The best and worst hit songs from the 2010s

Following the incident where Chris Brown beat her before the 2009 Grammy Awards, the music world rallied around Rihanna and was surprised to end the year by putting out a new album. Many thought she'd address the incident with the new record, but instead, "Rated R" was a raw, sometimes-brutal listen and one that was profoundly sex-positive and even confrontational and aggressive. The singles released performed below Rihanna's usual chart-topping standards, but she had an ace in the hole in the form of "Rude Boy", a smarmy, playful song of pure sexual energy that opens with one of the greatest taunts in the history of pop music: "Come here rude boy, boy can you get it up? Come here rude boy, boy is you big enough?" Rihanna is firmly in control of her self, her partners, and — with the late release of this song — the top of the charts once again.

Runner-Up: Sara Bareilles "King of Anything". A gloriously festive piano bop about taking down guys with inflated egos — what's not to love? 

Oh yes: Lil Wayne's "rock" phase. Following his multi-platinum success as one of the greatest lyricists of the modern era and having delivered stunning, game-changing mixtapes in quick succession, Lil Wayne suddenly felt like he could do anything, which apparently included making hard rock and mall punk songs. Although he dropped singles throughout 2009, "Knockout" came out the same day as his album "Rebirth" and might be one of the worst songs he has ever done. From the clichéd guitar lines to Wayne's auto-tuned voice becoming sometimes utterly indecipherable, it's only Nicki who does what she can to try and save this absolute train wreck of a number. But even her personality isn't enough for Wayne to recover from this absolute embarrassment of a song. (Don't worry about Wayne though: He put out "Tha Carter IV" the following year.)

Runner-Up: Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling." It was omnipresent. It was everywhere. And it had the worst lyrics possibly of the decade, culminating with a party-starting naming of the days of the week.

Lady Gaga's opulent "Born This Way" era pushed her firmly into the superstar echelon, even if certain elements (the album cover, the "Judas" single) proved divisive among her fans. "Born This Way" was an overstuffed album that sometimes celebrated its own excess, which is perhaps why the album-closing track (and third single), "The Edge of Glory," was such a surprise: a straight-up pop song with karaoke-ready vocal runs and a too-sweet saxophone performance from the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons (in what would end up being one of his last performances before his passing). For being as indulgent and as meta as Gaga could sometimes be, it was refreshing to hear her drop a single so joyful, so forceful and so absolutely rousing. There was no overarching narrative or back story you had to learn for this: "The Edge of Glory" is Gaga at her most pure pop, and unsurprisingly, it's one of the best songs she's ever penned.

Runner-Up: Lil Wayne "6 Foot 7 Foot". Many weren't sure if Wayne could recover from the disaster of "Rebirth,"  which is why "6 Foot 7 Foot" stunned with its endless barrage of punchlines. "Black and white diamonds / F--- segregation!" Preach. 

Although this Irish boy band was a bit of a thing in the U.K. for a spell, it was "Glad You Came" that proved to be the lads' international breakthrough and one of the most unintentionally comical songs of the decade. Written by committee, this accordion-driven Eurodance number remains sonically inoffensive but is an absolute lyrical masterpiece of stupid entendres. From the awkward phrasing of "You hit me like the sky fell on me / And I decided you look well on me" to the interlinking word-association prechorus to the actual chorus that thinks its oh-so-clever with its title, "Glad You Came" is a truly spectacular mismanagement of pop song tropes, proving that even though it was a hit at the time, no one really "Wanted" this.

Runner-Up: Hot Chelle Rae "Tonight Tonight." What's that? You want a less-talented, brattier version of The All-American Rejects? Well, you got it! Disbanding shortly after this came out, guess we won't be hearing about them tomorrow tomorrow. 

Miguel's 2010 debut album very much established the L.A.-based electro-soul singer as a talent to watch: He had a few minor hits, some good guest verses on his songs and toured as an opening act for the likes of Usher to build his following. "Adorn," however, felt like it came from a different artist altogether. Entirely self-written and self-produced, "Adorn" is a sly, sensual slice of modern bedroom funk that sounds like the kind of thing Prince would get mad about for not writing first. While many artists think of romantic and sexy as two different aims in their songwriting, Miguel fused them in a song so perfect that not even he's managed to top it since.

Runner-Up: Usher's "Climax." Toiling over this for months with producer Diplo, a radio staple artist like Usher revealed new depths to his voice and sound with "Climax," a propulsive and emotionally striking song that may go down as the best thing he's ever done.

