THE 8 WORSTS:
9. Dua Lipa - Training Season
It really hurts to put this on the list, but man it was a bad year for Dua Lipa. Her last album "Future Nostalgia" is still one of the best albums of the last 5 years and it's got so many hits on it. After much anticipation, she finally released the follow-up album called "Radical Optimism" this year. The album was... well it was just okay really. Which is really a huge disappointment considering what came before it. Training Season is one of the few hits from the album and it's just okay. It kind of sounds like a leftover song from the last album that she stuck on here. Look, there are worse songs than this that could be on this list, but my expectations were so high for this and it just hurt to see a mediocre project from her. I don't think it's a career killer, but it's certainly going to put more pressure on her to make a better follow-up.
8. Camila Cabello - I LUV IT (w/ Playboi Carti)
The yearly tradition of including Camila on my worst songs list continues. Camila Cabello is always in her flop era, and nothing proves that more than yet another confusing mess of a song. She can't pull it off and yet she continues to try. This time with one of the most annoying choruses where she just repeats I LUV IT until it means nothing anymore. Nothing here fits her at all and feels like a bad attempt to go outside of her usual "Latin pop" single. The difference here is that even her own "fans" didn't buy into this one.
7. MGK - Lonely Road (W/ Jelly Roll)
Yeah, it was not a good year for Jelly Roll. Actually, it was an amazing year for him considering how many hits he had in the year 2025, but I mean more that he made a ton of awful songs that hit the charts this last year. Two of them are just a famous chorus from the past reworked into modern country pop songs. In this one MGK and Jelly Roll take the famous John Denver chorus from Country Roads and slightly change the words. I feel like maybe this actually could have worked if it involved two other artists who had more talent and maybe put some more effort into it. MGK and Jelly Roll are not the two artists you want doing this. MGK already did this years ago with Camilla Cabello and the song "Bad Things" and that was somehow worse than this one. So is MGK doing country now? What genre will he fail at next time?
6. Jessie Murph - Wild Ones (W/ Jelly Roll)
Oh look, it's Jelly Roll again. This time teaming up with... who the hell is Jessie Murph? Nobody I'm ever going to listen to that's for sure. Honestly, it's been a while since I've heard an artist so bad that it actually hurts to listen to their music, but I think Jessie Murph is in that category. Her vocals are maybe some of the worst I've heard in a while, especially in this genre. Say what you want about Jelly Roll, but at least he can actually sing pretty well. Pair him up with Jessie Murph and it makes him sound like an angel compared to whatever she's doing. Pair the awful vocals with the most boring lyrics you can write in a pop country song and you get one of the most forgettable songs of the decade. Nice.
5. Drake - Rich Baby Daddy (W/ Sexxy Red and SZA)
Nothing makes me feel more dead inside than hearing Drake sing "The Dog Days Are Over" in his sleepy autone. It was a BAD year for Drake, like the kind of year you just want everyone to forget happened. It's not enough to keep releasing these garbage singles and getting hits out of them, but you had to go after Kendrick late in the year. That ended about as well as you could imagine with Drake pretty much destroying his credibility in record time. There was also that weird ass "Hey There Delilah" song he was a part of that was so bad people thought it was AI. Time will tell if Drake can bounce back from this, but it's clear that he's never going to be seen the same after 2025.
4. Nicki Minaj - FTCU
The other artist who arguably had a worse year than Drake was your girl Nicki Minaj. Starting off the year trying to diss Megan Thee Stallion and completely falling on her face in the process. Then she went on to release the anticipated "Pink Friday 2" album, which was met with mostly negative reviews and reactions. Still, she did manage to get some hits from this album so it wasn't a complete failure I guess. Just a reminder that despite her talent, she still manages to make some of the most forgettable music you could make. Even though I don't like a lot of her recent music, I never really thought of Nicki as a very boring artist, even at her worst she's at least trying some interesting? But this song (FTCU) IS just boring and that's exactly what you don't want from her... or any artist really. The most interesting thing about this song is the Waka Flocka Flame sample, which is just a shittier version of the original.
3. Kanye West / Ty Dolla $ign - CARNIVAL
Sigh, yeah Kanye had himself a big hit this year off of that weird VULTURES 1 album. It was a collab album between Ye and Ty Dolla $ign dropped early last year that I didn't pay much attention to. Then the song CARNIVAL ended up being a big hit this year and... well that sucked. I mean it does have an interesting beat, but that's about the only thing it does right. The problems lie in the lyrics and just how awful they are. Where you get Kanye comparing himself to Bill Cosby and R Kelly, a Columbine reference in 2024, and misogyny. I guess Kanye is still a big enough name that a bad song like this will still be a hit? Remember when he dropped that Christian album a few years ago? You think they'll let him play this one at his church?
