Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2020

 Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2020

Hello, everyone, and this is the big one, the Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2020. Now, I assume all of those currently reading this have been alive in these past twelve months, so we all know what’s happened this year. I’m sure plenty of other reviewers (plus literally everyone else) will rant about how bad this year was, so I’m gonna try to keep that stuff to a minimum. So, taking the real world out of the equation, how was 2020’s pop music? Well, it’s a step up from 2019, which in turn was a step up from the musical wasteland of 2016-18, so we’re headed in the right direction in that regard. This is also the first year that I’ve covered from front to back on this blog, so I’d familiarized myself with a good chunk of the Year-End list beforehand. Overall, the 91 songs that debuted on the Year-End Hot 100 for 2020 got a cumulative score of 281/455, or a 61.7/100, which is actually about the same as it was in 2010 (although in retrospect I underrated some songs from that year). There’s no point in wasting anymore time with this intro, so let’s get right into the Dishonorable Mentions!

Dishonorable Mention: Toosie Slide by Drake (Peak: #1, Year-End: #32)

Drake is really boring, and this is no exception. In fact, despite it being a dance song, it’s one of the most snooze-inducing songs I’ve ever heard. It’d be good for putting kindergarteners to sleep for nap time, but not much else.

Dishonorable Mention: Stuck With U by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber (Peak: #1, Year-End: #80)

Man, this cash grab sure does exist, doesn’t it?

Dishonorable Mention: All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey (Peak: #1, Year-End: #67)

Now, this is not a bad song by any means, but it’s both incredibly overplayed during Christmastime and shouldn’t count for these kinds of Year-End lists. I get why it’s so beloved, but I’m kinda sick of it.

Dishonorable Mention: Falling by Trevor Daniel (Peak: #17, Year-End: #22)

I have heard very few songs with as big of a gap between the tone and the lyrics as this one. The lyrics describe Trevor falling in love, but his voice sounds like he’s wallowing in misery, which is not helped by the beat, which is just as dour and depressing. It could’ve worked if not for that tonal dissonance, but alas, that’s not how it turned out.

Dishonorable Mention: Roxanne by Arizona Zervas (Peak: #4, Year-End: #16)

I’ll be honest: I’m not sure why this ended up here. I mean, the hook is the catchiest I’ve heard in a good long while, and there were many songs that didn’t make the DM’s that are more mediocre, but when I ranked all the 2/5 songs, this was one that ended up in the Dishonorable Mentions. Eh, sometimes things turn out unexpectedly. See you on One-Hit Wonderland in 2032, Arizona Zervas.

Alright, let’s get on to the list itself, starting with #10.

#10: Life Is Good by Future ft. Drake (Peak: #2, Year-End: #7)

To start the list, we have yet another bog standard Trap song from two of the least interesting men in the world, Future and Drake. These two have been pumping out hits left and right for years, and almost none of them have been any better than decent, and yeah, this ain’t any different. Now, Drake’s part of the song is actually okay, with a decent beat and Drake sounding like he actually got a good night’s sleep (which is notable, considering he sounds like he has a hangover about 90% of the time). If I were to rate Drake’s part, I’d probably give it a strong 5 or a light 6 out of 10, it’s actually solid.

Then we get to Future, and… I’m not a fan of the guy. Not only is he the definitive mumble rapper, always sounding like he downed a thousand dollar cup of lean (and you ain’t even know it, spoilers for an eventual Worst of 2013 list), but he’s spawned legions of wannabes that have clogged the Hot 100 for the past half a decade. Needless to say, this is pretty much what I’d expect a Future song to sound like, with a stock Trap beat that I’ve heard a thousand times before and Future’s signature mumbling, with lyrics about sex, drugs and other typical Hip-Hop cliches. I’d bet that it was probably written, composed and recorded in about an hour (give or take a few minutes), it’s that sloppy and generic. It’s so boring, in fact, that I’m gonna go take a nap after I’m done writing this entry. See you guys in the next entry, (yawn) I’m gonna go hit the sack.

#9: WAP by Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion (Peak: #1, Year-End: #24)

Ahh yes, WAP. Wet Ass P-Word. The song that took the world by storm, spawned a crapton of bickering and the one that lands at #9 on this list. Now, I’m sure many of you are wondering why this is making the list (or insulting me for putting it on the list), but I’ve got my reasons.

