The Good & The Ugly: 2020
By: Caleb Catlin
Tags: Culture, Music, Lists

It’s been a long ass year, hasn’t it? Certainly, the last thing people could’ve expected from this year was a pandemic, halting the music industry in its tracks. More than anything, it forced a reset in the norm we had been accustomed for the last decade. Usually, we’re granted the gift of living with songs, watching them evolve as we interact with our loved ones, our friends, and the general public. Artists couldn’t tour to recoup money and gain profits. Albums and songs dissipated instantly without the ability to humanly interact. Tik Tok was the biggest factor in the consumption, creating a fascinating landscape for songs to surface on Billboard charts. It was gigantic but there was also an inherent disposability to these songs; without the ability to experience music, the internet can dispose of you in an instant. That’s the thing with the internet: it’s a never-ending revolving door of what’s new. It’s up to the artist and their music to get in the building without shuffling back into obscurity.

Radio had the hardest time adjusting because, again, there was no outside. Radio simply couldn’t dictate what people were actually listening to because there was no people to share it with. As a result, we watched them grasp for straws as to what the hell people actually cared about. The safe bet was to go for proven stars, for better or for worse. There was the bland “Memories” by Maroon 5, a tried and true formula for the unseasoned and inoffensive. There were songs that sounded generic from new faces (i.e. “Falling” by Trevor Daniel). Then there were the times where leaning on proven artists proved how good of an ear radio heads had for pop music. “Circles” by Post Malone was record breaking for this reason, a song from one of pop’s best hitmakers so good that it actually warranted extreme overplay. On the other hand of it all, radio tried their hand at what was popular in radio. The problem was how they cycled through quite a bit of forgettable junk, some of it lingering for longer than necessary.

Despite the inconsistent chart placements, the year end list for 2020 was actually phenomenal. It shows just how much genuinely great music takes the forefront when stripping away all of the outside factors. Before diving into the final (?) installment of this series, here’s a healthy selection of honorable mentions: Roddy Ricch- “The Box”/“High Fashion”, Harry Styles- “Watermelon Sugar”, Lil Mosey- “Blueberry Faygo”, The Weeknd- “Heartless”, Megan Thee Stallion- “Savage”, DaBaby- “BOP”, Dua Lipa- “Break My Heart”, Chris Brown- “No Guidance”, Chris Brown/Young Thug- “Go Crazy”, Young Thug- “Hot”, Drake- “Laugh Now Cry Later”, Rod Wave- “Heart On Ice”, Lil Baby- “We Paid”, DJ Khaled & Drake- “PopStar”, Billie Eilish- “Everything I Wanted”, and BENEE- “Supalonely.” What a great, strange year for pop music. Without further ado, I think it’s appropriate to start with one of the biggest hit songs of all time.

Best: The Weeknd- “Blinding Lights”: This song had been in the top 5 for 28 weeks. It was number 1 for 4 non consecutive weeks. It spent 40+ weeks in the top 10. As of my writing, it has finally relinquished its place in the top 10. It has spent 53 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100. There is dominance and then there’s The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” Explaining this song’s godly grip over the music industry is a strange one because I don’t know if it remains this Zeus level force if not for COVID. Again, radio knew The Weeknd as a solidified pop star. We knew he was a superstar in 2015 with “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills.” His destiny as a superstar stared us in the face when he fit in snugly next to then pop princess Ariana Grande on “Love Me Harder.” There were tons of glimpses at his potential during his House of Balloons days. The writing has been on the wall for Abel Tesfaye. His comparisons to Michael Jackson were musically apt but no one could’ve guessed he’d be the eventual successor to the King of Pop.

“Blinding Lights” is an incredible song; radio knew what they were doing when they chose it as the song to carry their lifeless corpse. What’s great about The Weeknd is he knows how to blend his knack for sex-addicted, drug fueled benders in many different packages. In this case, it’s an adrenaline rush of an Akira party song. Its futuristic sci-fi synths with the 1000 mph pulsating rhythm is one of ultimate escape. Nevertheless, it’s still another Weeknd song revolving around his vices. He calls out for his lover in the midst of withdrawals and claiming she can revive him with just a touch. It’s dramatic but the stakes “Blinding Lights” creates musically calls for a little bit of melodrama. It’s 80’s sci-fi nostalgia at its core but it touches a desire for escape 2020 listeners desperately needed. Maybe “Blinding Lights” does a little less in the face of other hits that exist perfectly in the standard summer setting. However, The Weeknd proved to be just the artist to hold us over in one of the modern world’s darkest times.

