist and out of all other artists on the worst list, he's the only one I can see bounce back. Just stop making annoying ass music, perhaps.

MORGAN WALLEN - WHAT I WANT (W/ Tate McRae)

What happens when two boring artists team up for a hit song? Well, nothing interesting. That's it. I've gone on and on about how much I dislike Wallen's music from the last 5 years. It won't be the last time on this list, so spoilers, I guess? I truly don't get Tate McRae as an artist, though. I have no idea why she is a mega star in today's music scene. Nothing I've heard from her makes me think she's anything other than a generic pop singer. She's like the Corn Flakes of pop music. No offense to Corn Flakes. 

MORGAN WALLEN - JUST IN CASE

The most boring artist your friends like for some reason released a new album this year. Another 2-hour-long masterclass in time wasting. Dude, can you stop making these long ass albums when you barely have enough good material to make an EP? I seriously want to know who sits through these two-hour-long albums and actually enjoys them, because I can't imagine any real human actually being able to do that. The sad part is this might be one of the better songs from the album, but that's not really saying much. It's at least got a hint of emotion, a bit of story about him still in love with someone he can't have. That being said, the song is still incredibly boring from Wallen, and maybe could've worked better with another singer. 

ALEX WARREN  - ORDINARY

I mentioned this song in my last post, where I talked about the worst songs of the 2020s so far. The song here isn't bad in an interesting way, but just extremely boring in a way that makes it easy to forget. The kind of song you only listen to because everyone keeps using it on their TikToks for engagement. Once that fad went away, the song went away with it, and we're left with a song that most people won't remember after this year ends, at least people who like good music anyway. Just writing about this song is putting me to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Sorry, fell asleep while typing there. 

FORREST FRANK - YOUR WAY'S BETTER

Christian music's back babyyyyy (sigh). Oh, wait, this actually sounds like trash. I guess it's not that surprising that a Christian song would become a pop hit in 2025, kind of the way things are going these days. I guess I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that this song is so incredibly lame. Terrible production with some of the cringiest lyrics you can find. "Making waves like a jetski" is an actual line in this song. It almost reminds me of an AJR song, which is not a good thing. I don't know, I mean, a lot of popular Christian music back in the day was this cheesy and lame, but I swear there were good artists out there who actually made great songs that weren't as pandering as this.

KOE WETZEL - HIGH ROAD (w/ Jessie Murph)

Jessie Murph is on this song? Believe it or not, straight on the worst songs list. I can't stand Jessie's vocals, and anytime I hear them, the song instantly becomes unlistenable. Not that the song would be much better without her, as it's still a pretty boring country pop song at the end of the day. But I guess that's what people like these days, boring ass country anthems that won't be remembered next year. 

JESSIE MURPH - BLUE STRIPS

Oh, look, it's Jessie Murph again. This time, it's just her alone, which is 100 times worse than her being in a song with Koe Wetzel or Jelly Roll. This straight up sounds like shit, and I have no idea how anyone can listen to Jessie Murph for fun. This feels like a joke. Why does she have so many hits right now? Why is she allowed to have a career in music? I've lost all hope in music this year after all these terrible songs. I think I understand why so many hits this year were just the same songs from last year now. It's because 2025 literally gave us nothing new to listen to in pop music. Everyone is too depressed to make good music now, thanks, America. Thank God for indie music because if not, we'd have nothing new to listen to this year. Also, thank you Lady Gaga, for making one of the few great pop albums of the year. 

MORGAN WALLEN - I'M THE PROBLEM

Morgan Wallen and Jessie Murph are the worst things to happen to music in 2025, as they both have at least two songs on this list. This song is just depressing as Morgan whines about his ex-girlfriend and their messy relationship. In the song, Wallen questions his ex's taste in men by asking why she stuck around so long with him, putting up with his bullshit all the time. Wallen thinks his awful behavior could partially be blamed on her because she kept coming back to him despite the fact that she seems to think he's terrible and possibly has a drinking problem. The whole "if I'm so bad, then why do you keep coming back" thing is annoying too, as if people didn't struggle with leaving terrible relationships for actual good reasons. Besides the bad lyrics, the song itself is another boring Wallen song where the most interesting thing about it IS the bad lyrics. 

THE GOOD?

Okay, I wasn't being completely serious about all the pop music being terrible this year; there were a few songs I really liked. 

TAYLOR SWIFT - OPALITE

I'll admit I wasn't super into Taylor's new album "The Life of a Showgirl.", although it was nice to see her return to a more upbeat pop sound this year, as much as I enjoyed Folklore and Midnights. Opalite was a standout from the new album, as a straight-up catchy song with fun music and a memorable chorus. The song is about Taylor finding her own joy in life through the hard times and stress. It could also be about the happiness she found in her relationship with Kelce. The joy of the song is pretty contagious, which I think is why I enjoy it so much. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - TV OFF (w/ Lefty gunplay)

One of the few albums to really take off this year (it was released late 2024). It's Kendrick, so you expect greatness from him, and this album delivered on that. I love the energy of the track "TV OFF," as Kendrick spits awesome verses on the great production by DJ Mustard and... JACK ANTENOFF?!? Well, I didn't see that one coming. This is one of the more energetic tracks off of GNX, and I love it when Kendrick does these kinds of tracks. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - LUTHER (w/ SZA) 

Speaking of GNX, here's another great track from that album. This was the bigger hit as the duo of Kendrick and SZA always seems to equal a huge hit. This is a much slower track, but it's still just as good as the last one (TV OFF). It has a nice beat with some nice strings and piano carrying it on top of the usual heavy bass. 

SAJA BOYS - SODA POP

Just when I thought the days of seeing K-pop hits crossover to the USA were done, out comes one of the biggest hit movies of the year with multiple hit songs.  I don't know what to say, outside of that the song is extremely catchy and fun, and it's exactly what this year needed more of in the charts. Probably should have been the song of the summer, but instead we got "Ordinary". 

BAD BUNNY - DtMF

It was another big year for the Bad Bunny. Releasing a new album in the first week of the year was a smart move, as the album dominated the conversations when there weren't many other big albums so early in the year. That tied with him standing up against the crappy state of the USA and touring exclusively outside of the country, and of course, in Puerto Rico. Speaking of Puerto Rico, the song feels like a love letter to his home, family, friends, and island. It's that with a mix of nostalgia, good memories, maybe some regrets as well. 

CHAPELL ROAN - THE SUBWAY

Chappell released two new singles this year in "The Giver" and "The Subway." The first one wasn't the best, at least in my opinion; it felt like a step down from all the great music she made in the last two years.  The Subway, on the other hand, was much better. The song is all about the frustration after having your heart broken, those weeks/months after, where you can't stop thinking about the person with whom you broke it off, and everything reminds you of them. It captures that feeling well, and I like the idea of just Chapell just clamoring for the boring daily subway rides where she's not reminded of her ex. 

LADY GAGA - ABRACADABRA

I wasn't kidding when I thanked Lady Gaga earlier for making one of the best pop albums. Lady Gaga had her big comeback album after a 5-year gap between her last one in 2020. It really felt like Gaga returning to her big signature sound, and it was easily one of the best albums of the year, certainly the best pop album. It's a shame the only really big song from this album ended up being last year's single "Die With a Smile," because that song almost feels out of place with the rest of the album. I think "Abracadabra" is a much better representation of how fun her new album was. Only Gaga can write a chorus that sounds like gibberish and make it work. But if, for whatever reason, you haven't heard this album yet, please go listen to it. 

Best Songs (outside of Pop Charts)

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Twenty One Pilots - City Walls

PARTYOF2 - Feel Love

After - 300 dreams

Sam Fender - Rein Me In

The Aces - Gold Star Baby

Perfume Genius - No Front Teeth

Laufey - Tough Luck

JADE - Plastic Box

Wolf Alice - The Sofa

Best Albums 

Wolf Alice - The Clearing

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

JADE - That's Showbiz Baby!

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out

Laufey - A Matter of Time

Lady Gaga  - MAYHEM

Bad Suns - Accelerator

Kali Uchis - Sincerely, 

The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre

Djo - The Crux

Random "Awards"

Underrated Album of the Year: Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

Considering how big a star she is, I feel like this album wasn't really talked about much. While not her best album in my opinion, it was a big step up from her last release (Endless Summer Vacation). 

Overrated Album of the Year: Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

Overrated is probably too strong a word. The truth for me is that the album is just okay, but most people either see it as another masterpiece or the worst thing she's ever done. It's probably the only album I could have put as both overrated and underrated because of the reaction to it being so polarizing. It's certainly her weakest album in a while, but that doesn't automatically make it the worst thing in the world. On the other hand, it's Taylor, so this album still sold more than the Bible this year. That and every single song on the album was on the charts for multiple weeks. It probably deserves to be somewhere in the middle, so that's why I put it here. 

