Remembering My Trip to Japan part II: A Week in Tokyo

 So my first travel post went pretty well and I wanted to follow up here with some more details about the city of Tokyo and some of the areas nearby. My second time around in Japan I had a much lower budget, but I knew I still wanted to go back there to see more. This time I spent my time mostly in the Tokyo area to see a lot of the things I missed and try to see just how affordable I can make this trip. I bought the tickets to Tokyo in the fall to fly out there in late March. The tickets were incredibly affordable and the airline was actually Japan's own Nippon Airways. Let me say that Nippon Airways was a really great airline to fly out with. The flight is going to be long and punishing no matter what (unless you can afford first-class), but Nippon Airways really did a great job at making it as painless as possible. Now I will say this: try not to fly back into Chicago if possible when returning from an overseas flight unless you have a really long layover or are staying there. They separate the international arrivals into two different buildings and it takes forever to get through security and out into the domestic flights terminal. I nearly missed my connecting flight because of how terrible the setup is there, so I'll always try to avoid returning to the USA by Chicago and you should too on layovers less than 3 hours. 

This time I was going to Japan during its peak tourism time. The flight was way cheaper, but all the hotels were double the price from when I went just a few months ago in September. If you go during this time, just be prepared to pay a lot for hotels in popular locations. I stayed just outside the city at this small place run by this older Japanese couple called the Canaan Hotel not too far from Kawasaki, about a10 minute train ride into Tokyo. It was actually decent for the price, but no one spoke any English there so it was a little hard to communicate at times, but I got by just fine. The hotel is in this quiet area that's not very tourist heavy so it was actually kind of nice to be surrounded by more locals despite the language barrier. I actually really loved how hard some of the locals try to make outsiders like me feel comfortable and try their best to communicate (just my experience in this area). The picture above is the area at night, even in the dark hours I felt safe and relaxed here. So the rest of this will be sharing a few locations I really enjoyed visiting and what you can see and do there.

Day 1: Kamakura

About an hour away from Tokyo by train is a beautiful town on the south coast that's full of amazing history. If you're looking for some temples and a more relaxing kind of day then this place is for you. It's the perfect place to walk around and enjoy some beautiful architecture. There's the famous Kotoko-in temple where there's a giant statue of Buddha and some great temples with unique visuals and experiences. That alongside lots of great places to get some great Japanese food makes it a great place to spend the day. There's also the beach that's not too far from this area if you're looking for some sun time. 

Day 2: Kawagoe

This time we'll be going north of Tokyo, about an hour by train. The small town of Kawagoe is a really great place to stop if you want to go shopping for traditional Japanese gifts or souvenirs. The area has this cool mixture of modern and old historical buildings that make the area feel really unique to anything you'd find in Tokyo. You get lots of little shops and vendors where you can buy some street food that's really good and not expensive, just be sure to have some cash here for the vendors.  

Day 3: Shinjuku

If you're looking for the Tokyo nightlife experience this is the place to go. Lots of neon lights everywhere, tons of bars and arcades around the area, and of course... karaoke. There's even a big Godzilla statue on top of the movie theater staring at you. This is an area of Tokyo that's a little busier and more chaotic than maybe some of the other areas, especially at night. That being said it's still very safe as is most of Tokyo. Even wondering at night alone I never really felt in danger in any way. I will say if you happen to be alone in this area you may get some annoying salespeople trying to get you to come into bars or to get a "massage", but nothing too bad and not aggressive at all. If you're looking for a more "nerdy" version of this experience then check out Akihabara on the east side of Tokyo, there you'll find tons of arcades and anime stores with the same aesthetic as you'd find in Shinjuku. 

While you're in Shinjuku be sure to buy tickets to the Robot Restaurant. It's one of the weirdest things you'll see in Tokyo, but it's so much fun. It's basically a dinner show where a bunch of neon floats that look like crazy robots carry performers around as they dance, play music, and battle. It's one of the most Japanese things you'll see in Japan... if that makes sense. It does look like the show closed down for COVID and still hasn't been reopened, so it could be closed for a while longer. 

Short Stop: Fukagawa

Across the Sumida River to the east of Tokyo is a less popular area called Fukagawa. It's a little out of the way, but there was one thing I really wanted to see here and I'd recommend anyone who's in Tokyo for a few days. There's an Edo Period museum here that's pretty cool and worth checking out. Inside the museum is a replica of a village during the Edo Period in Japan. There you can get a tour in English and they take you through the entire village explaining how everyone lived back then and showing you the tools they used and buildings they visited and lived in. It's really interesting and does a great job of helping you imagine life back in that time. You can even explore the replica houses on the inside which was really fun. It's a bit out of the way, but worth visiting to learn something new. 

Day 4: Ueno

One of the best places to go in the spring if you're looking for some beautiful sights and tons of Cherry Blossoms. There are a ton of things to do here besides just walking around the beautiful park and lake area. There's a big zoo in the area that has some pandas if you've never had the chance to see one. There's also the Tokyo National Museum and an Art & Science Museum around that same area. Then you can head to the Ameyoko shopping district not too far from that area to find some food and stores that sell anything you could probably think of. 

Day 5: Shibuya / Cat Street

I mentioned Shibuya in my first post which you can check out right here. There are some other stops in Tokyo I talk about there if you want more ideas after reading this one. Going back to Shibuya this time around to check out the Cat Street area specifically. There you'll find a ton of stores in a long street with lots of interesting art and some great food (if you're looking for some nice restaurants especially). Most of the stores are ones you might recognize around the States, but it's still a nice place to stop by when you're in the Shibuya area. 

Day 6 (and possibly 7): Tokyo Disneyland / DisneySea

Just outside of Tokyo to the east are the big Disney parks in Japan. There are two parks here, one that's more familiar to California Disneyland and one that's a completely unique park to Japan. If you can only visit one, then of course check out the unique DisneySea park. It cost a little less than 70$ at the time I went back in 2019, but I'm not sure if that price has changed at all since then (after looking it up, it looks like the average price is closer to 80$ now, which is still better than the USA parks). 

Getting to the parks is pretty easy as you can use the rail system anywhere in Tokyo to get to them. It can take up to an hour though depending on what part of Tokyo you're staying in and how busy the day is. It's a good idea to get there as early as possible to be able to enjoy all the park has to offer. In Tokyo Disney there isn't a fast pass you can purchase, instead, every ride has a ticketing system you use that will tell you what time to come back to skip the line. You can only have two tickets at a time, so it's like a weird game you have to play in order to maximize your time there. Still, as long as you get there early you'll have time to enjoy everything. 

News came out recently that the Rail Pass for tourists will be increasing in price by a good amount. The JR Rail Pass is a great deal if you're staying in Japan and plan on going to Kyoto, Osaka, and other cities far from Tokyo. It gives you unlimited rides on the JR lines and that includes the bullet trains that travel across the country. The price will be going from an affordable $220 7-day pass to $370. Probably still worth getting if you're going to be riding across the country and then back to Tokyo, but the increase is significant enough that it makes me wonder if finding a flight to Kyoto/Osaka might be better. 

Be sure to pick up a PASMO card when arriving in Tokyo as soon as possible. These can be loaded up with money and scanned at all stations for rails and buses around Tokyo. It's the easiest and cheapest way to get around without having to purchase individual tickets to every trip you make. There's also a tourist-only version that has more fun designs and comes with discounts to certain shops, restaurants, and fun activities. While you're riding on trains and buses be sure to be quiet and not talk on your phone or play music as Japanese culture has an emphasis on not being a bother to those around you and being respectful. You can use Google Maps to help you find every station and platform to board and what time you need to be there. 

