2011 Year End Ranking Part 1

Hey everyone, Drake, known online as Urtar Reviews here, and today I am going to be looking at another year of pop music, 2011. However, I am going to be trying something different that I may do going forward if I feel it works better and that is, rather than doing top 10 best and worst lists, I will just do a ranking of the year end lists I use, those being the Billboard Year End lists, the January-December ones found in this forum (https://pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/191238/january-december-year-ends-1959) and some of my own making using the site crownnote to generate a complete chart run year end that counts song's entire chart runs towards one year, eliminating the problem of songs getting caught between years. So yeah I am going to be ranking every song that made one of those lists for 2011, for a total of 118 songs. This will be in multiple parts. How was 2011 for pop music? Well if you ask me it was a very good year with many phenomenal classics, but it also has a lot more shit than people give it credit for if you ask me. But still overall a really good year. Without further ado, let's get into this!

118. I Need A Doctor - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Skylar Grey (0/10)

This song is so unpleasant to listen to with the fucking agonizingly haunting (in the bad way) sounding chorus from Skylar Grey that just sounds off and is absolute torture to listen to. The lyrics aren't offensive or anything but they're just hard to sit through. Em begging Dre to come out of depression, talking about all the stuff he's done for Em, and Skylar's hook about how he's been gone for so long, and Em begging him to come back to the rap game and drop his album. And it just gets old real quick, like okay we get it! You want him to come back! The entire first 3 minutes of this almost 5 minute song is just them asking him to come back and then FINALLY we actually hear from Dre explaining why he's been gone and about how his next album will be his last and at this point I have totally lost any interest I had in this song on a lyrical level. But again, what got this to the bottom of the list is just how AWFUL this song is on a musical level. It just feels wrong, like it's poisonous, like listening to it for too long would kill you. Skylar Grey's hook on it is one of the worst hooks I have ever heard in a song. Sitting through the entire runtime of this song is an absolute endurance test and that is the reason it ended up at the bottom spot on this list. My friend Edoardo (https://rateyourmusic.com/~Orangespark24) made an image that sums this song up incredibly well so I figured I would end this entry with it.

117. Backseat - New Boyz, The Cataracts, DEV (0/10)

2011 saw continued success for the club boom of 2010 and 2009 and since I'm a big club boom defender this was mostly a good thing in my opinion. But there were exceptions such as another hit from the New Boyz who made one of my least favorite hits of 2010 in Tie Me Down. But as much as I still hate that song, this song is a lot worse. At least Tie Me Down had a decent hook and some better melodies than this junk. The melodies are incredibly grating, the production even more so, the New Boyz sound considerably worse than on that song, the hook from Dev isn't any good which is disappointing considering how good the hook to Like A G6 was, and the hit single she would release later in 2011 that was great (we'll get to it later. Also there's the line "Hey I heard you had a baby. You want a new boy in you" Not touching that one with a ten foot pole. But the biggest issue with this song is that just something about it feels off, like it just should not sound like this. It's so stiff and clunky and feels like if you took the rhythm of your average club boom hit and sliced it in half with a machete.

116. She Ain't You - Chris Brown (0/10)

Chris Brown ruining a Michael Jackson sample, and over it whining about his new girl not being his ex (and I'm pretty sure he's talking about Rihanna specifically) and saying that it isn't his fault he never wanted them to break up... wait a sec WHAT! Motherfucker you abused her and now you're saying it's her fault that you guys broke up? And he also wishes he could trade his new girl in for his ex. So yay discussing women like they're shoes at Walmart. And despite all this it isn't even the worst song on his album F.A.M.E or even the worst hit single from it (see my worst of 2010 list).

115. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People (1/10)

A lot of my online friends in this community absolutely hate the lyrics of this song for being about a serious topic like school shootings and sounding so upbeat and cheerful, but I will honestly defend them. This song portrays the mind of a school shooter who is so insane that he is so carefree and cheerful about taking the lives of children like it's a normal relaxation activity. So I do not find it offensivc at all and honestly with better execution and in a better song musically I could see it really working well and a great song made. But yeah if there's a problem I have with the lyrics it's that they are fairly vague and could have used some more detail, but yeah. My biggest issue with the song is that it just sounds awful. It sounds nauseous, like listening to it for too long would make me feel sick. It's the bottom of the barrel as far as indie rock goes on a musical level. I'd rather listen to Heat Waves than this shit any day. Another issue I noticed is that this song had a terrible job done with the stitching of two audio tracks, the one for the pre chorus and the one for the chorus. It took several listens for me to notice this to be fair, but once I noticed it I could never unhear it.

