Pop music has always been part of my life but it was a long journey to where I am now as a person. Deep down inside pop music was and still is my escapism for me as a closeted queer person. There's something transcendant about pop music that I listened to, like it would take me to other places that honestly I belong to. But, back then I didn't know and instead I was running away for who I really am right now. Pop music was my respite and it was a place where I could express myself in general. I always grew up with pop music ever since I saw Lady Gaga and Bad Romance, probably one of the most informative memories when I was little were watching Bad Romance music video on old YouTube VEVO. Since then I just love looking at American pop culture through YouTube and again popular music. Around 2013 however, I started to be interested with review youtubers, the likes of Nostalgia Critic and AVGN (since I was getting into game) and with Nostalgia Critic I came across a channel called Todd In The Shadow. I watched dozens of his video after I found him and after that I was introduced with the wealth of channels talking about pop music. Granted it was the mid 2010's, so a lot of those channels focused on the negatives. Then I found another channel called Spectrum Pulse at the end of 2014 and liking his works as well. When I looked at his channel he got a new series called Billboard Breakdown and I was hooked to the pop singles charts. And on the eve of 2015 I decided to make a blog and here we are now.
2015 honestly was one of the perfect time to get into pop music before the despair that is the rest of the decade. 2015 just like the year itself sat in the middle of a transition time between the fun pop EDM and pop rap and the moody dark brooding sound of trap rap, monogenres, and tropical house. And even though it was a transition time, it's probably one of the perfect way to end the party because this year is fantastic. Not all are winner though. Country had an existential crisis after the hangover of bro country, a lot of novelty songs that became popular because Vine, and rock just missing completely. But the good stuff are just outweighing the bad here. Pop music is as big as ever and all the most popular songs of all time list came from here, rap gradual shift from pop rap to the more trap influence, EDM having one of its best year with tropical house and future bass on the horizon, and RnB had some big debuts. To celebrate my ten years here, I'm gonna reveal my favorite songs from 2015. Here are some criteria for the best list.
- Anything that debuted on the year-end for 2015 according to Billboard Hot 100 and the repeats will be replaced by 14 songs that missed the Year-end according to TOTC.
- I also wanna include songs that didn't get to debut in any Billboard Hot 100 Year-end lists but appeared on 100 most streamed songs on Spotify for 2015 Link here
- All of this are my opinions at the end of the day so let's be civil about this.
Okay without further ado as we say hello to this year that definitely the last time we'll be optimistic as we count down...
TOP 10 BEST HIT SONGS OF 2025
10. Now I'm not really familiar with this song per say, but I know the hype that this song caused in the broader music landscape not just in the pop music space. This is why I'm choosing to add the most streamed songs that released in 2015 because I love hindsight like that! So when I saw that this song was really high up here and probably really influenced pop music down the line? Yeah I at least have to pay respect to it.
10. The Less I Know The Better - Tame Impala
There are saying that if you don't love something you at least respect it, and honestly that's what I'm feeling about the song. I honestly missed the Tame Impala train because I was into Twenty One Pilots back then. All I know of Tame Impala is that it's one of those band that sounded like just a guy singing in it. But, seems like after this album Currents was unleashed, Kevin Parker became a sought after producer in the business with his latest produced song Houdini with Dua Lipa became a monster hit. And this song really is one of the few songs from this year that aged the best.
That bassline alone should be the thing that people will studied for years to come because of how immaculate and just tight it is. It sounds buttery while the vocals bringing this airy and dreamy atmosphere. This song is like a croissant honestly. A very rich buttery pastry that has tonnes of layers to it's productions...but also the ones that should not be eaten everyday. Yeah this is the part where I say while I do respect how this song is made, I think there are better songs that are more long lasting for me. Also the lyrics is kinda pathetic and very pissy and that really detract the song a bit for me. Still what a song to announced yourself to the pop sphere.
9. Now for this next song here...well if you listened to the radio at all in early 2015 and were sick of the song...I'm sorry.
9. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
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I feel like reviewing this song is akin to me reviewing water or oxygen. This song is THE 2010s and backed up by data too (according to Billboard). This is the most popular song of the 2010s according to Billboard and yeah this is a well deserved one. I honestly don't know what to say here like you have ears like? and also you are born before 2004 knew this song and how awesome it is right? Okay fine I'll try to have one new observation about this song. I think it's the fact that Mark Ronson is probably one of the most underrated songwriter and producers working today. The fact that he produced songs for the likes of Amy Winehouse and Wale at the same time should be commended as very versatile. Also apparently his step father is the guitarist from Foreigner...go figure.
8. There's something to be said about the differences between what would be popular on the US and the rest of the world because it's very telling about the trends that many people might forgot. Looking at 2015 and 2016 the differences were stark because while America is about to embrace the dark moody sound thanks to trap rap, the rest of the world are in the midst of tropical house and EDM boom that will burst in a few years. What this means is that some songs will have one billion streams but your average Americans will only knew the song if they're listening to pop radio. For example!
