Sunday, December 30, 2018

The Chainsmokers (3) – Week Of December 29, 2018

Hey guys! Just a heads up that there's not much to this post at all except the countdown itself. I've explained why towards the end. No songs leaving the countdown this week. So let's get right into it!



Last Week's #1 Song: The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
The Countdown
45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]
44. NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (#44)
43. Twenty One Pilots – My Blood (#41)
42. Steve Aoki/BTS – Waste It On Me (#39)
41. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#40) [9 Weeks At #1]
40. Bazzi/Camila Cabello – Beautiful (#42)
39. George Ezra – Shotgun (#43)
38. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#38)
37. The Chainsmokers/Emily Warren – Side Effects (#33)
36. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#36) [4 Weeks At #1]
35. Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#35)
34. Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#32)
33. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#29)
32. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#30)
31. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#37)
30. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#28)
29. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#21)
28. Shawn Mendes – Nervous (#26)
27. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#31)
26. James Arthur – Empty Space (#34)
25. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#15)
24. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#24)
23. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#23)
22. Olly Murs/Snoop Dogg – Moves (#22)
21. Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#25)
20. lovelytheband – Broken (#18)
19. Ellie Goulding/Diplo/Swae Lee – Close To Me (#27)
18. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#20) [1 Week At #1]
17. Ariana Grande – Breathin (#19)
16. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#12)
15. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#13)
14. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#14)
13. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#11)
12. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#9)
11. Camila Cabello – Consequences (#17)
10. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (#16)
  9. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#10)
  8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#7) [2 Weeks At #1]
  7. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#6)
  6. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#8)
  5. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]
  4. Halsey – Without Me (#4)
  3. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [8 Weeks At #1]
  2. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]
  1. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#1) [3rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Halsey – Bad At Love (2)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (–10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie Between James Arthur – Empty Space and Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (+8)


I'm hard at work on my Top 45 Songs of 2018 right now and I really want to get it done before we hit 2019. So I need to devote my time to that. As a result, no blurbs this week. But my Top 45 post should be out sometime tomorrow.


Throwback Pick Of The Week: David Bowie – Let's Dance

Most Missed Countdown Song: M83 – Midnight City


My Top 5 Picks
1. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks
2. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
3. Dan + Shay – Tequila
4. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart
5. Ariana Grande – Breathin

Friday, December 28, 2018

Year-End Special (Part 2): 2018 – A Year In Review

I swear, time just keeps going by faster and faster. It feels like just recently that I was working on year-end posts for 2017. Now we're at the end of 2018. 2018 has not been the best year compared to some of the other years from the 2010s. We did lose a couple of artists this year, although one of the few that I really cared about was Avicii. I've been a huge of his for a while and hearing the sad news that one day broke my heart because he is probably my favorite EDM producer and he seemed like a genuinely great guy. But he made some bangers that I revisit all the time. I wrote a little something for him in the 2013 Billboard Year-End Rankdown where Wake Me Up landed at #1. But may he rest in peace. He has definitely been missed by me.


As far as the quality of music goes, there wasn't much of a substantial difference between the quality of music in 2018 and the quality of music in 2017. We had a lot of terrible songs including a lot of rap, which I really went at if you read my previous year-end post where I went through the worst songs of 2018. But there were also a bunch of great songs that I can totally see myself coming back to in the future. You'll read about those in my next year-end post, where I will be counting down my 45 favorite songs of 2018. I have that scheduled to come out on New Year's Eve, so stay tuned for that.


Now let's talk about 2018 for Hits 1. Regarding our #1 songs, I feel like we had less songs hit #1 this year because we had a few songs that spent quite a few weeks at the top.* Hits 1's #1 song of the year was still really obvious though. As usual, some of these songs were good and others, not so much. Some of them got really overplayed and faded on me. But I liked a good amount of them. So with that, here is our parade of 2018's #1 hits.


  • Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (9)
  • Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (8)
  • 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood (5)
  • Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (4)
  • The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (3)
  • Imagine Dragons – Thunder (3) (5 total)
  • Taylor Swift – Delicate (3)
  • Charlie Puth – How Long (2)
  • Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (2)
  • Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (2)
  • Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (2)
  • 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back (1)
  • Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (1)
  • Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (1)
  • Ed Sheeran – Perfect (1) (2 total)
  • Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (1)
  • Imagine Dragons – Natural (1)
  • Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (1)
  • Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (1)
  • Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (1)

*I counted and we had 20 songs hit #1 in 2018, whereas 21 hit #1 in 2017. So not a huge difference.


When it comes to Hit-Bound, as usual, we had a load of good songs that were on Hit-Bound, but failed to make their debut on the Weekend Countdown. But instead of just being forgotten, I've decided to recognize them all for their time and service on Hit-Bound. So here are all the Hit-Bound songs that unfortunately never got the privilege to be announced by Spyder Harrison on the Weekend Countdown.

