Enter the earworms! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 catchiest pop songs released between 2014 and 2024.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:07 Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10
00:11 catchiest pop songs released between 2014 and 2024.
00:16 [Music]
00:21 We'll be considering everything; hooks, rhythm, vocals and lyrics.
00:26 Number 10, Work. Rihanna featuring Drake.
00:30 [Music]
00:36 A song can be catchy for all sorts of reasons, but in this case,
00:40 good old repetition is to thank. Or blame.
00:42 [Music]
00:47 The title in the chorus alone is enough to garner Rihanna's Work a spot on this list,
00:52 not to mention the singer's sizzling chemistry with then on and off fling, Drake.
00:57 [Music]
01:03 The lyrics contain dozens of works in total, one of which is Drake's.
01:07 Rihanna is no stranger to paying homage to her Caribbean roots in her music,
01:12 this time singing over a tropical dancehall beat.
01:14 [Music]
01:22 While Work may have gotten overplayed after its release,
01:25 it's much easier to appreciate in the post-anti-Rihanna content drought.
01:29 Number 9, Don't Start Now, Dua Lipa.
01:33 [Music]
01:40 By doing a full 180 on her sound, Dua Lipa delivered her catchiest bop to date.
01:45 "Don't Start Now," the lead single of her disco-infused album, Future Nostalgia,
01:50 raised her profile and set her apart from the Ava Maxes and Bebe Rexhas of the pop landscape.
01:56 The first few seconds of the song tease its whopper of a chorus before heading into the first verse.
02:02 [Music]
02:08 And its energy doesn't let up until the end.
02:11 And while it's just a minor production choice, the cowbell adds a lot of character.
02:16 It almost acts as a symbolic alarm to say time's up to the ex-Dua's singing about moving on from.
02:22 [Music]
02:28 Number 8, Blinding Lights, The Weeknd.
02:31 The rest of the song holds up, but that electric keyboard hook is melodic magic.
02:35 [Music]
02:43 1980s homages were already part of The Weeknd's brand,
02:46 but Blinding Lights' synthwave influences add a cinematic quality straight out of the
02:51 decade's sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and Tron.
02:54 [Music]
03:01 Not only was it the best-selling song of 2020, but it became the most streamed song on Spotify
03:08 of all time, and the longest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100.
03:12 Further evidence of its staying power.
03:14 [Music]
03:21 Of course, Blinding Lights is far from the first time that The Weeknd released a contagious pop
03:26 production. His dark and seedy take on Michael Jackson in Can't Feel My Face was just a hint of
03:32 what was to come.
03:33 [Music]
03:40 Number 7, Bad Guy, Billie Eilish.
03:43 [Music]
03:50 With its booming bass, snapping sound effects, and layered mumble vocals,
03:54 Bad Guy feels like it was engineered in a lab to possess our frontal lobes.
03:59 But despite sounding like it was created by a full house of producers,
04:03 it was solely the work of Billie Eilish herself and her brother Finneas.
04:06 [Music]
04:13 With a quirky synth riff partly inspired by the Wizards of Waverly Place theme song,
04:18 Bad Guy has a witchy, even sinister tone throughout,
04:21 as it comments on Eilish's attitudes towards questionable men.
04:25 [Music]
04:32 Once things seem to quiet down, they ramp right back up with a gritty trap breakdown.
04:37 [Music]
04:44 Number 6, Havana, Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug.
04:48 [Music]
04:54 Breaking out of fifth harmony is clearly much easier when you've got this jam up your sleeve.
04:59 While Havana wasn't Camila Cabello's first release as a solo artist,
05:04 the song did so well that it was changed to her debut album's lead single.
05:08 [Music]
05:15 Written as a love letter to the singer's Cuban birthplace,
05:18 that piano riff is unmistakably one of the best hooks of the 2010s.
05:22 [Music]
05:29 Layer some trap beats, trumpet, and a guest spot from Young Thug over it,
05:33 and you've got yourself a modern pop classic.
05:36 Cabello still has yet to top the heights of Havana,
05:39 but with a tune like that, can you blame her?
05:41 [Music]
05:47 Number 5, as it was, Harry Styles.
05:50 [Music]
05:57 There's only one direction your thumb will go after hearing this song, the replay button.
06:02 Harry Styles' "As It Was" offers a pleasant and breezy listening experience,
06:06 evoking the feeling of surfing on clear blue waves.
06:09 [Music]
06:16 With its infectious synth melody and drum pattern,
06:20 it almost brings to mind A-ha's "Take On Me."
