Sometimes....you just have to follow where your muse takes you. That's how we got to here:
Full disclosure. I was a fan of the short-lived 90s cartoon. Just like most 90s kids. I mean if we are being honest, this was no Duck Tales or Darkwing Duck, but it had its charm. Just like a majority of the OG Disney Afternoon lineup. That being said, when I heard this was getting adapted into a Disney+ original movie, I thought to myself, really? I mean I guess it could be better than those awful new Cheaper by the Dozen or Home Alone movies. But that's really not saying a lot.
And then we got that trailer. Which was...incredibly weird and off putting at the same time. I mean how many of these meta movies do we really need? And why of all characters, were we getting this type of movie from Chip 'n Dale of all Disney properties? Was this what the people really wanted?
Also we can't ignore the other huge meta mystery elephant in the room that mixed animation and live-action like this over thirty years ago. Hell even Disney addressed it in its own movie...
Clearly this movie was heavily inspired by the still timeless classic, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I mean Disney lent their own IP's for this movie and everyone lost their shit. I still mark out seeing Daffy and Donald interact as well as Bugs and Mickey. This was really ahead of its time in a timeline today where all studios try to have their giant epic brand promotion. Here's looking at you Space Jam 2!
Needless to say, I was heavily skeptical that Disney would be able to pull this off for Chip n' Dale of all the freaking properties in the Walt Disney library that only grows larger by the day. But you know what? I was kind of pleasantly surprised by this.
Let me get this out of the way first. This movie has plenty of problems and is not as smart as the writers think it is. Addressing your own plot holes and skepticism don't cover up the fact that you fall into the same generic traps that the many properties you reference do too. But I've got to give the team who made this credit. I did not expect to be laughing and dropping my jaw as often as I expected. Like this movie really surprises you when you least expect it. It has heart, it has an actually compelling story, and there is far more depth than the trailer implies.
But man those problems though. Okay let me just go out of the way and say that for as tough as it is to mix CGI and hand drawn animation with live action...trust me I know from my couple years doing digital visualization in high school and college as easy elective credits...it's not easy. After awhile, it is more apparent than ever that Chip's animation is subpar. Like there are tons of times in this movie where I legitimately believe that the hand drawn animated characters are there. Hell, for as many times as I get on overreliance on CGI, I believe Dale is there FAR more often than I do Chip. I don't know if the shading on Chip is just too apparent, but yeah after awhile, it just becomes more obvious that the animation on Chip is just not that good. Not helping matters is that Chip is voiced by John Mulaney; who I know has his fans, but I am not one of them. I can only handle his dry sarcastic voice for so long before I get tired of it and want him off my screen. Andy Samberg just blows him out of the water as Dale, he is goofy and loveable enough to make Dale the heart of the movie.
My other main complaints are that KiKi Layne as the human lead is just not that good in this role. I'm not saying she's bad. I saw her as the co-lead in that Charlize Theron Netflix movie "The Old Guard". I know she can act. But she's just not believable as this cop who is a Chip N Dale super fan. She certainly is no Bob Hoskins because there are times where she is not doing a believable job that she's interacting with CGI and hand drawn characters. And speaking of those characters....SPOILERS...KIND OF....SORT OF!
Disney clearly has the money to shelve out to put non-Disney IP's in this movie. I'm going to avoid spoiling who exactly but let's just say other studios animated characters appear in this movie and outside of one that made me crack the fuck up that this one-off internet meme eventually had an arch in this movie, they do nothing else with them. Like they just appear...I mean you're Disney. You have the money. Do something with them.
But those complaints aside, this movie had absolutely no right being as good as it was. Just when I thought I was getting absolutely tired of self-aware movies who are overly meta, this movie comes out of nowhere and just surprises you with its clever humor and a pretty good story. I mean this movie ends with Post Malone singing the Chip N Dale theme song. Did anyone expect that? Well lower those expectations because you'll have a ball with the unpredictable nature of this movie...despite its predictable cliches.
Final Grade: B
And for you Chip 'N Dale fans, don't you worry. The main cast gets together for like two total minutes. So there you go. What did you guys think? Are you sick of meta humor yet? Did this movie subvert your expectations after such an awful first trailer like it did to me? Tell me what you think in the comments below. Until next time, take care.
To say it's been awhile has been an understatement.
Yeah it has basically become a cliche that my latest entry starts off with me apologizing for the delay in content. So what's new with me? Well only some major life changing events. I started a new job. I think it's self-fulfilling prophecy that I went from working in grocery stores to becoming a department lead to now managing the uniform accounts of nearly every major grocery store across the United States. Yeah, I'm moving on up and it is kind of nice to have a Monday thru Friday for the first time in my life.
...and my wife is pregnant. Yep we are expecting our first child this October. Looks like what I wrote months ago became self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm nervous, but at the same time, it's a good type of nervous. The kind of nerves that make me very excited but at the same time wanting to get all my ducks in a row before the big day comes. My career has been full of indecisiveness when it comes to what I want to be when I grew up, but the one certainty is that I've always wanted to be a father and that day is coming sooner rather than later.
So yeah, that's what I've been up to. Not a dull moment at all this 2022. Which means a lot less blog writing for my first half of the year. I've had I think one post this year? And a very long overdue film list from 2021. I almost want to scrape that list all together, but I do want to get something out. I'll be honest in saying that my writing priorities have been at the back of my mind. Still in my thoughts somewhere, but not towards the forefront like it used to be. But it's time to fix that. I've got some long overdue catching up to do with the music and especially of the films out there.
I think this is my first official full length MCU review. I mean you all can go check the tapes, but despite me talking about the MCU a plenty on this blog and giving a brief movie review of Black Widow, I've never given one of these movies the full length treatment.
To say I'm a fan is an understatement. I love these movies. I'm not one of those diehards that will claim that this series of movies are greater than the Bible or get all up in Martin Scorsese's mentions when he says he is not a fan of these movies, but I am one of the fans who admits that is fully invested in its long term storytelling while producing mostly good movies along the way. I'm willing to forgive Marvel for their misses because they hit far more often than they miss.
It's mildly funny to see everyone talk about how the MCU is in trouble because they had a bad past two years. First of all, 2020 was a bad year for EVERYONE. I will concede and say 2021 was a down year mostly because they oversaturated the market with NINE projects. I mean there is making up for lost time, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Thankfully, Spider-Man: No Way Home shut up a lot of doubters out there who might have thought that the MCU was on its way out. I mean guys, 2019 was the end of a over ten year story. It's like watching The Office post-Michael Scott. Yeah its still going to obviously continue, but it is never going to top "Goodbye Michael". And Marvel will never top "Endgame". But The Office still continued because the cast was still compelling enough to continue the show's story. The MCU will still continue the same way comic books still continue after an amazing first long term story. I am absolutely still intrigued to see where so many of our heroes are going to go for the foreseeable future. Which leads to this year. To all the doubters out there who still think Disney's Marvel films are in serious trouble, the three major directors of the next three MCU movies are Taika Waititi, Ryan Coogler, and the movie I'm reviewing today, Sam Raimi. They are going to be fine.
