The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2011

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2011

In the following few paragraphs, I take a look at one of the best years of the 2010s for the Hot 100 and examine the songs that made that year so damn amazing.

(this list was originally created on July 7, 2021)

Hey guys, welcome back to Fire's Flaming Hot Takes. Today, we’re flipping the script, we’re talking about the top 10 best hit songs of 2011!

So as I said in my worst list, 2011 is up there as one of the best years of the 2010s for the Hot 100 - but this is mainly on its consistency and lack of atrocious or offensive songs, since the highs this year admittedly aren’t as high as some other years even if they are still terrific. The club boom was at its apex at this point, where songs both in pop and hip hop were dominated by club sounds. This style of electropop would also quickly hit its oversaturation as by 2014 this sound was practically completely gone from the Hot 100. This style of electropop exploded with personality, charisma, energy, and overall fun. And while it’s quite easy to make the assertion that many of these songs sound really dated now in 2021, they all have the benefit of nostalgia, which may change one’s view of a song over time. 2011 also was the year where country had one of its best showings on the Hot 100 in the 2010s, and unlike in 2014, only the earliest seeds of bro-country were being planted, so this was a better crop of country.

So that said, it made assembling this list pretty difficult. As I’ve always said, the amount of nostalgia I have towards a song will always be a big factor for getting on my best list. The problem was, even with that factor, I still had to cut some tracks that were nostalgic for me! But, I put together something, and I think this is a very solid song list. Most of these songs were actually “oh, this song” moments for me, I remember hearing them very vaguely as a kid but I had forgotten about them until now.

Overall, there were 75 songs on the 2011 Hot 100 year-end - including 2010 repeats - that fell into my “decent” tier or higher for me. That’s 3⁄4 of the list, which is a pretty damn awesome showing if you ask me. So remember, as a rule, the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 list for 2011 to qualify - and there were a few 2010 repeats that would’ve made it otherwise - so let’s look at the best of the best, starting with our honorable mentions...

HM #1: Avril Lavigne - What The Hell (YE: #62, PEAK: #11)

I get why this song might be considered a bit toxic but fuck it - this song is so much fun. The overcompression in the hook actually almost works in its favor with Avril’s flashy fun personality on this song - which is what makes this song. That hook is still super powerful and catchy, and it’s still such a banger to this day.

HM #2: Chris Brown - Yeah 3x (YE: #49, PEAK: #15)

Oh damn, Chris Brown making my honorable mentions? And another twist - he was actually pretty damn close to it with another one of his, “Look At Me Now” - shut up that song legitimately slaps. And yeah, I get it, this song obviously rips off Calvin Harris’s “I’m Not Alone”, but honestly this song slaps and it felt super wrong leaving it off. The production has a great pulse and electro-vibe. The intoxicating beat is really what carries this, it’s a standard club boom track but it’s up here based on nostalgia, such a great song.

HM #3: Britney Spears - I Wanna Go (YE: #46, PEAK: #7)

The whistle on this is super catchy, and the bassline is heavy but works really damn well. The chorus is genuinely an earworm, and of course the processed vocals kind of hold this back, but not enough for me to fully discount it, great song!

HM #4: Christina Perri - Jar Of Hearts (YE: #55, PEAK: #17)

Christina sounds really damn good on this song, and the melody is absolutely fantastic. But I need to bring up some of the lyrics, which kind of tend to be ridiculous admittedly - I’m looking at you “you’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul” - but that said, this song is still really damn great.

HM #5: Bad Meets Evil f/Bruno Mars - Lighters (YE: #34, PEAK: #4)

I told you this song would have a chance at making this list! Seriously, “I Need A Doctor”’s production still encapsulates the aspects that have worst aged from the Recovery era of Eminem. “Lighters”, on the other hand, is nothing that you wouldn’t expect from the Recovery era, but it still works really damn well. The parts of the song that really carry it for me is Bruno’s chorus and the production. Bruno’s vocals are super wistful and soulful, and work against the piano keys, right as the bass drops as both Eminem and Royce da 5’9” lay down their bars while the song transitions into more of a synth ballad. And while you could point to Eminem’s line “‘cause cock backwards is still cock you pricks”, the part that really elbowed this song from the list proper is in Royce da 5’9”’s verse - “every hour happy hour now, life is wacky now, used to have to eat the cat to get the pussy now I’m just the cat’s meow, ow, outclass the count, always down for the catchweight like Pacquiao” - which not only doesn’t match the rest of the song’s meaning at all, it feels so awkward. Say what you want about Bruno’s hook not matching the song, at least it’s not awkward, unlike that line. Shame, because otherwise this song is great. Just wish it could’ve been amazing. Still worthy of my honorable mentions though.