Some other small tips here are: Always carry some cash, there are still a decent amount of places that only want cash. Also, most places want you to put cash on a plastic tray and not just hand it to the person directly. Also, you don't need to tip here usually. 

Traveling early in the morning (8-9am) and around 5PM can be a hassle and the subways/trains can get really full to the point of being squished inside, so avoid if possible. 

Much like other cities, the buses and rails don't run 24hrs so make sure you use them while they're open or you'll be taking a cab or walking. 

Tokyo is a very clean place, but for some reason it's hard to find trash cans around the city. That means you may have to carry trash with you for a while. 

Convenience stores like 7/11 and Lawson sell pretty affordable meals if you're trying to save money and actually... they are pretty decent meals you wouldn't expect from a place like 7/11. 

The Super Mario Bros Movie

 After its announcement 40 years ago, the new animated Mario Bros movie is finally here! Made by the studio that brought you The Secret Life of Pets and the Despicable Me franchise... yeah I'll admit the idea of this studio making a Mario movie didn't exactly excite me when I first heard about it. Then the announcement of the cast made me feel a little more confused than I would have hoped (at least the voice of Mario anyway). So with all those things going against it, I still went into this movie with more positive thoughts and hope. So the time has come and the movie has been released, does it live up to the hype or were my worries about this movie proven to be legitimate?

I'm happy to say that this movie is... pretty good actually. There are good and bad things here for sure, but I think ultimately the good stuff keeps this movie from being a mediocre kid's movie. Yeah, so make sure you know this movie is aimed at kids mostly, with some nice little nods to the ones who grew up with the classic Mario games in the 80s and 90s. The humor and dialog are still aimed to make the kids laugh and keeping them entertained. I'll start with the good stuff first though and the main thing you'll notice when watching this is how great the visuals are. There is huge attention to detail in the world and characters that will have you scanning the screen looking for references and easter eggs, but also just enjoying the bright and iconic landscapes of the mushroom kingdom and other Mario levels you might remember. By far the best visuals of any Illumnation movie to date. My only minor complaint would be of Mario himself, I don't know how to explain it but he just didn't feel like Mario from the video games exactly. It's a mix of the visual style and the voice by Chris Pratt that makes it feel a little off. That being said all the other characters are great and the voices fit them well, especially Bowser played by Jack Black. Bowser is the character who steals the scenes and is the best part of the movie when he's onscreen as he's the funniest and Jack Black just nails the vocal performance. 

The story plays out as an origin story for Mario and Luigi and how they first got to the Mushroom Kingdom. They start off as struggling plumbers in New York, who can't seem to find clients for their new business. When the streets of New York start to flood, the Mario Brothers try to fix it by entering the sewers, only to accidentally stumble on a warp pipe that sends them to the mysterious land of the Mushroom Kingdom. There they find themselves caught in the middle of Bowser's plan to rule the world. Mario must team up with his new friends Peach and Toad to stop Bowser and find his brother Luigi. It plays out exactly like you'd expect a Mario video game storyline to, which isn't a bad thing at all. The humor isn't too far off what you'd find in other Illumination movies, kinda hit or miss for me. The story is still enjoyable enough to keep things interesting for the hour-and-a-half length of this movie. It's short and sweet and never feels like it wastes too much time, except maybe at the start where it felt like a little too much time was spent in New York. 

There were a few things in the movie I didn't like too much. As I mentioned before, Mario feels a little off in this movie. Donkey Kong makes an appearance and he's pretty fun, but Seth Rogen as the voice just pretty much sounds like Seth Rogen so it's a little distracting. The humor is overly slapstick at times and can get a bit repetitive in that way. There are only so many times I can watch Mario get hurt before it kinda stops being funny. The movie also introduces Mario and Luigi's family in New York and they are barely in the movie, which makes a scene at the end feel a bit shoehorned in. 

After the movie ended I felt good as the credits rolled. This felt like a solid Mario movie, one that I was happy to see after all these years of waiting. My expectations weren't high going in, but I think it surpassed them overall. The visuals and the fun characters are enough to ignore some flaws in its humor and storytelling. It felt like the people behind the scenes really cared about the characters and the video games and really made a movie that I think most fans of the games will at least like and possibly even love. I guess I fall somewhere in between those two. I think it's a good movie, but one where there could have been a few things done better to really make a great family Mario movie. 

Jack Black is amazing.

Overall Grade: B

15 Worst Songs of the 2010s

 The 2010s had some amazing music of all genres come out and it was hard to keep up with all. Unfortunately, there were plenty of awful songs on the radio/pop charts to try to avoid while looking for the good stuff. There are plenty of artists you might expect these duds from, but the more surprising part was the number of good artists who released some pretty terrible songs. So today I will make fun of and list the songs that I was unfortunate enough to hear the last decade and still am haunted by. Thankfully it's easy to avoid a lot of these as they've been forgotten with time, but going back to make this list wasn't too easy. So here are the 15 worst songs I heard in the 2010s... and yeah there are plenty of bad ones I didn't listen to that won't be on here. 

15. "All of Me" by John Legend

John Legend makes love sound so boring in this song it's honestly pretty impressive.  The song is all just piano and vocals and it sounds so empty and lifeless as he sings pretty generic lyrics to his wife. My favorite part of the song is when he says to her "how many times do I have to tell you- you're beautiful" like he's actually tired of telling her how beautiful she is at this point. It doesn't help that the song is four and a half minutes long, but it feels like an eternity with how little it changes throughout that runtime. Just a boring love song from an artist who is capable of so much better. Also, why is his wife pretty much naked in the entire video? Just adds to the bizarreness of this whole thing. 

14. "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez

Selena goes through her "I'm not with Disney anymore so I have to show everyone I'm an adult now" phase. The premise of this song seems to be Selena being vaguely sexual, without actually mentioning sex in the song at all. A thing she liked to do a lot in her music in the 2010s. I never found it very convincing coming from her, it always felt like she was trying too hard to do something she wasn't very good at. With "Come and Get It" it all comes across as a person who's just being told what to do by a studio to find a new image after her Disney career. The chorus is extremely annoying with the way Selena sings it on top of the loud music that just feels so out of place. I think Selena Gomez is talented, but I would like to see her play more to her strengths and this type of song just never worked for her. 

13. "Closed on Sunday" by Kanye West

Looking back at this time, it really felt like the beginning of the end for Kanye. Kanye's Christian album was a complete failure in almost every possible way. No song on the album makes that clearer than "Closed on Sunday", which was the big single off the album. Here Kanye puts together some questionable lyrics on a pretty lifeless track. I'll never understand the point of this song and I'm always annoyed by the dumb product placement of Chick-fil-A. Knowing the kind of person Kanye has become makes this worse honestly. Also ending the song by just screaming "CHICK-FIL-A!!" is just so out of place it actually might be the best part of the song. 