Speaking of Sam Raimi, it is poetic justice to see him come back to Marvel fifteen years after he directed Spider-Man 3. He wasn't always in place to be the director. The director of the first Doctor Strange movie, Scott Derrickson, was supposed to be back to make the sequel at first, but creative differences with MCU mastermind Kevin Feige as well as Scott's own mental health led to him leaving the sequel. Which you know, it's not a common occurrence to see directors leaving the MCU over creative difference. This is what, like the fifth time this has happened? Sometimes shit happens. Hell Derrickson has a new horror movie coming out that looks amazing. Everybody wins. Because my god, I could not imagine anyone else directing this movie other than Sam Raimi.
This movie was a match made in heaven. When I first heard that they were planning on making this a Marvel horror movie, I was curious. Derrickson did have a horror movie background and I wanted to see how this idea could have worked. But when Derrickson was replaced by a horror movie auteur like Sam Raimi, you're damn right I was 100% sold. Maybe someday the MCU will make a full on R-rated movie, but if there was any director out there who could do PG-13 horror, Sam Raimi is a perfect choice. Yeah I know the horror movies he is most famous for were hard R rated...hell the first Evil Dead was NC-17. But if you want to know what this man can do by pushing the limits of a PG-13 rating, take a look at Drag Me to Hell, one of the most criminally underrated horror films of all-time. And holy shit does Sam Raimi take full advantage of that PG-13 in this movie. Slight spoilers from the climax, but you've seen this shot in the trailers. There is a scene with the zombified corpse of Doctor Strange with a bunch of demonic soul black arms and hands coming out wanting to kill you. Another slight spoiler, but you've seen this in the trailers as well. Wanda Maximoff more or less looks like Carrie in the climax of that movie with demonic eyes and blood pouring down her face. Only Sam Raimi could push the limits of that PG-13 rating. Hell the direction in general for this movie is amazing. I wish I saw this in IMAX because Sam Raimi has some gorgeous shots and angles that made me think that Sam Raimi's style of directing has always been made for IMAX.
Most importantly of all, this movie got me excited for the future of the MCU again. While I do wish we got to see more multi-verses, we spent time in mostly two multi-verses. Which you know, I would have loved to see more, but that's perfectly okay because I think having only two focused multi-verses really helped explain the main story well. But this movie got me excited for all the possibly endless stories the MCU can now take from here. Sure this was briefly established in Loki and No Way Home obviously opened the portal of what the MCU can do with this storyline. But Doctor Strange 2 really opened my eyes on the unlimited possibilities this saga can go from here. We could have more re-castings of already retired or deceased characters, but by different actors. We can have even more fan service of older movie characters like this one had a certain cameo from a certain franchise that you all know and love.
SPOILERS AHEAD
My one major problem with this movie that prevents this from being one of the MCU's best offerings is how Wanda Maximoff is handled as the antagonist. Is she bad in it? No. In all honesty, Elizabeth Olson's acting in this is phenomenal. This is the best acting she has done as Wanda Maximoff quite possibly ever. And that comes from someone who thought she was great in WandaVision. But that's where my problem lies with her in Multiverse of Madness. The lessons she learned in WandaVision. And before anyone points out "Well Bobby, she was under the control of the Darkhold." Yes...I know. I get her motivation, I really do. As I said in the beginning, I'm about to become a first time parent. I would do anything for my unborn child. Just like Wanda would do anything to be reunited with her children from a parallel universe. But are we supposed to believe that she completely forgot about everything that she went through in WandaVision, evil book or no evil book, where she was remorseful for her actions when it came to playing with humanity the way that she did? I'm sorry, but you're kind of pushing your luck a bit when it comes to that.
Wanda Maximoff is miles above many others as one of the most complex and multi-dimensional characters in the MCU. Her character has gone through so much grief and suffering that it makes her relatable as hell. Her and Thor are the two characters that have gone through the most development when it comes to becoming more complex characters. That is why I'll never stop being intrigued by their stories with each passing property they are tied to. That is why seeing Wanda Maximoff kind of fall back into the same dark traps that she falls into with this kind of feels repetitive to me. She has already been manipulated before. More than once as a matter of fact. You could have written her as being antagonistic without the control of the Darkhold. Have her get that brief glimpse of knowing there is another universe out there where she could be with her kids...hell possibly Vision again...and make that the reason she goes rogue. Seeing Wanda kill hundreds of people in order to get what she wants just feels absolutely ridiculous after being supremely remorseful for her actions at the end of WandaVision. Although I'm not going to lie when I say seeing her fight the other superheroes...especially the Illuminati isn't badass. I just feel like the moral justifications of her actions were supremely hard to ignore.
But yeah this movie is still amazing. I want more Sam Raimi helmed MCU movies. I want more creative MCU films like this one. And based off the strong word of mouth this movie has been getting, I think we are going to see the MCU get more weird and creative. That's what I want. You can have the same Marvel formula while still trying new things like this.
Final Grade: A-
Like I said, so close to being Top 5. Definitely better than the first Doctor Strange, which was still a good movie. But this one was certainly great. Mostly due to Sam Raimi given creative control while still going through the usual checkpoints for a Marvel movie. I think that's what Marvel needs to keep doing moving forward. What do you guys think? Did you like it? I do know some people who were less than pleased. What did you not like? Please let me know in the comments below. Until next time, take care.
Hey everybody. We interrupt this list season to give you a brief update on the goings-on of our favorite music publication, Billboard, and their whacky insane antics they are presently up to. So what's new with this week's top twenty?
Yep. Sounds about right. I mean DO SOMETHING.
In all my years as a Billboard chart follower, this is by far the most stagnant I've ever seen these charts. Weren't the Christmas songs supposed to freshen things up a bit? You could hardly tell that based off the fact that nothing is moving these days. Look we can chart that up to a lot of factors, but let's get the obvious one out of the way first. None of the big names out there are dropping any albums. Okay that's not all true. Kanye West just released the highly anticipated sequel to one of his most 5/10 albums to date on his own personal STEM player that only the select few are going to spend $200 dollars to listen to in this era of record high inflation. Otherwise? Lil Durk just dropped an album. I hope it does well because I like him. Let's hope that is the album that solidifies him as an A-lister.
And let's chalk up this factor. We have become so diverse as a music listening society. Streaming being such the big factor that it has become has really divided up listening demographics to the point that popular music has become more and more of a niche genre. The days of the truly big larger than life personality celebrities are long gone. Sure we got a select handful that you can classify as the latter category, but compared to a decade ago when songs 90% of the time got big off the names attached to them; it surely is not the same.
Maybe 2022 will prove me wrong and we'll have a spring and summer full of bangers and vibes. But right now? Let's just say that I think it is fitting that our number one song in America right now perfectly captures this moment in time of chart following. It is a "heat wave" of lacking content that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. Here's the list down below I'll be working off of:
So does my scathing comments mean all the songs are bad? Let's find out while we take a look at
THE 2022 SPRING BILLBOARD HOT 100 TOP 20 RANKED
THE TERRIBLE TIER
Okay it's official. I never want to hear this fucking song ever again.
