Top 10 Worst Songs of 2023
Music is the universal language, the soundtrack to our lives, and let's face it - it's not always sweet melodies and catchy hooks. Sometimes, it's a cacophony that leaves us reaching for the skip button faster than you can say "next." And that's why you're here, right? To contribute to the democratic process of music criticism, and help compile the definitive list of the worst songs of 2023.Let's set some ground rules first. This is a judgment-free zone. We all have different tastes in music, and what may sound like a tuneless dirge to one person may be another's earworm. So remember, if someone lists a song you like, it's not a personal attack, it's just a differing opinion. And that's totally okay - the world would be a very dull place if we all liked the same things, wouldn't it?
When you're voting, try to think about what it is about the song that really grinds your gears. Is it the lyrics? The melody? The artist's voice? Or maybe it just gives you a headache every time you hear it. Whatever it is, this is your chance to have your say.
So, what are the songs that had you begging for mercy in 2023? The ones that made you contemplate throwing your radio out the window or deleting your streaming app?
This has to be the worst apology in YouTube history, and it's probably even worse than the Logan Paul one back in 2018. At least Logan Paul matured and learned from his mistakes (as far as I know, he hasn't really done anything super controversial as of late), but Colleen probably won't. She just plays the victim and blames the people who accused her, coming off as super laughable. She needs to grow up!
Since sharing your opinion about this non-apology is now a claimable offense on YouTube, if you're looking for new ways to clown on it, go check out the folks at Genius for some good laughs.
They are appropriately ripping apart this track harder than any manipulation tactic or scheme Colleen could put in this song to avoid taking criminal accountability for her actions.
Yeah, I definitely have to agree that this is one of the worst hits of last year. On a sonic level, it literally sounds like a lot of Aldean's other hits post-2009, as if the bro-country era's corpse was resurrected by music execs.
Jingoism in country music isn't new. In the '80s, we got "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, and in the 2000s, jingoism was in full force thanks to songs like "Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worley, "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" by Toby Keith, and "Kiss My Country Ass" by Rhett Akins. This song is like those 2000s songs, but much worse.
You must have a thick head not to understand the thinly-veiled racism behind lines like "see how far ya make it down the road." And with Aldean being a Trump supporter, that's saying something. Country has always been a political genre, but this song blew it way out of proportion.
Finally, #3! I'm proud of this website's community for growing up and being able to realize that the worst music isn't the most popular and annoying stuff people won't shut up about. It's immoral abominations like this that shouldn't exist. Thank you to everybody who voted on this and the top three.
Just don't give this song the time. Either look up the lyrics without listening, or just ignore it entirely. For a fun game, though, according to this song, Tom believes patriotism involves: 5x incitement of violent behavior, 4x conspiracy to commit murder, 4x uttering threats involving bodily harm/death, 3x inciting subversive activity, 3x incitement of domestic terrorism, 2x incitement of hate crimes, 2x incitement of vandalism, 1x incitement of B&E, and 1x conspiracy to commit treason.
"Cinderella Snapped" is currently the worst far-left single of the year, and this is currently the worst far-right single of the year. An easy target (haha), sure, but still deserving of the number 1 spot on the list. This is one of the worst right-wing singles I've ever heard in my life. Inflation? CRT? The economy? No, they're targeting your kids by promoting those "sexual genders" or whatever. We need to have a moral panic over that. By the way, that "sexual gender" lyric is Jake Paul-level writing. Anyone remember that "God Church" lyric? Yes, this is the 2023 version of that lyric. LOL.
Don't sample a 1950s classic like that! Meghan needs to fade into obscurity.
Hopefully, Criminals will be the last one of her hits to make it onto the radio.
This is probably the worst song Meghan Trainor has ever released, in close competition with "Dear Future Husband."
Not only does this song grossly sample "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes, but it also uses the word "mansplaining" in the chorus. Finally, Meghan tries to attract an LGBTQ fanbase, but it automatically fails because her songs have always been heteronormative.
I really hope she fades into obscurity soon.
I am not surprised that this made Fantano's Worst Songs of 2023 list, as well as appearing on other worst song lists of the year. First, FOB released their best album in 15 years, and then, a couple of months later, they come out with this crap? This remake of the iconic Billy Joel song is wrong on so many levels, and I am starting to think it's worse than some of the stuff off of Mania. There are lots of questionable moments, such as it not being in chronological order (which was the whole point of the original!), rhyming "George Floyd" with "Metroid," and not mentioning Covid at all.
Like Barbie Dress-Up at Hot Topic, this track feels like the shopping list of two genres for someone who knows next to nothing about them. Both punk rock and heavy metal arrangements feel like aesthetic borrowing, full of hollowness and devoid of any human element. They carry only the cultural clichés and the secondhand embarrassment anyone would feel listening to or associating with this.
Lil Pump doing a rap metal song is as awful and insulting as you'd expect it to be.
The only people in this country who should be denied the right to vote, aside from underage children, are the ones who participated in the January 6th Capitol Riots.
Everyone who participated in the January 6th Capitol Insurrection should be deported to Afghanistan and never be allowed to return to the United States.
You guys deserve jail for storming the US Capitol in the first place.
David Guetta used to make really good songs. Now, all he does is make really mediocre remakes of iconic classic tunes.
I can't even say that he's bringing attention back to the original songs, like what Stranger Things did for Kate Bush. Everybody still knows those classics, and they're still a staple in clubs and memes. It's just not needed.
I wish David Guetta would stop ruining classic songs already. This song is a lazy sample, just like I'm Good (Blue). At least I'm Good (Blue) put in a little bit of effort. This song simply copies all the lyrics of a classic.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall in this studio to learn what they were thinking. Easily the worst creative concept for a full song, a flurry of annoying shush noises densely permeates to attack your eardrums with not a second spared. Coupled with lyricism so laughable, the first thought it gave me was the She Farted On My Dick song by NCT127.