To begin, let me give out some compliments to the song. For one, I actually kinda like the beat. Sure, it’s just some bass, snaps and a guy repeating the line “there some h0es in this house”, but I could legit listen to it on loop and enjoy it. For the second positive about this song, Megan Thee Stallion’s flow is legit good. While I haven’t really been into any of the songs I’ve heard from her (she’s kinda one note if I’m being honest), I do think she has the potential to make something good in the future.

Now that the positives are out of the way, let me explain why I don’t like this song. First, Cardi B. It should be no secret to any of you that have read some of my previous work that I’m not a particularly big fan of Cardi B. More specifically, she topped my worst lists in both 2017 (with the utterly abysmal Bodak Yellow) and 2019 (as a feature on Taki Taki, although it was #1 mostly because of the ear-splitting drop), and I’ve only heard one song from her that I like (that being her feature on the Finesse remix, spoilers for a future Best of 2018 list). Needless to say, this falls much more into the former category, as Cardi is being her typical self here (not doing an Early 90s Pop-Rap pastiche as she did on Finesse). Her flow is stilted and brash, which while nowhere near as annoying as it is on Bodak Yellow is still not something that I’m a fan of.

Now, for the elephant in the room: the lyrical content. If you’d told me at the beginning of the year that Cardi B would release a song later in the year called “Wet A** P***y”, I would’ve probably gotten a good chuckle and bet some money on it, and I would’ve been correct. This was the part of the song that attracted so much attention, because OH MAN are these lyrics explicit. Now, this might not be THE most explicit song I’ve ever heard (Oochie Wally, Play and Fack are all strong contenders), but it’s definitely up there, and is definitely the dirtiest song to have ever been this big (Play hit the Top 10 in 2005, but most people would’ve heard the edited version, whereas the explicit version of WAP could be streamed for free, even if it couldn’t ever be played on the radio). Needless to say, these lyrics aren’t at all subtle about the subject matter.

“I said, certified freak

Seven days a week

Wet-a** p***y

Make that pull-out game weak, woo

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, you f**king with some wet-a** p***y

Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet-a** p***y

Give me everything you got for this wet-a** p***y”

Now, there are sexually themed songs that I like. For example, Versace On The Floor by Bruno Mars is a sex song, and yet it’s one of my favorite songs of the 2010s. Heck, I enjoyed Jhene Aiko’s P*$$Y Fairy (OTW), albeit not enough to make the upcoming Best of 2020 list, so it’s not about it being a sex song by women (see my Best of 1995 list for more info on that). No, it’s because I have a limit to what I can take in terms of sexual content (although said limits can be pushed if the performance is good enough), and needless to say, WAP more than crosses it. Make fun of me all you want, but I’m standing by my opinion, this ain’t a good song.

#8: Mood Swings by Pop Smoke ft. Lil Tjay (Peak: #17, Year-End: #81)

Oh no, I’ve got to talk about a recently deceased artist on my worst list. Yeah, it’s difficult to talk in a negative light about the work of a dead artist, especially one who died young as Pop Smoke did. No one should die at the age of 20, and I mean no disrespect towards Pop Smoke by putting him on this list. However, I’ve got to be honest with my opinions, and thus I will name Mood Swings the eighth worst hit of the year.

To begin, I’ll talk about the composition. In contrast to the Trap and Drill music that Pop Smoke usually made, this is a smooth R&B song. I’ll admit it’s not badly composed, and could’ve been the base of a pretty solid song.

That, however, brings me to the lyrics, and ooh boy are they an interesting bunch of lyrics. Given the smooth R&B production and the title, one would think that this would be a song about Pop Smoke’s relationship with his girl, and how he’ll comfort her when she’s feeling down, maybe with a bit of adult content thrown in there. However, that was not the case, as not only is there adult content in the song, but it’s ramped up to 11, bringing it to near WAP levels of filthiness. Here’s a good sample of the lyrics:

“Every time I f**k without a rubber

I nutted on the covers

And I kept it undercover

'Cause I don't kiss and tell”

“Every time I f**k, she call me daddy

My lil' mama nasty

I see the p***y through the panties

She taste like candy”

“Start liftin' up your dress, start kissin' on your neck (oh no, no)

Start rubbin' on your butt, start massagin' your breasts

I ain't wanna give you a baby just yet, so I backed out and nutted on your breasts”

Umm… yeah, this is pretty dirty. Now, I’m not as much scandalized or offended as I am bewildered that this was made into a smooth R&B jam rather than a dirty rap track more like the aforementioned WAP or any number of sexually explicit Hip-Hop tracks. Yeah, I’d say that this song is misconceived, and would’ve worked better as either an R&B love song or a dirty Hip-Hop jam, rather than trying to split the difference between the two. R.I.P. Pop Smoke, 1999-2020.

