My Top 10 Least Favorite Hit Songs of 2016

Hey everyone, Drake, known online as Urtar Reviews and today we're going to go over my least favorite hit songs of 2016! 2016 is honestly an overhated year for music, even if the bad stuff really sucks, and it is probably overall my least favorite year of the 2010's decade for pop music by default. Let's get into the list!

10.  Lost Boy - Ruth B (Peak: #24, Billboard Year End: #76, Pulse Jan-Dec: #74, Crownnote: #73)

My hatred for this song has faded some over the last few years. There was a time where this would have made my bottom 5, but I guess hearing a song or two from Ruth B. that is actually good has caused me to be kinder to this song? I mean I still think it sucks, but more for being boring then for being something I hate. This song is just so generic and draining to listen to, it kinda sounds like an AI generated piano ballad. And like, it's just retelling the story of Peter Pan, not applying that story to her own life or using it as a metaphor, or at least not an obvious one. So in other words it doesn't really have a reason to exist, and that would be fine if I enjoyed listening to it, but I do not. 

So remember 100 Years by Five For Fighting? I haven't talked about it but whatever I do 2004 lists expect to see that song very high. Now, if you want to see that song from hell...

9. 7 Years - Lukas Graham (Peak: #2, Billboard Year End: #12, Pulse Jan-Dec: #11, Crownnote: #11)

So of course this song was a way bigger hit than 100 Years ever was. Peaking in the top 2, and becoming one of the biggest songs of the year. And the music video has over a billion views on YouTube. The thing is, I actually kind of like the instrumental track to this song, which is the reason it isn't higher. And I don't hate the idea, heck the idea of a song telling the story of different points in a man's life can work very well as Five For Fighting demonstrated. But the execution is awful! Just the way he says "go get yourself a wife or you'll be lonely" "my woman brought children to me" just rubs me the wrong way. And then of course there's the part where he has someone in the background yell "LUKAS GRAHAM" which just completely kills the introspective mood of the song. But the biggest issue with this song is just that the lead singer sounds terrible. Especially in the climax he just sounds atrocious! 

 8. I Hate U, I Love U - Gnash, Olivia O'Brien (Peak #10, Billboard Year End: #38, Pulse Jan-Dec: #29, Crownnote: #29)

This has to be one of the biggest disconnects between lyrics and sound of a hit song in the entire 2010s. Like the song is so fucking boring and just dead musically. It's like musical white noise, that can't convey the emotions of the lyrics at all. And the singers have zero chemistry. And the lyrics also suck,. Especially with gnash. He sounds like he's a robot. Both in how fucking DEAD he sounds and with lines like "I learned from my dad that it's good to have feelings". Olivia at least sounds like she slightly cares, but she still doesn't sound good. Such a draining song to listen to.

7. Pop Style - Drake, The Throne (Peak #16, Billboard Year End: #82, Pulse Jan-Dec: #79, Crownnote: #79)

This is one of the worst songs I've heard from Drake. Not quite as bad as like Child's Play or Fucking Fans but yeah it fucking blows. There's a reason why despite this being the higher debut of the two first singles Drake dropped from Views the same week, this one descended down the charts, meanwhile the far superior One Dance rose and went on to get 10 weeks at #1. The beat is fucking awful, going for a creepy sound, but it sounds so poorly mixed and just so fucking clunky. And I don't think it matches the content well. And then, Drake sound so fucking checked out, and delivers some atrocious bars like "Got so many chains they call me Chaining Tatum". And then Jay-Z comes on and leaves only a few seconds later, and then Kanye just sounds AWFUL. Also I think it's stupid that this song is credited to The Throne considering Kanye and Jay-Z have a whole collab album called Watch The Throne and that wasn't credited to them, and Jay-Z is barely even on this song. But whatever, it's awful. 

6. The Greatest - Sia, Kendrick Lamar/ Cheap Thrills - Sia, Sean Paul

I don't fucking feel like talking about Sia much and giving her attention, so I'm gonna make this brief. Both are atrocious, irritating, overplayed songs that waste better artists. 