"Heat Waves" - Glass Animals
Look I really could sit here all day and beat a dead horse about how stagnant the music charts are. How niche they've become and how absolutely way too many points are being designated to the radio. When the radio is so comedically behind the times at this point and are just now giving too much airplay to this song that only got popular from a stupid Minecraft fanfic meme. Which leave it to the cultural zeitgeist to beat a dead meme until its not funny anymore.
I mean what else is there left to say except the charts are stagnant because nobody seeks out music anymore. The 2020's are living proof of that because the news of the world is just too powerful to ignore. I mean let's put this into perspective with this song. At the time Glass Animals wrote this song (the album released June 2020, so let's give them a few months of songwriting before that), we experienced like fifteen years worth of news stories in the span of two whole years...and that doesn't even count the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which became a thing while I was drafting this transcript...add a few more years to this equation if World War 3 starts...okay I'm getting sidetracked again. Song...song...
But yeah, this is in the terrible tier now. Overplay has absolutely made a song that I already thought was bad that much worse. And while I have done a real shit job at following the year end chart trackings and predictions, I expect this to make it again as well as like 1/5th of the songs from the 2021 year end. And it might be fair game to make the top ten of the worst list this year, even though it was spared from it last year. I hate it that much more now.
...that being said, I still prefer that overplayed song over this one.
"Big Energy" - Latto
I told myself I was going to try to hold my cards closer to my chest this year, but fuck it. This song is a 0/10 in every single aspect across the board. It's such a cowardly cynical cash grab in remotely every aspect. Hey did you guys know people are nostalgic for "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey? Let's have Dr. Luke rehash that same sample and give this D-list Megan Thee Stallion knockoff a career. This is so fucking formulaic that it is infuriating levels of unlikeable traits that I haven't felt in quite some time.
That's probably not fair to Latto. Who I've been told deserves better than this. And to that I ask, does she? Saweetie might be talented too, but that didn't stop her from doing the exact same thing with the exact same formula right down to hiring the exact same rapist producer. But you know what, at least Saweetie gets a reaction out of me with her annoying personality every time she beats a recognizable sample into the ground. Latto could be replaced by anyone. Give the song to any female rapper like Cardi or Megan or Doja or fuck let's go there, give it to Saweetie. I can hear elements of all of them coming from Latto's flavorless rapping and singing.
The song is that obvious that the song wants you to be hooked in by that "Genius of Love" sample that Mariah Carey used back in the day and is back in pop culture relevance thanks to TikTok and that fairly recent Ryan Reynolds movie. Hell she even says "I could be your fantasy" in the chorus. It knows exactly what its doing. The formula for this is these levels of craven that nothing else fucking matters.
ALSO IT'S CALLED BIG DICK ENERGY!
THE BAD TIER
"Bad Habits" - Ed Sheeran
And speaking of things I hate much more now....does not apply to this song. I'm indifferent to the song itself now more than ever. It's harmless. But I'm a man of truth and I can't justify placing this song in a higher tier because that music video is just the absolute worst. One of the worst I've ever seen. Which how did this get a sales gain? Isn't it getting rotated out for that remixed third single with Taylor Swift?
...wasn't that collaborations mixtape three years ago? God he really will collaborate with anyone...didn't he use to be a folk singer-songwriter?
"Super Gremlin" - Kodak Black
At least he's self aware that people think of him as salt of the Earth. I'll give him this. This beat slaps at least. Like I can see why it got popular. It's too bad that it is performed by Kodak Black. Literally one of the most untalented performers of the last few years. I just do not get the appeal of this man. And it has nothing to do with him being such a terrible person. He's just a terrible performer. Like I fucking hate how he slurs all his words together to the point that I turn on the lyrical captions. At least with all your other mumble rappers like Gunna or NAV, they won't let their performances distract from the production. But that's what happens with like 80% of Kodak Black's songs. I can think of like two or three songs from him where his anti-charisma doesn't affect it. Wish that wasn't the case here.
"Surface Pressure" - Jessica Darrow
...okay before you all pull out the pitchforks, let me just say that I do like the overall Encanto experience. The soundtrack and the movie are both good stuff. I'm all for Encanto dominating the pop culture zeitgeist like it has for the last two months. Disney+ really did give this movie the delayed justice it truly deserved when it was in theaters earlier. And the soundtrack has been ruling the albums chart for over a month now too, so this movie has really had some solid staying power.
Which also includes many of the songs. "The Family Madrigal", "What Else Can I Do", and "Dos Orugitas" have been floating around the Top 40 range too. But definitely the two biggest songs of this movie are the ones that have stood out the most and ironically they both float on the opposite ends of the spectrum for me when it comes to what I like and dislike about this soundtrack. I will admit that I get why both this and "Bruno" are the ones that are doing the best. They are the catchiest...for better and in this song's case, for worse.
I know a lot of people can relate to a song about paranoia and pressure. Hell I think it speaks to the zeitgeist incredibly well. But this is more about Lin Manuel Miranda's songwriting and style...it doesn't work on a song like this. I can say this as a big fan of Lin Manuel's work, his flow and nerdy trademarks should not be applied to a song about a woman expressing her deepest insecurities onto the world. It works in Hamilton because to me, that's a musical aimed for history nerds like myself. But here? No. I'm sorry but as a fan, I'm putting my foot down. Not all vocalists can work with this style. The biggest example of what I'm saying is the chorus. That is some real weak sauce shit especially with those forced millenial WOAH-OH-OH-OH-OHs that are such a LMM trademark. And nothing against Jessica Darrow as a singer, but she's no Phillipa Soo or Renee Goldsberry or Jasmine Cephas Jones or....hell why focus on just Hamilton, let's get even more LMM-Disney by saying she's no Auli'i Cravalho (Moana). All those women had voices that meshed well with his style. Darrow just...doesn't.
Look it's easy to see why Bruno is the new big Disney song. I just disagree when it comes to this one content wise. Sorry.
THE MEDIOCRE TIER
"abcdefu" - GAYLE
Remember earlier when I was talking about the radio being behind the times? This was popular on TikTok in the summer last year and is just now nearly peaking on radio...what sort of barren wasteland are we living in?
Apparently a barren wasteland of Olivia Rodrigo knockoffs. Between this and that awful "Fingers Crossed" song that will gain traction in a few months (mark my words), the Olivia Rodrigo carbon copies are going to come out in full force. What they are going to lack is Olivia's theatrics and sharp songwriting. Which will make us all the more happier and anticipating her next album to get rid of these D-listers.
At the very least, this song is at least a hilarious level of bad than I've seen people give it credit for. I mean look at that title. That's just asking for people to make fun of its immature stupidity. Also its believable levels of petty for a girl who was sixteen when she wrote this song and seventeen when it took off. It hasn't reached Cher Lloyd levels of being an insufferable brat...yet. I think that guitar really does save this from being any worse than mediocre for me. I'm just so happy that its back...I just hope this song doesn't kill it off again.
