2021 is almost over! This means I get to go back and relive all the big pop songs of the year and decide the best and worst ones for no real reason at all! I actually do enjoy writing these, it's probably my favorite thing to do at the end of the year on here because it helps me make a nice list of songs I want to remember and songs I need to avoid. It also serves as almost a time machine of sorts to myself, just being able to read my thoughts on things and see if I still feel the same about it months later is pretty useful. Which is why I might recommend writing about your lives every now and then just to compare and look back years later to see what was up and then and how your outlook has changed. Not just with music, but with anything you might find important or useful. Over the years I've changed my opinion a lot on music and tried to be more open-minded about what I listen to and give a chance. 10 years ago I wasn't super into things like country, folk, foreign music, and now I enjoy quite a bit of those genres and more.
The music industry took big steps forward in returning to what it was before 2020. Concerts are a thing again. Still not exactly what they were, but getting closer. Lots of artists are able to tour and promote their music now, this is especially good for smaller bands/artists out there trying to gain an audience outside of just "discover" playlists on Spotify and Apple. I still feel kind of iffy about going to a show at the moment, but I eagerly await a good show to swing by here soon so maybe I can finally catch one again.
Lots of pop artists returned to the scene this year with big projects dropping. Most recently Adele just dropped her long-awaited album that's probably going to destroy the charts. Taylor Swift dropped her recorded version of "Red" which broke records yet again, almost the entire album ended up on the music billboard charts, which is just insane considering it is about 30 tracks. Can't forget artists like Drake, Sheeran, Eilish, Bruno Mars, Bieber, Lil Nas X, and Kanye all dropped albums this year as well. Needless to say, a big improvement on last year just in terms of star power, but also the quality of music too. That alongside the big new star Olivia Rodrigo, made 2021 interesting, to say the least.
With that out of the way, here's the list proper. First, some special mentions that didn't make the 10 best/worst:
Taylor Swift - "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)(Taylor's Version)"
I thought about putting this on the list but I guess since it's a recording of an older song I decided not to. All you need to tell me is that there's a 10 minute version of "All Too Well" and I'm pretty much sold. Making a compelling pop song that's longer than around 5 minutes isn't something you see too often, but this song does just that. Taylor is often at her best when diving into past relationships and giving us a peek into her life and emotions through whatever relationship she is focusing on at the time. All I can say is if you've not heard this extended version yet, probably should go listen to it.
BTS - "Butter"
Last year I put "Dynamite" by BTS as my favorite song of the year. It was mostly as a joke, but it was a song I really liked and I still think it's really fun and catchy despite its cheesiness. "Butter" on the other hand... well it doesn't quite have the charm going for it like their last hit. It's still annoyingly catchy, yes, but it lacks maybe some self-awareness? Or maybe it's too self-aware? One of those must be right. Either way, it's not as fun as "Dynamite" and it has an awkward rap verse so that's enough for me to keep it off the list.
Adele - "30"
Probably worth a mention just for its very existence. No songs from this album will be on the list because it came out too recently and I haven't had enough time with it. I have a strong feeling they'll be at least one track from this one on next year's list.
10th WORST: Måneskin "Beggin'"
Honestly, I'm not sure if this song should be on the best list or worst list because it's kind of a mess, but like a pretty entertaining mess? This band came out of nowhere here in the US, I'm not exactly sure how they managed to crossover but I'd probably go ahead and say TikTok had some part in it. Should probably mention this band is actually from Italy, which most of you probably knew but figured I should say it. They also won the Eurovision song contest this year, which is a pretty big deal over there and increasingly a deal over here. This wasn't their first hit over here in the USA, but so far it seems to be their biggest one to date. Turns out this song (Beggin') is actually from back in 2017 and it's from a covers album, which explains so much. It's clear this band has grown over the last 4 years and this song (Beggin') shows that pretty clearly. Their songs now just sound so much cleaner and more polished than this track "Beggin". It does leave me wondering how this old cover song ended up doing so well in the USA...and it's just like I thought... Tiktok.
10th BEST: Måneskin "Zitti E Buoni"
No, I don't have any idea what this song is about, but it's awesome so who cares? This song was the one that ended up getting Italy the victory at Eurovision, and I mean... it's pretty easy to see why. It's got a cool 70s hard rock feel to it with some of that 80s hair metal energy behind it too. Everything just sounds so much cleaner and smoother compared to their other hit "Beggin". It's just one of those songs that can get you pumped up pretty fast regardless of what mood you're in. Like riding into battle or attending an Italian riot?