Worst AI song: We Are Charlie Kirk 

I'm not even going to name the artist because it's not really an artist, it's just AI. I mean, I know for a fact there are worse AI songs out there, but this one actually had some success on the music charts, which is just depressing. Even if you ignore the subject material, the song is terrible with the crappy AI vocals belting the chorus. 

Worst Trend: AI Music

Not that AI in music hasn't been used before 2025, but this year, it just really ramped up in quantity. Spotify has been seeing more and more AI artists and bands join its service and some of them actually get a good amount of streams. AI Art in general has been so toxic this year, with tons of people stealing art styles from real artists and trying to sell their computer-generated trash to the masses. Maybe actually try to learn music or art? Who wants to buy art that a computer stole from other artists? The fact that the answer is not zero people is depressing. 

Best Trend of the Year - Y2K

I'm sure it's just my nostalgia for that era, but I've been digging the whole Y2K aesthetic making a short comeback. Artists like Bad Suns, After, and Ninajirachi used it to create fun albums, among others. I'm sure it'll get tired in a short while, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. 

Worst Overall Artist of the Year - Morgan Wallen

For releasing one of the worst albums of the year, and making it nearly two hours long. Also, for having a bunch of hits this year from that terrible album. 

Best Overall Artist of the Year - Bad Bunny

For releasing one of the best albums of the year, and also not being afraid to take a stand. I guess with his insane levels of fame right now, he's in a good position to be able to take a stand against all the bullshit in this country. Deciding to not tour the USA because of ICE, and also putting on a bunch of shows in Puerto Rico, was a great move for him. All this leading up to what should be an insane Super Bowl performance in 2026, much like Kendrick at the last one. 

Also including a playlist of a bunch of songs I liked from 2025. Hope you had a great year despite everything, and if you found some great music not mentioned here, please send it my way.

Read More

Christianity and Trump Don't Mix

 The past year, I decided to start posting about more political topics on this here blog, something I never really thought I would do. I was growing increasingly frustrated with the way things were going in this country and how our current President (and all his friends) is abusing his power and hurting the lives of millions of Americans in the process. It just keeps getting worse as the months go by, and it feels like Trump will never actually see any kind of justice for all his abuse. There's something else that's been bothering me for years now, though, pretty much since Trump decided to run for President the first time he ran. That's how a lot of Christians in the USA decided that he was the one who was the best representative for them. 

It's not that weird that Christians in America would side with whoever was running in the Republican Party by default, as that party has aligned more with their beliefs for a long time now. It's strange how Christians and the church think of Trump as some special God-chosen politician that was destined to take the Presidency. It's also a big part of the rise of Christian Nationalists and how they seem more and more confident that the USA is going to turn into exactly what they want with Trump in charge. The reality probably is that Trump really doesn't care about any of that and is just using Christianity as a way to get more people to fall for his schtick and vote for him. Nothing about the way Trump lives or presents himself makes me think that he in any way cares about religion or Christianity as a concept or way of life. Here are some reasons why I believe that.

1. Greed

It's no secret that Trump loves money, which is obviously the easiest way to get to heaven, as Jesus said in the Bible: "Rich people can buy their way into heaven". Wait, no, he actually said that it's incredibly hard to get into heaven if you are rich, my bad. Ever since Trump became a prominent name in the media, he's made his whole image about his wealth and his businesses. He pretty much became the default image of the rich lifestyle in the '80s and '90s. He started countless businesses where he would sell any kind of product and just slap his name on it and call it a day. Trump Steaks, a Trump restaurant, a Trump College, even a Trump airline. Even recently, he and his wife made cryptocurrencies with their names on them that turned out to be pretty much just a pump and dump scheme. He even slapped his name on a Bible that's being sold for 100 dollars, or 1000 dollars if you want a signed copy. It's literally just the Bible, but it has the Declaration of Independence and song lyrics inside for two American anthems. You know Trump wouldn't put his name on a Bible if he wasn't making SOME money off of it. Also, the "God Bless the USA Bibles" were apparently being made in CHINA. Hilarious. Trump has a long history of ripping people off and screwing over people to make a buck, and it looks like that never actually changed. His whole presidency seems to be about doing that, too, with a lot of billionaires siding with Trump because he's trying to help them make even MORE money that they don't need. On top of him selling tons of merch like gold watches, guitars, Bibles, cologne, shoes, cell phones, and starting his own social media, most of these while he was President. 

2. Hate

One of the things Trump is known for is how bent out of shape he gets when talking about anyone he doesn't like. Trump is terrible at showing any restraint when he gets annoyed at someone, or when he gets a chance to talk bad about someone, he usually takes it. He's notorious for coming up with mean nicknames for people he doesn't like; there's literally an entire Wikipedia page with just all the nicknames he uses. Sometimes it goes further than that, though, like recently at Charlie Kirk's memorial, he decided to spew hate against the "Radical Left." Even more recently, he posted that he believes some Democrats should be punished with death after they released a video telling active military to refuse illegal orders. Let's not forget the countless times he's had a chance to separate himself from hate groups in the USA, but he always found a way to dodge it. "There are very fine people on both sides," he said. He even recently was rude to a reporter who asked him a very reasonable question, by telling her to "quiet piggy". Guy clearly has no respect for anyone outside of his inner circle, or that he feels he can get something from. You know, like a Christian man is supposed to be. 

3. Sexism

There was a huge case that Trump lost recently, which involved his affair with a porn star who was paid to keep that affair quiet. This all happened just after Trump's wife had just given birth, mind you. I mean, having an affair is bad enough, but paying a bunch of money to keep it secret because you don't want it to affect your upcoming election is insane. Obviously, he knew a lot of his voters were Republicans, and a lot of them are probably Christians who would really dislike those actions. Trump just seems like a sexist man in general, but a lot of Christians still think women belong in the kitchen, so sexism probably isn't too much of a problem for those types of Christians. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians probably just blame the porn star he slept with and let Trump off the hook. Look, I'm not saying people are not allowed to make mistakes; everybody does, and it's normal. But Trump has never shown any kind of remorse or growth from these mistakes, nor has he asked for forgiveness or admitted fault, because to a man like him, this is a sign of weakness. Everyone around him needs to please him, and if they don't, then his wish is to make them please him or get rid of them. That's probably why he said that infamous line years ago, "grab them by the ****." It's because he has no shame, and he thinks his power and money mean he can do whatever he wants to, and it'll be fine. Not the first President to think that, let's be fair. Honestly, his getting away with almost every bad thing he does probably empowers him to keep doing it. Mind you, he won the election even after people heard him say that. Then won another election after the Jan 6 riots, so maybe he's not completely wrong in thinking he can get away with everything, because he kind of has to this point. 

4. Pride

I mean, he might be one of the most prideful men in the whole world. It goes with some of the things I mentioned before about him never admitting fault for anything he does wrong. Never saying sorry and always being right, even when he's just straight up lying to everyone. The man thinks he's the greatest thing to happen to this country, even while he's actively making things worse for the average American. Remember when Trump got mad at a Bishop when she pleaded with him to be kinder to immigrants and other marginalized people? Is that how a man of God should behave when receiving a plea? It's not like she was telling him off or trying to shame him; it was a simple plea on behalf of people Trump was planning to go after in his second term. Anytime anyone confronts him and calls out his lies, he just lies some more or starts name-calling as a defence. When his lies get people hurt or cause trouble, he still doesn't admit fault or even correct himself. Like when he lied about Haitians in Ohio eating their neighbors' cats and dogs, a really stupid lie that he never apologized for. This is just one example of many. 

I also want to bring up that horrible photoshoot he had, where he was holding a Bible in front of a church awkwardly, like it was the first time he'd touched a book. Doing this photoshoot during the protests that were happening after the unjust murder of George Floyd was just another bizarre moment in this man's Presidency. It felt like an obvious moment of pandering to Christians, and I think a lot of them saw right through it, but unfortunately, not all of them. 

What other qualities can a man of God, such as Trump, show in his life? Is the greed, hate, sexism, and pride not enough? Is the violence towards immigrants in this country similar to how Jesus would treat outsiders? Is helping the rich get richer and the poor struggle more something Jesus would be proud of? Is selling a Bible for way too much money because it has your name on it the right move for a man with as much power and money as Trump already has? What do you do with your position of power, but spread hate throughout the country as your message of "empathy is for the weak" rings across the nation. 

