2000s Pop Songs vs. 2010s Pop Songs

Hi, I'm Stellar, and I have an unhealthy addiction to watching stupid music-related videos on YouTube. Case in point- the trilogy of posts I made where I listen to songs I've supposedly heard but don't know the name of (most of which I've never heard, period). That trilogy was inspired by some videos you can find the links for in the posts themselves. Today's stupid music-related video inspiration for a post? 2000's Pop VS 2010's Pop, uploaded by the channel ESC MKD. The concept for this post is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The video will show a popular song from the 2000s and a popular song from the 2010s. I will briefly talk about each song and state which one I prefer. This is NOT based off of success or impact or anything other than my personal opinion. This is based off of how I, Stellar in Neverland, feel about each song. At the end, I'll give a few bonus points for whatever categories I choose and tally up the points to see which decade is better: the 2000s or the 2010s. This might be a new series, comparing songs like this but it depends on if I find any similar videos to use for inspiration. So with that, let's get started.

Round One: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga (2000s) vs. "Havana" by Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug (2010s)
I know I've praised it a lot in previous posts, but as time has gone on, I've realized that "Havana" is quite possibly THE MOST OVERRATED SONG OF ALL TIME. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, because it is still a pretty solid track. But I've seen a lot of people who act like it is the greatest, most catchy, original, and amazing song to ever exist when it really isn't. It's an 8/10, not a 382098492834098/10. I'm sick of hearing it in stupid music-related videos and I'm sick of them putting Camila on the thumbnail as a crappy excuse for clickbait. And while we're on the topic of Camila, I feel like she herself is incredibly overrated. Yes, she has one good song, but that doesn't mean she's the new queen of pop. She's only on her first album, she's got a long way to go before she's even on the level of Ariana Grande or Demi Lovato. Her other songs are mediocre and her voice is freaking unbearable on every other song I've heard her on, especially that "Never Be The Same" song she has out right now. And wow I'm getting off-topic, but I needed to get that out of my system. In addition to my opinion that it's overrated, another thing that hurts "Havana" in this battle is the fact that it's going against one of my favorite Gaga songs. Who doesn't know "Poker Face"? It's a modern classic, instantly memorable and honestly pretty groundbreaking. Like Camila, Gaga was hyped very early on in her career, but I think in the long run she's proven to be worth the hype and is one of the legends of my generation. Plus I wrote a Romeo and Juliet themed parody of "Poker Face" for my English class last year, and I'm actually kind of proud of it, so yeah the winner is clear for me.
Winner: "Poker Face" (2000s)

Round Two: "Toxic" by Britney Spears (2000s) vs. "No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande (2010s)
This is gonna sound odd, considering that I love Ariana to death and wrote a very positive review of this very song just last week. "No Tears Left to Cry" is great. But it just came out last week. It's not fair to compare a song that just came out to a song that is widely viewed as one of the biggest classics of the 2000s-and one of my personal favorite songs of all time. "Toxic" is timeless. The production is brilliant, even if the main riff is sampled from some Bollywood song I had never heard of until I saw a video about it. A few elements might be a little dated such as the autotune-y breakdown, but it was groundbreaking for the time. The melody is unique and catchy. The lyrics in this song have a good balance of being sexy but not too explicit, and there are actually some well-written lines here and there. Britney’s voice isn’t great, but she’s able to give a really good performance. A song like this calls for a breathy, seductive vocal tone and her limited vocal range is able to pull it off perfectly. This is a song I would describe as an “instant classic”. It’s deservedly one of Britney’s most well-known songs, as it’s easily the best thing I’ve heard from her. Is "No Tears Left to Cry" still a great song? Yes, of course, but it can't compare to a classic like "Toxic". (But if we switch "No Tears Left to Cry" for "Into You", that's another story.)
Winner: "Toxic" (2000s)

Round Three: "Jenny From The Block" by Jennifer Lopez (2000s) vs. "More Than You Know" by Axwell Ingrosso (2010s)
Okay now. Here we have a song I've heard in snippets but never actually heard in its entirety (wow, I live a sheltered life) going against a song I've straight-up never heard of. "Jenny From The Block" definitely sounds like your standard early 2000s song. The beat's pretty slick with some cool flute elements and even a complete switch-up in the song's latter half. The chorus is obviously iconic, where even people who have never heard the song in its entirety can sing it word for word. Jennifer Lopez isn't a particularly noteworthy singer, but she sounds pretty good here, and the message of how she's not changing despite her fame is admirable. In contrast, "More Than You Know" is a standard current EDM song. It's a song where the beat is most important thing, and it is a pretty great beat. I like the guitar in the intro and outro, the aggressive bass in the verses and the horns in the drop. I'm not sure who the singer is, but his voice is pretty good. There's one part where it has the normal vocals layered with a vocoder and it sounds really awesome. I like both of these songs more than I was probably expecting to, but I'll give the edge to "More Than You Know" because I prefer its style.
Winner: "More Than You Know" (2010s)

Round Four: "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake (2000s) vs. "I'm The One" by DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne (2010s)
Battle of the Justins! In one corner, you have "SexyBack", which is a weird song. It's a lot more experimental than you'd expect from a pop song, and for the time, the overuse of autotune was somewhat groundbreaking. JT's vocals are entirely processed and he doesn't even really sing, it's more of a talk-singing thing. It's definitely a song that can take some getting used to, but I kinda like it. It's not my favorite song ever, and it's more of a guilty pleasure than anything. I like the interjections from the song's producer Timbaland, as well as the part with the funky guitar towards the end. It's interesting, which is something I can't really say about "I'm The One". "I'm The One" is a fine song, but it's nothing notable. The most interesting thing about it is the list of guests, which meant it was pretty much guaranteed to go #1. You have Bieber, who in recent years has made his name as a go-to featured vocalist for EDM-pop, Quavo, who has been huge as of late both on his own and with Migos, Chance the Rapper, who's an up-and-coming-ish Grammys favorite, and Lil Wayne, who is one of the biggest rappers of the millenium. Plus you have DJ Khaled doing his standard "ANOTHA ONE!" "WE THE BEST MUSIC!" shtick. What this battle comes down to is whether you prefer an experimental-but-hard-to-get-into song or a safe-but-not-really-bad one. Honestly I think I'm gonna give the point to Khaled and Friends, because relistening to this song now I realize that I actually really like Bieber's hook.
Winner: "I'm The One" (2010s)