8. Lush Life - Zara Larsson
By my criteria this counts for this year because it was released this year and is in the top streaming singles on Spotify. Even though to me this song is so emblematic of the vast difference between 2016 for USA and the rest of the world. Lush Life might just be one of the biggest hits of all time that never charted high on the States with only peaking at #75. I mean I get why, this breezy tropical house inspired song is probably not what Americans are into. But c'mon this song is one of the few reasons why I'm always prefer looking more globally because I wouldn't have found this song. That plucky guitar, the steel drum, and Zara herself making this song very loose and well lush. That bassline is what I would take home with me and have a great time...playing Split Fiction to. The fullness of this song really hammered home how Zara is being free caring and in a rush everytime but just breezy enough for it not being a chore. It's just a great little pop song that should've been a summer hit in America but alas.
7. One of the breakout stars of this era are both in this song but the fact that this artists were not long ago was in a show called Victorious and making song like this???
7. Love Me Harder - Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd
The fact that Ariana bringing in The Weeknd who up until that point was a semi popular RnB artist that is known to make down and moody track where sex, drugs, and partying is being portrayed as hedonistic fun in the realistic manner. The fact that she made him work on a very pop RnB tune is so fascinating and yet a stroke of genius. The juxtaposition between the very elegant and chic Ariana with the raw sexual nature of The Weeknd shouldn't worked at all. But the production and the framing is the star of the show.
This collaboration works because of how Ariana hold her own agains't The Weeknd here especially with how she has her agency and even domineering. This couldn't work though if the male character here is trying to be more domineering to the degree that could become really questionable. And yet, The Weeknd is floored with Ariana that he really accomodating with her and giving her the agency. It really helped that the production here is excellent. Its first note with that string synth really set the tone and from there it just becoming more and more tight. That chorus is probably the best Ariana has sounded up till this point. For the introduction to The Weeknd with the pop crowd, it's quite compelling.
6. Though after that introduction, The Weeknd has to balanced the tight rope of becoming the pop star and still have that core audience that listened to him since House of Balloons. He was back and forth on this but with this song, he found the best balance and becoming one of the darkest #1 hit of the decade.
6. The Hills - The Weeknd
It's still remarkable that The Hills went to number one even with how unpop this sound is. You can say that this song is the catalyst of the shift in sound from an upbeat preppy sound to the more darker and moodier sound. Which yeah you definitely can see that. But, I'd say that few can topped what The Weeknd did on The Hills. The fact that this song really uncompromising vision really remained intact after releasing your most poppy song to date is really crazy. The fact that the song starts with the blaring synth immediately set the stage for what the song will become. A dark and brooding song about his hedonistic life coming back to bite him especially with The Hills Have Eyes imagery. The production really expanded on this with ominous synth, the booming earth shattering bass, and the scream really created a horror scenes than anything close to sexy. But that's really on purpose as The Weeknd really going on how he's very much this sex god and hedonist, and then you saw that veil just shattered once the people are watching him struggling with the consequence of his action. The fact that this very unpop song hit #1 is still mindblowing and honestly in a worse year this would've been at least as high #2 but alas.
5. On October 16, 2024, The world was shook by the sudden announcement that Liam Payne passed away after he fell from three stories building in Argentina. That really came out of nowhere news really opened up a lot about how One Direction are viewed in retrospect. Now I have been a fan of One Direction since I wa 12 so I was pretty devastated that Liam died at such a young age (he was younger than my first brother for Christ sake). I know that their lyrics sometimes can be a bit iffy especially their debut and such. But I think that they really matured with the release of Four so much so that I was so excited to see what's next for them. Then Zayn left the band. And while they made one more album after his departure, it's basically done for One Direction. Which is why their last hit as a five members boyband is so special.
5. Night Changes - One Direction
Straight up this is one of the best love ballad of all time. From the wispy melody to the atmosphere and then the guitar filling in as we get to the chorus and the harmonies just oozing with care and comfort. All of the boys are bringing their best performance especially Niall and Harry here which are both will become very success and even critically acclaimed down the line. And that key chain on the final chorus really soared very hard to become one of the best love ballad of all time. But it's still the writing that put this over the top. Now the biggest crticism of One Direction is always the writing being a bit...shall we say immature. But with a little bit of growth and the fact that they...y'know grew up, they found the right formula to make this song to work. The fact that with the change from the first to the third person had been extraordinary especially with this song. You can hear the comfort that these five men gave to this girl that yeah once it's over you don't realized that it is over. The imagery of moving too fast here is key because while this song can be very cheesy, that imagery showed that something a bit more going on and making this song more compelling. A little bit of danger can't really hurt nobody. So it's no surprise that this song is the one that had the biggest rebound after Liam's passing. Even the haters have to say that yeah they have one song that's truly special.