HM #6: Lady Gaga - The Edge Of Glory (YE: #29, PEAK: #3)

So I’ve seen many people flock towards “You And I” when talking about Lady Gaga’s best hit from 2011...and I honestly think people are overrating the song. It’s fine but it never really fully grabbed me. For me, “The Edge Of Glory” is the Lady Gaga hit from 2011 that has always clicked for me. The synth-driven groove, the saxophone, the pure euphoria from this song, it’s super bombastic, everything works here, great song!

HM #7: Taylor Swift - Back To December (YE: #74, PEAK: #6)

I’m just gonna say it - the backing vocals in the chorus really bother me a lot, and it was what pushed this song off the list. But aside from this, this song is quite damn near perfect, with all the orchestral swells and guitar work, and of course lyrics have always been Taylor’s strong suit, and this isn’t any exception. The song is about Taylor wanting an ex to let her back into her life after she broke his heart, but two lines in the bridge really make this song - “I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't, so if the chain is on your door, I understand” - it shows a bunch of maturity, she knows that she had hurt him and understands if her ex won’t let her back into his life. If it weren’t for the backing vocals, it would’ve definitely made the list proper. That said, this is still really great.

Alright, time for the list proper...

10...So we’ve already visited one of the “I Need A Doctor” artist’s songs in our honorable mentions...time for the other!

10. Diddy - Dirty Money f/Skylar Grey - Coming Home (YE: #38, PEAK: #11)

Again, told you this would be on the list! Honestly, part of me wanted to discount this a bit more - Skylar Grey’s chorus is by far the best part of the song, where her soft vocals complement the song’s warmth and beautiful chord progression really damn well. And she sings the next few choruses with their explosive, epic beat as well. But hey, I didn’t do it for “Lighters” and I’m not gonna do it here. It’s a song about Diddy reflecting on his past and the loss of some of his friends. I feel that the percussion might’ve been a tad too heavy in Diddy’s verses, but that’s very minor. Amazing song, love it.

9...I’d argue that this song stands out from the club boom, but in a bit of a different way. It’s EDM, but it doesn’t have the explosive personality like most other songs from this time period do. And it also stands out because this artist would then go on to have a very hit-or-miss career throughout the 2010s, and this is quite possibly his best song ever...

9. David Guetta f/Usher - Without You (YE: #73, PEAK: #4)

If there’s a song that this reminds me of the most, it’d be, weirdly, “It Ain’t Me” by Kygo and Selena Gomez, but that song is fantastic - spoilers for my best of 2017 list - so I’d obviously like this. And while this doesn’t have the tropical house drop that “It Ain’t Me” had, it still has a very similar vibe to it. Usher is pushing his performance to the max in his song as the production continues to swell in intensity. Plus the drop is actually placed quite cleanly in and it’s held up so well a decade later, certainly better than many of David Guetta’s other songs - trust me, “Titanium”’s drop has aged way worse than you’d like to admit” - and it thus stands out, terrific song.

8...This song was and still is so vastly overplayed I should find it utterly insufferable. But that said, this was the 2nd pop song I ever remember hearing so I really can’t hate this song at all...

8. Katy Perry - Firework (YE: #3, PEAK: #1)

This song is super iconic for all the right reasons. There was a reason this was one of the top 3 biggest songs of 2011. The strings arrangement in the prechorus is great, the song has genuine build-up that all lets loose and goes wild in the chorus. And then the lyrics - this is an empowerment anthem that doesn’t feel corny thanks to the production that has aged a lot better than some of the other songs from this time period. It’s a song with a production that has genuine build-up that empowers people and makes them feel pumped up. And given that it’s become such a relevant song still a decade later, yeah - amazing song. The overplay cannot hinder my enjoyment of this.