#7: Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear (Peak: #11, Year-End: #26)

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. Yeah, this is one of the most loathed hits of 2020, and I’m definitely not deviating from that consensus. Heck, I bet y’all who read my Spring 2020 Top 20 Ranking will be surprised that this is only #7, as I gave it a 0/5 in that ranking and thrashed it pretty hard. Truth be told, I don’t hate this as much as I did back then, but that doesn’t make it any good.

To begin, I’ll reiterate what I said back in the spring: the instrumentation isn’t bad. I like the Rock influences and it sets a dark atmosphere very effectively. However, that’s where the positives about this song end, as the rest of the song is pure douchebaggery. 

Just from the opening line, one immediately knows what they’re in for. Blackbear soulfully croons “f**k you and you and yo0o0o0ou”, following that with an impassioned declaration of how much he hates your friends and how much they hate him in return. He then states that “he’s through” and proceeds to shamelessly cash in on Hot Girl Summer, a big hit in 2019, when this song came out. The verses then detail what a miserable douchebag Blackbear is, how he parties and drinks and wastes his life, capped off by impressively bad lyrics like “They can't fit me in a Trojan” and "Who's all there? I'm pullin' up with an emo chick that's broken". This is not helped by Blackbear’s weak, painfully mediocre voice, which makes him sound even more like an insufferable dick. If you want this type of song done well, go check out Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe, a Top 10 hit from 1992 with a similar subject matter that manages to actually be funny (it was an Honorable Mention on my Best of 1992 list). I’m sure that Blackbear isn’t a dick in real life (he recently became a father), but I can’t stand his artistic persona, and I hope we don’t give him any more hits.

#6: Suicidal by YNW Melly ft. Juice WRLD (Peak: #20, Year-End: #75)

Oh, here we go again. Yup, I’m putting Juice WRLD on the worst list too, as if putting one tragically deceased man on the worst list wasn’t distasteful enough. Once again, I must reiterate that I mean no disrespect towards Juice by putting him on this list, no one should die as young as he did. However, this is a song that really rubs me the wrong way, and as much as it feels wrong to put it on the worst list, I must be honest and do so.

Now, I mentioned Juice WRLD, but he’s only the featured artist here. YNW Melly is the actual lead here. If you read my Worst of 2019 list, you may recall that I put Murder On My Mind at #8 on that list, as the song became famous after Melly turned himself in for actual murder (although the song came out before that). Now, Melly’s personal life has nothing to do with this making the list, but rather that this is an utterly miserable song.

Emo Rap emerged as a major trend in the latter part of the 2010s, and has thus far stayed strong into the new decade. There have been songs in this lane that I have enjoyed (Goodbyes by Post Malone for example), but needless to say, this ain’t one of them. 

To begin, the production is just dour. I mean, it’s supposed to be, this ain’t California Gurls or anything, but I’m instantly put into a mood of hopelessness and depression whenever I hear the downtuned guitars, miserable trap snares, deep bass and tragic strings. The lyrics don’t help at all, being about how miserable and bitter Melly and Juice are after a breakup, with both of them sounding just as heartbroken.

However, this song is meant to be depressing and miserable, so why am I upset about it? Well, I know I said that I would keep any sort of references to the outside world to a minimum in the intro to this post, but I’m gonna make an exception here. You see, I’ve struggled with mental health on and off since I was about twelve, and since the virus that shall not be named locked us all down back in March, my mental health had been slowly deteriorating, reaching a breaking point around September There’s a reason that my output has declined over the past several months, and that’s because I’ve often lacked the motivation to go on and work on this stuff. Well, whenever I listen to this song, it makes me want to give up and throw in the towel, and that’s the last thing I should do. R.I.P. Juice WRLD, and as for Melly, well, I don’t know what to say.