Look, American Christianity has a lot of problems. I'm not here to say that being a Christian is bad or that all Christians are like Trump and Charlie Kirk because that's not true either. There are Christian people in positions of power out there who don't spread messages of hate or let greed make most of their choices in life. I'm just talking about Trump and his circle here, and all the Christians who decided to join his bandwagon and live more like him and his beliefs. I mean, even Joe Biden was a better representation of what an actual President who is Christian should behave like. Anyway, the point of this post is to say that Trump isn't a Christian, and I'm pretty sure even he would probably admit that if he were ever honest. But really, it just confuses me why so many Christians still support him despite all the clear signs that he's a terrible person who doesn't care about what God even thinks of him. Guy probably thinks Jesus would bow down to him because he's the President of the USA. 

Empathy is good

Racism needs to die

Billionaires don't need even more money

Immigrants aren't all violent drug-dealing criminals, and they helped make this country great

And yes, not all Christians are Trump-loving weirdos. I think more people are waking up from this Trump obsession as they see more and more broken promises from him. But this is just how I feel. At the end of the day, how you feel about all of this is up to you.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-democrats-death-penalty-sedition-military-orders-rcna245003

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/09/nx-s1-5252582/trump-supreme-court-appeal-sentencing

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-demands-apology-after-bishop-asked-him-to-have-mercy-on-lgbtq-people-and-migrants

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-amplifies-false-racist-rumor-about-ohios-haitian-immigrants-in-debate

Read More

Worst Songs of the 2020s (SO FAR)

Living in the year 2025 has been ROUGH. I mean, I think anyone living in America can feel that right now, unless you happen to be a billionaire. If you are a billionaire, what are you even doing reading this blog? Shouldn't you be doing rich people stuff, like taking advantage of the lower classes? Jokes aside, I've been really enjoying the music this year, especially outside of the pop charts. The reality is that the pop charts are actually pretty stale right now, and it's been so easy to just avoid all that music. I actually recently made a post of my favorite songs of the decade so far, so if you want some new music to check out, you can read that. This here will be all about hate. All the terrible music we've gotten over the last 5 years (almost 6 now). Here I will list my least favorite songs of the decade so far, songs that I just truly hate.. for fun. 

THE TOP 15 WORST SONGS OF THE 2020s... SO FAR

Here are a few songs that almost made the list before I start the actual list.

ALEX WARREN - ORDINARY

This could potentially be one of the most boring songs of the decade; it's certainly the most boring song of the year so far. Only time will tell how much I will hate this song in the future, but it might be too early to put it on this list, as it's only been around a few months. Feels like an eternity at this point. Such a forgettable song, the fact that this was the biggest song of the summer shows how bad this year has been for hit songs. 

WALKER HAYES - FANCY LIKE

Remember that Applebee's song from a few years ago? Yeah, I didn't either until I was making this list. It still sucks, but it's at least a so bad it's almost good kind of suck. That being said, it's still a dumb song that's basically just made for that one commercial, and listening to it outside of that is just pointless. 

LIL DICKY - MR.MCADAMS

God, I really hate Lil Dicky's music. His 2024 album "Penith" was one of the worst things I've ever heard, but the only reason I'm not putting this song on the list is that it wasn't even a hit song. It was sorta viral for the music video and the name-dropping of famous actor Rachel McAdams, but outside of that, not much else. Lil Dicky is so unfunny it's actually painful to listen to. Not even the worst track on the album, as he has an almost 9-minute joke song about him going to jail for accidentally exposing himself to minors.

15. EMINEM - HOUDINI (2024)

One last ride for Slim Shady, and it was pretty freakin bad. This song was everything that's wrong with recent Eminem albums, as it features outdated jokes and references that aren't nearly as funny as Eminem thinks they are. I was so excited to get one last album with the Slim Shady characters, and it really seemed like it was going to be a nice farewell to an iconic part of Eminem's career. Instead, it just highlighted all of Em's flaws from the last 10 years of his music career. So disappointing. 

14. SELENA GOMEZ - LOSE YOU TO LOVE ME (2020)

Remember when I said the song "Ordinary" could potentially be one of the most boring songs of the decade? Well, this is one of the songs that's going to be competing with for that title. Selena Gomez has always been someone who I feel wastes a lot of her talent by making the worst possible songs that she can't pull off. This song is meant to be an emotional story of a person who is going through a tough time in her love life, but it doesn't do a good job at actually BEING emotional. Instead, it feels like a lifeless slog going through the motions. 

13. Tekashi 69 / Nicki Minaj - TROLLZ (2020)

When this song first came out, I was so annoyed by Nicky Minaj's feature on this song. Why waste your talent working with Tekashi 69? The years have not been kind to Nicki, though, as she keeps taking loss after loss in the music industry and in real life. She recently decided to join the Trump bandwagon, so that's how desperate she is for any kind of relevance. The worst part about this song was that it was actually a number one hit, the only one for Tekashi 69. We were so close to just not having this guy have a big hit before he disappeared. The song is your typical trash with the terrible lyrics and annoying vocals by 69. Nicki joins with her own verse, and it's lackluster. Still the best part of the song, mind you, but that's not hard to accomplish on a Tekashi 69 song. Thankfully his last hurrah before going away. 

12. Oliver Tree - Miss You (2023)

Man, I just never understood all the love that this dude gets. I can't stand most of his music, and this song is one of his most annoying. The stupid chipmunk vocal effect makes this song impossible to listen to, not that everything else in the song is much better. A loud mess of a song that honestly gives me a headache the longer I listen to it. I cut it off after a minute, that's as long as I can take it. Well, unless the second half of the song somehow turns into a masterpiece, I'll never know. It's Oliver Tree, so that's not even possible. 

11. Jelly Roll / Dustin Lynch - Chevrolet (2024)

COUNTRY SONG ABOUT TRUCKS! COUNTRY SONG ABOUT TRUCKS! TRUUUUCKS!!!

Did you guys know that trucks are a staple of country songs? Not like there's been like 10 hit songs in the last few years about trucks. In fact, this isn't even the last song about trucks on the list. There's a worse truck song coming up soon. As for this one, well, it's pretty much a lazy sample of the classic song "Drift Away" but with some of the lyrics changed to make it about a Chevi. It's gotta be American-made, dude, we ain't got time for no Japanese trucks. Jelly Roll is a talented singer, but man, does he love to make some of the worst songs to hit the charts in the last few years. Giving Morgan Wallen a run for his money. As for Dustin Lynch, well, he's here too, I guess? I mean, I wouldn't have been able to remember his name if you had a gun to my head and asked me. Which is also the only way I'd get into a Chevi truck. 

THE TOP 10. Gayle - abcdefu (2021)

An edgy teen girl swears a lot, and it becomes a TikTok sensation. The main appeal of this song is the lead-up to the chorus, where Gayle says the ABCs, but ends when it gets to F so she can say FU. U does not go after F, but how else would she tell her ex to "fuck off"? The transition from the verse to the alphabet is just awkward, and it feels forced. The song is just overall uninteresting, with the most basic music possible. The lyrics aren't as clever as they seem to think they are, as they are mostly generic breakup lyrics that aren't really about anything specific enough, but I guess that's the point when you want as many people to relate to it as possible. To be fair, this song was written by a teenager FOR teenagers, so that's why it's not too high on the list. Teenagers think that saying "fuck" a lot is the edgiest thing you could ever do, this coming from a person who also thought that back in the day. Hm, maybe I'm starting to understand this song a little more. It also just annoys me how she disses her ex for having a job and a crappy car. I'm sure there are better reasons to diss someone, not just the fact that they work hard for the little they have. 

9. AJR - Bang! (2021)

One of the most hated bands of the last 10 years, and rightfully so. AJR is just one of those bands that make tons of mediocre music and still somehow have found a lot of popularity. I don't think this is their worst song, but it was one of their biggest hits, and that's why it's on this list. Loud and annoying is the signature sound of AJR, complete with nonsense lyrics. It's just a sound I could never get behind, as it just feels like it's trying too hard to sound big and epic with all the different instruments being used. Just because your sound is big and bold doesn't automatically make it good; it still has to make sense together, and this doesn't. The song just feels like it's missing the energy it should have for a song called "Bang!". See Jessie J's "Bang Bang" to see how to make a song with an actual "Bang!". 

