The Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2021

As a pop music nerd, I'm still really into trying to understand why good songs work and why bad songs don't. As I look back over the past few years, it's become pretty clear to me that the reason the bad songs we've let into our lives don't work depend on circumstance. 2021 was the year of Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, and Dua Lipa. There were a ton of great songs throughout that year, but there were also a ton of songs that just flat-out sucked. I mean, we saw the precursor to the Jason Aldean/Oliver Anthony incident, multiple corny, lame country songs about being tacky, and Drake calling himself a lesbian. The parts of 2021 pop music that made me cringe were just so awful. Counting down the worst hits of 2021 is an exercise in understanding just how inept some artists can be, even when they have talent to work with. There aren't any songs that I dislike for moral reasons on this list, although Aaron Lewis' "Am I The Only One" would've made it if anybody actually remembered that that existed. 

As I've said in my last couple worst lists, any song that made the top 40 or stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for an extended period of time is eligible for the list. While I'd like to keep it in the top 40, there are some examples where a song didn't chart very high but did leave a lasting impact on society and popular culture, and if it's either really good or really bad, I'd have to acknowledge it. I don't really have much left to say in this introduction, so it's time. Let's count down the top ten worst hit songs of 2021.

#10

I'm writing this in the year 2024, about a year after the rise of two conservative country singles in Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" and Oliver Anthony Music's "Rich Men North of Richmond". While many of my favorite content creators (including both Todd in the Shadows and Diamond Axe Studios) disavowed these songs and considered them morally reprehensible. I didn't include either of them on my worst list because, honestly, I didn't care that much about them. "Try That In A Small Town" was a cynical song that was only made to make money from stubborn old folks who still buy music with cash, while "Rich Men North of Richmond" would have probably been one of my favorite songs of the year if it wasn't for the whole Fudge Rounds bit. Why am I bringing this up? Well, I needed an introduction for this entry and talking about those seemed more interesting than discussing this hack piece of garbage.

10. If I Didn't Love You - Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood

People like to dunk on Jason Aldean as a person (which is fair considering the fact that he cheated on his wife, abandoned his family, and does not regret it one bit - stay tuned for my 2020 worst list on that one), but I prefer to dunk on him as an artist here. This song just flat out sucks. It's like a stock photo of a song. It's the most generic country song I've heard in a long time. Hell, I'd probably actually prefer "Try That In A Small Town" because that at least has a guitar solo (no, I'm not defending that song).  This doesn't have anything. Both Aldean and Underwood are just non-presences on this song. That's incredibly terrifying to say about Carrie Underwood because she's such a great singer, and this is probably the worst song I've heard from her ever. I can't believe she stooped to this level.

Musically, this song revolves around a looping piano line that is just very basic. The drums sound fine, I guess, but there's nothing interesting about this production. It's average country pop filler. None of that is the reason the song made it onto this list. The reason this song is on the list is the lyrics. This song is about how it'd be much easier to get over an ex if you didn't love them in the first place. I just don't think they do a good job managing these lyrics. Honestly, while looking up the lyrics for this, I realized for the first time that the opening chorus line wasn't "if I didn't love you I could goodbye now". The problem with this premise is that they don't do anything with it. They just list all the things they would do differently and don't discuss how their lives would've actually been really changed and affected by that. You can do something with that idea, but instead you come up with generic schlock garbage. What a waste of Carrie Underwood. That's the biggest crime of all of this.

#9

When I consider an artist to be overrated, it definitely weighs on me. I don't like being contentious on these lists, so when I put a song most people like on these I kind of feel bad about it. There is one exception, however. This next artist, despite receiving critical acclaim and love from all over, is probably one of my least favorite currently working. I don't think she's a bad person or anything like that, but her 2021 work just was not it for me. I guess I get the appeal, but this is not a type of music I enjoy listening to nor will I ever. At least her first couple songs were good. This, this is just not.