#5: I Hope by Gabby Barrett ft. Charlie Puth (Peak: #3, Year-End: #12)

As with Hot Girl Bummer, this is a song that a lot of people have trashed on, myself included. Now, some of those reasons are things I frankly don’t care about (and find pretty petty), but there are more than enough criticisms I have about this song for me to put it on the list.

First, this production is awful. It’s about as cheap as 80s Freestyle and as bloated as I am after I eat too much popcorn at the movie theater. The instruments are overblown to the point of being grating, and the same can be said of Gabby’s vocals, and yes, she does sound like a B-rate Carrie Underwood. 

Speaking of Carrie Underwood, how about the lyrical content? As with Carrie’s 2007 smash Before He Cheats, I Hope is a revenge fantasy. Both Carrie and Gabby were ostensibly cheated on by their respective boyfriends, and are looking for them to reap what they’ve sown. However, unlike Carrie who took direct action, Gabby’s fantasy is all in her head. She hopes that her ex-man and his new girlfriend are having the time of their lives, detailing how she hopes this guy’s dreams come true, but finishes it off by wishing for his new girl to cheat on him just as he cheated on Gabby. However, the remix with Charlie “Superman got nothing on me” Puth wrecks that fantasy completely, as the lyrics are basically unaltered, thus making the whole thing completely pointless, and that, my friends, is why this is on the list. The remix took an already bad song with a coherent narrative and completely threw it out of whack, even if it did polish off a few elements of the production. We’ll see what direction Gabby and Charlie take, but boy was this not a good impression for either of them.

#4: My Oh My by Camila Cabello ft. DaBaby (Peak: #12, Year-End: #37)

Now for another pick any of you who read the Spring 2020 ranking saw coming. Yeah, this song hasn’t grown on me one bit over the past eight months, and is still disappointing coming from Camila, who had scored a few legitimately good hits in the past (whether with Fifth Harmony or solo). 

Now, there are a few things I don’t mind about this song, and the first one is the instrumentation. The fusion of vintage, Latin infused elements with contemporary Trap and R&B trends was definitely an interesting choice, even if the gang vocals sound like something DJ Mustard would’ve done in 2014. DaBaby’s performance isn’t bad either, even if it is exactly what I’d expect a DaBaby verse to sound like. Heck, Camila’s verses aren’t even all that bad, so if there is this much about the song that I don’t mind, then why is it all the way up here at #4?

Well, the bad parts of this song are really, REALLY bad. The lyrics are sort of a retread of Havana, with Camila “I’m Vanellope Von Schweetz in real life” Cabello forgoing her parents’ advice to get with this mysterious, seductive dude (presumably DaBaby). That brings me to the reason that this makes the list, and that is Camila’s vocal performance. This is easily the worst I’ve ever heard her sound (yes, worse than nicotine heroine morphine). When she says “I sWeaR oN mY lIfE tHaT i’VE bEen a g0oD gIrL!!! ToNIgHt i d0n’T wAnT t0 bE hEr!” on the chorus, it makes my ears bleed, and it’s even worse when she wails like an injured coyote near the end of the song. As I said in the spring ranking, she sounds like a 12 year old girl rebelling against her parents because they wouldn’t buy her a new phone. This is possibly the worst song Camila has ever been a part of, and I never want to hear it ever again.

#3: Popstar by DJ Khaled ft. Drake (Peak: #3, Year-End: #66)

Hello, Drake, nice to see you again. I suspect that this won’t be the last time I have to put Sir Aubrey Graham on one of my worst lists, which shouldn’t be a surprise, as Drake’s discography has ranged from solid at best to awful at worst, and this falls squarely into the latter category. 

As with songs like Life Is Good, this is pretty much a generic trap beat that could be bought for $20 bucks. It does nothing different from the trap beats that have dominated America’s airwaves for the past five years. Seriously, it’s the 2020s now, this stuff has gotta be on its way out at this late date.