  • Big Boi – All Night
  • BTS – Fake Love
  • Cole Redding – Father Father
  • Clean Bandit/Julia Michaels – I Miss You
  • HRVY – Personal
  • In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
  • Jason Derulo & David Guetta/Nicki Minaj/Willy William – Goodbye
  • Julia Michaels/Trippie Redd – Jump
  • Justin Timberlake – SoulMate
  • Noah Cyrus, MAX – Team
  • Post Malone – I Fall Apart
  • Sofi Tukker/NERVO – Best Friend
  • Spencer – Whatever
  • The Chainsmokers – Everybody Hates Me
  • The Chainsmokers/Drew Love – Somebody
  • Thirty Seconds To Mars – Walk On Water
  • Twenty One Pilots – Legend
  • Welshly Arms – Legendary
  • Why Don't We – Trust Fund Baby
  • Wild Things – Don't Wanna Feel It
  • Years & Years – If You're Over Me

From this list, I will announce my 2018 Lights Over Paris Hit-Bound Hero Award. This award is given to the best song to make it on to Hit-Bound, but fail to debut on the Weekend Countdown. So it's essentially the best song on this list. There were quite a few good songs this time around. But this song I'm about to announce is one I thoroughly at first listen. I'm not surprised it missed the countdown, but I sure as hell wish it had spent some time on it.


2018 Lights Over Paris Hit-Bound Hero Award Winner: Welshly Arms – Legendary


I don't care what other people think. This song is awesome. I love it. It's loud and energetic. It always gets me in a great mood. Great instrumentation and great vocals. I love the guitar solo. I wouldn't say this is one of the best of 2018, but it's probably one of the best things I've heard in rock music this year. Everything about this works and I wish it had spent some time on the countdown even though to some it seems like some random rock song. It's quality.

Runner-Ups:

  • Julia Michaels/Trippie Redd – Jump
  • Sofi Tukker – Best Friend
  • Justin Timberlake – SoulMate


Hits 1 is pretty good about picking up as many hit songs as they can. But they also tend to pick up some underground songs that aren't exactly hits. This isn't bad obviously, but it does result in some hit songs not being able to make it on to the station. They did a better job at picking up on as many hits as they could this year than they did last year. But now I will present the Biggest Whiff of the Year award, which goes to the biggest song that failed to make it on to Hits 1 and the Weekend Countdown. I think it's obvious what song this award must go to. It's from the biggest artist of 2018 and unarguably the best of his three #1 hits. It landed at #11 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 for 2018 and spent multiple weeks at #1 shortly after it was released. I think it's obvious that this song deserves this honor.

2018 Biggest Whiff Of The Year Award Winner: Drake – Nice For What



Tenure Trophies
This year, we had a few songs that had a short countdown life, including a few songs that lasted only two weeks. But there was one song in particular that lasted only one week on the countdown.


Shortest Tenured Song of 2018 (at one week): Lady Gaga – I'll Never Love Again


For the longest tenure, it's pretty clear that this song is on its way to lasting a year on the countdown. I kind of saw this coming from a mile away, so I'm not too surprised to be giving this award to this particular song. By spending the most weeks on the countdown within the calendar year, here is the longest tenured song of the year.


Longest Tenured Song of 2018: Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (debuted 2/3/18; still on the countdown)



Well I hope you guys enjoyed! This was my attempt at summing up 2018 in one post. Next in line is my Top 45 Songs of 2018, which I'm hoping to finish and post by New Year's Eve as a way to wrap up 2018. I should also have the Weekend Countdown post for this upcoming weekend done either tomorrow or Sunday. Then will be my Top 45 of 2018! But once again, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you all soon!

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Year-End Special (Part 1): Worst Songs of 2018

Hey guys! It is now finally time for the Year-End posts. As you can probably tell, I'm doing things a little bit differently this year. I am trying this out and if it goes well, I'll probably do it again in 2019. If not, then I'll make changes again.


This year, I have many Year-End posts scheduled. The first one on the list, which you are reading right now, is me tearing apart the worst songs of the year. In previous years, this was included in the Year in Review post. But this year, I've decided to take it out and have it stand alone because it's one of those components that's just better off if it is its own post. There will still be a Year in Review post and that will be the second Year-End Special. It just won't include the worst songs of the year. I'm hoping I can get all my year-end posts done before the end of January, but we'll see what ends up happening.


So in this post, I will be going through the worst of 2018. Like every other year, while there was a lot of great music in 2018, there was also a lot of shit and that is what I will be talking about today. So this post will actually be broken up into two parts. Because this is a Hits 1 blog, I do still want to go through my Bottom 10 songs of the year based on Hits 1. So that will be the first part. But there are a bunch of songs that were not on Hits 1 that I would love to have the opportunity to tear apart. So the second part will be a second list where I go through all the shitty songs I've heard that did not make it on to Hits 1.


So now, we will begin with the worst songs of the year from Hits 1. These songs needed to appear on the Weekend Countdown sometime in 2018 to be eligible. But before we get into that list, let's go through our 10 11 dishonorable mentions, shall we? (These are in no particular order.)