9. Body - Megan Thee Stallion

While I enjoyed both "Hot Girl Summer" and "Savage", I feel like the quality of Megan Thee Stallion's work has dipped since then and it hasn't raised back up to where it could be. She obviously has talent and can pull off some good flows, but it just hasn't worked for me in a while. This spot was between this song and Cardi B's "Up", which are both repetitive and obnoxious, but I chose this one because the beat is worse in my opinion. I would argue that the hook to this song is the worst part because it's just Megan saying the word "body" over and over along with some parts of the body that she likes about herself. This kind of music just doesn't appeal to me, and considering I'm not in the target demographic, I guess that's fine. This isn't high on the list mostly because the verses aren't completely terrible (I do not understand the Carole Baskin reference, but other than that they're fine I guess), but that chorus shows back up and I remember why I can't stand this.

When I talked in this post's introduction about the artists who had the biggest years, I probably should've put Megan in there considering she had 5 different songs hit the year-end list. This is definitely on the lower end of the spectrum for songs she's made. It's not the worst song I've heard from her, but it definitely isn't even particularly close to her best. I know Megan has the talent to make some great music, but stuff like this is the reason I'm hesitant to want to hear more.

#8

I've got to reference my introduction again, as this song is the reason I added a specific part to that. I said that I'd like to keep it in the top 40, but that there are some exceptions I may have to talk about. This next entry only peaked at #71, but it's definitely remembered by a lot more people than some of the other songs on the year-end list (I mean, who actually remembers "Track Star" by Mooski). This is from an artist who is probably recognizable to most people reading this, and it's his highest charting single, so I figure it counts for this list. And yeah, this is awful.

8. Life Goes On - Oliver Tree

Oliver Tree is an artist I just do not get. His sarcastic, overdone accent just immediately turns it off whenever I hear it. "Life Goes On" is easily the worst example of this. Even Oliver Tree fans seem to think it's one of his worst songs if Reddit is to be believed. Everything about this sucks. It would be higher on this list if it was an actual hit, but I figured it's worth discussing. Tree's schtick is just to be as utterly obnoxious as possible, and it just does not work for me. The chorus of this song is just the same lyric repeated over again just like the last song, but this one is much worse because this one knows it's being obnoxious. It's so obviously terrible that I'm shocked it even charted at all.

I mean, what does it say about you if you like this? The lyrics to this are just so douchey. It features Oliver being awful to some girl, threatening to "feed [her] to the wolves" and "rip [her] up to pieces". This is just a mean-spirited song that I find nearly impossible to listen to. It doesn't help that Oliver seems to be that mean-spirited in real life, considering the whole "Miss You" fiasco. Just a pathetic song from a pathetic artist. 

#7

If it hasn't been obvious from my last few best lists, I am a Christian. That fact has affected my opinion on songs, which probably makes me a bad music critic, but I honestly don't care. If a song has Christian values but still flat-out sucks, I will call it out and address it accordingly. For example...

7. The Good Ones - Gabby Barrett

After her disappointing breakthrough hit "I Hope" in 2020, I wasn't particularly expecting much from Gabby Barrett's follow-up. Even still, I was expecting better than this. The premise of "The Good Ones" is that Gabby is describing the perfect boyfriend in her mind, which is a generic stock photo of a man who probably doesn't even exist. The line "like I wrote the book one" is where my introduction about Christian values peeps in. While I would usually appreciate something like that, this just doesn't work. It's too vague and uninteresting to be appealing, and it just doesn't work with Barrett's awful voice production. The guitars on this are also not mixed very well, leading to an overall rough sounding tune.

If "I Hope" was knockoff Carrie Underwood, "The Good Ones" is country Meghan Trainor. This reminds me so much of "Dear Future Husband" that it's uncanny. I will say that this is better than "Dear Future Husband" (although not by much). Everything about this feels off after that comparison. It doesn't help when Gabby's voice feels so nasally and overwrought in the chorus, feeling like it's a bit out of her range. Her accent feels forced and somewhat phony. We didn't need a country Meghan Trainor. Gabby, you're better than this. Please act like it.

