Hello, everyone! I can’t believe it’s already year-end list season! But it is, and that means it’s time for the first of my six year-end lists, the top 10 worst hit songs of 2023!

Now, I should make it clear that this is really just a list of my top 10 least favourite hit songs of 2023 … music is subjective, and these are the 2023 hit songs that I personally dislike the most, but I prefer calling them ‘the worst’ for a catchy title.

But before I get to the list, I just want to go over the eligibility rules … and it seems like more and more people have been going away from the standard ‘it must have debuted on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 for this year’ rule, because people are noticing more and more that Billboard’s year-end list isn’t really the most accurate way to find the biggest hits in the US … and why limit it to the US hits anyway? I mean, I’m Canadian and have lived in Canada my whole life, so why would I use the US chart? And there’s also the fact that Billboard has now decided that the year ended in mid-to-late October, which makes absolutely zero sense to me … but at this point it’s kind of a tradition for me to make these lists based on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100—even though this is only the second year I’ve posted these publicly, in years past I have made lists like this, before I started this website … although a lot of my rankings haven’t aged well in my opinion, as I have a very different taste in music now than I did when I was a kid.

But anyway, I’m going to stick with the same rules as last year, that the song has to have debuted on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 2023. It doesn’t matter when the song was released, it just cannot have been on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in any previous year. So, this gives me 87 eligible songs, and today I’m talking about the worst of them.

I will say right now that I’m going to be quite harsh, so if you’re not really a fan of negativity, I don’t think you’re gonna want to read this post. But as harsh as I’m going to be in this post, I want to make it clear right now that none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, and while I do legitimately dislike all of these songs, I do understand that music is subjective, and I’m not trying to be mean here. There’s a difference between a harsh review and a mean review, and at the end of the day, this is all just my opinion. But my apologies if any of this does come across as mean.

Before I talk about the absolute worst hit songs of the year, I’m going to start with some dishonourable mentions. Last year I counted down 10-2 and then went through the dishonourable mentions before revealing my #1, but this year I’m going to try putting them at the start, and unlike last year I’m going to actually say a bit about each dishonourable mention. And in both my best and worst lists last year I had a lot of honourable/dishonourable mentions, and I’m going to reduce the amount this year, rather than trying to have as many as possible … I won’t have a set number, but I think in general I’ll want to aim for about 6-10. This year I’ve got 8 dishonourable mentions (in no particular order), starting with …

“What My World Spins Around” by Jordan Davis

Alright, so this one wasn’t super close to making the list. There are a number of songs it could have been swapped out for, but I decided to go with this one because while I have been getting into country music more and more recently, this feels like the definition of a stereotypical country song … I’m not saying it’s a fair stereotype, but I don’t see any reason to go back to this song personally. It’s full of country music clichés, and it’s got a very generic chorus with annoying jumpy instrumentation that just makes me want to turn this song off. There’s nothing about this that I find particularly interesting, and honestly this song can get quite annoying … so, yeah, I don’t like this at all.

“Try That In A Small Town” by Jason Aldean

Yeah, I guess I’m gonna have to talk about this one, aren’t I? And there’s a good chance you’re looking at this and wondering how this could possibly not be in the top 10 … but I’ve got things to say. Yes, this song caused a ton of controversy as a lot of people thought it was playing to racist stereotypes around the difference between big cities and small towns, and for a bunch of other reasons, too, including the music video—but this post is about the songs, not the music videos. And by the way, I haven’t seen the video and I don’t plan on it, and I highly recommend that you don’t watch the video, either.

But even the song itself … well, it seems like the most obvious choice for the #1 spot on this list, so why is it here instead? Well, part of it is that sonically I don’t think this is bad at all … this doesn’t sound particularly great, but it at least has some decent melodies and I don’t mind the production. But when it comes to the lyrics … as much as I kind of hate to admit it, I honestly think the song writers kind of have a point here … emphasis on ‘kind of’. Yes, this song is totally ignoring the grander scope of things, but while I don’t know the statistics of crime rates in towns vs. cities, it is true that some things are more socially acceptable in some locations than others, and I don’t fully interpret this literally being about crimes in small towns vs. cities … I can see it as a metaphor for the way our upbringing can affect our beliefs and morals, and the strange idea of things being ‘socially acceptable’ rather than just living in a world where people are more concerned about doing what they feel is right, and of course following the law. And it doesn’t seem to be criticizing the idea of ‘socially acceptable’, it’s more just asking questions about it. At least that’s my interpretation.