"Ghost" - Justin Bieber
This single from that forgettable Justin Bieber album sure does exist, doesn't it? How are we already at five singles from that? What timeline even is this? It is a shame though because I think this song could have worked if it was given to a performer with actual personality and charisma.
"Pushin P" - Gunna & Future (featuring Young Thug)
Literally just copy and paste what I said in that "Super Gremlin" entry here because I can't think of anything else content wise. It is the 4 out of 10 interchangeable trap song of the season. But allow me to try to give you something of value...for the fans! Gunna is the Zack Snyder of rap music. Future saying he turned a lesbian to a pesbian is so dumb that it made me chuckle. Young Thug's part is good, should have given him more of the song.
And I do understand what "pushin p" stands for....I'm not that old and behind the times. You literally named the song pushing pee...I had to make the urine joke because they put the thought in my head.
THE DECENT TIER
If you asked me this a few months ago, this would have probably been in the mediocre tier.
"Easy On Me" - Adele
But time and the lack of real variety has made me at least appreciate this song a tad more. I still think Adele has so many better hits than this one, but the more I hear Adele begging her son to forgive her for ending her relationship with her son's father...it just hits more than it did previously. Because I wrote this song off as the biggest retread of Adele's career and easily her most overrated. And to an extent, this might still be her most overrated song...either that or "Hello", come back to me on that take. But I do at least admire the raw emotion more than I did before. Just wish she would take more chances again instead of playing it safe with the emotional ballads; no matter how great she still is at them.
"Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" - Elton John & Dua Lipa
...the pandemic really has delayed a lot of things. Because it looks like we are finally experiencing that EDM/house remix trend that "Roses" started two years ago. You all remember that forgettable song, right? Well its a lot more influential than we thought it had any right to be as the trend seems to be really picking up steam at the moment. Hell there's another song out right now that is picking up steam that remixes "Do It To It" by Cherish, a song from when I was in high school. Way to make me feel old, pop music.
At the very least, I do kind of like this one. I mean outside of "Rocket Man", it has three of Elton John's more forgettable songs all meshed into this one disco based house music. It's not really re-inventing the wheel to have Dua Lipa singing along to them either. If Elton John was going to make a throwback to his old songs, it makes sense to have Dua Lipa, who literally has an album called "Future Nostalgia", perform such an easy cashgrab like this.
But what can I say? It is performed by Elton John and Dua Lipa. Two voices who are absolutely pleasant to listen to. I'm fine with this, no matter how cynical it may be that it exists.
"That's What I Want" - Lil Nas X
So this managed to stick around after all since last ranking. I honestly can't say that I expected that. Just like with that Justin Bieber song a few entries ago, I thought that third album singles were a thing of the pre-streaming era of music? Especially after the album dropped over half a year ago. But I chalk this up more to the current playing field than I do to the third single revival we seem to be experiencing. That said, this is easily better than "Ghost", but I still really wish I liked this one a lot more than I do. But I prefer this song more in context with the album than I do as a standalone single.
"Stay" - The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber
This is perfectly fine. It still frustrates me that I see so much missed potential for this to be really great, but I'm willing to accept that this is still fine for what it is. A perfectly passable pop song from two artists that I normally really can't stand. I do think its amazing though that this is on its way to being one of the biggest pure pop songs of all time. Really? This song? Really?
THE GOOD TIER
"Shivers" - Ed Sheeran
I still like this, but per the theme of this seasonal ranking, I'm ready for something new. I will say that this is still better than anything else Ed Sheeran has out right now by a country mile. Come on Ed. "Overpass Graffiti" was right there for your next single.
Ahem...it looks like I was wrong.
"Enemy" - Imagine Dragons & JID
This is not going to make any sense to a good portion of my followers, but here it goes. A few months ago, I did an Imagine Dragons album retrospective with my friend and occasional writing collaborator, Wumbo. And after listening to that recent album, I more or less stated that Imagine Dragons recent album was a hilarious trainwreck and that their time making actual hits was a thing of the past. And as soon as I said that, guess who decides to skyrocket up the charts and looks like they have a legitimate smash hit for the first time in nearly five years?!
How did this happen? Was it the guest rapper? Nah. It is them relying on an old staple of the pre-pandemic pop-rap crossover appeal. Plus, JID is on J. Cole's label, so he was bound to breakthrough at some point in the near future. Was it the cross tie-in promotion from Arcane League of Legends?! I mean that makes sense doesn't it? Leave it to Imagine Dragons to get their comeback hit from what made them famous in the first place, commercials for a product! Yeah that makes perfect sense. No one would actually seek out Imagine Dragons otherwise...except the streaming for this song is legitimately really good. A lot of people are actually seeking this song out.
Whatever it is, there is something to this, isn't there? To me it's what the song is about. Imagine Dragons leaning into the 'everybody hates me' angle. It's this side to the band that has emerged over the last two to three years when the Imagine Dragons backlash truly began. Like everybody hating this band the way they hated Nickelback a decade prior. Except where Chad Kroeger really came off as an asshole, nearly everything I've heard about Dan Reynolds is that he's such a good person.
And on that last album, that was briefly explored a bit. There were a couple songs where Dan did touch upon said backlash. A lot of the time pretty badly ("No Time for Toxic People"), but it was still there. This song is basically every misstep Dan Reynolds took last year and approaching it more listenable. Yeah sure there's moments to this song where its too...well "Imagine Dragons"-esque for my taste. Mostly with how Dan Reynolds contorts his voice like singing is just miserable for him. But you know what, I'll stick up for it. I like it a lot more than a lot of Imagine Dragons past outings in recent memory. Good stuff.
"AHH HA" - Lil Durk
The piano and the percussion goes really hard on this, I love it. And Lil Durk's bars on this are straight fire. His flow and his hook are great. Like you can tell how much built up anger he has for all the shit he's gone through. I mean he lost his brother and King Von over the course of a year from someone from YoungBoy Never Broke Again's posse. Of course he is pissed off at him. Plus with the amount of potshots NBA Youngboy (this is much easier to type) has taken at Lil Durk, about time Durk responded by basically saying he has other things he should be doing other than this. And rightfully so. Durk is super close to being one of the biggest names in rap. Let this pissant keep begging for cultural relevance because you're going places while NBA Youngboy will just keep being a blip on the radar.
Otherwise, I'm over this feud between Durk and NBA Youngboy. I refuse to fully endorse this diss track on the merits of just the amounts of actual deaths this feud has drummed up once again. Like I really do get a sense of Durk wanting to ditch the street life and just focus on his music since he's so close to breaking through. Yet I feel like this being his biggest solo hit to date is only going to push Durk back to the well. I mean all the teenage white boys out there will keep egging this beef on, when in reality, this feud between Durk and NBA Youngboy should be put to rest before any more lives are taken. Like the song is good Durk, but I believe that you are capable of making something truly great and for that reason alone, end this.
Okay now let's talk about Bruno-no-no...
"We Don't Talk About Bruno" - The Encanto Cast
So how did we get here? The biggest Disney crossover song of all time? The only number one song in history to have seven credited singers...and that doesn't include all the random guest spots? Why this? Because its an absolute ear jackhammer of a song, that's how. Once it enters your brain, it never escapes.