Round Five: "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce ft. Jay Z (2000s) vs. "Wolves" by Selena Gomez and Marshmello (2010s)
Come on. This isn't even fair. To even suggest that Selena Gomez, who can barely hold a note without the help of pitch correction and is a mediocre performer, is at all in the same league as Beyonce is blasphemous. I'm not even one of those psychotic stans who believes Beyonce is the second coming of Jesus Christ or whatever. I'm just a normal, smart person who knows talent when she sees it. Beyonce is the total package. She's the best performer currently working, able to sing and dance better than all of her contemporaries and able to define pop culture with everything she does. She's an icon and Selena just can't compare. But we're not talking about who's overall better as an artist or vocalist. We're just comparing these two songs. And even then it isn't fair. "Wolves" is not a memorable song. It's generic EDM-pop that blends in with everything else on the radio. "Crazy in Love" is the opposite of that. Between the iconic horn line that was made to be strutted to, Bey's fierce vocals, the ultra-catchy "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no"'s, and the chemistry between future power couple Jay and Bey, "Crazy in Love" is a song that demands you listen to it. And I'm glad to, because it's probably my favorite Beyonce song and one of the best debut singles from an artist ever.
Winner: "Crazy in Love" (2000s)

Round Six: "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry (2000s) vs. "Look What You Made Me Do" by Taylor Swift (2010s)
I bet the idea of putting a Katy Perry song against a Taylor Swift song was completely intentional, and we all know why. I'd say I overall prefer Katy. Yes, she has her bad songs (especially in her later career) and her personality can be extremely cringeworthy. Plus she's one of the most problematic figures in music. But when Katy's at her best, she's responsible for some of my favorite pop songs. Taylor, on the other hand, is a good writer technically and a great businesswoman, but she comes off as fake, her good songs aren't as good as Katy's good songs, and her bad songs are unbearable. I talked about "Look What You Made Me Do"in my Reputation review, so go read that if you want the full details. But long story short, I think "Look What You Made Me Do" is worse than any Katy Perry song. It's lazy, badly written, annoying, overindulgent, and exists solely to cause drama. "I Kissed A Girl", on the other hand, is a song that aged pretty poorly and is a good example of Katy being problematic. On first glance, it looks like it's showing some much-needed LGBTQ+ positivity, but then you realize the narrator is just making out with a girl because she's drunk and bored. It's obnoxious and really problematic, but hey, it's catchy and sounds pretty good. At the very least, the rock instrumentation is better than...whatever "Look What You Made Me Do" is. Am I biased? Yeah, probably. But Katy wins this, even though her song here isn't good.
Winner: "I Kissed A Girl" (2000s)

Round Seven: "Beautiful Day" by U2 (2000s) vs. "Perfect Strangers" by Jonas Blue (2010s)
I will always associate the song "Beautiful Day" with the movie Nim's Island, because it's the song that plays in the credits. Nim's Island was one of my favorites as a kid, and it's where I first heard the song. I know a few U2 songs from my mom, and while it's not my favorite song I've heard from them (that honor goes to "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "With or Without You", in case you were wondering), it's still a pretty nice song. It's one of those songs that just makes you happy to be alive whenever you hear it. It's going up against a song I've maybe heard in small parts, but never in its entirety. It's the kind of tropical-inspired EDM that's been huge in the past few years, and despite the fact that it's a very recent trend and genre, the song feels really nostalgic to me. I have no idea why, but the melody of the prechorus and chorus itself just remind me of something I would hear as a kid. I really love the chorus, especially with the repeated "come on, come on, come over"'s and especially those deep, brassy horns. I'm going to call this battle the "Nostalgia Battle", because on one hand we have a song that gives me legitimate nostalgia, and on the other we have a song that gives me unexplainable nostalgia because I've never heard it before. And surprisingly enough, I think I'm going to go with unexplainable nostalgia on this one, even though both songs are really good.
Winner: "Perfect Strangers" (2010s)

Round Eight: "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls ft. Snoop Dogg (2000s) vs. "Work From Home" by Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign (2010s)
"Buttons" is one of those songs that I've heard parts of in various places, but never really cared about enough to look up in its entirety. And listening to it in its entirety...is it bad that this makes me a little uncomfortable? It's one of those songs that tries way too hard to be sexy, sounds really dated, and isn't all that catchy or memorable. None of the girls sound that good, and the Christina Aguilera-esque vocal runs at the end are trying too hard. Snoop Dogg doesn't really add much either and mostly just makes a bunch of lame cat/dog puns. It actually makes sense that the video pairs "Buttons" against "Work From Home" because a lot of what I said about "Buttons" applies to "Work From Home" too. I mean, they're both songs by girl groups that try too hard to be sexy, have filler rap verses, and bad vocal acrobatics at the end- thanks for that, Camila. There are some differences, though, mainly that "Work From Home" is mindlessly repetitive and catchy because of that. Maybe it's just that I've heard "Work From Home" so many times (seriously, this song was EVERYWHERE in 2016) and am therefore more familiar with it, but I guess I'll give it the edge, even though I'm not much of a fan.
Winner: "Work From Home" (2010s)

Round Nine: "Hung Up" by Madonna (2000s) vs. "Anywhere" by Rita Ora (2010s)
Considering Madonna is essentially the biggest pop star of all time and I'm something of a pop music nerd, it's kind of a shame that I'm not very familiar with her work. Like, I know a bunch of her songs, including "Hung Up", but I've never listened to most of them in their entirety. The most prominent thing about "Hung Up" is its sample of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" by ABBA, a song I only know from Just Dance 2014, tbh. I really like what they do with the sample, giving it a modern dance update. The melodies are really good and unique. Despite being over five minutes long and being quite repetitive, it doesn't outstay its welcome and is overall a really solid dance track. It's going up against "Anywhere" by Rita Ora, a song I haven't heard. I used to have this weird bias against Rita Ora, but then I realized there's nothing really wrong with her and I was dumb. "Anywhere" is by far the best song I've heard from her, being unique yet familiar. The lyrics are about wanting to get away with your lover and the dreamy sound of the song fits the wistful mood perfectly. The post-chorus is made up of chopped up vocal loops and it's an inventive and quirky sound that makes me smile. Rita also gives a really strong and expressive vocal performance. Both songs in this matchup are strong dance-pop songs, but I'm going to give the edge to Rita. I just feel like her song is more creative, even though Madonna's is great too.
Winner: "Anywhere" (2010s)

Round Ten: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay (2000s) vs. "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction (2010s)
I love "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. In my mind, it's one of the most wonderfully cheesy songs ever written. Everything about it is innocent bubblegum teen-pop perfection. But really, this isn't even a contest for me. "Viva la Vida", despite not being my absolute favorite Coldplay song, is still one of my favorite songs of all-time. It is a sheer masterpiece. It has a memorable and gorgeous string riff that takes my breath away, introspective lyrics about a king's fall from grace, an iconic and melodically wonderful chorus, and even a solemnly beautiful outro. The entire song feels larger-than-life and completely epic. I was obsessed with the song three years ago, even making an absolutely horrid cover of it that I sent to my friends and would prefer not to share here. And three years later, that love still stands. This is probably the battle in here with the most obvious winner for me, even though I still love One Direction.
Winner: "Viva La Vida (2000s)