4. And now for something completely different and shaped the sound of pop music for years to come.
4. Where Ya At - Future ft. Drake
DS2 is rightfully one of the few pivotal albums that helped trap rap ascend to the popularity that we still have to grapple till this day. This year in particular we have a transition between the party rap Pitbull and Flo Rida to the more gritty and real trap rap from Future and Migos. And honestly the switch up is a long time coming. Even though those pop rap songs are very fun and lighthearted, when Black Lives Matter started to form after the death of Treyvon Martin and the general police brutality against black people in America. No shade towards Flo Rida and Pitbull but people definitely don't wanna hear more of that club slob even though they're mostly good club slob. Trap rap really captured the zeitgeist and the culture at the time which evolved to drill and more dancey Jersey Club sound. Yes I know trap rap was created in the mid 2000s but T.I. then sold out after 2007 and most of the trap rap that have crossed over were kinda novelty. But Future after tinkering with the sound really found his stride with this album and this song. This song really solidified Future and Drake as the super duo in hip-hop and I bet it'll last long...anyways.
The song itself is very brooding and menacing look at Future and Drake hedonism and comradarie. Metro Boomin really bringing his A game with this one with the chunky trap percussion and really menacing melody. The flows are as tight as ever for both of them and even Drake got that melodic flow on this one. People forgot that Drake's flow used to be really tight and melodic (reminder that this was in his If You're Reading This It's Too Late era. Enemy would've been here if it's eligible). In any case, I know how this story is going and might be ending? (I think Future might make amends less so about Metro) But for what it is, Where Ya At and DS2 opened up the door for more of this sounds and it's for the betterment or worsened of the chart.
3. Sometimes an artist is great when they knew about their strengths and weaknesses. Limitation will always gonna be the stop gap between knowing to use your strength and how you avoid your weaknesses. This is why I'm always saying since 2017 that Demi Lovato should've made more of the pop rock stuff instead of soul RnB. Because I remembered what she's capable of.
3. Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato
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Demi Lovato should carried the mantle that Kelly Clarkson left behind in 2015 (Heartbeat Song is alright but still). I don't know who told them that pop rock isn't the right genre for her because Sorry Not Sorry is very lousy and very much using Demi's strength and turned it into her weaknesses with that sorry excuse of a productions. Cool For The Summer is perfect for her because the productions and instrumentation fit her rough and powerful voice the best. That chorus with the chugging riff and the big percussion and that harmonies. It really captured how forceful and just dominating she sounds. This song is tight and that's for a reason because this song is basically about Demi Lovato trying out sapphic experience for the first time. Now when I first listened to this song I was an egg who doesn't know yet that this kid will grew up with a trans girlfriend and oh that kid is gonna have their gender turned upside down (2015 was the last season of Gravity Falls and when I learned about Adventure Time and Steven Universe it's joever). So yeah questioning everything me really latched onto this song but really after all this year, I still felt that yearning even though I really can't express it well. In a way this song and how it sounded is really an experiment for Demi to see what sounds she wanna do and with that full creative control, she made probably the heaviest song on the Year-end List. All I can say to that kid who made this blog in the IT class is hey it's okay you can do it!
2. You know, we probably should have a conversation about Taylor Swift older works now that she got her master recording back! I think a lot of people have dismissed Taylor Swift just because of the tabloid drama and what the media portrayed her as. A lot of them are fragantly misogynist and very much bullshit goss that sometimes you need to spill it out in singles after singles. Being that Taylor is one of the few pop stars back then that wrote her own songs, it's no surprised that she's gonna showed up to one of my best lists. But damn I didn't know that the song would be so high up.
2. Style - Taylor Swift
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Honestly I'm glad that Taylor took a big leap and go straight pop. Even though some of her best stuff are from the country album or the indie folk stuff, there's some chic and even wonders on Taylor's synth pop style in mid 2010s. Really helped that she bringing in Jack Antonoff from Bleachers and fun. fame (yeah I know the meme but I think most Jack Antonoff stuff with Taylor are always gold). He really brung out the sophisticated sound that polished this song to be one of the best Taylor's singles ever. For one the writing of Taylor is more of a reminiscing instead of being sarcastic and jokey on the track before it "Blank Space" (that song is fine). Even though the relationship ended and she has been heartbroken a few too many times, she really still reminiscing the good old time with this guy (probably Harry Styles I mean c'mon look at that title). But when Meghan Trainor is being so up on her own ass, Selena is being more morrowful, and Miley...well whatever that was on that Flaming Lips collab album, Taylor is more restraint and even thinking about the old times. The imagery of James Dean and how tragic his life was elevated the angst into glamour which is just devastating. That take me home refrain with the pulsating beat, liquid guitar, and the harmonies just hit you with a ton of euphoria that yes turned it into an absolute gem.