9th WORST: Glass Animals "Heat Waves"
This one kind of hurts. I was a big fan of this group when they first started to get popular around the time they released their first album in 2014. It was a really interesting album that had some really cool vibes, it felt unique and fresh. Their follow-up album brought a little more energy, which felt like a nice change-up after the first album's more chilled-out vibes. In 2020 they released the album "Dreamland", which is where this single came from. It felt like a step down in quality, like taking the few bad parts of the first albums and mixing it into a brand new mediocre album. While it has some decent moments, it suffers from some pretty boring tracks and some annoying time wasting interludes that I wish artists would stop sticking in the middle of their albums. (Please stop putting tiny interludes that are a minute or less with nothing interesting in them). "Heat Waves" isn't one of the better tracks on the album, it's one of the boring ones for sure. The lyrics aren't interesting enough to make up for the fact that the music just feels drab and lifeless. It just lacks that sort of mysterious atmosphere that the first album and some of the fun the second album had, and it leaves me wanting more. Did I mention it's boring?
9th BEST: Olivia Rodrigo "good 4 u"
Olivia Rodrigo, the next Lorde... or Billie Eilish... or Miley Cyrus... Avril Lavigne? No, Olivia is definitely her own thing and not at all a continuing trend of young teenage girls who are not just your "average" pop star. To be fair, I really like all those artists I just mentioned and they all happen to have released pretty good albums in the past year (well, Avril's is coming later). Olivia is still young though and this is her first big album and hit single(s), so she still has a long way to go. Time will tell if she will stick to the traditional pop career or maybe try something different (that would be cool). While her first album's songs were up and down in quality, "good 4 u" is easily the standout here. It's got the energy, the personality, and the lyrics that I think will help Olivia maintain her newly-found star status. While it's not the kind of music you can realistically make forever, right now it works great for her current style of music and youth.
8th WORST: Maroon 5 "Beautiful Mistakes" Ft. Megan Thee Stallion
I know most people didn't notice, but Maroon 5 did drop a new album this year. It was pretty easy to miss because it's... Maroon 5. Honestly, this might be their best album in a while and that's only because of how mediocre and forgettable it was. Not one song from this album is worth remembering for good or bad reasons, it just exists for the sake of existing. While I can relate to that in some weird way, it doesn't make me like the album any more or any less. This album even has a song where Stevie Nicks sounds bored out of her mind... Stevie. Nicks. They even managed to get Megan Thee Stallion to sound like she doesn't care. This song is supposed to be a sex jam of sorts and I just can't imagine how anyone could. While maybe they were never amazing at that particular type of music, at least they could make a song like this with some spicy-ness and flavor versus this bland showing. Well, see you next year Maroon 5 (probably).
8th BEST: Justin Bieber "Peaches"
Last year was a BAD year for the old Bieber. He dropped an album pretty early in 2020 and it bombed pretty hard, at least critically. I don't remember it getting any number one hits which is crazy considering how popular Bieber is. "Yummy" was probably one of the worst songs of the last 10 years honestly (now that's a list I could make). So Bieber went back to the studio pretty fast to drop this new album in 2021, probably to try to get back some of his credibility after that last bomb. Well... it worked. "Peaches" is one the best songs Bieber has released in quite some time and it quickly hit number one, though it wasn't for long. This song is an improvement in every possible way from all the songs in the last album. The lyrics are okay, not as face-palm-worthy as a song like "Yummy" or even worse, "Intentions". The music and beat are a lot easier to take in along with a much more chilled out vibe and vocals from Bieber. Good job Bieber, now don't mess this up. NO MORE YUMMY. Please just stop trying to be funny in your music.
7th WORST: Ed Sheeran "Shivers"
I honestly completely forgot about this new Sheeran album until I started going through the list of songs before writing this. I don't know if I'm alone here when I say I think Sheeran is becoming one of those artists that sounds like background noise now. None of his new songs really scream out for my attention or even sound very innovative from an artist that's been at the top of the charts for over a decade now. I will say "Bad Habits" was actually a pretty interesting surprise from this album, but that was about it for that. After that, you get the typical acoustic ballad, Sheeran Hip-Hop, and pop singles. "Shivers" falls into one of those pop singles and it's not a great one. It just feels so vanilla as a pop song, very much a typical Sheeran song except a lot less fun than usual. I feel like maybe I might be being too harsh on this song, but it just does absolutely nothing for me. It also doesn't help that I literally forgot how the song went a few minutes after I listened to it. Time to change it up Sheeran, maybe surprise your audience? Or just keep making millions doing this same schtick, what do I know?