#6

While "The Good Ones" is completely insufferable, at least it's kind to the person the artist is referring to. What would happen if someone took all of the insufferableness of that song and combined with an undeniable layer of misogyny that's impossible to blanket? Well, you would get this.

6. Without You - The Kid LAROI

Honestly, I'll say that the instrumental to this song is... fine, I guess. That's about all the positives I have to say about this song, however. "Without You" is just a blatantly stupid song released by an (at-the-time) 17-year-old who has absolutely no clue what he's talking about. The song is about a failed relationship and how he's bitter about this girl leaving him. However, he refuses to apologize and even insults her in the process, specifically the line "can't make a wife out of a hoe", which may be the single worst lyric in 2021's pop music. It just feels so out-of-place in a song that's supposed to be about heartbreak, but instead makes him come off as a bitter, vindictive ex who she was probably right to leave.

The misogynistic lyric's aren't helped by the Kid LAROI's awful singing voice. His voice feels just as nasally as Gabby Barrett's and this feels completely out of his range. It's not a pleasant song to listen to, especially because he tries so hard to put all of the emotions he can into his voice but it ends up turning into what it sounds like if Chad Kroeger tried to sing a Simple Plan song. Is this really the best our young songwriters have to offer? I've written better than this. Next!

#5

The art of covering a song is something that should be handled with absolute care. Some of my favorite songs are covered. I consider both Darius Rucker's "Wagon Wheel" and Rascal Flatts' "Life Is A Highway" to be among the best country songs of all time, and that's not even mentioning "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, which essentially became his song according to Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. Even in 2023, both Luke Combs and the weeknd had big cover hits with "Fast Car" and "Creepin" (a modified cover of "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans), respectively. A good cover can absolutely captivate someone. So, what if someone decided to cover a perfectly wonderful pop song and, instead, turned it into a nightmarish monstrosity? Well, let's find out.

5. Put Your Records On - Ritt Momney

Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" is a great example of a pop song. It's catchy, fun, and uplifting. It's fine the way it is. So, what did Utah artist Ritt Momney (real name Jack Rutter) decide to do with it? He turned it into an experimental pop track with so much reverb that it sounds like you're in a soundproof echo chamber. It doesn't help that Rutter picked a key too high for his voice. I guess the song is okay until it gets to the bridge, where it turns into a complete garbled nightmare that haunts my sleep paralysis demons. It sounds completely distorted and demonic. It's so completely strange and at odds with the positivity of the original song. I can't understand what he was going for here.

That begs the question - how on EARTH did this become a hit? Well, it's because of, you guessed it, TikTok. Man, that platform has some duds. It can get some songs right, but it can get them very, very wrong. This is one example of that. There's also the unintended connotations that Rutter is trying to get a girl to hook up with him (due to no changing of addresing pronouns in the song), which are obviously not what he was going for, but are still there. It feels really skeevy and unprofessional, which is fair considering this is an amateur production. Look, Rutter, you seem like a nice enough guy. I can tell that you were trying to do something good here. Just be careful next time. We don't need "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield to become your next victim.

#4

Drake is one of those artists who's popularity both completely baffles me and is completely unsurprising. He's had his hits. "Nice For What", "Take Care", and "In My Feelings" are all genuinely good songs. However, he has sooooo many duds. It seems like for every good song Drake has he'll make like 7 bad ones. The highs are high, but the lows can be absolutely low. I considered two Drake songs for this list, but ended up only choosing one. The first one was "Girls Want Girls", the song where Drake, no joke, calls himself a lesbian. That one was bad, but it wasn't egregious enough to earn a spot on this list. No, to do that, you have to go the extra mile. You have to be Way 2 bad. And, of course, you know exactly where I'm going with this.