  • Alice Merton – No Roots
Kicking things off with a song that was released in late 2016. I found No Roots to be more boring than anything else. The bass is okay, but I don't like her voice and having to listen to just her voice with the bass in the first verse was kind of painful. I thought the chorus was underwhelming, especially with that build-up leading into it. This song just goes nowhere for me. I can kind of see the appeal, but it's just not for me.



  • AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
It's AJR. Are you surprised? If anything, you're probably more surprised that it didn't make the actual list. Truth is, there are songs that are worse than this. To keep this short, AJR are nothing more than a bunch of terrible songwriters who try to be cool and edgy with their music. Their lyrics are shit and they are awful producers. Sober Up is a perfect example of that. And the fact that Hits 1 held on to this for so long only made it worse for me.



  • Bazzi – Mine
One that I'm sure will get some disagreement. I will say that Bazzi sounds decent here. But I just don't like the production and everything in the background. It feels very childish and very annoying. That's really my big problem with this one. He does have potential. This was just not a good choice for his first single.



  • Halsey – Without Me
As much as I despise this song, I didn't want to include it this year because it came around a little late. It could make the list next year, possibly. But putting it in this year didn't feel right to me. That being said, it's still a dishonorable mention because it's a shit song with terrible production, lyrics, and vocals. There's nothing good about this one.



  • Maroon 5 – Wait
Otherwise known as "The Adam Levine Experience". I actually found this song pretty decent at first. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. This song just shows that Maroon 5 are no longer a band and are simply selling out to get themselves hits and chart success. Wait is a prime example of that with bad production that just shows that the band isn't doing shit. They're just there because Adam Levine needs to keep the band name in order to be successful. Now I'm not saying that everything Maroon 5 has done recently has been garbage. But they've been on a trend of getting worse ever since they released their debut album.



  • Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends
Another song that I actually kind of liked at first. In case it was clear already, this is not EDM. Marshmello has definitely made some bangers in the past like Ritual. But when you compare that song to Friends, you can very clearly see how much Marshmello has changed for the worse. The production here is stale as hell. I would've never guessed it was produced by some DJ because it's not EDM. It's just lazy pop. Anne-Marie's scratchy voice honestly just sounds obnoxious and it makes the song that much worse. But the worst thing about the song is the whole friend-zone theme. I just can't stand this song and its message.



  • Meghan Trainor – No Excuses
Despite me actually finding this one okay at first, it got annoying really fast. I don't think I can ever fully get on board with Meghan Trainor and her extreme feminism saying that all guys are jerks who don't know how to treat women. It makes me wonder how the hell she got engaged.



  • Meghan Trainor – Let You Be Right
Not as annoying as its predecessor, but it's still Meghan Trainor. This one is more of a snooze-fest than anything else. She does not sound good and I still can't stand the lyrics, where she implies that she's always right by saying that she'll let him be right so that they don't fight. Maybe he was already right in the first place? But Meghan would never think that because she's always right, of course.



  • NOTD/Bea Miller – I Wanna Know
This one was pretty decent at first, but Hits 1 overplayed the hell out of it. It spent quite a bit of a time in the Top 10 for a song that was not a hit anywhere else. It was never even that good. The production got annoying and I can't stand that drop anymore. Bea Miller's voice is not that unique. But this was mostly just overplayed and overrated to death.



  • PNAU – Go Bang
This one is forgettable as hell but I remember thinking it was really annoying and extremely repetitive. The vocals are not good. I don't know why this ever made it on the countdown because it was never destined to last. It's the most random thing ever that does not sound good in the slightest.



  • Train/Cam/Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir
I like a lot of Train's music that I know is not liked by many like Hey, Soul Sister. Even Play That Song was kind of enjoyable to me in a guilty pleasure kind of way. But Call Me Sir is weird as hell for this band. This sound does not fit their style or Pat Monahan's voice. And don't even get me started on the "oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh OHHHHHHHHH"



Those songs were all pretty bad, but not bad enough to make the list. So with that, we will now move into my 10 least favorite songs of 2018 on Hits 1. Kicking things off with #10!



10. Maren Morris – Rich
This is a very poor excuse for a country song and it's really disappointing to have to say that about Maren Morris. I remember really enjoying some of her songs in the past like My Church and 80s Mercedes. Both of those were great songs even if the latter was more of a pop song than a country song. But it was still fun and catchy. Rich is probably her worst song so far. The lyrics are no good. What I get out of it is an Maren Morris singing about money. Her voice does not sound good here and I find it very irritating the way she does the "la-a-a-a-a-di-daaaa" in the chorus. It sounds terrible. What's even more annoying is how this song was bigger than her good songs like 80s Mercedes. And of course Hits 1 only picked up on this because I'm sure they just found about her existence this year. And one last thing. This song is from her 2016 debut album. Why was it just getting success this year??? Why can't we just wait until she releases something new?



