- 2 days ago
Brace your ears, because things are about to get rough! Join us as we count down our picks for the most annoying, tasteless, and downright terrible songs ever recorded! Which track makes your ears bleed the most? Let us know in the comments below!
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 songs that are
00:11widely considered to be the most annoying, tasteless, or downright bad in music history.
00:25Number 20. Selfish, Justin Timberlake.
00:29If the goal was to pull off a comeback for the ages, most critics agreed that Justin Timberlake
00:35fell flat with Selfish. Gone was the swagger and confidence that defined his best moments on the
00:49mic, and in its place was this bland and forgettable release. Described as the latest turd in a 10-year
00:57run, by consequence, the song's greatest crime is simply not doing anything to stick
01:02in the memory. Fans of Timberlake were just as vocal as some of his biggest critics, and
01:12regarding this as one of the flattest singles he had ever released.
01:22Number 19. Nookie, Limp Bizkit.
01:26New metal was the type of genre that really could only have existed at the exact moment
01:32that it did. At the turn of the century, the excess and attitude of bands like Limp Bizkit
01:38made them a huge success.
01:47However, most people seem to agree that a lot of their stuff has aged like milk.
01:53Nookie is one of the shining examples of the band and their singer Fred Durst's obnoxious
01:58approach to songwriting. If ever there was a time where this was boundary pushing or fresh,
02:12then that time has clearly passed for most. These days, a track like Nookie sounds insanely
02:19juvenile and grating.
02:28Number 18. Try That in a Small Town. Jason Aldean.
02:33Saying that Jason Aldean wasn't trying to please everyone with Try That in a Small Town would
02:39be putting it lightly. There is obviously a very important need for political statements
02:51in music, but this formulaic country rocker was quickly pointed to as a clear example of how not
02:57to make a point. The lyrics were clunky and predictable, and the instrumentation was basic
03:03and uninspired. Critics argued that it promotes exclusionary themes and vigilante imagery, leading
03:16to accusations of divisiveness, which in the current climate, was not helping anyone. It went on to
03:23become a big release for Aldean, but the reviews were pretty terrible all around.
03:34Number 17. Gucci Gang. Lil Pump. Those who criticize the current state of hip-hop for its
03:42shallow nature are still pulling out their hair over Lil Pump's Gucci Gang.
03:53Despite its popularity, the song is often used as evidence of declining lyrical standards in the
03:59genre. There's nothing inherently wrong with repetition, but in this case, many listeners
04:05didn't see the artistic craft in what Lil Pump was going for.
04:13Even though it went on to be a hit and a culturally important release for its time,
04:18it was quickly pointed to as a true artistic low point in the modern age of hip-hop.
04:29Number 16. Stupid Ho. Nicki Minaj.
04:41This pounding promo single off Minaj's Roman Reloaded album is reviled enough for even the
04:47most diehard barbs to defend over an unrelenting, deeply annoying beat. Nicki tears Lil Kim,
04:53her biggest rap rival, to shreds without doing her own career any favors. While a few of Nicki's
04:59bars may have you nodding your head in surprising approval, Stupid Ho is a repetitive, grating,
05:05and bizarrely squeaky misfire.
05:14The whole thing feels like a half-thought-out sketch of a song. Look at its closing moments,
05:19in which Minaj's sing-songy delivery sounds more or less improvised. We can't imagine Lil
05:25Kim was terribly offended by it anyway. We did consider going with Meghan Trainor's All About That
05:40Base, which has its fair share of detractors. However, for our money, her later single,
05:53Mother is widely considered to be guilty of far more varied musical crimes than the track that put
05:59her on the map. Released in 2023, it was criticized by many for relying too heavily on gimmick, both in
06:12the retro-style instrumentation and the lyrical contents. Trainor was seen as bordering on self-parody
06:19by the time the dust had settled. Although it achieved TikTok viral success, it could not
06:24replicate it on the charts. 14. Woman's World
06:36Katy Perry Jumping on a trend is kind of what pop music is all about for some. But in the
06:43case of
06:43Katy Perry, she made a dramatic mistake with Woman's World. Seen by many as a disastrous comeback single
06:57for the superstar singer, this track was guilty of delivering a truly undercooked message that
07:03seemed extremely contrived. Perry, who gave us uplifting tracks like Roar and Firework in the past,
07:17appeared to be reaching too deeply into her old bag of tricks, utterly failing to bring
07:21anything fresh to this feminist anthem. Factor in that she worked on the tune with the controversial
07:27Dr. Luke, and you had a recipe for a total dud in her catalog. 13. Butterfly
07:39Crazy Town Sampling an early career cut from the Red Hot Chili Peppers gave Crazy Town the perfect
07:45backdrop for their biggest hit. For some, Butterfly represents a slice of 2000's nostalgia that goes
07:52beyond the track's surface-level appeal. Those who cringe as soon as it comes on the radio,
08:02tend to do so because of its incredibly awkward lyrics and inauthentic message.