Speaking of stuff that has been around wayyyy too long, why is Drake still this big? He hasn’t done anything remotely interesting in well over half a decade (with the possible exceptions of Sicko Mode and Nice For What), and yet we keep on rewarding him with massive success, and this is no different. Drake sounds half-asleep (as per usual), especially on the “hook”, where he rants about b*tches calling him and cops coming after him. Listen, I know it’s popular to hate on cops now (for reasons I can understand), and complaining about chicks is a staple of popular music, but I’m not about to sympathize with frickin’ Drake, who has more money than any of us wee plebs could ever imagine and likely picks up chicks left and right (including chicks he really shouldn’t pick up). The lyrics on the verses are a bunch of Trap cliches about girls, being famous, money and being a hardcore thug (even though Drake got his start on a Canadian teen drama). DJ Kahled does nothing as per usual, he’s more of a brand than a musician. Overall, this is a song that is completely pathetic and worthless, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from a man who does not deserve all the success he’s accrued over the past decade plus. See ya next year, Drake, hope you actually do something interesting with your upcoming album.

#2: We Paid by Lil Baby and 42 Dugg (Peak: #10, Year-End: #57)

Welcome back, Lil Baby. I’ve mentioned the worst list I made for last year a few times so far, and I’ll do so again, because Lil Baby was also #2 on that list. Now, I think he has improved as an artist this year, as of his six entries on the 2020 Year-End list, this was the only one that was bad, but oh boy is it ever!

To begin, this beat is pathetically limp and empty. There’s literally nothing here to speak of, just faint piano keys, a few snaps here and there, bass hits and these faint echoing vocals. It’s sleep inducingly boring.

Next, the lyrics. This is probably the least embarrassing part of the song, as they’re pretty generic “started from the bottom, now we’re here” stuff, with some Hip-Hop cliches thrown in to boot. It’s blandly inoffensive, and for this song, that’s good enough.

The worst part of this song, however, are the rappers themselves. Lil Baby sounds like a caricature of a mumble rapper, and ooh boy, it’s time to talk about 42 Dugg. I’m not gonna mince words, this guy sucks ass. Not only is he dang near unintelligible, but his voice is also incredibly nasal, basically if Chingy was big now instead of in the Mid 2000s, but hey, at least Right Thurr had some energy and One Call Away was kinda charming, unlike Dug here. Overall, this song sucks ass, and exemplifies why I once hated Trap music with such a strong passion. However, it is not my #1, so what could that be?

So, one of the earliest lists I made was of the Worst Hit Songs of 2014. In that list, I named Studio by Schoolboy Q the worst hit of the year, for being physically painful to listen to. Now, I’m honestly second guessing myself on that one, but a similar principle applies here. This is the song from this year that I least want to hear ever again, because it is the only song on this Year-End list that physically hurts to listen to. So, what could that be? Folks, I present unto thee The Worst Hit Song of 2020…

#1: Hot by Young Thug ft. Gunna and Travis Scott (Peak: #-, Year-End: #72)

Alas, we have arrived at #1, The Worst Hit of the Year. The hit song from 2020 that I find to be the most intolerable to listen to. I’ll get going right away, starting with the lyrical content.

Okay, the lyrics aren’t bad. It’s just about the success that the three of them have achieved in the music industry and what they’re doing with all of their money and clout. Rapping-wise, Gunna is completely mediocre, Thugger is as hard to understand as ever and Travis Scott is doing exactly what I’d expect Travis Scott to do, ad-libs included (STRAIGHT UP). It’s all rather unremarkable, far from “worst song of the year” material. 

So, it’s time to talk about this song’s elephant in the closet: the production. This is some of the most grating production I’ve ever heard in my entire life. While it isn’t quite Birthday Cake levels of earrape, it’s not too far off. The horns open up the song with a sense of triumph, but that is immediately interrupted by the loud hits of synth and trap percussion that sounds like bullets being fired directly into my ears. It makes my ears squeal in pain, and ladies and gentlemen, THAT is why this song ended up at #1. In a year without anything that was exceptionally terrible when it came to hits, a song that was a rather plain sort of terrible was able to grab the #1 spot. I’ve definitely heard worse, but nothing worse from this year, which is why I will bestow upon Hot by Young Thug ft. Gunna and Travis Scott the dishonor of The Worst Hit Songs of 2020. I’ve got to get back to ranking the whole Year-End list for Pulse’s 2020 Year-End Rankdown, and I should get my Best List out around New Year’s, so I’ll see you then. Have a Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a Happy New Year, folks, I’ll see you next time!