Worst: Powfu- “Death Bed”: I don’t get a lot of Tik Tok music. I’ve probably unlocked my old man card by saying that but I don’t understand it. I think this song’s claim to fame probably causes most of the confusion. It’s a deflated, Beabadoobee sampled emo rap song from another invention from the bland white rapper factory. To sum it up briefly, this guy is another one of the #sadvibe XXXTentacion descendants with no defining characteristics. Generally, I find this type of music to be ignorable and expendable. Very rarely do these artists warrant much attention in regards to their angsty, confused emotions. More often than not, it’s more of a reflection of puberty than anything. Unless you’re a Lil Peep level artist with fascinating new ideas, there are a million other white rappers with more to say. Still, this song didn’t really get over in the field of sad anime edits as I expected. Instead, this song has mostly existed on Tik Tok as a means to share adorable animal videos with the adorable, kiddy beat tip-toeing in the background. To be fair, I think the beat works in that regard. This song was ruined because of just how needlessly melodramatic Powfu is though. In theory, I’d get why this song works but its interaction with Tik Tok renders the song itself to be worthless. The contradiction between airy lo-fi beats and gloomy lamenting gets pretty stale quick though. I expect this to fizzle out of the immediate consciousness when people are back to normal living.

Best: Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande- “Rain On Me”: I wasn’t sure Lady Gaga was ever going to come back to pop music. I was almost certain her destiny was to pivot towards film after her surprisingly excellent performance in A Star is Born. “Shallow” proved to be a smash success. She demonstrated a willingness to wander outside the lines on her album Joanne beforehand. Gaga didn’t need to come back. All that said, I’m extremely glad she’s here. In her grand return, she blew me away. The nu-disco groove allows even the most uncoordinated to fumble over themselves in pure bliss. That wasn’t really my big takeaway though. I can’t help but feel like Gaga is on an unannounced retirement tour. On “Rain On Me”, this feels like the former Fame Monster is passing the baton to her partner-in-crime Ariana Grande here. In basketball terms, this is like Michael Jordan giving the cosign to Kobe Bryant in the 1998 All-Star Game. Although she certainly didn’t need the cosign, it says a lot that Ari is being primed to be the ring leader of pop music for the next several years. It’s here that she also completely blows Gaga out of the water. For a while, I always felt like Ariana never fully grew into her voice and became an effortless vocalist like her frequent comparison Mariah Carey demonstrated early in her career. The talent was there but I always felt it was a little forced. To be completely honest, she seemed like a little kid wearing her parents’ clothes. Here, Ariana Grande has mastered complete control of her voice and she sounds like an even bigger star because of it. Ever since 2018, Ari proved that pop music belonged to her. “Rain On Me” confirms it.

Worst: SHAED- “Trampoline”: I’ve heard “Trampoline” in some variety of an Apple product commercial 15 times in the past day or so. Every time, it’s managed to be both meaningless noise and aggravating enough to prematurely spawn gray hairs. I’ve said countless times in the past: I’d much rather a song be horrendously bad in an obnoxious way than to be void of life and spirit. At least with the former, there was some semblance of creative thought, no matter how misguided. Commercial songs are meant to be filler to showcase something more interesting than the song itself. It’s creative bankrupt but I do understand many of these alt-pop acts’ reasoning behind jumping behind the bag. Again, COVID has really stunted the ability to rake in money. What better way to guarantee money than writing and performing a meaningless, creatively bankrupt for ad jingle space in the newest iPad commercial. I respect the hustle but I can’t say I love it. I guess you gotta get to the bag somehow.

Best: Harry Styles- “Adore You”: I am just in constant awe of this song. What’s even more interesting about “Adore You” is that there were no signs this was the natural direction of Harry Styles’s career. Songs like “Sign of the Times” and “Two Ghosts” were more 70’s rock than anything and he was fantastic at those too! He knows his influences and he arrives at a place of admiration rather than thievery. As a result, his music sounds a lot cleaner and genuine, something Post Malone ran into frequently when still posing a front he was still some “rapper/singer” and not a complete pop artist. “Adore You” is a lot slicker as a technical pop marvel. The washed out guitars over the sturdy, formidable bass line spins in my head for days, especially when the chorus hits. The hook is one of the best I will cover this decade. The vocals are heavenly, stacked on top of one another like a symphony of angels shining a light on the congregation. In this case, it’s just Harry Styles but I’d rather hear a bunch of versions of his backing vocals than any of the old One Direction hits. Harry Styles was clearly the star of his old group from the beginning and pop music is blessed to have him.

Worst: Lewis Capaldi- “Someone You Loved”: How can one sound so boring and so ear-piercingly bad at the same time? Lewis Capaldi has one of the worst singing voices I think I have ever heard. The understating lyrics contrasting with his velociraptor level screech is astoundingly hideous. It’s aiming for Adele and lands somewhere along sellout 2019 Brendon Urie in terms of dramatic weight and emotion. I’ve heard he’s a nice, likable guy and I generally don’t like dunking on those kinds of guys but I do also treasure my ears here. If he’s such a great, funny guy, please go be an Instagram comedian. How this reached number one on the Hot 100 is one of the most baffling Billboard placements ever.