After a few months, I can attribute a few more factors. For starters, this is a song that is tailor made for the TikTok era of pop music. It has all the simplicity, earworm style, and especially the theatrics that make so many movie songs crossover (see: The Greatest Showman). Actually let's use that example. I've seen so many songs from that movie trend on TikTok because of repeat viewings of watching the movie. And as I stated with "Surface Pressure", we are in the Encanto era of pop culture. These two eras go so perfectly together that its like a bottled up recipe for a massive successful crossover single like this. Like you can literally splice any of these seven credited parts and do an individual TikTok solely based off of that part. And because this song plays into such a crucial part of the movie, it only makes sense that this is the song that got big. Add in being incredibly catchy and insanely quotable and you've got a song that absolutely capitalized off of so many perfect moments lining up.
And for as great as this song is, I didn't put it in the excellent tier because I need a little more time to think about this. Usually my criteria for when it comes to movie singles like this, can they stand alone by itself? And I need some more time to mull that thought over for myself. Because it is so easy for me to say both yes and no. Yes because of it being such an earworm that I find myself singing it at so many random points of the day. And also no because of how much this ties into the middle of the movie for me. Especially the last part where Mirabel ties all the pieces together and notice that Bruno's vision involves her putting out the candle and then the awkward family dinner scene and...you see where I'm getting with this?
We'll see how well this holds up for me over time. Still wonderful though and absolutely deserves to be the song that got big from the movie.
THE EXCELLENT TIER
I really don't know what else to say except I still love all these songs. But I'm ready for something new. So let's just lazily recap these and move on...just like charts should be doing.
"Need to Know" - Doja Cat
Doja's best single...until "Get Into It (Yuh)" officially becomes one.
"Industry Baby" - Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow
Everyone involved should be taking multiple victory laps.
"Levitating" - Dua Lipa
Dua's about to win both copyright lawsuits.
"Save Your Tears" - The Weeknd & Ariana Grande
The fact that this is still bigger than any of those songs from Dawn.FM proves that The Weeknd needs to take some week days off and make the people miss him again.
And that's this season's Top 20 ranked...I guess. Not necessarily all bad mind you. After all, I'm sticking up for at least more than half of this week's chart being worth listening to. With that said though, as I beat the dead horse for the tenth time, I want more fresh content. I'm not ready to write this year off as a transitional year for the charts where nothing of note happened. I mean the pandemic FINALLY I HOPE AND PRAY AND BEG to be entering an endemic phase. That should mean a closer return to normalcy, even if its not what we once knew. Hopefully that means the heavy hitters are coming out in full force and that the charts will be interesting again. We shall see. Thanks for reading guys.
Before I wrap this up, I want to pause for a quick update about the rest of list season. After months and months and months of working on something regarding a worst list, I'm going to go ahead and pull the plug on that. Not because I didn't compose an actual list, but it was just not fun to write this year and honestly, it mostly consisted of hot takes. 2021 was the year where I watched the least amount of bad movies in my lifetime and honestly didn't have anything interesting worth saying about. So because of that, I'm just going to solely do a best list. I'll gladly share my worst list on my best list, but don't expect a deep dive into why these movies are bad. If anything, we need positivity now more so than ever before. So my Best Films of 2021 list should be out this month. Keep an eye out for that. Until then, take care and thank you all for following. I know my content has been lacking for the past year, but I've got some personal news to share with you all in the very near future. Stay tuned.
What is the point of doing these preambles? I swear how many more ways can I say there
were some bad things this year and there were some good things this year. How many more ways can I just delay the inevitable and just reveal my lists?
I kid of course. I just feel like its become rather predictable writing these. And it is especially apparent when you don't have any real strong feelings about a year in hit music like this one. I mean I watch a lot of year end retrospectives as motivation for me to get off my ass and finish my own and I've seen such polarizing indifference about 2021 as a whole. I've seen some say this was one of the best years ever. I've seen some say that this was a drop-off. I've seen some say this year was not good. I'm somewhere in between all these opinions. Which I mean let's be honest here. This absolutely was not like last year, which that year was so good that I had to do a Top 20 Best List. But at the same time though, 2020 has a valid reason to be claimed as one of the best hit music years ever; especially as a great distraction from the terrible year 2020 was as a whole. Of course there was going to be a drop-off in quality. That being said, 2021 still has a lot of good trends going for it that I'm not going to write this year off as a whole. Any year that brings back pop-punk is going to see me sticking up for it in some way.
So yeah, 2021 music gets a solid 6 out of 10 for me. Let's go ahead and wrap this year up properly by talking about the best it had to offer. Starting off with...
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
“Laugh Now, Cry Later” – Drake (featuring Lil Durk)
Still great nearly a year later. Amazing how this is better than every song on
“Certified Lover Boy” and it wasn’t even included on the album despite being
the alleged lead single.
“Wants and Needs” – Drake (featuring Lil Baby)
As a matter of fact, every song on the "Scary Hours 2 EP" is
better than every song on “Certified Lover Boy”. Speaking of which, people are probably going
to forget this Drake & Lil Baby collab when looking back at this year
because of how memorably atrocious their other collab was "Girls Like Girls", but I sincerely hope
that’s not the case because this song was quite the bop for most of this year.
“Willow” – Taylor Swift
I mean let’s be honest here.
There are like at least twenty songs from the last couple Taylor Swift
albums that I wish were able to become actual hits over this. But it’s still good on its own merits. Hell the Elvira remix of this would make my
top ten for sure.
“Save Your Tears” – The Weeknd & Ariana Grande
This is the best version of this song by a country
mile. One of the rare occasions of the
remix game working to improve a song rather than obtain a quick and easy number
one…which this song still went to number one. But even then, this remix will forever be associated with this song more so than the original for me.
“Heartbreak Anniversary” – Giveon
The best Sam Smith song ever. This was a huge year for R&B and Giveon
is one of the best new names leading the pack. Every single song he released this year I loved. With this being the best of the bunch.
“Dakiti” – Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez
It’s a vibe. If 2021
sounded like a song, it would be this one.
Dark and broading with no signs of optimism in site.
“Todo De Ti” – Rauw Alejandro
This also slaps. What
can I say? I’m a sucker for disco pop in
general. Good year for reggaeton hits this
was.
“Need to Know” – Doja Cat
I fucking hate Dr. Luke. I really do. But god damn does he still know how to make atmospheric beats that are really this fucking good. It also compliments Doja Cat perfectly and really highlights why she is one of the biggest popstars in the world right now. Really the perfect showcase of Doja's talents as a performer.
“good 4 u” – Olivia Rodrigo
The fact that this should have and could have been number
one for eleven weeks if it wasn’t for chart manipulation is a testament as to
how much pop-rock is back. Thank you
Olivia Rodrigo for making one of the best bangers of the year. Can’t wait for your “Brand New Eyes” era of
pop-rock.