08:11Rap rock was truly something you either loved or hated, and by the time the genre's heyday had
08:17passed, songs like Butterfly were seen as a relic that most listeners would rather forget.
08:2812. Trolls
08:316ix9ine featuring Nicki Minaj
08:33When it comes to Tekashi 6ix9ine's collaboration with Nicki Minaj, Trolls, to say that the end product
08:40left fans disappointed would be an understatement. Critics found the track jarring from the get-go,
08:51and then increasingly disjointed and incohesive as it went on. Controversy is a great way to sell
08:58records, sure. And the song hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, proving its commercial
09:03appeal. However, its antagonistic tone and messy production left it on many detractors' lists of
09:18the worst songs of 2020 by the end of the year.
09:3011. My Humps
09:32The Black Eyed Peas
09:34This band was on top of the world around 2005, but that doesn't mean everything they were releasing
09:40was worth positive attention. My Humps is arguably the worst song of their career, both in terms of
09:45musical and lyrical content. It's both boring and redundant, and contains a really awful vocal
09:57melody. Plus, we can only hear My Hump so many times before it turns to gibberish in our ears.
10:03The song's lyrics were also widely criticized, with many arguing that the shameless sexual content
10:09objectifies women. My Humps has also appeared on numerous Worst Songs Ever style lists,
10:21and for good reason. 10. Karma
10:28Change is good indeed, but for many critics, JoJo Siwa's pivot to a more serious tone was a total misstep.
10:35I was a wild child, you always knew it. It was a matter of time before I blew it.
10:44Karma was intended as the world's intro to an explosive new look and sound for Siwa,
10:50but in the end, the whole thing well and truly fell flat.
10:54Wish I would've never wrapped around
10:56When I saw the feet to you and her, I felt the night twist
11:00Though the song attempted a darker, edgier rebrand, the song's lyrics and delivery were seen as forced,
11:07and Siwa was highlighted as lacking the credibility needed for the shift.
11:11Its biggest crime? It's just a very generic piece of pop songwriting that ended up making JoJo look
11:18desperate for attention and respect.
11:23Karma's a bitch, Karma, and she's with you right now
11:279. Facts
11:30Tom McDonald and Ben Shapiro
11:33They call me offensive, controversial, it's only two jammers, boys and girls
11:36They can't cancel my message cause I'm the biggest independent rapper in the whole friggin' world
11:40Viral hip-hop performer Tom McDonald is seemingly a walking contradiction. The rapper hails from
11:46Canada but makes mega-rap, a right-wing political subgenre that's noted for its vociferous support
11:52of American President Donald Trump. As such, McDonald's music routinely ticks off such hot-button
11:58culture-war topics as quote-unquote wokeism, the anti-gender movement, and the supposed tyranny of the
12:04political left.
12:11Facts may serve as McDonald's most crystal clear expression of his ideology to date,
12:16so much so that the song features a lifeless rap verse by firebrand conservative pundit Ben Shapiro.
12:23Tired, cliched, and just plain petulant, Facts aims to provoke controversy but instead elicits
12:29yawns from bored listeners.
12:378. Whip My Hair
12:40Willow Smith
12:41The best thing we can say about this song is that then-nine-year-old Willow Smith had a heck
12:47of a voice.
12:48Many critics compared it to Rihanna's body of work, and that's no small compliment.
12:58It's a shame that her vocals were overshadowed by one of the worst choruses of the decade.
13:03It consists of nothing but the line, I whip my hair back and forth,
13:07which is endlessly repeated over and over again with an unsavory screech.
13:18It makes the song seem ten times longer than it actually is, and it completely ruins what
13:24could have been otherwise a pleasant listening experience. Or just a little unclear, does she
13:29whip her hair back and forth… or not? 7. Hamster Dance
13:36Hampton the Hamster
13:37This one really brings back memories. A glorious time capsule back to the early internet. The
13:44Hamster Dance song makes for great nostalgia but a horrible listening experience.
13:53The Hamster Dance meme came to be in 1998, courtesy of a student named Deidre LaCarte.
14:00The Hamster Dance song was released two years later, presumably to play off its success.
