The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2022

                                        The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2022

In the following article, I look at a year that’s not only overhated but a year that I consider one of the best of the last half decade. And I look at the songs that may be why people didn’t like this year all that much.

Welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes. And I’m gonna try getting this list out as fast as possible. That’s right guys, today we’re looking at the top 10 worst hit songs of 2022! And full disclosure, I’m not fully recovered from the health problem I mentioned in my quick update, so if there are more typos in this article than usual, that’s why.

Well...this was quite a year, “oh joy another year-end list where Fire talks about how bad the year was for him”. 2022 though in particular is what I can only describe as the worst year of my life so far - I’ll detail what happened in my best list but this was a year that pretty much forced me to take a wider lens at everything and realize that the problems  I had faced before are very minor in the grand scheme of things.

I get why this year is hated: the charts were mostly super stagnant the first few months before getting hit with album bomb after album bomb in rapid succession. And that meant what survived was the overexposed songs on the radio and whatever album tracks had enough streaming to weather the storm. But I’m making the claim that 2022 is actually the best year for the Hot 100 since 2017. The music was really there for me this year.

This year also challenged an assertion I made way back on my 2019 worst list that the worse a year is for your personal life, the worse you find the music that year, a rather dumb  assessment, I will admit looking back on it, and that proved true this year because even most of the stuff I didn’t like, I didn’t have the same energy to hate them. A few bad songs are not the worst things in the world. And don’t worry, regardless of what you think of the songs on this list, they were far from my least favorite thing about 2022. That’s for sure.

That said, 2022 wasn’t in any way immune to terrible songs. Overall, there were 19 songs on the 2022 year-end list - including 2021 repeats - that fell into my “mediocre tier” or lower. That was honestly way less than I was expecting. So now it’s time to get started on this list. As a rule, the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 list for 2022 in order to qualify, so no “Fancy Like” won’t be making this list again. So Let’s do something new, let’s look at my worst list from last year and see what would change:

DMS:

Ritt Momney - Put Your Records On Keith Urban & Pink - One Too Many

Justin Bieber f/Chance The Rapper - Holy

Drake f/Future & Young Thug - Way 2 Sexy

Megan Thee Stallion f/DaBaby - Cry Baby

Coi Leray f/Lil Durk - No More Parties Dan + Shay - Glad You Exist

Dua Lipa - We’re Good

Maneskin - Beggin’

10. Cole Swindell - Single Saturday Night

9. Niko Moon - Good Time

8. BRS Kash - Throat Baby (Go Baby)

7. Yung Bleu f/Drake - You’re Mines Still

6. SPOTEMGOTTEM - Beat Box

5. Drake - What’s Next

4. Chase Rice f/Florida Georgia Line - Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.

3. Walker Hayes - Fancy Like

2. Nelly f/Florida Georgia Line - Lil Bit

1. AJR - BANG!

Yeah I said that country music was quite tragic in 2021 and a year later that assertion hasn’t changed, “One Too Many” and “Glad You Exist” actually got worse for me, but the “Put Your Records On” cover and “No More Parties” I actually don’t hate as much now. So anyway, let’s get started on this year with some dishonorable mentions.

DM #1: Gunna f/Future & Young Thug - Pushin P (YE: #48, PEAK: #7)
Nothing much to say here other than that it’s a mediocre trap song that no one tries to elevate to being interesting, and it’s a super unfunny meme and it fails as a meme by not being funny! The only notable line here is “She not a lesbian, for P, she turn Pesbian” which is just so stupid and I can’t wrap my head around it. Oh yeah and the letter P is repeated so much it doesn’t sound like a letter anymore. This isn’t a funny meme and it had entirely too much staying 🅿️ower, yes, that was intended.

DM #2: Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone - Me Porto Bonito (YE: #20, PEAK: #6)
So Bad Bunny had a huge year this year and “Me Porto  Bonito'' is one of the 7 songs of his on the year-end list (shoutout to my dictate option hearing that as zombie haha) and it ain't good. I don't like Chencho Corleone's voice - it sounds incredibly whiny and nasal - and the production is just a stock reggaeton percussion, meh, pass

DM #3: Becky G & Karol G - MAMIII (YE: #59, PEAK: #15)
The most notable thing about this song is that both artists have the second half of their stage name as G. Both Becky G and Karol G have decent chemistry with each other, but that’s about it, the production is pretty much a stock reggaeton production. Yes, I think I think "Shower" is the better Becky G hit, don't @ me

DM #4: Muni Long - Hrs & Hrs (YE: #57, PEAK: #16)
Muni Long said that this was a freestyle that she wrote while doing the dishes and it kinda shows, it’s not a bad song to be honest, but it’s just so boring. It feels like it drones on and on forever. And I’m honestly unsure of why. Muni Long is certainly an expressive singer, but I don’t know, it just feels really unfinished.