7...I’m surprised this song ended up so high for me, because I don’t really have a lot to talk about for this song, yet I strangely love this a lot...

7. Britney Spears - Till The World Ends (YE: #27, PEAK: #3)

I mean, there really isn’t much about this song that would warrant this song being this high...right? It’s just your standard electropop song from the club boom. I mean, I like the bassline and the sirens present throughout, and the song builds up really well...but what makes this song hit this list? Well, to me, this song is pretty much the club boom in a nutshell. Flashy, personality-filled electropop that is in one nonstop party, where your only feeling is that you will be dancing forever. It’s also held up remarkably well. The female pop stars this year filled their electropop club boom bangers with personality and energy, and Britney Spears is one of them. Not much to say about “Till The World Ends”, but it’s no less amazing.

6...More nostalgia!!

6. Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull - On The Floor (YE: #11, PEAK: #3)

And here’s another song that I don’t have that much to talk about, Jennifer Lopez’s comeback single that rocketed right to the top of the charts. I like the subdued production at the beginning and during the prechorus, the violin sounds really damn good. And then the beat kicks in and the song goes absolutely wild, where both J-Lo and Pitbull ride off the beat so damn well. Pitbull’s lyrics are of course ridiculously goofy, but really it adds to the entire fun vibe of the song. J-Lo’s personality really pops out on this song as well, which is what absolutely makes the best club boom hits. This is so catchy, fun, and a straight up banger to this day.

5...This next song I see a lot on “worst of 2011” lists, and - given its high placing on this list - I wholeheartedly disagree. Not that I don’t see what’s wrong with this song, by any means, but it’s still very overhated. Hell, I might just call this song my guiltiest pleasure ever. And even if I feel that it’s been sort of forgotten by most of the general public at this point - and the 2020 COVID Remix of this song only came across as a very blatant attempt to cling to some relevance - I still love it, and thus...

5. Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight Tonight (YE: #32, PEAK: #7)

“Tonight Tonight” probably stood out from the majority of the club boom because rather than having an explosive EDM production to help it out, it landed more in a pop rock vein. Now let me get the obvious criticisms out of the way, the lyrics to this song are so stupid and silly it’s not even funny - tattoo mixed with Zach Galifianakis - and the melody line is insanely basic. But really, that’s all “Tonight Tonight” needs to work for me. I’m gonna make comparisons between this and a song that would come a decade later that I find people drawing comparisons to a lot - “BANG!” by AJR. The lyrics in “Tonight Tonight” are silly of course, but really that adds to the fun vibe of the entire song. It’s not supposed to be taken all that seriously. “BANG!” thinks it’s making a statement about the difficulties of “adulting” so the lyrics in that song are not only stupid, they are super awkward. And the basic melody line? Well, “Tonight Tonight” is just a song about having a party after an awful week, so the basic melody line, in addition to the synths and decent percussion and it being just ridiculously catchy in general, really help play into it. It also helps that I love the sound of the melody line. “BANG!” on the other hand has such a cluttered production where I’m fairly certain AJR just took every instrument possible and just crashed them together to make one gigantic mess of a song. And to top it all off, Hot Chelle Rae sound like they’re having a ton of fun here, while AJR don’t sound like they’re having fun in “BANG!” at all - granted that isn’t supposed to be the subject matter but if you’re gonna make a song with stupid lyrics at least make it fun. So yeah, “Tonight Tonight” is a super catchy and fun song that is way better than it has any right to be, and I think I love it a lot more than I’d like to admit.

4...Okay, she was basically the club boom staple, I couldn’t leave her off...

4. Kesha - We R Who We R (YE: #30, PEAK: #1)

Of every female superstar that generated hits during the club boom, Kesha was arguably the biggest name from it - she had more personality, charisma, and energy in all her songs than most of her peers at the time, and honestly of all her songs I think “We R Who We R” has held up the best. With the buzzing synths and the strong build-up into the chorus, all while Kesha is bringing out her fun charisma and personality, “We R Who We R” is arguably one of the best songs from the club boom. And when all this fun is tacked on to the fact that this is an empowerment anthem about embracing yourself and letting loose, yeah, this song is awesome.