8. Maroon 5 - Memories (2021)

(Adam Levine staring at you like he's about to eat you)

What's worse than a loud and annoying song? A boring, lifeless song with zero originality. The melody is obviously taken straight from the classical song "Pachelbel's Canon in D", which is often used at weddings. I mean, that's lazy enough, but the rest of the song is so damn boring as the song stays at the same level the whole time with no interesting chorus or bridge. I mean, this is Maroon 5; they haven't done anything groundbreaking in about a decade now. Just going through the motions still gets them hits. That being said, they did release a new album this year, and it hasn't had any big hits yet, so maybe the world is finally moving on from this band. It's annoying because I recently went back to their second album, and it still had a lot of solid songs on it; clearly, the band is capable of making interesting or at least fun music. 

7. David Guetta - Baby Don't Hurt Me (2023)

 My least favorite song of the year 2023... or at least it was at the time I wrote my list at the end of 2023. David Guetta has recently started sampling popular songs from back in the day to get easy hits. This time, he used the popular club hit "What Is Love" from the 90s. The problem is that it really doesn't do anything that is different than the original, and the few things it changes, it does significantly worse. Anne-Marie completely butchers the iconic chorus and comes nowhere near Haddaway's levels of singing. I don't understand why Guetta didn't just get Haddaway to sing the chorus or even just use the original chorus as part of the sample. Turning a classic club hit into just a worse version of a modern-day pop song makes no sense at all. Just play the original from the 90s at that point, it's still an awesome song, and I'm sure most people would love to dance to it. Well, hopefully Haddaway made some money from this at least. 

6. Morgan Wallen - I'm The Problem (2024)

YAWN. What the hell happened to this guy? In the late 2010's Wallen was a fast-rising star in the country scene, but he really broke out in 2021 with his double album "Dangerous". He went from a pretty popular country artist to a megastar in the country scene and even outside of it. That is, until he was caught saying racist slurs, and it felt like his career was in danger of exploding. What actually happened was that he somehow became an even bigger star after that. I should mention he did apologize for the slurs. But this led to his music going into a more modern pop country sound with a lot more hip-hop elements. His music was trending in that direction in some of his songs, but after 2021, he went full in on that sound. His mega hit "Last Night" was about as boring as a country song can be in modern day. Somehow it kept getting worse as he released an album last year called "I'm The Problem" that was almost two hours long. Wallen really doesn't have enough good ideas to make a full album these days, but a double album from him is just insane. The title track, "I'm the Problem," is a whiny song where Morgan just blames his partner for sticking around, even though he's such an awful person. It's such a dumb, gross song, where Morgan just sounds like a piece of shit who doesn't understand how emotions work. Trash.

5. HARDY - TRUCK BED (2023)

Another douchy country song from another whiny dude bro. This time, Hardy sings about being drunk and coming home late, even though his girl told him to come home instead of going to the bar. Fed up with his bullshit, she tells him to sleep outside, and he uses his truck bed as a... bed. Later, he decides to shoot her because he woke up feeling bad after sleeping outside on his truck. Or so the lyrics imply anyway. Seems like a lovely guy, really. He and Morgan Wallen should write a relationship advice book together. Anyway, this song isn't good even if you can somehow ignore the dumbass lyrics. Music is pretty generic rock that would have been popular like 25 years ago, maybe. 

4. Justin Bieber - Yummy (2020)

This song literally came out in the first week of 2020. Starting the decade off in the worst possible way. Seeing as how the rest of that year turned out, maybe it was a sign all along. Justin Bieber's first album in 5 years ended up being a huge letdown, especially since it was following probably his best album at that point (2015's Purpose). I don't know how anyone who worked with Bieber let this happen. Did no one in the studio tell him how bad this song was, or was everyone just too afraid to be honest with him? The song was still a hit, but it didn't reach number one, and it slipped off the charts a lot faster than his other big songs. The funniest part of this song was Bieber posting on his socials, telling fans to leave the song playing on repeat while they sleep to boost its numbers. It didn't work, as the song was not a number one hit, rightfully so. It seemed like the whole point of this song was for it to go viral with the music video and the "hilarious" use of the word yummy. It wasn't funny, and the song wasn't good enough to become a viral hit outside of the first few weeks, where people made fun of it for how bad it was. 

3. Tones and I - Dance Monkey (2019/2020)

I almost feel bad putting this song on this list because of how much hate it already gets. The thing is, this song is so frustratingly bad, I have to put it here. The vocals are so incredibly annoying and really make it hard to get through this song. I honestly can't get through it. Every time I try to listen, I cannot finish the song. That's pretty much the reason I have to put it on the list and why it's so high. Not that the song is that great outside of the vocals anyway. I do think the lyrics are pretty good at least, and the message of the song is actually good, but it's just impossible to listen to it. Honestly, I thought there wouldn't be another song that could annoy me as much as this one did with its vocals. But then a new contender arrived...

2. Jessie Murph - Wild Ones ft. Jelly Roll (2024)

Congratulations, Jessie Murph, you have the worst vocals of the 2020s! For now. I don't know why, but Jessie Murphs' twangy country vocals just annoy me to death. It doesn't help that the song itself is so generic and uninteresting that it could literally be made by any pop country artist in the 2020s. The only thing that could make this worse is a Morgan Wallen feature, but instead, we get Jelly Roll. Honestly, the only decent part of this song IS Jellly Roll, and it's not even that good. Probably only good because it means Jessie Murph isn't singing anymore. I don't know at this point. I'm just getting so tired of these boring ass country songs that have no energy to them. 

1. Jason Aldean - Try That In A Small Town (2023)

(Not posting the video to this garbage song)

Jason Aldean's face looks like he's always on the verge of crying. Look, I talked a lot about this song on my worst of 2023 list, and I really don't want to go over everything wrong with this song again. It's a stupid song that was clearly trying to pander heavily to the MAGA crowd (AKA racists) at a time when that message was really selling. Unfortunately, it worked like a charm for Jason, as the song made its way to number one on the charts for a week or two. The funny thing is, this song isn't even one of his most listened to songs anymore. It's not even top 10 on his Spotify page. That's because it's a trash song. Anyway, I don't want to talk about this song anymore, but it deserves to be on this list. Congrats, Jason Aldean, you made my least favorite song of the decade. It's going to be hard to beat this one. 

Read More

Ranking Streaming Services by How Much I Hate Them (2025 Edition)

 I made a post almost two years ago now where I ranked the major streaming services based on how much I hate them. It's actually changed a lot in just two years, not just my opinion, but prices and content have too. I thought it would be a good idea to check in on the services, see how much they cost now and how much they actually have to offer overall. 

Last time I did this, I found that owning all the major streaming services would cost around 64$ a month if you get the lowest tiers on all of them and about 106$ to get them all ad-free. Let's see how that's changed in two years.

Netflix - $8 lowest tier, $18-$25 for no ads and 4K support.

Hulu - $12 lower tier, $19 no ads

Disney+ - $12 lowest tier, $19 no ads (Hulu/HBO/Disney bundle 20$/33$)

Amazon - $9 lowest tier, $12 no ads

HBO Max - $11 lowest tier, $18.50-$23 for no ads

Peacock - $11 lowest tier, 17$ for no ads (Apple TV bundle $15/$20)

Paramount+ - $8 lowest tier, $13 for no ads (includes Showtime)

Apple TV+ - $13 (Peacock Bundle $15/$20)

That would be 65 dollars a month to get all of these in the lowest tier (if you use their bundle offers). Without the bundles, it's 84 dollars a month. I think it's fair to try to just get the bundle offer because it actually saves a lot of money there. It's actually only a dollar more than it was two years ago, thanks to those bundles.

On the no-ads side of things, you would be paying 96 dollars a month by using the bundles and 117 dollars without the bundles. It's actually 10 dollars less than two years ago with those bundles, so again, it's worth it to get those if you want all of these services. But this does not include the other, more niche services like Crunchyroll for anime or the new ESPN service that's about 30 dollars a month for sports. 

Well, with the prices out of the way, what do these services have to offer these days? I'll rank them here by how much I hate them.

Don't Hate? - Apple TV

This is still by far the best service for original content. Though that 3-dollar price increase honestly hurts it a lot, because Apple TV does not have the same content library that all the other services have. This service is strictly Apple TV exclusives and does not have any other movies or shows that aren't produced by Apple itself. While the shows they make are some of the best out there, their movies aren't as good, usually, and often fall flat (with the exception of the awesome F1 movie this summer). Apple is still producing some amazing shows, and it looks like they have plenty of great content coming in the next few years, so that's why I can't hate on this service too much, despite the gross price increase. 