Maybe one of the biggest one-hit wonders of the decade, Passenger (Michael David Rosenberg) had been putting out albums for a clip before "Let Her Go" became a planet-swallowing hit. Released in 2012 but continuing to chart well into 2014, Rosenberg's song was no doubt aided by a 2014 Super Bowl ad for Budweiser that featured puppies being adopted. Streamed billions of times, "Let Her Go" remains a cloying, obvious piece of breakup pop, one that's delivered so earnestly you forget how high-school poetry some of the lyrics are ("Maybe one day you'll understand why / Everything you touch surely dies"). On top of it, the chorus is repeated a full five times within its mere four-minute run, oversaturating itself on its first listen alone. Unsurprisingly, Passenger would never come remotely close to matching the success of "Let Her Go", but per his own lyrics he'll "only know you've been high when you're feeling low."

Runner-Up: Nicki Minaj "Stupid Hoe." Technically released in the last two weeks of 2011, people still used all of 2012 to drag Nicki for this bizarre, occasionally rhyme-free piece of disastrously misguided bounce rap. 

Ariana Grande's career could've gone so many different ways — in fact, you can hear the alternate universe hits she could've had with failed early singles "Popular Song" (with Mika) and the directionless "Put Your Hearts Up," both of which interpolated better songs (from "Wicked" and 4 Non Blondes, respectively) into their bland choruses. "The Way," meanwhile, arrives fully formed, brilliantly riffing of Big Pun's signature song "Still Not a Player" with its piano bounce and Grande's forceful vocal performance. While her singles output would very much be hit-or-miss in these early days especially, it was this laid-back jam — coupled with a so-goofy-its-charming verse from Mac Miller — that not only established her as a star but also proved that in this new decade, pop and hip-hop were going to be closer friends than ever before.

Runner-Up: Tove Lo "Habits (Stay High)." Whether you prefer the original version of the hypnotic Hippie Sabotage remix, Tove Lo's opening salvo onto the pop world was honest and abrasive, groovy and compassionate all at once. 

Country radio in the early 2010s was the victim of the "bro-country" movement, where party-starting dudes who listen to "a little Hank, a little Drake" suddenly had a new playlist of keg-ready favorites to blast at a moments notice. From Luke Bryan's fratboy antics to Jake Owen's unshod anthems, this commercially popular but critically drubbed subgenre was truly defined by the 2013 remix of "Cruise," the debut single of Florida Georgia Line that now also had Nelly on it for some reason. In truth, the Nelly remix propelled the song into the Top 10, but his presence on this horndog lament was negligible: The Florida Georgia Line dudes' ascent was only just beginning, all started by this drab, repetitious and unfortunately catchy number that all but guaranteed they would never be taken seriously.

Runner-Up: Pink "Just Give Me a Reason [ft. Nate Ruess]". Listen: We love Pink a lot. We love her so much we might even forgive this regrettable turn into winsome theater-kid pomp.

Not all musicians are going to be good at the business side of things — and some happen to be better at marketing themselves than actually writing songs (see: DJ Khaled). Yet Taylor Swift is good at both, largely because she has no delusions about the public perception of her. Even more striking than that, she manages to sometimes parlay her persona (and her controversies) into her songs, arguably no better than on "Shake It Off, her full-bore dance-pop lead single from her monster smash album "1989. From those perfectly articulate horn lines to those claps right in the middle of the chorus, everything about "Shake It Off" is addictive, empowering and fun. Even with its spoken-word breakdown (a Taylor trademark at this point), "Shake It Off" proved to be damn near irresistible as it introduced a whole new audience to the next phase of Swift's career: that of the inescapable radio chart-topper.

Runner-Up: Beyoncé "Partition." Among the many dazzling feats of Beyoncé's 2013 eponymous classic was just how frank it was about sexuality, with the sultry throb of "Partition" proving to be down-and-dirty and highlight-filled with so much passion it borders on carnal. 

By their own admission, The Chainsmokers wrote "#Selfie" as a joke: a too-dumb song about introverted selfie and "doin'-it-for-the-Gram" culture. Yet even if it's intended as a parody, that aim was lost on millions of people, who scooped up this dumb dance track with its spoken-word monologues about doing too many shots and fake followers and passing out at the club in droves. The duo that is The Chainsmokers went on to create giant pop smashes and tried to hone in their talents as songwriters, but they can never erase the fact that their career started with this absolutely dreadful bit of EDM pandering.