“Hell of a View” – Eric Church
So based off my worst list, you’re probably thinking that
country music had a terrible 2021. Let
me flip that narrative right now and point out that I said country music had
some pretty bad hits this year. That
doesn’t mean the genre as a whole had a terrible 2021. Hell, not all the hits were even bad. This one was pretty damn great if you ask
me. And this was the last cut I had to
make for my list and this was an incredibly painful one at that.
...got it? Good. Let's head off with a bang! We're counting down!
THE TOP ELEVEN BEST HIT SONGS OF 2021
----
I think it is only fitting we start this list off by talking
about the biggest new name of the year.
11. “déjà vu” – Olivia Rodrigo
The emergence of Olivia Rodrigo is easily what I’ll remember
most about 2021. This woman came out of
nowhere and emerged as the biggest name in the industry overnight. A lot of people, myself included initially,
thought that she was just an industry plant by the Disney Corporation in order
to really rule all formats of media. But
the more I listened to her music, the more naïve I realized I was. She became a huge name by just being really
fucking good at writing and making good music.
I haven’t seen a popstar that has proved this quickly that
she is this good since Taylor Swift first emerged. And the comparisons all year between the two
just really are too true. What Taylor
has always been good at is the small little details when it comes to
storytelling. And Olivia is just as good
at it. Case in point, this song. Every little detail in this song stands out
to me. Reminiscing on watching re-runs
of your favorite show with your ex, god knows how many times I’ve done that
with past relationships. Introducing him
or her to your favorite singer and specific lines remind you of your past. Jesus Christ there are too many that I can’t
even begin to count. None that are from
Billy Joel, but that’s a good choice.
And the music itself is equally as good. From the musicbox loop repeated throughout
the melody and hell I even like The Chainsmokers-esque drop. Best drop of the year, fight me. Despite loving it as much as I do, this song
is only this low on the list because it really doesn’t have as good of a repeat
value for me. There was a brief time
where I honestly didn’t want to seek it out like the rest of this list, hell
even most of my honorable mentions. But
there is absolutely no denying that this was the song that absolutely for sure
sold me on Olivia Rodrigo and this deserves to make it on my actual list for
that reason alone.
----
2021. Another good
year for Ariana Grande as she managed to have another good album and another
year of multiple smashes on the hit parade…yet I’m sensing a bit of cracks in
the armor. I still think she has some
more years ahead of her in terms of being one of the biggest names in the music
industry, but that new album didn’t really bring anything new to the
table. They just felt like a bunch of
leftovers from the previous era and that even includes the re-release with five
to six new forgettable singles.
I still love Ariana Grande and really hope she proves me
wrong, but at the same time, I’m really starting to sense some burn out from
the Ariana-tors. But hey, at least we
had one great song from that new album.
If you’re expecting a full on explanation for this one, I
really don’t have any valid explanation other than I’m a simp. This sounds sexy and it sounds like Ariana
Grande is just offering up a good time having fun passionate sex. Compare that to say many of her other sex
songs which more often than not, the songs make it sound like sex is a chore
for her. Meanwhile, the simple sounding
production makes the lyrics come off as more playful and that Ariana will be
more invested in making sure she is giving you the best time possible.
Hell I even love the remix, even though I’ve got to admit,
the original would probably be in my top five if that’s what Billboard credited
it as. Doja and Megan really kind of
take away from most of the playful elements that I mentioned earlier (aka the
second and third verses from the original).
But what can I say? Doja and
Megan are also hot and they are honestly more confident about their sexual experience
in their pinky fingers than Ariana Grande does most of the time.
So yeah, what else can I say but…
----
I don’t know you guys.
Part of me has been amazed that Lil Nas X has been able to sustain a
career beyond “Old Town Road”. The other
part of me feels like he really could care less about making music. I mean “Panini”, “Holiday”, “Montero (Call Me
By Your Name)”….all perfectly okay ideas.
But none of them really feel like fully developed songs.
My feelings on Lil Nas X as an artist are just complicated
at best, despite me loving him as a personality. We’ve been gravely missing popstars with
actual personalities as of late so I’ll absolutely stand behind Lil Nas X
amongst every controversy the guy gets into.
Especially if the quality is as good as this.
9. “Industry Baby” – Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow
And most of that quality comes from those stock sounding
trumpets. Like I’m almost 100% certain
that its some sort of loop from another song in the past few years because
trumpets have made such a huge comeback in hit music in recent memory. Lil Nas X is that big of a troll that I’m
certain my assumption is true. But I got
to give the man his props. This song
wouldn’t be nearly as effective without those glorious trumpets because they
get you hyped. The song may be about Lil
Nas X’s ostracization due to his sexuality and persevering adversity towards
his success, but with those trumpets, I consider this more of a modern day
“jock jam”. Like I wouldn’t be surprised
if a lot of athletes start to use this song as their entrance music. Which would absolutely defy the purpose of
this song, but so be it because Jack Harlow does too.
Yeah I honestly did not expect Jack Harlow to stick around
after “What’s Poppin” to be honest. That
admittedly was a very bad take on my part, but could you blame me after damn
near everything he’s released since then has been flop after flop after
flop? But you know how I’ve said in the
past that most Lil Nas X songs sound incomplete because they are missing a
bridge or another verse? Well that’s
where Jack Harlow comes in and helps fully flesh out this idea just like Billy
Ray Cyrus did for “Old Town Road”. Fun
fact, the original guest rapper was supposed to be Nicki Minaj and I’m so glad
those plans fell through due to Nicki never responding. This song works much better as an ode to the
newer generation of popstars trying to stay famous in the TikTok era of popular
music than listening to twelve year stalwart Nicki Minaj who is possibly on her
way out; don’t hold me to that take barbz.
I fully expect this to make the 2022 year end list as well
and it keeps growing on me day after day.
Expect a potential repeat discussion around this time next year too.
I saw this article months ago and it is quite possibly one
of the most insightful music articles that I’ve read this year. Because it certainly is not wrong.
“Blinding Lights” is still a phenomenal song. And you know what, let’s just get this reveal
out of the way. Because of course it
made the best list again. Who are we
fucking kidding?
8. “Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd
Got it? Good. Anyway, “Blinding Lights” is just such a game
changer that I’ve got the feeling that whenever The Weeknd does make that next
album, it’s going to have some mighty lofty single expectations. I mean a song finally overthrew “The Twist”
as the most successful charting single of all-time. I thought that was never going to
happen. But then again, I didn’t expect
the music industry to come to some sort of standstill that we would have so
many singles chart shelf lives extend to over a year. Let alone two.
But if you want further proof on how impossibly tough it
will be for The Weeknd to escape the shadow that “Blinding Lights” has casted
for him, look no further than his follow-ups.
Yes I ended up coming around on “Save Your Tears” again, but that’s
mostly due to Ariana Grande and not him.
