The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2016

 

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2016

In the following few paragraphs, I take a look at the most overhated year of the 2010s for the Hot 100 and make my case as to why this year is in fact overhated.

(this list was originally created on July 4, 2021

Hey guys, welcome back to Fire's Flaming Hot Takes! Today, we have another top 10 list, this time we will be looking at the top 10 best hit songs of 2016!

So as I said in my worst list, I don’t consider 2016 to be that bad of a year for the Hot 100. It isn’t a great one, by any means, because, as we’ve observed, there were a lot of lows this year and some of these songs have not aged well at all. However, like I said, it was the year I started following American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest, the first music chart I ever followed. 2016 was very defining for my music taste and growth as a listener, so the best songs this year gave me a nice little dose of nostalgia, which is always nice. There are many songs here I have a lot of nostalgia for, including some songs that I ended up having to cut from this list!

My taste really being shaped up during the times of tropical and adult contemporary sounds being in music is probably why I have such a high tolerance for them to this day. Some songs I have a humongous soft spot for from 5th and 6th grade were on this year-end, and it will definitely show through here. There was a lot to like on this year-end. Despite being fairly absent - and the ones making it being more pop-leaning if anything - I was able to find some quality in country, and even as we looked through the dregs of some of the rap on this year-end, I was able to find a little bit of quality there too. In total, there were 65 songs on this year-end - including 2015 repeats - that I would consider to be “decent tier” or higher. This year is not the best of the 2010s, but not the worst either. It’s right in the middle.

Enough rambling, now on with the list proper. As a rule, the song must have debuted on the year-end Hot 100 for 2016 to qualify - so “See You Again” is reserved for 2015 - so time to get started with our honorable mentions!

HM #1: One Direction - Perfect (YE: #100, PEAK: #10)

Yeah, it’s basically “Style” part 2, but I love “Style”, so this is still amazing. A great swan song for the band, and I love some of the lyrical details like how Harry is willing to fill in the role if his girlfriend needs someone to write a break-up song about. Amazing work guys, and if there is ever a 1D comeback coming in the future, I’m ready for it.

HM #2: Travis Scott - Antidote (YE: #75, PEAK: #16)

Travis Scott is able to use autotune to his advantage. Thus, I end up liking his songs more often than not. “Antidote” is no exception. Like I said, Travis uses the autotune to his advantage and rides off the production, which is able to create its own epic atmosphere. The big reason I like rap is that it is able to coast off its production and, if well done, can produce fantastic results. The atmosphere is dark, it’s enticing, it goes hard. Such a banger, well done Travis!

HM #3: Thomas Rhett - Die A Happy Man (YE: #64, PEAK: #21)

Alright, I know. This is so blatantly a “Thinking Out Loud” ripoff. But I’ll argue that this song is actually better than “Thinking Out Loud”, mainly because of Thomas Rhett’s tone being more sincere than Ed Sheeran’s - not to discount “Thinking Out Loud”, I do like that song - and the production fits well in this lane of pop-country. I always thought Ed Sheeran was overselling “Thinking Out Loud”, but Thomas Rhett sings this song really well in his lower register. Granted, I do think the final chorus could’ve used a bit more development so Thomas Rhett’s belting could fit better. As it is, this song is still amazing.

HM #4: Justin Bieber - Love Yourself (YE: #1, PEAK: #1)

This does not feel like the biggest hit of 2016. That said, it’s a nice, chill song that Justin Bieber’s lower register actually suits really well. Sometimes, a simple instrumental is all the song needs. I love it.

HM #5: Zara Larsson & MNEK - Never Forget You (YE: #46, PEAK: #13)

I think that my one complaint for this song is that the drop kinda falls flat. But it’s a minor complaint about an otherwise amazing song. Both Zara and MNEK have great chemistry, and the first chorus and the final chorus sound amazing, with the gleaming piano keys and the belting that they both do. And the song is all about two friends or ex-lovers that are brought back together through memories. It’s a song about companionship - “you will always be by my side till the day I die” - and it works very well. Now, why did we let “Lush Life” flop in the US?

HM #6: The Weeknd - In The Night (YE: #61, PEAK: #12)

The Weeknd had two Michael Jackson tributes make the year-end list, one of them being a 2015 repeat - “Can’t Feel My Face” - that was oddly limp and didn’t end up going anywhere outside of a strong, catchy beat. The other being this, which I’ve loved from the day I first heard it. It has a great groove and slick synths that build up into a powerful chorus. This is one of his best songs, and yet he somehow was able to top this in the coming years.