9. LSD – Thunderclouds
The award for weirdest collaboration of the year goes to Labrinth, Sia, and Diplo for their LSD project. I remember first hearing about them from their song Audio, which was utter trash. Then single after single, they have made me realize that their music is some of the weirdest shit I have ever heard. Thunderclouds was their one song that actually hit mainstream radio and charts. I think this is their best song, which says a lot since it's one of the worst songs of the year. The production on not only this, but all of their songs, is messy, annoying, and all over the place. Labrinth and Sia sound terrible, which is annoying since they both have sounded great on their own songs. But this is just messy dance-pop and that's probably why their voices don't sound good. They're not meant for these kinds of songs. Sia's choppy vocals in the chorus sound awful. Labrinth is trying too hard. None of this works for me. Who would've thought that combining three artists who have had good songs in the past would results in this mess? Certainly not me, and I want it to end.



8. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho
I'll admit that I have begun to see why people like Post Malone. He is actually talented and his song Rockstar has very much grown on me to the point where I can consider it pretty decent. He does certainly have some songs I can consider good. Psycho is not one of them. It was initially bland as hell and it only got worse from there. The production is not very interesting at all. Post sounds unenthusiastic and boring. Ty Dolla $ign certainly does not help the song in any way. He's kind of just there. So yeah. This song is more of a snooze-fest than it is anything else. But hearing my local radio stations play it all the damn time kind of had a negative effect on my thoughts. Like I said, this man has some good stuff. But Psycho was not a good choice for a single in my opinion.



7. Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
I first heard this song back in early summer with my dad. He played it for me and said it was pretty good. At first I thought he was joking. But he has the strangest music taste out of everyone in my family. But anyway, Lucid Dreams is terrible. The beat is no good. Juice WRLD sucks. The lyrics are shit. Very poorly-written and poorly-produced track. It was also very overrated. It's still in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 as I'm typing this because America likes this song for some reason. Fortunately, it flopped on Hits 1. But it's existence has bothered me since the moment I first heard it those many months ago.




6. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore
I went into this song with pretty decent expectations since people were claiming it was good. I didn't get anything out of it aside from the fact that Bryce Vine has a shitty voice. You can't get any more bland, mediocre, uninteresting, and just straight up boring than Drew Barrymore. It is one of the laziest things I've heard this year. Bryce Vine sounds shittier than Juice WRLD. The songwriting isn't good at all. So yeah. This is terrible and did not deserve to be played by Hits 1. I'd hate to be Drew Barrymore and have a piece of trash like this named after me.




5. AJR – Burn The House Down
It was really only a matter of time until this song made its appearance because I'm sure everyone knew it would be here. Let me make this clear if it wasn't clear already. I hate AJR. No other band/artist in pop music have released this many bad songs in a row. There is not a single song from them that I can consider good. Burn The House Down is definitely one of the worst. They are not very good singers. They absolutely suck at songwriting as their lyrics are some of the worst I've ever heard in pop music. This song tries to be some political anthem, but it was executed in such a poor way. Musically, the first verse sounds okay until that obnoxious trumpet comes in. That shit was enough to ruin the whole song immediately within the first 15 seconds. The chorus is beyond annoying, especially when those trumpets return. It's very loud, very in your face, and just awful. I can't stand AJR as singers, songwriters, or producers. Their music is trash, always has been, and most likely always will be. If anyone from Hits 1 is reading this, PLEASE stop picking up their music so that I don't have to complain about them every fucking year. It gets exhausting for me and almost every other music critic.



4. Zedd/Elley Duhé – Happy Now
I know one person in particular who loves this song, which is okay. But now is my time to go at it because this song is straight up TRASH. Zedd hit rock bottom with this song. It's one of the most basic and generic songs I've heard from a formerly talented producer. Zedd has classics that I revisit all the time. It's sad to see what's become of him. He had a lot of club bangers in the past. Now he produces the most generic music just for the sake of being on the charts and earning receiving more money. I get that he's going for something different and evolving. But as a music critic, I have to judge what I hear. And what I hear in this song is an extremely mediocre Owl City-type drop layered with Elley Duhé vocals that are lathered in autotune. Her voice is painful to listen to in this song. So no, I am not happy now. This song and the feeling of happiness do not go together because this song is basic as shit and shows that Zedd isn't even trying. I would love another Clarity or True Colors. But as it stands right now, I'm scared as to what Zedd's album will consist of.




3. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same
Instead of something interesting and good like Havana, we get a song that is worse than Crying In The Club, which I did not like. This is probably the worst song off her debut album, so of course it got released as a single. This song has many issues, one of which being the production and the beat. Camila Cabello sounds like absolute shit every second of this song. I can't think of a single part where she sounds good. I can't stand the pre-chorus where she tries to rhyme different drugs like "NicotEEN, heroEEN, morphEEN". That on top of her poor attempt at hitting the high notes makes just that section an unbearable listen. Her shouting in the chorus is absolutely grating. Like it is painful to my ears. I see absolutely no appeal to this song whatsoever. I can admit when this girl has some good songs. But Never Be The Same is just terrible mostly because SHE IS NOT A GOOD SINGER! The only reason she is popular is because of her history with Fifth Harmony. Otherwise, she would not have made it to where she is now. I sure hope she realizes that.




