Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2017 - Part 2 4-1

 4. Issues - Julia Michaels (Peak #11, Billboard Year End: #29, Jan-Dec Year End: #29)

Honestly, I don't mind the lyrics or instrumental to this song at all. Neither is anything special, but they're fine enough. What isn't fine enough is Julia Michael's singing! She sounds like she's singing with a very bad cold, and she turns what would be a fine pop song into a painful listening experience. Not more to say really. 

There was a time where this next song would have topped my list easily, but I grew to dislike two songs more, and the artist who made it did grow on me a fair amount. Still hate this song a lot, and it also happens to also be probably the most widely hated song on this Year End list in this community. 

3. Tunnel Vision - Kodak Black (Peak #6, Billboard Year End:: #55, Jan-Dec Year End: #53)

I don't hate Kodak Black like I used to. I mean sure he's a bad person, but in a lot of songs I've heard from him like ZEZE or Super Gremlin it's easy to ignore and enjoy the songs for what they are. But not with this song. First of all, I don't like this song at all on a musical level, far from it in fact. I never liked the dark trap beat that doesn't have any punch outside of the intro. And while Kodak's voice might have grown on me in other songs, here he sounds really grainy in a way I find so annoying.  But of course the biggest issue is the lyrics. Most people in this community focus on a line that was in the original version but he ended up cutting from the song "I get any girl I want, I don't gotta rape". However, while that line is obviously really bad, I'm not gonna focus on it because again, it was cut from the song, and therefore it's easy to ignore. No what I'm focusing on is the themes of Kodak saying people only want to see him locked up cause he's black. Now I'm not denying that our system is racist, it is, but an actual rapist like Kodak claiming that he's only wanted cause he's black is the kind of thing that is an instant turn off. If you can listen to this song and enjoy it without paying mind to that, I'm glad you can , but I can't. 

Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi. One of the biggest hits of both 2019 and 2020. A song which this community widely hates. And a song I used to hate a lot. But now think is pretty good. Now if you want a song like that I still despise, there are options!

2. Say You Won't Let Go - James Arthur (Peak #11, Billboard Year End: #11, Jan-Dec Year End: #15)

Ugh this fucking song. This James Arthur guy sounds like he's singing with an even worse cold than Julia Michaels, but rather than having emotional presence and hauntedness like Capaldi on expressions of the soul, he's singing like that for a creepy ass song, about how he refuses to move on from this girl, even when they're ghosts. Capaldi's song felt more like "I need to get over this girl, but I don't know how the fuck to" where this feels like a refusal to let go. But again his vocals are godawful! This song is an incredibly uncomfortable listening experience. So what could be worse?

2017 was a year where some big pop stars from earlier in the decade released albums with a darker tone than their previous ones, that underperformed compared to their previous efforts, at least at first. That leads in to this awful single, that took a great pop star, and showed  a different side to them that I really hate. So yeah, I present to you...

1. Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift (Peak #1, Billboard Year End: #39, Jan-Dec Year End: #35)

One of the most widely hated hit songs of this year, widely agreed to be one of Taylor's worst ever singles. and it's a song I love. A lot. I will explain that on my best list, but for now we gotta get to my real #1. A song that feels made for boomers who hate modern pop music, made by the artist who once gave us songs like Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, Hot N Cold, etc.

1. Chained To The Rhythm - Katy Perry, Skip Marley (Peak; #4, Billboard Year End: #73, Jan-Dec Year End: #78) 

When I hear this song, I hear the downfall of Katy Perry from a massive pop star who was proud of her pop persona, was happy just making pop jams, and who fit in to modern society, to a boomer mom who tries so hard to fit in, but just can't. Oh and who apparently recently voted for a Republican governor in LA. From the woman who gave us this classic...

To the woman who posted this on Twitter:

Just yikes. Chained To The Rhythm is about pop songs supposedly chaining us so that we don't realize the problems in the world, something that is incredibly bullshit. Pop music is popular because it gives us an escape from the problems of the world, the vast majority of fans are aware of the problems in the world. This is an incredibly boomer mindset that just isn't true and I can't stand listening to this shit, especially coming from Katy Perry of all people. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry and Skip Marley. My pick for the worst hit song of 2017! 

Thanks for reading! Urtar Reviews signing out. I'll see you next time.