And that ended becoming a massive hit mostly due to the remix because it
was preparing to exit the top ten before Ariana Grande saved it. The real example of this is “Take My
Breath”. A song that sure does exist,
doesn’t it? This might be the safest
song that The Weeknd has ever recorded and that’s its problem. He could have done this song at any point in
the last five years and it would have been a hit. Its literally just another 80s inspired pop
song. And quite frankly, I don’t want
The Weeknd to be delegated to being a retro pastiche act like Bruno Mars has
sadly become. Sure I’m a sucker for a
good throwback song like the rest of us, but I want more than just a pretty
familiar sounding pop song. I want depth
and relatability. That’s why we all fell
for “Blinding Lights” the way that we did.
Because it is the best of both worlds.
It is retro pastiche with a modern twist on it.
Will The Weeknd resort to making familiar 80s lite synthpop
for the rest of his career? I hope
not. But if so, I at least hope that he
remembers why “Blinding Lights” worked so well and learn from it instead of
just going back to the well to make safe easy listening shlock.
----
And speaking of career defining songs.
7. “Levitating” – Dua Lipa
This is now one of the biggest songs to never top the
charts. That’s amazing to me because if
my children ever asked me what the biggest songs of the pandemic were, I would
certainly tell them my short list would be “Circles” by Post Malone, “Blinding
Lights” by The Weeknd, and “Levitating” by Dua Lipa (and possibly “Stay” by The
Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber…give me a few months on that one to see). All incredibly great pop songs that were
massive and lasted in the top ten for over 40 months…and yet the latter being
the only one to never make it to number one astonishes me. Because Billboard had to completely
recalibrate the charts the week that “Levitating” was supposed to finally reach
number one and gave it to “Leave the Door Open” instead. Let’s be honest, I haven’t thought about that
song in so many months that it has become a bit of an afterthought to me. Wouldn’t be surprised if others felt the
same.
That said, “Levitating” was and is still one of the
highlights in “Future Nostalgia”. It’s
no surprise to me that so many people loved this song so much that it gave it a
second wind rising back up the charts just when we thought it was on its way
out. Not only does this song remind me
of the disco era of pop music from the 70s and 80s, hell it reminds me of the
early 2010s when pop music was at one of its biggest peaks in cultural
relevance. Hell it’s a homage to that
era that it even has a featuring guest rapper credit.
Look, we had to talk about this story at some point during
these music lists, so I’m just going to get this out of the way now. I almost like the DaBaby featured remix of
“Levitating” almost as much as the original.
Which is especially blasphemous to say now with DaBaby’s cancellation
for being a homophobic asshole. And yes,
of course I don’t support DaBaby’s intolerance of the LGBTQ community. He absolutely deserves everything he got when
it came to all the unapologetic behavior and refusing to understand the harm
his words provided. But like it has been
said before, it is hard to separate the art from the artists. And if I can push aside all the toxicity of
DaBaby’s comments, I have to admit. His
remix slapped. Even when I hear the
original version on the radio, sometimes I think of DaBaby saying “Left foot,
right foot, levitating. Pop star Dua
Lipa with DaBaby.” That’s when you know
your remix is in the minds of peoples subconscious.
In the end, all I can say is that Billboard got the credit
right. This is Dua Lipa’s song and I
hope it won’t completely define her career.
This woman has so much good music in her that I can’t wait to see where
she goes next once the “Future Nostalgia” era runs out. But until that day comes, I hope “Cool” gets
the next singles push.
----
According to Apple Music, this was my most played song of
the year. Which sounds about right
because this song was supremely therapeutic for me throughout 2021.
6. “Good Days” – SZA
Yes, you read that right.
My eighth best hit song was my most played song of 2021. That must mean I don’t like listening to the
rest of this list more than this one song, right? Honestly, I had a whole dialogue planned out
for this to be my number one since the start of January about how stressful
this year was and how this helped me to come to terms with so many elements of
my life this one song cured. But after
two months of damn near playing this song out to death, listening to this song
became more of a part of my daily routine to the point that it started to lose
its luster after a bit. Then I started
to question if this should make my best list at all as more and more great
music became hits throughout the year that I loved more than this one. And then I realized, no that’s stupid. This is still a fantastic song on its own
merits, even if overplay killed it quite a bit for me.
But you know what, even now with all these new COVID variants
out there and my home country just descending into even more political chaos
and with every new thing that has managed to stress me the fuck out, I still
find myself popping on this song and just absolutely feeling calm and in
control of my own destiny. I find it
funny that SZA points out even in this song about “the end of the world”
because I bet she is definitely not at a table for one on that take.
Will the world continue to descend into madness? Probably.
Omicron is absolutely wrecking the world as we speak as more and more
people I know are catching the virus despite being vaccinated. But I still believe in “Good Days” on the
horizon, even if that makes me as blindly optimistic as Ted Lasso. Who cares, this song is my medicine. Next.
I mentioned on last year’s list that “WAP” was the most
talked about hit song of 2020 from the likes of conservative pundits to hell
even Snoop Dogg saying that the song was too graphic. This is the same guy who has an album
actually called “Doggy Style” saying that listening to two women talk about how
much they enjoy sex is too much.
Seriously the amount of backlash this song got was just too
much for even me. I still think “WAP” is
as fantastic as it was the first day I heard it. But someone had to speak up in the defense of
“WAP” and my god I’m sure glad Megan responded to the backlash in the way that
she did.
5. “Thot Shit” – Megan Thee Stallion
Look on surface level, this is the exact song a lot of
people expect Megan Thee Stallion to make.
A song kissing off haters and flaunts her success? She sure hasn’t made this topic before. Only like three to four times in the three
years she’s been relevant, right? Yeah…but
she’s great at it….and this is the most technically sound she has sounded out
of all her hits she’s had since 2019.
Yeah this song has a different energy in comparison to the
rest of her hits. Because it is her
responding to all the cranky conservatives like Ben Shapiro who thought “WAP”
or “Body” was too provoking. It is her
doubling down on all that criticism by saying, “Yeah I like to twerk and yeah I
like to have sex, so?” Point Megan. I can’t believe we still live in a society
where there are people that frown upon women empowering their sexual
prowess. I mean yeah the evangelicals
are one thing, but need I repeat myself that fucking Snoop Dogg frowned upon “WAP”? On that front, you’ll always see me being
approving of songs like this, especially when they are this well-crafted. Megan just hits on this with zinger after
zinger and line after line of just memorable quotes for me. Just like “WAP” before it, I can make a best
list solely full of lines from this song.
You know what would top that list though?
“Man, ain’t nobody come to see you, Otis”
…I too am glad that I’m not the only one to remember “The
Temptations” mini-series. And as funny
as that out of nowhere pop culture reference comes from, it also has a double
meaning for her beef with Nicki Minaj.
Yeah those are two beefing now too in case you all forgot, but it is
okay if you don’t because Nicki beefs with everybody. Like I said earlier, she's on her way out for a reason.
I'm here for this and I hope Megan keeps pushing back at her haters like this. She can give any competition a run for their money.
----
I admit that its unfair of me to constantly point out the
negatives of the songs that get big on TikTok the last few years. Plenty of songs that have gotten big off
TikTok have made it on past best lists of mine.
“Old Town Road” being the poster child of the TikTok era of popular
music made a best list of mine in the past.
