2011 Year End Ranking Part 3

 

40. More - Usher (8/10)

Not really sure what to say about this one it just slaps. 

39. Only Girl (In The World) - Rihanna (8/10)

Shoutout my man Kalameet 

38. E.T. - Katy Perry, Kanye West (8/10)

I get why people don't like this one or even hate it, heck I was there at one point, but I grew to like this song a lot. The synth production is really good, Katy sounds great, and I honestly like Kanye's verse. Still the worst year end hit from the standard Teenage Dream though. If you're not a fan of this I'd recommend the song Circle The Drain you'd probably like it a lot more. 

37. Don't Wanna Go Home - Jason Derulo (8/10)

Similar to We Can't Stop (a song I have done a whole 180 on since my 2013 worst list), I think the exact reason a lot of people hate this song is the same reason I love it. This song provides a much more darker, riskier side of club music that I really like personally, and combined with the killer hook, great use of the banana boat interpolation, and the fact I like Jason Derulo as a singer more than most and you have a really good song. 

36. Yeah 3x (8/10)

Ugh. You'll notice earlier I said Look At Me Now was one of my favorite songs on the album F.A.M.E (and it was in the bottom 10 of the ranking LOL), but I did not say it was my favorite because I'll give that album this, it has one really good song on it. I think the magic some people get from Forever (a song I've never liked that a lot of people in this community consider his best) I get from this song. He sounds really good for once here, on this song about just letting go and having a good time, the production is really good, and this song was another Thursday morning staple of my dad so it also has that good nostalgia. 

35. Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars (8/10)

This song's cooled on me a bit since I did my best of 2010 list but I still find it really charming and pleasant and also really like it on a musical level. But I don't stand by it being the only hit from his first album worth a damn as you'll see. 

34. S&M - Rihanna (8/10)

Shoutout my man Kalameet (2). Oh and ftr the Britney Spears remix is worse than the original but still solid. 

33. Moment 4 Life - Nicki Minaj, Drake (8/10)

Shoutout my girl Leslie Skynet. Both rappers do well over these nice bubbly synths. 

32. Fuckin' Perfect - P!nk (8/10)

"WAH WAH ITS AN EMPOWERMENT ANTHEM WAH WAH" Shut up, one it sounds amazing and two it's about her experiences having to inspire people to be themselves, and saying it in a way to speak to people and inspire them. 

31. Where Them Girls At - David Guetta, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj (9/10)

Good beat, Flo Rida does good and then Nicki absolutely STEALS THE SHOW with an absolute killer verse with so much charisma and presence. 

30. Without You - David Guetta, Usher (9/10)

After 2021 it feels good to have a top 10 single called Without You that I like. And I like it a lot. This song is honestly kinda underappreciated in this community, although it's only at this place at my ranking so make of that what you will. Still the fucking crescendo of the drop and Usher's falsetto are stellar. 

29. The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco (9/10)

Would you guys kill me if I said I liked this song a lot more than Float On (the song it samples). 

28. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj (9/10)

Contender for my favorite Nicki song. Combination of nostalgia, a fantastic hook, fantastic bubbly synth production, and great vocals. 

27. Raise Your Glass - P!nk (9/10)

The absolute confidence and optimism P!nk has in this song is infectious and the part where she messes up and says fuck just brings it home. 

26. Teenage Dream - Katy Perry (9/10)

NOSTALGIA 

25. Who Says - Selena Gomez And The Scene (9/10)

This song is an example of a song that has really lame and cringy lyrics but I literally do not give a fuck because it sounds amazing and makes me feel happy.This song is an example of a song that has really lame and cringy lyrics but I literally do not give a fuck because it sounds amazing and makes me feel happy. Better song than Naturally if you ask me these days to be honest. 

24. Good Feeling - Flo Rida (9/10)

Levels by Avicii would also be high on this ranking if it had the chart run that it deserved. 

23. On The Floor - Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull (9/10)

Those fucking la la la's (and the rest of the hook) are fucking beautiful. Everything else is good too. 

22. Written In The Stars - Tinie Tempah, Eric Turner (9/10)

I'm a sucker for these kinds of rap songs about making it through hard times into success and so I was bound to love this. So hype. Also just for the record Tinie Tempah had multiple big hits in the UK (his home country) before this so him bragging about having hits makes sense. 

21. Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) - Pitbull, T-Pain (9/10)

This hook just has this hypnotic magic to it I can't describe and the rest of the song also slaps too. Another example of a darker club song that really works in my opinion. 

20. We R Who We R - Kesha (9/10)

Born This Way if it was good on a musical level. 

19. Blow - Kesha (9/10)

I enjoy Kesha's more standard pop songs, but her best songs for me will always be her more wild chaotic stuff like Take It Off, Kiss N Tell, basically all of Warrior, and this. 

18. Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO, GoonRock, Lauren Bennett (9/10)

PARTY ROCK IS IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT! Oh and by the way according to Conservapedia this song is a liberal anthem because of the line "I got that devilish flow, rock and roll no halo". I'm not joking. 

17. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry (9/10)

One of the best songs on Teenage Dream. The synths are beautiful, Katy sounds amazing and I really like the lyrics. Even some of my friends who don't like Katy Perry and the other singles from Teenage Dream like this one. 