12. "Thunder/Believer" by Imagine Dragons

Yeah, I'm cheating a bit here by putting two songs in one spot, but they both came out around the same time to promote their album Evolve. This album came out in 2017 and it was completely inescapable. The two songs "Thunder" and "Believer" were used in commercials, movies, and TV shows on top of being promoted on streaming platforms heavily. The album was a complete failure critically, but with the number of plays it got I guess it must have been financially successful. If I had to choose one though, it would be Thunder for the worse song. It's far less interesting than "Believer" in every possible way and the music is actually incredibly annoying. It's still probably the worst chorus Imagine Dragons have ever written. Over the years Imagine Dragons haven't improved much from this sound, only doubling down on it and continuing to disappoint me after that pretty good first album.  

11. "I Love It" by Kanye West & Lil Pump

The funniest thing about this song is that it was released about a year before his Christian album came out. Kanye teams up with Lil Pump for no real reason I can think of... at least no good reason anyway. Here, Kanye is at his lamest singing his over-the-top lyrics with no charisma whatsoever. Joining him is the only person who could possibly do worst in Lil Pump. Both guys bring out the worst in each other as they half-heartedly sing about "hoes" and how much they like sex with said "hoes". Kanye at his cheesiest has never really been funny and oftentimes makes songs that just make me sigh in disappointment at the end of them. Lil Pump is expected to be trash, but Kanye still had some goodwill at this point in his career. Outside of his personal life stupidity, his music has also taken a dive in quality for the worst. His music has become unlistenable for the most part, and this song was a big signal that things were only getting worse and not going to get better anytime soon. I will admit the stupid suits they wear in the video are pretty amusing though. 

10. "Swish Swish" by Katy Perry

2017 was a really bad year for Katy Perry. It had been 4 years since her last full album and she was promoting her big comeback HARD. The new album would be called "Witness" and she even did some strange 24-hour streams of her life to promote the new album, which was just bizarre looking back. The first big single "Chained to the Rhythm" was met with a mixed reception and the follow-up "Bon Appetit" was met with a pretty negative reception. Then the final big single from the new album dropped and it was the worst one yet. "Swish Swish" is the perfect song to listen to if you want to understand why this album failed so bad. It's a very messy song from the production to Katy Perry herself. Even a guest Nicki Minaj verse couldn't save this song. This album ended up hurting her career in a big way, as her next album would go on to not have a single big hit in it. Katy Perry's career will be fine, she has enough big hits to keep her going for life, but this song and the album it came from really did do a lot of damage to a pretty powerful pop star's status in the music world. 

Also, there were always rumors that this song was aimed at Taylor Swift as a comeback for Taylor's "Bad Blood". Not sure if either song was actually aimed to insult the other artist, but it's funny that both songs are pretty much Taylor and Katy's worsts. 

9. "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco

Speaking of songs that hurt big artists' careers, here's "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco. To be fair, this song actually was a huge hit when it came out. I always had a problem with the song and the album it came from though. It felt like Brandon Urie was focusing too much on trying to get this big bombastic sound for all his songs, with tons of big production and many instruments. The music from this era of Panic just felt like it was too loud and obnoxious in its presentation and needed to be toned down a bit to really have an impact. Brandon feels like he's screaming in a lot of the songs because he's constantly having to try to outsing all the instruments that are very loud. Just listening to the chorus in "High Hopes" gives me a headache with how much is going on. It sucks because I enjoyed his previous album "Death of a Bachelor" which had some elements of that, but just toned down and done well. It ended up being the beginning of the end, as his next album would also be his last (for now). 

8. "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande

It's interesting to see a song here from the same album that had one of my favorite pop songs of the 2010's "thank u, next" on it. They can't all be bangers I guess. The thing I dislike about this song is how fake it feels. "7 Rings" just never felt convincing coming from Ariana Grande. It's a mix of the weird Sound of Music sample along with the lyrics that make this song unlistenable to me. The song almost feels out of place on what's otherwise a pretty solid album. "7 Rings" is easily the worst Ariana song I've heard. Everything from the boring beat/music to Ariana trying to do the whole brag rap thing just doesn't fit together at all. One of the more iconic singers of the last 7-8 years, but just can't quite pull this particular style off here. 

7. "7 Years" by Lukas Graham

What is it with songs that have the number 7 in the title? I know a lot of people probably forgot that this one hit wonder even existed... I'm very jealous of those people. This is one of those songs where the music is actually okay, but the song is completely ruined by the lyrics and the vocal performance. The lead singer named Lukas Graham (go figure) comes across as a super conceited asshole in this song with the way he sings and he talks about his life like he's destined to be the most amazing person to walk this earth is just awful. With amazing lines like "I only see my goals, I don't believe in failure" "My woman brought children for me" and "I made a man so happy when I wrote a letter once". Thankfully they did not have another hit after this one, but they didn't even deserve the one hit. It's so funny how he starts the song by saying he doesn't want a life of fame because he's not a glory seeker, then completely contradicts that for the rest of the song with his giant ego. 

6. "The Hills" by The Weeknd

"The Hills" was my introduction to The Weeknd, and it did not leave a good first impression. It's like everything that makes him a great artist is completely absent from this big single. The lifeless verses paired with the loud bassy music blaring in the chorus is just pain. There is also the weird siren that sounds like women shrieking in fear in the chorus that's a strange touch. It's so weird that this came from the same album that has "Can't Feel My Face" because this is almost the exact opposite of that song in quality. Also on the same album was "Earned it" which came really close to making this list too. Thankfully, the Weeknd has come a long way from this and now makes some of the best pop music out there. 

5. "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi

While John Legend was making the most boring love song of the decade, Lewis Capaldi was working on making the most boring breakup song of the decade. The only thing worse than making a boring piano song is making a boring piano song with terrible vocals. At least John Legend actually has great vocal talent, unlike our guy Lewis Capaldi here. Lewis's idea of passionate vocals is screaming past your vocal range and straining your voice. This song just doesn't really have anything original in it to make it stand out lyrically or musically. All that you got left to make something good after that is just charisma from the lead singer and that's not present at all here. I do enjoy Capaldi's self-deprecation style of humor, but unfortunately, it's not really present in this song. 

4. "Marvin Gaye" by Charlie Puth & Meghan Trainor

"Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on" is the lamest line ever written in the history of music. This entire song is just wrong in every possible way and has no redeeming qualities. I guess at least it's coming from a "good" place, unlike the next few songs on the list. But using the name of the iconic artist "Marvin Gaye" as slang for "let's have sex" is just so stupid and misguided in this song. It's worse coming from the least two convincing artists of the decade in Puth and Trainor. This song makes me think neither of them has actually had sex before. Oh and Meghan Trainor in another doo-wop song, what a surprise. The only believable thing about this song is that Trainor and Puth could actually be in a relationship because they both have a passion for making awful music.

3. "Rack City" by Tyga

How do you make one of the worst songs of the decade? Well, you get Tyga and DJ Mustard together to make a song that's how. This is probably the laziest beat ever created by DJ Mustard, a guy whose beats aren't that great even when he's actually trying. Put up the lazy brag raps of Tyga on top of that with his "I could fall asleep at any moment" energy and you're left with a waste of time song. The entire song is just Tyga spitting out lazy raps with zero energy over the overused "hey hey hey" chants that DJ Mustard loves overusing. At one point Tyga says the line "I got your grandma on my d*ck", which is the only part that's kinda funny... if he was even trying to be funny? If you want to know how little people seem to care about this guy, just look up his top songs on Spotify. Almost all of them are songs he's featured on and not his own songs from albums he released himself. 