DM #5: Morgan Wallen - Wasted On You (YE: #19, PEAK: #9)

 I mean spoilers: This won't be Morgan Wallen’s only appearance on this list. If Morgan Wallen was gonna see success again, we really didn’t need this song to become a hit
From the muddy trap production to the sour guitar tones, it highlights how ugly Morgan Wallen’s voice can get at times. But, eh, I was originally going to put this way higher but after seeing Cicabeot1’s best hits of 2021 video and I started to see the appeal in this. Yeah, I actually kinda like the guitar melody in this even though the tones themselves sound awful. But that muddy trap percussion just makes this a very unpleasant listen. It sounds like someone trying to remix the underwater music in Mario and failing.

DM #6: Kane Brown - Like I Love Country Music (YE: #85, PEAK: #26)

I’ll give Kane Brown this much: he has a lot of charisma here. But this really doesn’t work for me, Kane Brown just sounds goofy as fuck here and it’s really unpleasant. With lines like “Harder than a hoochie-coochie” with that delivery it just sounds so goofy that it’s obnoxious. It feels like a bad retread of “What’s Your Country Song” by Thomas Rhett from last year. And I may still love that song, but I can recognize the flaws in it and it was likely not gonna deliver consistent quality. Yeah, This is annoying, next!

 

DM #7: Doja Cat - Woman (YE: #21, PEAK: #7)

I tried to let this song grow on me but I’m sorry, I don’t like this at all. It reminds me of why I hated “Work” by Rihanna; an overly repetitive hook delivered with a lot of disinterest being the only memorable thing about it. Yes, I do think this is better than “Work” because Doja still has a shit ton of personality, but this bad, next!

And now it's time for the real trash!!

10…Oh boy, this may be contentious...

 

10. Adele - Oh My God (YE: #72, PEAK: #5)

This is one of the worst songs I’ve heard from Adele, no exaggeration. From the too heavy stomp clap percussion to the shrieking, shrill backing vocals, This just annoys me.

9..Now for someone whose career should’ve flamed out with “Tunnel Vision” in 2017...

 

9. Kodak Black - Super Gremlin (YE: #9, PEAK: #3)

I don’t get why Kodak Black has seen so much success. Not only is he a vile human being, he is a bad rapper - his nasal voice  is awful and I don’t think I’ve liked any songs I’ve heard from him. And as for “Super Gremlin”....it’s not his worst I’ll say that, but it’s still bad and really shouldn’t have been as big as it was.  From the poop references to him dropping the r-word in his 2nd verse. The fact that the chipmunked sample isn’t even close to the worst part of this song...yikes.

8...As I mentioned earlier, Bad Bunny had a huge year this year with 7 year-end appearances. Sadly this is his 2nd time making this list...

 

8. Bad Bunny - Despues de la Playa (YE: #78, PEAK: #6)

More than all the other Bad Bunny songs on the year-end, this annoyed the living hell out of me. Those horns in particular sound extremely irritating, I would’ve been convinced that AJR coproduced this!

7...I don’t hate this song as much as I am kinda mystefied by it to be honest.

7. Sam Smith & Kim Petras - Unholy (YE: #98 PEAK: #1)

This song feels like one I’m not that equipped to talk about because I’m not the target audience for this, and I hope people don’t take me placing this song so high here the wrong way. So let me get this out of the way: this song’s success is great for representation of trans and nonbinary people but as a song, unfortunately, I think this sucks ass. From the wiry bass, the absence of any groove and the writing feeling very Kim Petras and just sounding goofy from Sam Smith with “...she's dropping it, she be popping it” Also doesn’t help that Kim Petras’s entire career basically has opened a window for accused rapist Dr. Luke to get success. It’s kinda tricky, because if this allows more openly out trans and nonbinary people to get success, maybe this song’s success was a good thing. Unfortunately I just talk about the song itself and I’ve given up factoring in cultural impact in my song reviews.

6...Oh boy, two songs in a row where I honestly don’t know if I’m equipped to talk about this since I feel I’m not the target audience for this, so I’ll try to tip-toe through this as much as I can...