5. Sit Still, Look Pretty - Daya (Peak #28, Billlboard Year End: #78, Pulse Jan-Dec: #75, Crownnote: #71)

God I hate this song. Not as much as I once did. This would have topped this list if I made it a couple years ago. But I still despise it. I fucking hate the production on this track the fucking pulsing sounds are really irritating. Daya sounds awful as well. But the thing I hate most about this song is that I view it as hypocritical. She's trying to call out men for stereotyping women as sex objects (a message I can get behind) but she stereotypes all men as the kind who did that! Which is just not true! Also the Snow White metaphor fails when you remember that Snow White literally had to be saved by men. 

4. Gold - Kiiara (Peak: #13, Billboard Year End: #52, Pulse Jan-Dec: #42, Crownnote: #41)

I present to you, Royals by Lorde from hell! I'm not even a huge fan of that song, but it's so much better than this. First of all the fucking vocal loop thing in the chorus is just fucking AWFUL. It sounds like music from another universe. And the beat is fucking awful with random sounds conflicting each other. And after the 2nd verse the song just becomes a fucking loop of the chorus and pre-chorus over and over again for over 2-3 minutes. 

 3. Unsteady - X Ambassadors (Peak #20, Billboard Year End: #67, Pulse Jan-Dec: #49, Crownnote: #42)

This song is musical torture. The fucking beat that sounds like if you took an Imagine Dragons song and chopped the pulse in half with a sword. The singer's ungodly awful vocals. Dude is oversinging so much. On sound alone this might be the worst hit of the year. It fucking hurts to listen to. So why isn't it higher on the list? Well...

This remix of the song makes it actually work. The strings give the emotion of the lyrics a lot more weight and actually in a weird way makes the vocals tolerable. And it actually gives the song a pulse. If this remix was the version that charted it wouldn't have even be considered for this list from me. Sadly the godawful original one was the one that did. So it's here. 

2. Back To Sleep - Chris Brown (Peak #20, Billboard Year End: #89, Pulse Jan-Dec: #91, Crownnote: #85)

This is Chris Brown singing about fucking a girl back to sleep. I don't think I need to say any more. Before the #1, some Dishonorable Mentions. 

DM. I Know What You Did Last Summer - Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello

Listening to this in 2023 is just weird after everything that has happened with these two. It's still very bad though. 

DMS. Say It - Tory Lanez/ LUV - Tory Lanez

I disliked these before the controversy with Tory and now they just make me uncomfortable. 

DM. Down In The DM - Yo Gotti, Nicki Minaj

I just can't hear a Yo Gotti song and not think of a CERTAIN PERSON. And I never liked this one at all. 

DM. Hands To Myself - Selena Gomez

This is my least favorite Selena Gomez song I have heard... 

DM. We Don't Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth, Selena Gomez

Unless you count this one. This literally sounds like it was recorded on an iPhone.

DM. H.O.L.Y. - Florida Georgia Line

I can't help but wonder if this song would have been as big as it was if they had just called it High On Loving You.

DM. Let It Go - James Bay

Snooze.

DM. Controlla - Drake

That beat is just embarrassing. 

DM. Me, Myself, And I - G-Eazy, Bebe Rexha

This would have probably made the list if not for Bebe Rexha's hook. 

And...

1. Treat You Better - Shawn Mendes (Peak #6, Billboard Year End: #28, Pulse Jan-Dec: #26, Crownnote: #26)

Yes I know that this is not a surprising pick and almost everyone doing worst lists for this year in this community has this song in the top 3, and I mean at one point this wouldn't have topped mine, but man I just fucking despise this fucking song so much. Everyone shits on Shawn Mendes for claiming that he can for sure treat this girl better than her boyfriend, while not actually making any good points as to why, instead focusing on how much he wants to be with her. And doesn't have the same defense I made of Boyfriend by Dove Cameron. But honestly, the bigger issue with this song for me is how fucking awful this song sounds. The guitars and drums sound so goddamn stiff and cluttered in the worst fucking way. And Shawn sounds so fucking atrocious. BADDA DANNY CAN!!!!!! His voice on this song just hurts to listen to. And this song has just fucking stuck around to this day. It still gets millions of views on YouTube and streams on Spotify, and still gets played on the radio and in public all the fucking time. I just can't fucking escape this song. That is really what put it here for me. This song just follows me around, like it's a hunter and I'm it's prey. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes. My pick for the worst hit song of 2016! Thanks for reading!