4. Way 2 Sexy - Drake ft. Future & Young Thug

Sampling Right Said Fred was certainly a choice. Too bad they picked legitimately the worst possible avenue to go with it. Having Future sing the chorus of "I'm Too Sexy" as the chorus just is terrible. Future has such a mind-numbing voice that I legitimately can't stand it. We'll start off with the lyrics of this one. They didn't too much with the sample, and the lyrics on the chorus are just kind of meh. Nah, the real issues come with Drake's verse. Remember in the Kid Laroi song where he said the line "can't make a wife out of a hoe"? Well, I'll chalk that one up to immaturity. He was 17, of course he's not gonna be fully aware of what he's doing. Meanwhile, Drake, who was in his 30s when this came out, says basically the exact same thing when he says "You a turned up little thotty, ain't no wife about it". I can't excuse that. This is an adult man. This level of immaturity is something I'd expect from Laroi, but from Drake, it feels condescending. Honestly, considering the way his career has gone since this song released, I can't say I'm surprised one way or the other.

I'm not giving Future or Young Thug any passes here either. Their verses are just as terrible on this. The line "sexin' on me" is just grammatically incorrect. "Sexin'" is not a word, Future. Although, considering I don't think you've ever spoken an actual word in your life, I'm not surprised whatsoever. Also, why is Young Thug saying he wants to be molested? He also mumbles some nonsense about spaghetti and baguettes? We're not in Europe, Thugger. Although, considering Right Said Fred were European, I can see where you got confused. None of those are the main issue here, though. The main issue is the fact that they sucked all of the energy out of a classic, fun tune and turned it into just another piece of content. That's the biggest mistake here and that's what defines Drake as an artist for me. No energy, just sucking the joy right out of people. No wonder Kendrick hates you.

#3

So, you remember how back in my number 3 entry I said I don't hate Megan Thee Stallion? I'm starting to wonder whether that was a lie, because, well...

3. Thot Shit - Megan Thee Stallion

What is the appeal of this exactly? People seem to like it a lot, considering I saw multiple critics put it on their best lists. Every time I saw it pop up on those, I would question why it was put there. Was there some hidden genius to this that I was missing? And, after all this time, I've realized that the answer to that question is no. This song represents my confusion at the state of music nowadays. It's just mind-numbing vulgarity for the sake of it. The beat to this is grating, and I probably won't ever choose to listen to it again out of principle of that alone. 

Then we get to the lyrics, which are just completely terrible. The chorus is just as repetitive as "Body", but with more pointless sexualization and vulgarity that completely puts me off. I've seen people calling this "funny", and I just don't see that at all. There is one clever line where she references the 1998 mini-series The Temptations ("Ain't nobody coming to see you, Otis"), but apart from that it's either about having sex or conquering the haters. It all feels droning and nauseating at the same time. Strange enough, the line "I don't give a f*ck about a blog tryna bash me" feels funny, considering this article is a blog bashing this song. Oh no. I might have to run. I'll see you guys later. Don't let Megan find me.

#2

You ever hear a song that mentions a famous brand and wonder "huh, what's that doing there?" You eventually realize that it's just product placement. One example of this is 5 Seconds of Summer's "She Looks So Perfect", whose mention of American Apparel underwear in the chorus completely turned the song from a fun, catchy rock song to an utterly confusing piece of noise. Well, my #2 entry on this list is what would happen if an artist nobody has ever heard of tried to get attention by namedropping as many products in his song as possible, did it while creating one of the worst sounding country songs of all time, and somehow succeeded. Congratulations, Walker Hayes. You done it.

2. Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

Walker Hayes looks like Minecraft Steve. I mean, his head is literally shaped like a square! That's about all I have on Walker Hayes, who I only know from this and his collaboration with Christian pop band MercyMe. I first heard this song in Applebee's commercials, which is fitting considering the chorus is all about how "fancy" Applebee's is. Who considers Applebee's a fancy restaurant? There's also product placement for Wendy's, with the line "she wanna dip me like them fries in her frosty" quite possibly being the most disgusting lyric I heard in a pop song that year, no joke. He also mentions Natty Light and the squeaking of Styrofoam coolers (just buy an actual cooler, you big oaf), which gives me chills down my spine considering just how much I hate the sound of those. He plays all of these things up as "fancy", so I'm wondering what the heck he does on a normal basis? If Wendy's, Natty Light, and Applebee's are considered "fancy", what's regular stuff to you? Those are fancy only if you're poor, and you clearly aren't considering you're a popular country singer because of this. He also references Alabama's "Dixieland Delight", which, how dare you Walker Hayes! Don't reference a song much better than this to remind me that I could be listening to literally anything else.

What makes this worse is that it just sounds completely terrible. The song sounds like the Hokey Pokey. It's childish and pathetic. The electric guitars are bad. The drum machine and bass in the chorus are bad. It's like a mashup of every genre of music all at once, and it comes out to be the safest, most cookie-cutter, bland, basic, boring song imaginable. This song makes me physically cringe. I feel embarrassed whenever I hear it, even if I'm not the one playing it. For what it's worth, I've checked out some of Walker Hayes' other stuff, and, let me tell you, it's just like this. The only song of his that was worth anything was "Craig", the previously mentioned MercyMe collaboration. "AA" and "Y'all Life" are both just as awful and cringey. He even did a song with Flo Rida where he calls out the Grammy's for not "doing fancy like [him]". Walker, if you wanted a Grammy, you should've made a better song. Instead, you made whatever the heck this is. Try harder next time.

And now, before I reveal my pick for the worst hit song of 2021, let's go through some dishonorable mentions.

Dishonorable Mentions

DM1. Up - Cardi B

This is just as repetitive and nauseating as "Body", but I felt the beat to this one is better. That being said, Cardi's voice can get really annoying sometimes. She works well in small doses, but a song like this does not fit what I want to hear from her at all. If she would do more stuff like "Finesse" or "I Like It", I'd be okay with that. No more of whatever this is, though.

DM2. You're Mines Still - Yung Bleu feat. Drake

I don't know anything about Yung Bleu. All I know is that this song has a grammatically incorrect title and I have to penalize it on that front alone. It doesn't help when the song sounds completely drunk out of its mind. Drake, please stop picking new artists to collab with who don't know how to make music. It's not a funny joke anymore.

DM3. Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5 feat. Megan Thee Stallion

This was going to be on the actual list until I realized I don't really care about it. It's another moody, pathetic trap song that's too slow for what it's trying to do. If it was faster, it probably wouldn't be here. This was Maroon 5's last big hit, and I hope it stays that way. A world without Maroon 5 popularity is a world where I'm at peace. Adam, stick to hosting The Voice.

DM4. Cry Baby - Megan Thee Stallion feat. DaBaby

It's kind of weird to me how DaBaby went from being a genuinely loved artist who was just seen as a funny guy to have around to being completely wiped off the face of popular music throughout the course of 2021. This was the point where I saw the beginning of his downfall. The homophobic concert rant was just the icing on the cake in that regard. The song though? It's honestly better than I thought it would be, but it's still abysmal.

DM5. Traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

Essentially calling your ex-boyfriend Benedict Arnold isn't going to make him want to come back to you, Olivia. Honestly, this isn't completely terrible, it was just the worst of Olivia's hits in 2021. The slow ballad just isn't her thing (apart from Driver's License, that song's fine). She needs to stick to the Paramore-style punk rock she's good at. She's made some bangers in that field.

DM6. Heat Waves - Glass Animals

Why was this song a gigantic sleeper hit that climbed the charts for essentially two years before becoming the 16th biggest song of 2021 AND the biggest hit song of 2022? This isn't even good. In fact, I'd call it "un-good". It's just a boring, pathetic indie pop song. I've heard much better from these guys. Why haven't their bigger songs become hits?