Now before revealing my number one pick let's get through a long list of honorable mentions that just missed the cut
Budapest - George Ezra: This just missed the list proper and the British fluke crossover that edged out "Ghost" by Ella Henderson. That terrific guitar line and bass line will always with me alongside George Ezra's baritone voice. Nice guitar solo too.
Take Me To Church - Hozier: It's so funny but sad at the same time that the lasting legacy of this song is that people took the song's subject matter about being very horny that he needs guidance from God to even more lusting, and played it straight (pun intended). Remember kids once you made a very transgression shit, they'll commodified it.
Shut Up and Dance - WALK THE MOON: This isn't on the list because overplay basically. But wow what an opening and the chorus man. Definitely one of the few 80s pastiche that I love.
679 - Fetty Wap ft. Remy Boyz: No 2015 list would be complete if there's no Fetty Wap song on here. The fourth hit wonders here is basically the bridge between the pop rap and trap rap and it was glorious to hear.
Honey, I'm Good - Andy Grammer: Probably the only country adjecent here (country was started to tanked this year) and probably the contentious pick here. I think that the tone and framing of the song saved it from being too on the nose like say Cheerleader which would miss my worst list barely.
How Deep Is Your Love - Calvin Harris ft. Disciples: A return to form for Calvin Harris which became a really great modern house classic. The fact that I can't put this song on the best list just showed how strong this year is for best hits.
Black Magic - Little Mix: This is here thanks to the Spotify rule and what a great tune this is. Yeah this song sounds very cheap and very camp, but I really love the harmonies here. And we need more love songs themed around magic, they always worked for me.
Now let's finish this list then?
1. One thing as any critic that you should looking for is being unpredictable. I mean you are criticizing media and you have your own opinions. Sometimes as a critic you have to present yourself as your own person and having media taste that's different as anyone else can be gratifying. As for me I'll always believe that my taste in music can be a bit basic but so what? At the end of the day I have to give props to a certain album just because we as a collective believe that it is one of the best albums of the 2010s. The fact that Kendrick made this song to become the cornerstone of rap, yeah I have to go with the consensus.
1. Alright - Kendrick Lamar
Let me tell you a bit of my story as to how I really love music as a medium. 2014 was the lowest moment for me and obviously I bounced back from that, but it was a rough time that included three days not going to school that's how bad it is. Anyways around this time music is really what mattered to and with that I watched a lot of stuff about pop music. At the end of 2014 I watched a lot of worst lists especially from Todd (back then he was in Channel Awesome so I have to watch them there it was diabolical). And then I came across Spectrum Pulse's list and I was hooked. Then I noticed he reviewed albums and one of his early reviews that hooked me was his review of Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly" and when he gave it a very high score, I must listen to it. Now Spotify hasn't come out here yet, so the best way for me to listen to this album is through Soundcloud. And then the rest is history.
It's so funny that this album even with the universal appeal that it has and the critical backing, can only managed one hit. Though paradoxically this album got one hit at all is a miracle because I do believe that the wider American public are still hesitant with the politics of this album. And Alright is probably the perfect track to take a sample of because this is definitely the most "mainstream" sounding one out of all of them. This song was produced by Pharrell who also provided the hook and yeah this is definitely what Pharrell would've produced during mid 2010s. The only weakness here is the percussion can be distracting the mix. But once the trumpet hit against the vocal samples and more expressive delivery from Kung Fu Kenny himself. Now look there are some criticism that you can say about Kendrick especially when he's doing politics they can't all be winners here. But Alright is really something special in that even though it's his experience as a black man in a white supremacist country, his universality and his reassureness are what make this song soared so high. The fact that this became a hit at all especially from an album that's very heavy, that's the reason why this is the best hit songs of 2015
Thank you everyone for reading this blog I can't believe it has been ten years since I made this blog and through thick and thin I still care about you all and please take care of each other! Oh also here's my revised worst hits of 2015
- Dear Future Husband - Meghan Trainor
- Kick The Dust Up - Luke Bryan
- Marvin Gaye - Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor
- Play Date - Melanie Martinez
- Only - Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown
- I Bet My Life - Imagine Dragons
- Post To Be - Omarion ft. Chris Brown ft. Jhene Aiko
- Fight Song - Rachel Platten
- Crash and Burn - Thomas Rhett
- Watch Me - Silento
Dishonorable Mentions:
- John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 - Keith Urban
- Ayo - Chris Brown & Tyga
- Worth It - Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink
- Take Your Time - Sam Hunt
- Fast Car - Jonas Blue ft. Dakota
- Nasty Freestyle - T Wayne
- 7/11 - Beyonce
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