Best: Mustard & Roddy Ricch- “Ballin”: An expert doesn’t need to tell you that 2020 has sucked. Even the brighter moments have been shrouded by a larger, bleaker feeling of existential dread. Mustard and Roddy Ricch’s “Ballin” always changes that for me. It’s summery and whimsical but also contemplative of the past and how it made Roddy the man he is today. There were many great songs this year that temporarily wiped away the constant awareness of isolation and loneliness. Lil Mosey’s “Blueberry Faygo” was the perfect distraction in a very dark, secluded summer for many. Under different circumstances, it’s probably much bigger than it ended up being this year. However, Mosey isn’t very insightful and he doesn’t really have to be. I don’t expect street hymns or any prophetic wisdom from the 18 year old. He exists in a space where people need that distraction. What Roddy and Mustard provide is a deeper, more self aware reflection of themselves and how they’ve succeeded in spite of tribulations. In a bleak year, “Ballin” has been a comforting reminder that the dark cloud never stays over us forever.

Worst: Eminem- “Godzilla”: I’ve finally reached the final level of Eminem’s pop mediocrity in this series. The first instance was when he was high out of his mind, making audio shit-posts like “Just Lose It.” The second has been his unbearable stretch of Skylar Grey assisted or Skylar Grey adjacent pop songs to fill in the lowest common denominator of “safe” pop rap. This final stretch is fascinating because it’s predicated on the idea Em is back to being a “good” rapper. However, if I know one thing about Eminem and his interaction with pop music in the past 15 years, it’s that he is a grifter of epic proportions. No one tricks their audience into thinking they’re listening to something of legitimate value than Eminem. On “Godzilla”, we observe an old Eminem in an identity crisis as to what people wanted from him when he came into music. Like most rappers of his kin, it always stems back to the idea that he must save “real hip-hop.” Whether we want to admit or not, no one has legitimately needed Eminem to be around since his peak over 15 years ago. And still, Eminem is continuing to con people of various ages, even the younger crowd who signed up for the late Juice WRLD and Lyrical Lemonade video. The only selling point is the fast rapping but at what point does that get old? There are hundreds upon thousands of rappers who could replace his spot. At some point, we’ll see Em for who we was

Best: Dua Lipa- “Don’t Start Now”: In the 2018 installment of this list, I talked about how I should’ve invested in Dua Lipa stock early, how “New Rules” didn’t click with me but how “One Kiss” did. I still don’t love “New Rules”, it’s a far-cry from the generational pop talent she’s proven to be today. What’s interesting about Dua Lipa is that, even in my negativity towards her first big hit, I knew there was something big about her. She had a superstar aura of epic proportions, one of unshakable confidence and belief in her craft. She understands pop stardom in ways I’m still not able to fully crack to this day.

Dua Lipa is going to be the defining pop superstar for the next decade. While there were plenty of signals indicated her significant presence in pop music, I didn’t fully realize just how magical she is until the dust was settled. Future Nostalgia cemented her as a generational talent but discovering 2018’s “Electricity” a couple months ago connected all of the pieces for me. Mark Ronson and Diplo strike these chords as producers that are distinctly past, present, and future, familiar but forward thinking. It’s very reminiscent of gospel house music in a lot of ways, tapping into a certain part of the human soul but never feeling completely archaic. Dua Lipa is the perfect messenger for these ideas, her love for older disco, funk, and R&B bleeds in her music but it’s never disingenuous. The line “Even if I could, I wouldn’t turn on you” display pure charisma but also a deeper passion for what and whom she loves. The music video, recreating the humid setting of the New York City blackout in 2003, is utterly hypnotizing. Nothing mesmerizes me more than Dua Lipa dancing and strutting in a white t-shirt and red shorts amongst a packed club-esque house party. It also feels extremely personal, she occasionally gazes directly into the camera as if you’re on the packed dance floor with her. “Electricity” is confident, sexy, sleek, and captivating. If she captured the moment there, “Don’t Start Now” is a similar presentation on a grander stage.

“Don’t Start Now” follows a long lineage of pop artists with a singular, unmistakable hit song that defines an entire career. In recent memory, Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” is an example of someone who found complete authority of their voice and created a world that accompanies their respective world. Her story is a lot more tangible because she places you right in the middle of it. Dua Lipa is similarly in full command of her voice and her stardom. “Don’t Start Now” is dizzying disco tornado, reassuring and empowering amidst uncertainty and confusion. Only someone of pure Beyoncé level confidence could utter the words, “If you wanna believe that anything can stop me, don’t show up, don’t come out. Don’t start caring about me now.” It’s contemplative of her past (“Aren’t you the guy who tried to hurt me with the word ‘goodbye?’”) but firmly rooted in the present (“Though it took some time to survive you, I’m better on the other side”). She creates a world of pure inclusivity in a year that needed someone to remind them it’s going to be okay and reminds you of what could be in the future. It’s a dance track but it transcends the standard and makes it an entirely new experience. “Don’t Start Now” existed in a rough period where it should’ve lived with the world but simply couldn’t. It survives based off pure charisma, confidence, and comfort on Dua Lipa’s part. If she’s handling this pandemic, she’ll be unstoppable once we’re all past it.

Worst: Justin Bieber- “Yummy”: I will never ignore the fact Justin Bieber, a married man, saying “girl you got that yummy!” Whoever told him to continuously assault people with his flavorless brand of R&B are maddening. I blame Chance the Rapper.