Round Eleven: "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey (2000s) vs. "The Way I Are" by Bebe Rexha ft. Lil Wayne (2010s)
According to Wikipedia, Billboard named "We Belong Together" the song of the 2000s decade and topped the charts for an insane 14 weeks. So how have I never heard this song in its entirety? I guess it's decent enough, but its wild success feels weird to me. This doesn't sound like a chart behemoth, it sounds like a song that tops the charts for like, two or three weeks and then fades away. It has a weird, intricate melody in the verses and more of a slow-burning feel to it than a massive chart-topping earworm. It's still pretty good, mainly because of Mariah's vocals. I don't even know that many of her songs, but I can say it's probably justified to call Mariah one of the greatest vocalists of all time. The one long note she belts at the end is really impressive. In comparison, "The Way I Are" (despite the stupid title...seriously, why did they think the bad grammar was a good idea?) is a lot more fun and feels more like a typical chart-topper, even though it didn't even chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It's a lot more generic, though, with generic lyrics about dancing and a repetitive chorus. It goes in one ear, stays in your head for a little bit, and then goes out the other. Despite being a ballad, I would say "We Belong Together" is more memorable, so it gets the point.
Winner: "We Belong Together" (2000s)

Round Twelve: "Yeah!" by Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris (2000s) vs. "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" by Shawn Mendes (2010s)
Another obvious victory is obvious. Back in October when I talked about my homecoming experience, I stated that "Yeah!" was a school dance staple. However, I don't think that sums up just how much of a banger it is. If you actually look at the lyrics, "Yeah!" is about the wonderful topic of cheating on your girlfriend with one of her friends. However, the beat is so hypnotic and Usher's vocals are so smooth that you have no choice but to ignore that. Lil Jon's ad-libs are wonderful and Ludacris's rap has so many quotable lines. This is a song that gets everyone to the dance floor instantly and if you hate it, you also hate fun. "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" is also a good song, probably Shawn's best. It perfectly captures the feeling of young love and the melodies are fantastic. I was obsessed with it last summer. However, it's just not as good as "Yeah!". But to be fair, very few things are. Peace up, A-Town down.
Winner: "Yeah!" (2000s)

Round Thirteen: "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira (2000s) vs. "New Rules" by Dua Lipa (2010s)
To be honest, I'm probably more familiar with the Spanish version of "Whenever, Wherever" because I know I've heard it in my Spanish class. However, the English version is equally as good. The production is top-notch, with a great Spanish-rock vibe and even some cool pan-flutes. Shakira brings a quirkiness in both her unique vocals and lyrics ("Lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don't confuse them with mountains" is such an odd lyric you can't help but love it). Plus the song is ungodly-catchy, with a really well-written chorus and instantly memorable "le-lo-lo-le-lo-le"'s. Then we have "New Rules", which...honestly, a lot of what I said about "Havana" applies to "New Rules", albeit not as severely. I do think this song has become pretty overrated over time and I'm sick of seeing Dua on the thumbnail of every pop music-related video as an excuse for clickbait. That being said, I also still really like "New Rules" and Dua herself. I love how confident and empowered she sounds on this song, and her husky vocal tone makes her stand out. I also really like the overall message of this song, where she's actually showing maturity by not getting back together with the scumbag who broke her heart. Plus the music video is really fantastic and creative and deserves its immense recognition. Honestly, I think I'm gonna call this round a tie because both songs are equally great in my opinion. Here's my "new rule" which will apply if I make this a series: I'm allowed one tie per post, and each competing "team" (in this case decades) will get one point.
Winner: "Whenever, Wherever" (2000s) AND "New Rules" (2010s)

Round Fourteen: "Umbrella" by Rihanna ft. Jay Z (2000s) vs. "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen (2010s)
"Umbrella" was a game-changer for Rihanna, completely elevating her career from just another generic pop girl to a powerhouse of the industry. And her star just keeps on growing even a decade later, as she's one of the most famous people on the planet. "Umbrella" is another classic 2000s pop song that sounds timeless. It has a fantastic melodic composition with a really catchy and memorable chorus. Rihanna gives one of her best vocal performances to date and sounds smooth and sincere, especially on that bridge, which is my favorite part of the song. Jay Z's intro is a little unnecessary, but he does give the song an aura of coolness and swagger that adds to it. Meanwhile, "Call Me Maybe" is a song I honestly find really mediocre. Yes, it's catchy, but it's not really interesting or creative. It's just a shallow bubblegum pop song you can get from any pop star. Okay, I'm probably just salty because Carly Rae Jepsen has made some fantastic music (I'm still obsessed with "Cut to the Feeling", by the way) and sucks that she's always going to be remembered for this mediocre song instead of something like "Cut to the Feeling". But I digress. Either way, "Umbrella" still wins.
Winner: "Umbrella" (2000s)

Round Fifteen: "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, and Pink (2000s) vs. "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey (2010s)
I'm not sure why these two songs are going against each other, since they're nothing alike. Wouldn't the 2010s equivalent of "Lady Marmalade" be "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj? I mean, both songs have an all-star of powerhouse female artists who get to show off in their own respective ways. Despite my status as an Ariana stan, I actually think I prefer "Lady Marmalade", because, to be honest, I've never really liked "Bang Bang". All four of the performers kill it on this fantastic retro-inspired production, and it's maybe the only time in existence where Christina Aguilera's signature "HEYOHWHOAYEAHYEAHOHYEAHOOOH"-ing doesn't feel grating. Christina, Pink, and Mya all get to show off (although none as much as Christina, obviously), and they all sound awesome. Lil Kim's rap verse is also really confident and empowering, and it's all based around a super-catchy and memorable chorus, even though the chorus is nonsense. On the other hand, neither of the people singing on "Closer" are really that good. For whatever reason I like Halsey, it's not because of her voice, and the Chainsmoker dude straight-up can't sing. However, "Closer" is one of the biggest instant-classics of this generation. Everything about it is iconic, from the opening "hey" to the sing-along-worthy chorus to the simple drop which is literally three notes, maybe even less. The Chainsmokers are kind of scumbags, but they made a really good pop song here. It's not my favorite song ever or anything, but just like, as a pop song, it succeeds immensely. This battle is actually "closer" (I hate myself) than I expected, but I'm gonna give it to "Lady Marmalade" because I just like how fierce it is, honestly. And wow, I wrote a lot about these two songs.
Winner: "Lady Marmalade" (2000s)