2. "Earth" by Lil Dicky 

I've always found Lil Dicky to be pretty unfunny for the most part, and most of his music is pretty forgettable. It was easy to ignore his dumb schtick until he decided to make a big charity single that featured countless celebrities and pop star singers in it. So here we have "Earth", a comedy song where the guest celebs all play different animals and make really dumb jokes that are too obvious to be funny. Follow that by the uncharismatic raps of Lil Dicky who tries hard to be clever, but mostly sounds confused as to what he's supposed to be doing. Most of the jokes are either too obvious to be funny or too stupid to even make sense. Things like "I'm a squirrel looking for my next nut", "I'm a skunk and I shoot you out my butthole" and the worst line of them all "we forgive you Germany". So yeah... I can appreciate the attempt to give a good message about saving the Earth, but this was not the way to do it. 

1. "Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes

Shawn Mendes literally makes an anthem for the stereotypical "nice guy" and it becomes a big hit. Not only does this song suck, but it also shows how a badly written song can still somehow become a hit just because it's "catchy" and sounds "romantic". The lyrics are pretty vague, so it's hard to tell where Mendes is really coming from here. Is the girl he's singing to in an abusive relationship or is Mendes just implying that she looks unhappy and he would be the better option for her? It just comes across as Mendes saying "hey girl, that guy is bad for you, let me make you happy because you need a man for that". It also doesn't help that we have no idea if this girl even has feelings for Shawn at all like he's the hero she needs not wants. The idea of making a song trying to convince someone to leave a rotting relationship or even an abusive one could be a good emotional topic. This song however just tries to make Shawn look like some hero who's coming to save the damsel in distress. It doesn't help that the music is incredibly flat and out of place for this topic. Shawn also just comes across as really annoying in the way he sings this song, especially when he screams "BETTER THAN HE CAN" at the end of the chorus. It's just a disaster of a song from an artist who consistently falls flat on his face when trying to make music with some meaning. 

Top 10 hit songs of the 2010s

 One last looks back at the past, the not-so-distant past this time. After finishing the top songs of the 80s, 90s, and 00's now it's time to look back at the most recent dead decade and the biggest hits and artists that came from the decade that ended just a few years ago. I wasn't expecting this decade to be so hard, but it actually ended up being the hardest to go through. Deciding 10 songs out of the hundred+ great songs released in the decade was tough, especially since this was the decade where streaming really took off giving us access to so many different songs at any time we want. During the last decade, I really grew to like a lot of music I didn't really give a chance back in my teens, especially getting more into pop music. 

Since the list was so long I want to give some special mentions to a few songs that almost made the list, but ultimately had to be left out of the top 10. I'm going to keep it to 5 extra songs, otherwise it would be a very long list. So lots of big names will be left off the list, but what can you do. Also, one specific artist who probably would have made the top 10 was left off because he's a terrible person now who deserves no attention (you probably know who I mean, and if not even better). So here are the 5 honorable mentions:

Honorable #5: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele  (2011)

Every time an Adele album is released it feels like a huge event. It's crazy to think there were only two Adele albums released in the entire 2010s decade. That's probably why you gotta appreciate them while they come, it's not something that happens often. "21" was her second full-length album and the album that pushed Adele from a relatively popular artist to a household name. There are a couple of songs from "21" you could put here as classics, but I stuck with "Rolling in the Deep". Adele can break your heart with one of her amazing ballads, but here she shows her more fiery side with an angrier breakup song. The lyrics are fantastic and when you add Adele's vocals it's completely undeniable. This song pushed her to the top of the charts and she's cemented her place there with hit after hit in the last 15 years. 

Honorable #4: "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People (2011)

2011 was a pretty good year huh? The one-hit wonders Foster the People released their debut album "Torches" in 2011 and took the indie music scene by storm. It wasn't long till their hit song "Pumped Up Kicks" reached the top of the charts and took the radio/MP3 sales by storm. It's unfortunate that they never found another hit as big as this one because they have a pretty strong catalog. Their debut album "Torches" is still one of my favorites of the last decade, a fantastic album from start to finish. 

Honorable #3: "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles (2017)

Harry Styles's debut single as a solo artist blew me away. It was interesting to see the direction (sigh) he took after leaving the comforts of his big pop group. Releasing an epic rock song is an interesting choice I didn't see coming. Harry released his self-titled debut album in 2017 to lots of positive reception. The album experimented with lots of different styles of rock and it he made pretty much all of it work. It was really exciting to see a huge star using classic rock styles as an influence for his music and it actually becoming very popular. Unfortunately, none of his later releases really grabbed my attention like his first album. That's more of a personal thing, I still quite enjoy his two later albums just not quite the same as his first album. "Sign of the Times" remains my favorite Harry Styles song to date, but I still see the potential for greater things. 

Honorable #2: "Ride" by Twenty One Pilots (2015)

It's not often an indie band I loved from early on ends up becoming one of the bigger rock bands of the decade. The mid-2010s were very kind to Twenty One Pilots as they found multiple hits from their album "Blurryface" and even got a big single from the "Suicide Squad" movie. "Ride" shows off how good this band can be with their mix of alt-rock/hip-hop/reggae to make a really fun song. It's a style that no one's really been able to replicate not for lack of trying.  

Honorable #1: "Shallows" by Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper

When it was announced that Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga were going to star in yet another remake of "A Star is Born" I wasn't exactly sure what to think. Lady Gaga wasn't exactly known for being an actress despite having some small roles in a few movies and a season of American Horror Story. As an artist, she has an amazing presence and voice and she was able to put that into film for this performance. No better moment in the movie than when she performs "Shallows" in from of a live audience and they can't help but cheer when she starts belting out the chorus. It's a memorable moment in the movie that translates into the song itself if you're just listening to it. 

And now onto the top 10 list proper!

10: "thank u, next" by Ariana Grande (2019)

It's safe to say that Ariana Grande was one of the biggest artists of the last decade with an insane amount of hits under her belt. To me, the best hit song she made came out right at the end of the decade in "thank u, next". The song not only shows how talented she is as a vocalist but how far she's come as a writer. Taking inspiration from her past relationships, she's able to spin all her breakouts and relationships that didn't work into a positive message for herself and others that can relate to the ups and downs of dating. It just works on pretty much every level. 

9. "Shut Up and Dance" by WALK THE MOON (2014)

Technically not a one-hit-wonder band WALK THE MOON dropped their biggest song in 2014 and it was awesome. "Shut Up and Dance" is one of the few songs that was really overplayed and I never really got tired of it. To this day I still enjoy putting it on every now and then. The thing this song does so well is mixing the fun vibes with actually really unique instrumentation that's got lots of good layers. The bass and guitar really carry the song and it all builds to a really awesome keyboard solo before the final chorus. This sort of fun pop song has been sorely missing for the last few years. 

8. "Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen (2015)

The queen of pop (?) dropped one of the best pop albums of the decade "Emotion" in 2015. What better way to start an album than with a classic like "Run Away With Me". A song that starts you on a journey that only gets better as you dive into the rest of the album. My only complaint is that "All That" wasn't a hit song so I could put it on this list. While "Run Away With Me" wasn't nearly as big as "I Really Like You", I personally think it's the better song. As I said, it's an amazing album starter on top of being a little less cheesy than "I Really Like You" (which I enjoy the cheesy-ness). Also musically it feels stronger along with the more interesting melodies and lyrics. Can't really go wrong with most of the songs on the album... so go listen to it now. 

