The Top Twenty Best Hit Songs of 2021 - Part 1 (20-11)

Hey guys, Drake known online as Urtar Reviews here, and it's time for the first part of my top 20 best hits of 2021! As I said in my worst list, 2021 was an amazing year for pop music. There were so many songs I adored that I'm doing a top 20 best list again, expect this to be a thing I do a fair amount when there's stacked years, but anyway. My rules are the same as normal so go read one of my non 2021 top 10 lists for them if you're new here. Also as always this is just my opinion, you are welcome to your own because music is subjective. So without further ado, let's get into the Top 20 Best Hit Songs of 2021!

20. Butter - BTS

This was a grower. The first several listens I thought it was mid, but very recently I started to enjoy this a lot. Butter is just a very fun pop song. It's shallow as shit, but as you know I love shallow pop songs with a fantastic hook, and the lyrics sound fucking badass and this song has so many hooks stitched in that it's easy to see why this was such a big hit. And yes this song was actually an organic hit I do not care what anyone else says. If a band has such devoted fans that they will buy a song many times even though they only need to buy it once to listen to it that way, shouldn't that count for chart success? Also, people are acting like this song wasn't big in other channels. Sure it didn't have a ton of radio, although I did hear it on the radio a few times this year, but it did very well on streaming, at least at first, and it has more than 600 million views on YouTube. This reminds me of back in 2018/2019 when everyone pretended like Girls Like You by Maroon 5 and Cardi B was radio carried when it's actually one of the most streamed songs ever on Spotify and the music video has over 3 billion views. But back to the song itself, it's just a really fun and catchy pop song. Also, the rap verse bridge leading into the final chorus is one of the best moments of pop music this year. 

19. Happier Than Ever - Billie Ellish

One of the most widely praised hits of the year and I mean I get it, and agree to some degree, because, I mean it made the list, but also it has an issue for me holding it back for me, which we'll get into. I'm not gonna talk about all the things this song does right because they have been talked to death, but watch or read someone else's best hits of the year list because odds are they'll have this song high on the list and explain why and I will agree with everything they said about it except my one issue. What is my issue with this song? The production on the second half of it is terrible in my opinion, way too compressed for it's own good and that holds it back for me. Also it isn't even my favorite single from the album. Your Power would have been a lot higher than this song if it had been eligible. 

18. Industry Baby - Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow

This song still hasn't clicked for me fully yet, but that doesn't mean I don't love it. This is an anthem about Lil Nas X proving everyone who called him a one hit wonder wrong, discussing his annoyance with people who were fans of him back before he became massive but turned on him once he became famous, and just brags about his massive success. And then Jack Harlow delivers an absolutely phenomenal guest verse with so many quotable lines, one of the best guest verses of the year. This is a very uplifting song about success, so why isn't this higher? Well uh, I really don't like the horn beat very much and it holds this song back quite a bit for me. Still a great song though. 

17. Telepatia - Kali Uchis

Spanish music had a pretty good year in my opinion at least when it comes to what crossed over to the US Hot 100. Pepas, Yonaguni, Dakiti are all Honorable Mentions and Todo De Ti is also pretty good. But Telepatia was my favorite of them. It's about a long distance relationship sort of like Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's, but where that song was about some day they would be together again and have it great again, Telepatia takes the "I'm not right there with you, but I can still feel you" approach which is a pretty unique approach to these songs that I have heard. But really the reason this is on the list is how it sounds. This song is just a relaxing vibe and it does a pretty decent job calming me down. And it just sounds beautiful. Great song!

16. My Universe - Coldplay, BTS

I listened to and quite enjoyed Coldplay's newest album Music Of The Spheres, but this was my favorite song on it, an awesome pop smash with phenomenal production, fantastic harmonies and tradeoffs between Chris Martin and the BTS members, they have so much chemistry, and so many hooks. Oh and I also like the lyrics a lot, just a simple love song for sure, but they sound so lovestruck talking about how much they love this girl and make it sound like something that matters so much. This is an absolutely transcendent experience. So why isn't it higher? Well, it suffers from what I am going to call from now on, "Shut Up And Dance syndrome". Which means that it's an absolutely transcendent experience when you hear it once in a while, but it has hardly any replay value, at least for me. But as long as I don't listen to it a lot and return to it once in a while it has a ton of magic and is a damn amazing song!

15. Knife Talk - Drake, 21 Savage, Project Pat

This is a left over song from 21 Savage and Metro Boomin's album from last year Savage Mode 2, a fantastic album by the way, that Drake decided to include on his album Certified Lover Boy and became the sleeper hit from the album, and it shows, because this song is the most I have enjoyed a Drake hit since Nice For What. This is just a trap banger with a lot of quotable lines, a fantastic beat, and great flows from everyone. 