Annoys Me - Netflix

It's funny, Netflix has grown on me a lot over the last two years, with some fantastic original content on top of the giant library of movies and shows they rotate every month. Again, the price increase sucks, but I can literally say that about every service on this list, so I can't really keep using that as a reason one service sucks more than the other. The thing about Netflix that always annoyed me was how they just spew out content on a weekly basis, and it's honestly more bad than good. Netflix was using quantity over quality in their content instead of actually making sure all the content was actually worth watching. This is still a problem, but one I've gotten better at ignoring since they actually do have really good originals in the last few years on top of the insane amount of choices for third-party movies and shows. That alone kind of makes this a must-have service. Though I have to deduct points for making me excited about The Electric State, only for it to be one of the biggest disappointments ever. 

Starting to Hate - HBO Max

A service that seems to keep getting more and more annoying is HBO Max. I mean, the new leadership and all the mergers have made this service a bit of a mess. Really, Warner Bros in general is a huge mess. There's still some fantastic shows on here, like the new Welcome to Derry and Peacemaker, but the HBO name just doesn't hold the same weight it used to. Still, it's nice to have the big Warner Bros library and all the new releases go from the theater to HBO Max in just a few months. 

Mild Hate - Amazon Prime Video

Here's a service that's been drying up on good original content for the last few years. Still got some decent shows like the recent Gen V season and the surprise hit Fallout show. Where they've been failing pretty hard these last two years is more on the movie side of things; there have been some stinkers. The recent War of the Worlds reboot was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while, and the new Chris Pratt movie called Mercy looks awful, too. But this service still has a solid collection of movies from other studios and that alone can make it worth keeping around (especially if it's included in your Amazon Prime account anyway). 

Don't Care Enough to Hate - Disney+

Ah, here's a service I barely use. Honestly, over the last two years, I feel like I've barely even wanted to get on this app because there's just not much here for me. I grow tired of all the Marvel and Star Wars shows being dumped onto this service every year, with not much else happening. I mean, the only reason to get this app is if you have kids or are obsessed with Disney properties, because it doesn't really have much else to offer. 

Shouldn't Hate, but I Do - Hulu

It's actually frustrating how bad Hulu is as an app, because they actually have some good original content. This is more about how bad their interface is and how bad it is to watch anything on this app. I have so many problems just launching the app, as it sometimes takes forever to log in and gets stuck on the home screen with a bunch of blank images where the shows/movies should be. That on top of having the most/longest ads of any streaming service, just makes me hate watching anything on this app. It suck because they actually have some great shows like Shogun, Paradise, Only Murders in the Building, and Alien Earth. So this has more to do with the actual app/interface than it does the content they put out, but it's incredibly annoying. 

You Are Boring, and I Hate You - Peacock

Outside of the Universal movie library, I feel like Peacock just doesn't have much to offer in original content. I mean, their most anticipated show of the year, The Paper, which was the big follow-up to The Office, was just fine. If your most hyped show ends up just being a very mediocre show, that's a problem. Outside of being able to watch new Universal movies a few months after they leave theaters, I don't know what else to really use this for. Even one of their big selling points, which was having a WWE partnership, is now over as ESPN took that from them. Though I will say they recently started streaming NBA games on Peacock, so maybe things can turn around. 

Oh, You Still Exist? - Paramount PLUS

Yeah, I don't use this service much. Honestly, the only reason I still use this app is to watch Champions League games, but other than that, there's not much else to see. None of their original content really calls out to me, especially since they are competing with the other 7 services and just don't have anything that looks that great. Something just seems to be lacking here; even with all the Paramount movies they have to watch, it still feels like the app needs more. It just feels like this is clearly the app that's in last place here, and they don't really have that one show that gets everyone talking. They are desperately missing a show like Stranger Things, The Boys, Shogun, Peacemaker, something that people are talking about and watching on a weekly basis together. Tulsa King just ain't gonna cut it. 

Read More

Our President is Terrible (Part 3)

 It's been 6 whole months since my last post about the President... man, time goes by too fast. A lot has happened since then, so I thought it would be "fun" to see all the dumb things he's been doing in that time. It's a lot. Honestly, it's so much that even thinking about writing this has exhausted me. It's something I want to keep doing anyway, because I feel like it's important to not forget everything he's doing to this country and the people living in it. He does so many negative things, it's actually hard to remember everything. Anyway, here's what's been going on. 

Last time I wrote this, it was a bit profane. Okay, maybe more than a bit, but this time I'd like to try to keep it a bit more calm and collected. Don't want to seem like I'm just angrily posting, and let that take away from the seriousness of some of this stuff. But I guess sometimes you just have to laugh at the stupidity of this timeline. Not to say I won't make some jokes here and there, because some of this stuff is still so ridiculous, you can't help but make jokes. 

1. His "Friend" Charlie Kirk

Okay, I didn't really want to start off with the most serious one here, but since it's still recent and in everyone's minds, I guess it's a good idea to write about it. First things first, I don't believe in violence of any kind, and in fact, I really hate violence in general outside of fictional material. Look, this country has had problems with gun violence for decades now, and it doesn't seem like that's ever going to change because of the way the government always just tries to move on as quickly as possible from these types of tragedies. From back in the day with Columbine to more recently here with Kirk and the school shooting in Colorado, it just keeps happening. It's incredibly frustrating how nothing will ever be enough to actually see change in this country, and maybe actually try to fix a problem that seems never-ending. But I guess the idea of people not being able to have their precious guns is more important than kids dying or a husband being shot in front of his loved ones. It's a problem that goes back even before Trump, but of course, Trump has to put a new twist on it to make it somehow more frustrating. 

Trump wasted no time using Kirk's death as a reason to put the blame on the left and put even more tension between the two major parties. Even before we knew anything about the killer and any kind of motivation, he was already trying to blame the "radical left". In a very strange video, it looked like they used some AI filters on him while he spoke. It should've been a time where the President could have tried to bring people together and given a message about why political violence is wrong and why gun violence needs to stop, but instead, he used it to add to the tensions between the left and right. It's honestly scary to think about how this type of violence could escalate with the people in power using their words to blame instead of actually trying to solve anything. I mean, Trump is the last person who would actually try to make changes to fix this problem. Even more annoying was when he decided to use Kirk's memorial service as another chance to spew his hatred towards the "radical left." If Kirk was truly Trump's friend, he seems to be perfectly okay with using his friend's assassination as just another reason to make things worse for everyone. No lessons were learned yet again, and the country, no doubt, will keep seeing this type of violence for years to come.

There's also a whole thing here about how easy it was to be able to just watch a man die on video, which could lead to a whole topic about social media and how it's affecting us. That's way too much for me to get into, but it's just an interesting/scary part of all this. 

2. His Weird UN Speech

Trump's claim that he ended 7 wars in a recent UN speech was interesting. Interesting because I don't know where he's getting that number from. Most of the conflicts he was referring to either have not actually ended, did not actually need his help to end, or weren't even at war to begin with. Honestly, the best part of the whole event was Trump getting on an escalator, and it immediately stopped working. Dude probably needs to walk up some stairs for the sake of his health anyway. But, yeah, this was just another one of those Trump lies to try to make himself look a lot better than he actually is. It was embarrassing, and every other country must think we are a joke with this guy in charge. They would be correct. It doesn't help that his politics are actively pissing off a lot of our allies and important trade partners. His strange obsession with getting a Peace Prize probably just has to do with being jealous of all the other presidents that won one. 

3. He'll Just Send the National Guard

One of Trump's new obsessions is sending troops to American cities he doesn't like to "stop crime". This is combined with ICE going to different cities to round up all the "illegals". I honestly have no idea what he's even trying to do with this whole tactic because it doesn't seem like a good use of resources, on top of the fact that it's most likely not going to do much except annoy the citizens of whatever city he's sending the troops to. It feels like every idea this guy has is dumber than the last and it's just frustrating watching this guy pretend to actually be changing anything in this country for the better with all his stupid tactics and all the unqualified people he surrounds himself with just praising him because they want to keep their jobs. 

4. Free Speech?! No Thanks.

Something Trump has been trying to do recently is get all the late-night shows cancelled. Well, the ones that make fun of him and call him out on his terrible politics anyway. First it was Colbert and then it was Jimmy Kimmel, at least for a few days anyway. Look, I'm not a big fan of either of those guys, mostly because I just don't really care for the late-night talk show format. That being said, to cancel a show just because they are making fun of you is so lame and dangerous to our country. We should be allowed to criticize the President. It's something that's a big part of our culture and what makes America great. In other countries, criticizing the president or leader could get you off air, but in some cases, even worse things like jail time or execution aren't out of the question. It starts like this, with getting TV personalities off the air after they disagree with you. If that's allowed, it will escalate to much darker things, and that's something we just can't let happen. The last thing we need is every channel on TV to just praise Trump and be too afraid to call him out, or any leaders, not just him. We have to keep calling out Trump on his garbage politics; being silent just isn't an option anymore. That goes for all politicians; everyone needs to be held accountable for the choices they make that affect our lives here, especially when so many of us are struggling because of Trump's presidency. 