Round Sixteen: "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne (2000s) vs. "Starving" by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey ft. Zedd (2010s)
Um...I don't really like either of these songs. On one hand, you have "Girlfriend", which is nauseatingly catchy but also very annoying. It's also about a cliche in music that needs to die: "Dump your current girlfriend/boyfriend and get with me because I'm way better than they are!" Avril just sounds bratty and like the vapid popular girl in your cliche bad teen movie. Meanwhile, "Starving" is really close to being a good, if not a little generic, song. Yeah, the lyrics are pretty dumb, but I like the melodies a lot and Hailee's a pretty good singer. But then we get to the drop, which is really annoying and terrible. Zedd's normally one of the better EDM producers with quite a few songs I like, such as "Clarity" and "Stay", but I don't like the drop on this song at all and I have no idea what happened. I guess I'll give the edge to "Starving" because its lyrics don't make Hailee sound like a brat, but it's still not very good.
Winner: "Starving" (2010s)

Round Seventeen: "So What" by Pink (2000s) vs. "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars (2010s)
And we end with another weird comparison (how are Pink and Bruno similar?) that results in another obvious victory, at least for me. I've actually talked about "So What" before on here, mainly in the 30-Day Music Challenge, but in a few other places as well. It's my favorite Pink song because of how bada** and awesome it is, while also having an emotional core. It's how I imagine myself acting after a breakup, being mostly like "I'm so much better without you!" but also admitting the sadness and disappointment with how they treated you. Plus it just sounds awesome. On the other hand, I was obsessed with "That's What I Like" around this time last year, but it shrunk on me over time. With its 90s R&B-inspired production, soulful vocals, and sweet lyrics, it's a good song, but Bruno's done way better songs like it. "That's What I Like" is basically just a weaker version of "Treasure", with both songs being retro-inspired jams with sweet lyrics. Plus "Versace on the Floor", the follow-up single, is also a better version of this song even though it's more sexual. To cap things off, Pink wins this one easily.
Winner: "So What" (2000s)

Now that we're done with all the faceoffs, let's do the Bonus Rounds. Well, these aren't really rounds, they're just bonus points. The four "awards" for this are the "This Is My Favorite Song In This Entire Post" Award, the "This Is My Least Favorite Song In This Entire Post" Award, the "I've Never Heard This Song Before But I'm Going To Add It To All Of My Playlists" Award, and the "This Song Should Have Won But I Prefer The Other Song A Tiny Bit More" Award. Obviously, Fall Out Boy inspired the award names, or at least the lengths of them.

This Is My Favorite Song In This Entire Post: This one's going to Coldplay. "Viva La Vida" is just the best, man. "Yeah!" is a very close second, though. +1 point for the 2000s.
This Is My Least Favorite Song In This Entire Post: "Look What You Made Me Do", obviously. I don't love every song here, but nothing can compare to this one in sheer horribleness. +1 point (or should it be -1?) for the 2010s. 
I've Never Heard This Song But I'm Going To Add It To All Of My Playlists: I can't decide between "Perfect Strangers" or "Anywhere", but either way, +1 point for the 2010s.
This Song Should Have Won But I Prefer The Other Song A Tiny Bit More: Even though I said this matchup was really obvious, I'm going to give the point to "What Makes You Beautiful". Yeah, it's nowhere near as good as "Viva La Vida", but it's still wonderful. +1 point for the 2010s.

Overall Scores:
2000s: 12 points
2010s: 10 points
WINNER: 2000s

I don't actually know enough about 2000s music to say which decade is genuinely better, but based on the songs in this selection, I say it's the better decade. As for my next post, after months of waiting, I think it's FINALLY going to be The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland #3. It will be up next Wednesday. I'm Stellar in Neverland, and I'll see you then. Peace!

Stellar

Song Review- No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande

Hi, I'm Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland, where we talk about Ariana Grande too much. Once again I'd like to apologize for posting this about three weeks late (I explained why in that last post), and I'd like to begin with a new apology. I'm sorry if you're sick of me talking about Ariana Grande, but I'm not going to stop anytime soon. Today, we're going to look at her new comeback single "No Tears Left To Cry" since because I've been highly anticipating it for a while now and I had immensely high expectations. But first, some background information.

I've been a huge fan of Ariana since she got her start on Nickelodeon's Victorious. On that show, she played Cat, who was my favorite character (even though I've begun to realize that Cat is pretty annoying as I've gotten older), so I mostly started liking her for that. After Victorious ended, she followed in the footsteps of her contemporaries like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez and began releasing music. I started really becoming a fan of hers due to her music. She has easily one of the best voices in music today, so much so that she's gotten compared to some of the all-time greats like Mariah Carey. Whether you think those comparisons are accurate is another story, but I think the fact that she's even suggested to be in the same league as legends like that really says a lot about how talented she is. But not only does she have the top-notch pipes, she has the tunes to back her up. For comparison, let's look at one of Ariana's closest competitors (although I'm pretty sure they're actually really good friends), Demi Lovato. When I talked about Demi in my Top 10 Favorite Celebrities post, you'll notice that I didn't really talk about her music that much and mostly talked about her personality and vocal talent. That's because, with the exception of a few songs like "Cool For The Summer" and "Heart Attack", I don't actually think her music is anything special. She's obviously got an amazing voice, but she doesn't have the right material to put it to use. That's what distinguishes Ariana from her equally vocally talented peers for me. Good singing can only get you so far, you need to have amazing songs as well. And Ariana is one of the most consistently great pop artists of this generation. I can count on one hand the number of songs I don't like from her, and when she's at her best, she is responsible for some of my all-time favorite songs. "Into You" is quite possibly the most euphoric and perfect pop song I've ever heard, "Greedy" is a funky little throwback-inspired pop song that should've been a world-conquering smash hit single (emphasis on "single" because it wasn't one), and "Be My Baby" is an EDM-inspired midtempo track with big synths and even bigger vocals.

I bring up those three songs in particular, because I've stated in numerous places that I love all three of those songs an insane amount and I think it's these three songs that kind of ruined "No Tears Left To Cry" for me at first. I can't emphasize this enough: my expectations for "No Tears Left To Cry" were ungodly high to the point where it almost hurt the song. I was expecting the Pop Song of the Century, something even better than "Into You", which is no easy feat. Anything less than that would be viewed as a disappointment in my mind. And upon first listen, "No Tears Left To Cry" was not as good as I expected. However, I figured it would grow on me over time and it only took a few listens to do so.