And it’s worth mentioning that there’s no direct mention of race in this song—yes, there are points where it’s implied to possibly be about race, but as ignorant as this song is, it’s not hateful.

But again, I’m not saying this isn’t a terrible song, because I absolutely think it is. No, I’m not saying it’s okay to commit these crimes anywhere, but the writers seem to be implying that this stuff only happens in the city. And while I’m not saying it’s okay to be violent toward a cop, it does feel very ignorant to bring that up in this song without acknowledging the cops who have gotten away with it.

I don’t have all the statistics for these things, but this is yet another extremely right-wing political song which is extremely ignorant and disgusting. I’m not against all things right-wing, but this was damn close to making the top 10.

“Daylight” by David Kushner

Does anyone else get major mid 2010s vibes from this? When I hear this song, I can’t help but think how much it sounds like the kind of song that would have blown up back in 2015 or 2016 … and like a lot of the music in this style that blew up back then, this song kind of sucks in my opinion. To me this comes across as very faux-deep with the generic lyrics about an unhealthy relationship, when really, as far as I can tell, this is very surface-level and not interesting at all, in fact it feels so faux-deep and generic to an exasperating degree. And with a really annoying melody in the chorus with the awful vocal layering, reverb that doesn’t fit at all, and an awful piano timbre with a really annoyingly sharp sound … yeah, this is a mess.

“Peaches & Eggplants” by Young Nudy (ft. 21 Savage)

Cousins Young Nudy and 21 Savage collaborated together on “Peaches & Eggplants”, a song which I kind of find to be laughably bad, but not in a way I would ever want to listen to … this clearly isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but it doesn’t make it much less obnoxious. The flows are awful, and the lyrics … I don’t even know where to begin. If you really want to know why this is here, it has to be heard to be understood … because this is a very unique listening experience, although not in a good way. At least it’s interesting.

“Fast Car” by Luke Combs

So, I guess it’s time for me to talk about this one, isn’t it?

Well, no, I don’t feel like talking about “Fast Car” right now. There are enough other terrible songs I’m talking about right now, but despite all the critical acclaim, I have a very strong dislike for the original version of “Fast Car”, a song that I don’t feel like talking about right now … you can disagree with me, that’s fine, but that’s how I feel. Now, if this were the original “Fast Car”, I’d be explaining more about why I dislike this song so much, but for now I’ll just quickly say that I think this is a slightly more tolerable version of an abysmal song … I’ll leave it at that for now.

“Sure Thing” by Miguel

One thing that has happened a lot more in recent years is songs from years ago suddenly becoming hits, and this Miguel song from 2010 blew up on Tik Tok and became a 2023 hit … and it’s too bad it’s not very good. The vocals and instrumental each aren’t bad on their own, but the combination of the two just feel really off-putting for some reason, and the production doesn’t feel nearly as smooth as I think it’s supposed to.

This song doesn’t really give me much to say, but it’s just got this really unpleasant vibe to it, and I can’t fully place why. But overall, I think this is quite bad.

“La Bebé” by Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma

On the surface, this feels like a very generic reggaeton song with clunky percussion and vocal melodies that do absolutely nothing for me … and I do think that’s a pretty accurate description of this song, but while I’m not sure how accurate the translated version of this that I found is, it seems like Peso Pluma is describing someone cheating on her boyfriend with him, and they both seem to have a ‘yeah, whatever’ attitude … again, maybe the translation I saw isn’t totally accurate, but either way I think this is an unpleasant reggaeton track that I don’t like at all.

“Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” by Metro Boomin & Future & Chris Brown

Alright, so I’ve got complicated feelings on ‘separating the art from the artist’—it’s something I’m planning to talk about in much more detail at some point, but if you want the short version: for the most part I will separate the art from the artist, but there are exceptions to that. And if you want an example of one of those exceptions … look, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Chris Brown of all people is the one singing this song’s outro about how people don’t want him to be as successful as he is, so in that case, ‘who’s really the villain?’ If you know anything about the awful things Chris Brown has done, I don’t think I need to explain the problems with this.

But even outside of that, this isn’t any good … the repetitive instrumental and Future’s repetitive flows are so boring that I just want to fall asleep when listening to it, and the trap beat feels super out of place. And the mixing sounds really messy, too.

So, just to be clear, Chris Brown’s awful guest verse at the end isn’t the moment that ruins this song; it’s the cherry on top that turns an already unappealing song to total shit.