7. "Out of the Woods" by Taylor Swift (2014)

It feels weird to put a Taylor song that wasn't that big of a hit compared to a lot of her other singles, but this was always my favorite of her 2010s songs. I wasn't really a huge fan of Taylor until she dropped the album "1989"  in 2014. So basically I wasn't a fan until she went completely pop with her sound. Over time I grew to appreciate her older stuff, but this is the album I come back to a lot, and "Out of the Woods" is the song I always favored. Taylor's storytelling feels like it's at its best in this song with the strong music choice to pair along with it. Of course, her last few albums in the 2020s have shown a lot more growth and maturity as an artist, but this still feels like it can stand with some of her newer albums. 

6. "I Love It" by Icona Pop, Feat. Charli XCX (2012)

Introducing a lot of the world to Charli XCX is worthy of making this list and that's all I probably need to say here. This loud and obnoxious song should be something I hate, but it somehow uses all that in a way that just completely works against all odds. Yeah, Charli is a big part of that because she just makes that shit work man, but the music matching that loud energy just makes this work so much more. I think hearing Charli scream "I DON'T CARE" to music that completely matches that energy just works so well that it's impossible not to enjoy this. 

5. "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd (2015)

My introduction to The Weeknd was unfortunately not a good one. The first single I remember hearing was "The Hills", which was the big single from his 2015 album. That song was so incredibly boring and showed a side of The Weeknd that I had zero interest in. I was ready to completely ignore this artist until to my surprise his next single was the complete opposite of "The Hills". "Can't Feel My Face" showed me how much talent The Weeknd had and how good he could be when he put some energy into his performance. Fantastic vocals backed with some awesome music make for one of the catchiest songs of the 2010s. The Weeknd would only grow as an artist from here and would go on to make two of the best pop albums of the 2020s so far. Go listen to "After Hours" and "Dawn FM" if you haven't already. 

4. "Redbone" by Childish Gambino (2016)

I'm not sure anyone expected this from Childish Gambino when it was first released. Transitioning from his more hip-hop-focused albums into R&B/funk was certainly a welcome surprise, especially when the album turned out so good. "redbone" has that classic funk sound with more modern production. The song was inspired by and samples Bootsie Collins, a 70s music legend in the funk and R&B scenes. The vocal effects are really interesting and make the song unique as well as just matching well with the dark music. The bass really stands out and carries the song on top of the other little touches filling out the song. The dark mood of the song matches the lyrics about paranoia and feeling like you're not doing enough to keep the person you're with happy enough to stay with you. It works so well together and really felt like something fresh and new at the time of its release. 

3. "Alright" by Kendrick Lamar (2015)

It was only a matter of which Kendrick song would be here and not if there would be one. Of course, you have to go with what many would say is the most iconic rap song of the 2010s. "To Pimp a Butterfly" was a game-changing album after his previous album that was also a game-changer (good kid, m.A.A.d City). A song that talks about Kendrick's religious beliefs and his trust in God. A song that isn't afraid to be real about pain and suffering, while still having an overall positive message about pushing through the hard times and trusting in God. A song with a more Christian message that isn't completely cheesy or relies heavily on cliches? Strange how that makes for a more thought-provoking song than what a lot of CCM artists put out there. 

2. "Royals" by Lorde (2013)

For better or worse, Lorde changed pop music with the release of "Royals" in 2013. While not inventing the style of music she used in her first album, she most definitely popularized it in the mainstream. The more chilled-out vocals that many young artists (especially young women) tried to replicate for years with varying degrees of success. "Royals" stood out for the aforementioned vocal style and more alt-pop sound, but also because the lyrics were going against what a lot of mainstream music had been selling at the time. It went against the trend of constantly calling out famous luxury brands, and expensive cars and bragging about being rich. It felt like a breath of fresh air for the pop music scene and one that would bring a lot of new artists to the forefront. 

1. "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit, feat. Jess Glynne (2014)

As far as pop songs go in the 2010s, it was a challenge trying to find anything more enjoyable than this. It's one of those songs that just works in every way it needs to from start to finish. The music feels like it's got lots of layers that all work together along with the great vocals that push everything to amazing heights. Clean Bandit does a good job at crafting the perfect song for the singer they chose, but none better than "Rather Be" at this point. Right from the start you hear the strings playing and it feels like something completely unique. Mixed with the EDM style works better than I could have imagined when I first heard it. There's a certain energy in the song that just puts me in a good mood. The song is pop perfection plain and simple. Music makes you feel all kinds of emotions, but if it's joy you're looking for look no further and "Rather Be". 

Creed III

 

The Rocky franchise has been around since the mid-1970s with the first movie winning the Best Picture Oscar in 1977. Since then the franchise has followed the story of Rocky Balboa as he takes on bigger and better challenges that push him to new limits. 2015 introduced Rocky's new protege Adonis Creed, who is the son of his best friend and world-famous boxer Apollo Creed. The franchise changed from focusing on Rocky to focusing on the new young up-and-comer boxer Adonis Creed. Creed 3 will be the 9th movie in the Rocky franchise and the first to be completely absent of its creator and iconic character Sylvester Stallone (Rocky). How does Creed 3 hold up without the presence of Rocky? That's the main question I found myself asking going into this movie. 

Creed 3 stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed. The story picks up where the second movie left off in Adonis' career. After having accomplished everything he set out to as a boxer, Adonis decides to hang up his gloves and focus more on his family and his health. Years after retiring, we see that Adonis has become a successful boxing promoter and even has his own protege named Felix Chavez who is the current champion. Everything seems to be going great until an old friend of Adonis named Damian (Jonathan Majors) appears back into his life after getting out of prison. His old friend brings back feelings of guilt and trauma that Adonis had been suppressing for years. Now Adonis must battle with these feelings as all he has built over the last few years starts to fall apart. 

As a movie in the Rocky franchise, this movie does a lot of things that follow the formula of past movies. Much like the rest of the movies, this one is all building toward that big fight at the end where the hero fights his new rival. While the formula is overused, this movie somehow finds a way to keep it all very interesting despite the repetition. What this movie gets right is how it gets you invested in the character's stories and feelings. Thanks to all the amazing performances you truly care about every character and what happens to them. A big part of what makes this story work is Jonathan Majors' portrayal of Damian. He not only looks like a threat just by his intimidating build but his character is written pretty much perfectly. The best villains are the ones who you can sympathize with to an extent and that's Damian all the way through. Even though there's sympathy, you still root against him because of how his actions affect the character you actually root for in Adonis. 

Another thing this movie does really well is keeping the boxing scenes visually interesting as well as getting you emotionally invested in who wins or loses. The last fight scene in particular was so uniquely crafted it was unlike anything a boxing movie has ever done. I think it was necessary to try something new to keep the boxing scenes fresh in a franchise with nine movies and they did really good here. I find it hard to find anything to complain about here because the movie handles everything so well with the story, characters and fight scenes. The only complaint I might have is the big fight scene at the end goes against the big message of the movie in some ways, but I can't get into that without spoilers. 

I was surprised by how emotional this movie was, the crowd I was watching it in the theater with seemed very invested in the movie and I could hear some groans and gasps at moments the movie was getting pretty heavy. Nine movies in and the story still felt emotional and the boxing still felt epic and exciting. Creed 3 finds ways to keep a repetitive formula fresh and shows that this decades-old franchise still has a lot left to say and show. There's even a nice tease showing where this franchise can ultimately end up in the future and it's pretty exciting. 

