Top Ten Worst of 2016! (The other part)

I wanna see the best list...

Nobody

Looking forward to the top 10 best list. Although this year it's probably going to be the Top Ten Least Awful Songs.

Adequately Sized Dog

i liked love yourself too! but i guess todd DID admit that the lyrics weren't bad, so ill take it xD

Aisha

But awesome vid Todd, can't wait for the best list (I look forward to those more than the worst)

Aisha

Treat you better should have been higher on the list! Mr nice guy shawn mendes' cockiness is much worse than Lukas graham. I mean he literally says you deserve ME, the GENTLEMAN! It's absolutely infuriating 😂😂

Aisha

I'm really glad Me Too didn't make it on the list. It's obviously not a good song but in a year that was this dower I liked hearing it because at least it was upbeat. It was something I could play for a dance class warm up that didn't make me want to fall asleep

Maeghan

Todd, you're being unfair to car alarms at about 3:30. Car alarms aren't necessarily useless - they can theoretically alert people to their car being stolen. Unlike the Chainsmokers. I doubt those assholes would lift a finger if they saw your car getting jacked.

Daniel Beckett

All Shawn Mendes was missing was adding 'I know can treat you better than THAT BETA CUCK!'

Yvette

I honestly have no idea how you tell apart Daya, that one chick from the I Hate You I Love You song, Alessia Cara, Halsey, or any of those other girls who all sound like they are trying to sound like some combination of Adele and Demi Lovato. The choked raspy thing Demi does only works when you have a range, and the same goes for Adele's soulful jazzy thing. I read somewhere that they are the new bubblegum, so basically, Daya is the 2016 Mandy Moore. Also, Todd, I firmly disagree with your assessment of Love Yourself. I *adore* that song. Whatever. I respect your right to your opinion (and your right to be wrong ;D)

Madeline Fey

Treat You Better was the only song this year that really made me want to throw up every time I hear it. *tips fedora* m'lady

me

Ever since you reviewed it I couldn't get what was so bad about Pillowtalk at all. Then I heard this little bit as a new context for the song, and I got it. Still a fan of it tho <3 I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated i hate u i love u. I didn't pay attention to radio too much this year being sick and all and I heard this was the indie type song that got popular of the year. The Fluke Indie One Hit Wonder or w/e. I heard it and I could tell literally zero difference from the rest of the songs. Usually indie songs are, good or not, sounding different, but this is Machine Gun Kelly tied to Ruth B's instrumentals.

The Train song didn't make the list because it neither got into the Hot 100 top 20 nor got onto the year-end charts.

Grace

I dreaded it as you introduced it, but I really liked "I Love U, I Hate U". Had some good wordplay in the lyrics. I'm actually surprised, our worst lists only had two overlaps (I had "Treat" at #4, and "7 Years" was of course #1).

Jonathan P

I like Macklemore.... a lot.... Also, While I agree 7 years is horrible, I can't believe that the godawful Train song didn't make the list.

Zachery Egan

BAN A DAMN E-CAD!

I named one of my soldiers in X-COM 2 Lukas Graham. He ended up dying.

Grace

Great list Todd. It was entertaining as always when you make your list. Here are my thoughts on it: 10. Yeah, the more I heard this song, the more it pissed me off. It's another example of how insufferably arrogant teenagers can be when they think they have figured everything out. 9. Most of my memories with this song involve seeing Taylor Swift exercising to it in a Samsung commercial ("More" by Usher would have been a better song for her to work out to) and then going "YES" Beavis and Butthead style when she face plants on the treadmill. "Hit 'Em High" is indeed a much better rap song to associate with Michael Jordan. 8. I don't recall ever listening to this one before. Kelsea Ballerini definitely had the better of the two Top 40 hit songs we had about the boy who never grew up this year. I hope that song can be a contender for your best list, but it probably won't, since it only peaked at #35 on the weekly Hot 100 and didn't make the year end Hot 100 at all. 7. I don't really have a whole lot of thoughts on this one. You are right though, this apparently was a good year to be a boring white rapper. 6. I can't believe this is selling so well. These teenage little shits can't even make their own beat. Instead they still someone else's beat and someone else's dance. For whatever reason, people are buying this, and I don't get why. 5. This was #4 on my worst list. If the "nice guy" mentality does make a comeback, it will be entirely because of this song. This could be as damaging to the culture with the "nice guy" mentality as "The Motto" was with "YOLO". 4. I never noticed that before, but that drop really does sound like a chainsaw revving up. Like a Black Eyed Peas song, the lyrics really don't seem to be about anything, and to say the truth, it is too dull for me to know what exactly to say about it. 3. This was #5 on my worst list. For some reason, Spectrum Pulse nominated this as the "best new Hot 100 arrival for the week" on one of his Billboard Breakdown episodes. It is yet more proof that while a song can be sexual, that doesn't automatically make it sexy. Fortunately, Bruno Mars has now released a much better sex jam. "Versace On The Floor" needs to be as big of a sex jam in 2017 as "Sexual Healing" was in 1983. 2. Wow, this is basically "My Immortal" with a rapper, it's every bit as lifeless and dull as that song and it also gets worse with each subsequent listen. DM1. Other critics have given Nick Jonas praise. I'll never understand why. DM2. This was #6 on my worst list. That "Superman got nothing on me" alone was enough to put it on there. Charlie Puth really is a WGWAG with a piano. DM3. Another self empowerment anthem courtesy of Pink. Songs like "Try" and this one get old fast. "Just Give Me A Reason" is the best song she has released this decade. DM4. #1 biggest hit of 2016, people. I hope you all are happy. Every time, I listen to this, I'm convinced that Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber were only one rewrite away from calling it "Fuck Yourself". DM5. Well, at least it's better than the Beyonce song it shares it's name with. DM6. I've never heard this one before, so I don't have much an opinion. The lead singer sounds like he is high on helium though. DM7. You summed it up in your one word analysis. 1. This was #2 on my worst list. When a told a co-worker what my worst list was and that I sandwiched it in-between both of Meghan Trainor's hits in 2016, he was like "C'mon, it's not that bad". Perhaps I should direct him to your review.