7th BEST: Lil Nas X "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"
After the big hit that was "Old Town Road" I was honestly starting to get worried that Lil Nas X was going to be a one and done type of artist. He released a small EP that was pretty underwhelming but left enough intrigue to still be optimistic about his first full-length album. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure to get the next big hit in order to truly cement himself into the top of the music charts as a big star with staying power. I think all doubt washed away as soon as "MONTERO" dropped as his big single from the new album. The song is about Lil Nas wanting more from his current relationship, to be more serious and more honest. It's also meant to be a sort of look back at his youth and how he used to hide his true self from others and how he's no longer going to live that way. I assume it's also a reference to the movie/book of the same name about a young man's first romance with another man. It feels personal altogether, and I really like that about the song. That along with some great music and a great hook make this a very good song. It's easy to say now that Lil Nas X is here to stay for a long time and he's going to keep getting bigger and bigger as a star.
6th WORST: Justin Bieber "Lonely"
Maybe I spoke too soon with all my Bieber praise on "Peaches". This song "Lonely" is just depressing and not in the way I think it's trying to be. Bieber tries really hard here to try to get people to feel sorry for him for all the dumb things he did when he was a little younger. Then he blames all those things on the fact that he was super rich and famous growing up, and it just feels a little disingenuous to me. I get that being in the limelight is hard, especially when you are younger, but that doesn't automatically make all the bad things you did okay. So now that you're older you see things differently and want to be more mature and not repeat past mistakes, that's a good thing. Just don't try to do this weird song and try to make everyone feel sorry for you by singing all sad. Trying to blame everyone else for not understanding what it's like to be rich and famous. Maybe you could just... apologize for all that stuff you did? Instead of doing the "woe is me, I'm rich/famous and nobody understands me" thing. And look, there probably was a way to make a song like this work, but Bieber went about it in the worst possible way. I understand that having money doesn't equal happiness and I think Bieber probably does have a story to tell about that subject, it's just not present in this particular song.
This is also the last song on the album, so it all just ends on a very bad note. Also, the weird yodeling chorus is very annoying. "LooooOoooooOooooOooonely"
6th BEST: Bad Bunny "Yonaguni"
The past few years have been huge for Bad Bunny man, becoming not just the biggest reggaeton artist but one of the biggest artists in the world. While I'm not the biggest fan of this genre, I still can see its appeal and there are a few tracks I still like to listen to from time to time. It's the music of my home, so it has some nostalgic type feelings for me. I'm into this song because it has some good energy behind it, along with some interesting synth that makes it feel pretty chill at the same time. While not converting me into a Bad Bunny fan necessarily, it does raise my interest in his future work.
5th WORST: Machine Gun Kelly "my ex's best friend" Ft. Blackbear
Here we have MGK with a pretty boring "pop-punk" song. This song also features the always mediocre Blackbear, but honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between either of these two cause they both sound pretty similar in an uninterested tonal way. This song also features Travis Barker on drums, who's the only pop-punk drummer left after the pop-punk drummer rapture of 2018. The lyrics are pretty typical for the genre, a song about hooking up with a girl, more specifically his ex's best friend. It's supposed to be funny I guess because they know each other?
Look, I haven't been into MGK's new pop-punk makeover at all and I wasn't into him back when he was a mediocre rapper. Switching genres seems to have given him some sort of career revival, but I'm not exactly sure why. You go from making bad music in one genre to another and everyone suddenly loves you? I will say there's a lot more potential with his new style than with his old rap career, and anything that helps bring pop-punk into the limelight is probably not a bad thing. Still, I just wish someone who was actually good at it was the one behind the revival. Instead, you got MGK, who's making fun of punk artists for wearing comfortable shoes on tour while he wears his uncomfortable shoes that are super expensive and make him look like a "real" artist. Bleh.
5th BEST: Taylor Swift "willow"
"Willow" is Taylor's big single from last year's album "evermore", which was a continuation of "folklore" earlier that year. Both albums stick to a softer side of Taylor, without the big loud production of her last few albums (especially Reputation). It's a nice side of Taylor to see, though I hope her next project isn't more of this, it's time for a change.
"Willow" is the album opener of "evermore" as well as the most popular song of the album. Far from one of Taylor's best songs, but still a very solid entry in her catalog. From this point, I'm very curious to see what Taylor's next project will sound like after she's done recording all her old albums into Taylor's Versions. I'm hoping for a metal album myself, but I'd be happy with something a little more rock and a little more energy.
4th WORST: Chase Rice "Drinking Beer. Talkin' God. Amen." (Ft FL-GA Line)
Never has the phrase "Talkin' God" been uttered in the history of ever. That alone gets it on the worst list for me. This is just one of those extremely lazy country-pop songs where they repeat the same thing over and over for three minutes alongside the most generic non-offensive country music you've probably ever heard. Beer, American God, trucks, blonde wife, other generic country stuff. The end.