Overall Grade: A

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 Another year another 3 new MCU movies to watch... and a couple shows on top of that. With Phase 4 of the MCU wrapping up late last year, the stage will be set for the next few years with "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania". This movie is setting up the big villain that's going to be built up in the next few years leading into the next big Avengers movie. It's a big set of shoes to fill after how iconic Thanos' story arc was in the last few phases of the MCU. Kang the Conqueror played by Jonathan Majors gets his introduction into the movie side of the MCU here, and the big question is: did the movie do a good job at this? 

Before I get into answering that question, I'd like to take a quick look back at Phase 4 and how it all came to a close. I didn't review most of the movies from that phase because pretty much everything in that phase was released during the pandemic. I think most people would agree that it was easily the weakest phase of the MCU so far, by a pretty big margin. The movies were pretty hit or miss, with most not really standing out too much outside of No Way Home, Wakanda Forever, and maybe Shang-Chi. Black Widow was a pretty big disappointment and felt too late. Eternals was a giant mess of a story with a lot of wasted potential and Love and Thunder wasted an amazing Christian Bale performance with a movie that tried too hard to be funny at all times. On top of that, we were bombarded with non-stop tv-shows on Disney+ that mostly were just okay, with Loki being the one real standout. It all just felt like too much and the post-Endgame stories just felt a bit flat. Thankfully, now with the new phase, things look to be slowing down a bit and taking some time to breathe. So how does the new Ant-Man and Wasp story fare? 

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" picks up after the events of Endgame, as all the characters seem to have gotten their lives back to mostly normal after the blip. Scott has become a big celebrity for his work with the Avengers and has put down the hero work to try to live a more normal life. Even though things are mostly back to normal, the one thing Scott struggles with is rebuilding the relationship with his daughter Cassandra after missing 5 years of her life. Cassandra reveals to her family that she's made a machine that can communicate with the quantum realm and help find out more about it without having to enter it. It all goes wrong when someone in the quantum realm intercepts their signal and opens a portal that sucks in Scott and the rest of his family. On the other side of the portal, a man named Kang awaits, whose mysteries are slowly revealed throughout the movie. 

I feel like there are two sides to this movie, one that completely works and one that is a bit underwhelming. Starting with the underwhelming part is the main story of Scott and his daughter Cassandra. I think it works well for the most part, but I think it might have been a little better if the movie didn't have so many characters it was trying to fit into the story at once. While the movie focuses a good amount on their relationship, you also have Kang, Hope, Hank, and Janet all intertwined in the story as well. One of the things I thought was that a lot of the jokes don't land as much as you would hope. Not to say the movie isn't funny at times because it is, but a lot of the jokes just didn't quite land for me. The part that completely worked though, was the introduction to Kang and his story. Jonathan Majors is such a damn good actor in everything I've seen him in and this is no exception. I'm incredibly excited to see where he takes this character because he was so good in this movie and his involvement really took this story to another level. 

One big part of the movie I should mention is the visuals. Unlike the previous two Ant-Man movies, this one is almost entirely in a CGI location (the quantum realm). The visuals range from pretty impressive to sometimes a little too fake looking. One character in particular (MODOK) was really rough to look at. I guess since this is coming out so close to the latest Avatar movie it's hard not to compare a little, but it's nowhere near that level. Still, it's not distracting enough to completely take me out of the story. Another thing I noticed is how strangely political this movie was, which was pretty interesting. I'll say this movie actually has a lot of good messages/lessons in it about life and I thought that was really cool. 

This movie had some weak spots for sure. With the sometimes rough CGI and the story sometimes feeling like it has too many characters it's trying to give time to. The jokes didn't always land, but I think it hit more than it missed there. All that is forgotten when you see just how good Kang the Conqueror is in this role and how excited I am to see more of him. The characters are all still great from the previous movies and the newly expanded role for Cassandra worked well too. I think this movie does a great job of kicking off Phase 5 of the MCU by establishing one of the big characters that's going to play a huge role in the next few years of movies. 

Overall Grade: B-

The Worst Songs of 2022 (and Best?)

 Who would've thought that the year would go by so fast? I mean they always go by fast, but it's still surprising when you realize there are only a few weeks left in the year. It's been a pretty bizarre year for music, at least on the pop side of things. I struggled to really find songs that I really hated or loved in the pop charts and a lot of it just felt like it didn't stick with me. Lots of big artists dropped some mediocre albums that still broke the charts. Taylor Swift released another album along with artists like Drake and Bad Bunny who all seem to release new albums every year. It was all just... there. 

The trend of releasing songs to become popular on TikTok to get hits is still going strong, which usually produces some pretty mediocre products. I still don't really get the full appeal of TikTok, and it's probably because I'm old now, but it just seems like a lot of the good content is buried underneath thousands of bad videos. It feels like a lot of the songs that are overused in TikTok are designed to be as annoying as possible, so I'm not sure how, but it seems to work for them. I just don't have the patience to create some sort of algorithm by looking for and liking any decent TikTok. 

But enough sounding like an old man who yells at clouds. It's time to list the best and worst songs of the year 2022. But first a few special mentions:

Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill"

I thought about including this on the best song list proper but I ultimately decided to leave it out as it's really not a song from 2022. If it was, I would put it as my number 1 song of the year so that's mainly why I left it out. It's Kate Bush, a highly influential artist who rightfully got the recognition she deserved this year thanks to her song being the anthem of the latest Stranger Things season. It was nice seeing this have a big resurgence. It also makes me wonder what other classic songs could have a resurgence like this through the next season of the show or other series. 

Glass Animals - "Heat Waves"

I actually put this on my worst list last year so I can't include it this year. I just wanted to mention how much I dislike this song because it actually ended up being the highest-selling of the year 2022. Mediocre garbage like this gets the most play out of any other song in the USA and that's... well pretty standard these days I guess. I don't even hate this song, I just find it annoying how a boring song like this is the one that will be known as the biggest song of the year. 

Imagine Dragons - "Enemy ft. JID"

I mostly put this song here because I can't tell if I like it or hate it. It's got a certain charm to it that makes me like it, but it still has that annoying Imagine Dragons style that I'm super tired of hearing at this point. I guess I'll say this is the best thing they've released in a while, but still not good enough to be on my best list. Not being on my worst songs list is an improvement though?

Jake Harlow - "First Class"

I really thought this had the potential to be really good, but it falls short of that mark. The chorus sample is a really clever use of Fergie's "Glamorous" and the beat is pretty good. The thing that holds the song back is Harlow himself who just doesn't do the good ideas this song has justice. Things like rhyming "I am" with "I am" like five times and the super awkward "sweet sweet semen" line just make this song hard to listen to. Better luck next time I guess. 

Morgan Wallen/Lil Durk - "Broadway Girls"

Morgan Wallen trying his best to get everyone to forget what he got caught saying on camera not too long ago. Here Wallen tries his best to sound tough and strains his voice to a painful point. Then at the end of the song, he starts sounding like some sort of duck honking... I guess that's his mating call? I don’t spend a lot of time with Morgan’s music but if it anything like this then I’m glad I’ve not heard much. 

Alright, that's all for the honorable mentions, on to the top 10 worst and best songs of 2022. 