2. Lauv – I Like Me Better
Why did we let this song get as big as it got??? I remember disliking it when it first made an appearance on Hit-Bound. But this piece of shit has only gotten worse over time because of how fucking overrated it got. This song is garbage. I used to kind of like his voice, but now I think he sounds pretty bad. The production is awful and whatever the hell that "instrument" is all throughout the song is one of the most grating things I've ever heard. I hate the way it opens up the song because when that song comes on the radio, hearing that "thing" just annoys the crap out of me. That so-called "drop" sounds terrible the way it includes messy chopped-up vocals. And don't even get me started on the lyrics. Who the hell says, "I like me better when I'm with you"??? In what world would ANYONE find that a compliment? If my boyfriend said that to me (which he wouldn't because he actually knows how to give good compliments), I would just look at him weirdly because that is the most narcissistic "compliment" one can give. Lauv attempted to be different with this song and it just turned out to be complete and utter shit. What infuriates me even more is how overrated it got. I don't know why anyone would find this terribly-written and horribly-produced track to be good.




1. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle
It's really sad to see how low Zedd has gone lately. Ever since he released the messy collab with Hailee Steinfeld known as Starving, I knew something was up because that was terrible. Then he got basic as fuck with Stay and Get Low, both of which featuring beyond mediocre vocals. Then we got The Middle. I still remember listening to this for the first time. I gave it a fair chance and it was not good at all. But of course it was overpromoted like crazy as it was featured in Target commercials, so this got big and really tested my patience. It spent 9 weeks at #1 on Hits 1 because they started stanning mediocre Zedd for some reason. This song is the pure definition of mediocre EDM. It includes the overused ticking clock and a lazy as hell (and actually extremely annoying) drop that most certainly does not make me want to dance. I had hope for Maren Morris after loving a few of her underrated singles, but she does not sound good here. Her voice is autotuned to death and it makes her vocals actually pretty unbearable, which is sad because she is very talented. Overall, this song is nothing more than a way to have more chart success since people apparently like generic EDM. This is terrible. Zedd has sold out. This man used to be extremely talented, but now he's doing it for the mainstream audience by putting out the most generic crap EDM has ever seen. And Hits 1 stans this shit. Enough with this poor excuse for electronic/dance. This is the most overrated garbage I've heard all fucking year.



Now that that's off my chest, who wants to see me go off on more crap from this past year? There have been a lot of terrible songs that did not get picked up on Hits 1, so now is where I'll go through them and tear each of them apart. This will be the Top 20 and songs that are eligible include:


  • Absolutely any song that was released in 2018 whether it charted or not.
  • If it was released in 2017, it needed to have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018.
  • Any song that was not included in the Hits 1 worst list or dishonorable mentions.

Also, I'm allowing only one song with XXXTENTACION as lead artist because otherwise, this list would just be him. So with that, I think we can get into it. These are the Top 20 Worst Songs of 2018 outside of Hits 1 and we'll kick things off with #20.



20. Rick The Kid – Plug Walk
Kicking things off with Plug Walk by Rich The Kid. I just don't see the appeal whatsoever. This song is barely anything. It's just this uninteresting dude with a terrible voice sing-rapping over an awful beat. I don't know if you can even call that rapping. But there's nothing else to it. This guy has absolutely nothing interesting to say and this song is not worth anyone's time.



19. YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Outside Today
My thoughts on this are similar to my thoughts on Plug Walk. The only difference is that this dude's voice is even worse and more grating. Like I don't know why anyone would possibly listen to this. I'd rant about it more, but in reality no one is going to remember this piece of trash in the long run.



18. LSD – Audio / Genius / Mountains
Because all of these songs sound kind of similar, I thought I'd just include them all and talk about problems I have with LSD. The first song I was exposed to by these three was Audio and it's probably the second worst of their four songs mostly because Sia does not sound good and the drop is annoying as hell. Genius is one of their better songs because I do like Labrinth's vocals aside from the annoying "ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-genius" in the chorus. Sia sounds pretty good when she comes in with the "He's a genius". The problem here is that the production is terrible and I hate the background whistling in the chorus. Mountains is their worst song and anyone who has for some reason listened to it should know why. Labrinth and Sia have no chemistry and the drop is one of the worst things I've heard this year. These three need to go back to doing solo stuff because this clearly isn't working.



17. Tyga/Offset – Taste
I'm not really sure why we gave Tyga another hit. This is the same man who dated an underage Kylie Jenner and was sued many times throughout his career. His music sucks and he has a terrible voice. Taste is no different. The beat is not terrible. But there's not much to it or the song in general. It's just the beat with the rapping and this strange voice in the background that stays throughout the whole song. It gets pretty damn annoying after a while. Tyga sounds pretty bad here. Offset does not sound that good although he is better than Tyga by a long shot. The lyrical content is not very good. So yeah. I don't like this.