Thomas Carmody

1) How is Macklemore an anti-Semite? Because he wore a stupid costume once that he didn't realise came off as a Jewish stereotype? He apologised for that bit of stupidity and he hasn't done anything like that since then, so no, he's not an anti-Semite. 2) The only evidence I can find for him being a truther is one tweet from 2009 in which he quoted an Immortal Technique lyric. Apart from that, I can't find anything else, so no, I'mma need more evidence than that to call him a truther.

Grace

Same. I agree that he also gets way too much flack. Yes, I read how 'problematic' he is but between him and Iggy Azealia? Yeah I'll take Macklemore any old day. He at least doesn't try to pass himself off as black and acknowledges he's a white privileged dude. Hell, even he finds it stupid that suburban moms are more okay with him than any other rapper.

Yvette

GOD that number one was SO FREAKING BAD.

Aghfasdjghgh, "Renegades" was my own personal worst of 2016, and that was 100% due to the Spielberg and Kubrick line. The other X-Ambassadors song wasn't as much of an issue because I had the good sense to turn it off after the first listen. (It's the poor man's "Apologize.")

A. M.

I guess he was either won over (a little) by Zayn, or Nick Jonas disappointed him more.

Ridd

...but....I like Mackelmore.....

I'm honestly a bit surprised you didn't put any Selena Gomez songs on here. Especially that one she did with Charlie Puth. Other than that, a solid list. Plus, your bumper music was great. Now I'm kind of wondering what your thoughts on 21 Pilots are. Personally, I think they're okay. Certainly would rather listen to them than MCR, Panic, or even Fall Out Boy. Then again, I didn't like the emo genre back in my high school days.

Yvette

I'll join the chorus of commentators who are not quite so down on "Don't Let Me Down", but as always I enjoyed your list, Todd! Looking forward to the 10 best.

Oh yeah and as Jeremy Williams said. Lukas was a child actor in a series of movies. <a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/84wILCnxyh0/maxresdefault.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.ytimg.com/vi/84wILCnxyh0/maxresdefault.jpg</a>

Karen Prag

Oh yeah and as Jeremy Williams said. Lukas was a child actor in a series of movies. <a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/84wILCnxyh0/maxresdefault.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.ytimg.com/vi/84wILCnxyh0/maxresdefault.jpg</a>

Karen Prag

Gawd.. As a dane it confused me for a while that you're using Ø's instead of O's. Because it's not pronounced like o at all. So I read it weird.

Karen Prag

Oh, Todd, you're in denial. We don't hate Macklemore because of his goofy yet catchy beats. We hate him because he's a moron. First he's an anti-Semite, and now he's a conspiracy theorist. The "Bush knocked down the towers", alias Rusty Shackleford kind. He and Jadakiss must be soul mates or something.

lithium_green

Fun fact: THe lead singer of Lukas Graham, Lukas Forchhammer (Graham's not actually part of his name, that's his dad) was a child actor (Before he turned 7, wouldn't you know), so this song's even more full of shit than it first seems

Jeremy Williams

2014 feels so innocent now it's like a window into a foreign country. And holy fuck does Lucas graham feel ancient, I genuinely thought it was last year.