DM7. Arcade - Duncan Laurence

I'm sorry, how did this win Eurovision while the Epic Sax Guy DIDN'T? That feels like a violation of the Geneva Convention. In all seriousness, though, this is just what depression sounds like. Apparently, in the Netherlands, arcades are more like casinos, which makes the metaphor make more sense, I guess. Still doesn't mean the song is any good, though.

DM8. Girls Want Girls - Drake feat. Lil Baby

Apparently Drake realized this was so pathetic that he didn't even bother to give it an actual music video, which is probably the reason I cut it from the list. I would say that Drake calling himself a lesbian is one of the funnier things to happen in pop music 2021, but he does it in such a boring, monotone way that it just comes off as nothing.

And now, with those out of the way, it's time to reveal the worst hit song of 2021.

#1

The fact that "Fancy Like" isn't my number one at this point would probably shock 2021 me. I hated that song with such vitriol that it would make Michigan fans look like devout Ohio State fans in comparison. Instead, it sits at number two (honestly fitting, considering how much of a turd that song is). The question is, what song overtook it? What song did I find to be so bad that it overtook one of the worst country hits of all time to reach my number one spot? Well, to find that out, we have to dig deep.

I mentioned in my dishonorable mentions that "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence won something called Eurovision. If you don't know, Eurovision is an international song competition between countries in Europe. They each vote for an artist via their own national finals and send them to compete. Many iconic songs and artists have come from Eurovision, including ABBA, the Epic Sax Guy, and (for some reason) Flo Rida. Why am I bringing this up exactly? Well, in 2021, Italy won Eurovision with a song called "ZITTE E BUONI" by a rock band called Måneskin. While that song didn't become a hit in America, another one of theirs did. And, unfortunately, it was possibly the worst first impression they could've made.

1. Beggin' - Måneskin

Måneskin is a fine band. Their Eurovision-winning song "Zitti e Buoni" is pretty good. I like the way that song sounds. Unfortunately, their big crossover hit "Beggin'" is one of the worst things I've ever heard in my entire life. It's a cover of the Madcon song of the same name, which itself is a cover of the Four Seasons song. The problem is that both versions of this song are utter garbage. The lyrics show a pathetic picture of someone crying out for their lover to not leave them, and it comes off as insincere and completely immature. The lyrics aren't bad enough to put it this high on the list, though, but it's the performance of this song that really puts it over the top.

Let me just start by saying that lead singer Damiano David's voice does not fit this song whatsoever. His voice fits much better on a slower rock song like the previously mentioned Eurovision winner. The song starts with just David's voice singing "Put your lovin' hand out baby, cause I'm beggin'", and it sounds just completely terrible. His voice is too rough for this kind of fast, upbeat song. I'd even take it far enough to say that the line "I'm on my knees when I'm beggin, cause I don't want to lose you" was the worst two seconds of pop music in 2021. Worse than the Walker Hayes "Frosty" line and the Kid Laroi's "Can't make a wife out of a hoe" line. Not because of the lyric, but because of the way it's sung. It's such a stylistic contrast between his voice, the lyric, and the instrumental that it comes off very strangely. The whole song honestly feels very pretentious, even though the lyrics paint a picture of desperation. The instrumental and lyrics are completely at odds with each other, which makes this one of the most awkward listening experiences I've ever had in my entire life.

What's worse is that this had potential. Unlike Fancy Like, this could have been something. 

If it was a bit slower and had a bit more of a rock edge to it, I think this could've been decent. Unfortunately, that's not the direction Måneskin chose to go. Instead, they chose to copy Madcon almost directly, which didn't work because the original song is just as terrible. And that's what makes it worse than the other songs in my opinion. This is the only song in the top 10 where I feel like it could've been a good song (apart from "Put Your Records On", which was already a good song before Ritt Momney decided to put his hands on it), and that just makes it all the more disappointing. Easily the song from 2021 that I currently hate the most, and that makes it the worst hit song of 2021.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. I'm Lando from the Landoman Experiment, and stay tuned for my Best Hit Songs of 2021 list, coming soon to this site. Peace!