10th Worst: "I'm Good (Blue)" By Bebe Rexha and David Guetta

I only first heard this song a few weeks ago, so that's why it's low on my list here. Honestly, if it had been around longer in my life it would probably be in the top five at least. I don't even know where to start with this song though. Maybe the super obvious Eiffel 65 "I'm Blue" sample that David Guetta thought was the most clever thing he's ever done no doubt. Is it already okay to start using samples from the late 90s and very early 2000s? Everything about this just feels wrong, especially when you add Bebe Rexha to the mix, an artist who always seems to suck the energy out of any song she's in. I guess she got lucky enough to have her name pulled out of a hat when David Guetta was choosing a "generic pop singer who's not too big to work with me". This song just feels lazy and basically just completely relies on the nostalgia of the original song or all the young people that never heard the original thinking this is something new and groundbreaking. Bring back the crappy CG aliens. 

10th Best: "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift

Taylor dropped her much-anticipated album Midnights a few months ago now. The album itself is pretty decent, and "Anti-Hero" stood out on my first listen. I guess everybody felt the same because it became the most popular song from the album at this point. Before I praise the song further I have to call out the strange lyrics where she calls everybody a "sexy baby". Yeah, that's the reason this song isn't any higher on this list. Probably should have kept it off the list after that, but the rest of the song is good enough to let it slide. Besides that, it feels like a good look at Taylor's insecurities and her inner thoughts on the theme of "Midnights". The album was created as a way for Taylor to express herself and her thoughts through many sleepless nights. I think this song does a great job of exploring those thoughts. 

9th Worst: "Unholy" by Sam Smith & Kim Petras

Ugh, I really don't know about this one. I feel like there were some elements that could have worked here. Sam Smith and Kim Petras aren't a bad combo for a song, I just don't love what they did in this particular one. I'm not a fan of the whole dark creepy religious imagery to make a "sexy song". To be fair the song is about a person who's cheating on their partner so I guess that imagery can make more sense in that way. Okay, so the theme matches the lyrics... why do I still not like this song? I think the production and the melodies in the song just don't work for me in the end. At the end of the day, the song is just not fun to listen to and it's the kind of song I will never be in the mood to listen to. I think it just doesn't fit the artists involved and maybe needed someone who would be more natural in this style. 

9th Best: "We Don't Talk About Bruno" by the Cast of Disney's Encanto

Encanto was one of the better Disney musicals of the last decade. The story was pretty good, but the thing that really made the movie memorable were the extremely catchy songs that were also really well performed by the voice cast. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" stood out from the soundtrack as the best song pretty early on. The way the song uses the strengths of the entire cast as singers and how it mixes lots of different styles into a really cool blend at the end is really awesome. It's got a great Latin style that a lot of the movie uses, but this one, in particular, stands out as really special. I think it works better in the movie where the animation also adds to the whole song, but even on its own, it's still really good. 

8th Worst: "Left and Right" by Charlie Puth [Ft. Jung Kook]

Oh, Charlie Puth is back... great. Charlie Puth might be the most generic pop star in the entire world. His music is so devoid of personality I'm pretty sure it's all written by an AI. That might be an insult to AI? "Left and Right" continues the trend of Puth songs that make me feel absolutely nothing. The music, lyrics, melodies, and production are so plain they even make Jung Kook of BTS sound like he's half-asleep during this track. I guess it keeps working though because Charlie has yet another hit on his hands here. That could be partly due to him attaching a BTS member to this song, as they continue to be one of the biggest acts in the world. Either way, this song will be forgotten before the end of the year and never talked about again. 

8th Best: "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat & SZA

Doja Cat's been on my radar for a while, but I don't think I truly appreciated her until this year. Honestly, I feel bad I missed this song last year because it would have made my best-of list in 2021. Thankfully the song was a hit in 2022, so I can show it some love here. Everything I said about Charlie Puth is the opposite of Doja. She's got a clear personality that people can identify with and love, as well as making fun music that's fun to listen to multiple times. When you add the always fantastic SZA then you get a really fun song with lots of vocal talent. Hopefully not the last time they work together. 

7th Worst: "Pushin P" by Gunna/Future/Young Thug

Wow. Three artists trying to see who can bore their audience the most in one single song. It actually ends in a three-way tie. Seriously, there is not a single second of this song that is even remotely interesting. Maybe if you find the three guys saying the letter "P" 100 times a little funny you can find something to like here. This is like anti-charisma meets zero effort in an attempt to make something that resembles art, but I'm not sure it technically qualifies as art? I mean art requires some effort, right? The era of sleepy rappers who try their best to sound like they don't care at all has to be ending soon right? 

7th Best: "Glimpse of Us" by Joji

I really like these super sad songs. I think it's a good challenge for an artist to take a song that is meant to be incredibly depressing sounding and still makes it a good listen. Nothing makes me happier than a great super depressing song. Seriously. That being said, I still don't know how much love I'll have for Joji even after this song. While I enjoy this one, it didn't really heighten my interest for more from the artist so that's why it isn't too high on the list. 

6th Worst: "Emo Girl" by Machine Gun Kelly & WILLOW

One of the worst pop-punk choruses ever made by the artist who claimed to be the savior of the genre. This feels like the kind of song some music executive wrote thinking about all the money they'll make from the "youths" of America. The thing is, this song could have worked if it was performed in a more tongue-in-cheek way rather than taking it completely seriously like the song actually does. All I can think about when I hear this are a bunch of out-of-touch music executives who really thought this was going to work for the memes and the "TikTok". Just... go listen to artists who actually care about this genre and know how to have fun while not making shitty pandering music like this. At least MGK left to go back and make shitty rap music again now, so that's a win? 

6th Best: "Break My Soul" by Beyonce

I'm not sure anyone expected Beyonce to drop a big house single in the year of our lord 2022, but it happened. I think the bigger surprise is that it's a very 90s-style house music song. The Beyonce song samples the 1993 classic "Show Me Love" by Robin S as well as parts of Big Freedia's "Explode". It all works pretty damn great, especially when you have Beyonce singing with some passion. Have to subtract some points for Beyonce rhyming the word "outside" with "outside" like 4 times. Also, the whole theme of the song where Beyonce is acting like she's some regular person who works 9 to 5 at a day job is a little dumb. Not saying she doesn't work hard, but you're not a regular person Beyonce...

5th Worst: "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" by Harry Styles

Harry Styles released a hugely anticipated new album this year named "Harry's House". It was a pretty mediocre album by Harry's standards, mostly failed by the production, and this song (Sushi Restaurant) is the best example of that. It feels like it's just too much thrown into one song and it ends up sounding like a total mess of a song that's honestly pretty hard to listen to. The title of the track comes off pretty pretentious when you actually hear the song, even if it was meant as a joke. The worst part is the second verse where he repeats the title of the track multiple times and even tries scatting? It just feels like it's trying too hard to be this big epic piece of music, but it ends up sounding like it doesn't really know what it's trying to be. 

5th Best: "Titi Me Pregunto" by Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny released arguably the biggest album of the year in 2022 with "Un Verano Sin Ti" If he wasn't the biggest artist in the world before, he certainly is now after this massive album. "Titi Me Pregunto" is just a really fun song, probably the kind of song that makes the crowds cheer at the club when it comes on. It just has this fantastic energy and charisma from Bad Bunny that it's impossible to not find yourself having fun along with him. My only complaint could be it goes on a little too long. The slowdown at the end works but maybe drags down a really fun song. 