5. Destroying the White House 

Just recently, Trump started his project on the new ballroom that's going to replace the old East Wing of the White House. This is one of the dumber things he's done, but not exactly the worst, considering this might not exactly affect most Americans. Well, I guess it depends on where the money to build this is coming from, really. This whole thing is just another one of those Trump things where he's trying to take as much attention as possible in the news, probably as a distraction from the actual terrible things he's been doing. This is still so incredibly lame of him, as no one really wanted this outside of him, and he's not even going to be in the White House in about 3 years anyway. All the history of that building is gone now for some Trump vanity project, which will no doubt be covered in gold like everything he has built. Dude really thinks gold is the greatest design choice, because it represents wealth in the most obvious, boring way possible. 

6. 2020 Was Stolen, Seriously, He Never Lies

Something really annoying about Trump is how he just can't let go of his loss in the 2020 election. He will go to his grave lying about this and claiming that he actually won. Just the other day, he was crying about it and claiming there's no way Biden could have gotten as many votes as he did, even more than Obama in certain states. Dude, Biden beat you in almost every swing state, including Arizona, which everyone thought for sure Trump would win. Can't forget that this all led to the January 6 riots that should have eventually made it impossible for you to even run for president again. If you want to complain about cheaters and rigged elections, maybe look at your own presidency and how often you break the rules and get away with it. You should be in jail, yet you are the president instead. Trump is so obsessed with getting revenge on any person who's ever "wronged" him or called him out. Grow up. 

7. 230 Million Dollars? Sure, Why Not? 

Taking 230 million dollars from American taxpayers? Sounds like a joke, but apparently it's actually something that could happen after Trump demanded the money from the DoJ as money for the damages inflicted upon him during investigations into his estate. Obviously, this is just a disgusting move from a President who keeps somehow doing worse and worse things as the year goes on. The money would be coming from taxpayers if this does somehow happen, which just makes this so much more disgusting. I keep asking myself how things could get worse, and the answers just keep flying in every week. He stated that when he gets the money, he plans to donate all to charity anyway, but I'm sure it's not going to be that easy. I mean, even if he actually does donate it to a legit charity, he should never have had this money to begin with. 

8. Time Magazine Cover

The new Time magazine cover with Trump was revealed recently. I must admit, it brought a tear to my eye because of how hard I laughed. Trump looks like a turtle who was forced to wear a suit over his shell in the picture. The lighting also makes him look very bald, as it makes his bad haircut look almost invisible in the shining sun. Of course, he was very upset about a picture of himself, claiming he looked like an old man's ball sack in it. Okay, fine, he didn't actually say that, but it wouldn't be a bad comparison if he did. 

9. The Third Term

Trump is still playing around with the idea of running for a third term. He kind of plays it off as a joke, but you know deep down he's serious and really wants this to happen. It's a scary thought, and with how messed up everything is right now, part of me thinks it could happen. The reality is it can't and won't happen, and even Trump and all he's gotten away with could never get away with this one. Nobody wants this to happen, even a lot of his supporters, I think, don't like this idea. I guess maybe there's fear that JD Vance just won't cut it as a true replacement for Trump, as he's just not as liked and doesn't have the same loyalties as Trump. I wonder just how a man who's going to be in his 80s and looks like he isn't in the best health could even run another 4 years after these next 3 that he still has to finish. 

8. JD Vance's Racist "Kids"

A few weeks ago, a text chat filled with "young" Republicans was leaked. It was full of gross racism against pretty much all minorities and, of course, praise for Hitler on top of that. JD Vance quickly responded afterwards in an interview, trying to downplay it as just a bunch of kids joking around, and it shouldn't be taken seriously. I know kids can be edgy and annoying, usually more online, where they can hide their identities, but this is not that. One, it was a way more disgusting type of racism that just went way too far to be considered "joking around," and two... the people on the text chain weren't actually kids. No, they were in fact adults, many of whom are in positions of power in the Republican party, including a sitting state senator. Clearly, JD Vance is trying his best to lie and make it seem like it's not a problem, but if people in positions of power are talking the way these people text in private, then we have a clear problem here. Stop giving these racists positions of power. Have some consequences for people's actions for once. 

There are a lot of things I know I'm missing from the last 6 months, but it's honestly hard to keep up with them when something new happens every few days. I just want to remember these important moments because with how much is happening, a lot of these things will probably be forgotten, which is probably what he wants to happen. I mean, I didn't even mention the whole Epstein thing, mostly because it's so much that I can't even wrap my head around it. Again, probably what he wants most people to do is forget about that stuff. Anyway, Included some articles below if you want to read a little more about these things. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/world/trump-un-seven-wars.html

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-2020-election-defeat-rcna240257

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/jd-vance-dismisses-bipartisan-outrage-over-racist-and-offensive-young-republican-group-chat

https://time.com/7318661/jimmy-kimmel-cancelled-trump-fired-colbert/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-justice-dept-for-230-million-claims-past-criminal-cases/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/article/poll-americans-disapprove-of-trumps-white-house-ballroom-project--and-east-wing-demolition--by-a-more-than-2-to-1-margin-155640454.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2dnk0ee6pyo

Read More

2025 Summer music: The Death of Pop

It's been over a year since I've made one of these posts where I listen to and review the top songs in the USA according to Billboard. Honestly, the main reason I haven't is cause a lot of the pop music trends of the last year have been so stale, and it just feels like pop music has been stuck in a standstill for ages now. It so desperately needs new blood to come and give it a big push this year, especially in the middle of the summer, where we usually get big pop hits to celebrate the season. This year, the big summer song is... Ordinary by Alex Warren? I guess I'll get to my feelings on that in a second, but first, I just want to point out that a lot of the hits in the top 10 aren't even from this year but from last year or older. One song in particular is from 2023 and has been on the charts for what feels like two years straight. Let's just get into this.

1. Alex Warren - Ordinary

So this is the big hit we get for 2025? A song that sounds like something that would have been a hit 14 years ago. The big hit song of the summer is a slow and boring song that sounds like it would've been outdated six years ago. We go from Sarbina Carpenter's "Espresso" last year to this boring ass song. It's times like these that I feel like I just don't understand what people are looking for in music these days. Do people just want the most generic thing possible? Is this because it's just an overused song on TikTok or because people actually like this? I just don't understand. Nothing about this sounds special or unique; it's not even that catchy. Can we just bring back Imagine Dragons instead? I know they get a lot of hate now, but at least their singer, Dan Reynolds, has a unique and passionate voice. Please, god, let this be a one-hit wonder. 

2. Morgan Wallen - What I Want w/ Tate McRae

I must admit I still haven't heard a single Tate McRae song in my life. Unfortunately, I HAVE heard plenty of Morgan Wallen songs in the last 5 years. Yeah, this song is somehow worse than a lot of his other recent hits. Again, Wallen returns to his lazy ass lyrics and boring production with the overused generic hip-hop beats over acoustic guitar to give it the slightest country sound. It's so damn boring and it just proves to me that Wallen couldn't care less about actually putting out anything that takes effort, knowing full well this trash is enough to get him hits now. Tate McRae is in this song too. That's about all I can say about her, as she provides nothing of note here.

3. Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild 

Why does the intro to this song sound like Chapell Roans' "Good Luck, Babe"? Couldn't wait a full year before ripping that song off? Yeah, this song sounds a lot like it's trying to be a Chapell Roan song with a Sabrina Carpenter chorus. Honestly, though, there are worse things to do than rip off Chapell Roan, and this song isn't terrible by any means. I mean, it's nowhere near as good as her last two mega hits in "Espresso" and "Please Please Please", but those are hard songs to live up to. It's just missing something, like maybe a better pre-chorus. The chorus itself is just fine, catchy enough on its own, but not enough to push this song into more than just okay. Pretty disappointing considering what she did just last year. Still a solid bop. 

4. Morgan Wallen - Just In Case

The second song on the list from Wallen. I didn't mention that these hits are from his new album "I'm the Problem" (how self-aware), which is yet another double album that clocks in just under two hours. This dude can't just release a 40-minute LP like a normal pop artist; every album has to be a 30+ song disaster. Well, "Just In Case" is at least a pretty short song, but that's really all the good things I have to say about it. It's certainly better than "What I Want" as the chorus is at least somewhat catchy. It still ends up being mostly boring as Morgan just can't seem to bring himself to ever sing with any kind of passion in these songs. GIVE ME SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

5. Morgan Wallen - I'm the Problem

One more Wallen song for the list, one more reason to hate the pop charts. Yeah, look, everything I said about the first two songs applies here for the most part. I will say this is the best song of the three I've had to listen to for this list. It's got some interesting guitar work at least, but it's held back by the typical boring Wallen lyrics. So, to sum up all my thoughts on the three Wallen songs on this list: He sucks and he brings nothing interesting to the music scene. A music scene that seems to really need a shot to the arm right now, but instead, half of the charts are full of old, tired songs and Wallen's tired schtick of bro country tunes. Go away. Makes me miss Jelly Roll. 