2. Jelly Roll / Dustin Lynch - Chevrolet
Okay, one more for Jelly Roll, third time's the charm. This time we get the butchering of the classic song "Drift Away" by Dobie Gray (or Uncle Kraker if you grew up in the 00s). People make jokes about generic pop music sounding like it belongs in car commercials, but here you get a song that was actually made for a car commercial with no shame. Actually, the song was so bad even Chevrolet didn't want to use it in their commercials... a little too on the nose they said (probably). The song is about making love to a Chevrolet in the middle of the forest where no one can judge you. I've never been good at figuring out these country songs so I might be way off on that. So yeah, I can maybe see the talent in Jelly Roll, but after putting three of his songs on the list this year, maybe I'll just stay away from his music for a while. Enough of these truck songs already.
1. Eminem - Houdini
Guess who's back? Shady's back... on the worst list again. This was so painfully disappointing to listen to. Eminem came back with his most anticipated album in years "The Death of Slim Shady". It was supposed to be a big sendoff to his Slim Shady persona and a nostalgia trip to Eminem's earlier days. It just came across as a desperate try for a career revival and the lyrics often came across as too immature and out of touch. Houdini was the first big single to come out and at first, I felt kind of excited to hear Em return to an older style I remember from my childhood. The song claims he's about to drop some super controversial lyrics and then goes on to complain about participation trophies, makes a joke about his cat being trans, and makes an R Kelly pee joke in the year of our lord 2024. Then he thinks these lyrics are going to get him canceled and he's cool with it. Most of it just makes Em look so old and out of touch with the times. I thought this could be a nice return to form for him after releasing so many bad albums in a row, but no. It's just another bad album that maybe could finally put his career to rest. Maybe that's for the best now.
THE BEST SONGS!
9. Noah Kahan - Stick Season
Noah had his breakout hit this year with "Stick Season", his 2022 single that gradually gained momentum until it hit it big. The song feels like a throwback to the early 2010s folk-pop hits. It's heavy on the acoustic guitar with a bit of banjo and some light percussion. The song is about Noah living through the winter in Vermont and feeling the loneliness and regret of a past relationship that ended. It feels like one of those songs that's too happy for the subject material, but maybe it's supposed to signify some hope left in him, but judging by how the song ends it doesn't seem he's hopeful about moving on anytime soon.
8. Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
I've talked about this song in a past post, but I'm still amused by how big of a hit this song completely destroying Drake became. It's insane how good this ended up being, but the lyrics are even crazier. Calling Drake a pedo and getting a Grammy nomination for it is pretty insane. I mean, if he does end up winning that Grammy, is he going to thank Drake in his speech for inspiring this hit? Kendrick dropped a full album months after this hit and it's got some great songs on it too, maybe some that would have made the list if they were bigger hits.
7. Hozier - Too Sweet
Hozier got his first true number-one chart hit and his second hit after "Take Me to Church". Well deserved and it's good that he didn't end up being a one-hit-wonder because he's too good to be called that. Not that it's a terrible thing, plenty of one-hit-wonders have great music outside of their one hit. This one came from a short EP he released early 2024 as a follow-up to his big album "Unreal Unearth". The single "Too Sweet" ended up taking off as a big hit, eventually getting to the number one spot. The song is about a relationship where Hozier feels like he's not connecting with the person because of their differing lifestyles. The person he's with has a very healthy lifestyle and he feels like he either can't keep up or doesn't fully agree with it even though he respects their choices.
6. Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby
This throwback from Tommy Richman was everywhere this year, especially in the last few months. I think it was also in a Taco Bell and Wingstop commercial so that's probably why I heard it so much. Normally, that would be a recipe for me getting sick of the song and calling it overplayed. It was overplayed, but I didn't really get sick of it. That's because it's a great song and it stands out amongst a lot of the hits this year. It's got this great energy that feels like it's missing from a lot of hip-hop, or at least it helps it stand out like I said before. Not sure if this is just the start of a big career for Tommy Richman, I mean usually these kinda hits tend to come and go but hopefully it's not the case for this one.