06:22 [Music]
06:29 But don't be fooled by the aforementioned.
06:32 The lyrics to "As It Was" are surprisingly melancholy and bittersweet.
06:36 While Styles has released much more rock-tinged tracks as a solo artist,
06:41 this is his updated, elevated take on the pure pop of his boy band days.
06:45 [Music]
06:49 Number 4, Old Town Road.
06:51 Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
06:53 [Music]
07:00 Nearly three decades after Billy Ray Cyrus released
07:03 one of the most annoyingly catchy country songs of all time,
07:07 "Lightning" struck twice.
07:08 And surprisingly, it wasn't with the help of his famous daughter.
07:12 Instead, Old Town Road introduced the world to Lil Nas X.
07:16 [Music]
07:23 Before the rapper was even known for his sense of humor or provocative videos,
07:27 Old Town Road blended country and hip-hop in a way so satisfying
07:31 that the remixed version with Cyrus became the longest-running
07:34 number one single ever on the Billboard Hot 100.
07:37 [Music]
07:44 Its brilliance lies in its simplicity.
07:47 The bare-bones tune moves at a galloping pace, accessible to anyone,
07:51 and combines two genres that have historically stayed separate.
07:55 [Music]
08:02 Given its massive success, Old Town Road clearly hit an untapped market.
08:07 Number 3, Shake It Off, Taylor Swift.
08:11 Good luck reading your mind of this sick beat.
08:14 [Music]
08:19 While of course Taylor Swift had previously flirted with straightforward pop,
08:24 Shake It Off was her official big-time entry in the genre.
08:27 Employing the talents of legendary producers Max Martin and Shellback,
08:31 she managed to make the lead single of 1989 her catchiest offering yet.
08:36 [Music]
08:43 From its drums and horns to that massive chorus,
08:46 Shake It Off pulls no punches around the fact that Swift would soon be
08:50 holding an iron fist over the pop zeitgeist.
08:53 [Music]
08:59 Even more impressively, she continued clapping back at the players and haters
09:04 in the song's equally delectable follow-up, Blank Space.
09:07 Can't stop, won't stop grooving.
09:09 [Music]
09:16 Number 2, Shape of You, Ed Sheeran.
09:19 [Music]
09:26 This song was singularly crafted to stimulate the pleasure centers in our brains.
09:31 While no one was really expecting a hookup song from Ed Sheeran,
09:34 the results are undeniably irresistible.
09:37 [Music]
09:42 Thanks in part to repurposing the melody of TLC's No Scrubs,
09:46 the chorus of Shape of You is as tight as a drum
09:49 and easily the most danceable moment of Sheeran's discography.
09:52 [Music]
09:59 And speaking of percussion, the marimba in the instrumental tells you
10:03 you're getting something different from his usual fare with the very first note.
10:07 After one listen, Shape of You will be pushing and pulling in your head like a magnet.
10:11 Don't say the lyrics didn't warn you.
10:13 [Music]
10:20 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:24 Chandelier, Sia.
10:26 Play this song for a good time call.
10:28 [Music]
10:35 Love Me Like You Do.
10:36 Ellie Goulding.
10:38 Its chorus is 50 shades of unforgettable.
10:40 [Music]
10:48 Cake By The Ocean, DNCE.
10:50 A Joe Bros sideband drops a double entendre.
10:53 [Music]
10:59 Shut Up and Dance, Walk The Moon.
11:01 This earworm is your destiny.
11:03 [Music]
11:10 Bang Bang.
11:11 Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj.
11:14 The pop trio's team up will blow your mind.
11:17 [Music]
11:23 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
11:26 and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:29 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:33 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:38 Number 1. Uptown Funk.
11:41 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
11:43 [Music]
11:50 Whether or not you have a nut allergy,
11:52 this song that's smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy is dangerous all the same.
11:57 Almost a decade after its release, the hooks of Uptown Funk are still inescapable
12:02 and nearly impossible to resist.
12:04 [Music]
12:11 Not to mention the lyrics of the Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars collab
12:14 remain quotable from the beginning to the end of its nearly five minute runtime.
12:19 [Music]
12:25 Overplayed though it may be,
12:27 the cocky attitude and retro flair of Uptown Funk make it an instant mood booster.
12:32 If pop music is really junk food for the ears, consider this song a bangin' mukbang.
12:37 [Music]
12:44 What song from the last decade is in your head lately?
12:48 Let us know in the comments.
12:49 [Music]
12:56 Do you agree with our picks?
12:57 Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo,
13:00 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
13:04 [Music]