16. No Hands - Waka Flocka Flame, Roscoe Dash, Wale (9/10)

This song is a staple/classic of the main Discord server I'm in and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

15. Firework - Katy Perry (9/10)

This song is an example of a song that has really lame and cringy lyrics but I literally do not give a fuck because it sounds amazing and makes me feel happy. (2)

14. Black And Yellow - Wiz Khalifa (9/10)

Perfect driving music. And just slaps hard in general. 

13. She Will - Lil Wayne, Drake (9/10)

I'm probably the only person in this community that heavily prefers this song to 6 Foot 7 Foot but I do. The beat sounds watery in the best way just like Love Me, like you could swim in it, Drake's hook is so good, and Wayne drops some really underrated bars. 

12. Please Don't Go - Mike Posner (9/10)

Such an underappreciated song. If you ask me the best of the three songs Mike Posner has had make a Year End list. The synths are so beautiful, Mike glides over them so well, and the lyrics about him begging this girl not to leave him are really good and he sells them very well.  

11. Country Girl (Shake It For Me) - Luke Bryan (9/10)

SHAKE IT FOR THE BIRDS SHAKE IT FOR THE BEES!

10. Stereo Love - Edward Maya, Vika Jigulina (9/10)

I don't know what a Edward Maya or Vika Jigulina is or how this managed to be a worldwide hit but I do know that this is fucking gorgeous. 

9. Someone Like You - Adele (9/10)

I dont listen to this song that often but damn when I do in the mood for it it's something else. 

8. Animal - Neon Trees (10/10)

I seriously lowballed this one on my 2010 best list, although to be fair I was a bit sick of it then and that wore off recently. Also while I have the chance go stream more Neon Trees they're so good. 

7. Last Friday Night (TGIF) (10/10)

This is her best song. It's just one hell of a banger that deserved the massive run it had for a late album single. Also the sax solo is one of the best moments in pop music of the entire 2010s full stop. 

6. All Of The Lights - Kanye West, a bunch of people (10/10)

I'm not even sure how to put my love for this song into words so I'm not gonna at least for now. I do know that the climax of the song with all the different short parts from a bunch of different artists is one of the best moments of the year for pop music though. 

5. What's My Name - Rihanna, Drake (10/10)

Shoutout my man Kalameet (3). Also this is one of her best songs for reasons I went into already on my 2010 best list. Still as phenomenal as ever. 

4. Give Me Everything - Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Nayer, Afrojack (10/10)

The best hit song of the entire club boom if you ask me. It has a stake to it, their belief that this night is gonna be their last so they've gotta have the best night ever and get with the best girls and give them the best night. And combined with the way Ne-Yo sings his hook and how the piano sounds it also conveys the worry of not having tommorow before the drive to have the best night possible. Everyone delivers their A game leaving this song as an absolute classic that I love dearly. 

3. Just Can't Get Enough - Black Eyed Peas (10/10)

Okay I guess I get why one might not like this song, the switch up and the verses, but for me it just comes together perfectly.  I don't think I've said this before on this blog but I fucking love Fergie, espicially when she sings high. And in the hook of this song she does and she sounds absolutely ANGELIC, the hook to this song is honestly one of my favorite pop hooks ever. The verses then are also really good, and I honestly really like the switch up as well. The lyrics are two people describing their love for each other and I'm a sucker for a good duet like this. This is the best Black Eyed Peas song, and one of the best hit songs of the 2010s. And yet there's two songs here I like more. 

2. Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band, Jimmy Buffett 

This is a song about escaping the stress of your daily life by imagining yourself at a beach in paradise. And with how pleasant and beachy the song sounds it really conveys that making the song a really great escape mechanism for me when I'm feeling stressed. As someone who isn't even a big beach person, this song is one I turn to when I'm really stressed out about something and it helps a lot. Also it just sounds so so amazing. And it isn't even in the top 2 songs I've heard from this band. Still worthy of this high high spot in this ranking. 

And the moment we've all been waiting for, my pick for the best hit song of 2011 is...

1. Back To December - Taylor Swift (10/10)

I mean what else was it gonna be? Basically everyone who knows me outside of this blog knows how much I love this song, how it was at one point my favorite song ever. In fact, I'm gonna talk about that point in time, so this might be a bit long. My junior school year was all online because of COVID-19 and I basically lazed out a lot and did hardly any of my homework, and I didn't fix my mistakes until the end of the school year when I was told I could receive incompletes for the classes I needed to pass in order to graduate, and could do work to pass them during that summer. I had to do a lot of schoolwork that summer that I should have done during the school year including a big project for government class, and during that time i kept wishing I had just done the work during the school year and that I could go back and do that so I wasn't in this bind. So a song about wishing you could go back and fix your mistakes resonated with me so deeply that it was my favorite song ever at that time. And even a year removed from then it still hits me so fucking hard. Taylor pouring out all her regret and apologizing yo her ex, was such a fucking bold move for someone like her to do, espicially in a top 10 single and combined with an absolutely transcendent instrumental that perfectly conveys the winter feel of the song, and you have an absolute gutpunch for me every time that is one of my absolute favorite songs ever and without a doubt my pick for the best hit song of 2011!