6. Kendrick Lamar - Luther w/ SZA

First hit that's from last year, but at least it's from late last year. I actually like this song quite a bit, but the team of Kendrick and SZA never really disappoints. Actually, this one is just pretty good. I can't say I loved it, but maybe it's because I expected more from two of the most consistently good artists in the scene right now. That being said, it's still easily the best song on this list here. 

7. Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy)

I wasn't very kind to this song last year when I first reviewed it. Yeah, it's been on the charts that long. My opinion of this song made a full 360 over the last year. At one point, I actually started to enjoy it a bit, and it kinda grew on me. But now, back here a year later, I'm back to not liking it. I don't know, it's just kind of a boring song with a dumb gimmick sample. It's fun for a while, but it's not enough to go back to more than a few listens. Let it go. 

8. Lady Gaga - Die With a Smile w/ Bruno Mars

Lady Gaga released one of my favorite albums of the year a few months ago called "Mayhem". It's the best thing she's released since maybe her debut album. This song was the first single released almost a year ago, and it's been on the charts for pretty much that whole time. It's a good song, but honestly, it's one of my least favorite songs from the new album. Partly because it feels completely different than the rest of the album, which is full of energy and loud fun music that's perfect for Lady Gaga's style of singing. Having Bruno Mars as one of the few featured artists on the album also feels a bit out of place. I say that, but again, I do like this song. The vocals are beautifully done, and the melody is very memorable. But it really feels more like a Bruno Mars song than a Lady Gaga song, especially on this album. The song was also incredibly overplayed on social media, which got pretty tiring after a while. Anyway, go listen to "Mayhem" if you haven't. 

9. Teddy Swims - Lose Control

Feels like this song has been on the charts for the entire decade so far. That's probably because it's been on the charts for about two years now. Two years, and most of that has been on or near the top 10 of that list. You'd think with that kind of success, this song would be the greatest pop song of all time and not just a mediocre one. Yeah, no, it's not that good, and I didn't even really like it when it first came out. The vocals and production are very in-your-face, and the song just doesn't feel as amazing as it thinks it is. Maybe I'm just speaking ill of the song because of how long it's lingered in the mainstream and how sick of it I am. Seriously, please just go away already, it's been TWO YEARS!bi

LATE AUGUST UPDATE:

I ended up not posting this after I finished writing it because I may have forgotten to do it. But something funny ended up happening towards the end of August here as the charts are now being dominated by the K-POP Demon Hunters animated movie from Netflix. Yeah, who would have thought that K-POP once again would rise and save the charts? I can't say I love all the songs from the movie, but at least it's fun and catchy versus a lot of the boring ass music I just wrote about in this post. Well, thank the K-POP gods for that. 

Read More

Best Songs of the 2020s (Half-Way Point)

 Already halfway through the 2020s, isn't that great?! I mean, I'm glad we made it passed those first few years of the decade, but maybe it's cool if it slows down a little bit now. Throughout the past 5 years, music has been seeing a shift, and it's not quite the one I was expecting, but... even so, there were a lot of great songs released. Some are groundbreaking and others are just perfecting an already existing sound. Tons of great artists grabbed my attention for the first time, while lots of already established artists released new projects that also caught my attention in good ways. I wanted to look back at those songs that I loved the last 5 years and give them a shoutout and hopefully get people to maybe give some new artists a shot, or go back and listen to some of these great songs and albums you've heard before. So here's my personal favorite 20 songs of the last 5 years! I'm going to try to somewhat put them in order from least favorite to most favorite, but it will be harder the closer to number one I get. Obviously, I haven't listened to every single album that's come out in the last five years, so if you see a great song missing, feel free to recommend it to me. It might have been on the verge of making the list, but I'm going to have to leave out some really good songs to make this list of 20... plus a few extra bonus mentions HERE WE GO!?

A few honorable mentions:

Chapell Roan - Pink Pony Club (2023)

It's Chappell Roan, it's the Pink Pony Club, what else needs to be said? 

MICHELLE - Akira (2024)

I discovered this album late in 2024, so I didn't get a lot of time with it before the year ended. It didn't take too long for the track "Akira" to become one of my favorite songs of 2024. It's one of those songs that grabs your attention from the first second with its interesting guitar intro, followed shortly by a busy bassline that really drives the song. That and the awesome vocals and signature catchy melodies by the band really make this one stand out.

Taylor Swift - August (2020)

Taylor's first new album of the decade, which would be the first of many. It still remains the best overall album by Taylor in my opinion, and most people would probably agree in saying that "August" is the standout track in this album. It's got the great lyrics you expect from Taylor, but it's got an interesting mix of sadness and hope in the music that makes it stand out. It also has one of the best bridges I can remember from a Taylor Swift song. 

Remi Wolf - Toro (2024)

Another one of my favorites from last year. I hadn't heard of Remi Wolf until this album was released, and I became a fan pretty fast after hearing a few of the singles from her last album. This song (Toro) in particular really stood out as a showcase for Remi's awesome vocals. That, on top of some awesome bass and guitar work, made this a song I played repeatedly a lot. 

Magdalena Bay - Killing Time (2024)

Notice a lot of songs from last year on the list. Mostly because I haven't had enough time with some of these songs to truly know if it's more recency bias or if they really do belong on the list. I think over time, these songs might have made the list, but it's hard to say with so many other good songs to have to replace. This song was another one I got to later in the year, but it also didn't take long for it to become one of my favorites of the year. 

20. Amyl and the Sniffers - Hertz (2021)

Australia's own Amyl and the Sniffers have become a big name in the punk scene this decade. Back in 2021, they released a fantastic punk album called "Comfort to Me" that was full of some awesome tracks. To me, "Hertz" has always stood out in that album with its iconic bass line and rowdy energy that's hard not to join in on. Amy's energy is felt through the vocals, and it feels like she's having a blast singing this song. I think that's what I like about the band the most, the big energy you feel from every song. 

19. Perfume Genius - On the Floor (2020)

Mike Hadreas found success after releasing his first album under the Perfume Genius name back in 2014. Since then, he's released lots of great music over the last 10 years. I think his best work came from the 2020 album Set My Heart On  Fire Immediately, specifically the song "On the Floor". Right away, it comes in with this fantastic guitar that plays throughout the song, giving the song a nice, bright sound in the background. Mike's vocals are, of course, fantastic too, but the lyrics convey a sick feeling you get when you want someone and they don't want you back. The ending of the song is so beautiful as the music slowly fades out into this interesting strings and vocals section, which really elevates the song from great to amazing. 

18. Jessie Ware - Begin Again (2023)

Jessie's 2023 album "That! Feels Good!" was my introduction to her music, and what an introduction it was. It ended up being one of my favorite albums of that year, and it's still an album I like going back to. The song "Begin Again" has this amazing big sound and feels completely different than anything I really heard back in 2023 and probably since then. Jessie's vocals are insanely good in this album, but this song really showcases her range. A song about the feeling of wanting to start over, begin anew, because you feel stuck in life or like you need something new to inspire you.  

17. Carly Rae Jepsen - Psychedelic Switch (2023)

One of the most beloved pop artists of modern music, Carly doesn't miss. Proving that by releasing two fantastic albums back to back years. This song (Psychedelic Switch) is one of the best songs she's released. It's got one of the best bass lines I've heard in a pop song, and it's got really great energy, almost impossible to not want to dance to this one. 

16. Vince Staples - Étouffée (2024)

One of the more recent songs on this list comes from Vince Staples' latest album, "Dark Times". One of the best albums of the decade so far, easily, but also has one of the best songs in "Etouffee." It's the best of Vince Staples with the lyricism and amazing beats and an earworm of a chorus. If you haven't heard the album, definitely go check it out, but yeah, it's just amazing. 

15. Fountaines D.C. - Jackie Down The Line (2022)

A band that really took off in the last few years to become one of the more popular rock bands around. Really, it seems like the rock scene is a lot stronger over in the UK and Ireland these days than it is over here, but maybe I've just missed more of the bands around here. In 2022 the band released the album that I think really put them on the map with "Skinty Fia", which is an old Irish saying that means "Damnation of the Deer". Now, what that means exactly, I haven't a clue, but hopefully I'll find some Irish lad to help me out there. "Jackie Down The Line" is a really great song, with lyrics that are about the Irish and British relationship and the identity of people from Dublin. I like the sound of the song, it feels really original for a modern rock song, and it's got this great repetitive riff that really drives the song along. 