16. DJ Snake/Selena Gomez/Ozuna/Cardi B – Taki Taki
I know there's a good number of people who like this song. But I'm sorry, I just don't get the appeal. This is one of the most generic things I've heard all year from a producer who has made some pretty solid songs in the past. Taki Taki is bland and actually pretty annoying. Ozuna sounds like shit and the production is awful, especially when it gets all high-pitched. It's a very painful listen. Cardi B and Selena Gomez both sound okay, but not that good. Everything else just ruins this song for me. DJ Snake is definitely capable of better because this is not EDM. It's just generic reggaeton. But it's not the worst reggaeton song I've heard this year.



15. A Bunch of Latin Artists – Te Boté (Remix)
I usually like the Latin and reggaeton genres. But this is such a terrible grouping of artists. It's Casper Mágico, Nio García, Darell, Nicky Jam, Bad Bunny, and Ozuna. What's disappointing is that these are all Puerto Rican artists. As a half-Puerto Rican individual, I expect good representation in music and this is not it. Others can explain this one better than me, but this is just a bunch of dudes who suck at singing coming together to produce this awful song. Ozuna sounds like absolute shit like he has before. Bad Bunny is the Latin version of a generic rapper. His verse sucks. Everyone else was not good or mediocre at best. But this song has such a boring beat and it's seven fucking minutes long. I like long songs, but not when they're this shitty. And I suffered every second of it. Like seriously. Who wants to listen to this for seven minutes??? It drags like crazy. The fact that the video has almost 1.5 billion views blows my mind.



14. Migos/Drake – Walk It Talk It
I was amazed to have found a song by Migos that I liked known as Stir Fry. But then this got big and I'm just like "Why???" The production here is bland and generic as hell. There's not very much to it at all. The chorus reminds me of Gucci Gang by Lil Pump because it's one of the repetitive things I've ever heard. These guys clearly have nothing interesting to say in their chorus. Offset and Drake's verses are probably the best parts of the song, but they're still not that great. They're just tolerable. But for the most part, this song is just generic as hell. It's not even that annoying. It's just another example of how far downhill rap music has gone in recent years.



13. Cardi B – Be Careful
I don't really consider myself a fan of Cardi B, but I don't hate her as much as I used to. But songs like this one still suck. Be Careful is definitely one of her worst songs. I hate the beat and the weird vibe it gives off. Cardi B's voice is pretty damn annoying all throughout. And that's basically it. This horrible beat stays through the whole song with her not-so-good rapping and her terrible singing in the chorus. I can see the appeal to some Cardi B songs like I Like It and some of the other songs from her album Invasion of Privacy. But this is just not good. And it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. I don't know the Recording Academy was thinking. This is one of her weakest rap performances.



12. Lil Baby/Gunna – Drip Too Hard
I don't think this one needs much explanation. I don't like Lil Baby. To me, he's just some random Lil rapper who came out of nowhere with some of most generic and uninteresting songs I've heard all year. Drip Too Hard is a prime example. The song clocks in at not even two and a half minutes. It's beyond boring and lazy. Neither Lil Baby nor Gunna sound good. The lyrical content is what you would expect out of a generic rap song these days. So I don't see anything interesting about this whatsoever.



11. 6ix9ine – Gummo
Tekashi69 is definitely one of the worst "artists" we've had in a while and I genuinely hate him as a person. It just so happens that he also puts out some of the shittiest music. I talk a lot about how I hate mumble rap. And as attempt to give us something different, we get Gummo, which is not exactly what I was asking for. While mumble rap is boring, this is straight up obnoxious. I can't stand 6ix9ine's yelling. He should definitely not be saying the n word, but he's 6ix9ine so he does not care. Everything else about this song sucks and 6ix9ine is just terrible, both as a person and as an artist.



10. Lil Peep/XXXTENTACION – Falling Down
This is a posthumous release from both artists and it's actually kind of sad to think about why this even exists. Ever since Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION died, their record labels have been releasing all these posthumous singles because they'll make a lot of money by doing it. So, putting Lil Peep and X together by their logic would give them a lot of extra money because more people will buy it since it's two "legends" together on a song and I think that's pretty fucked up. And that aside, the song itself is pretty bad. But seriously. It's clear to me that this was done for nothing more than the money, which is why both artists have had albums released since their deaths. I'm not sure why we can't just move on honestly.



9. Machine Gun Kelly – Rap Devil
Unlike many critics, I do like a handful of Machine Gun Kelly's songs. I didn't particularly care for Bloom but I did like a few of the songs from General Admission like A Little More, Till I Die, and Spotlight. But I do not like Rap Devil. One can tell it's an Eminem diss track since Eminem had Rap God, which was actually pretty solid. But Rap Devil lacks in a lot of different areas. I'll give it to him that it's not the worst rap song I've heard. But he has no personality when he raps, so one could just say he's talking fast. The beat is not very interesting and the song is a little boring. If you want a good diss track, you listen to Killshot by Eminem, which fires right back at MGK. After hearing that one, this one just got worse for me because of how inferior it is. Also, it's not a good idea to make a song dissing one of the biggest rappers in history who has been at it for many years when you're some irrelevant rapper no one cares about. Now I honestly just can't care less about this man.