3...Most of the club boom came and went over the past decade, with only a select few songs managing to still receive decent recurrent airplay. This song is one of them. It ended up becoming one of the biggest songs of the decade and it’s pretty much what I’d call “2011 in a nutshell”...

3. Pitbull f/Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer - Give Me Everything (YE: #5, PEAK: #1)

This song is such a nostalgic banger. The piano keys and the percussion and the buzzing synths are balanced really well, and there is some genuine build-up into the chorus. The occasional higher notes from the piano keys are also a nice touch. The synth in the chorus does seem a bit wonky at first but the entire fun atmosphere does more than enough to make up for that. Pitbull’s ridiculous rapping, again, adds to the fun vibe of the entire song, the backing vocals that first appear in Nayer’s second prechorus are great, and Ne-Yo’s voice is a perfect fit for a club banger like this. Such a fun, nostalgic vibe, incredibly deserving of its success.

2...This song ended up placing this high based on nostalgia alone, and quite honestly I myself am shocked that this ended up being my runner-up for my best hit song of 2011. But, like “Firework”, this was one of the earliest songs I remember hearing and one of the first songs I remember my dad introducing to me, so I have a major soft spot for this song...

2. Gym Class Heroes f/Adam Levine - Stereo Hearts (YE: #36, PEAK: #4)

Honestly one of Adam Levine’s best vocal performances of the 2010s. Obviously this is pretty corny but, again, a soft spot for a song can seriously short-circuit an objective point of view. It’s bouncy, it’s sincere, the guitar rollick is sharp, and the gleaming synths fit this surprisingly well. The song is a metaphor for Travie McCoy picking love over animosity, and the entire song feels so bouncy and carefree that the vibe matches that message really damn well. And there are also some details in the production that I like, namely the strings able to mesh with this production in a remarkable way. Yeah, I adored this song as a kid, I adore this now. So what’s better?

1...For the longest time, “Stereo Hearts” was my #1. Even I was surprised that it was contending for that top spot for so long, it would’ve definitely been an out-of-left-field pick for a #1, but it had everything I could potentially think of to be able to top a list that is this stacked, carefree, fun, bouncy joy that I have an enormous soft spot for. But there was one certain song that ended up being a first listen when I was first going through the list, and it utterly blew me away. Originally it was only going to be an honorable mention...but the more I listened to it the more it grew on me, so you know what, I’m giving this song the credit it’s due, it might not be nostalgic by any means but it’s quite perfect if you ask me...

1. Zac Brown Band - Colder Weather (YE: #99, PEAK: #29)

This song is absolutely deserving of its reputation as a modern country classic, it’s so perfect. The opening, with its piano keys and nothing else, highlighting a man leaving his family behind in the cold, leading to the chorus where this man is confronted with the cold-hard truth - he’s got a gypsy soul to blame and was born for leaving. And then the instrumentation starts to pick up with the percussion in the 2nd verse, where the man starts to think about the woman that he left behind, and then there’s still buildup when the strings come in. The song then lets all loose for the bridge, where it starts to build up again, as the percussion starts to get more power. Zac Brown then goes from his lower register to belting, with some of the most emotive and beautiful vocals I have ever heard in a country song. The song ultimately climaxes into an instrumental solo, when the man starts to accept that cold-hard truth - he’s a rambling man and he’s never gonna change. Finally, the instrumental starts to die back down and the atmosphere becomes super empty and incredibly haunting. On a composition level alone it’s beautifully done, proper buildups everywhere. The entire song is sweeping, it’s beautiful, it’s fantastic. And every time I listen to it I’m just even more blown away by the flawlessness of this song. And as such “Colder Weather” by the Zac Brown Band is easily the best hit song of 2011.

So I’ve dug into the fantastic songs that made 2011 such a great year for the Hot 100. The lows aren’t that bad, and the highs are great. This was one of the best years of the 2010s for the Hot 100. Next year I want to look at is not in the 2010s. I’m taking a look at 2020 next, and there are some fantastic songs, as well as some atrocious ones, I’d like to highlight in 2020.