Does anyone actually like Florida Georgia Line? They seem to be great at making this watered-down country pop that dominates country radio every year. I know there's a lot of great country music out there, but I feel like this mainstream stuff keeps a lot of people away from the genre. If you think this is what all modern country music sounds like, please go check out some other artists not in the mainstream charts, I assure you there is some good stuff out there.
If you have time check out these artists from the country genre:
Emily Scott Robinson
Waxahatchee
Eric Church
Brandi Carlile
4th BEST: Miley Cyrus "Prisoner" Ft. Dua Lipa
This song came out last year, hit the charts very early this year. Dua Lipa and Miley work well together and this song fits the album it's from so perfectly (Plastic Hearts), which was one of my favorites last year. Both Dua Lipa and Miley released new albums last year that were heavily inspired by past decades. Miley's had a more 80s vibe to it and like I said, this song fits that vibe. I love the heavy bass line that dominates the song and the dark moody vibes that a good chunk of "Plastic Hearts" features. Both singers play well off of each other taking turns belting out, but not in a way that felt like too much. I really want to see these two team up again in the near future, but if not it was a great one-off.
3rd WORST: Drake "Way 2 Sexy" Ft. Future / Young Thug
So Drake dropped another turd of an album this year and I don't know what to say anymore. I don't know how many chances Drake will have to keep dropping bad album after bad album and still somehow keep his spot at the top of the pop charts. I'll admit the idea for this song "Way 2 Sexy" is actually not a terrible idea, and I think it could have worked if done the right way. Of course, Drake and friends just take the idea and turn it into another boring lifeless chore of a song and throw away any potential the idea had. Drake just comes across as a giant asshole in this song (and many other songs he's done) and not in a fun self-aware way like he probably thinks he is. Future brings in his famous boring-ass energy for the underwhelming hook and Young Thug is doing... something. I don't even think Young Thug knows what he's doing most of the time to be fair. This song has a runtime of over 4 minutes because they somehow found a way to stretch a 1-minute idea for a song into four times the length it deserved to be. You could say that about the entirety of "Certified Lover Boy" as it stretches out for almost an hour and a half runtime. Do we really need that long of an album from Drake? No. And he clearly didn't have enough ideas to make an album this long.
Special mention to the song "Girls Want Girls" where Drake unironically uses the line "Yeah, say that you a lesbian, girl, me too". Drake man, what the hell was that?
3rd BEST: Billie Eilish "Happier Than Ever"
I'm not really sure how successful Billie Eilish's new album was this year, I feel like I haven't been hearing much about it outside of the big single "Happier Than Ever". I haven't really had the urge or time to listen to the entire album yet, as it's an hour long. Not sure why all these big artists are dropping hour-long albums, but I don't think it's always necessary for them to be this long. Especially when there seems to be a handful of songs that could have probably been cut or just been released as bonus songs. Complaining about album length aside, I do really like this song. There were parts of it I found questionable at first, mainly the loud distorted drums felt very distracting. With time and multiple listens I started to turn around and actually find the distortion pretty clever and it fits well with the style of the song. The rest of the album from what I've heard doesn't seem to get anywhere near this loud and bombastic, actually being a lot more subtle and quiet from Billie. I'm still not sure if I like that or not, maybe some full album listens will help me decide. For now I'll give lots of love to this track and hope to find some gems in the rest of the album.
2nd WORST: 24kGoldn "Mood"
Songs like these just make me feel so out of touch with music... which I am so I guess that's to be expected. This song just feels like a terrible idea from the start though. Like making an entire song complaining about how your girl's "mood" is annoying you doesn't come across as whiny and immature in any way. I can picture young guys on TikTok singing these words unironically to their girls. I'm sure girls also love being told by their boyfriends "I am not your dad", it seems like an easy way to become single. I'm surprised he doesn't ask his girl if "it's that time of the month", seems like a missed opportunity if you ask me. Terrible ideas aside, this song is just incredibly annoying and misguided.
Seriously though, don't ever tell your girl "I am not your dad".
2nd BEST: Dua Lipa "Levitating" (Ft DaBaby)
I actually had two songs from this album on my best list last year, so unsurprisingly another song made the list this year too. "Levitating" was the last big single from Dua Lipa's last album (so far) and it ended up being the biggest song of 2021. That usually tends to happen with big singles that come out very early in the year, that way they have the entire 12 month period to gain lots of listens. I think this song deserves it though, while not my favorite from the album "Future Nostalgia", it's still really damn good. The album has some awesome bass lines throughout and this one is another fun disco style jam. Dua Lipa can do no wrong. I hope that doesn't jinx her...
