Top 10 Worst Songs Of 2018
10
Panic! At The Disco - King Of The Clouds
This song is an irritating, rushed and poorly produced mess with some of Brendon's most annoying vocals. The bass is sloppy; the drums are generic and wasted; the synthesizers have no drive and the lyrics are just meaningless, clichéd rubbish. This song has no purpose and shouldn't have been released in such an unfinished and rough state. Panic! had lots of bad songs on a very bad album this year and in my opinion this is the worst. Sorry Brendon, but you aren't quite as great as you think you are.
9
Liam Payne, J Balvin - Familiar
I am not a fan of reggaeton music at the best of times and this is the worst it got this year. The lyrics are generic, mindless and yet also appalling, the beat also generic, mindless and appalling and (guess what) the chorus is generic, mindless and appalling. This song is about as subtle as a fat tiger in rollerskates - you know exactly what it wants but you'd have to be stupid to give it to him . I can't stand Liam Payne and I can't stand J Balvin, what could possibly be worse than this?
8
Drake - I'm Upset
Whilst the majority of the songs were mediocre, boring and repetitive, this stood out for being just so bad. Drake lets out some of his most cringey lyrics and the beat does nothing to make this song seem sad or meaningful. Whilst it isn't quite as insulting a song as "Familiar", it lands higher on the list due to its lack of anything catchy or memorable whatsoever - all I can recall about the song is how bad the lyrics are and how little the beat does.
7
Anne-Marie - 2002
This is what pop music has become in 2018. Completely unoriginal, uncreative and uninteresting. Not only does it steal lyrics from other songs released around 2002 but it uses a guitar line that sounds so overused it was probably a free pre-made loop online and uses a very typical trap beat found on almost 50% of all pop songs this year. All this combined with Anne-Marie's ever-dreary and irritating vocals makes for a shadow of a shadow of a song.
6
Foster The People - Worst Nites
How could a band fall this far?! They've gone from Torches, one of the best indie pop albums of the decade, through interesting psychedelic-tinged indie, through to unique and creative electropop, to this. Foster The People have here an extra ordinary, completely dull and flavourless, looping, tiresome indie pop song that honestly sounds like it was wrote by a computer by picking out the worst elements of the band and compiling it into one awful song that's pretending to be woke and conscious.
This song is literally about nothing other than nights out in LA but it really doesn't sell it because the beat is so flat and unlike the normal quirky beats we're used to the band making. Mark sounds devoid of personality during most of the song, except perhaps in the bridge where he does this annoying laugh-sing thing that I've always dreaded he'd come back to. It's actually so frustrating when just over a year ago they released "Pay The Man", a fantastic and fun hip-hop influenced tune and now they've released "Worst Nites", a dreadfully boring and generic indie pop flop. Let's hope the band NEVER make music like this again.
5
Maroon 5, Cardi B - Girls Like You
I don't think that there is a single Maroon 5 song from this decade I can say that I definitely like. Each and every time I hear a new single by them I'm not even disappointed anymore - I expect them to be bad and not worth my time. This also means that it's probably not bad enough to go on a Worst Of The Year list as they tend to occupy a space of extremely bland, irritating and pointless pop but with "Girls Like You" they hit a new low.
Firstly and perhaps the worst thing is that the production is immaculate, over polished and robot-perfect. This is incredibly annoying because of how fake it makes it seem, I mean does anyone believe that looping, frustrating guitar line is real?
The lyrics are awful and completely generic, Adam Levine is at his most punchable vocally and Cardi B delivers some of the worst lines of the year that do not fit the song at all. If I ever hear this in full again I might go mad.
4
Tyga, Offset - Taste
In some ways I wish this was the worst of the year. It fits the bill, I mean it has a generic and flat trap beat; throwaway, offensive, derogatory lyrics and just awful phrases from these two rappers. Of course, the thing holding this song back from greatness (or, you know, infamy and absolute awfulness) is much it blends together with the rest of trap rap this year. It isn't the most offensive, most badly produced, most annoying or most anything really but I hate it for being what it is and hate it for being one of the biggest songs of the year.
3
Anne-Marie, Marshmello - FRIENDS
Is it possible to convey just how bad this song is? Anne Marie is a talentless and annoying vocalist with one of the worst voices and flows I've heard all year, bringing nothing exciting or new to the table and Marshmello is a predictable producer that panders to trends but fails to deliver anything in his music that's remotely interesting or worth hearing.
This song dubs itself a "friendzone anthem" but portrays both parties in the situation badly and manages to do nothing in terms of positivity or sympathy and just drones on about unspecific things to do with a friendzone situation. The production has no passion or thrill, nothing to boost the song out of the drone that is Anne-Marie. It doesn't lift like Marshmello's earlier work or even sound good or particularly danceable like his peers. He tries to hype up the song, make it sound big and exciting but it falls flat, sounding cheap and rushed. Towards the end is a beat switch that could have helped the song but is just generic and repetitive, sounding too similar to the original beat to grab your attention or matter.
Finally, the chorus does my least favourite thing in music - spelling. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for education but spelling out words in songs is NEVER a good thing. Some artists can pull it off at the right moment with the right direction and means but generally it is just an infuriating feature that drags the rest of the song down. On this song it is at its absolute worst, trapping and torturing me in a repetitive cycle of F R I E N D S. Make it stop!
2
Cardi B - Money
Artists have started releasing music more frequently again, particularly the rappers and pop stars wanting to cling on to every bit of success and relevance that they can. In case you've been living on Mars, in a cave, under a rock with no internet connection you'll know that Cardi B has had a huge year with her mega-successful album "Invasion Of Privacy", breaking tonnes of records for women in the music industry. So why, after an album as massive as that, does she feel the need to drop a new song out of nowhere for no reason other than to earn more money. I mean, she even admits it in the song for crying out loud!
