Get ready for a lyrical roast! We're diving into the world of cringe-worthy songwriting, exposing the artists who've made us cringe with their questionable wordsmithing. From nonsensical rap lyrics to painfully awkward rock ballads, these musicians prove that not everyone should pick up a pen.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the least impressive songwriters
00:10in music history.
00:17Number 10.
00:18Sean Combs Known by such absurd stage names as Diddy,
00:23Sean Combs' style was once referred to by Blender Magazine as hip-hop corniness.
00:33He's been frequently criticized for inserting himself into Biggie Smalls' tracks, ruining
00:38them according to a number of independent critics.
00:41His occasional yeahs and ha-ha's were greatly unwanted.
00:45In his own career, having a quick glance at his early work and track Been Around the World,
00:50he regaled us with such lines as, I'm the macaroni with the cheese.
01:00He seemed to be more qualified as a producer than a lyricist, but with disturbing allegations
01:05coming to light in 2024, he's effectively finished in the industry.
01:16Number 9.
01:17Chad Krueger – Nickelback Ah, Nickelback, the Canadian rock band everyone
01:28loves to hate, but secretly enjoys in a windows-up car.
01:33This isn't about guitar riffs and loud vocals, however, it's about lyrics.
01:43So let's have a look at at least one popular tune and one lesser-known disaster composed
01:48by Chad Krueger.
01:502005's Photograph begins, look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh.
02:02At least there's heart in that song, unlike trashy ballads like Animals and Sex.
02:07Pure nausea, Mr. Krueger.
02:15Number 8.
02:16Lil Yachty Perhaps the only rapper with a nautical title,
02:20Lil Yachty is often featured on the tracks of others, likely for good reasons.
02:31We can't quote most of his tracks here due to an abundance of sexual lyrics that are
02:36just plain gross.
02:44He notoriously made a mistake on the track Peek-A-Boo, in which he referred to his partner
02:48performing an act on him like a cello, which he thought was a woodwind instrument.
02:59The same album, Teenage Emotions, showed his mature side with such lines as You Stinky
03:05and Dirty, like farts.
03:14Number 7.
03:15Lil Wayne Lil Wayne has had his clever moments when it
03:19comes to lyrics, but he's also definitely had some duds.
03:28This is likely because he hasn't written down any lyrics in over 20 years.
03:33Sometimes it's better to write stuff down and re-read it before performing.
03:37Here are a few lyrical failures, in our opinion.
03:40In this 2013 gem, I Am Not A Human Being, he alluded to getting intimate with a shark.
03:52Not sure how he survived that marine tryst.
03:55Another 2013 classic came in the track Wowsers, in which he likened certain body parts to
04:01car parts.
04:02That doesn't sound very romantic.
04:05There are others, of course, but they're mostly all about Lil Wayne's Lil Wayne.
04:09We're good leaving it at that.
04:16Number 6.
04:17Pat Monahan, Train The band Train was formed in 1993 and has
04:22been cranking out the weird lyrics ever since.
04:29Drops Of Jupiter is a prime example for lines like,
04:32Can you imagine no love, pride, deep fried chicken?
04:35What does poultry have to do with anything?
04:402009's Hey Soul Sister showed no improvements, with such fine examples as,
04:49Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains.
04:53Hey, that Mr. Mister on the radio, Stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know.
05:01For the former, yuck, did she just kiss an open head wound?
05:04For the latter, Mr. rhymes with sister, so it's perfect.
05:08Mr. Mister was a 1980's rock band with a couple of corny hits, which would logically
05:13have some influence on Pat Monahan's songwriting.
05:20Number 5.
05:22Pitbull
05:23Sometimes it's all about the beats.
05:26Pitbull is a shining example of this.
05:28Just dance, don't listen to the words.
05:34Pitbull's songs favor one common theme among many of the pseudo-poets on this list, womanizing.
05:42His 2012 song, Don't Stop The Party, is about not stopping the party.
05:47It features such gems as Zigga Zigga Ziggazow, who got the keys of the world now.
05:54Can't think of what to say?
05:55How about nonsense?
05:57Take the give me everything line.
06:04Why search for a rhyme when you can just… not?
06:11Number 4.
06:12Paul Stanley, Kiss
06:14Blender Magazine placed Kiss frontman Paul Stanley as the 7th worst lyricist of all time
06:19out of 40.
06:25The thing is, Kiss is more about the spectacle than it is about the poetry, right?
06:30The flashing lights and the pyrotechnics distract from the poorly worded tunes.
06:35Stanley provided the lyrics for the tune Love Gun.
06:38It's a delightfully creepy classic.
06:45Another gem, Let's Put The X In Sex, gave us the fine chorus, Baby Let's Put The X
06:51In Sex.
06:53There's also something about black lace underwear, of course.
06:58Kiss puts on a hell of a show.
07:00Don't expect refined wordsmithry.
07:10Number 3.
07:11Bob Merrill Some lyricists are exclusively behind the
07:14scenes, as was the case with Bob Merrill.
07:17Despite some arguably terrible lyrics, he saw much success in the 1950s.
07:28He co-wrote 1948's If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked A Cake.
07:33It's about a woman who would have baked a cake had she known you were coming.
07:37He also wrote How Much Is That Doggie In The Window, which traumatized people in the 1950s
07:43with its overplaying on the radio.
07:50It did introduce the now widely used adjective, waggly.
07:54Merrill also wrote for Barbra Streisand.
07:56People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.
08:00What?
08:01One more notable tune he penned is Mambo Italiano, an ode to Italian stereotypes.
08:14Number 2.
08:15Fred Durst, Limp Bizkit Fred Durst sounds like he emerged from an
08:20overcrowded frat house in the mid-1990s to front Limp Bizkit.
08:29Durst apparently named the band so because he wanted a name that would repel listeners.
08:33Well, the lyrics are also repellent.
08:39Get ready to ponder the existential side of life with such tunes as Livin' It Up, in
08:44which he claims to be a starfish and refuses a smoke.
08:48And less abstract songs like No Sex, Nookie, and Break Stuff won't exactly woo the ladies.
08:53Durst isn't exactly the classiest poet out there.
09:18Number 1.
09:21Will.i.am, The Black Eyed Peas The entire reason Will.i.am is number one
09:27can be summed up in one song, My Humps.
09:34The song opens with the important question of what a lady will do with all that junk
09:39inside her trunk.
09:48There's no sexier word than hump or lump for that matter.
09:52They rhyme so perfectly with dump, which is where this song belongs.
09:57That's just one of many cheesy party anthems Will.i.am penned for the Black Eyed Peas.
10:05He has also written songs for an alarming number of other artists, such as Mariah Carey
10:10and Hilary Duff.
10:11But hey, he tried to make lumps sexy and not just a worrisome medical condition.
10:16That's admirable.
10:25Who gets your vote for the worst lyricist of all time?
10:28Let us know in the comments.
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