“Levitating” above got second wind thanks to TikTok challenges. My point being that TikTok has done equal
amounts of good for popular music that I have zero problems with it sticking
around for the long haul. Hell TikTok
introduced me to this gem and I solely associate it with such.
4. “Telepatia” – Kali Uchis
I’m just going to be blunt about my next pick here. The moment I heard this song, I immediately
connected with it like there was no tomorrow.
I have been in the same exact long distanced relationship where I wish I
knew what was going on with a woman who lived over 3000 miles apart from me;
who ironically enough was fluent in English and Spanish. We never met in person sadly enough. We did video chat and messaged each other
fairly often. I was head over heels to
the point that were times I tried to connect with her telepathically and felt
the woman I was dating reach back for me.
And those feelings that I had are absolutely in the past, but if there
was ever a song that represented those emotions perfectly, it would be
this. And the musical composition for
how that previous relationship felt?
Exactly like this.
My god this is such a beautifully composed song. From the lush strings to the bouncing
chimes, this song is such a divine listening experience. And Kali Uchis is such a delightful
singer. This is the perfect song to sing
bilingual to and I can’t imagine it being performed in any other way. I knew of her and heard like one song by her
in the past. This made me go into a
deeper dive into her discography and I love what I see. This being her biggest hit really does give
me hope that we are on the verge of more bilingual pop music outside of BTS. Because this is one of the few songs that has
really tempted me to dust off my Spanish and memorized the lyrics to.
Also this video is as beautifully composed to as the
song. Yeah go ahead and insert the same
horny gif for this too. What can I
say? It’s me being a simp again. So you know what that means...
...I love this gif and will forever find ways to utilize it. Next.
----
This being my number three biggest song of the year would
have sounded impossible earlier in the year after I first heard it. But what can I say? It just kept growing and growing and growing…..
3. “drivers license” – Olivia Rodrigo
…on me. Yes this is a
fairly unpopular opinion amongst my friends and peers, but you know what fuck
it. Olivia Rodrigo’s best single is this
one. The one where she reflects on her
relationship drama with a very accurate comparison point in her life about
getting her drivers license. Almost
everyone I know prefers “déjà vu” or “good 4 u” more. At one point I did with the former, but
drivers license just had something that kept pulling me back in. Was it a reminder as to how overdramatized
teenage relationships were for me? Yeah
a little. Was it the interesting
celebrity drama? Yeah a little.
Honestly, there is a really good SNL sketch
from this year where a bunch of guys hang out together at a bar discussing this
song and damn near every single thing discussed was me throughout the year
sorting out my feelings with this song.
That I kept loving it more and more throughout the year was only a side
effect. But do you know what really
pushed it this high up on my best list.
This song has one of the best bridges ever.
That is not an overstatement. That is not something I’m going to have
second thoughts declaring. This is a
fact. Billboard made a Top 50 list of
the best bridges and I know people were up in arms that they said this was the
third best bridge ever and that it was recently-biased. I’m here to stick up for Billboard by saying
that I can only think of one bridge off the top of my head that is better and
that is “Hey Ya!” which that bridge is iconic (and also was ranked the best by
Billboard too). But you know what? So is this one. I’m literally blasting the bridge right now
as I type this because it is that phenomenal.
So what to take away from this entry? Don’t immediately write off a song after one
impression. Sometimes they manage to
surprise you. I know my relationship
with this song was never perfect, but I’ve never felt this way about no one….
----
There are some years where it is incredibly tough to decide
what my favorite song of the year was and this year certainly was one of
them. I went back and forth so many
times between these two that I can’t even begin to describe how frustrating it
was to decide which of these was better than the other. So be prepared for equal amounts of gushing here
because I absolutely love these final two songs way too much that I almost
considered naming these 1A and 1B instead of 1 and 2. With that said, god damn would it have been
great for me to say a Billie Eilish song was my number one for a second year in
a row.
2. “Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish
I know she’s only been relevant for three years now, but
we’re already at the point where I think its safe to say that Billie Eilish is
simply too good for modern pop music. We
really don’t deserve her, yet here she is keep trying to find ways to push the
conventional envelope that is what we define as modern pop music. The fact that this even qualified as a hit song
at all just astonishes me. When was the
last time there’s been a rock opera style song with this much staying power? I mean let’s not kid ourselves, it mostly got
the points it got due to streaming, but people kept streaming it because it is
fucking fantastic.
And that album. Good
lord is it fucking phenomenal. Not a
single weak spot on that album for me.
Even “Therefore I Am” managed to grow on me because of how well it
worked in conjunction with the rest of the album.
I mean how much more praise can I bestow upon Billie Eilish
before it just becomes repetitive? Two
years ago I told y’all to invest in Billie Eilish and it is only fitting that
cryptocurrency took off this year. It’s
because you all invested in Billie Eilish and now you’re all loaded in
crypto. I’ll be taking my advice
payments in dogecoin thank you very much.
Look whose happier than ever now.
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And if I think Billie Eilish is simply too good for modern
pop music, then Chris Stapleton absolutely towers over modern country music.
1. “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
I’ll be honest and just come out and say that it took awhile
to figure out how to best approach describing how much I love this song to you
all. But here goes nothing.
The song itself is about starting anew and looking for new
horizons while being in perpetual motion.
My wife and I are going through a phase in our lives where we are trying
to start a family. This means some big
changes are going to be coming into our lives with us wondering how we are
going to be financially feasible and I’m about to have to make some big changes
in my life as well. My current career
path is going nowhere as I feel like I’m stuck where I’m at. My side gig here writing freelance has given
me a few interviews with some minor publications and one major that may
surprise you in Rolling Stone. Yep THE
Rolling Stone. None of these endeavors
have worked out for me, but admittedly, I’m not trying as hard as I possibly
could have to get a writing gig.
But when the day comes where my wife and I succeed at
starting our new adventure into parenthood, it will be one of the happiest days
of my life. I’ve been indecisive as to
what I’ve been wanting to do with my life career-wise, but if there is one
certainty that I know I wanted to be when I grew up, it was to be a
father. And that day may be coming
closer than I realized with each attempt and I’m ready to put an end to my
current life being solely about me and start over by making my life solely
about raising a child with my loving wife.
So if you guys thought I related hard with many songs on
this best list; those were all past memories or situations I’ve been in. This song is the one that relates to my life
right now in the present. I don’t know
where this journey into fatherhood will take me. It might be long and hard and it may even
take awhile before it truly begins, but with my loved ones by my side, I’ll get
to where I’m going. Whether it is
becoming a parent within a year or two; or finding a new path with my current
career or professional goals. I know
that I’m my wife’s lucky penny and she can be my four leaf clover. Starting over.
Chris Stapleton has crafted one hell of a superb
song. He’s the modern day Bob Dylan and
for that reason alone, he’s too good for modern country music.
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And of course, let's wrap this up with the year-end Hot 100 ranking the songs from best to Christmas Music to best to worst:
Thank you all as always for reading. Movie lists are in the works now as I get caught up there so stay tuned for the worst list in about a month. Until next time, stay safe and take care!