This has got to be her worst song and the worst rap song of the year, an atrocious, abhorrent, awful track with terrible production, cringey lyrics and just a despicable vibe and tone. There is nothing beautiful or inspiring about the song it is mindless, clichéd bragging that I have no interest in listening to. What could possibly be worse than this?!
1
Cheat Codes, Little Mix - Only You
Why? Why and how?
Why would this dance act produce such a horrible song? How could they stoop this low after some semi-decent and good songs? Why would Little Mix sing something this underwhelming and non-empowering? How could it turn out this bland and clichéd?
Little Mix are by no means a "good" group but they deliver some poweful songs and they clearly have talent despite being quite obviously industry-manufactured and unoriginal. They have released some of the catchiest pop songs of the last 5 years even if the vast majority of their music is forgettable and bland pop. Cheat Codes made, especially early on in their career, fun and enjoyable dance and electropop. As time went on they became more and more bland and uninteresting but they were never this outright bad. It was a surprise to hear this and be as offended as I was and still am that these people have made music this dreadful, meaningless and yet somehow also terrible.
So what is so terrible about the song? What is the worst part of something I've critiqued so much? Is it the bland and basic lyrics, the boring and cheap production or the simple and dull delivery? No.. The worst part of the song is the drop. It is the single ugliest thing that I have heard in music all year (Yes even worse than Chris Brown in general believe it or not, although that does come close). It is a noisy, badly done and dense sound that roughly follows a tune without being at all tuneful or good. This is the worst outing either group have ever done and easily my most hated and Worst Song of 2018.
Thanks for reading through the first of my Year-End countdowns, more are coming very soon and I hope you enjoy and perhaps discover something new to love (or in the case of this list things to avoid as best you can despite you probably knowing someone that loves all or some of these songs and won't stop playing them).
7
Anne-Marie - 2002
6
Foster The People - Worst Nites
This song is literally about nothing other than nights out in LA but it really doesn't sell it because the beat is so flat and unlike the normal quirky beats we're used to the band making. Mark sounds devoid of personality during most of the song, except perhaps in the bridge where he does this annoying laugh-sing thing that I've always dreaded he'd come back to. It's actually so frustrating when just over a year ago they released "Pay The Man", a fantastic and fun hip-hop influenced tune and now they've released "Worst Nites", a dreadfully boring and generic indie pop flop. Let's hope the band NEVER make music like this again.
5
Maroon 5, Cardi B - Girls Like You
Firstly and perhaps the worst thing is that the production is immaculate, over polished and robot-perfect. This is incredibly annoying because of how fake it makes it seem, I mean does anyone believe that looping, frustrating guitar line is real?
The lyrics are awful and completely generic, Adam Levine is at his most punchable vocally and Cardi B delivers some of the worst lines of the year that do not fit the song at all. If I ever hear this in full again I might go mad.
4
Tyga, Offset - Taste
3
Anne-Marie, Marshmello - FRIENDS
This song dubs itself a "friendzone anthem" but portrays both parties in the situation badly and manages to do nothing in terms of positivity or sympathy and just drones on about unspecific things to do with a friendzone situation. The production has no passion or thrill, nothing to boost the song out of the drone that is Anne-Marie. It doesn't lift like Marshmello's earlier work or even sound good or particularly danceable like his peers. He tries to hype up the song, make it sound big and exciting but it falls flat, sounding cheap and rushed. Towards the end is a beat switch that could have helped the song but is just generic and repetitive, sounding too similar to the original beat to grab your attention or matter.
Finally, the chorus does my least favourite thing in music - spelling. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for education but spelling out words in songs is NEVER a good thing. Some artists can pull it off at the right moment with the right direction and means but generally it is just an infuriating feature that drags the rest of the song down. On this song it is at its absolute worst, trapping and torturing me in a repetitive cycle of F R I E N D S. Make it stop!
2
Cardi B - Money
This has got to be her worst song and the worst rap song of the year, an atrocious, abhorrent, awful track with terrible production, cringey lyrics and just a despicable vibe and tone. There is nothing beautiful or inspiring about the song it is mindless, clichéd bragging that I have no interest in listening to. What could possibly be worse than this?!
1
Cheat Codes, Little Mix - Only You
Why would this dance act produce such a horrible song? How could they stoop this low after some semi-decent and good songs? Why would Little Mix sing something this underwhelming and non-empowering? How could it turn out this bland and clichéd?
Little Mix are by no means a "good" group but they deliver some poweful songs and they clearly have talent despite being quite obviously industry-manufactured and unoriginal. They have released some of the catchiest pop songs of the last 5 years even if the vast majority of their music is forgettable and bland pop. Cheat Codes made, especially early on in their career, fun and enjoyable dance and electropop. As time went on they became more and more bland and uninteresting but they were never this outright bad. It was a surprise to hear this and be as offended as I was and still am that these people have made music this dreadful, meaningless and yet somehow also terrible.
So what is so terrible about the song? What is the worst part of something I've critiqued so much? Is it the bland and basic lyrics, the boring and cheap production or the simple and dull delivery? No.. The worst part of the song is the drop. It is the single ugliest thing that I have heard in music all year (Yes even worse than Chris Brown in general believe it or not, although that does come close). It is a noisy, badly done and dense sound that roughly follows a tune without being at all tuneful or good. This is the worst outing either group have ever done and easily my most hated and Worst Song of 2018.
Thanks for reading through the first of my Year-End countdowns, more are coming very soon and I hope you enjoy and perhaps discover something new to love (or in the case of this list things to avoid as best you can despite you probably knowing someone that loves all or some of these songs and won't stop playing them).
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