8. Thirty Seconds To Mars – Rescue Me
This so-called "band" released one of the worst albums I've heard in 2018. And they shrunk as they're now just down to Jared Leto and his brother. There were many songs on that album that I disliked quite a bit like Dangerous Night and Hail To The Victor. But Rescue Me I think is the worst song that album has to offer. It's clear that they went for more of an experimental electronic-type sound. But it just does not work for a band who I always assumed was supposed to be a rock band. This song has no rock. It's electronic and has one of the most obnoxious drops I've heard in a while. Jared Leto is a great singer, yet his vocal performance in this song is painful to listen to as his voice is drenched in autotune. I enjoyed Walk On Water, Remedy, and even One Track Mind, although that's more of a guilty pleasure because I for some reason like the guitar solo near the end. But Rescue Me is just a terrible song. Thirty Seconds To Mars are selling out as AMERICA was just a compilation of shitty songs for the most part. They are no longer a band and now they just produce strange electronic crap, similar to Maroon 5.



7. Lil Baby/Drake – Yes Indeed
Drake has done a lot this past year. Yes Indeed is definitely the worst thing he has been a part of this year. His presence here is about as interesting as it is Walk It Talk It. He adds absolutely nothing and doesn't do anything to help this song at all. Lil Baby sounds like absolute shit throughout the whole song. There's barely anything to the production. I don't see how anyone can consider this a good song. It's everything that's wrong with rap music nowadays. It's one of the most boring and generic pieces of shit with terrible vocals and nothing interesting in the lyrics. I would like to hope that Lil Baby's 15 minutes of fame is up at this point because he does not stand out at all from the many other generic rappers we have these days. There's nothing interesting about him or his music aside from the fact that his voice is terrible and it makes his music unbearable.



6. 6ix9ine/Nicki Minaj/Murda Beatz – FEFE
6ix9ine released one of the worst albums I've heard in a while titled Dummy Boy. And from that album, we have a song that hit #3 here in the US. It's FEFE and there is so much that is wrong with this song. Nicki Minaj sounds absolutely lifeless and as unenergetic as she could possibly be. But 6ix9ine sounds so awful and the beat is terrible. This isn't even just generic. It's actually pretty disgusting, especially knowing that 6ix9ine is a child molester who objectifies women and we let this song go Top 3. This is an embarrassment not only to rap music, but to us as a society for letting it get as big as it got. It promotes messages that contradict what we've been fighting for and it's just a terrible song musically. I hate 6ix9ine. He deserves to rot in jail for all the shit he has done.



5. Cardi B/21 Savage – Bartier Cardi
Cardi B came in out of nowhere last year with the big #1 hit Bodak Yellow, which I still to this day do not like. I wasn't sure if she could release anything worse, and she brought us Bartier Cardi. This is easily one of the most obnoxious songs I've heard this year. The production is absolute shit. There's barely anything to it. Cardi B's voice is annoying as hell the way she raps through this song and it's just everything I don't like about rap music these days. 21 Savage sounds like his typical obnoxious self after Bank Account was one of the worst songs of 2017. He did not improve with this song. His voice is terrible and his verse is unbearable, especially when looking through his lyrics. But the lyrics are still pretty terrible outside of his voice. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say their own name as much as Cardi did in this song. Just read through that chorus. "Cardi took your man, you upset, uh. Cardi got rich, they upset, uh. Cardi put the pussy on Offset. Cartier, Cardi B brain on Offset." I mean seriously. "Cardi put the pussy on Offset." That is probably the worst way I've heard someone mention how they have sex with their man. And they're not even together anymore. But overall, this was terribly-written and produced. The song just ended up being this annoying trap song where I can't find a single thing about it that's good.



4. Kodak Black/XXXTENTACION – Roll In Peace
Two of the worst artists currently coming together on a song can only mean bad things will result. And sure enough, we get Roll In Peace. Kodak Black is a man who has been arrested many times and has been charged for sexual assault and possession of weapons. Yet people still buy his music for some reason. XXXTENTACION has also done a lot of shit, but we'll get more into him in a little bit. As far as this song goes, it's just straight up garbage. There are absolutely no redeeming qualities. Kodak Black sounds awful and whiny as hell. He barely even pronounces his words completely. X sounds pretty terrible, which is nothing new since he has never actually sounded good. The lyrics are what you would expect out of a song like this. It was actually written in only two hours and it definitely shows. The production is terrible. Everything about this song is awful. Shitty person releasing shitty music. Kodak Black does not deserve any success knowing what he has been through. He is just a terrible person releasing some of the worst music I've ever heard. So honestly, can we just not with him? Fortunately it didn't make the Billboard year-end because it kind of got caught between years. But there was no way I couldn't mention this song. I would love in the future to never hear from these two artists again.