George Morgan

I mean, I don't think he necessarily hates trap soul, especially since he tried justifying Drake's use of it, but it's just done really badly when it charts.

Teddy Haines

Last comment, I think it's funny how in your full-length Pillowtalk review you said "I hate to say it Zayn, but you're no Nick Jonas", while in this you called Nick Jonas the poor man's Zayn :P

Will Seamon

What a great list, thanks for your hard work Todd!

Kylie

*** SPOILER ZONE DON'T READ THIS UNTIL AFTER WATCHING THE VID *** 10. I actually kinda like this song but it pretty much just comes down to it sounding pretty alright and I'm fully aware that the lyrics are actually genuinely awful. Lorde's next album can't come soon enough, I was a big fan of her debut too tbh. 9. Before this video, I'd probably never heard this song before. Now that I have seen this segment, I'm still fairly certain I have never heard this song. Including what I have heard. This song isn't worth caring about. Is it a song? We may never know. Also Future was always awful, I have no clue how he even became a big name. 8. I heard this before it even charted and I haaaated it immediately. Boring piano, boring voice, absolutely literal and in no way metaphorical lyrics about literally nothing. Amateur hour ended long ago, lady. 7. I don't think I've ever heard The Way before to be honest but I've heard the song this samples quite a bit. It's... a really pointless sample that just makes me want to listen to the original song instead. I've barely heard this before otherwise though. It exists. 6. I'm as sick of these non-songs as you are. Especially since they grow less original by the day. First it was stealing other peoples' dances, then other people's beats, then BOTH at the same time, 'cause, you know, why not. 5. Your list of the worst two seconds of pop 2016 had me... in stitches. Also yes, this song is a bad rehash of an already mediocre song with a much, much worse message. Like seriously. How is this "attractive". 4. Drop is absolutely awful, but the climax is okay if a bit generic. I dunno if I'd quite put it in my bottom songs of the year but I certainly wouldn't want to listen to mroe than about a specific 20 seconds of it ever again. 3. Iiiii don't really mind this one either, mostly for how kind of awful the vocal melodies are. It's interesting, ironically. I can't say I'll remember it in a year either, though, so. 2. This is literally just the white guy rapping over the girl's song. Replaced the verses with himself. It's like a remix, except with even less charisma than the original boring ballad. Like, dude just has an awful voice. No getting around it. This is mostly boring more than anything else but boring is not good to be. HM1: I have no opinion on this song. It exists. I've barely heard it honestly. HM2: Surprised this didn't make the list proper, with how much of a non-song sung by an uncharismatic doofus trying to act cool it is, but it's not Marvin Gaye so it could be worse. HM3: Another song I'm kinda indifferent on. Has some parts I'm okay with, hase some really dumb parts too. Ehh. HM4: Oh look, Ed Sheeran pawning off his garbage to less talented artists again. Nice. HM5: This is the most "there" song to ever "there". HM6: I only heard about this one through other year-end lists and, honestly, kinda dig it. Something about the percussion, I guess. HM7: Never heard this, ever. 1. Yeeeaah kinda saw this coming when it didn't show up anywhere else on the list and a bit disappointed because I don't really mind this one so much? Also Graham isn't the dude's last name apparently just his father's name, but. I can't say it's great and the lyrics are a bit self-serving but I'm not bothered by it in the same way. Kind of surprised to see no mention at all of Don't Wanna Know, 'cause it feels like exactly the kind of song you'd hate, but. Sure.

Crow

Also the worst 2 seconds of 2014 list had me laughing so hard.

Will Seamon

I was hoping one of those boring-ass Bryson Tiller songs would make the list but I'm not sure what could even be said about them.

OneTruePatron

I still like Don't Let Me Down a lot, but understand the problems with it. I'd have put Bad Things way higher on the list, although i hate u, i love u and that pretty much fill the same role, with the latter at least being somewhat believable. Obvious #1 pick is obvious, but so justified. Worth the wait as always!

Will Seamon

I can't really disagree on that list, or its dullness. This reminds me of you talking about how the Worst Songs of 1987 were dull as shit, but compared to this year . . . . bleh. I hope we get some corny bad music in 2017, although I suspect what we'll actually get is a lot of bad attempted anthem songs.

Brett

I was all like "oh god what's gonna be #1" when the answer was sitting in front of me the entire time

Andrew Lenahan

"Unsteady", the song that makes me think my car's engine is acting up every time it comes on the radio. Bloody annoying that one.

Matsc

I usually agree with Todd but I don't think he understands trap or EDM anymore. I HATE pillowtalk too but trap soul in general is legit imo. And I can see how Don't Let Me Down could be annoying but idk, I like the noise, not the best example of EDM but still. I agreed with everything else though.

Basednoface