…

Well, that was a lot … and somehow, there’s much worse. So, now it’s time for me to count down The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2023!

#10 …

After listening to all the songs that made the 2023 Billboard Year-End Hot 100, there’s one comment in particular I’d like to make: TOO MUCH MORGAN WALLEN!

#10: “Ain’t That Some” by Morgan Wallen

This is one of eight Morgan Wallen songs eligible for this list. And while I haven’t listened to a full Morgan Wallen album, based on what I’ve heard of his music I’m struggling to get the appeal … honestly, my best guess would be that country radio is probably the biggest reason why he has so many songs on the chart.

The spelling in the chorus, the jumpy vocal delivery, the repetitive chorus melody that can get really annoying … yeah, there’s a lot that I don’t like about this song.

There’s also the production, in which the vocals are totally drowned out by the guitars, and it sounds awful.

This song feels kind of like an annoying campfire song, and is this just me, or does the line, ‘Ain’t that some shit’ feel too negative for what seems like it’s supposed to be a positive, happy song? I mean, I honestly can’t tell if this is supposed to be happy or angry … either way, I think it’s annoying.

#9 …

Wow, who would have ever guessed? Drake making a worst hits list!

#9: “Search & Rescue” by Drake

I don’t even know what Drake is trying to do with his music at this point. Is he even trying to make good music? I honestly can’t tell.

But either way, I think this song absolutely sucks. And the reason it’s here is because sitting down and listening to it feels mentally draining. The vocal effect sounds terrible, the melodies feel super sloppily written, and the trap beat sounds terrible when paired with the rest of the instrumental … and there’s one specific part of the song I find super cringey, which is when he says, ‘Don’t know how to express my love, that’s why I American Express my love for you” … especially with the way he stretches out the word ‘express’. And I have no idea what he was trying to do with that Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner sample in the middle of the song, but honestly I don’t really care. This is a total mess, and it’s another song that makes me question why I even listen to new Drake music when it comes out.

#8 …

And no, we’re not done with Drake …

#8: “MELTDOWN” by Travis Scott (ft. Drake)

I wasn’t a huge fan of Travis Scott’s newest album UTOPIA … I mean, it’s got its moments, but it’s also got some huge lows, such as this song.

And I’m just tired of talking about Drake songs … although Drake’s verse isn’t the only awful part of this song … I don’t like the instrumental at all, and I don’t like Travis Scott’s verses at all.

But yeah, Drake’s verse feels super annoying and uninteresting, and both artists have super annoyingly repetitive flows here, and the instrumental feels like it’s supposed to have this really huge sound to it, but the production doesn’t give it the punch it could have, and even aside from that it doesn’t really feel nearly as epic as I think it’s supposed to … and that kind of makes it worse than if it were just plain boring.

And I feel the same way about the beat switch part way through … this feels like it’s trying to be “SICKO MODE” part 2, and in my opinion it’s a huge failed attempt, especially with some awful lines such as ‘I’ll shoot your ass in Walmart like I’m DaBaby.’

I wish I mentally had the energy to write more about this song … but I just don’t. It doesn’t feel worth my time. I’d rather put that effort into the best list.

#7 …

Alright, this pick might make people mad, especially considering some of the songs that didn’t make this list. But if I’m being honest …

#7: “Kill Bill” by SZA

About a year ago, I did a mini review on SZA’s album SOS, and I didn’t love the album … but I do mostly like it, and it shows a lot of promise … but it also has this song on it, and unfortunately this ended up becoming the huge, massive hit from the album despite being my least favourite track on SOS.

I know a lot of people really like this song, with a lot people pointing out the creativity in the lyrics. And before I talk about why I can’t stand this song, I just want to make one thing clear: yes, I know the lyrics aren’t meant seriously, and she’s just playing a character.

But that doesn’t make this song likeable in my opinion. This is a song in which the character SZA is portraying murders her ex because she hates seeing him happy or something like that, and she’s framing herself as being super mature … and as far as I can tell there’s no real depth here, it just comes across as a faux-deep song that just sounds really cheesy and cringeworthy.

The big problem here is that for a ‘playing the role of the villain’ song, it doesn’t have any sense of darkness or menace, and the character doesn’t feel realistic at all … it doesn’t show any complicated emotions the character has, and it’s not even implied that the character thinks she’s doing the right thing … apparently she thinks she did it all for love, and that doesn’t feel believable at all.