3. XXXTENTACION – Sad!
I could go on all day about this guy. I remember thinking "Who the hell is this?" when I had to listen to the abomination that is Look At Me for the 2017 Billboard Year-End list. I thought he was just this random dude who would be forgotten about moving into 2018. It was actually the quite opposite. He had three hits this year, and this song actually went to #1. But it was only after he got shot and killed earlier this year. As far as the song goes, it's a piece of shit. Musically, it's basic as hell and X has a terrible voice throughout the whole song. Lyrically, it's straight up awful. Throughout the whole song, X just goes on about his sadness and gets to the point where he says he'd commit suicide if his girl left him. That is such a shitty situation to put someone into and this song gives the message that that's okay just because he's depressed or something. If someone is that dependent on a relationship, they need professional help. But yeah. This song hit #1 after X's death because for some reason, people want to support someone who allegedly beat up his pregnant girlfriend, is such a terrible person, and puts out god awful music. And after he died, people have the nerve to call him a "legend" when he has done absolutely nothing to earn that status. We're living in some crazy ass world right now where people who beat women are all of a sudden "legends". NO. This man was a terrible person and made straight up garbage. I'm tired of people saying we lost a legend. I'm tired of the posthumous releases that are done for nothing more than the money. I'm tired of hearing the name XXXTENTACION. It's time to move on!



2. Sheck Wes – Mo Bamba
Why did we let this become a hit??? This is not even music. It has one of the most obnoxious beats I've heard this year. It's clear that Sheck Wes isn't even trying to sound remotely good. He has a very terrible voice that makes this song an unbearable listen. And the song is basically just him trying to hold a bunch of notes and shouting swears every now and then. I don't know if this is supposed to be some kind of joke that's just flying over my head. But I take it this Sheck Wes guy is actually serious and thinks this is a quality piece of work. Well it's not. It's pretty funny because of how bad it is. But that doesn't save the song from appearing on this list because, let's be real here, this is garbage. Apparently Sheck Wes released an album and I have no plans on listening to it because I doubt it is any good. My guess is that this guy will become irrelevant after this song fades away. I don't know why this was ever a hit in the first place. But after it leaves, I'm just going to pretend it never happened and hopefully we won't hear from him again. Although this thought process is actually the same one I had with Look At Me by XXXTENTACION. So I honestly don't know what will become of Sheck Wes. We don't need him becoming the next X. So I'm hoping he just disappears from the music scene as a whole because who the hell wants to listen to him? I'd rather listen to quality music.



1. Bhad Bhabie/Lil Yachty – Gucci Flip Flops
If I were to make a list of the people in music that I genuinely hate, there would be appearances from 6ix9ine, Kodak Black, XXXTENTACION, and Danielle Bregoli, otherwise known as Bhad Bhabie. This girl is 15 years old and she is the biggest brat I have ever seen. The only reason she's popular is because of her appearance on an episode of Dr. Phil back in 2016 where she said "cash me outside, how 'bout dat." For some reason, that ended up going viral and this chick all of a sudden thought that she could just become this rapper and start making hits. So this girl basically got popular for being a bitch to her mother. And now she has become this rapper and presence in the music world despite not having an education beyond seventh grade. That lack of knowledge definitely shows in her music, especially Gucci Flip Flops. This is the laziest thing I've heard all year. The song starts off boring as hell and goes absolutely nowhere, so it gets pretty damn annoying at the two-minute mark. One can tell that she lacks education by the sound of her (obnoxious) voice and the lyrics. She literally says the most random shit that makes no sense. I tried watching her explain the lyrics on Genius and I got nothing out of it other than the fact that she's a brat who makes music with no meaning. I haven't even mentioned Lil Yachty because he's probably the best thing about this song even though his verse sucks and his voice is annoying. Nothing he has ever been on has been good except for Faking It by Calvin Harris and Kehlani, although his verse was the worst part. On Gucci Flip Flops, he just spouts nonsense similar to Bhad Bhabie. Overall, this is very awful "song" by a young girl who should be in school learning proper English and getting better manners because she comes off as this rude brat who I would never want to meet in real life. It's obnoxious that she's famous for such a stupid reason. I hate her and her music. Her 15 minutes of fame should've been over a long time ago. Fortunately, her music barely charts as this song peaked at #79 and none of her singles since then have charted. But still, she should not be making music at all. She needs to get a proper education and just leave the music scene because nothing she has put out has been good and I assume nothing she will put out will ever be good. Fuck this song and fuck all this garbage rap music. It's time for this to stop for everyone's sanity.



Alright. Now it's over. I hope you guys enjoyed reading as this took days for me to write. Again, this was just me trying out something different. I might end up changing my format again next year. We'll see. I have more Year-End posts coming soon, including my Top 45 Songs of 2018, where I will be a lot more positive than I was here. So be on the lookout for that.


Despite my negativity in this post, I do hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! That's all I have for you guys today and I will be back hopefully before the end of the week, but we'll see what ends up happening with my schedule.