14:05But looking back, that was a mistake. The squeaky hamster voice makes our ears hurt,
14:11and it even features a very unwanted rap portion.
14:21It's just a cute meme, so we obviously weren't expecting Beethoven. But even so,
14:27this was a low point for the internet… and music.
14:326. Hashtag Selfie – The Chainsmokers
14:35Even the title, Selfie, makes us gag. The musical duo wanted to capitalize on the
14:40titular photo craze of the early 2010s, so we got this grating tune.
14:45When Jason was at the table, I kept on seeing him look at me while he was with that other
14:49girl.
14:49Do you think he was just doing that to make me jealous?
14:51From a marketing standpoint, the idea was apparently to make a Harlem Shake-esque smash.
14:56And, boy, did it work. But at least the Harlem Shake was fun. This was just irksome.
15:03The repetitive beat is insanely irritating, but the worst part is easily the shallow and harmful lyrics,
15:13lines like, I only got 10 likes in the last 5 minutes. Do you think I should take it down?
15:18It speaks for themselves. Can they take the whole song down while they're at it?
15:235. Harlem Shake – Bower
15:27The sensation that was Bower's Harlem Shake phenomenon wasn't so much down to the music as it was
15:34what the music soundtracked. This meme craze dominated the internet the weeks and months after it originally
15:41landed. Though it was easier to get behind at first, people generally became extremely sick of it
15:54after hundreds and thousands of versions began to spring up.
15:57Then do the Harlem Shake.
16:04The song itself was criticized for not having much of a leg to stand on musically beyond its association
16:10with the video trend that made it famous. In fact, it doesn't even have anything to do with the
16:16Harlem Shake dance it name drops.
16:18The Honey Badgers are just crazy.
16:284. Peanut Butter Jelly Time – The Buckwheat Boys
16:33This novelty track sprang into public consciousness long before the internet became the cultural
16:39powerhouse it is today. However, 2004's Peanut Butter Jelly Time would not be out of place in this
16:46modern era's meme culture. It got a major boost in popularity following its inclusion in a memorable
16:59episode of Family Guy, where Brian Griffin performs a rendition.
17:08The issue? Well, if you weren't into the joke, it stood as an example of music at its most
17:15disposable. Sure, the song wasn't trying to be Bob Dylan, but critics of this Buckwheat Boys creation
17:20found that it's humor or thin almost instantly.
17:273. Friday – Rebecca Black
17:34Poor Rebecca Black was really brought through the ringer after Friday was released. The song was
17:40immediately criticized by pretty much everyone and became a national laughing stock.
17:457am waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs, gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.
17:51Every aspect of the tune was viciously picked apart, from Black's auto-tuned vocals to the
17:57gloriously meme-worthy lyrics like tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards. The song spread
18:04through social media like wildfire and was even the most disliked video on YouTube for a while.
18:09It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. Black herself certainly didn't deserve the vitriol
18:16that was spewed her way, but there's no denying that it really is a dreadful song. At least it serves
18:23as a great throwback to 2011? 2. It's Everyday Bro – Jake Paul
18:30Jake Paul is one of the most notorious figures on the internet, and not always for positive reasons.
18:35But does the song deserve all the hate it receives?
18:39It's Everyday Bro with the Disney Channel flow. 5 mil on YouTube in 6 months, never done before.
18:45If you ask us, yes. It's a diss track aimed at various internet celebrities, but Paul isn't a
18:52rapper. In fact, his rapping is horrible. And then there are the lyrics. The Team 10 members shamelessly
18:58boast about their riches and fame, and it's not something that people want to hear.
19:02It's Everyday Bro! It's Everyday Bro! I said it's Everyday Bro!
19:07Plus, you know you're getting a lyrical masterpiece with lines like,
19:11England is my city. Sure, the video racked up views, but it was also widely hated.
19:17Why don't they brag about that next time?
19:29Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album current, EDM Transformed.
19:35Check out the full track and album below.
19:51Number 1. Baby Shark, Doo-Doo, Pink Fong.
19:56Sure, it's a piece of music aimed entirely at small children, but that hasn't stopped Baby Shark from
20:02becoming an unavoidable cultural phenomenon. A song that is designed for kids shouldn't be
20:15expected to bring too much complexity to the table. But this track's extreme repetitiveness
20:20is truly grating for most music fans.
20:31Most who hear this song can't get it out of their head in the days that follow.
20:35And while that can actually be a good thing in some cases,
20:39Baby Shark is widely despised for this exact reason.
20:50But what do you consider to be the worst song in music history?
20:55Let us know in the comments section below.
Comments