HM #7: Ariana Grande - Into You (YE: #51, PEAK: #13)

I’ll admit, it took a while for this song to fully click for me. Back in 2016, I liked it, but I didn’t really think it was anything too special. That said, sometime in 2020, when I gave it a relisten for the first time in years, it blew me away. The pulse present throughout the song is amazing and Ariana’s vocals throughout the song are fantastic. But what made this song fully click for me in the end was the bridge, where there are huge chords constantly building up on themselves into one big climax, where for one brief moment it gives you a huge adrenaline rush. That bridge is a rush of being in love and fits the whole idea of being into someone perfectly. It might’ve taken me a while to fully love this song, but I’m glad it did. This is a highlight in Ariana’s career.

So that’s a great start, now onto the list proper...

10...One of the last cuts from my honorable mentions was “7 Years” by Lukas Graham. I’m fairly certain I’m the only person in the world that does like this song, but I’ll admit, some vocals that tended to get a little irritating at times did keep it from making it. Here at #10, we have another song about looking back on your past...

10. Adele - When We Were Young (YE: #83, PEAK: #14)

This song deserves its critical acclaim. I could mention how the production on this song perfectly balances Adele’s vocals. I could talk about how Adele’s vocals in this song are among the best that she has ever delivered. What I want to talk about here is the lyrics, where Adele is in a situation where she finds a long-lost love after many years, and looking at him brings her back to many memories of when she was young. The song showcases Adele’s emotional maturity. So why is this song not higher on my list? Well, it falls into similar territory of Kesha’s “Praying” for me - it’s a bit of a heavy listen, and I don’t really listen to it too much. Regardless, this is an amazing song that I’m really glad was a hit.

9...When it comes to my best lists, nostalgia will always be a big factor in where songs place, and that is the case for this entry. If you looked at my worst list you know I talked about “Work” by Rihanna and Drake and its annoying repetitiveness of the word “work”. But if you want a song with the repetition of “work” that actually is good...

9. Fifth Harmony f/Ty Dolla $ign - Work From Home (YE: #16, PEAK: #4)

I remember making this song my song of the summer back in 2016. Its tropical beat fits the summer time so well, and to this day I listen to this song at least once every summer. “Work From Home” is a playful, fun song with an incredibly catchy melody and pretty damn good chemistry between all the members. This song always reminds me of the summer of 2016 and it brings back some pretty good memories. The reason the repetitive hook is fine in this case is the production, it’s a catchy tropical beat with a great melody, as opposed to “Work”, which has an incredibly boring production where you can only focus on the repetition of “work” until your brain melts. Also, insert Fifth Harmony predicted COVID joke here.

8...On the topic of playfulness...

8. Selena Gomez - Hands To Myself (YE: #56, PEAK: #7)

I really like Selena’s vocals on this song and the production sounds really nice. A part of the song that I really want to highlight, though, is the pre-chorus, where the piano and the synths become more prominent, and Selena’s belting works really well. Admittedly, this is an entry that I am not able to explain that well why I like it as much as I do, but at the same time there isn’t really anything I would want to change that much either. That said, I still love this song. Also “I mean I could but why would I want to”.

7...This next song is a guilty pleasure of mine, I fully understand why this song ends up on a lot of worst lists for 2016. And while I wouldn’t put it among her best, I do still kinda love this quite a bit, and thus...

7. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey f/Zedd - Starving (YE: #94, PEAK: #12)

Okay, let me get the obvious flaw out of the way - the drop is a bunch of noises that don’t mesh well together, especially in the second drop where there are a bunch of higher pitches. And yeah, that’s what keeps this song from being perfect for me. That said, I do still love it. Hailee’s vocals are pretty good and the production in the verses sounds really good. Really, it’s only the drop that is where the production shows its flaws, but even then over the years I’ve grown to tolerate it that I don’t want to discount it too much. The melody is also really amazing, and the song overall is really chill. And while it is dispiriting that Hailee couldn’t get another hit after this - seriously the fact that “Let Me Go” and “Capital Letters” were not gigantic smashes in the states is truly a crime - and while it isn’t Hailee’s best song by any means, it’s still amazing and I’m glad we at least got this as a hit.

6...So I said in my worst list, the amount of overplay a song receives can greatly affect a song’s position. As seen on my worst list, there were a lot of songs there that were victims of overplay and then never really growing back on me. And while, yes, this song was overplayed, this is a case of it actually growing back on me...

6. Justin Timberlake - CAN’T STOP THE FEELING! (YE: #9, PEAK: #1)

I think I should get this out of the way - I find Justin Timberlake to be pretty overrated. I don’t outright dislike his music, but I just don’t see it as anything special and severe radio overplay of his older hits really doesn’t help my view of him. That said I have always loved “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!” simply because of how fun the song is. One thing I will give JT is that he has good charisma and can sell his songs pretty well - it’s more production issues on his other songs that make me not like him much - and the production just gives off pure upbeat fun energy, it’s so catchy! One thing I have always called this song is “Happy done right”. “Happy” by Pharrell Williams intends to be a fun song but instead is kind of annoying. “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!” is on the other hand way more fun, and it is better than it has any right to be.