For those who are living under a rock: On May 22, 2017, a bomb was set off after Ariana's Dangerous Woman Tour show at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. 23 innocent concert-goers lost their lives (with the youngest casualty being merely eight years old) and over 500 were injured in the terrorist attack. Ariana was stuck in the middle of a huge tragedy like this, and she felt a huge amount of guilt after the events. She did everything she could to try to make things better, paying for the funerals of those who died, visiting the injured in the hospital, and most remarkably, organizing the immensely successful One Love Manchester benefit concert in a very short amount of time. With the tragedy being such a big story and one that affects Ariana directly, it was pretty much expected that the next song she'd release would address the incident in some way. And similar to "Praying" by Kesha from last year, Ari's outlook on her tragedy is quite possibly the best and most mature one she could have.

A few days before the single came out, she held a listening party for fans in London. The Blast reported that people who were at the listening party were so moved by the song's lyrics that they cried hysterically. With lyrics like "I'm pickin' it up, pickin' it up, lovin', I'm livin', so we turnin' up" and "We're way too fly to partake in all this hate, we out here vibin', we vibin', we vibin'", I can say that they were really stretching with that. However, what "No Tears Left To Cry" as a whole represents for Ariana is something I have nothing but respect for. This is a song about a woman who has overcome some truly horrible events, but she's done being sad and overcome the pain. She is an empowered woman, one that came out of a tragedy very few people could imagine and is stronger than ever. The song in a word? Uplifting.

The underlying message of the song is very powerful, but I'm typically a person who cares more about vocals, production, and melodies than one who cares about messages and lyrics. How is the song in those aspects? Well, this song doesn't compare to Ariana's previous best songs, but it still is really good. Ariana teased a snippet of the song the Wednesday before it came out, and my mind was pretty much blown from that. From that, I expected the song to be a gospel-esque number akin to "Pendulum" by Katy Perry (one of the few good songs from that album). That snippet was of the intro, which starts out slow with Ariana providing soulful vocals. After that, it speeds up and transitions into an R&B inspired bop, for lack of a better term. She starts sing-rapping, and the rapid switch-up really caught me off-guard. I wasn't huge on the sing-rapping at first, but it grew on me because it's just so catchy! In fact, this entire song has been looping in my head ever since I first heard it. Ariana and her producers know how to write a catchy pop song, and the hooks on this one are undeniable.

With this song, Ariana worked with the legendary producer Max Martin, who has produced iconic singles like "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, and "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. He's also responsible for some of Ariana's biggest hits like "Problem", "Side To Side", and "Into You". Because of the latter song especially, I was glad to see Ariana work with him again. The production on this song is excellent. Its sound is distinctive yet it doesn't sound out of place with other current pop songs. It has sort of a 90's-house meets R&B meets pop vibe, with hints of the gospel elements in the backing vocals. It matches the optimism and joy of the lyrics perfectly and fits the vibe they tried to go for perfectly.

Of course, the one last big element we have to talk about, since it's what Ariana's known for, is the vocals. I'm not sure if I'd say this is her absolute best vocal performance ever, and although it's grown on me, I still don't think the sing-rapping is the best choice for Ariana's tone. But still, it's Ariana Grande. She's incapable of having a truly terrible vocal performance. She sounds confident and jovial and she really shows the emotions needed for the song. The backing vocals and harmonies are great as always, and the parts where she gets to really belt at the end is glorious. Ariana's voice is a national treasure, and just listening to her voice can put a smile on my face no matter what she's singing.

Overall, I would give "No Tears Left To Cry" a 9/10. It's not one of my absolute favorite Ariana Grande songs, but it's the kind of song I need at this point in my life, and it's the single she needed to come back with. I know it will grow on me even more in the future, maybe even to the point where I like it as much as "Into You" or "Be My Baby". How does it compare to her other lead singles? Well, I would still say I prefer "The Way" from her debut Yours Truly, but I like "No Tears Left To Cry" more than both "Problem" from My Everything and "Dangerous Woman" from the album of the same name. If this is the direction Ariana's going in for AG4, then it will probably be her best album to date. I'm not going to review any of the other songs leading up to the release of the album, but I will totally be reviewing the album itself when it comes out. I'm sorry if this post was kind of over the place and overly passionate, but I couldn't contain my excitement. I have no idea what my next post will be, or when The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland #3 will come out, but I should be back next Wednesday. I'm Stellar in Neverland, and I'll see you then. Peace!

Stellar

I’m Sorry

The title says it all, but I’m gonna put a bitmoji here as well to really show how sorry I am. Except for the fact that I’m on my phone and can’t add a picture because it’s too complicated. So no bitmoji to really go the extra mile, but I am sorry I haven’t posted for the past two weeks. I was stuck at home all last week with nausea and vomiting (name a more iconic duo, I’ll wait). I’ve been fine since Sunday, but I’ve been using the past couple of days to make up schoolwork. I should be back and posting next week, but it won’t be the third installment of The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland I’ve been promising for a while now. Next week, I’m going to try individual song reviewing (as opposed to reviewing a whole album) with a review of “No Tears Left To Cry”, Ariana Grande’s comeback single which is set to be released this coming Friday. If you know me, this shouldn’t surprise you at all. I’ve been insanely hyped for Ariana to make her comeback and it’s literally all I’ve thought about since she announced the rumors of her comeback were true a few days ago. When the album inevitably comes out, I am absolutely reviewing it, but my excitement levels for this new single are so high I can’t wait to talk about the single for that long. I’m Stellar in Neverland and I’ll see you then. Peace!

Stellar

Roasting My Sixth Grade Poetry Collection

Hi, I’m Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland, where I suck at keeping promises! Last week I promised I would either write “another Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland or another new series I just came up with”, and surprise! This post is neither of those! This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this, which leads me to think that honestly I should stop revealing what my next post will be at the end of every post. Half the time it ends up being something completely different. So what am I doing for this week? Roasting my middle school poetry collection! I’m not a huge fan of poetry, honestly. It bores me and a lot of the time I find it pretentious. However, in my sixth grade English class, I was assigned to write a collection of poems. I have most of my assignments from middle school onward saved in my Google Drive, so I look at them late at night from time to time. A few nights ago I decided to read my poetry collection and I realized just how horrible the poems were. For this post, I’m going to be looking at each poem, doing commentary, and laughing at how crap of a writer I used to be. The poems are in a different font and color than the rest of the post, so that’s how you can tell what is the poem and what is my commentary.

Irrelevant Catalina picture, sorry. I just didn't have time to make a fancy one!

(Side note: A few of the poems contain personal details like my name, hometown, etc. I will be changing these for this post.)

Snowing

OK, so I don’t remember what the name for this style of poem is, but it’s where you start by writing a sentence and keep repeating that sentence but adding more detail to it. Honestly, I think this style is stupid. It’s important to have detail in your writing, but if you add too much, it just ends up sounding too try-hard and pretentious. This type of poem is guaranteed to piss me off.

It is snowing outside.

Snow is falling from the sky.