14. Caroline Polachek - Bunny Is A Rider (2023)

One of the best pop artists of the decade dropped her best album yet in 2023. "Bunny is a Rider" is a song about being free and just doing life on your own time and having space. A chill song with a really cool bassline that's just fun to listen to over and over. It feels like a simple song, but it still has great production and, of course, great vocals. 

13. Hayley Williams - Why We Ever (2020)

Taking a break from Paramore after their 2017 album "After Laughter", Hayley spent some time releasing some solo albums. It ended up being better than I would have even hoped, especially her first solo album, "Petals for Armor". It was something completely different than Paramore, felt a lot darker and moodier at times than anything she'd done to this point. Either way, it worked well with her songwriting and vocals. "Why We Ever" is a song I frequently go back to because of its interesting lyrics and music. It's a song about losing your connection to somebody, maybe they hurt you, maybe you hurt them. Missing someone so much that you forget just why you lost the connection to them in the first place. 

12. The Japanese House - Sad To Breath (2023)

The Japanese House returned with only her second full-length album in 2023 after about 4 years since her first album. It was yet another hit for me as it was just as good as the first album. "Sad To Breath" is a sad song (title gives it away?) with a more hopeful sound than the lyrics give off. The song is about the struggles one feels after a relationship ends, feeling like you could have done something to save the relationship. I love how the song starts off with the slow piano and vocals and ramps up to a more upbeat pop sound after a minute. Hopefully, I won't have to wait another 4 years for another album? Please? 

11. Five Iron Frenzy - Lonesome For Her Heroes (2021)

Five Iron Frenzy released their second album since reuniting in 2013, after nearly a decade away from music. This time, they release what's probably their best album they've made up to this point, with some of the best music and lyrics. The album has a lot of songs that are calling out the state of our country and American Christianity, but my favorite is "Lonesome For Her Heroes". The song is about the band's hometown of Denver, Colorado, and how frustrated they are with the city's growing prices and heavy focus on consumerism and disregard for the environment. Even though it's about Denver, it's still relatable to me and probably a lot of people in the USA these days. 

10. Phoenix - Tonight (ft. Ezra Koenig) (2022)

Sometimes you just want to hear a fun song to put you in a better mood, and this song is what that is for me. A band that knows how to make catchy and danceable songs continued to make more of that in this new decade. Phoenix has been around since at least the year 2000, and they haven't stopped making great music in those 25 years. It's a fun song, but I think it might be one of those happy songs that is actually sad when you see the lyrics. I don't know, in a way, I think those are the best songs. 

9. Young The Giant - Otherside (2022)

Young The Giant released a 4-part album back in 2022 called "American Bollywood," and it ended up being the best album they've released since probably their second album. It was really cool to see after a somewhat disappointing album before this one. The album has a lot of sounds and lyrics that are rooted in India and its culture, like the lead singer. Those sounds mixed with the signature Young The Giant sound made for a fantastic album. "Otherside" is my favorite from the album, but it's hard to pick because I really enjoyed a lot of the tracks. The chorus in "Otherside" is so powerful that I ended up sticking with that one. The lyrics feel like a struggle with identity and the two sides of a person trying to find balance or peace to make the best version of themselves, or at least that's how I see it. It feels very emotional, and it always gets me right in the feels when I hear it. 

8. The Last Dinner Part - The Feminine Urge (2024)

This group really came out of nowhere in 2023, but man, that first single was amazing (the song Nothing Matters). I was completely excited to finally hear the full album in early 2024, and it did not disappoint. The album has this interesting, unique sound I'm not sure I've heard before. At times, it feels like a sadder album, but it has its moments of big, almost operatic sounds and epic choruses. I think the song "The Feminine Urge" has a good mix of those sadder and bigger moments, with its slower darker darker-sounding verses jumping into the big, catchy chorus. The song is meant to be about the generational trauma between the singer and her mother.

7. Bonny Light Horseman - 10,000 Miles (2020)

Bonny Light Horseman released their first album in January of 2020, very early into the start of the decade. Honestly, that album really helped get me through the first year of COVID. I probably listened to it a hundred times that first year. So many beautiful songs, but "10,000 Miles" is one of my favorite songs ever, really. I guess the only thing stopping it from being higher on this list is how it reminds me of that first year of COVID, pretty rough times. The duet vocals of Anais Mitchell and Eric D. Johnson are so amazing and just bring this nice calm over me with the slow music. 

6. Silk Sonic - Smoking Out The Window (2021)

The team-up between Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak led to one of the best albums of the last 5 years. It was a charisma overlord with both artists bringing out the best in each other with awesome throwback songs to 70s-80s  Soul, Funk, and R&B. "Smoking Out The Window" feels like a more comedic song about how the guys are in a relationship where they're spending tons of money on their girls and their kids. Ultimately, the relationship doesn't work out, so they are angry/sad about all the time that was wasted and having to be single again. It always makes me laugh when Paak says the line "not to be dramatic, but I wanna die". It's just a funny song with fantastic music and even better vocals. 

5. Paramore - Big Man, Little Dignity (2023)

Two years ago, Paramore made their big comeback after taking a break for about 5 years or so. While Hayley Williams released a few albums in that time, even made a song on this list back at number 13, I was still hoping the band would eventually return. They released "This Is Why" in 2023, and it was a completely different album than anything they'd done before. It felt like a good coming together of where they left off in 2017 and what Hayley was doing in her solo albums. "Big Man, Little Dignity" was a song I really got behind lyrically, as well as musically. It's just a song calling out all the men in the world who abuse their power and keep getting away with it. Hayley's frustrations about how she wants justice, but they keep getting away with it, are sad but relatable. 

4. GROUPTHERAPY - Nasty (2023)

One of the biggest surprises of 2023 was GROUPTHERAPY's album, released that year. It ended up as one of my favorites of that year. I hadn't heard of this rap group before then, but they won me over very fast with their great beats and lots of variety on the album. My favorite song on the album "Nasty" is a fun, upbeat song with fun lyrics and a great beat. Sad news about a year later when one of the three members decided to leave the group. They go by PARTYOF2 and I recommend giving them a listen if you haven't heard of them before this. The new single "Mad Love" is fantastic. 

3. The Weeknd - Out of Time (2022)

The genius of using a sample from "Midnight Pretenders" is still so amazing to me. If you haven't listened to Tomoko Aran's "Midnight Pretenders", please go do that at some point; it's one of the best 80s Japanese pop songs out there... really just go listen to City Pop in general. But to go back to The Weeknd's "Out of Time," I love the song past the sample, although that's what really carries the song. The melodies that that he adds on top of the samples are brilliant, and the chorus of "Out of Time" is so damn good. Also, Jim Carrey comes in for the outro of this song, and that's really cool. 

2. Sam Fender - Spit Of You (2021)

There aren't many songs that can completely blow me away in their opening seconds, but this is one of those songs. I mean, the intro to this song is so perfect with the guitar opening riff that sounds so perfect for a Sam Fender song. The lyrics are very relatable and emotional, as Sam talks about his relationship with his father. The song is about how both of them are pretty bad at expressing their emotions, especially to each other. Sam brings up the moment when he saw his dad cry for the first time at his grandma's funeral, and how it made him realize he'd be doing that to his own father someday. It's very powerful, and it's what Sam Fender does best: telling stories in his songs. 

1. Everything Everything - Pizza Boy (2022)

Everything Everything has released two albums in the decade so far, and both of them have been my favorites of the years they came out. The 2022 album Raw Data Feel was my introduction to this band, and I instantly fell in love with their music. I had a hard time picking which song would be on here, but ultimately I went with "Pizza Boy". Mostly because it was the song I think really hooked me on the band, but it's a song I haven't gotten tired of listening to after almost 3 years now. I could say that for most of the songs on that 2022 album, to be fair. The song Pizza Boy is about the act/dangers of buying products and consuming to fill empty voids in your life. Like being alone, but finding satisfaction in just constantly buying things and letting that alone keep you feeling alive. It's an interesting topic for sure, and the music is also done so well with the bass line and the clapping effects that come in at random times. The chorus brings in the heavier synth sounds that really bring the song to life. It's just all so amazing, and I love every second. 

Anyway, here's a playlist of a bunch of songs I considered for this list and all the ones that DID make the list as well. Have fun?!

Read More