114. Price Tag - Jessie J, B.o.B (1/10)

Oh god this song. Now I actually appreciate the idea of being proud that you make music because you're passionate not because of the money, I mean I've praised some songs with similar ideas such as Counting Stars and Secrets by One Republic and the production of this song isn't bad, but I have two big issues with this song. One the way it pulls off the idea is by shitting hard on musicians who don't! Be proud that you are doing it this way but let others do their career the way they want! This is the same issue that I had with fucking Fly Over States by Jason Aldean. But the other issue is one that I could be wrong with but am making an educated guess. I looked at the Wikipedia page for this song and it has three cowriters (one of them Dr. Luke because why the fuck not). And to expand on that I clicked on the page for the album this song is from and only one song has no cowriters. Now I'm not saying that Jessie J is one of the people that she literally shits on in this song but I am just saying I see a lot of similarities with her and those people, which gives an air of fakeness to this song, like a label move to try and make Jessie J look awesome and to try and bring attention away from the label's obsession with making money. Also I just fucking hate this music video.

113. Hold It Against Me - Britney Spears (1/10)

This song is just a production disaster. The fucking warped and incredibly clunky synths, Britney's terribly mixed autotune, and the fucking atrocious dubstep bridge that comes out of nowhere and completely drives this song off a cliff. Don't have more to say.

112. Lighters - Bad Meets Evil, Bruno Mars (1/10)

I really like the hook from Bruno Mars on this song. Yeah no I'm not joking. His hook is great and if this song was of that quality for the entire song and a Bruno Mars solo song it would be like an 8 or 9 out of 10 probably. But spoiler, it's not that way for the rest of the song. Suddenly the beat that sounded great during the hook turns painful and both Eminem and Royce sound nightmarish combined with it, and combined with all the awful bars both rappers spit outside of the Bruno parts this song is torture to listen to. All I really have to say.

111. Look At Me Now - Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne (1/10)

Chris Brown trying to rap and failing over a laughably pathetic beat while two better rappers try to save it but don't despite their best efforts. Oh and this shit is a top tier song on the album F.A.M.E. Yep not joking.

110. God Gave Me You - Blake Shelton (1/10)

If you know me you know that I hate Blake Shelton, and while this isn't on the same level of garbage as Sure Be Cool If You Did, I still hate this. This is a cover of a Contemporary Christian radio hit from 2010 originally by a guy called Dave Barnes. Apparently Blake heard it on the radio once and it inspired him to propose to his then girlfriend, Miranda Lambert. And so he decided to record a cover of it for his album Red River Blue and release it as the 2nd single from said album. And while it may have worked for a proposal for MIranda, it does not work at all for me. For one the production is incredibly stiff and thin and just sounds really annoying. Blake Shelton is as annoying and punchable to me as always. But my biggest issue comes down to a pet peeve of mine in songs, the whole "you were made for me" idea. This song is about how the girl was given to Blake (or in the original Dave) by God, which is played out as a cute compliment and maybe to some that would come off as one and it likely did to Miranda, but to me it comes off as just kinda selfish in a relationship to say that this girl was made for you, like it comes off as praise to God not praise to your girl! As someone who is an atheist myself, I just really get frustrated with these kinds of songs. Maybe if I was a Christian I would get this more but yeah. Oh and by the way I listened to the original song while writing this entry and it's even worse.

109. Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean (2/10)

Woah another bro country song not by Sam Hunt that I will not defend. That said it's by Jason Aldean so you guys who know me should not be surprised that I hate this. While not one of his worst songs I've head this is still just trash. Very hollow clipped mixing, awful vocals, terrible attempts to rap, stale lyrics. The reason why I defend a lot of bro country is because it's actually fun and enjoyable in its lamness. This is lame and cheesy in a way that's so stiff and hollow and not fun like your Cruises and Play It Agains.

108. How To Love - Lil Wayne (2/10)

I respect the lyrics reflecting the life of his ex, but I'm sorry this is just so unpleasant to listen to with Wayne's awful singing and the incredibly stiff guitar. Wayne is much better at just spitting bars than making this kind of song.

107. Jar Of Hearts - Christina Perri (2/10)

This song is so boring. Like really boring. Have I mentioned this song is boring. This song is like driving down a long straight road with no curves and endless fields and you don't have any entertainment with you. You're just sitting there watching endless fields go by.