White powder is falling down on the ground.

I find it funny how writing “white powder” is supposed to be “more detailed” but if anything, it’s less descriptive. When you say “snow”, it’s clear what you’re talking about. “White powder” could be anything. Baking powder, powdered sugar, cocaine. From the looks of it, Sixth-Grade Stellar wrote a poem all about cocaine. Yippee.

White powder is dropping on the ground, making the ground look white.

That is a really clunkily written line.

The white, frosty fluff makes the ground look ivory.

White and ivory are two different colors. White is completely white, ivory has a hint of tan to it (I think?). If something is white, its presence does not make the ground look ivory. It makes the ground look white.

The white, frosty, cold fluff is pounding on the sidewalk, making it look ivory.

The milk-white, frosty, frigid fluff is pounding the sidewalk, which is an ivory mountain.

This poem is annoyingly repetitive.

The milk-white, frosty, frigid fluff is pounding the sidewalk, which is an ivory Everest.

Children are coming out of their homes to play in the snow-white Mount Everest.

OH MY GOD WHERE DO CHILDREN COME INTO THIS. So yeah, this is a sloppily written poem, but it’s not the worst one in here, believe it or not! There’s a lot worse yet to come.

Sneaky Poem

What is a sneaky poem, you might ask? It’s actually pretty similar to the last type of poem. It’s where you provide stupid details and be “sneaky” so the reader has to guess what you’re talking about. Kill me.

Mountain of frosting,

Sponge-y and irresistible,

The word “spongey” is kinda gross. Also not a word.

Chomping and devouring its deliciousness

Likewise with “chomping”.

Making people’s days a little bit sweeter

Cupcakes

This one is pretty short and mindless, plus it has some dumb word choices, but it’s still probably the best-written poem here, if I’m being honest. At least it’s upfront in its stupidity instead of being fake-deep.

LIGHTNING

This one’s a haiku. Which is cool. Haikus are dope. It’s not a particularly good one, but hey! It’s something interesting!

Vivid lightning strikes

Electrifying the sky

Boom! Boom! Crash! Crack! Pow!

I don’t have much to say for this one other than what I said before. It’s a 6/10 haiku. Although it does feel like cheating to just put onomatopoeia for the final line instead of actual words.

I Come From…

Pretty sure this type of poem is called a quatrain. We were required to write one quatrain, and our teacher gave us a prompt for writing one called “I Come From”. This is where you basically reminisce about your childhood.

I come from (Neverland) and playing with dolls,

I’m not actually from Neverland, obviously. The original version of the poem had my actual hometown, but I changed it for safety purposes, even though I’m pretty sure there are multiple towns and cities that share its name.

I come making Build-A-Bears at the mall.

I’m pretty sure I only went to Build-A-Bear once or twice as a kid. This poem is a lie.

I come from hanging out with my imaginary friends.

I come from days at Grandma’s I didn’t want to end.

I come from watching Barney, Dora, and Blue’s Clues.

Barney is horrifying but it gave us Demi Lovato so I guess it gets a pass. Dora the Explorer is quite possibly the most annoying show on the planet, but I credit it with giving me a headstart in Spanish. Spanish is the only class where I actually feel like I know what I’m doing, and I partially credit Dora for that. And of course Blue’s Clues is dope. Geez, when did “dope” become such a big part of my vocabulary?

I come from watching Disney films, the type I’d always choose.

I come from Rainbow Magic, the first series I loved to read.

Does anybody remember Rainbow Magic or am I the only one? Those books pretty much all had the same plots but I was obsessed with them. They pretty much kickstarted my love of reading, which is something I’m always going to be grateful for.

Some book covers, so you know what I'm talking about, hahaha. Ironically, I don't think I've read any of these books. Guessing they came out after my time?

                                            

If you want a good adulthood, a good childhood is what you need.

Ok, that’s not true. Many people who live great adult lives had horrible childhoods. For example, I read somewhere that Rihanna grew up with a crack-addict father and would get really severe headaches from the fighting between her parents. Now she’s one of the most famous women on the planet and is living the life most of us dream of. See Sixth-Grade Stellar, your statement is wrong. And besides, you’re like ten. How do you know what a great adulthood is?

I’m The Girl…

Here we go. This is the big one, the one I have by far the most to say about. This is my free verse poem and when I wrote it, I thought it was so beautiful, emotional, and meaningful. Hell, it even made my teacher cry! Rereading it now, I realize that it is one of, if not the, most cringeworthy and pretentious things I have ever written. Let’s just get this garbage over with.

I’m the girl who loves Disney movies like no other kid my age,

the girl with the severe addiction to all things Harry Potter,

the girl who spends more time on YouTube than she should.

Look at me! I’m SO unique because I like Disney movies, Harry Potter, and YouTube! I am the ONLY one who has these interests! I’m so quirky and original! Gag me.

I’m the girl with a perfect alternate reality planned out in my brain,

the girl who doesn’t want to grow up,

the girl who will defend the things she loves and believes in at any risk.

I am me.

Sixth-Grade Stellar, growing up is good. Yeah, real responsibilities suck, but as you get older, you have more opportunities to do awesome things. I’ve matured so much from back then, but it’s for the better.

If you’re looking for the girl who is a star athlete,

the girl who lives for being outdoors,

Indirectly shading people in your class who aren’t even that bad! Good job, Stellar!

the girl who looks incomparable all the time,

the girl who’s had around forty boyfriends in three years,

Slut-shaming? This is DESPICABLE, Sixth-Grade Stellar. I’m a feminist, and I believe that there are a lot worse things a woman can do than have “forty boyfriends in three years”. The only way I can see this being a problem is if somebody in the relationship is abusive, be it physically, sexually, emotionally, whatever. I am completely willing to talk about the double standards our society has where a man who has numerous girlfriends is a “superstud playa”, while a woman who is sexually active is a “slut” and a “bad role model”. I feel these double standards are completely abhorrent, and the fact that I would endorse them at any point in time is disgusting.

the stereotypical flawless popular girl,

keep looking,

because I’m not the girl for you.

Actually no, stop looking. The “stereotypical flawless popular girl” does not exist in real life. She exists in crappy teen dramas and nowhere else. I can guarantee that girls who appear to be like this are not that glamourous. Oftentimes, they struggle to deal with the high expectations of perfection put on them by society, and these high standards can lead to mental disorders like anxiety or depression. What you see on the outside isn’t always true, and don’t believe everything you see in the media.

But I am me.

And that’s what matters most.