14. Forever After All - Luke Combs

I have always stood up for Luke Combs. I mean sure he can make very generic songs like Better Together and most of his last album What You See Is What You Get actually, but his songs are usually at least decent even when they're generic, and he has made some truly amazing songs. Even Though I'm Leaving is still an absolutely exceptional country classic, and I still love Does To Me, Beer Never Broke My Heart and Hurricane. But his hit I  loved this year was Forever After All, which is easily his biggest ever hit, which had the potential of debuting at #1 over an ARIANA GRANDE LEAD SINGLE back in late 2020, although Ariana ended up winning there with Positions debuting at #1 and this song at #2. But then this song after falling hard after it's high debut, had a very very long run on the charts, the longest run for any country song since Need You Now by Lady Antebellum I believe. But anyway, Forever After All is an amazing song. Luke Combs remains a fantastic singer with a lot of emotional presence, the instrumental is very good, and I really love the lyrics about how material possessions only last so long but their love is eternal. Now the sentiment of love being eternal can sometimes come off as creepy, like for instance Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur, but I totally buy this coming from Luke Combs and he sells it well. Plus i really love how in the bridge he saddens a bit worrying about how there will be a time where one of them has died and the other is still alive, but he recovers by saying that it won't last too long and they'll be together in the afterlife. That is one of the best moments of the year in pop music as well. 

13. Anyone - Justin Bieber

This is easily my favorite Justin Bieber song I have heard and if I were to listen to his entire discography I would bet there's a pretty good chance nothing even comes close to this for me. The fantastic production from an amazing production team Jon Bellion, Andrew Watt (whose production credits include Havana by Camila Cabello and Young Thug, Eastside by Benny Blanco, Halsey and Khalid, Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus and more), and Monsters And Strangerz (whose production credits include Levels by Nick Jonas, Cheyenne by Jason Derulo, and Graveyard by Halsey and more), the best vocal performance I have ever heard from Justin easily, the final hook which is one of the best moments of the year. I also really like the lyrics about how much he loves his wife even if yes he didn't write them, they're still very well written and I like how he reflects and says she's the only good he's ever done even if yes that probably isn't 100 percent true, I like how he reflects and regrets his past mistakes even if again he didn't write this, I'm glad he decided to approve and record this song. It's a rare moment of humanity from Justin Bieber and it feels real and hits very hard to me for it. 

12. Need To Know - Doja Cat

This was a huge grower for me. The first few times I thought it was bad, now it's one of my favorite hits of the year. Planet Her was the moment when I came around on Doja Cat. I mean, yeah I liked the original Say So, but I didn't like Juicy and I just find Streets mid. But Planet Her was a very good album, and when I listened to it months after it dropped in like October I really came around on this song and it became one of my favorites on the album. This song is fantastic in the same way that I love most of Kesha's early hits like Die Young and Take It Off, it's just so wild and fun and chaotic, and has so many iconic moments and lyrics. This song is just so much fun and I'm so glad I embraced it! 

11. Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

Yes you read that correctly. Fancy Like by Walker Hayes, the most hated song of the year not just by this community but by the general public as well, was the final song that missed my top 10 of the year. I liked this song the first time I heard it, but for whatever reason the more hate I saw for this song, the more it grew on me until it got here. I mean I get why people don't like it. The country trap production is not for everyone and even though I love it, I get why people would hate it, and the lyrics are definitely very stupid. But, I enjoy a lot of stupid bro country and the stupidness of Fancy Like is the charm of it for me. This is just a dumb song about how he doesn't have the money to give her rich pleasures but she's still happy anyway, but every now on when he gets a high paycheck he can have her experience the rich life. That's it! I mean I get why someone would find it stupid and find lyrics like "she wanna dip me like them fries in her frosty"incredibly dumb. But I do not get why people are calling this song the death of modern country music and shit. Like you're calling this song, THIS DUMB HARMLESS BRO COUNTRY song the death of modern music and morally reprehensible. Taking this song seriously is doing it wrong, just like with songs like Cruise and That's My Kinda Night. Besides, with Walker Hayes we could have had MUCH MUCH WORSE as his massive crossover hit. We could have had You Broke Up With Me from 2017 crossover, one of the worst country songs to chart this last decade! But yeah, I just love Fancy Like in the same way I love most Luke Bryan songs, it's stupid and cheesy for sure, but that's the charm of it for me, and I also just love how it sounds and find it a banger!

So yeah that was part 1 of my top 20 best hit songs of 2021! Urtar Reviews signing out. I'll see you next time!