 

6. Dove Cameron - Boyfriend (YE: #51, PEAK: #16)

Let me get this out of the way: My problem with this song isn’t the lyrics. I saw some people comparing them to those in “Treat You Better” by Shawn Mendes but I don’t really care about them, they don’t really bother me. Yes the really clunky lyric “I could be a better boyfriend than him” is there, but eh I don’t really care for the lyrics. It’s the production here that makes me really hate this, and it’s absolutely hideous. It sounds straight out of the mid-2010s in the worst way possible, it sounds so badly dated and I can only see this aging even worse as the years pass by. From the synth horn squawking constantly throughout the song to Dove Cameron basically being a Billie Eilish ripoff in this song, this is terrible.

5...Another flaming hot take here so let’s get on with it, shall we?

 

5. Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) (YE: #10, PEAK: #7)

I can’t lie, there was a point in time where I was considering putting this at #1 and while I eventually backed out of it, this is still terrible pretty much because of how lazy it feels. It sounds like something that I would make and that is not a compliment. It lazily stitches “Rocket Man” and “Sacrifice” together and adds a weak groove. This sounds like my  AC radio station trying to do a “club mix”  with a slow song and failing. I’ll say this though, Dua’s singing is decent enough. But this feels cheap in the worst way possible.

4...Oh God if we were going to revive this dude's career then we didn't need shit like this...

 

4. Morgan Wallen - You Proof (YE: #27, PEAK: #5)

Like “Wasted On You” this has very muddy trap percussion except unlike that song, “You Proof” isn’t even hitting the right tone! The lyrics are about drinking to get over an ex, but the guitar tones are really happy! It's such a jarring tonal dissonance not to mention, this production really makes Morgan Wallen’s voice sound awful.

3...So, we made this  a hit and NOT “Home Sweet”? Why?

3. Russell Dickerson & Jake Scott - She Likes It (YE: #91, PEAK: #63)

I just don’t know...why did they think this was a good idea? And given how shitty this song is, I don’t think she likes it at all. The electric guitar is really spare and it feels like it’s just trying to be an R&B-leaning song, but neither Russell Dickerson nor Jake Scott can fit this vibe at all, they’re both overselling it and the oooooh-oohs sound like they’re literally in pain and I also literally cannot decipher who’s singing each part and that scares me. Not to mention the low end clips the mix and sounds really clunky.

2...I mean, once again, if we were going to revive this dude's career then we didn't need shit like this...

 

2. Lil Durk f/Morgan Wallen - Broadway Girls (YE: #81, PEAK: #14)

I have no idea who keeps telling Morgan Wallen that muddy trap percussion works for him. This feels nothing more than an apology for Morgan Wallen’s racist outburst. It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it was released for quality, with that trap percussion I mentioned earlier making Morgan Wallen’s voice sound super ugly again. Lil Durk also seems to try to fit into the country vibe but he’s failing. From a reference to Pink of all people to referencing Ed Sheeran!! Look, it’s not my place to forgive Morgan Wallen, but if we were gonna get shit like what we got on this list from him, maybe it would’ve been better if we didn’t revive his career. This feels like the equivalent of saying “I’m not racist, I have black friends” Next!

1..For all the shit that I gave Morgan Wallen throughout this list he did not make the worst country song of the year...

 

1. Walker Hayes - AA (YE: #61, PEAK: #28)

Look, as atrocious as “Fancy Like” was, it’s somewhat catchy and it’s a novelty song in the end. I can’t say that about “AA”. Neither “Fancy Like” nor this is his worst song either. And believe me, he has a song called “ U Gurl” that legitimately may be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Thank heavens that it didn't become a hit. The guitar in this song sounds absolutely horrendous. Also Walker Hayes still isn’t a good singer and this production really highlights that. It doesn’t even have the novelty that “Fancy Like” had, it’s just so ugly sounding, basically, it’s just boringly shitty. And with all that, “AA” by Walker Hayes is the worst hit song of 2022. 

The best list should hopefully be up soon! And I’m really looking forward to making it, moreso than this list for sure. Until then, you’ve been reading Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes, and I’m gonna try something new and add a Spotify playlist below this article with all the songs I’ve mentioned in case you wanna listen to the songs here! and I’ll see you next time! And let’s hope for a better 2023!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Pa6BPKq7159SmY00aeEy9?si=437d47c471f147ef