And even aside from all that, this song sounds like a total mess. The vocals sound like they were produced for a completely different track, the meandering vocal melodies get really obnoxious, and the overall upbeat, happy sound of the song just contributes to even more of a disconnect between the vibe and the lyrical content. I honestly don’t understand why this has gotten so much acclaim, because I think this is terrible.

#6 …

Well, here’s an artist I wasn’t expecting to have a hit song in 2023 … and as much as it’s kind of become an unwritten rule for music critics to hate this artist’s music, I do respect that this is a self-love anthem … it’s just too bad it’s incredibly annoying!

#6: “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor

Alright, so I’ll admit this song has … I don’t want to say ‘grown’ on me, but … yeah, I guess it’s grown on me. Although considering that it made my Top 25 Worst Songs of 2022, I don’t think that’s really saying a whole lot.

This song was written when Meghan was struggling with postpartum body image issues, and again, I can respect the message of the song about being confident in your body. But wow, this is incredibly annoying! That chorus is absolutely awful, with the super cringey line, ‘I could have my Gucci on, I could wear my Louis Vuitton, but even with nothin’ on, bet I made you look.’ I don’t know, something about the wording, ‘bet I made you look’ just really doesn’t work for whatever reason.

And it’s got the same style of music and vocals that make other Meghan Trainor songs I’ve heard so incredibly annoying, such as “All About That Bass”.

So, overall, it’s just a super unpleasant listening experience that doesn’t feel nearly as interesting as I think it’s supposed to … and it’s full of cringeworthiness.

#5 …

But as annoying as “Made You Look” is, it at least feels like a real female empowerment song, and not just disguised as one, unlike this:

#5: “Spin Bout U” by Drake & 21 Savage

Based on some things I heard about the collaboration album between these two artists from last year, I just decided not to listen to it at all, and based on some of the songs I’ve ended up hearing from the album, I think I made the right decision.

First of all, this sounds awful. The instrumental is pretty much just a sample with a generic trap beat, Drake’s chorus is really annoying, and neither rapper has any interesting flows here.

On the surface, this is quite bad, with nothing that interests me at all about it, and enough annoying repetition along with a terrible chorus to make this really annoying … but then there’s the lyrics, and I’m specifically talking about Drake’s verse.

Drake’s verse starts off with him criticizing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and I like the pro-abortion-rights message … until you realize he’s playing into the ‘respectful guy’ façade that is all over so many mainstream hit songs and gets really aggravating. Now, I should mention that I don’t know a whole lot about Drake as a person, and maybe he’s not like this in real life, but in this song he comes across as incredibly unlikeable, as he’s ‘showing his respect for women’ to try to get this woman to fuck him. It all just has such a fake feeling to it, and while I’ve definitely heard songs like this one that annoy me for the same reason and are much worse, this still absolutely sucks. Awful song.

#4 …

So, how do I determine which songs are the highest on the list? Well, it’s tricky … there are a bunch of factors, and again, this list is just my personal least favourite hits of the year.

I guess what I’m really saying is … “Spin Bout U” has a certain kind of ickiness to it that this song doesn’t have, and that song pisses me off more than this one does … but when it comes to a pure unpleasant listening experience, this is hard to top.

#4: “PRC” by Peso Pluma & Natanael Cano

I don’t mind how Regional Mexican music has exploded on the charts this year; a lot of it isn’t bad, and I even like some of it. But this … wow, this is a mess.

And it’s a hard one to explain, because it’s just such an unpleasant experience. I mean, I could mention that the horns sound like a bunch of farts, although I feel like pretty much everyone who’s heard this song has noticed that already. And the guitar melody (if that’s even a guitar … I can’t tell what it is) feels annoying, too … and there’s just nothing about the song I find interesting.

But this is here because the overall listening experience is just super unpleasant … and I don’t even know how to describe it.

#3 …

So, yes, like I said, “Spin Bout U” by Drake & 21 Savage is an absolutely awful song that’s got such an icky feeling to it mostly because of the somewhat creepy vibes that Drake brings to it … but I’ll take it over this pretty much any day:

#3: “Rich Flex” by Drake & 21 Savage

I won’t mince words … this feels disgusting.

I get that there’s a complicated discussion about the difference between what’s acceptable in a song vs. real life, and also different people interpret songs in different ways. So, feel free to say what you want about this track, but while “Spin Bout U” felt creepy, this just feels gross, and I’m mostly talking about 21 Savage’s verse.