This best sums up my big problem with the poem: how above-it-all the whole thing seems to be. Yeah, the whole message is “I’m not perfect, but I’m me” but there’s an underlying tone of “I’m so much better than the perfect popular girl! I’m REAL and AUTHENTIC and she’s fake!” It’s extremely elitist, like the people who claim stuff like “Real music uses instruments and has meaning and actually takes talent, unlike that Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj crap! I only listen to REAL music like The Beatles and Queen!” (Side note: I don't have anything against either of those bands, they're just always the two I see in "New Music Isn't As Good As Old Music" memes.) We’ve all seen people like that, who act like their opinions make them a superior person when it really doesn’t. Like whatever you want, but don’t be a jerk about it. My poem has the same pompous air as people who make statements like that, and it’s not how I feel now. I don’t think I’m better than anyone, and this post solely exists to prove to myself that I’m not above-it-all.

OK, so ignoring the fact that it’s complete garbage, let’s remember that “I’m The Girl” is supposed to be the big emotional statement of this whole thing. It’s supposed to be all deep and meaningful and very serious. So how do I follow up this big, serious statement up? A limerick, which is literally defined as “a humorous, often bawdy poem…” Talk about mood whiplash.

Don’t Be A Bob!

There once was a young man named Bob.

He wanted to get a good job.

So he chopped down a tree.

It killed a wee bee.

His boss said, “Your brain is a blob.”

I don't have anything to say, this is just pathetic. I’m pretty sure I wrote this in fifth grade but I thought it was so hilarious I just had to put it in my sixth-grade collection. Why?

The last poem doesn’t have a title. This one is just me describing myself, not much else to it. I wrote an original version of it in fourth grade, but I completely rewrote it for the poetry book. It begins and ends with my real name, so I’m changing it those, obviously.

(Stellar)

Caring, intelligent, bubbly

I’m not “bubbly”. I’ve always been pretty shy and kept to myself. I’m definitely not bubbly (which is defined as “(of a person) full of cheerful high spirits” now. I’m an overly emotional ball of angst and negativity. It might not seem like that just from my writing, but anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am.

Wishes to make Honor Roll in high school

I’m in high school now, and I think I’m on honor roll? My school doesn’t outright tell you things like that. Or anything, for that matter.

Wants to get more involved in acting and singing

lol i can’t sing

Who needs her friends and family

Yeah, and I also need attention from those friends and family. I’m an attention whore, plain and simple.

Who wants a larger house

Who fears death

Who dreams of being an actress or singer

Isn’t this like, the exact same thing I said before?

Who believes in God and Jesus

I’d prefer to not get into topics of religion on my blog, but I’m just going to leave this here:

Never change, Bieber.

Who loves her family and friends

Once again, isn’t this the exact same thing I said before?

Who loves books and the Internet

Who plans on going to Florida someday

I haven’t done this yet. Will I go to Florida at some point? Hopefully. I’d just love to travel more, period.

(in Neverland)

Well, that’s the end of my horrible poetry collection. I actually had quite a bit of fun writing this, and I feel like it lets you get to know me better than any other post on here. Next week will be more Stellar Adventures...I think. It’s probably gonna change. That’s all for this week. Tune in next Wednesday for more. I’m Stellar in Neverland signing out. Peace!

Stellar

15 Current Favorite Songs (Because I Felt The Need To Make This Post Again)

Hi, I'm Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland! I wasn't actually sure if this post was going to get done because I had no time to work this weekend, but I was able to complete it in two days! Hooray! I'm still not sure if I want to switch and post every other Wednesday, but I'll try to decide soon. My original plan was to write the third installment of The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland, but my limited schedule prevented that from happening. I decided to do another list of my favorite songs instead. If you read my 30-Day Music Challenge, you'll probably know why, but if you didn't:

"I really regret making that one Current Favorite Songs post from a few weeks ago at the time I did because I really struggled coming up with 10 songs I was really into. I should’ve waited a week to write it, because that week I discovered a bunch of songs I LOVE..."

So yeah. I just thought it would be a good idea to list the songs I love here. Some of these I discovered recently, but others I've known about for a while and am just now starting to get into. You may even recognize a few from other posts! That's enough rambling for now, let's get started.

#1. "Pray For Me" by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar

Black Panther made its box-office debut last month and quickly became the biggest superhero movie of all time. Naturally a mega-smash like this deserves an awesome soundtrack, so they got Kendrick Lamar, who is probably the biggest rapper in the world right now, to curate it and appear on many of the songs, including "Pray For Me". Considering that I've liked every song I've heard from both Kendrick and The Weeknd, I had really high expectations when I saw it on the track listing, but my expectations were somehow surpassed. Both artists get their chance to shine and tell about the emotional turmoil superheroes face, and despite the fact that I am not a superhero, I can relate. My favorite part is when they sing "Just in case my faith go, I'll live by my own law" in unison at the end. I'd love to see more collaborations between between these two. Like maybe a full collab album or mixtape. That would be amazing.

#2. "Reminder" by The Weeknd

You know that quote above from the 30-day music challenge? Yeah, it was referencing this song. I had heard snippets of “Reminder” in various places, but I didn’t think much of it originally. Then I heard it again in some “try not to sing along” video I don’t remember, decided to give it a chance, and I’ve had it on repeat ever since. This song’s about how The Weeknd is reminding everyone that he’s here to stay and he’s not going to change, and it has one of my all-time favorite lyrics: “I just won a new award for a kids show talking ‘bout a face numbing off a bag of blow/ I’m like, ‘god****, b*tch, I am not a Teen Choice’”. That line is just so much fun to scream out. Combine that with a cool, relaxed beat and some really catchy melodies and you have a song that will stay on my playlist for a while.

#3. "False Alarm" by The Weeknd

No I don’t like The Weeknd what are you talking about. All kidding aside, I’ve recently become obsessed with these first three songs. In my head I always compare “False Alarm” to “Reminder” because they’re by the same artist off of the same album (“False Alarm” even comes before “Reminder” on Starboy), I discovered them at the same time, and I like them both an equal amount. Seriously, I wouldn’t be able to choose the one I prefer if I had a gun up to my head. The one thing I will say is that “False Alarm” is way ballsier. If you like an adventure in your song, you’ll like this one. It has an unsettling vibe complete with screaming in the chorus, like an upbeat version of The Weeknd’s own “The Hills”. This song is weird, but not weird enough that it’s unlistenable or alienating. It’s still got a really catchy hook and intense beat.

#4. "Candy Paint" by Post Malone

Fun fact: I discovered this song from a The Office meme account on Instagram. Not even joking. Basically, I saw something mention that Post Malone had a song in which he says "I love paper like I'm Michael Scott", and I thought that was funny so I Googled that lyric and found this song. Ever since then, I've been obsessed. I've only heard like, three songs from Post Malone, but I like all of them and this is my favorite. It is insanely catchy and laid-back hip-hop, the kind of thing he usually does and excels at. I kind of feel like a Basic White Girl™ every time I listen to it, but is being basic really that much of a bad thing?

