Jennifer Lopez went from J.Lo to J.Low, Katy Perry was a fallen idol, and Justin Timberlake couldn’t bring his sexy back.
Here are the five worst songs of 2024, from a sad sequel to a hip-hop flop and a cringe collaboration.
1. Jennifer Lopez, “Dear Ben, Pt. II”
What a difference a year makes. J.Lo gushed all over then-husband Ben Affleck on “This Is Me … Now,” the disastrous sequel to 2002’s “This Is Me … Then,” which was also all about her “Gigli” co-star. There was even this sequel to “Dear Ben” that nobody but the former Mrs. Affleck wanted. It was more like “Dear God” — a sad sign that their marriage was doomed.
2. Ice Spice, “Think U the S—t (Fart)”
“Think you the s—t, bitch?/You not even the fart,” raps Ice Spice on this single — from the Bronx MC’s debut album “Y2K!” — that tried so hard to be clever, but just ended up being crass. A total stinker, this turd of a tune goes straight down the toilet.
3. Katy Perry, “Woman’s World”
After leaving “American Idol,” Perry seemed determined to remind us why she became a pop idol, but her “143” LP was nothing to “Roar” about. And she did herself no favors by releasing “Woman’s World” as the first single in July. What was meant to be a female-empowerment anthem turned out to be a problematic misfire co-written and co-produced by Dr. Luke — the same hitmaker who Kesha claimed had sexually and emotionally abused her. Talk about tone-deaf.
4. Jason Derulo & Michael Bublé, “Spicy Margarita”
Derulo had gone nine long years without releasing an album before 2024’s “Nu King.” And the “Whatcha Say” singer collaborated with everyone from Nicki Minaj and French Montana to Adam Levine and Meghan Trainor in random desperation. But this duet with Bublé is probably the oddest of couplings: an EDM-pop interpolation of the Dean Martin classic “Sway” that has all of the flavor sucked out of it.
5. Justin Timberlake, “Drown”
After his comeback single “Selfish” barely cracked the Top 20, “Drown” was a failed rescue attempt for “Everything I Thought It Was,” Timberlake’s first album since 2018. It wants to be another “Cry Me a River” or “What Goes Around … Comes Around,” but it’s a tired retread that couldn’t stop the sinking feeling for the once-surefire singer, whose LP flop was followed by a DWI arrest.