21 Savage seems to be showing no respect for this woman at all, as the vibes I get from this really imply that she’s not into it at all … and again, it’s a song, and that doesn’t necessarily reflect on who the artist is as a person … but again, this is a list of the worst hit songs of the year, and this song really makes me want to shut it off immediately every time I hear it. And I get that music is open to interpretation, but to me this feels to me like a misogynist anthem, and I think it’s disgusting. I don’t even want to talk about it.

And the song’s problems don’t end there, as it’s once again another terrible Drake chorus, the flows are awful, 21 Savage’s interpolation of “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion is embarrassing, and Drake once again bores the hell out of me with his flow. And I don’t even like the instrumental here!

I mean, I can at least say one thing that’s impressed me about Drake’s hit songs this year—the fact that all four of his eligible songs managed to make it onto this list!

#2 …

There’s a good chance you were just thinking it was a matter of time before this showed up on the list—and if that’s the case, you’d be right. Because this is horrendous.

#2: “Thinkin’ Bout Me” by Morgan Wallen

“Ain’t That Some” is incredibly annoying, but this is the Morgan Wallen hit from this year that really pissed me off, and it’s mostly because of the lyrics, because apparently this girl who has clearly moved on must still be thinking about him, right?

Yeah, that’s pretty much the lyrical theme of the song, and while I don’t think it’s meant seriously, it still comes across as gross and incredibly unlikeable.

It’s another one of those ‘you should be with me instead’ songs where the framing paints the narrator as being in the right, much like Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better”, another song I fucking despise.

Now, you could make the argument that even within the song this is all just going on inside the narrator’s head, but it’s framed as if she’s made the wrong decision by leaving this relationship and that she ‘should’ still be with the narrator.

And even putting aside how godawful the trap beat sounds in this song as well as the horrible guitar production and the terrible-sounding vocal layering in the chorus, this song feels like it represents a douchey kind of country music which isn’t representative of the genre as a whole, but it still hasn’t left the mainstream after all these years … and maybe that’s what annoys me so much about this song, because it feels like a huge part of a much larger issue.

I mean, at the end of the day, it’s art, and art is open to interpretation … but what I can say for sure is that I never want to hear this song ever again … so, what could possibly be worse?

#1 …

After everything I’ve said about those last few songs, you might be surprised that this is the song topping the list. And let me make it clear that it’s not the 2023 hit that I respect the least, although it is the one that got under my skin the most.

And constantly hearing this song on the radio certainly didn’t help, although I don’t really think that’s the reason this song is here. But again, while I have more respect for this song than some of the songs on this list, if you want me to be as honest as possible about what truly is my least favourite hit song of 2023, I think I’d have to go with this …

#1: “I’m Good (Blue) by Bebe Rexha & David Guetta

Let me start by saying that in my opinion, the 1998 Eiffel 65 classic, “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” is an absolutely excellent song! But this takes an absolutely awesome timeless classic and turns it into a dumpster fire!

And I’m not sure I can fully explain why this is topping the list. I mean, I can explain why it sucks, as I think most music critics already have—it doesn’t do anything interesting with the original melody and outside of that it sounds like a generic EDM song that’s terribly produced, with a terrible drop that I cannot stand, and some awful vocal melodies … but once again, maybe it’s what this represents that I really dislike the most. But that doesn’t feel right to say, because there’s a difference between questionable lyrics and a musical trend that I just don’t like (in this case, the constant sampling of songs without adding much to them).

So, again, I don’t really know how to explain this one all that well. But this is one of those songs that can really get under your skin once you have to hear it a lot, and just because I don’t fully understand what makes me dislike it quite as much as I do doesn’t mean it’s not going to take the top spot on this list.

I guess it’s just another one of those songs that creates an insanely unpleasant listening experience … I mean, it was kind of an experiment, but in my opinion it didn’t work out at all … or, maybe it did, because it was huge on the charts, but you know what I mean.

I’m done with talking about bad music—or, well, I’m done with it for now … I guess I’ve still got more year-end worst lists coming up, but at least I’ve got the best hits of 2023 coming up before that.

Once again, I hope I didn’t come across as being too harsh in this post. I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad for liking these songs, nor am I trying to be mean to the artists or anyone involved in making these songs … but I just had a lot I wanted to say about these.

Well, this post was exhausting to make … but I’m excited about making the best list! That’ll be out soon! And with that, thanks for reading!