#5. "How Long" by Charlie Puth

When Charlie Puth first came onto the scene, I wasn't a fan. I mean, I liked "See You Again" until I heard it five billion times, but his solo work was mostly pretty mediocre to me. When he changed musical styles with "Attention" last year, I liked it but never really loved it. However, I did begin to see his potential, and the follow-up single "How Long" blew me away. There really aren't many differences between "Attention" and "How Long", it's just that, for whatever reason, the latter is better. It has lots of melodic hooks, a great bassline, and even decent lyrics. Hopefully Charlie continues to make music in this vein, it’s working out for him well.

#6. "Obsession" by Vice ft. Jon Bellion

And here we begin a series of songs I discovered from the First Impressions #5 post. I went pretty in-depth on these, so I’ll keep it short. More than any other song on that list (except for maybe “LOVE.” by Kendrick Lamar), “Obsession” has been a song I’ve just played over and over again. I am (obligatory crappy pun) obsessed with it. It’s so upbeat and fun, just a joy to listen to for me. This is probably my favorite song in that entire post, now that I think about it.

#7. "Cut To The Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen

We continue our list of songs from First Impressions #5 with this similarly jovial song from Carly Rae Jepsen. This is probably the happiest song ever written, and considering I’ve been through some dark times lately, it’s definitely one I need. I like to imagine an alternate universe where this is the Carly Rae Jepsen song that became a billion times platinum and was a cultural phenomenon instead of “Call Me Maybe”. Also in that universe, Donald Trump is not president, scientists found the cure for cancer, and my blog has as many views as the “Despacito” video (almost five billion as of writing this!) Can I please transport to that universe?

#8. "Woman" by Kesha

Last one I discovered from that specific post. I love Kesha, but honestly I think this might be my favorite song of hers. It’s the lovechild of her old and new music, combining the attitude and immense personality everyone fell in love with and funky, organic instrumentation. It’s confident and sassy in all the best ways. Besides, sometimes you just need to scream “I’M A MOTHERF***ING WOMAN” at the top of your lungs.

#9. "Motorsport" by Migos ft. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B

I discovered this song from my First Impressions #3 post, and although I originally gave it an 8/10, I was leery about accepting it as one of my favorites. I'm a person who values their morals over anything else, so I kind of feel like I'm committing a sin by liking a Migos song. Because no matter how many bangers they make, I still can't overlook the fact that they are, indeed, homophobic. But one day I just could not get this song out of my head and I was forced to accept that I loved it. It's a banger, with good verses from all three of the Migos (there's this one part in Quavo's verse where he says "Xan, Perky, check, Bill Belichick, take the air out the ball" that just loops over and over in my head), even though the two girls steal the spotlight. Especially Cardi, whom I've discovered has my favorite verse upon repeated listens.

#10. "The Way Life Goes" by Lil Uzi Vert ft. Oh Wonder

I talked about this one in some other post (not gonna link because it’s already linked up there), but I didn’t go super in-depth about it. I probably won’t go in-depth here either, tbh. I’m starting to come around on Lil Uzi Vert, and you can blame my brother for that. I remember I was talking to him about the Grammys one time and he was just like, “How come Lil Uzi Vert didn’t win everything?” “The Way Life Goes” is just really catchy and actually pretty positive. I know it hurts sometimes, but you’ll get over it. That’s just good advice, especially for me, a person who freaks out over everything.

#11. "Lemon" by N.E.R.D. ft. Rihanna

This song is actually really dumb, but screw you I like it. In a time where most hip-hop is dark trap bangers (that I mostly like, for the record), it’s nice to see a fun, energetic, and straight-up weird song like this. This has quite possibly the greatest opening line ever: “The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off.” I just find that hilarious. Also: can Rihanna please release a rap album? I normally don’t want my pop stars rapping, but Rihanna’s verse on this is awesome. Just another reason why she is, and always will be, a queen.

#12. "One Foot" by Walk The Moon

Once again: “Shut Up And Dance” by Walk The Moon is my favorite song of all time. Despite my utter adoration for that track, I honestly don’t know any other songs from the band. I heard they had another song, “One Foot”, on the radio and I was excited. No, it’s not as good as “Shut Up And Dance”, but I do indeed like it a lot. It’s a really upbeat and positive song (it feels like there are a lot of those in this list), and it combines modern pop with the sounds of the 80s in a cool way. Hopefully we get more songs like this (and “Shut Up And Dance”, of course) from Walk The Moon in the future. And hopefully my lazy self will actually dive in deeper to their discography.

#13. "Confident" by Justin Bieber ft. Chance The Rapper

Yeah, I like some Bieber songs. Shut up. “Confident” has been out since 2013, but I only got into it last summer. I’ve really been playing it a lot lately. This song flopped pretty hard when it came out, but I’m of the opinion that if it came out today (instead of in 2013, when Biebs was in his juvenile-delinquent phase and the public hated him), it would’ve been a smash. It has R&B production, laid-back vocals from Bieber, a subtle-earworm chorus, and even a verse from Chance The Rapper before he blew up and won a bunch of Grammys. This is probably my favorite Justin Bieber song, and it makes me sad that people don’t really know it.

#14. "Break Your Heart Right Back" by Ariana Grande ft. Childish Gambino

Honest question: can a post even be considered a Stellar in Neverland creation if it doesn’t have a reference to Ariana Grande? No, no it cannot. I’ve talked about her so many times you’re probably getting sick of me praising her, but I don’t care. Her 2014 album My Everything is an album I haven’t actually heard in its entirety. I’m honestly not that big on any of the singles anymore, but the few deep cuts I’ve heard are some of my favorite Ariana songs. “Break Your Heart Right Back” is one I’ve been liking a lot lately. The song is about Ariana breaking up with a guy who cheated on her with another guy, and it’s a fun and sassy throwback hip-hop inspired bop. Ariana sounds great as always, and Childish Gambino’s verse as the guy in question is pretty funny. Should’ve been a single.

#15. "Bad Decisions" by Ariana Grande

And speaking of Ariana Grande songs that should’ve been singles, I’m ending this playlist with “Bad Decisions” from her most recent album Dangerous Woman. I reviewed the album back in November, and while I did that, I had an epiphany: I have totally been sleeping on “Bad Decisions”! At the time I wrote the review, I hadn’t listened to it in awhile, but I realized how good it was then and it’s been on repeat ever since. It blends R&B with pop and is mature yet fun, exactly what I want from Ariana.

That’s all I have for this week. Next post will be either another Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland or another new series I just came up with. It'll either come out next Wednesday (April 4) or the week after (April 11). I’m not sure yet. Either way, I’ll see you then. Peace!

Stellar