106. Down On Me - Jeremih, 50 Cent (2/10)

I've defended both Jeremih and 50 Cent before, I mean on the 50 Cent side In Da Club, Candy Shop, Outta Control, etc are classics, and Don't Tell Em is still really good on the Jeremih side, but this is not it. 50 Cent is phoning it in and sounding awful to boot and Jeremih's hook is below average. And the beat sucks.

105. For The First Time - The Script (3/10)

I actually like the lyrics to this one, shame it sounds like ass.

104. Honey Bee - Blake Shelton (3/10)

This is lame and cheesy in a bad way unlike most bro country. Boys Round Here couldn't come soon enough for early 2010's Blake Shelton change my mind.

103. Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson (3/10)

Are you gonna stay the night?

Doesn't mean we're bound for life

So oh, oh, oh,

Are you gonna stay the night... oh wait wrong song.

Jokes aside this is just a really bad duet between two singers who have no chemistry, Jason Aldean being awful as usual and Kelly Clarkson sounding awful as well. I'll stick with Stay The Night thank you very much.

102. Easy - Rascal Flatts, Natasha Bedingfield (3/10)

I've never liked Rascal Flatts, especially on songs where the frontman sounds like Hunter Hayes and this one is the biggest example of that I've heard from them. Heck this totally sounds like a song Hunter Hayes would make. But yeah it's a weak duet between two singers I have never liked who have no chemistry.

101. Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You) - Enrique Iglesias, Ludacris (4/10

I know you want it (hey)

I know you want it

I know you want it
You're a good girl (hey, hey)
Can't let it get past me (oh yeah)
You're far from plastic (alright)
Talkin' 'bout getting blasted
I hate these blurred lines
I know you want it (hey)
I know you want it (oh-oh-oh-oh, yeah-yeah)
I know you want it
But you're a good girl (ah, hey)
The way you grab me
Must wanna get nasty (ah, hey, hey)

Okay but for real despite that joke honestly I don't find the lyrics to be offensive I just hate the beat lol.

100. Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum (4/10)

Cringy, cheesy safe top 40 radio-core from a band who were just coming off their huge crossover hit that was also way better than this song, even if that song has cooled on me hard over time.

99. Crazy Girl - Eli Young Band (4/10)

Don't really have much to say this is just a bad country song with bad lyrics and bad production and vocals.

98. My Last - Big Sean, Chris Brown (4/10)

Unlike a certain other hit from this year that's a party song talking about enjoying a night like it is your last that we will get to much later, this song doesn't work. Chris Brown sucks, Big Sean tries to save it and fails and the beat isn't any good.

97. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars (4/10)

Look I like Bruno but before he transitioned to throwbacks with his 2nd album, he wasn't always good and while I will defend his upbeat songs from his first album and his hits from 2010 with B.o.B. (some of which we will see later) with the exception of his hook on Lighters, he sucked at slower ballads if you ask me. Example 1 of this.

96. Grenade - Bruno Mars

Example 2 of that.

95. Pretty Girl Rock - Keri Hilson

This song kinda has a good hook musically but it's also so insufferable so yeah it's bad. Also outside of the hook it's very annoying musically.

94. Barefoot Blue Jean Night - Jake Owen (5/10)

With what I've heard about Jake Owen and how great Beachin', his Billboard hit from 2014, is, I was expecting this to be good but this is just kinda mid. It's not flat out bad although it does have some sloppy mixing but Jake Owen has charisma to make up for that and keep this at mid.

93. Love You Like A Love Song - Selena Gomez And The Scene (5/10)

Dumb title, but the song is okay. The vocals and melodies are good but the dubstep production kinda kills it.

92. Take A Back Road - Rodney Atkins (5/10)

Generic mid country song #1

91. You And Tequila - Kenny Chesney, Grace Potter (5/10)

Generic mid country song #2

90. Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not - Thompson Square (5/10)

Generic mid country song #3

89. Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae (5/10)

I get why people hate this but for me it's too funny to hate.

88. Cheers (Drink To That) - Rihanna (5/10)

I like Rihanna a lot but this one never did it for me. It has a lot of good aspects but those yeah yeah's kill it for me.

87. Best Thing I Never Had - Beyonce (6/10)

I get why some of my friends absolutely love this one, there's a lot to like but honestly there's just something about it that keeps it from clicking for me and I don't know what that is.

86. Born This Way - Lady Gaga (6/10)

This is a 10/10 song musically and lyrically attached to a 0/10 instrumental. If you want a song from the same album that has the fantastic melodies and LGBTQ+ lyrics with much better production listen to Hair.

85. Mr. Know It All - Kelly Clarkson (6/10)