5. Taylor Swift - I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
Taylor continued her year of music domination this year with the finale of her Eras tour, which went to several different countries and eventually back to North America. While that was going on she released a surprise double album called "The Tortured Poets Department". My pet peeve of pop artists dropping albums that are way too damn long continues. But the album itself was a mixed bag with great songs and some not-so-great songs. One of the the great songs was "I Can Do It With a Broken Hearth". It's one of the more upbeat songs from the first half of the album and it's got this cool energy about it I like. The song is about Taylor having to push through the pain of a breakup as she has to perform for all her fans. Taylor shows her confidence by saying that even through all the pain she can put on an amazing show for her fans because she's just that good. Considering how beloved the Eras Tour was it's safe to say the song tells no lies. I guess it also fits well with the "Tortured Poet" theme.
4. Billie Eilish - Lunch
Billie released one of the most anticipated albums of the year back in May in "Hit Me Hard and Soft". I think the album is Billie's best work to date and it's got some of her best songs ever on it. The first big hit was "Lunch" a song that quickly rose up the charts to become a bit hit. The song is a pretty unsubtle metaphor for Billie's current obsession with a woman and wanting to pleasure her, possibly even wanting a real relationship with this person. It's easy to see why this song was the first big song from the album and why it was the one that was really used to push the new album. It's got a great bass line, which seems really important for pop music these days. The catchy melody along with the great lyrics are what make Billie such a great artist as well as her unique vocals that can't be matched.
3. Chapell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
It was Chapell's breakout year in 2024 as she went from pretty popular to one of the biggest stars in the USA. The release of her fantastic debut album and her touring with Olivia Rodrigo all helped push her to new heights. After her album's success, she released a single called "Good Luck, Babe!" that ended up reaching number 1 on the charts. In this song, Chapell is singing to an ex-girlfriend and trying to convince her to stop trying to force herself to be with men despite the fact that she's really into women. It could be seen as a cautionary tale of finding yourself unhappy in the future because you were too afraid to be who you truly are. A unique message for a pop song, but one that a lot of people might need to hear.
2. Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather
The first time I listened to Billie's new album, this song stood out right away. It quickly became my favorite from the album and probably the one I replayed the most. I think a lot of people share that feeling since it quickly became a hit after "Lunch" and it was very heavily used on social media. Pretty much everything I said about "Lunch" applies here too. Although this song has a sweeter sound than "Lunch", and the lyrics are a little vague about who exactly it's about. I feel like the song could be directed at anyone you love, not just a romantic partner (although it probably fits better for that). Not that I see a guy dedicating this song to his "bro", but it would be cool if that happened. Nothing like a guy referring to his bro as "my baby".
1. Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso
The song of the summer last year. Much like the last song, this one was another star-making hit that took the artist to new heights, in this case, Sabrina Carpenter. The difference here is Sabrina had been around for a while making music already and even had a good following, but this year was the year where she truly became a world-famous artist. I mean this song is undeniable. The song is pretty much just about how Sabrina can make a guy think about her nonstop, staying awake like she's an espresso to them. Pretty simple, but the melodies and music take this simple subject and make it so much fun and addicting to listen to. Much like the album it came from: the song is short and sweet.
What a way to end this list... sigh.
But below I'll put some other albums I really enjoyed last year as I usually do. Hopefully, they can give you ideas on what to check out or see if you agree with any of them.
TOP 10 ALBUMS (not in any particular order)
MICHELLE - Songs About You Specifically (Indie/pop)
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - Mountainhead (Indie Rock)
BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN - Keep Me On Your Mind / See You Free (Folk)
NXWORRIES - Why Lawd? (Hip/hop)
VINCE STAPLES - Dark Times (Hip/hop)
LAST DINNER PARTY - Prelude to Ecstasy (Indie rock)
THE MARIAS - Submarine (Indie/pop)
GREEN DAY - Saviors
KNOCKED LOOSE - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (Hardcore/punk)
REMI WOLF - Big Ideas (Indie Pop)
and some that were pretty close to making the top 10...
Twenty One Pilots - Clancy (???)
Orla Gartland - Everybody Needs a Hero (Indie rock)
ScHoolboy Q - Blue Lips (Hip/Hop)
Frances of Delirium - Lighthouse (Indie rock)
Clairo - Charm (Indie pop)
Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness (punk)
Childish Gambino - Bando Stone and The Real World (Hip/Hop)
Poppy - Negative Spaces (Hardcore/rock)
Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer (Indie/Folk)
0 comments:
Post a Comment