5...So Justin Bieber had the biggest song of the year with “Love Yourself”, and while I do love that song, as said in my honorable mentions, I always found this song to be better...

5. Justin Bieber - Sorry (YE: #2, PEAK: #1)

“Sorry” is this high because of its production. Justin Bieber’s career was at its peak during the Purpose era, where he was looking toward a more pop or electronic musical sound. And given how badly he fell off when he released his album Changes in 2020...yeah this album and “Sorry” stand out as a high even more. There is some genuine build-up in the pre-chorus into a drop that admittedly I do wish had more substance, but it’s a minor complaint. And Justin actually sounds really good here, especially when he sings in his upper register. This song is still a banger to this day, and I await the day Bieber returns to making songs like these...

4...This song appears on a lot of “worst of 2016” lists and quite frankly...I don’t get it...

4. Charlie Puth - One Call Away (YE: #43, PEAK: #12)

Even if I did say that 2016 is overhated, I do understand why some songs on the year-end make people feel like this year was bad...but not for this song. This song is so harmless and tame that I find it very difficult to find anything worth disliking here. Of course, the “Superman got nothing on me” line is a little cringey, and maybe people find a song with this slow tempo a bit boring, but those are still not enough in my eyes to warrant it being among the worst of this year. “One Call Away” has an amazing melody and Charlie Puth is able to sell being a companion to someone really well. The whole song is supposed to act like a friend when you need it, it’s just one click away. And really the clumsiness of the “Superman got nothing on me” line adds into the charm in this song. This is amazing, does not deserve the hate it gets.

3...I don’t think you can talk about 2016 without mentioning the breakthrough of Twenty One Pilots, the alternative duo that scored 3 consecutive top 5 hits that year. This is also when my nostalgia is ultimately going to get the best of me and give songs some favor towards the top. And if you saw my worst list for this year, you know that “Sucker For Pain” fails at its goal and is instead an absolute dreck of a song...if you want that creepy atmosphere done right...

3. Twenty One Pilots - Heathens (YE: #21, PEAK: #2)

One thing that will probably forever mystify me is how this ended up making the decade-end but not “Stressed Out”. But about the song, its epic instrumental is what carries it. It is a moderate tempo, which is what helps the song maintain its spookiness without it being a slow dirge. What really helps this song even further are the guitar solos present in the pre-chorus and close to the outro. It might be my nostalgia talking, but I love this so much, such a banger!

2...Blurryface was the album that helped Twenty One Pilots ultimately gain their momentum to score 2 top 5 hits, and then a third top 5 hit with “Heathens”. And while I’ll admit that some of the songs on Blurryface haven’t exactly held up, there are still a few fantastic highs...like this!

2. Twenty One Pilots - Ride (YE: #20, PEAK: #5)

Again, might be nostalgia talking. But regardless, I absolutely love “Ride” to this day. The organs, the reggae, and the choppy beat, it all works, and does it much better than MAGIC! did on “Rude” from 2014...a song quite comfortably among the worst of that year. The song is about Tyler Joseph admitting that he is thinking too much about life and the future, and that he should just take his time on the ride and he will enjoy it more. It gives the lesson that you should just enjoy life while you can, and to not stress about the past or the future too much. And with production that still sounds great today...yeah, a terrific song.

1...Okay, after the last two entries...would this have ever been anything else?

1. Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out (YE: #5, PEAK: #2)

From the looks of things the general consensus is that this song has not aged well and I wholeheartedly disagree with that. “Stressed Out” is a mid tempo song about longing to go back to the past where life was simpler, and the production fits that really well. It opens with a drum beat that still slaps hard to this day, heading toward the pre-chorus where the main melody starts developing. Then comes the chorus with the warbling synths and the piano which simultaneously has a theme of nostalgia and brings back personal nostalgia to me. The piano is constantly giving me back memories of when this was my favorite song of all time in 6th grade. And this song just becomes more and more relatable as you get older, where the longing of going back to simpler times becomes heightened, and this song is the kick of nostalgia I need. It is a personally significant song for me. And with that, it’s safe for me to say that “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots is the best hit song of 2016. It would’ve been so back in 2016, and it is now.

So hopefully I’ve highlighted both why people may dislike this year-end and also why it’s actually a very solid year. 2016 was a pretty middle of the road year when compared to the rest of the 2010s, but the songs I like on this list give me tons of nostalgia. Next I will be looking at 2014, a year that I have some...well...things I’d like to talk about, so stay tuned for that.