THE WORST SONG: Walker Hayes "Fancy Like"
Okay, so maybe this song is a little too obvious of a choice for the worst song of the year. It's so bad and everyone knows it right? And yet it was featured on Applebee's commercials for months, peaked at number 3 on the USA charts, and was the 27th most played song of the year 2021. Also can't forget how massively popular it was on TikTok because that's important (all those plays on TikTok count for something). While yes, it's an easy target for the worst song of the year, it totally deserves it. The annoying as hell Applebee's commercial that made everyone cringe at the stupid TikTok dancing is enough to earn this spot. Throw in cheesy dad joke lyrics and the generic trap-country beat and you got yourself something really special. I'm not sure if this song was specifically written for the commercial or it just happened to mention the mediocre franchise to get the sponsorship, but it's bad either way. Here are some of the lyrics to cringe at:
"She want to dip me in them fries like a Frosty" (Wendy's commercial?)
"Bougie like Natty" (This one is easily the worst)
"Squeak-squeakin' in the truck bed" (of course...)
The only good thing I can say here is that no Florida Georgia Line presence is here. Although, there's sure to be some collab between them soon after this song. Well, can't wait for this song to be completely forgotten by everyone in a few months. And I thought Kanye making a song about Chick-Fil-A was bad BUT no, it could always be worse. Not too long in the future, this could be what all pop music is. Just commercial jingles disguised as radio hits. Can't wait for the Bad Bunny Church's Fried Chicken song.
THE BEST SONG: Silk Sonic "Leave The Door Open"
I really thought Bruno Mars had peaked with his last album "24K Magic". It was pretty much the perfect Bruno Mars album, taking all his strengths and magnifying them into sonic perfection. It's honestly amazing how much he's improved as an artist and performer. I wasn't a big fan of Bruno when he first arrived on the scene, with his fedora hat and cheesy love songs it just didn't feel right. In his second album "Unorthodox Jukebox" he experimented with different styles and I think he really found himself in the song "Treasure". A funky song with lots of soul just fit him so well and brought a new charisma that made him incredibly likable. Taking this newfound charisma into the huge hit "Uptown Funk" shot Bruno into superstardom.
Teaming up with "Anderson .Paak" was a match that I never knew I wanted, but this new partnership led to magic. This without a doubt one of if not the best album of the year. "Leave the Door Open" was the first single to drop from this album and right away I knew this project was going to be big. It did not let me down. "Leave the Door Open" does everything right from the music, lyrics to the vocals it doesn't miss once. If you haven't heard the album yet I really recommend it, it's 31 minutes of *chef's kiss*.
Well, that's the list for this year and honestly, I'm pretty happy with this year's music. Lots of good pop music and the bad on the list songs weren't the worst I've ever heard. I always like to also put some recommendations outside of this list so below I'll leave some albums I really liked. I also recommend most of the albums the best songs on the list came from besides Bieber's album. I'll put a little asterisk next to my personal favorites.
- Kasey Musgraves - "Star Cross" (Pop/Country)
- Summer Walker - "Still Over It" (R&B)
- Pale Waves - "Who Am I?" (Indie Pop)
- *Japanese Breakfast - "Jubilee" (Indie Pop)
- *Faye Webster - "I Know I'm Funny haha" (Indie Pop/Rock)
- Little Simz - "Sometime I Might Be Introvert" (Hip-Hop)
- *Turnstile - "GLOW ON" (Punk)
- *Five Iron Frenzy - "Until This Shakes Apart" (Ska/Rock)
- The Big Takeover - "Spilling Water" (Ska Reggea)
- *Emily Scott Robinson - "American Siren" (Country/Folk)
- JPEGMAFIA - "LP!" (Hip-Hop)
- Architects - "For Those That Wish to Exist" (Metal)
- Snail Mail - "Valentine" (Indie Rock)
- Deaf Heaven - "Infinite Granite" (Shoegaze?/Metal)
- Geese - "Projector" (Indie Rock)
- The World Is a Beautiful Place... - "Illusory Walls" (Post-Hardcore)
- Twenty One Pilots - "Scaled and Icy" (Pop Rock)
- Manchester Orchestra - "The Million Masks of God" (Indie Rock)
- Ladyhawke - "Time Flies" (Indie Pop)
- King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - "Butterfly 3000" (Psychadelic brah)
Here's a playlist with 69 songs (nice?) from the year 2021, nice mix of different genres.