Runner-Up: MAGIC! "Rude." Ah yes: reggae pop fusion from a Canadian band named Magic! How could we ever forget? 

2015 was the year when a lot of people suddenly stopped themselves and said: "Wait a second — do I like Justin Bieber now?" While the teenage pop star had a massive fan base and a notorious public reputation at this point, 2015 was the year when he started taking his art more seriously, starting with his fire Skrillex/Diplo collaboration "Where Are Ü Now" and culminating with the release of his fourth album, "Purpose," which featured the Biebs taking on a far more mature sound. Best of all his new songs, however, was "Sorry," a dancehall/tropical house number that proved to be as inescapable as it was unimpeachable: an absolute banger that is far and away the best song he has ever been associated with. Is it too late now to say sorry? Judging by its multiplatinum success, we guess not.

Runner-Up: The Weeknd "Can't Feel My Face." Once an anonymous artist with a tinted-window worldview of the afterparty scene, who would've guessed that by giving us the best Michael Jackson song in years, The Weeknd would soon become a stadium-filling pop star? 

Technically it's a song, so it qualifies for this list. In truth, the opening salvo from teenage rapper Silentó joins a long line of instructional dance songs that will outlive most of us, whipping and nae nae-ing amid such luminaries as "Y.M.C.A.," "Cha-Cha Slide," "The Cupid Shuffle" and even "The Macarena." Yes "Watch Me" asks that you do the Stanky Legg and bop and other easy-to-do numbers that can be repeated in mere seconds, but the song would be so much less insufferable if Silentó wasn't on it. His yips, his high pitch wails and constant need to repeat the name of the dance move as it's happening ("Bopbop!") creates an atmosphere that's nothing short of nauseating. Surprising absolutely no one, he never managed to duplicate the success of "Watch Me."

Runner-Up: Beyoncé "7/11." We love Beyoncé, but the only saving grace of this astoundingly dumb club number is the playful music video that accompanies it, and even then it's a stretch. 

Whether with her band The Scene or as a solo artist, Selena Gomez moved a lot of units even if her artistry was never taken too seriously. All of that changed with the release of 2016's "Revival," an aptly named album that showed Gomez give in to a breathy, minimalist pop style that sounded not only like a new direction for her but also a fresh change from everything else on the radio. This sly, sensual song felt unlike anything we had heard from her before, and by the time that prechorus lyric kicks in where "All of the downs and the uppers / Keep making love to each other," it's clear that not only has Gomez rebooted her whole career in such simple, considered strokes, but she also may have just changed all of pop music right along with it.

Runner-Up: Maren Morris "My Church." Maren Morris' debut song mixes a little bit of blasphemy with a giant country chorus and, quite simply, it deserves all the praise it's getting.

This song is... "No." While "All About That Bass" endeared for a time before it hit oversaturation on the radio, her debut album was filled with enough hits for Trainor to feel empowered to do whatever she wanted with the follow-up, which included making...a throw-back to the sound of the late-'90s teen pop explosion? Over a beat that pop song svengali Max Martin would've rejected for being too basic even for him, "No" tries so hard to come off as an empowerment anthem when instead it comes off as annoying and tired, striking poses we've seen so many times before while giving us a chorus that is "Nah to the ah to the no no no." If someone asks if you ever want to listen to this hit song again, all you have to do is just reply with the title.

Runner-Up: Lukas Graham "7 Years." This Danish pop group came out of nowhere with this imagined self-indulgent weepy biopic of a ballad, and, blissfully, largely left the public consciousness soon thereafter. 

So memorably introduced as part of The Jonas Brothers' "Camp Rock" movie, Demi Lovato quickly moved on from the friendly Disney bubblegum sound to take on more mature-minded pop music, even if her hits ("Heart Attack", "Give Your Heart a Break") sounded like Kelly Clarkson rejects. While 2015's "Cool for the Summer" saw her start to take ownership of her own sound, it was the wry, sarcastic and absolutely undeniable "Sorry Not Sorry" that fully unleashed the diva we always knew she had in her. From that playful piano-bounce pre-chorus to her insane vocal runs near the end, "Sorry Not Sorry" encapsulates everything we love about Demi, which is why it's not only her greatest song but also her highest-charting to boot.

Runner-Up: Childish Gambino "Redbone." Donald Glover was beloved by his fans but got a chilly reception from hip-hop purists in his early days — which is why his move into psych-funk was as unexpected as it was completely welcome. 

Taylor Swift's 2017 album, "Reputation," was nothing short of divisive, with the music superstar trying a new electronic-heavy sound while commenting on her controversies and the ways she's been wronged amid hip-hop beats and even a guest appearance from Future. While she's parlayed her own life into relatable Top 40 fodder before, "Look What You Made Me Do" is bitter and vindictive in a way that feels less empowering than it does just bitter and vindictive. From its thumping electro-clash chorus to its horridly self-aggrandizing phone call in the bridge ("I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, 'cos she's dead!"), "Look What You Made Me Do" may go down as Swift's worst song, flying to the top of the charts solely on the strength of her... "Reputation."

Runner-Up: Bebe Rexha "Meant to Be [ft. Florida Georgia Line]." Topping the country charts for nearly a year, Rexha once yelled at her fans during a Spotify concert for not singing along to this repetitious hit, and that kind of tells you why this is song is truly "Meant to Be" forgotten. 

While not everything he touches turns into radio gold, Calvin Harris still has a hell of a track record for making one-off dance singles that get embraced by the entire world. While the many collaborations from his "Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1" collection in 2017 charted well in the U.K. and decently in the U.S., it was his connection with Dua Lipa that helped launch "One Kiss" into the stratosphere, giving off a chill-club vibe despite being so gloriously uptempo. Anchored by Dua Lipa's mannered vocal delivered, Harris changes the piano lines between verses, giving the song a real sense of purpose and propulsion, making for an addictive narrative that we still get hyped up for every time it comes on.

Runner-Up: Ella Mai "Boo'd Up." One of the best '90s R&B throwbacks we've ever heard, Ella Mai's first big song has our hearts going biddy-da-do, boo'd up!

In what may go down as one of the worst album launches of all time, Justin Timberlake's fifth studio album was introduced by "Filthy," a confusing lead single filled with weak electro-funk, Vegas band vamping and lyrics that had Timberlake trying to get ahead of his critics by shouting "Haters gonna say it's fake!" before whispering back to himself "So. Real." Everything about this release is off, from its dancing sex robot music video to a verse where JT asks you to "put your filthy hands all over me" — a phrase that doesn't sound nearly as sexy as he thinks it does. At the end of the intro, Timberlake whispers into the mic, "I guess I got my swagger back" and as the rest of the album rolled out and Timberlake received nothing short of the worst reviews of his career, it appears that him getting his swagger back truly was a "guess."

Runner-Up: Kanye West & Lil Pump "I Love It." You know we couldn't talk about this decade without mentioning the fall of Kanye West, and this horny, too-dumb-to-even-be-funny rushjob of a novelty single really feels like the point when a lot of fans jumped off his bandwagon for good.

Days before his headline-grabbing arrest by ICE agents due to his immigration status, 21 Savage was making headlines for a much more pleasant reason: because he had just dropped one of the best songs of the year and it was only January. Looping in The Fuzz's "I Love You For All Seasons" into its hypnotic beat, Savage's verses are delivered in such a disaffected manner that one can't help but feel that detachment comes from pent-up emotion, as line after line, he delivers simple yet striking imagery ("My heart so cold I could put it in my cup"). While Savage and the beat draw us in, it's hard to discount the power of J. Cole's marathon guest verse, which might go down as one of his greatest ever. A true rap masterpiece.

Runner-Up: Normani "Motivation." Carefully planning out some guest verses on radio hits before launching her post-Fifth Harmony career, Normani's first true solo cut was a powerful, empowering and endlessly listenable one-woman dance party. 

Ed Sheeran was ruined with "Shape of You," his gargantuan smash from 2017 that was truly inescapable. Now topping the charts seemingly at will, he filtered all of his success into 2019's most indulgent album, the "No. 6 Collaborations Project", which is rife with collabos on top of collabos. For his duet with Khalid, Sheeran paints himself as an outsider to the world that he's absolutely a part of these days, noting how "drop top, designer clothes" soon leads to "prenups and broken homes," trying to sound soulful while worried about somehow becoming one of the alleged "beautiful people." When he tells his date, "You look stunning dear / So don't ask that question here," it feels weirdly condescending for a song that's supposed to somehow be empowering. Instead, it's just Ed Sheeran bitching about the phony people he meets in L.A., and it's not a cute look.

Runner-Up: Chance the Rapper "Hot Shower." After launching into fame with his clever, feel-good, gospel-indebted brand of Chicago rap, Chance's "debut" album, "The Big Day," disappointed many, no more so than on the atonal verses fired out on this truly regrettable single.