Now that the list is gathering more votes, I'm glad that this has finally reached the top. After making so many songs while stoned out of his mind, Khalifa was bound to make a bizarre disaster. And I can't believe that DVBBS also played a part in this embarrassment.
The Newcomers
A classic turned into a snoozefest again. The verses are fine, but I hate these chipmunk vocals in the chorus.
The production also sounds outdated to me.
Ruined the Supertramp song. Thanks a lot, David Guetta. The chipmunk vocals are just insufferable.
I can't stand this song! It sucks. The use of Gen Alpha slang in it makes me break out in hives.
I hate Gen Alpha slang words so much - they make me nauseous!
The autotune is hilariously awful. It's just another one of those brainrot songs!
This sounds like a troll song.
Lil Mabu represents everything rap aims to destroy. He's an industry plant, a WASP weaponizing the genre's scrappy, grassroots origins as a market for his family to ascend even higher. In truth, he's actually a silver-spooned student from Lincoln Collegiate Prep with over $12 million to his family's name and a mansion in the Hamptons to his claim. So, as Lil Mabu peddles his lyrics about color theory and raps the numbers of pi, remember that when he proclaims his tough persona, his "tough guy" talk is as baby-faced and squeaky as the prim rat behind it.
Why do we still give attention to this clown? His music is as one-note as ever, and his lyrics are particularly degrading to women. Let's just leave him back in 2020 already.
One of two awful tracks off DaBaby's new three-track EP, Call Da Fireman. The beats sound pretty bad, and DaBaby uses the same old tired flow.
Is this really where we're at? Are we really at a point in society where someone can have a lyric as stupid as "I'm a goddamn CEO, don't call me baby, equal pay me" and have it get radio play? And this is after getting radio play for another one of the worst songs ever written. How does anybody take Jax seriously? Surely even the radical feminists this is meant to pander to can see the stupidity of this song and Meghan Trainor's, right?
This has to be one of the worst songs ever made. It's like it's trying to be some form of empowerment track, yet to me, it just sounds like a total mess. Half of the lyrics seem randomly taken out of context. This is far worse than Victoria's Secret, which was bad enough in itself.
This song doesn't have the energy it thinks it has. Trying to sound like you're bad, but you just aren't that smooth. You should probably quit that second profession since you probably aren't good at that either.
A rather straightforward hustle track that winds up rather inconsequential but respectable in its minuscule scope. The backbeat doesn't strive to be flashy in a way that feels like her game is all just business to her. It kind of feels like the side hustle, or the entrée, to the real business Kali could be cooking, and I'm curious to see what that might end up being.
Crash Adams, just stop. The lack of self-awareness has made you cross the line to a campiness that no one could ever find comfortable. In no universe would anyone but you find the idea of a bubblegum pop track about why you, not the listener, bend backward and simp for your 'sugar mommy' to be appealing, attractive, or any bit agreeable. Please stop making your glory-holy worship kink tracks before more innocent listeners get hurt.
I don't think a track has left me more speechless than this one. I feel six degrees of secondhand embarrassment, and none of the thoughts I have can be adequately put into words. I thought the hook was cause for concern until the whiplash from Choppa's second verse hit. I'm pretty sure there are lines bragging about recording pedophilia and performing domestic abuse too? The sheer absurdity and delinquency of this track should be studied by psychologists and no one else.
Who convinced that stupid, 500-toothed dinosaur that he could sing?
This song is a disgrace to Jersey Club, and the remix with Sexyy Red is even worse.
This has to be the most disappointing LGBTQ+ collaboration of the year. It tries so hard to sound like a trashier and sexier version of "Unholy," but it ultimately comes off as unintentionally hilarious. Also, Madonna managed to deliver a guest appearance that is almost as bad as her Razzie-winning movie performances.
This underwhelming track sounds like "Unholy" mixed with J.Lo's "Booty." Also, "watch what you say, or I'll split your banana" has to be one of the worst and most unintentionally hilarious lyrics of the year. It is alongside "About to go Darth, about to go Disney" from "Watch the World Burn" by FiR.
Who on Earth still says "swag" in 2023? I thought we had left that word back in the early 2010s.
Why was this one of the biggest hits off the album? It's so toxic and ugly sounding in the lyrical department and production.
A terrible and grating interpolation of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party." Arguably the worst song off of Coi Leray's Lazysamplemania album.
So annoying, so sexist. I knew it was going to be bad right from the cover.
Why are people giving these random music artists attention?
Is that Sora from Kingdom Hearts in the middle?
What the heck happened to one of my favorite bands from my childhood? 30STM used to be one of my all-time favorite bands when I was younger but my god, so much of their stuff from the past decade is very bad, which caused me to fall out of love with them pretty fast. And this new single from them is worse than some of the stuff off of 2018's America, and yeah my hopes weren't that high for this thing, and it turned out just as bad as I expected it to be. The instrumentals are not good at all and Jared's autotuned vocals are also annoying. The "ra-da-da's" in the bridge and outro make it even worse. Also, look what happens when a band's frontman has a big ego!
I hate these kinds of rappers that get political and sound like pale imitations of Eminem. Now will all the fake Slim Shadys please stand up and leave the room?
Worst Radiohead cover ever. Totally missed the point of the original song.
This song is so laughably bad that it sounds like a parody. Not only is Dax's country accent totally unauthentic, but the lyrics are also cringeworthy as hell, and the production is terrible. Definitely one of the worst songs of the year so far.
After Meghan Trainor ruined Mother's Day, it's now Daddy's turn.