4th Worst: "Bam Bam" Camila Cabello & Ed Sheeran

God, I'm really starting to not like Ed Sheeran. But here's Camila Cabello with her "Latin pop" single of the year. This time they make the most basic radio-friendly salsa song ever written. I guess it could always be worse, I mean this could have involved Shawn Mendes at one point. Ed Sheeran is the worst part of this song though, couldn't you get another Latin pop star or salsa singer to join you here instead of Ed Sheeran? Like someone who actually has popularity in the genre you're trying to make a hit song in? I guess popping Ed Sheeran's name on a song gives it more chances to be popular worldwide. Even if he doesn't really add anything interesting you got to have that star power. At least it's not as annoying as "Senorita" I guess. 

4th Best: "As it Was" by Harry Styles

While I did call his latest album mediocre earlier, I can't deny that it still has some great songs on it. The lead single "As it Was" is a standout as it really excited me for the upcoming album. While the entire album didn't live up to the hype created by this song, I can't really say it's taken away any appreciation I have for it. Still really well made and still not tired of throwing it on every now and then. This is a song that has great production and really pushes Harry Styles' strengths. While I still prefer his first album overall and "Sign of the Times" is still my favorite Harry song, this one could climb up there too. I really wanted Harry to lean more into Rock like his first album, I understand that's probably not going to be the more popular route, but I think he had a lot of potential to make some classics in that genre. Still, there are at least some great songs like "As it Was" to listen to here. 

3rd Worst: "Made You Look" by Meghan Trainor

So Meghan Trainor dropped a new album this year. Honestly, if I wasn't making this list I wouldn't have even known about this album. The big hit from this new album is called "Made You Look" and it is incredible. It's incredible that Meghan Trainor has run out of ideas and has to go back to her original doo-wop style that made her famous already. This song is pretty much ripping off her own songs "All About That Bass" and "Dear Future Husband", but somehow less interesting. "Made You Look" is all about how Meghan Trainor is gonna wear all her awesome expensive clothing and make everyone around her stare at her in awe, but it wouldn't matter if she was naked or wearing an old hoodie because you'd still be in awe of her.  It's not a terrible idea or anything, but I think it's the fact that she's relying on this old style again to try to get hits that annoys me. It feels lazy for her to do this retread already and doesn't feel like anything new and fresh from an artist that should be trying new things. I'm also really tired of artists name-dropping Gucci and Louis... we get it, you are rich. 

3rd Best: "Smoking Out the Window" by Silk Sonic

Silk Sonic is back on my best-of list with their big hit "Smoking Out the Window". Last year I gave their song "Leave the Door Open" the best song of the year and honestly this new single wasn't too far off from that level. Unlucky for them I thought two other songs were better (I'm sure they really care about this list and how high they make it). This is yet another super smooth single with awesome vocals and has a lot of the same great elements from the song last year. Not sure if this partnership is going to be a one-off thing, but I really hope not. 

2nd Worst: "Staying Alive" DJ Khaled/Drake/Lil Baby

Oh yeah, nothing says "Stayin' Alive" like Drake sleepwalking his way through another collab with the always amazing DJ Khaled. Sorry, that's "DJ KHALED!!! I DEFINITELY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS SONG IN AN IMPACTFUL WAY!!!"

Does DJ Khaled have dirt on Drake to keep him coming back to these mediocre singles? Not that Drake is dropping anything much better under his own discography these days. This just feels like another desperate attempt at keeping Khaled relevant for another year. Well, sadly it worked because yet again we have another big hit here. This time Khaled butchers the all-time classic Bee Gees song that defined an entire decade. Yeah, let's do that song but take out all the fun energy and social messages. Couldn't even try to sample the iconic intro riff? I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed. 

2nd Best: "Sacrifice" by The Weeknd

I'm surprised by how little love this album seemed to get in the charts. The Weeknd dropped a new album "Dawn FM" early in the year and it's still one of the best albums of 2022. Even though it sold well, I feel like I didn't hear a lot about it compared to a lot of his other releases. "Sacrifice" was the big single from the new album and it's a great song on its own, even better with the rest of the album. The album has a darker atmosphere to it, with some existential crisis/ end of the world vibes throughout the album narrated by Jim Carrey. It fits well with the theme and the songs are perfect for a nighttime drive. 

THE WORST SONG OF 2022: "abcdefu" by GAYLE?

This is the part where I feel old again. This is yet another one of those TikTok songs that gained most of its popularity from people using it in their videos on that app. There are plenty of great breakup songs out there and this is 100% not one of them. Nothing says I hate you and I'm angry like a mid-tempo song with no emotion behind it and some Na-Na-Na's in the chorus... that'll show him. Also, the whole lead-up where she has to go through the ABCs just to get to F YOU is not nearly as clever as she seems to think it is. 

The idea of being so angry at someone you want to just tell them and anybody close to them off, I can maybe see that working if presented in the right way. This doesn't really do that. What did his mom and sister do to you? Why are you dissing him for having a job and a car? Why are you dissing his art when the best you can do is this lame-ass song? "abcdefu" is just plain bad. Well, thankfully we won't have to see GAYLE? again because I can guarantee she will never have another hit again. 

THE BEST SONG OF 2022: "Bad Habit" by Steve Lacy

Every now and then the pop charts throw a nice surprise that completely catches me off guard. This year it was Steve Lacy's big hit "Bad Habit". I never had the pleasure of listening to Lacy before this hit, but when I first heard it I was intrigued. His style of R&B mixed with modern indie rock works really well and he's got a lot of interesting music in his catalog. I didn't realize I'd probably heard him before since he's worked with artists like Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, and Tyler, The Creator. It's nice to see him get his moment in the spotlight, but hopefully not the last time he's there. 

And that was my list of 2022. Not a bad year of music honestly, as the good really outweighed the bad here. As always I'll list some of my favorite albums of the year down below, hopefully people can discover something great they missed. I'll put a * next to my favorites.

Spoon - "Lucifer on the Sofa" (Indie/Rock) *

Michelle - "AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS" (Indie/Pop) *

Mitski - "Laurel Hell" (Indie/Rock)

Frank Turner - "FTHC" (Punk)

Gang of Youths - "the angel of 8th ave." (Indie/Rock)

Nilufer Yanya - "PAINLESS" (Indie/Alt)

Hippo Campus - "LP3" (Indie/Pop)

Ricky Montgomery - "It's 2016 Somewhere" (Indie/Pop) *

Everything Everything  - "Raw Data Feel" (Indie Rock) *

Drug Church - "Hygiene" (Punk)

Wet Leg - "Wet Leg" (Indie Rock)

Bob Vylan - "The Price of Life" (Rap/Punk)

Fontaines D.C.- "Skinty Fia" (Alternative)

Braveweather - "Stay Here" (Indie Rock/Alt)

Ethal Cain - "Preacher's Daughter" (Indie Rock)

The 1975 - "Being Funny in a Foreign Language" (Pop/Rock)

Tove Lo - "Dirt Femme" (Pop)

Phoenix - "Alpha Zulu" (Indie Pop) *

Charlie XCX - "CRASH" (Pop)

Alvvays - "Blue Rev" (Indie Rock)

Viagra Boys - "Cave World" (Hardcore Punk)

Beach Bunny - "Emotional Creature" (Indie Pop)

SZA - "SOS" (R&B)

Denzel Curry - "Melt My Eyez See Your Future (Hip-Hop)

Little Simz - "NO THANK YOU" (Hip-Hop)

Here's a playlist of some of the best songs too: