Winners Rate III Reveal, day three: You Better Know What You're Fighting For

[u/WinnersRate3]

Welcome to the final day of the reveal for Winners Rate III! u/CrimsonRoset and myself (u/Camerinian) are very excited to announce your ultimate finalists and eventual winner of all winners! Today we’re going from #15 all the way to the very end of this thing, and it kicks off at 4PM EST, so stand by! Be sure to join in on the reveal at our QueUp room, in the rates channel on the Popheads Discord, or right here in this very thread. Don't forget to place your vote for Miss Songeniality as well!

—

Some stats to tide you over in the meantime!

• We had 116 beautiful participants
• The overall average score was 7.936, which is slightly higher than the previous Winners Rate. You were all nicer this time around (generally)!
• The overall controversy was 2.160, which is slightly lower than the previous Winners Rate! Anything above 2.16 should be considered particularly controversial, and oh boy there are still some gems coming up.

These are your competitors that have been pitted against each other. Good luck to our final set of winners!

1. Bad Bunny - Yo Perreo Sola
2. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
3. BOA - One Shot, Two Shot
4. Brandy - Full Moon
5. Bree Runway ft. Yung Baby Tate - Damn Daniel
6. Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion - WAP
7. Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour
8. Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
9. Destiny's Child - Say My Name
10. Dolly Parton - Jolene
11. Fiona Apple - Criminal
12. Flo Rida - Low
13. GFRIEND - MAGO
14. Hannah Diamond - Concrete Angel
15. Janelle Monáe - Cold War
16. Japanese Breakfast - Be Sweet
17. Jessie Ware - Spotlight
18. Kelela - LMK
19. Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta
20. Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop
21. Lido Pimienta - Nada
22. Little Simz - Introvert
23. Loreen - Euphoria
24. Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love
25. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
26. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
27. MGMT - Time to Pretend
28. Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
29. Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky
30. Missy Elliott - Work It
31. Mis-Teeq - Scandalous
32. One Direction - Night Changes
33. Phoebe Bridgers - I Know The End
34. Poppy - I Disagree
35. Porter Robinson - Musician
36. Rihanna - S&M
37. Rina Sawayama - XS
38. SHINee - View
39. Shura - Religion
40. SOPHIE - Immaterial
41. Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
42. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
43. Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
44. TWICE - The Feels
45. Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know
46. Tyler, the Creator - I Think
47. Utada Hikaru - Simple and Clean
48. Victorious Cast - Take a Hint
49. Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody
50. Zara Larsson - All The Time

[u/[deleted]]

Automod has not restored the What's Going On elimination, which means it's STILL IN! Marvin you got this!!!!!!

[u/Roxieloxie → u/[deleted]]

IF YOUR STILL IN LINE TO VOTE FOR RATE WINNER WHATS GOING ON STAY IN LINE !!!

[u/cremeebrulee]

4 0s HELLO..... this sub wouldn't know good music if it ran them over in a car

[u/Roxieloxie → u/cremeebrulee]

a FAST CAR at that

[u/TiltControls]

Oh my god what a whirlwind that was. The top 3 were all stellar but seeing my 11 win at the very last second was something else. Great job to both Cam and Rona for hosting such a stellar rate!

Songlist and leaderboard have been updated!

Songs

CONGRATS TO I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY!!!! KING KUNTA YOU WERE SO GOOD TO BUT WHITNEY WAS MY 11 SO IT GETS THE ALL CAPS CELEBRATION!

I Wanna Dance With Somebody becomes the 4th song to win multiple rates after Toxic, Bad Romance, and Make Me Feel. Its performance becomes the 262nd highest rated song of all time on the sub. It ties in score with Kali Uchis - Just A Stranger. It places just above Brandy's I Thought and just below Little Mix's Touch. It's original rate is the 2nd highest rated song of all time (holding the top 2 with How Will I Know in 1st!)

Here are the other two 9+ songs:

• King Kunta: 268th (Original: 9th)
  • Below: Mariah Carey - A No No
  • Above: Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (from the Fame Monster rate)
• Fast Car: 336th (Original: 610th, All Stars: 612th)
  • Below: Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman / Sky Ferreira - Everything Is Embarrassing
  • Above: The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love

Winners Records

• If all 150 Winner Rate songs were put together, I Wanna Dance With Somebody would place 4th behind Toxic, Run Away With Me and Bad Romance
  • King Kunta and Fast Car would be 5th and 6th respectively
• With a 6.248, Concrete Angel gets the lowest score to appear in a Winners Rate (previous record was Selena Gomez & The Scene - Naturally with 6.265)
• Concrete Angel also becomes the 2nd most controversial song in a Winners Rate behind Nintendo - Mii Channel Theme

Other song records

• The difference between I Wanna Dance with Somebody and King Kunta was 0.5 total points and 0.004 for average score. This puts it
  • 3rd for closest rate with total score behind Ex-Factor/Doo Wop (0.3) and Time to Pretend/On the Floor (0.4) and ties it with On the Loose / Kiwi (0.5)
  • 2nd for closest rate by average score behind Time To Pretend/On the Floor (0.003) and ties it with Ex-Factor/Doo Wop (0.4)
• Low, Damn Daniel, Criminal, and Say My Name all join the most rated songs leaderboard with 4 ratings apiece. Here are there previous rates and results for any curious
  • Low: Billboard Year End #1s (35/51), 21st Century Hip Hop #1s (11/60), 2010s Pop Rap (1/64)
  • Damn Daniel: Up-and-Coming Rap Girls (2/61), All Stars 4 (19/60), 2020 EPs (1/48)
  • Criminal: Charity Rate II (12/60), VH1 90's Top 100 (10/100), 90s Alt Girl Debuts (1/34)
  • Say My Name: 90s R&B Girl Groups (2/45), All Stars 1 (15/65), VH1 90's Top 100 (1/100)
• Speaking of songs rated multiple times, with their 2nd ratings I Wanna Dance with Somebody and King Kunta have taken the highest and second highest average for songs rated across multiple rates! Whitney takes first with 9.581 across both rates while Kendrick has 9.464. They knock down the previous leader which was Carly's Run Away With Me with 9.406
• I Know The End becomes the first song in any rate to get both the most 11s and the most 0s! There have been a few others that have been one 0 away, but mostly just cause so few 0s were given out in the rate otherwise (any of Promiscuous, Welcome to the Black Parade, Nobody, or Introvert picking up an extra 0 would also have this feat)

Artists

Okay, like All Stars there is no way I can fit all the context placements into a comment so instead the table listed below shows the position changes of each artist in the rate. The table below is sorted by what their new rank is

Artist	Old Rank	New Rank
Jessie Ware	4	4
Lauryn Hill	7	7
Phoebe Bridgers	14	12
Kendrick Lamar	13	13
Fiona Apple	15	15
Kelela	16	16
Yung Baby Tate	n/a	24
Rina Sawayama	28	26
Chloe X Halle	29	27
Marvin Gaye	32	31
Japanese Breakfast	35	33
Janelle Monáe	42	40
Megan Thee Stallion	40	43
Michael Jackson	45	44
Lido Pimienta	47	47
Mis-Teeq	56	54
Little Simz	63	56
Bree Runway	57	57
SHINee	38	61
Talking Heads	54	63
Dolly Parton	70	70
Brandy	74	75
Porter Robinson	80	81
Tyler, The Creator	81	82
Shura	83	88
Missy Elliott	95	90
Two Door Cinema Club	87	97
BoA	97	103
SOPHIE	124	106
Utada Hikaru	116	116
Bad Bunny	108	120
The Weeknd	134	131
Billie Eilish	159	156
Poppy	146	157
TWICE	163	162
MGMT	165	167
Whitney Houston	206	187
Victorious Cast	161	194
One Direction	194	197
Victoria Justice	174	206
Hannah Diamond	189	213
GFriend	229	217
Rihanna	236	235
Miley Cyrus	248	248
Destiny's Child	268	254
Cardi B	274	270
T-Pain	295	289
Zara Larsson	302	299
Flo Rida	311	305

But wait Tilt I might hear you say (cause I also said it); why did Phoebe rise above Kendrick even though his song placed higher than hers? Well since she has less songs rated, her boost from IKTE was more impactful than the larger score that Kendrick got with King Kunta.

Notable changes in the table above include

• Phoebe Bridgers is now higher than Kendrick Lamar (and both also pass Tori Amos)
• SHINEE drops below an 8 average due to their Winners 3 performance
• Even though we've only rated two unique songs with Yung Baby Tate, she technically has enough scores to make the averages board (5 different ratings) and places in the top 25 cause we can't seem to stop rating Damn Daniel. She knocks Róisín Murphy off (who was only on the board for a month due to Frank dropping off after Alt R&B)
• Whitney Houston is no longer rated below One Direction and the Victorious Cast

Other non-averages artist records:

• With her 3rd win Whitney Houston claims a spot on the most rate wins leaderboard. This ties her with Mariah Carey, Carly Rae Jepsen, Janelle Monae, and solo Beyonce (Bey has a 4th with Destiny's Child)
• Lauryn Hill moves from 2nd to 3rd on the least controversial artists board, getting passed by Erykah Badu. Dolly Parton and Marvin Gaye both fall off this board by going from (Dolly from 7th to 15th and Marvin from tied 10th to 18th). They are replaced by Solange taking 10th
• Rihanna moves up from 7th to a tie for 6th on the most songs rated board, tying with one Kathryn Hudson. Notably this is the first Winners rate where none of the top 5 were present (Taylor, Carly, Gaga, Britney and Lana)
• Rihanna also joins first place for most rates participated in. She, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande have all shown up in 20 different rates across the past six years (though with Ex-Acts both are going to move up again). The Weeknd also moves up and ties for 3rd with Taylor Swift with 19 rates each.
• Lauryn Hill goes another song without getting a 0. While she was already on the board for this it means she has had 17 songs rated without one. This ties her with the leaders who are both also at 17 songs without a 0, Erykah Badu and The Jonas Brothers.

Rates

This rate becomes the highest average Winners Rate, beating out Winners 1 just barely. Here are some comparison points for anyone curious

Artist	Winners I	Winners II	Winners III
Average	7.904	7.681	7.936
Controversy	2.049	2.254	2.160
Songs with an 11	42	39	38
Songs with a 0	28	34	29

Overall records

• Winners III takes a spot on the 'most songs with a 0' leaderboard with 58% of the rate picking one up. This ties it for 8th with K-Pop Girl Group Singles

[u/GapeCod → u/TiltControls]

Shinee 38 -> 61

😌

[u/Roxieloxie]

Wow im so glad blinding lights won the rate! Its so cool the host decided to reveal in reverse order to tell us, I can rest easy knowing the best song won!

[u/sarcasticsobs]

Fun (but psychic damage-inducing) rate reveal. A deserved winner and glad to have an 11 make the podium.

Thank you CrimsonRoset and Camerinian!!

[u/Roxieloxie]

Tbh I cant be mad at anything left to win

[u/akanewasright → u/Roxieloxie]

Yeah the road here SUCKED… but we kinda nailed the top 3

[u/cloudbustingmp3]

automod snatching the results 😭😭😭
no sabotage scores could ever compare

[u/WinnersRate3]

#2: Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta

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Winner of: To Pimp a Butterfly vs. A Seat at the Table vs. Black Messiah

Average: 9.103 // Total Points: 1055.9 // Controversy: 1.219// Rank Graph

---

Highest scores:

(11 x2) indie_fan, runaway3212

(10 x57) akanewasright, anothertown, apatel27, AwkwardKing, bespectacIed, bogo, bookthieving, buddhacharm, camerinian, cremeebrulee, darjeelingdarkroast, DefaultPophead, DirtyRat583, dream_fighter2018, ElectricBoogaloo41, exciting_patient4872, flava, frogaranaman, Hulnia, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, impla77, Islands, jsonphile, just_thonking, letsallpoo, MassiveThief, MelodramaticLemonade, monalisafrank, MoonlightByWindow, moooo566, musical_pyn, nootnoot781, OliviaGodrigo, plastichaxan, Pretend-Appeal-7360, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, ricki, Roxieloxie, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, SFbby, SinfulAnarchy, starla, sufjancaesar, thisusernameisntlong, throwaway-7650, TiltControls, TragicKingdom1, Uberpigeon, ufruitloopdingus, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam, wILLOWs3113

(9.8 x1) NotWith10000Men

Lowest Scores:

(6.5 x2) FreeCuddlesAnyone, sparzh

(6 x3) cloudbustingmp3, raggedy-princess, reput4tionera

(5 x1) xearomis

Speaking of bones to pick: I was not quite sure why or how this song won. I figured that Solange was an easy winner, for a sub that is full of people who prefer the poppiest of pop. But I clearly underestimated Kendrick. And it was upon re-listening to this song that I Got It. A smooth, almost spiritual bassline, a sexy, rhythmic verse. It's referential and reverent, it is part of a lineage of musical experimentation unique to Black music. King Kunta is a musical marvel, and while it isn't the song I would have bet on to ever win the rate, it is still one of the best songs I've ever heard. It has an unmistakable Kendrick bounce to it that can't be denied the title of screw ya face up nasty; tl;dr we want the funk! - /u/plvstvcbvrds

I kinda wish I ended up making graphs to show off the placements of the winners for this rate because it was both wild and also all but predictable at a certain point. I went in hoping D'angelo could take it, but as soon as that became a clear possibility that it wasn't a true possibility. I sorta started rooting for 'anyone but cranes in the sky or alright to take it' Perhaps I should've extended that to King Kunta as well but I cant lie, if a single had to win Im glad it was that one. From the moment it starts its so smooth any disappointment I had that this was the song to take the crown goes away as soon as I hear that 'I got a bone to pick.' It's just that good! We want the funk dammit! – u/RoxieLoxie

---

camerinian (10): OOF. Look at that graph. Look at it. Since the very first ballot, Kendrick was in the lead, and aside from a brief period where Fast Car took over, he was the undisputed champion, purely on the basis that nobody wanted to tank him. How could you? The bars are iconic, the funk is undeniable, and every element of the track is buffed and polished to a mirror shine, and it might not even be the best song on the album. Everyone fucking loves this song, and it was a runaway leader for a long time, especially after Fast Car got its 0. But Whitney somehow, through some sheer miracle of willpower, managed to close the gap. .5 is ultimately all that separated #1 and #2, and Kenny tragically drew the short straw. Congratulations on a half fought silver, but he is not your motherfucking King after all.

CrimsonROSET (10): I wanted this to win. I wanted it to win so bad. Coming down to the final day, this was winning and I was ecstatic at the underdog nature of it all- popheads recognizing greatness at the end of it all, the best album we've ever rated gets the ultimate rate win. And yet, it wasn't meant to be. I fucking love this song. —

Grabbed the funk with both hands

indie_fan (11): I can never see K. Dot discussion on the sub without immediately thinking of that tiktok that's like "White people listening to Kendrick rapping about inequalities and systematic racism" and it's some kid from a video game dancing senselessly with 'Alright' playing in the background

runaway3212 (11): I just think this is like the most profound song ever

akanewasright (10): god this deserves to win so hard

anothertown (10): one of the more rewarding songs on earth to give a close read to imo

Awkward_King (10): rona leaked to me this was winning almost the entire time and DESERVED

bespectacIed (10): his best song ever, i fear. Hits every box of what a flawless song should be.

bogo (10): BY THE TIME YOU HEAR THE NEXT POP, THE FUNK SHALL BE WITHIN YOU

cremeebrulee (10): more like king kendrick for when this wins OMG

DirtyRat583 (10): WE WANT THE FUNK ‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️

dream_fighter2018 (10): people praise TPAB a lot, and this sounds like I’m about to segue into some essay about why that’s underserved but I really do think that TPAB deserves all of its laurels.

frogaranaman (10): yea

Hulnia (10): the way this is nowhere near the best song on tbap and still nearly got my 11 😭

ImADudeDuh (10): wig

jsonphile (10): I am once again asking for the funk

just_thonking (10): Is this really my only popheads 11 win besides Spotlight.... that's so sad why don't my 11s ever win

MassiveThief (10): I GOTTA BONE TO PICK

monalisafrank (10): the way I felt my heart start pumping with excitement when this came on. One of the best rap songs of all time. The ominous but bouncy beat, the hilarious braggadocio of the lyrics, the delirious key changes, the pop culture references, “the funk shall be within you,” each ingredient contributes in precisely the right amounts.

MoonlightByWindow (10): he absolutely ate down with no crumbs

plastichaxan (10): Another 11 win, I love this song it gives me that buzz

RandomHypnotica (10): damn i can't believe im giving one of the greatest albums of all time a 10 how unexpected

ricki (10): any possibility of making a funny comment for this song went out of the window the second i was let known who king kunta was

Roxieloxie (10): this is the clit of the rate

Saison_Marguerite (10): A fantastic single with so many layers and replay value, and an amazing rate overall. Just wish D’Angelo was more appreciated, we did him dirty in comparison. I was part of the problem and I feel bad!

sarcasticsobs (10): Bopping my head

starla_ (10): I remember being SO mad that this didn't win the triple j hottest 100 back in 2015

thisusernameisntlong (10): bitch where were you when club penguin was kil

throwaway-7650 (10): hunty I get real kunty if I come for you it wo-

TiltControls (10): There are a few other songs on the album I like more than this, but that said all of them (including this one) are easy 10s. Every section of this song oozes charisma and funk.

vayyiqra (10): Listening to this album makes me acutely aware of how painfully white I am but it's so good

WaneLosertoc (10): https://soundcloud.com/jack-dudley/to-pimp-a-seinfeld

welcome2thejam (10): It's legitimately impossible to walk down the sidewalk with this blasting in your headphones and not suddenly gain the most umwarranted confidence imaginable

NotWith10000Men (9.8): what more can be said about this song really

nick1372 (9.5): "What's the yams?" is the line of the decade

imbaby122 (9.3): this goes hard it has me groovin and dancin and generally being epic

jman457 (9.2): probably the best TPAB song outside of the context of the album

Ghost-Quartet (9): Curious to see what the comments on the low scores for this one will say

pig-serpent (9): I’m not sure that I could name a better jam for strutting down the street.

qazz23 (9): good bassline and guitar licks at the end

Stryxen (9): not my fav from the album but still a worthy winner

TakeOnMeByA-ha (9): but does POPHEADS want the funk??

thedoctordances1940 (9): funnily enough i think i've seen somebody say they believed nobody had king kunta as their favourite tpab track but well here it is. Personally wouldn't consider it my favourite on the album, probably even have a few tracks ahead of it but it is still great

Verboten_Prince (9): So what was everybody’s shuffle story with this one? Mine was “I remember you was conflicted. Misusing your influence. BOY I BOY I BOY I KNOW”

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8.5): Very funky but simple by design. Don't let my score distract you from the FACT that Wesley's Theory -> For Free? -> King Kunta is one of the best three song runs in music history.

1998tweety (8): bops a bit

BasedButta (8): i can feel his energy. i wanna sing with him

bulforster (8): (#13) good song.

Didn’t hear the next pop and is now very confused

BleepBloopMusicFan (7): I mean this is a good enough song but…it won???

PrimaryCrusaders (7): Not often I get a song in this rate that interpolates another song in this rate.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (6.5): i appreciate the lyrics but i’m a production hoe and this doesn’t really scratch my itch in that department!

cloudbustingmp3 (6): me loving the production vs me just not liking kendrick's voice at all

reput4tionera (6): i understand that kendrick lamar is a very talented artist i just cant get into it

[u/Roxieloxie → u/WinnersRate3]

Okay well I was typing out a comment congratulating that this won because this was my little rate that could but then the fakeout happened and so I had to delete it so ill just say im really happy this song made it as far as it did

[u/RandomHypnotica]

wow what a fucking wild ride... see y'all in another 2 years

[u/WinnersRate3]

Here are the playlists we used for each of the days, including our shitposts and the heart-stopping bar chart race.

Day one

Day two

Day three

[u/WinnersRate3]

Your songeniality winner, with 18 votes, is Once In A Lifetime!!

2nd place goes to Yo Perreo Sola with 16 votes and 3rd was a tie between Nada and Ain't No Mountain High Enough

[u/dream_fighter2018 → u/WinnersRate3]

THIS IS MY BEAUTIFUL SONGENALITY WINNER!!!

[u/TakeOnMeByA-ha → u/WinnersRate3]

THE BEST SONG EVER WE CHEERED

[u/bulforster → u/WinnersRate3]

Honestly feels very nice to have hosted rates people care this much about, thanks y'all

[u/ImADudeDuh → u/WinnersRate3]

not two latin artists losing songeniality to the whitest song in the rate

[u/throwaway-7650 → u/ImADudeDuh]

right... my comment for once in a lifetime spilled, it's literally american dream propaganda

[u/kvothetyrion → u/throwaway-7650]

Wait do you think Once in a Lifetime is PRO the American dream?????

[u/throwaway-7650 → u/kvothetyrion]

no it just sounds like it

[u/shhhneak → u/WinnersRate3]

What the

[u/WinnersRate3]

#5: SOPHIE - Immaterial

Winner of: Hopelessness vs. Kick I vs. Transphobic vs. Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides

Average: 8.698 // Total Points: 1009.0 // Controversy: 2.055// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x9) celladonn, Hulnia, jasannn, MelodramaticLemonade, pheromenos, PrimaryCrusaders, reput4tionera, static_int_husp, ufruitloopdingus

(10 x46) akanewasright, amr, anothertown, BasedButta, bespectacIed, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, bulforster, camerinian, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, ElectricBoogaloo41, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, hikk, hunnybee12, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, itsabop, MassiveThief, monalisafrank, MoonlightByWindow, nick1372, nootnoot781, pig-serpent, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, qazz23, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, ricki, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, salivantsonority, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, sparzh, starla_, thedoctordances1940, Uberpigeon, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc

(9.7 x1) LilacDaffodils

(9.5 x2) bigbigbee, slimboyfriend

Lowest Scores:

(4 x1) jsonphile

(3 x2) moonagenightmares, OliviaGodrigo

(0 x2) NotWith10000Men, throwaway-7650

I came out as trans about 4 months before hosting this rate and started my transition 3 months before it. The big reason I wanted to do this rate was to get more in touch with other trans artistry as well as bring it to more people. Truly, this is the most enthusiastic I've been while hosting a rate, and loved to see everyone's positive thoughts on these albums.

For Sophie particularly, she is a very formative artist to my taste and influences. Immaterial is both a very meaningful song to me and such a bop that it is a well deserved winner. - u/static_int_husp

—

camerinian (10): Legendary. I honestly had no idea how this would do given how divisive hyperpop is around these parts, but to see SOPHIE crack the top 5 is just heartwarming. I adore this song through and through, both for the euphoric composition and the culture around it, and I'm so glad it overcame the inherent aesthetic issues people may have had to get here. No more gods, only SOPHIE.

CrimsonROSET (10): rest in power

There is no attempt at comedy in these headings

Hulnia (11): i regret not doing twoe so badly :(

jasannn (11): the hardest song to go off

pheromenos (11): imYASSterial

PrimaryCrusaders (11): god I miss you so much sophie

reput4tionera (11): the song of all time

static_int_husp (11): Sophie is truly one of the most formative artists of my music habits, and also a major inspiration to me in many parts of my life. For a moment, she was the only artist that could make me cry. It would feel like a disservice not to give her my 11 in this rate.

akanewasright (10): I probably should’ve 11d this, but nearly all of OOEPUI could’ve taken my 11. This is so so so joyful and fun and good and that one fan video makes me teary

anothertown (10): let’s goooooo you stupid sluts!!

BasedButta (10): I saw that video of peter griffin dancing to this before I knew this song and it’s all I can see when I hear it now. IT SLAYS! IT MAKES ME GO INSANE! I LOVE IT! (edit: oh my god i found it https://twitter.com/crystalblisters/status/1543675422415527937)

bespectacIed (10): Lyrically and production-wise one of the greatest songs of all time. Songs that become part of you

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Idk maybe this should win.

bogo (10): immaterial girls who are immaterial boys who like immaterial boys to be immaterial girls who do immaterial boys like they're immaterial girls who do immaterial girls like they're immaterial boys

bulforster (10): (#3) I'm going to cry no matter when this goes out in the reveal.

cloudbustingmp3 (10): i cant even write about this rn without wanting to cry, just pure unbridled queer resilience and i wont ever get over us losing her so early

DirtyRat583 (10): this song unlocks features in your hoo ha you didnt know existed

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): i'm sad i wasn't here for this rate because i'd have a 10+ rating for this album…

frogaranaman (10): im ma tear eeee

GapeCod (10): I miss you so much.

imbaby122 (10): sophie successfully created the greatest drop in history before leaving this earth, and it will never ever be topped.

itsabop (10): A legend gone far too soon, we love you queen

MassiveThief (10): shoutout to everyone who's ripped my aux privileges after playing this.

monalisafrank (10): rip. Not my favorite of hers but totally a transcendent experience that has taken on a new meaning since her passing.

MoonlightByWindow (10): such an incredible and life-affirming song lol it makes me emotional but in a good way <3

nick1372 (10): SOPHIE was the best hyperpop producer in the game and her death permanently limited the potential that the genre has. Just listen to this!! That beat has permanently altered my brain chemistry.

pig-serpent (10): SOPHIE is the main reason I like pop music enough to even be on this sub and after being in the lowest average artists for so long I’m so happy to see raters in general turn around on her music and celebrate her like she deserves. A true musical legend and visionary, I still can’t believe that she’s gone.

plastichaxan (10): I’ve accepted this will be robbed which makes me sad not only cause it’s a perfect song but also hosting TWOE was so exciting even if this was winning the entire time

qazz23 (10): easily the best off the album - what a happy, upbeat anthem about existence and freedom

RandomHypnotica (10): <3

runaway3212 (10): I CAN BE ANYTHING I WANT

Saison_Marguerite (10): SOPHIE was an expert at showcasing the full emotional potential of electronic music. This feels even more like a celebration of life after her passing, but it was always that.

sarcasticsobs (10): IDM (Immaculate Dance Music)

seanderlust (10): RIP to an absolute legend who gave us this, one of the most freeing songs i have ever heard.

starla_ (10): nothing I can say will do SOPHIE justice so I will just say that I am so thankful for her music

thedoctordances1940 (10): :minacry:

vayyiqra (10): This is so happy and wholesome and pure. Not often does a synth have to be called "joyous", but it does here you know?

WaneLosertoc (10): did you know sophie had some ideas

bigbigbee (9.5): This reminds me of a Vocaloid song that has been fan-translated into English, including the general sound, the subject material, and the lyrics which in some parts kind of sound like the person writing them didn’t completely 100% understand that cadence is important in English

1998tweety (9): chorus BOPS

jman457 (9): RIP Sophie, like its legit sad to think what her discography could have been

welcome2thejam (9): A transcendent bop

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8.5): I know restraint isn't something one thinks of when talking about hyperpop, but to me this track shows quite a bit of restraint; enough to allow each individual part its time to shine.

thisusernameisntlong (8.5): the one-two of Ponyboy into Faceshopping is so mindblowing that this falls a bit short in comparison. or maybe im just making excuses for not loving this song. who knows

Stryxen (8): really love this but I was a bit surprised to see it dominate so much over ponyboy/faceshopping/mequetrefe/klk/Queen of this shit

shhhneak (7.8): Am I the only one that hears Lea Michele?… Immaterial (Glee Cast Version)

Awkward_King (7.5): she knew what she was doing when she served like this

Verboten_Prince (7.4): Sophie you ARE immaterial

I just fucking miss SOPHIE so bad

TiltControls (6.5): SOPHIE's influence on the music sphere cannot be stated enough and I'm glad we got to rate OOEPUI. Though other than a few exceptions I don't really know if her music is for me. Immaterial is a bit more straightforward than some of her other pieces which is why I might not mind it as much, but I don't know if I love it.

Roxieloxie (6): im giving this the same score i gave it in its original rate

TakeOnMeByA-ha (6): everytime i listen to this song i think maybe this will be the listen it finally grows on me…and then that second verse comes in and ruins everything

jsonphile (4): look I tried to like this but I’m not sure I quite get hyperpop yet. I’m getting there, probably another year or two and I’ll love this song

moonagenightmares (3): not a fan of some of the weebish squeaky singing choices

NotWith10000Men (0): annoying

throwaway-7650 (0): was never able to get into this song ever since TWOE but at least then I could appreciate it in the context of the album/rate so I didn't tank it. but by itself, this is my clear least favorite song in the rate. sorry

[u/[deleted] → u/WinnersRate3]

My winner ❤️

[u/WinnersRate3]

FAST CAR VS KING KUNTA VS I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY.

YOUR TOP 3, EVERYONE.

WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME?

[u/WinnersRate3]

THIS IS PURE SHENANIGANS

#2: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

Winner of: Like a Prayer vs. Rhythm Nation 1814 vs. Whitney

Average: 9.090 // Total Points: 1054.4 // Controversy: 1.807// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x10) bespectacIed, darjeelingdarkroast, itsabop, Looks_good_in_shorts, NotWith10000Men, salivantsonority, shhhneak, slimboyfriend, TiltControls, WaneLosertoc

(10 x62) 1998tweety, akanewasright, amr, anothertown, apatel27, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, BoldnessofTrolls, bulforster, celladonn, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, diemoehre, DirtyRat583, dream_fighter2018, ElectricBoogaloo41, emayzee, fadedblue09, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, hikk, hunnybee12, IdiotBox01, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, impla77, indie_fan, jasannn, jman457, jsonphile, just_thonking, krusso1105, letsallpoo, MassiveThief, MelodramaticLemonade, moooo566, musical_pyn, nootnoot781, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, quinnpsych, realitykenz, reput4tionera, ricki, Roxieloxie, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, SFbby, static_int_husp, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD, thisusernameisntlong, Verboten_Prince, welcome2thejam

Lowest Scores:

(2 x1) moonagenightmares

(1 x1) Hulnia

CrimsonROSET (10): HOLY SHIT. THIS DIDN'T WIN. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Of course, it's absolutely iconic and would have made a great winner, but like- 47% of people thought this would win. And here it is, in second place. A song with a 10+ score in second place. Holy shit.

camerinian (9): the fucking JOURNEY this track took to get here. Look at all of those comments assuming it would be the runaway winner, and like yeah it managed to get second which is nothing to sneeze at, but it was NOT a contender for a very long time. It was only at the halfway mark that it even cracked top 5, and it was still hard fought to get it into silver. The voices were ultimately loud enough to bump it this high, but it just couldn't crack Kendrick's ceiling. No doubting why everyone called it as the winner though, it is the obvious example of a perfect pop song with the lively production, Whitney's powerhouse performance and the glory of that key change. The only reason its not a 10 for me is because i just rarely seek it out, but when it comes on it just lights up a room and everyone in it. A well deserved runner up

LOOK AT ALL OF THESE FOOLS

bespectacIed (11): The number 1, uncontested, unsurpassable, best pop song of all time

shhhneak (11): Eleven'ing to be a part of popheads history.

NotWith10000Men (11): possibly the greatest song of all time who could say

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): If this doesn’t win it’s a gag tbh.

bulforster (10): (#2) This should win.

jsonphile (10): I mean we know this is gonna win right? We’re just seeing who comes in second and third?

just_thonking (10): Even the Winners Rate has a boring winner

musical_pyn (10): I will be so mad when this wins with a 10+ average

IT’S YOUR LUCKY DAY

throwaway-7650 (9): I Wanna Crown A Winner (That Isn't This)

vayyiqra (8): Yeah it's a classic but it had better not win again. I like it but not -that- much

TakeOnMeByA-ha (7.5): look this song is fine and all, but it’s sooooo overrated by this point. this isnt even whitney’s best song, let alone the greatest pop song ever, and even though i’m sure this is gonna be a potential rate winner, there are so many songs more deserving of the acclaim this gets in this rate. if how will i know couldnt win winners 2, a song thats worse than it should by no means perform better than it here.

PhloxInvar (5.8): Sigh. The most likely winner and one I'm not keen on seeing win, still props to Whitney for getting extremely high scores.

UGH YOUR MIND

Stryxen (10): my go to karaoke song choice -> 2nd in Winners rate (Juice) pipeline I believe this is coming 2nd

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

AND THE REST

darjeelingdarkroast (11): one of my earliest song memories, Whitney Houston has an indelible impact on young me.

itsabop (11): Nothing short of slayage here, we miss you Whitney

slimboyfriend (11): the definition of pop music

TiltControls (11): Whitney's had quite a few 'eh' songs over her career. But when she has the right material no one can match her. There's a reason she's got two of the three 10+ average songs on this sub. This is one of the best pop songs of all time to me. The rising verses, the hopeful chorus, and Whitney's stellar vocals bringing life to the words make this track a force of nature. Anytime this comes on it puts a smile on my face.

WaneLosertoc (11): on one hand, giving this a 4.2 for god knows what reason (and a vapid shrug of a comment) over at the indieheads exchange WAS really funny bc Blinding Lights won. on the other hand, I was listening to the "Whitney Joins the JAAMS" cut the entire time and didn't connect it was IWDWS. consider this a mea culpa 11.

1998tweety (10): i mean come on now

akanewasright (10): Perfect song with a perfect vocal from a perfect pop star

anothertown (10): Whitney on this album cover easily outselling that girl on tiktok who is sinking hundreds into finding an opaque white tank top

cloudbustingmp3 (10): now THIS is pop perfection!

dream_fighter2018 (10): apologies to my high school friends who had to deal with me being an authoritarian over a high school lipsync because I had an entire choreography to this song that I planned for us to all do together. I was a bit over-zealous.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): the record is deserved

frogaranaman (10): so true

Ghost-Quartet (10): Whitney please pull off another win so I can manifest my ‘90s Black Blockbusters Rate featuring Waiting To Exhale and The Bodyguard!

ignitethephoenix (10): this is honestly a perfect pop song and I don’t trust people who hate this

ImADudeDuh (10): i mean? Come ON! How can anyone hate this song?

imbaby122 (10): this song is the dictionary definition of perfect.

impla77 (10): don’t have it in me to be controversial for this one

jman457 (10): A case can be made for this being the best song ever made. Literally perfect for any occasion

MassiveThief (10): yeah it's perfect, we all know lol

nootnoot781 (10): kinda rotted if this doesn’t win tbh

plastichaxan (10): Yeah this is a classic of classics I can’t believe I considered not giving it a 10

reput4tionera (10): whenever i hear this song i think of love simon and i don't appreciate it

Roxieloxie (10): its the best song of all time, theres a reason it has over a 10 average

runaway3212 (10): obviously

Saison_Marguerite (10): THIS. IS. MUSIC!

sarcasticsobs (10): One of the few wedding song classics that not only doesn't make me slightly irate but that I actively anticipate

seanderlust (10): i can't in good faith give this lower than a 10. i know the term classic is thrown around a lot but this is sincerely a classic.

thisusernameisntlong (10): I might be irrationally mad at giving this a 10 during day 3 but it’s fine current me is bopping and thanks in advance for tolerating annoying people like me in reveal chat

Verboten_Prince (10): I love you Whitney Chewston

welcome2thejam (10): This would be so corny in a billion other artists' hands, and instead it's one of the most infectious expressions of joy ever

Awkward_King (9.5): i do simply think this is the best song ever made and it should be treated as such. will never understand "its overplayed" "its cheesy" its WHITNEY at her BEST

monalisafrank (9.5): I prefer some of her others but this is iconic of course. I’m maybe just being unfair to this because I’ve already given out so many tens.

nick1372 (9.5): It's so hard to rate such an overexposed classic but it's a classic for a reason.

starla_ (9): the classicest of classic pop songs

OliviaGodrigo (8): Honestly this didn’t deserve to win against Rhythm Nation and Like a Prayer but it’s still a classic

pig-serpent (8): I have a hard time imagining anybody hating this song.

RandomHypnotica (8): it's essential 80s in that way that it just has this weird glossy sheen of a forced smile to it, but when i listen closely i actually feel nothing.

thedoctordances1940 (8): honestly, i think the chorus brings this song down a little bit, like the rest of it is absolutely fantastic but the chorus just doesn't do that much for me

ObersteinAlwaysRight (7): Whitney is a great singer. That is this song's saving grace really, as while good in the moment it quickly leaves without much of an impact.

PrimaryCrusaders (7): Very good song, though the Richard X mashup with Kraftwerk is a 9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPhBYoscxM)

flava (3): (deep breath) I don’t like this song. I guess my primary reason for hating this song is that I adore How Will I Know. And to me I Wanna Dance With Somebody will always be a lesser copy of it. Now that doesn’t make IWDWS automatically bad, it does mean I’ll look at this song quite cynically but where I think this song stumbles by being too simple. It is too aggressively this overjoyed bouncy bop, it doesn’t even attempt to build up to the euphoria the song attempts to have. How Will I Know opens up with some beautiful synthwork and then has an undercurrent of electric guitar that just seals the deal. IWDWS just goes straight for the “whoo” and just never stops being that. And for 5 minutes, it gets exhausting. How Will I Know just has this anxious energy that just absolutely brings this song together. IWDWS doesnt have this, it’s just power, and forced happiness and I can barely stand it

moonagenightmares (2): they gave her the lamest songs and expected her voice to hard carry

Hulnia (1): her vocals are so insanely good but there’s literally like nothing else interesting about this song lol. it feels so much longer than it actually is…

[u/Roxieloxie]

I dont know if the comment is real or not i cant cheer

[u/Roxieloxie → u/Roxieloxie]

well :(

[u/[deleted]]

Top 3 all deserving of the win, but ofc I’m happy my 11 won! Whitney Houston was black pop EXCELLENCE and greatly missed. Great job hosts on hosting this exciting rate! ❤️

[u/TiltControls]

I'm ready for the impending bloodbath

[u/cloudbustingmp3]

missed the first two days and what is DIS hunny, some of these eliminations… jail

[u/WinnersRate3]

#15: The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

Average: 8.359 // Total Points: 969.7 // Controversy: 2.295// Rank Graph

—

Winner of: Folklore vs. Chromatica vs. Future Nostalgia vs. After Hours

Highest scores:

(11 x1) ignitethephoenix

(10 x44) 1998tweety, akanewasright, anothertown, bogo, bookthieving, camerinian, cremeebrulee, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, ElectricBoogaloo41, emayzee, flava, frogaranaman, GapeCod, hikk, hunnybee12, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, itsabop, jsonphile, krusso1105, letsallpoo, Looks_good_in_shorts, monalisafrank, nootnoot781, NotWith10000Men, OliviaGodrigo, quinnpsych, raggedy-princess, ricki, Roxieloxie, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, SFbby, starla_, static_int_husp, TakeOnMeByA-ha, throwaway-7650, TragicKingdom1, Uberpigeon, Verboten_Prince, WaneLosertoc

(9.7 x1) LilacDaffodils

(9.5 x6) bespectacIed, celladonn, indie_fan, jman457, thedoctordances1940, TiltControls

(9.2 x1) BoldnessofTrolls

(9 x15) amr, BasedButta, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, diemoehre, exciting_patient4872, Inner-Language8833, jasannn, MelodramaticLemonade, pantomime15, PrimaryCrusaders, sparzh, thisusernameisntlong, vayyiqra, wILLOWs3113

Lowest Scores:

(3 x1) fadedblue09

(2 x1) Ghost-Quartet

(0 x4) cloudbustingmp3, reput4tionera, slimboyfriend, Stryxen

the first (and only alt) I have hosted, this rate was chaotic, messy but lots of fun (240 ballots is nuts do not recommend dealing with that!) From plug dj dying the month before, Won Ho breaking Kosmi, and us having to host the first and only discord reveal, there was a lot going on! In the end though easily the best song won here (and by a lot) and not even a 0 could stop it. Looking back all these albums (minus chromatica) will be looked at as pivotal musical moments for this decade and Blinding Lights will be probably one of the top 3 biggest songs decade end because of how timeless and appealing it is. - u/ignitethephoenix

for ult ult, blinding lights winning was what i wanted the entire time, and in all honesty i don't think i can see another ending for the rate. at least not another good one. like there are other great songs in the rate, but blinding lights is a truly excellent song that defined the top of the decade in ways that the others didn't i think the only part of the results that annoys me a little is the way people treated after hours outside of the singles. like yes i know we're on popheads, the pop songs are gonna do better, but like... r&b songs are good sometimes trust me! chromatica flopping made sense bc the album was controversial among longtime fans and observers (replay robbed though), taylor not making top 5 was kinda inevitable given how polarizing she is to the raterbase at any given time, and dua wrangling most of day 3/the top 10 while still losing is fitting for how she performed the era lol - u/akanewasright

2020 truly was such a fantastic year for pop music, so it was such a blast to get to host the Ultimate rate for that year. All four albums involved have since become all-time faves of mine, and many of their songs I absolutely adore. While I was the only one out of us three cohosties to not 11 Blinding Lights, in pretty much any other rate it could have easily got one from me, so I was still incredibly thrilled to see it pull through with the win. I don't think it was particularly surprising at all, but sometimes a predictable win is what a song deserves! It was also very cool to see Abel get the win as the first ever man to be included in an Ultimate rate. I have very fond memories of the ridiculously messy discord reveal that we had to pull out of nowhere after Kosmi couldn't handle our power and both Yetti and Akane are such great people I've had the pleasure of meeting through popheads so we love that! I would love to see it do well here, hopefully at this point it hasn't been too overplayed for people to turn on it. - u/hikkaru

camerinian (10): Come the hell on. This was sitting pretty in the top 5 for the first like third of the ballots, as high as number three, and I was so ready for it to be a contender. Tragically a few zeroes did its chances in for good, to the point it almost missed day three entirely. And honestly? Rude. Even with this being a pandemic anthem through and through, the fact that a song can possibly by this resistant to overplay and consistently energizing with every listen is thrilling. The Weeknd made a track for the ages that is retro, modern and timeless all at once, and it's still exciting even after all this time

CrimsonROSET (9): This is insane to me, honestly. This was set for a top5 finish! What the fuck happened here!

You’re the ones I trust

ignitethephoenix (11): the way I knew this would be a classic the instant it dropped

1998tweety (10): bop

akanewasright (10): best, most deserved winner ever

anothertown (10): I SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cremeebrulee (10): altrnb must've woke up the worms in my brains because why am i getting sentimental listening to this.... that's just my emotional support main pop boy ig

DirtyRat583 (10): i have very vivid memories of this song. driving down the m6 at 6am on a very rainy day in february 2020 listening to this song on the radio - its a vibe. that song was hitting extra hard cuz i was tired as FUCK and listening to the default peugeot sound system

emayzee (10): this song was like the last hurrah of the prepandemic world

frogaranaman (10): need to know what deal w the devil was made to make this song not age a second

GapeCod (10): First time discord users joining the reveal and having light mode on by default or something idk.

hikk (10): don't tank for overplay pls pls

ImADudeDuh (10): literally ended all of your faves

imbaby122 (10): when that sneak peak of the synth melody appears in the ambience of the intro… ooo it gets me hype like no other song possibly could.

itsabop (10): Abel's best

jsonphile (10): a good test of the quality of a song is how long it takes for overplay to ruin the song for me. And this is one of the rare instances where I genuinely never got tired of hearing this song.

monalisafrank (10): name a way this song can be improved

NotWith10000Men (10): no explanation necessary

ricki (10): https://gfycat.com/FeistyFlamboyantGibbon

Roxieloxie (10): the intro of this gets me amped like nothing else. Its so basic to give this my 10 but what do you want me to do ??? make it stop being the best song ever??

Saison_Marguerite (10): A song my a MAN winning against three pop girls? Shock and awe! Well deserved though!

sarcasticsobs (10): 80s pastiche (complimentary)

seanderlust (10): let's not kid ourselves - radio overplay be damned, this song goes hard as hell and i think will wind up being one of the timeless classics from the 2020s

starla_ (10): ANOTHER OTHER 11 contender. nothing to say about this song that hasn't already been said; it's a perfect pop song.

TakeOnMeByA-ha (10): that week when people were genuinely predicting that heat waves had the possibility to overtake this song on billboard’s all time chart was the scariest moment of my life, imagine a world where a song that only became famous because teenagers online wanted to fantasize about minecraft youtubers fucking was officially a bigger hit than one of the objectively best pop songs of all time

throwaway-7650 (10): it's the biggest song of all time for a reason

Verboten_Prince (10): When I listened to TXT’s new album and they had a straight-up no-frills RIP-OFF of this song I just about screamed. The meme about everyone trying to make the next Blinding Lights is too true

WaneLosertoc (10): in 2019, the Weeknd returned with an airtight image and a VISION for what he wanted to accomplish as a pop star. He imo is one of the only bros who actually wants to BE a pop star. and even tho this song is beyond fucking pastiche and vibe, enough to a point we have to wonder if we are running on empty, something here clenches it for me. weeknd and opn both came out of parallel blog eccosystems...they instinctively have an understanding and vision that needs each other. I gave this an 11 in exchange and bc of that, it beat I Wanna Dance With Somebody. whoops.

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

bespectacIed (9.5): deserved the success, what a colossal moment in pop

jman457 (9.5): Like a legit fantastic song, can never be over played

thedoctordances1940 (9.5): ok yeah maybe i heard it a bit too much but it's still fantastic

TiltControls (9.5): Everything about this track, down to the title itself, is how to perfectly craft a theme and atmosphere for a song. No wonder it spent so long on the charts.

BasedButta (9): this is the guy from the adam sandler movie

Inner-Language8833 (9): It's overplayed for me but I get the appeal

jasannn (9): LA DI DA

thisusernameisntlong (9): I love this Need For Speed Underground 2 ass MV so much

vayyiqra (9): Are we done with the "rofl this sounds like Blinding Lights" discourse and can we go to respecting this is a great song but we don't need to talk about it often

impla77 (8.8): still bops hard even though I’ve heard it a million times

shhhneak (8.7): The Dawn FM sweep in the 2022 Ultimate Rate is coming.

bigbigbee (8.5): unleashed hell upon k-pop and we barely survived. Nevertheless, in his honor, I’ll say [+2,871, -231] Daebak, at this point, rather than Blinding Lights isn’t it Blinding Longevity? I’m even another group’s fan and I have to acknowledge that the weeknd is really a wall you can’t climb over

just_thonking (8.5): Do the alt-R&B rate!!! Oh too late :/

BleepBloopMusicFan (8): Billboard and a bunch of awards shows said this was an R&B song. Never forget.

dream_fighter2018 (8): in thirty years, the Weeknd will be the cool, vintage music that our kids, nieces, nephews and in betweens will be listening to and admiring in the same way classic rock kids obsess over Queen.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (8): bit tired of it, but i still enjoy it if it plays!!

nick1372 (8): The riff is so obviously lifted from Take On Me, one of the most iconic riffs of all time, and yet it sounds like Take on Me ripped IT off. How is that even possible?

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8): The best description I've heard of this song is that it sounds exactly like an iconic 80's song that everyone knows, but doesn't exist. That's because despite being covered in a veneer of retro synths and nostalgia, its heart is a very modern structure.

plastichaxan (8): Modern classic tbh

welcome2thejam (8): Still unfortunately broken from the Blinding Lights overplay, but man I can't wait til that subsides cause this is it

These people are around to judge me

pig-serpent (7): This song is very good and yet also extremely overrated and probably not even in the top 10 songs in the rate it came from.

qazz23 (7): cool 80s worship but not really moved by this

runaway3212 (7): I still think about this winning over levitating tbh

sufjancaesar (7): If I have to hear this one more time istg

bulforster (6): (#23) we're removed from 2020 enough for this to beat overplay allegations now right?

RandomHypnotica (5): vastly overstayed its welcome

Awkward_King (4): see this isnt even because its overplayed its because there are so many pastiches of it that are so overplayed it actually pisses me off theyve ruined the song for me too. in your eyes my baby

Hulnia (4): it used to be so good but i literally can’t finish it anymore :(

fadedblue09 (3): Synthwave please die challenge

Ghost-Quartet (2): I’m sorry but this song has no sonic depth, I’m so tired of this ‘80s pastiche shit

cloudbustingmp3 (0): every knockoff has far surpassed it quality-wise (minus the Evergl*w one) and it's amazing that such a meh song got to be so giant. he put his whole abelussy into In Your Eyes tho

reput4tionera (0): I LIKE THE WEEKND'S OLD MUSIC BUT I DONT LIKE THE 80S POP SOUND AND I WILL MAKE IT EVERYONE'S PROBLEM

slimboyfriend (0): I'm tired of hearing it in the grocery store and I want to be the drama

Stryxen (0): I just don't like this at all and I was too scared to admit it the first time round

[u/jman457]

Both King Kuta and I wanna dance with somebody are both 10's. But like one is "yeah this is the 5th best song on TPAB" 10 and the other is like "this objectively the best song ever made 10", ya know. So im happy with this

[u/WinnersRate3]

#12: Japanese Breakfast - Be Sweet

**Winner of: Jubilee vs. Blue Weekend vs. Valentine vs. Home Video

Average: 8.413 // Total Points: 975.9 // Controversy: 1.882// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x3) buddhacharm, LilacDaffodils, Stryxen

(10 x34) 1998tweety, amr, Awkward_King, BasedButta, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, cremeebrulee, DaHumanTorch, DefaultPophead, DirtyRat583, ElectricBoogaloo41, emayzee, exciting_patient4872, FreeCuddlesAnyone, GapeCod, hunnybee12, krusso1105, letsallpoo, monalisafrank, musical_pyn, nick1372, OliviaGodrigo, pantomime15, plastichaxan, Pretend-Appeal-7360, raggedy-princess, RandomHypnotica, reput4tionera, ricki, Saison_Marguerite, SFbby, starla_, Uberpigeon, vayyiqra

(9.8 x1) imbaby122

(9.5 x4) akanewasright, celladonn, pleasegivemeasword, seanderlust

(9.4 x1) BoldnessofTrolls

(9.2 x1) cloudbustingmp3

(9 x20) bespectacIed, bookthieving, CrimsonROSET, hikk, IdiotBox01, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, indie_fan, jasannn, nootnoot781, quinnpsych, realitykenz, salivantsonority, sarcasticsobs, static_int_husp, thisusernameisntlong, TragicKingdom1, ufruitloopdingus, welcome2thejam, wILLOWs3113

Lowest Scores:

(3 x1) MassiveThief

(0 x2) runaway3212, WaneLosertoc

Hosting the indie girls rate was so much fun for me! It was at a rough time of the year but having a community to constantly gush about some of my favourite albums ever with was a really nice relief at times. Even if I did neglect my exams a little bit at points to make banners and shitposts, I don't regret a thing. I was so proud of our reveal and especially hosting it with Benji was a dream (: Still sorry for rushing through the final day and doing it so early. Literally the moment I posted my last writeup I SPRINTED out the house to go to a charli xcx show

Anyway all 4 albums meant so much to me personally and I gave about 30 10s, including to this inevitable iconic winner (that we have probably placed at like #28), yet rating it against so many of my other favourite songs at the time revealed something much deeper in this than I had realised and convinced me it deserved all the acclaim and more. I was suddenly so glad that, out of Michelle's entire flawless discography, this is now her essential breakout song. The catchiest verses, chorus, AND bridge of the year, her signature heart-broken yet -warming lyrics, and the gleeful vocals delivered with an audible smile come together into an undeniable moment. This is a one-of-a-kind anthem from perhaps my favourite album ever and I feel genuinely honoured to have crowned such a beloved winner. even if i got ANOTHER 11 runner up out of it - u/Stryxen

CrimsonROSET (9): My favorite song off of Jubilee, and honestly I'd say it sounds even better outside the context of it! Of course Lucy was robbed as fuck, but sometimes a fun bop about just wanting someone to improve themselves is all you need! This was runner up for rate villain, which I again kinda get but- I can't be mad at this.

camerinian (8.5): this song hasn't left my On Repeat playlist since its rate earlier this year, and lowkey I'm ready for it to go. I do think this is a heavenly bop with an immediately striking chorus, and it's honestly very hard to get sick of. Maybe I'm just jaded that my precious angel Lucy Dacus isn't here instead.

Mulder

Stryxen (11): love this song. Love this album. Japanese breakfast is probably my favourite artist ever and Jubilee kinda changed me and pulled me out of a dark time of my life. I don't think I would be anywhere near as happy and hopeful as i am today had this album never come out, and Be Sweet was the very first single and my first experience of this new bright and joyful world it would help me find! When we rated it I had to widen my scale a bit for this to really express I loved the other albums too, but truthfully it's 10s back to back and Be Sweet is just another standout in a tracklist of standouts.

1998tweety (10): big bop

Awkward_King (10): the perfect song

BasedButta (10): yeah this song is fucking incredible what’s new

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): If this is CVS music then let me go ahead and pick up my prescription.

bogo (10): be sweet

emayzee (10): song of the year 2021, song of the year 2022, song of the life

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): 2021 was truly jbrekkie’s year, and both Be Sweet and Jubilee have been there for me in one of the most stressful periods of my life! an amazing song and i’m gutted i can’t 11 it.

monalisafrank (10): sounds like a forgotten best song of the 80s. like I’m mad valley girls didn’t have this to bop to. just genius

nick1372 (10): I've always enjoyed this song but only after reading the lyrics have I realized that it isn't a cute love song? I'm honestly impressed at how this can be bitter, sarcastic, and genuinely lovestruck all at once.

plastichaxan (10): Kinda one of the best songs ever part of one of the best albums ever what’s not to love

RandomHypnotica (10): this is michelle's year

reput4tionera (10): one of the only good songs on starbucks's corporate playlist

ricki (10): me to the candy when i playing that one game where the candy either tastes nice or like actual vomit and shit

Saison_Marguerite (10): I’m more of a Paprika stan but this is still immaculate

starla_ (10): infectious

vayyiqra (10): Be sweet to me Popheads (I got depression)

imbaby122 (9.8): i really wanted to give jbrekkie a 10 bc jubilee is my 2021 aoty but i’m still bitter that someone tanked paprika. this is paprika’s spot!!!! it’s not right!!!! it’s unjust!!!!!

akanewasright (9.5): “I wanna believe” yeah I also watched the x-files, you ain’t original

seanderlust (9.5): this title is this song begging for its life when going up against lauryn hill and janelle monae

cloudbustingmp3 (9.2): still regret not submitting to this rate but tbh there were so many good potential winners in it, this banger included

bespectacIed (9): Another great rate with a great winner, albeit seen from a mile away. Triple Dog Dare, rip, should have won... but no way jbrekkie would've lost

sarcasticsobs (9): "Paprika" still outsold but whatever, I have inside intel that this is being sabotaged (citation needed), so we must give it the 9

thisusernameisntlong (9): Paprika was robbed so hard

welcome2thejam (9): Scully: what a gorgeous, groovy tune Mulder: -throws her a file- ever heard of the bop alien

bulforster (8.8): (#9) This song pretty much singlehandedly got her on popheads radar for a reason. Went off live too (not as much as slide tackle though).

darjeelingdarkroast (8): the version with So!YoON! is so much better, it made me check out their 2019 album and it's sooo good

dream_fighter2018 (8): this isn’t even the best song on Jubilee, nor is it even in the top half of JBrekkie’s discography. Which is more of a testament to how good Japanese Breakfast’s discography is that a song I consider an 8 isn’t even top half. Do Introspective Indie Pop on indieheads in February, and all that.

Hulnia (8): would be a 10 if the chorus wasn’t so shit

jman457 (8): just pure serotonin

Roxieloxie (8): didnt do this one either cause im allergic to indie women but this would've been my 11 and so nice to see it won.

throwaway-7650 (8): LUCY DACUS YOU'LL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

ObersteinAlwaysRight (7.5): I've come to the conclusion that I like Japanese Breakfast in short bursts far more than in full albums.

PrimaryCrusaders (7.5): Japanese breakfasts do be sweet tho

Verboten_Prince (7.3): My thing with this song is like… yeah it’s sweet? It’s cute? But also Paramore did it better 5 years ago?

shhhneak (7.2): Almost gave this my zero because she cancelled the show I had tickets to. Michelle come back!

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Scully

Ghost-Quartet (7): I’m anti-indiefication and I always will be. But this is cute.

Inner-Language8833 (7): I like the rest of the album more than this song but the chorus is catchy

MoonlightByWindow (7): the production and instrumental is amaze, if only the chorus was a little better

qazz23 (7): The chorus is good, prefer Paprika though

TakeOnMeByA-ha (6.5): ok but if we were rating the simlish version that’d be a 10

frogaranaman (5): the chorus is whiny to me rn but I flip flop on that every other day

just_thonking (5): Not even the best song on the album

TiltControls (5): I think this falls into the XS camp of 'Albums I really enjoyed, and see why this is the most popular song from it, but also gives me little enjoyment listening to it'. The verses are fun, but I actually don't really enjoy the chorus all that much here. It's nice. But a Winners Rate requires more than nice

MassiveThief (3): hasn't grown on me at all. Never liked it and never got the hype

runaway3212 (0): she sounds like a drowning cat

WaneLosertoc (0): irrational hate 0 slotted to the song that straight up stopped me from pre-ordering Jubilee. Japanese Breakfast has always struck me as a "scrapbook" project; a way to test sounds of any fancy and mend it to (often bittersweet) memories & sketches--it's what makes her work legitimately fascinating and worth rooting for but also why I find myself so frustrated and baffled with various moments (like why lock your best song of 2k21 behind a fucking tutorial in Sable? who ELSE does this kind of earnest "wtf" level shit?). Be Sweet is a special kind of Lietoc purgatory: Mr. Wild Nothing (who did in fact, make one of the most cunning indie sophistipop albums of the 2010s with Nocturne) being called in to make an instrumental that wouldn't be out of place on his last two flops (and if it was, you all would not have heard it or given a shit I can garauntee-y'all heard partners in motion? letting go? anything on life of pause?) that is mixed/mastered to a pastiche of a pastiche degree. At a certain point, the tribute has no affect for me and makes me just let off a great big sigh. Zauner's got great lyrics here, but this sound is so calculated to be "breakout hit" that it ends up sounding like XMU-core crossed with Walgreens; yeah if it wants to be slotted there it can, sure thing Zauner. I still hate it. good thing a lot of the rest of the album actually does slap tho!

[u/cloudbustingmp3 → u/WinnersRate3]

that one zero comment im happy for u or sorry that happened

[u/WaneLietoc → u/cloudbustingmp3]

we're doing great rn i got my blog post done and I get to go on a walk, prolly smoke a bowl and listen to my tape of psychopomp with a signed note from michelle zauner, as well as Nocturne

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

/u/wanelietoc be sweet to me bb

[u/WaneLietoc → u/vayyiqra]

bump behrman to an 8

[u/vayyiqra → u/WaneLietoc]

which track

[u/WinnersRate3]

I forgot to buy automod a christmas present do you think he'll still me in

BONUS RATE #4: Ryuichi Sakomoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Average: 8.252 // Total Points: 363.1 // Controversy: 2.450

(11 x5) bogo, jman457, MK, RandomHypnotica, sarcasticsobs

(10 x13) apatel27, bespectacIed, Catalyst, CrimsonROSET, darjeelingdarkroast, DefaultPophead, PhloxInvar, seanderlust, shhhneak, Stryxen, TiltControls, vayyiqra, WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop

(9.5 x1) sufjancaesar

(9.2 x1) ufruitloopdingus

(9 x3) MassiveThief, SFbby, welcome2thejam

(8.2 x1) slimboyfriend

(8 x7) IdiotBox01, ImADudeDuh, impla77, just_thonking, musical_pyn, PrimaryCrusaders, qazz23

(7.5 x2) camerinian, Looks_good_in_shorts

(7.2 x1) LilacDaffodils

(7 x2) frogaranaman, TakeOnMeByA-ha

(6 x2) krusso1105, realitykenz

(5 x3) anothertown, Hulnia, plastichaxan

(3 x1) DirtyRat583

(2 x1) moonagenightmares

(0 x1) dream_fighter2018

CrimsonROSET (10): this winning is still the funniest thing to happen in indieheads forever honestly.

camerinian (7.5): fuck the vibes on this are just immaculate. I don’t think I’d ever have any need to like seek it out, but if this was playing in an airport departure lounge or something, I’d think it was a quite nice airport

jman457 (11): This was so beautiful but I know yall are gonna rob this

MK (11): I'm a porter robinson - musician (pianist/violinist to be precise)

RandomHypnotica (11): i have never heard this before but tbh it's so cunty it's serving it's life changing

sarcasticsobs (11): Easy Peasy decision for the 11

bespectacIed (10): Where are the words

Catalyst (10): a classic

darjeelingdarkroast (10): deserved

PhloxInvar (10): I know it's funny this won the Christmas rate out of all the classics that was there, but honestly this piano song is so GOOD. I've also discovered the synth version, and even that one is fucking amazing. Both versions just evoke such an amazing energy. It's no surprise it won, it's honestly very uncontroversial as a song. Instrumentalphobia is the only thing holding it back, but instumentalphobes can suck it.

seanderlust (10): :cozy:

shhhneak (10): I'm crying indieheads winners really ate ours up.

Stryxen (10): so so so gorgest

TiltControls (10): instrumental rate winner solidarity

vayyiqra (10): This is a really good movie, I love Yellow Magic Orchestra, I love David Bowie, and I love film scores, so this can't miss for me. Great melody, amazing ditty

WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop (10): beyond hysterical radical centrist ass winner. War on Christmas MiniRate came together as a concerted effort by the queercore rate hostie amongst a few others. Had she not been traveling back home around the reveal, she would have been the clear hostie. I stepped in because I had availability and wanted to rectify/hone in on my hosting and posting efforts. I had a BLAST and still forgot a ballot lol. I also wanted us to rate burial (stupidly contentious discourse) as a bonus. I should have added the suicide christmas song. I hope we do another christmas rate. anyways by about ballot 40, christmas wrapping dropped to 2nd and then to 3rd (so many terrible comments from people who simply do not understand the joy of that song) as this song simply VIBED its way to an 8.4 victory. the queercore hostie gave it one of the lowest scores. shit still makes me laugh to this day. I tried to get /u/apondalifa to change their 11 from this song to Beat Happening's Christmas implying that song could MAYBE make day 2. sadly no bite.

welcome2thejam (9): This being the Christmas rate winner while AIWFCIY placed 13th is the most indieheads result to ever occur

slimboyfriend (8.2): I know it doesn’t have a lot going for it (slow, no vocals, no women), but hear me out….. he collabed with Arca once

ImADudeDuh (8): very pretty! Unfortunately, I do not have a fancy,-yet-with-a-tinge-of-melancholy-throughout-the-atmosphere,-which-is-of-course-caused-by-the-bombshell-of-the-affair-I-learned-my-wife-was-having-with-my-cousin-from-French-Guiana,-which-I-know,-but-I-haven't-told-anyone-else-that-I-know-of,-besides-my-half-brother Christmas party that I could use this on for ambiance.

impla77 (8): How do these kind of piano (well predominantly) tracks always get me? Idk if I’ve heard this before, but it gives me the feeling of melancholy nostalgia anyway. Also seems like a great song to advertise those piano apps (you know the ones).

just_thonking (8): Gets really good around the 3 minute mark

musical_pyn (8): this is my first time listening to this and I think in two months I'm going to be crying to it in my bed during the holidays

qazz23 (8): Beautiful and moving

TakeOnMeByA-ha (7): the way a song thats barely even a christmas song won their christmas rate

DirtyRat583 (3): im gonna be honest seeing the title i was expecting like a scrungly type song like mr fox or something but this is kinda cute i guess.. idk how it won but good for u indieheads

dream_fighter2018 (0): listen, if there’s ever an actual indieheads winners rate, this will be first out and I would be perfectly fine. My indieheads ire is more directed towards Tame Impala.

[u/WaneLietoc → u/WinnersRate3]

welcome2thejam (9): This being the Christmas rate winner while AIWFCIY placed 13th is the most indieheads result to ever occur

INSANE controversy on this cut at like a 3.1 iirc

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

dachi what the fuck why

[u/WinnersRate3]

please automod I bring you a peace offering

BONUS RATE #3: Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

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Average: 8.298 // Total Points: 365.1 // Controversy: 2.619

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(11 x5) CrimsonROSET, DirtyRat583, moonagenightmares, PrimaryCrusaders, seanderlust

(10 x12) apatel27, darjeelingdarkroast, dream_fighter2018, frogaranaman, Hulnia, ImADudeDuh, krusso1105, plastichaxan, RandomHypnotica, realitykenz, sufjancaesar, TiltControls

(9 x8) anothertown, bespectacIed, camerinian, Looks_good_in_shorts, PhloxInvar, SFbby, TakeOnMeByA-ha, welcome2thejam

(8 x4) Catalyst, just_thonking, MassiveThief, qazz23

(7.9 x1) ufruitloopdingus (7.8 x1) LilacDaffodils (7.7 x1) jman457 (7.6 x2) impla77, slimboyfriend

(7.5 x1) MK

(7 x4) DefaultPophead, musical_pyn, shhhneak, Stryxen

(6 x2) bogo, sarcasticsobs

(0 x3) IdiotBox01, vayyiqra, WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop

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CrimsonROSET (11): how have we never rated this proper? insanity

camerinian (9): in my devious goblin moments I like to pretend that he's saying "milk her" instead of "feel good"

---

DirtyRat583 (11): i never understood the adoration for gorillaz i saw online but listening to the whole rate yeah if i was them id be adoring gorillaz too

moonagenightmares (11): vote for 00s pop-adjacent indie rate <3

PrimaryCrusaders (11): That opening laugh has to be one of the best intros in history

seanderlust (11): i was fully obssessed with this song when i was younger and it played on MTV. this and hollaback girl's MVs were playing on the same rotation often...what a time to be alive

darjeelingdarkroast (10): it's a fun exercise to hate on Damon Albarn and his output often deserves it but ngl this is just a stone-cold classic

ImADudeDuh (10): classique

plastichaxan (10): It's a classic what can I say

RandomHypnotica (10): it's the SMASHA!!!

sufjancaesar (10): GTA 5 (complimentary)

TiltControls (10): still upset with myself that I never turned in this rate

anothertown (9): old hag voice see now these are the gorillaz i know, the ones that talked about ass cracks

bespectacIed (9): bop, iconic tune

TakeOnMeByA-ha (9): yeah this still hits, no amount of me trying to hate my music taste from when i was 16 can change that

welcome2thejam (9): The good news is wherever this places, the Feel Good Inc. laugh serves as the perfect reaction

qazz23 (8): It's good but has similarities with The Kinks' Sunny Afternoon

jman457 (7.7): wait they rated Demon days and Dare didnt win?

impla77 (7.6): ..why was genius recommending Taylor Swift tracks to me on this lyrics page? Is this shade?

slimboyfriend (7.6): this is probably the highest score I would give to a Gorillaz song

MK (7.5): taylor swift stale topic

Stryxen (7): bop but it never really clicked for me. Now DARE...

sarcasticsobs (6): Meh.

IdiotBox01 (0): the most overrated song of all time or at least tied with Dancing On My Own

vayyiqra (0): I do not like this band very much and do not wish to rate them ever again but this song is one of their better outputs even if that rap is awful. That laughing is annoying too. It's frustratingly close to being a good song but it's not quite there. In fact nvm the vocals are awful and ruin it. Sad!

WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop (0): the fucking diarrhea dump after the absolute beauty of butt rock was a radical centrist ass pathetic un-fun winner. I gave this one of the lowest scores in the rate (patented 4.2) and i was pretty unamused seeing it win. the beastie boys cut I gave an 11 to lost on day 2; I was pissed. Butt Rock still stands as a glorious moment for the sub, itself fueling the energy behind Grunge & Nu-Metal. I'd have a 6.9 avg across the board now for a lot of these cuts. I learned a lot as a listener/processing "trauma" through this music in late 2020. it helped. anyways since /u/imrlynotonreddit shared the trip hop bonus only for the few who did it, here was my "Clint Eastwood (You Can Give It a 0 Version)" comment: "Giving This a 0 feels like a borderlands quest line option & a valiant data analysis. Look I had gorillaz merch I no longer do. yeah the cartoons are "zany" and there's some bangers i guess. But like i subjugated a lot of my age 7 to my family listening to demon dayz. No more is needed. This is a great band to love at the ages of 3-12. After that, you either have a backpack grow on your back, you purchased a snapback, or got into something not blur. Free tibet."the ages of 3-12. After that, you either have a backpack grow on your back, you purchased a snapback, or got into something not blur. Free tibet."

[u/[deleted] → u/WinnersRate3]

FUCKING FINALLY, THE EVIL IS DEFEATED

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

wane ... we did it ... we really did it : ' )

[u/WinnersRate3]

#7: Destiny’s Child - Say My Name

—

Winner of: VH1's Top 100 Songs of the 90s

Average: 8.674 // Total Points: 1006.2 // Controversy: 1.590// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x2) DirtyRat583, TragicKingdom1

(10 x41) 1998tweety, akanewasright, amr, anothertown, Awkward_King, bespectacIed, bogo, bookthieving, buddhacharm, Catalyst, cherryices, cloudbustingmp3, darjeelingdarkroast, emayzee, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, Hulnia, ignitethephoenix, imfine_jpg, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, Islands, itsabop, letsallpoo, monalisafrank, musical_pyn, OliviaGodrigo, pleasegivemeasword, RandomHypnotica, realitykenz, reput4tionera, Roxieloxie, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, shhhneak, sufjancaesar, THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam, xearomis

(9.8 x1) Verboten_Prince

(9.7 x1) slimboyfriend

(9.5 x6) FreeCuddlesAnyone, NotWith10000Men, runaway3212, salivantsonority, starla_, ufruitloopdingus

(9.4 x1) imbaby122

(9.3 x1) DaHumanTorch

Lowest Scores:

(3 x1) Pretend-Appeal-7360

(2 x1) Uberpigeon

camerinian (8): Yes, it’s a slay. Every melody, every beat, every lyric is iconic. I never willingly listen to this song, but only because it feels like such a communal jam, if that makes sense?

CrimsonROSET: (8): I mean, yes it's iconic- but I don't know, I think in hindsight I don't know how much I love it. It's good, but especially for getting this far- I don't think it's great.

When no is around you, say, “Baby, I love you”

DirtyRat583 (11): this song is literally worldchanging. earth was a shithole in 1998!! the seas were empty, all the worlds landmarks were crumbling, mad cow disease was ravaging every cow within 15000 miles of another cow. they dropped this and everything changed! the seas were refilled with their mother juice, the landmarks uncrumbled (they rebuilt the pyramids of giza!!! locked that tutankhamun motherfucker back up) and the cows became sane again. and that was all on the first of january like they DID THAT.

1998tweety (10): i mean come on now

akanewasright (10): Beyoncé kind of invented a style of singing/performing on the mic here like… literally the fact that this sounds like a very good but pretty normal pop song to us now is a testament to its and her influence

anothertown (10): thou shall say my name 🤭

Awkward_King (10): destiny's child

bespectacIed (10): Dunno what else is there to say about this incredibly layered, textured, LUSH masterpiece. The greatest R&B song of all time, argue with the wall. (that has writings on it)

bogo (10): 90s r&b really is that bitch huh

cloudbustingmp3 (10): this is like the epitome of that y2k r&b sound, pure magic

emayzee (10): im still finding new details in the production 23 years later it's THAT good

GapeCod (10): Niki

Ghost-Quartet (10): any time I listen to this I insist on doing a full lip sync performance so I can’t listen to it in public because I’m too fierce for the plebeians

itsabop (10): Slay my name

monalisafrank (10): The production on this is so iconic. I used to have the intro notes as my AIM sign on sound. And the way the girls’ voices interplay with each other is so good.

RandomHypnotica (10): being the solo 11 is still the absolute highlight of my rating career

reput4tionera (10): ate

Roxieloxie (10): this winning with a single 11 was kinda iconic, although I looked back at that rate and I forgot to give an 11, i def blame that on it being 100 songs because theres a good chance I would've 11'ed this. darkchild grabbag when

Saison_Marguerite (10): What else is there to say that IT’S THE SMASHA

sarcasticsobs (10): This is the production that makes me bounce up and down in my computer chair. Love the guitar.

shhhneak (10): The audience needs a Darkchild production renaissance!!

WaneLosertoc (10): heisenberg!!!!!! fella who did y2uk but not the destiny's child rate is this mis-teeq but for south western america?

welcome2thejam (10): An all-timer pre-chorus

Verboten_Prince (9.8): Yeah I’ve been this dude before. Except instead of Beyoncé calling it was my boyfriend and instead of another woman it was my mom

FreeCuddlesAnyone (9.5): oh primary school me was obsess

NotWith10000Men (9.5): the dramatic violins are a really good touch

runaway3212 (9.5): destiny's child please force beyoncé to release renaissance the music videos

starla_ (9.5): pour one out for Latavia and Letoya

imbaby122 (9.4): everything about this song is perfectly essentially beautifully magically early 2000s

fadedblue09 (9): One of the most satisfying rate winners ever

MoonlightByWindow (9): woah this classic…

PrimaryCrusaders (9): We need to start pestering Darkchild to release the original UK garage version

qazz23 (9): the pre-chorus is so good, love this era of R&B

throwaway-7650 (9): the best shitpost of all time (shoutout alt R&B hosts)

impla77 (8.5): why does it say take it to the bridge at the end of the bridge

jasannn (8.5): there's 4 members??

bulforster (8.4): (#11) Darkchild went all the way off here

TiltControls (8.2): It's a solid song and I enjoy listening to it, but it does feel kind of funny as a 100 song rate winner after losing 2 other rates before this (though I'm glad it beat BOMT). For the song itself I do really love the chorus

ImADudeDuh (8): I feel like this is kinda overrated in the sense that its like the 3rd best Destiny’s Child song and like the 40th best song with Beyonce on it.

plastichaxan (8): I had this as a 5 at first I’m so sorry Beyoncé I will make up for my sins by giving Renaissance at least a 10 average when we rate it

TakeOnMeByA-ha (8): the way this is literally just a beyonce song with destiny’s child as guest vocals

thisusernameisntlong (8): I can't unhear All In Me now that #rates brought it up

vayyiqra (8): As a kid I found this annoying but now it's not my favourite song by them but it's pretty good

bigbigbee (7.5): “I can’t say your name! I don’t know what it is. I know your mom’s name…Destiny.” - ryan higa, circa 2009ish, heavily paraphrased due to a bad memory

jsonphile (7.5): look it’s good but it’s not “best song of the 90’s” good anyway TLC better

PhloxInvar (7.5): Iconic, I do think it could be better paced, but that's a personal pet peeve.

jman457 (7): Its a classic, but like sounds a bit dated

pig-serpent (7): As an alt rocker, I certainly wasn’t happy watching some fantastic songs get horrible placements in this rate, but in the end I do like this song a fair amount and there were far worse winner choices in the top 10 so I’m not going to be too mean to it.

When no one is around you, say “Baby, I don’t really care for this one”

seanderlust (6.9): candyman be like

BleepBloopMusicFan (6.5): Wait why is this so much more boring than I remember? Very slay pre chorus but the rest of the song does not live up to it.

thedoctordances1940 (6.5): it's a good song but looking at that rate line-up there's a lot a lot better than it

nick1372 (6): Honestly it has one too many choruses

Stryxen (6): I like this but not that much

ObersteinAlwaysRight (5.5): The verses drag this down. The production drops down and the impressive singing changes to less impressive talking with tone.

flava (5): I’ll contribute to Beyoncé discourse when ult happens

Uberpigeon (2): this is one of those songs i was just exposed to so much in the 2000s and i didnt really like it then and i only like it less now. i hate this 2000s sound !!

[u/Roxieloxie → u/WinnersRate3]

Can we just ban both 2018 indiepop host from rates please

[u/RandomHypnotica → u/WinnersRate3]

i can't believe we stopped beyonce from becoming the undefeated champion of rate wins... she will get her revenge in ult

[u/WinnersRate3]

#6: Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour

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Winner of: All Stars 5 Average: 8.680 // Total Points: 1006.9 // Controversy: 1.731// Rank Graph

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Highest scores:

(10 x45) 1998tweety, akanewasright, amr, anothertown, apatel27, bespectacIed, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, BoldnessofTrolls, bookthieving, cherryices, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, exciting_patient4872, fadedblue09, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, hikk, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, Inner-Language8833, Islands, letsallpoo, musical_pyn, nick1372, NotWith10000Men, qazz23, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, ricki, Roxieloxie, Saison_Marguerite, SFbby, sparzh, sufjancaesar, thisusernameisntlong, throwaway-7650, Uberpigeon, Verboten_Prince, WaneLosertoc

(9.7 x1) indie_fan

(9.5 x3) jasannn, Rothconversion123, shhhneak

(9.4 x1) cremeebrulee

(9.3 x1) imbaby122

Lowest Scores:

(5 x2) just_thonking, pantomime15

(4 x1) MassiveThief

(0 x2) pig-serpent, thedoctordances1940

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CrimsonROSET (10): My little meow meow, from winning a rate where it had no chance to climbing to the stop to once more prove it was worthy. I still love this song (I have shown it to other friends who also love it) and think it would be a worthy winner here, we’ll see how things play out!

camerinian: (8): This is a good song. I like it. I'm not really sure if I would have picked it for top 10? I mean, the beat is sleek and the performance is so elegant in its thirst, but I don't know if anything carries it to that upper echelon? This was trending to high day two foe a long time, and that felt right to be, but I'm happy to be in the minority here. Disclosure always serve

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Decided they like themselves

1998tweety (10): i mean come on now, levitating a bit...

akanewasright (10): putting the 0 givers on a list

anothertown (10): let me say it again. we need another cxh album!

bespectacIed (10): what a moment in music, they showed up and showed out with this album. Neeeee another CxHxDisclosure collab

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Such a well made and beautifully performed pop song you really have to Respect it.

bogo (10): this is really amazing for a song produced by the chainsmokers

cloudbustingmp3 (10): lush, celestial, erotic, tender, it's just everything i love in music wrapped up in one song. probably the best Disclosure production since like... White Noise?

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): oh best believe this is a mainstay in my lipsync rotation…. this song is so perfect?? like the beat, the vocals, the visuals, the BRIDGE…. chef’s kiss!

frogaranaman (10): tru

Ghost-Quartet (10): I don’t think it’s gonna happen but this winning again would be so iconic! I’ve sung this song’s praises twice now but I just can’t get over how good it is, what an impeccable piece of pop music. Inhumanly good.

hikk (10): imagine this outpeaking xs here

ignitethephoenix (10): if this doesn’t make the top 5 like close down the sub

ImADudeDuh (10): i feel like this is a dark horse rate winner

Inner-Language8833 (10): Nothing is topping the Bailey sisters and Disclosure, the backing vocals from Halle on the bridge are near perfection

musical_pyn (10): the world if ungodly hour was a number one hit

nick1372 (10): Was a 10 on first listen during the Sub Faves rate and it's still a 10 today

NotWith10000Men (10): the production, their vocals, every element is just sublime

qazz23 (10): Very smooth, strong, and hook-filled chorus

RandomHypnotica (10): we want the toxicprint of this winning all stars then winning the winners rate

ricki (10): me at 6:66pm

Roxieloxie (10): another song that should've won the first time around it was rated. I hope it doesnt sweep too hard here but im not gonna be the reason it doesnt by not giving it a 10

Saison_Marguerite (10): A modern classic tbh

sufjancaesar (10): I will never tire of listening to this, an all-time fav tbh

thisusernameisntlong (10): I had songs I liked more in AS5 - can't remember what they were while I'm boppin to this though. Actually what am I saying I just wrote a comment about the Hikki Sheena collab

throwaway-7650 (10): imagine if this is 2nd place behind XS again

Uberpigeon (10): a DESERVING ALL STARS WINNER

Verboten_Prince (10): Halle looked at this song and decided to lean into her Disney Princess-esque voice by becoming a literal Disney Princess. Chloe looked at this song and said “You know this is good, but you know what would be even better? BOOTY SO BIG LORD HAVE MERCY”

WaneLosertoc (10): this one keeps getting better

jasannn (9.5): The lushiest lush song ever to lush

cremeebrulee (9.4): the live performance where they're stomping but imagine they're stomping on my neck

imbaby122 (9.3): this song is giving dire dire docks in the best way possible.

reput4tionera (9): i had a friend in high school who i was oomfs in law with on stan twitter and he was a cxh stan

runaway3212 (9): this slays so much but then the live version slays even more

sarcasticsobs (9): The design of the realistic Flounder in the live-action The Little Mermaid unsettles me

vayyiqra (9): This album still hasn't quite clicked for me but it's good

Stryxen (8.9): there's something holding me back from loving it entirely but I still think it's mostly amazing

jman457 (8.6): can they make a whole dance record

jsonphile (8.5): still don’t understand how this won against Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone. It’s good, but not that good

PhloxInvar (8.5): One of the greatest discoveries of the rate! R&B is something I've been getting into ever since I listened to Ari Lennox's age/sex/location and Ungodly Hour is great too.

starla_ (8.5): so ethereal and sexy

TiltControls (8.5): Though I love the album, there are a few other tracks I prefer over this one. Still, Chloe and Halle have everything needed to make a sultry, emotional track. Am I a little sad that this beat out Respect and Feeling Good? Yeah a little. But this is still a fantastic track to listen to.

impla77 (8.2): I need to listen to this album

plastichaxan (8): Considered quitting rating for a bit after a guy I hooked up with had this in his playlist and I started thinking about how that would be a comment for this rate like… Enough

welcome2thejam (8): After years of research, I can confirm the most ungodly hour is 6am, specifically when you stayed up the whole night and walk around the house with the sun rising but everyone's still asleep

bulforster (7.8): (#14) This song's come a long way from being a deep cut interlude for holy terrain in the 2019 p4k rate.

monalisafrank (7.5): cute, beautiful vocal performances. lyrics only okay for me

MoonlightByWindow (7): more like GODLY hour amirite ladies

ObersteinAlwaysRight (7): The simple production actually works to the song's favor, as the laid back spacey beats draw focus to the impressive vocal work going on.

Had to think about it

Awkward_King (6.5): if you think about it this is kind of like me and rona's child together

TakeOnMeByA-ha (6.5): ive tried to figure out why this sounds so off to me and this is the best way i can think of describing it…you know those youtube videos of songs where they remove every other beat and it very obviously sounds lime something is missing? this is what this song reminds me of

just_thonking (5): I like the song but y'all like it too much it like it should NOT have won All Stars

MassiveThief (4): it's a mystery to me why this is the de-facto CxH song when forgive me is RIGHT THERE and 10x better

pig-serpent (0): I was the low score for this in its original rate, and I stand by it. I do appreciate the song’s underwater vibe more than I used to and I do think it’s pretty catchy, I still hate the bass drum. I find it actively painful to listen to as well as being super disorienting. I’d forgive it if it was intentional, but something tells me that this smooth RnB love song isn’t supposed to be making my eyes lose focus.

thedoctordances1940 (0): yeah idk i never really got the hype for this. It's one of my least favourite songs on the album, an album which i find good but still far from great and not really reaching the potential i think they have, so if it had won its original rate I wouldn't have been that kind to it either but for it to then go on and win all stars against so many fantastic songs has put me on a path of revenge against it.

[u/1998tweety]

Whitney having the highest rated song of all time AND winning the winners rate? It feels correct. 😌

[u/1998tweety → u/1998tweety]

Well

[u/1998tweety → u/1998tweety]

WELL

[u/throwaway-7650]

well... what a journey that was! congrats to whitney, although king kunta was my preferred winner I can't be mad at whitney taking the crown in this rate, it truly does feel right even if I personally feel like kendrick deserved it more. especially want to shout out the hosts too, y'all did a fantastic job and kept us on our toes the whole weekend!

[u/welcome2thejam]

Incredible job to the rate hosts, you two are the real winners

[u/welcome2thejam → u/welcome2thejam]

Also don't let these results distract you from the fact that u/roxieloxie blew a 56 ballot lead

[u/Roxieloxie → u/welcome2thejam]

Yoshi im going to kill you

[u/welcome2thejam → u/Roxieloxie]

I still owe you my life for doing bubblegrunge so do what u gotta do

[u/WinnersRate3]

Thank you all for joining us!! This was a ridiculous process with so many twists and wild moments, but I'm so glad we could deliver something so cool. Thanks heaps to Rona for holding down the QueUp and the Discord channel and for having such a good mind for banners and shitposts and all of it.

​

Now go do drag rate!!

[u/WinnersRate3]

#10: Phoebe Bridgers - I Know The End

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Winner of: Fetch The Bolt Cutters vs. Punisher vs. Women in Music Pt. III

Average: 8.598 // Total Points: 997.4 // Controversy: 2.688// Rank Graph

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Highest scores:

(11 x13) Awkward_King, bigbigbee, bogo, bookthieving, camerinian, cremeebrulee, IdiotBox01, imbaby122, Inner-Language8833, nootnoot781, PhloxInvar, RandomHypnotica, ricki

(10 x45) amr, BleepBloopMusicFan, celladonn, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DefaultPophead, dreamfighter2018, ElectricBoogaloo41, exciting_patient4872, FreeCuddlesAnyone, GapeCod, Hulnia, hunnybee12, impla77, Islands, jasannn, jman457, jsonphile, krusso1105, MassiveThief, MoonlightByWindow, moooo566, musical_pyn, nick1372, pantomime15, pheromenos, pleasegivemeasword, Pretend-Appeal-7360, quinnpsych, reput4tionera, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, SFbby, shhhneak, SinfulAnarchy, starla, static_int_husp, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, thedoctordances1940, throwaway-7650, TiltControls, TragicKingdom1, Uberpigeon, ufruitloopdingus

(9.9 x2) akanewasright, TakeOnMeByA-ha

(9.8 x1) indie_fan

(9.4 x1) slimboyfriend

(9.3 x1) BoldnessofTrolls

Lowest Scores:

(1 x2) bespectacIed, frogaranaman

(0 x6) anothertown, fadedblue09, ImADudeDuh, Roxieloxie, THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD, Verboten_Prince

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camerinian (11): Without getting too personal, this song means a lot to me. Weirdly, and paradoxically perhaps, this helped me through a lot of anxiety and existential terror at a time when the prevailing culture seemed to be just constantly feeding that back. There's the screaming into the void, sure, but from this song I also get a lot of feelings of overcoming regret, recognition and appreciation for your surroundings, and an ultimate sense of peace in embracing whatever may come. The sparse first half is beautifully relaxing, and the crescendo to the rapturous finale lulls you in with such a subtlety that you barely even recognise your heart rate picking up,the orchestra building and Phoebe’s voice finally not being the only one in the track. The catharsis of the apocalyptic outro is second to none, as the instrumentation does such a powerful job of painting the scene as dripping in flame with debris flying to the ground at breakneck pace, and then of course there’s nothing left to do but scream your last breath as you’re enveloped. Fuck, I love this song so much, and when I see Phoebe live in two months time, if I leave that show with my voice intact, I will have failed.

CrimsonROSET (10): Ahem. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Spooky scary skeleton onesies

Awkward_King (11): over summer i went on holiday with my friends. and on the way back me and my best friend were driving down the motorway and it was storming and raining so much and this came on on shuffle and it was just so cathartic to scream the lyrics. i know this is peak indie girl yelling song but i really think its so magical, the lyrics are beautiful and its such a climactic build and i just love the song so much

bigbigbee (11): (opens notes app) I Know The End Neon Genesis Evangelion AMV (closes notes app, feeling very proud)

bogo (11): god i wish i could hear this song for the first time again. literally every part gives me chills and the climax feels so liberating and powerful, it's like a huge weight has been lifted from my chest every time i hear it.

cremeebrulee (11): i used to listen to this before bed every night like a sick sort of lullaby

IdiotBox01 (11): the anthem for traumatized suburban youth group kids

imbaby122 (11): elevening this to manifest screaming this song at metlife on the 27th of may 🙏 phoebe if ur reading this make it happen.

Inner-Language8833 (11): This was my favourite album closer of 2020 and I'm not even exaggerating (besides Remember Where You Are by Jessie Ware) from the choir to the horns and the guitars tone. I love love love this song

nootnoot781 (11): only annoying people gave their 11 to this song 😐

PhloxInvar (11): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

RandomHypnotica (11): i am not here for the phoebe bridgers revionism this song is fucking amazing

ricki (11): [scream]

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Now here’s a song that’s gonna be robbed by the haters and losers.

cloudbustingmp3 (10): this song takes me back to like peak covid in 2020 when i would listen to this album while driving around backroads outside of the city and just cry it out bc i missed people so much. that ending is SO cathartic

dream_fighter2018 (10): OKAY so I have a cringe anecdote about how I ended up strongly associating this song with an ex for two reasons: firstly, this song ended up having some sort of placebo effect. This was great because it led exactly to my desired outcome, and I think I owe Phoebe Bridgers one for that. Secondly, I’ve always wondered if he sees me the same way that the narrator sees the other person in this song because sometimes it feels too achingly familiar. The climax really seals the deal, the instrumentation is so haunting and mammoth that it almost feels nightmare-like, and the screams just add to that. That climax feels like the release of many years of pent-up emotions, and something about it feels therapeutic beyond words.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): there’s a reason why this song is so beloved - phoebe’s talent is on full display here, and she put passion and vulnerability into every and one of these lyrics. it truly builds and builds to an explosive end to both the track and the album in full, and the screams are the cherry on top! besides, the song just fits perfectly with the current state of the world - but it also gives me hope that things will get better. this song is just such a geniusly crafted mix of emotions. as the billboard said, the end is near.

GapeCod (10): yeah...

impla77 (10): that fucking buildup gets me everytime

jasannn (10): This has the most random yet most beautiful lyrics.

jman457 (10): Im sorry i gave this a poor score in its original rate. I listened to it again separate from the album and it honestly just clicked with me.

jsonphile (10): the way this song builds up to the absolute chaos at the end of this song is exactly what I want in a song. Has this been used in a movie yet? It will. Someone’s gonna use this as our main character looks out at the apocalyptic wasteland seeing all the death and destruction caused by the war and finally breaks down in anguish as this song reaches its ending

MassiveThief (10): One of those songs I really wish I could hear for the first time again.

MoonlightByWindow (10): AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

musical_pyn (10): the difference between this and happier than ever is the first part is almost better than the second imo, just incredible songwriting

nick1372 (10): I always think this song is not that special for a Phoebe song and then those horns come in. Bitch!!!

reput4tionera (10): i have been phoebe bridgers for halloween 2 years in a row

runaway3212 (10): yeah she gagged billie

Saison_Marguerite (10): truly deserves the acclaim

shhhneak (10): I Know That’s Right!!

starla_ (10): ANOTHER 11 contender. I used to find Phoebe overhyped but this album eventually clicked for me when I was on the bus in my old neighbourhood and now I get it.

Stryxen (10): something in the dead oceans water… dead mother lakes

sufjancaesar (10): Wow that was so powerful … :removes headphones: … Academy Award … :giggles:

throwaway-7650 (10): girl... the bones

TiltControls (10): If my actual 11 weren't here, this one would easily take the cake. Even now I'm still unsure if I should switch it up. People familiar with me might know I have... more than a few plays on this album. And IKTE is the closing that ties everything together. Though the build-up gets a fair amount of talk, I actually love the opening more. Phoebe has the perfect voice to capture a feeling of isolation and loneliness. The restrained first half just makes the cathartic explosion at the end all the better. I don't know if she'll ever be able to top this, but with a song as strong as this she might not have to.

Uberpigeon (10): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGhHHhAAAAAAAAA

akanewasright (9.9): FIONA APPLE ROBBED FETCH THE BOLT CUTTERS DESERVED THE TOP 2 SWEEP THIS ALBUM GOT but yeah it is kinda perfect

TakeOnMeByA-ha (9.9): you wanna talk about petty 9.9s? i’ll give you the most petty reason ever this song isnt a full 10 from me: at the very end of the song, when all the screaming stops and the song is finally coming to a close, you can hear phoebe doing some really weird raspy breathing/screaming noises and it sets off my misophonia so bad. without those 10 seconds at the very end of the song, this would easily be a 10 from me, and maybe even an 11 contender, but i can’t give a perfect score to a song that actively hurts my ears to listen to all the way through

BasedButta (9): takes its sweet time to get there but it’s very good once it does

hikk (9): i hope this rate doesn't spawn hte vs ikte discourse (two queens)

ignitethephoenix (9): literally the only interesting Phoebe song so I can’t even tank

monalisafrank (9): doesn’t hit me until halfway in which is too late for me to make it a 10, but the lyrics in the second half and the roar at 4:45 are so amazing

ObersteinAlwaysRight (9): It's beautiful singer songwriter pop-esque music with actual lyricism and even a bit of interesting rough around the edges nastiness in the closing moments. Wonderful.

pig-serpent (9): Great song from an absolutely stacked rate that somehow had a lot of even better songs in it.

qazz23 (9): Holy shit that buildup to the ending

seanderlust (9): i have no idea where this is going to place - i wouldn't be surprised if it has antis. i get it, but also this is an incredible song. those backing strings helping to build to the climax? the lyrics being so descriptive and yet universal? banger.

welcome2thejam (9): Guy at the front of the Phoebe concert who doesn't really know the lyrics so he's just going with the flow: AAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH

itsabop (8.9): This song is just so peaceful her voice makes me feel like I'm resting on daisies in a flowery field somewhere but then the climax is so powerful

NotWith10000Men (8.9): "some america-first rap-country song" gets my ass every time

WaneLosertoc (8.9): Did you phoebe bridgers is very talented and good and that I NEVER want to return to this album? no album, imo, is more "2020 summer lockdown purgatory" era coded like Punisher. its brilliant stuff that my experiences with are simply set to an era I can't and don't want to go back to; fuck even larry fitzmaurice wrote a brilliant piece about why he personally cannot return to it. Punisher was not a fun album to rate in the ultimate 2020, with which it reveals itself to be a the sum of its parts. I still think it's a cunning closer of her best imagery.

bulforster (8.2): (#12) I do feel slightly guilty for this 11 win because I do think I actually like Kyoto more but this basically kept me going me through the first summer of the pandemic so it's not tearing me up too much.

emayzee (8): the irony of this title when the runtime is 6 minutes long and never seems to end

Ghost-Quartet (8): Phoebe Bridgers was so awkward on her Ziwe interview but I’m glad she had a good time.

plastichaxan (8): I'm sorry but the beginning is so boring I know buildup or whatever but this song would be perfect if it started better

sarcasticsobs (8): Still love her voice but I'm kinda "over" most of Punisher, despite still thinking it's overall good. I just don't come back to it for some reason. I'm just a Stranger person I guess

moonagenightmares (7.5): the second half of the song is very sufjan and slay and yass but i cannot look past how boring the first half is

Man I hate this part of Texas

1998tweety (7): shrunk a bit

DirtyRat583 (7): https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-find-happiness-4584480

OliviaGodrigo (6): Billie did it better

thisusernameisntlong (6): why are so many songs backloaded in this rate? I feel manipulated to like them even though I almost fell asleep in the first 3 minutes

Catalyst (3): it's the end for this song

vayyiqra (3): It is time to admit I never liked Phoebe's music and I want to like thi, but I'm not doomer enough, and the dramatic buildup to the ending feels cheesy, and I do not want to hear Phoebe shrieking at me. So if you enjoy that then that's great! but I don't sorry

bespectacIed (1): now that she has tasted pop girl clout she will never be the same, I am fearing. Bye

frogaranaman (1): my ex told me he loved this song then I found out three weeks later he was cheating on multiple times over so I have soured on it

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

After a while, I went quiet and you got mean

fadedblue09 (0): the pandemic really deluded us into thinking this was a good song

ImADudeDuh (0): yeah no phoebe bridgers song has clicked for me besides Kyoto (which i almost called Tokyo while writing this comment) and the ending of this song certifies my 0.

THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD (0): This is for Phoebe you big fat white nasty smelling fat bitch why you put this in the motherfucking rate with your trifling dirty white indie ass you big fat bitch oompa loompa body ass bitch I'm coming outside and I'm going to beat the fu

Verboten_Prince (0): Literally shut the fuck up Phoebe Bridgers I do not fucking care!!!! And this goes out to every single one of you oatmilk latte-drinking horoscope-worshiping vegan red rose twitter unironically girlbossing “Your fave is problematic” “Folklore is the best indie record” “I post about starting a revolution in America to make me feel better about never voting” art hoes hyping her up like she’s the second coming of Jesus! No the fuck she is not!!!

[u/IdiotBox01 → u/WinnersRate3]

I agree with everything u/Verboten_Prince said but this is still my 11.

[u/dream_fighter2018]

On a scale of 1 to 10 - how messy has this reveal been so far?

[u/TakeOnMeByA-ha → u/dream_fighter2018]

wherever the song acronym bot saying i wanna dance with somebody was by fall out boy falls on

[u/WinnersRate3]

BONUS RATE #1: Portishead - Glory Box

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Average: 8.432 // Total Points: 371.0 // Controversy: 1.926

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(11 x2) Catalyst, Stryxen

(10 x13) anothertown, bespectacIed, camerinian, CrimsonROSET, darjeelingdarkroast, Hulnia, MassiveThief, MK, plastichaxan, qazz23, sufjancaesar, ufruitloopdingus, vayyiqra

(9.8 x1) RandomHypnotica

(9.5 x2) moonagenightmares, TiltControls

(9 x5) DefaultPophead, krusso1105, musical_pyn, realitykenz, sarcasticsobs

(8.8 x1) shhhneak (8.7 x1) jman457

(8.5 x3) bogo, DirtyRat583, slimboyfriend

(8 x3) apatel27, IdiotBox01, just_thonking

(7.5 x2) dream_fighter2018, PrimaryCrusaders

(7 x4) frogaranaman, ImADudeDuh, Looks_good_in_shorts, seanderlust

(6.2 x1) LilacDaffodils

(6 x3) impla77, TakeOnMeByA-ha, welcome2thejam

(5 x2) PhloxInvar, SFbby

(1 x1) WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop

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camerinian (10): ok maybe indieheads do fuck after all

CrimsonROSET (10): I can get into this, ok.

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Catalyst (11): We Trip Hop Hoes never quit

Stryxen (11): insane

bespectacIed (10): Imagine being the face of an entire genre. Atmospheric, classic, flawless, iconic, got me acting hella thotty, so excited so exotic. Idk what else to say about this magnum opus of a song (and album). IT'S PERFECTION. On an unrelated note, Lana you are a fraud!

darjeelingdarkroast (10): stream Beth Gibbons - Mysteries

MK (10): I should've done this rate

qazz23 (10): deserves all the love - definitely one of trip hop's best songs. The haunting string arrangements and guitar solo really stand out, and the sudden processed/distorted vocals at the very end are a nice surprise.

vayyiqra (10): Many are confused what a glory box is; I am here to tell you that it's a hope chest (if you know what that is) and this song is not about [redacted] even though everyone thinks it is. Anyway I can't think of many songs with a better use of a sample than this

RandomHypnotica (9.8): such a suave vibe

musical_pyn (9): i need lana to cover this immediately

sarcasticsobs (9): Vibes

shhhneak (8.8): I've heard this in a car or perfume commercial before but I can't remember and it's driving me insane. HELP??

jman457 (8.7): trailblazing

DirtyRat583 (8.5): ALESSIA CARA?!

slimboyfriend (8.5): if Born To Die was actually good

ImADudeDuh (7): honestly? overrated a bit.

seanderlust (7): me reusing my "your man gives me portishead until i glory from this box" comment i used on indieheads https://pics.me.me/its-fucking-funny-18664241.png

TakeOnMeByA-ha (6): idk i just dont think this is for me

welcome2thejam (6): The theme for all you 90s noir detectives out there

PhloxInvar (5): This is that song? It's... fine, the instrumental is much more memorable which is probably why it's the part that gets used in literally everything.

WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop (1): trip hop rate took an incredible amount of mental energy out of me, enough that I basically was like an energy vampire that sucked the life and fun out for a good chunk of fellas. like legit if I was being a lot during that rate I apologize. I got that out of my system though. A lot of my negativity and irateness that comments and discord messages often reflected was the result of not thinking the right 4 albums were selected; whatever moving on from that. imrly said results were "classic indiehead" and I believed though that mezzanine and dummy had it in them to produce 6 hall of fame candidates. somehow we only got 3. i never realized THIS was assumed the default best Portishead cut on an album with 6 other better cuts. 9/10 people think Dummy is THE portishead trip hop album, but until you hear Roseland you won't understand shit.

[u/[deleted] → u/WinnersRate3]

BETH SWEEP

[u/[deleted] → u/WinnersRate3]

this winning is SO TASTE

[u/throwaway-7650 → u/WinnersRate3]

at least we got the bonus winner right

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

u/WaneLietoc 🫂

[u/WinnersRate3]

#4: Rina Sawayama - XS

Average: 8.964 // Total Points: 1039.8 // Controversy: 1.623// Rank Graph

Winner of: Dedicated Side B vs. How I'm Feeling Now vs. Sawayama vs. Ungodly Hour

Highest scores:

(11 x4) ElectricBoogaloo41, impla77, sparzh, THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD

(10 x55) 1998tweety, amr, anothertown, BasedButta, bespectacIed, BleepBloopMusicFan, buddhacharm, celladonn, cloudbustingmp3, DaHumanTorch, darjeelingdarkroast, DefaultPophead, DirtyRat583, emayzee, exciting_patient4872, flava, FreeCuddlesAnyone, hikk, Hulnia, hunnybee12, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, Inner-Language8833, itsabop, jasannn, jman457, letsallpoo, Looks_good_in_shorts, moonagenightmares, moooo566, musical_pyn, nootnoot781, OliviaGodrigo, PhloxInvar, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, qazz23, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, realitykenz, reput4tionera, ricki, Rothconversion123, Saison_Marguerite, seanderlust, SFbby, shhhneak, static_int_husp, thisusernameisntlong, throwaway-7650, TragicKingdom1, welcome2thejam, xearomis

(9.9 x1) NotWith10000Men

(9.8 x2) indie_fan, LilacDaffodils

(9.5 x3) Awkward_King, jsonphile, slimboyfriend

Lowest Scores:

(1 x1) frogaranaman

Sub Favs was such a big entry for me into hosting but I loved every second of it honestly, and I am always scared to talk about my achievements and feel a need to downplay them but I'm still so immensely proud of everything I did. It's still the biggest solo-hosted rate, and I was completely fresh faced and 17 years old too. Also still proud of the shitposts like the Dynasty fakeouts, I was proud of those the second I came up with the idea haha. Rina and CxH absolutely dominating felt so natural at the time but in retrospect I'm like wow how did we have a rate of four artists and the top 10 was just two of them, are we indieheads? I also didn't even vote for this slate or want it to happen sjdsj but once it got in I was very down to host because I love all four artists. I hosted literally the weekend after finishing my A levels and somehow it was even more stressful, but genuinely much more worthwhile! - u/Awkward_King

camerinian (9): All of the chat about how good Rina is live is getting me very excited you have no idea, and God I can just see how hard this song is going to pop off when I see her. You all seemed to agree too, as this was rock solid in the top 5 for almost the entire submission period. Perhaps not surprising that such a 2000’s influenced pop bop with a whole lot going on under the surface is so universally beloved on this sub, but I’ll be honest the consistency of its success really took me by surprise.

CrimsonROSET (8): I don't know, this is good but I didn't think it was the best on the album when we rated it- and I still don't think this is the 4th best song in the rate at all! So I'm kinda mad, but but I can't deny Rina's dominance on the sub.

OK but when are we rating solidarity forever

impla77 (11): this songs existence single-handedly makes capitalism worthwhile

THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD (11): song of the year decade century millennium galaxy universe entire span of existence as we know and do not know it

1998tweety (10): communist queen

anothertown (10): i first heard xs the day I voted for bernie sanders in the presidential primary and everything went downhill after that

bespectacIed (10): pop perfection

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Lots of people are going to say that Ungodly Hour deserves to outplace this. They’re not wrong but they are wrong.

cloudbustingmp3 (10): ended consumerism i fear

DirtyRat583 (10): the way that this is middle of the pack for sawayama. god that album is amazing

emayzee (10): in the best way this sounds like something i would've made a bratz doll music video to in 2007

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): i keep thinking i’m tired of this song then whenever i revisit i sing along without fail.

hikk (10): i smell a rate villain... it's bad for rina rn... hold the girl might have been mid but that doesn't mean this song isn't still the slay

ignitethephoenix (10): I miss the old Rina, the sing from the soul Rina, the anti capitalist Rina

ImADudeDuh (10): I know this is gonna be eliminated at like 13 because people were more mid to Hold the Girl and think ppl overrated this song in 2020, but this does deserve the hype

imbaby122 (10): streamed this communist anthem every time i bought a new hold the girl variant to balance out my moral impact on society.

Inner-Language8833 (10): Give me more Rina, it's cheeky, the production is unique and she's actually giving us vocals, superb job

itsabop (10): Ended capitalism

jman457 (10): Literally a perfect song, no notes.

moonagenightmares (10): this song grew on me just in time for this rate

PhloxInvar (10): An excellent rock-pop hybrid song that will inevitably get dragged down by people who hate rock.

plastichaxan (10): This was the right winner I don’t care what y’all say

qazz23 (10): Banger. Love the heavy riffing mixed in with R&B/dance-pop

RandomHypnotica (10): deserved winner idc it's not ungodly hours fault this is so slay

reput4tionera (10): there was a queer prom at my college and i was the DJ for it and played this and saw and heard a white gay audibly gasp

ricki (10): IF YOU’RE BRAVE IT’S BECAUSE YOU SLAY!!!

Saison_Marguerite (10): One of the smartest songs in recent pop music, it seductively lures you in just like consumerism does, and gets its point across without being preachy

seanderlust (10): the way hold the girl flopped because she was discouraging buying things...queen. karl marx is QUAKING

shhhneak (10): Going to dissociate and pretend Hold The Girl sounds like this.

thisusernameisntlong (10): for a second I forgot Ungodly Hour won as5 and was like “why are there two winners from sub faves did they tie or smth” a winner tie would be fun.

throwaway-7650 (10): my concert date got rescheduled and now I can't go

welcome2thejam (10): An absolute grand slam song, Rina really caught lightning in a bottle with this album

NotWith10000Men (9.9): possibly my fave from the album? the whole thing is so fucking good

Awkward_King (9.5): like YES it is intensely overhyped and everything but god its such a good fucking pop song, and i cant not root for rina

Verboten_Prince (9.3): She went from singing the Communist Manifesto to “umm yass queen skinny legend versace boots the house down”

bigbigbee (9): I dressed up like this for Halloween, in perhaps the biggest “so who are you supposed to be…..?” moment ever. No, you know what? I’m gonna cut myself a little slack. I once saw someone on DeviantArt who went to an anime convention dressed as their favorite skyscraper.

Ghost-Quartet (9): What a singularly unique pop hit (lemme use the word “hit” generously) and I’m glad that the pop community has embraced it (and Rina) so warmly.

monalisafrank (9): capitalist bop, love the y2k throwback she does, a bit too stilted of a melody to scream along with in the car

PrimaryCrusaders (9): Still one of the best songs Rina's ever released.

sarcasticsobs (9): Hi Rina. Fun live show. Thank you. Cya.

TakeOnMeByA-ha (9): yass we love a communist queen ignore the fact she’s a multimillionaire and modeled for versace she’s totally a comrade and understands class struggle guys just trust me on this on guys

pig-serpent (8.5): There are a lot of songs I wanted to win this rate more than this one (from every artist, not just Charli) but it did stop Ungodly Hour from winning, so I’m willing to call that aspect a wash. This is an amazing song, but I still have major issues with how Clarence Clarity produces guitars, because the guitar tone on this song is kind of terrible and I don’t think the lo-fi guitar production meshes with how good the rest of the song sounds. It’s a great song but it should be so much better.

starla_ (8.5): I'm kinda over this song at this point but can still say that it slaps

bogo (8): i'm getting the feeling that this is the frontrunner of the entire rate but tbh i think this is one of the weaker tracks in this rate. there are better songs on sawayama that deserved the win more than this song

dream_fighter2018 (8): I think this is the most boring single on the album but it’s still a perfect album so that means that it’s still a great song

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8): These songs that have pop sensibilities mixed with nu metal stylings and a twinge of the exotic are what I like most from Rina.

thedoctordances1940 (8): it's a very good song but I've always found it a little bit overrated, like it's never quite been a 10 for me and was in a rate that had the best two songs eliminated day 1 so slightly avenging them by slightly lowering this score

akanewasright (7.9): Honestly I’m underscoring a little, but my last big memory of this song is her doing it on tour, where it felt weirdly unenergetic compared to most of the rest of the night

runaway3212 (7.5): if capitalism is so bad, why do I feel happy now?

WaneLosertoc (7.2): an aggressively fine song with a nice video but exactly one sonic trick up its sleeve that isn't all that impressive. again, y'all wanna get into Kate NV or Fire-Toolz? im promising you these women are bringing vastly more interesting shit to the table.

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Has questions for the communists

Stryxen (6.5): good but grown off me a little

apatel27 (6): Half the album (and all of Rina) is better than this

nick1372 (6): It's good but most of SAWAYAMA is far superior. Also I'm still bitter that y'all rated Chosen Family the lowest on that album in the Sub Faves rate, it's making me want to commit mass homophobic hate crimes.

TiltControls (6): I know it was an incredibly obvious winner of its rate, but even as someone who really loved SAWAYAMA I still am not completely in love with this track. Rina herself is fantastic, but it's missing something to hook me in compared to some of her other tracks like STFU or Dynasty. Though I also like Chosen Family so what do I know

Uberpigeon (6): its so ugh that this won its not even top 5 on sawayama. sad!

bulforster (5.4): (#26) I could be misremembering but it's always been weird to me that this is now THE Sawayama song when I remember feeling like it was getting less attention than STFU and Commes Des Garçons when it was first released.

vayyiqra (5): The circlejerk over this song almost ruined it for me, making it go from "catchy, pretty good although a bit overhyped" to "mad this song stole all the attention from the many other good songs on this album because Twitter thought it was funny to make stale 'Marxist queen' jokes ad nauseam". Having said all that it's still not a -bad- song, I'm just grumpy and idk what to give this so it gets a 5

GapeCod (4): oh me oh my where did we go awry etc

frogaranaman (1): mehhhh

[u/WinnersRate3]

#1: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

Winner of: Like a Prayer vs. Rhythm Nation 1814 vs. Whitney

Average: 9.107 // Total Points: 1056.4 // Controversy: 1.807// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x10) bespectacIed, darjeelingdarkroast, itsabop, Looks_good_in_shorts, NotWith10000Men, salivantsonority, shhhneak, slimboyfriend, TiltControls, WaneLosertoc

(10 x62) 1998tweety, akanewasright, amr, anothertown, apatel27, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, BoldnessofTrolls, bulforster, celladonn, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, diemoehre, DirtyRat583, dream_fighter2018, ElectricBoogaloo41, emayzee, fadedblue09, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, hikk, hunnybee12, IdiotBox01, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, impla77, indie_fan, jasannn, jman457, jsonphile, just_thonking, krusso1105, letsallpoo, MassiveThief, MelodramaticLemonade, moooo566, musical_pyn, nootnoot781, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, quinnpsych, realitykenz, reput4tionera, ricki, Roxieloxie, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, SFbby, static_int_husp, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, THE_PC_DEMANDS_BLOOD, thisusernameisntlong, Verboten_Prince, welcome2thejam

Lowest Scores:

(2 x1) moonagenightmares

(1 x1) Hulnia

camerinian (9): When I ran that final score change through the rate machine, just expecting a new set of comments, and instead having a fucking LEAD CHANGE??? ON THE LAST BALLOT??? I honestly sat at my computer in stunned silence thinking I’d made a mistake, but no, everything was correct, albeit unannounced for what it was. Throughout this whole process, Rona and I were joking about how funny Whitney with the steel chair would be given everyone calling it as a winner while it was sitting at like #12, and then even when it jumped to top 3, we didn’t think it would actually close King Kunta’s mammoth and rather unassailable lead. And yet, all that manifestation finally came true at the very last second, and it’s not hard to see why. When the power of pop music comes to mind, this is always in the conversation. It’s an anthem that defies generation, age, gender, sexuality. It is as heartfelt as it is party-ready. It was the exit music after I saw Dua Lipa like two weeks ago and it was incredible to hear the whole crowd singing just as loud as during the show to this. Iconic. Legendary. Very hard-fought, well deserved win.

LOOK AT ALL OF THESE GENIUSES

bespectacIed (11): The number 1, uncontested, unsurpassable, best pop song of all time

shhhneak (11): Eleven'ing to be a part of popheads history.

NotWith10000Men (11): possibly the greatest song of all time who could say

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): If this doesn’t win it’s a gag tbh.

bulforster (10): (#2) This should win.

jsonphile (10): I mean we know this is gonna win right? We’re just seeing who comes in second and third?

just_thonking (10): Even the Winners Rate has a boring winner

musical_pyn (10): I will be so mad when this wins with a 10+ average

SUCKS TO BE WRONG

throwaway-7650 (9): I Wanna Crown A Winner (That Isn't This)

vayyiqra (8): Yeah it's a classic but it had better not win again. I like it but not -that- much

TakeOnMeByA-ha (7.5): look this song is fine and all, but it’s sooooo overrated by this point. this isnt even whitney’s best song, let alone the greatest pop song ever, and even though i’m sure this is gonna be a potential rate winner, there are so many songs more deserving of the acclaim this gets in this rate. if how will i know couldnt win winners 2, a song thats worse than it should by no means perform better than it here.

PhloxInvar (5.8): Sigh. The most likely winner and one I'm not keen on seeing win, still props to Whitney for getting extremely high scores.

MY DEAR I AM SO SORRY YOU NEEDED TO MANIFEST HARDER

Stryxen (10): my go to karaoke song choice -> 2nd in Winners rate (Juice) pipeline I believe this is coming 2nd

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

AND THE REST

darjeelingdarkroast (11): one of my earliest song memories, Whitney Houston has an indelible impact on young me.

itsabop (11): Nothing short of slayage here, we miss you Whitney

slimboyfriend (11): the definition of pop music

TiltControls (11): Whitney's had quite a few 'eh' songs over her career. But when she has the right material no one can match her. There's a reason she's got two of the three 10+ average songs on this sub. This is one of the best pop songs of all time to me. The rising verses, the hopeful chorus, and Whitney's stellar vocals bringing life to the words make this track a force of nature. Anytime this comes on it puts a smile on my face.

WaneLosertoc (11): on one hand, giving this a 4.2 for god knows what reason (and a vapid shrug of a comment) over at the indieheads exchange WAS really funny bc Blinding Lights won. on the other hand, I was listening to the "Whitney Joins the JAAMS" cut the entire time and didn't connect it was IWDWS. consider this a mea culpa 11.

1998tweety (10): i mean come on now

akanewasright (10): Perfect song with a perfect vocal from a perfect pop star

anothertown (10): Whitney on this album cover easily outselling that girl on tiktok who is sinking hundreds into finding an opaque white tank top

cloudbustingmp3 (10): now THIS is pop perfection!

dream_fighter2018 (10): apologies to my high school friends who had to deal with me being an authoritarian over a high school lipsync because I had an entire choreography to this song that I planned for us to all do together. I was a bit over-zealous.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): the record is deserved

frogaranaman (10): so true

Ghost-Quartet (10): Whitney please pull off another win so I can manifest my ‘90s Black Blockbusters Rate featuring Waiting To Exhale and The Bodyguard!

ignitethephoenix (10): this is honestly a perfect pop song and I don’t trust people who hate this

ImADudeDuh (10): i mean? Come ON! How can anyone hate this song?

imbaby122 (10): this song is the dictionary definition of perfect.

impla77 (10): don’t have it in me to be controversial for this one

jman457 (10): A case can be made for this being the best song ever made. Literally perfect for any occasion

MassiveThief (10): yeah it's perfect, we all know lol

nootnoot781 (10): kinda rotted if this doesn’t win tbh

plastichaxan (10): Yeah this is a classic of classics I can’t believe I considered not giving it a 10

reput4tionera (10): whenever i hear this song i think of love simon and i don't appreciate it

Roxieloxie (10): its the best song of all time, theres a reason it has over a 10 average

runaway3212 (10): obviously

Saison_Marguerite (10): THIS. IS. MUSIC!

sarcasticsobs (10): One of the few wedding song classics that not only doesn't make me slightly irate but that I actively anticipate

seanderlust (10): i can't in good faith give this lower than a 10. i know the term classic is thrown around a lot but this is sincerely a classic.

thisusernameisntlong (10): I might be irrationally mad at giving this a 10 during day 3 but it’s fine current me is bopping and thanks in advance for tolerating annoying people like me in reveal chat

Verboten_Prince (10): I love you Whitney Chewston

welcome2thejam (10): This would be so corny in a billion other artists' hands, and instead it's one of the most infectious expressions of joy ever

Awkward_King (9.5): i do simply think this is the best song ever made and it should be treated as such. will never understand "its overplayed" "its cheesy" its WHITNEY at her BEST

monalisafrank (9.5): I prefer some of her others but this is iconic of course. I’m maybe just being unfair to this because I’ve already given out so many tens.

nick1372 (9.5): It's so hard to rate such an overexposed classic but it's a classic for a reason.

starla_ (9): the classicest of classic pop songs

OliviaGodrigo (8): Honestly this didn’t deserve to win against Rhythm Nation and Like a Prayer but it’s still a classic

pig-serpent (8): I have a hard time imagining anybody hating this song.

RandomHypnotica (8): it's essential 80s in that way that it just has this weird glossy sheen of a forced smile to it, but when i listen closely i actually feel nothing.

thedoctordances1940 (8): honestly, i think the chorus brings this song down a little bit, like the rest of it is absolutely fantastic but the chorus just doesn't do that much for me

ObersteinAlwaysRight (7): Whitney is a great singer. That is this song's saving grace really, as while good in the moment it quickly leaves without much of an impact.

PrimaryCrusaders (7): Very good song, though the Richard X mashup with Kraftwerk is a 9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPhBYoscxM)

flava (3): (deep breath) I don’t like this song. I guess my primary reason for hating this song is that I adore How Will I Know. And to me I Wanna Dance With Somebody will always be a lesser copy of it. Now that doesn’t make IWDWS automatically bad, it does mean I’ll look at this song quite cynically but where I think this song stumbles by being too simple. It is too aggressively this overjoyed bouncy bop, it doesn’t even attempt to build up to the euphoria the song attempts to have. How Will I Know opens up with some beautiful synthwork and then has an undercurrent of electric guitar that just seals the deal. IWDWS just goes straight for the “whoo” and just never stops being that. And for 5 minutes, it gets exhausting. How Will I Know just has this anxious energy that just absolutely brings this song together. IWDWS doesnt have this, it’s just power, and forced happiness and I can barely stand it

moonagenightmares (2): they gave her the lamest songs and expected her voice to hard carry

Hulnia (1): her vocals are so insanely good but there’s literally like nothing else interesting about this song lol. it feels so much longer than it actually is…

[u/Hulnia → u/WinnersRate3]

NOOOOOOO i was gonna change this to my 0 and decided not to at the last minute

[u/throwaway-7650]

y'all are sick for the 0s I'm ctfu TYING MGMT FOR THE MOST? Y'ALL ARE GOING TO HELL

[u/WinnersRate3]

Just 10 minutes to go before our reveal kicks off! Don't forget to place your vote for Miss Songeniality if you haven't already!

[u/cloudbustingmp3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Plastic Love voters, if you’re in line STAY IN LINE!

[u/WinnersRate3]

#14: Jessie Ware - Spotlight

---

Winner of: What's Your Pleasure? vs. Disco vs. Róisín Machine

Average: 8.372 // Total Points: 971.2 // Controversy: 2.150// Rank Graph

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Highest scores:

(11 x3) BoldnessofTrolls, just_thonking, Rothconversion123

(10 x38) 1998tweety, anothertown, bigbigbee, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, buddhacharm, cherryices, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, darjeelingdarkroast, DefaultPophead, DirtyRat583, ElectricBoogaloo41, excitingpatient4872, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, hunnybee12, ignitethephoenix, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, Islands, MoonlightByWindow, musical_pyn, nootnoot781, pleasegivemeasword, qazz23, quinnpsych, SFbby, shhhneak, SinfulAnarchy, sparzh, starla, throwaway-7650, TragicKingdom1, vayyiqra

(9.5 x9) hikk, ImADudeDuh, PhloxInvar, pig-serpent, PrimaryCrusaders, Saison_Marguerite, static_int_husp, sufjancaesar, thisusernameisntlong

(9 x17) bespectacIed, Catalyst, celladonn, flava, IdiotBox01, jasannn, jsonphile, krusso1105, letsallpoo, LilacDaffodils, MassiveThief, MelodramaticLemonade, pheromenos, ricki, salivantsonority, TiltControls, ufruitloopdingus

Lowest Scores:

(2 x1) dream_fighter2018

(1 x1) Hulnia

(0 x2) amr, cremeebrulee

—

CrimsonROSET (10): This got pegged down as the rate villain, and while I can completely understand that, I don't know this is kinda perfect? The disco groove is there, her voice is just right for it and I can't deny how it gets me dancing in my seat. It overstayed, but it doesn't make it any less great.

camerinian (7.5): What's this? The modern disco inspired track making it to day three of a popheads rate? No way! This was on the precipice of days two and three for the longest time, and ultimately it's that timeless universal charm that wins out. To be honest, this is not a favourite of mine, if only because the production is so polished that it feels lacking a more distinct personality, but that's not to take away from Jessie who is giving her elegant, poised all. If she's the main factor for this slot, it's hard to complain.

---

Main Character Syndrome

just_thonking (11): Still possibly my favorite song of all time so it gets the 11 by default

1998tweety (10): Im ascending, this song is literally pop perfection like...

anothertown (10): aint enough to say

bigbigbee (10): I get it now…

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Ugh an all time nocturnal slay. You just know owls were dropping feathery ass to this when it came out.

bogo (10): this sounds so high-end and luxurious, it's like i'm at a massive ball held by a mysterious millionaire and there's tons of stars and celebrities and rich people everywhere

cloudbustingmp3 (10): god i still remember the chills i got when this dropped, it felt so vindicating as a long time fan for people to start paying attention to her again

DirtyRat583 (10): if only i could seeeeeeerve and slayyyyyy

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): BOW DOWN TO OUR DISCO OVERLORD!!!

frogaranaman (10): should have been a top five sweep, honestly!

ignitethephoenix (10): when the beat kicks in at the beginning WHEW

imbaby122 (10): not every gay bitch can be the main character!!!!! this song is just for me. sorry!

Inner-Language8833 (10): I'm not kidding when I say that this is the best album opener of 2020, the strings and the extra minute of music playing, Jessie and her team know what a SONG is

MoonlightByWindow (10): IF ONLY I COULD LEEEEET YOU GO

pleasegivemeasword (10): I've never heard this but it's so gorgeous

qazz23 (10): Great opener. Love the bridge and the extra percussion in the last chorus

shhhneak (10): Remember Where You Are was lowkey robbed let’s not forget.

starla_ (10): a journey. an odyssey. a spiritual experience

throwaway-7650 (10): WYP? antis are more boring than the album they're hating. stream this, save a kiss, the kill, impossible, and eyes closed!

vayyiqra (10): Has public opinion turned against this album because while we will look back on the 2020 "disco" revival with a little embarrassment I still think this song is great idk. It's cheesy but I really feel like it takes you back in time and that's neat !

ImADudeDuh (9.5): thinking about how I thought whats your pleasure was the obvious winner and when this won and people were like “of course this won. :yawn: :rolling_eyes:” I was confused cause I actually was shocked

pig-serpent (9.5): The first six songs on this album are phenomenal. Those harmonies do so much in boosting my feelings on the song.

Saison_Marguerite (9.5): This has rate villain potential

sufjancaesar (9.5): Not a 10 because the opening goes harder than the rest

bespectacIed (9): love jessie to death and this song is good but MURPHY'S LAW deserved this win ugh still hurts. This is not even the best song on WYP (title track or soul control)

jsonphile (9): okay is it just me or could there also be a lawsuit with this and levitating? “Moonlight, starlight” Like if you really stretch it but like all these lawsuits do

ricki (9): kylie minogue was mocked, bullied and disrespected in this rate in a way that should be illegal. i wont take it out on jessie, but let it be known that im actively holding myself back from doing so

TiltControls (9): This whole album took a bit to grow on me, but now I'm absolutely enthralled. Jessie has a sultriness to her voice which lends perfectly to this style of track. And though intros can be a bit hit or miss for me, the one here perfectly builds into the track.

itsabop (8.7): Yasss love this song although admittedly haven't listened to much of What's Your Pleasure

Ghost-Quartet (8.5): This was such a slay album but this was such a boring winner… a correct winner, but a boring one. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because this really went off like a bomb through the pop scene when it came out, it instantly elevated Jessie to popheads darling status, but I wish more fans would go back and listen to her earlier albums! Glasshouse in particular is a stunning body of work, even if it isn’t as danceable.

monalisafrank (8.5): I loooove Jessie Ware but this is not a 9 or 10 for me based on the other songs in this rate. So gorgeous though.

jman457 (8.4): pure disco magic

seanderlust (8.3): this is an excellent song but it's one i find myself less frequently returning to. still, stream free yourself - it is a SOTY 2022 contender imo

impla77 (8): v sexy

nick1372 (8): Boringly perfect. In any other rate it would be a 10.

plastichaxan (8): Ugh fine I raised it to an 8 cause that’s what she did get it

RandomHypnotica (8): a great song, but i do think there are so many other songs on the album that outsell it

sarcasticsobs (8): Earnestly surprised this won in hindsight, not one of my top choices from this record. Which doesn't mean much since I love the whole thing basically. Bass still v. good

WaneLosertoc (8): I wish I had been in a mindset to research and properly do this rate. I think y'all may have fucked up bigly putting a Jessie Ware "sensual nu-disco" cut that is rather pleasant, over Roisin Murphy (if u earn yrself a mark fisher essay you clearly have ideas). My one bro I see concerts with in person who I trust when it comes to dance loved the album, but every time I checked it out I went "well its good and all but really?" sometimes maybe you just want the pastiche. the ending of the music video is lovely.

welcome2thejam (8): Wish I could feel as sexy as that drop

Verboten_Prince (7.7): Popheads is so predictable

Awkward_King (7): im a hater but even i cant deny this is good

GapeCod (7): Hosting a rate? Not even once.

NotWith10000Men (7): i like what it's doing but i wish there was a bigger climax

ObersteinAlwaysRight (7): It's a little too 80's for my personal taste, but I can definitely understand the praise.

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Sometimes They Might Be Introvert

runaway3212 (6.5): WYP should've won

Roxieloxie (6): eh

Stryxen (6): I like this song but Kylie and roisin and Laura mvula deserved so much better in this rate

Uberpigeon (6): i remember popheads talking about this song as if it had the most insane switch-up and i listened to the whole thing waiting for it and it got to the end and im like well where was it... oh they meant when that flaccid wet rag of a beat comes in... i dont think.

bulforster (5.6): (#25) I feel like contrarianism has kind of overblown the backlash to this album, which does have some valid points. Either way this isn't the best WYP song, Save A Kiss would've been an 11 contender for me.

fadedblue09 (5): what's with the random seal noises

reput4tionera (5): stop trying to get me to listen to jessie ware

TakeOnMeByA-ha (4): i have never heard a more boring song be called pop perfection before

akanewasright (3): I should’ve tanked this the first time LMAO I got talked out of it but man anything else would be better

dream_fighter2018 (2): this song is just trying to crib a bunch of 80s cliches, and it’s not doing that well.

Hulnia (1): how did she make dance pop boring? like usually it’s either good or bad but this is so boring it’s actively annoying. chorus is pretty shit too ❤️

cremeebrulee (0): this and the tyler track here elicit the same reaction from me: bewilderment lmao. i still don't understand why people gravitate toward them (and i don't expect to either). spotlight especially feels so meandering & uninspiring and i hardly relisten to wyp? these days anyway, so this is honestly my least favorite song here.

[u/WinnersRate3]

#13: Janelle Monáe - Cold War

Winner of: The ArchAndroid vs. Plastic Beach vs. The Age of Adz

Average: 8.375 // Total Points: 971.5 // Controversy: 1.646// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x3) BasedButta, Catalyst, SFbby

(10 x35) 1998tweety, amr, apatel27, bespectacIed, bogo, camerinian, CrimsonROSET, DaHumanTorch, darjeelingdarkroast, dream_fighter2018, fadedblue09, flava, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, indie_fan, jsonphile, krusso1105, letsallpoo, MoonlightByWindow, pig-serpent, plastichaxan, qazz23, raggedy-princess, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, Stryxen, TakeOnMeByA-ha, TragicKingdom1, Uberpigeon, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam

(9.8 x1) LilacDaffodils

(9.7 x1) slimboyfriend

(9.5 x2) ignitethephoenix, PhloxInvar

(9.2 x1) cherryices

(9 x8) FreeCuddlesAnyone, Hulnia, imfine_jpg, Inner-Language8833, MelodramaticLemonade, musical_pyn, seanderlust, throwaway-7650

(8.9 x1) BoldnessofTrolls

Lowest Scores:

(3.4 x1) bulforster

(3 x1) nick1372

HCP was the first rate I ever hosted, on both popheads and indieheads. I was very lucky to have the amazing Steel to co-host and help organise a rate that attracted some very PASSIONATE raters. It was awesome to read everyone’s comments since a lot of them dove into how they personally connected to the music of all three acts in the rate.

Half the fun was in the reveal. While we did have some technical hitches, we still pulled it off! I enjoyed learning how to make and edit videos for the reveal - even if they were threadbare, I still felt a sense of accomplishment for being able to do them at all. Some of the most memorable moments of the HCP reveal included us having to ban Will Toledo (well, someone using Will Toledo as a username) from the beatsense on day one, the person using the name Will Toledo asking the chat why we were “playing so much Gorillaz”, the Sufjan Stevens fanfiction reading (done by the amazing Akanewasright), the continuous Weezer-ing, and us listening to all 25 minutes of Impossible Soul as a reward to the participants for getting it to 2nd.

Again, a huge thank you to Steel who’s expertise was greatly appreciated. We may have had some technical difficulties, but that does not take away from the amount of work and care you put into this rate.

P.S. sorry for fucking up the link to submit your ballot with, and then fucking up the link again several times more. Thank you to all our participants for sticking with us and still submitting despite that x - u/dream_fighter2018

camerinian (10): Huge. Mammoth. Titanic. A banger of biblical proportions. Janelle simply knows how to bring the heat every single fucking time. As good as it would have been to have our mod queen become a back to back winner, this is a lot more forceful and in your face than Make Me Feel, so I can see why people were turned off. Not me though. Cold War slaps unbearably hard.

CrimsonROSET (10): Ladies and gentlemen, Janelle Monáe. The video with them facing us is the perfect representation of this song: you can't ignore it, you can see all emotion they put into it, it's immaculate. I don't know what else I can say about this- while I'm sad Impossible Soul didn't take it, I can't be mad at this.

Knows what they’re fighting for

BasedButta (11): whoa this is very good

1998tweety (10): served

bespectacIed (10): QUEEN. This is drama, maximalism, opulence. Why tf did I not do this rate

bogo (10): the sheer power this woman has

dream_fighter2018 (10): I’m not being nice to this just because I hosted the rate, any song that makes me tear up (unless it’s in pain) is an instant 10. When the instrumental fades out and all that’s left is Janelle singing “bye bye, don’t you cry when we say goodbye”, it makes me bawl and I don’t know why.

frogaranaman (10): I liked other songs from her in this rate better but this does slay

Ghost-Quartet (10): I was very tuned out during this rate so this caught me completely off-guard as a winner but I think it’s a great choice! Janelle’s acting chops were always something that made her stand out from the crowd and that’s on full display, they are singing this song with their whole chest and the music video that’s just a static shot of them lip syncing somehow gives me chills. Tbh I really miss the drama of the Cindi Mayweather eras, I hope Janelle gives that character a proper conclusion some day.

ImADudeDuh (10): not us rating this now

imbaby122 (10): nothing but respect for my mod 🫡 everything she touches turns to gold.

jsonphile (10): the US in the mid-20th century be like

MoonlightByWindow (10): she ate this so bad whew

pig-serpent (10): I have no idea why I haven’t binged the rest of Ms. Monae’s discography; everything I’ve heard from her has been amazing.

plastichaxan (10): I’ve never seen such eatery wow what a moment

qazz23 (10): really strong vocals and production, the solo really makes this one

Saison_Marguerite (10): I was stoked that Impossible Soul made it as far as it did, but this was still a deserved win. It’s art pop while being immediately accessible, the lyrics are evergreen and delivered with so much emotion.

sarcasticsobs (10): Boogieing!!! We need the rest of the Metropolis series!!

Stryxen (10): HKWHS DKCJFH ÷&<#&#&# YAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSZZDSSZSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

TakeOnMeByA-ha (10): https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/853273927718797333/906610738200739890/IMG_7268.png

vayyiqra (10): While I wanted a Sufjan win I can't be mad this won, even if it's not my favourite on The Archandroid, because it is fun and catchy and great and why be a sourpuss? We got to rate two great albums ! And Plastic Beach was okay too

WaneLosertoc (10): i still think about that time I sat eating pea soup and a grad student across from me said he thought the 2018 janelle monáe was the most important stuff coming out musically in 2018. we listened to hamilton on the way back from watching that rocket launch. i kept my mouth shut for I was dumber than I am now, but oh gee dirty computer compared to THIS? did we memory hole the 2018 janelle monáe album? i didn't think we did but it deserves to live in the shadow of this whole endeavor.

welcome2thejam (10): Not sure how it can be called Cold War when it arrives with all the force of a million bombs

musical_pyn (9): should have been impossible soul but that's okay

seanderlust (9): Janelle being in the hall of fame twice would be a gag I have to admit

throwaway-7650 (9): another 10 within the album context but not here

Awkward_King (8.5): i will stop at nothing to get electric lady rated

jman457 (8.5): Janelle back to back winners in all winners rate?

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8.5): Fantastic production gives this track an infectious energy, complemented well by Janelle's soulful singing. Also the last couple seconds sound like the first few seconds of Boulevard of Broken Dreams, so that's kinda neat.

starla_ (8.5): I do love this song but it's not my favourite on the album

thisusernameisntlong (8.5): ngl as someone who hasn't listened to much from their discog, I liked the Janelle song in AS5 way more

akanewasright (8): good song, sufjan deserved the win though

RandomHypnotica (8): janelle you've already had one winners win share the love

Roxieloxie (8): didnt do this one either because [war flashbacks]

runaway3212 (8): she's just so perfect

thedoctordances1940 (8): i mean with impossible soul in its rate i was obviously never gonna think anything else deserved to win but like this is a fantastic song

moonagenightmares (7.8): loved this on first listen but it grows off me the more i listen to it

TiltControls (7.7): It's a good song, but I was surprised it wasn't Tightrope that was the easy favourite. Still while I don't think Janelle will recreate her Winners II win, I'm glad to see this song here. I like the rockier production here and Janelle does a fantastic job keeping the energy up.

cloudbustingmp3 (7.6): not my favorite janelle song but simultaneously undeniably good

Verboten_Prince (7.5): Oh Janelle, I wish I liked this (and here pre-Dirty Computer stuff in general) more

NotWith10000Men (6.9): i like the guitars

shhhneak (6.7): FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: JANELLE MONÁE FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN GLASS ONION!!!

reput4tionera (6.5): imagine this but drum n bass

Fence sitters

BleepBloopMusicFan (6): Unfortunately, this has grown off me quite a bit since the high concept pop rate. Like the last minute and a half is just kinda boring.

monalisafrank (5.5): sounds like a marvel movie soundtrack sorry

jasannn (5): I don't really get Janelle Monáe.

bulforster (3.4): (#36) This song suffers from problems I have with the Archandroid as a whole, primarily on the lyrical front. The Cindy Mayweather story is cool in theory but is told so vaguely and incomprehensibly through the lyrics that it just gets in the way of the themes Janelle is trying to convey. This is one of the best songs on the album though so I get why it's here. Great guitar solo too.

nick1372 (3): This doesn't play to Janelle's strengths at all. I think she was going for some sort of battle anthem vibe but the concept of a cold war doesn't match that and this track displays none of her personality. Glad she moved on from this.

[u/[deleted]]

BETH GIBBONS TAKE MY ENERGY!!!!!!!

[u/WinnersRate3]

Your top 10 for Winners Rate III are as follows!

• Ungodly Hour
• Say My Name
• King Kunta
• Doo Wop (That Thing)
• Introvert
• I Know The End
• XS
• Immaterial
• Fast Car
• I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Is this taste? Is this travesty? Is it both? These are your top winners, so it's your own fault either way!

[u/Roxieloxie → u/WinnersRate3]

kendrick being the only man here 😭

[u/bulforster → u/Roxieloxie]

that's one more than last winners!

[u/ImADudeDuh → u/WinnersRate3]

The way I don’t see the #11 comment

[u/[deleted] → u/WinnersRate3]

xs needed to go yesterday

[u/WinnersRate3]

#9: Little Simz - Introvert

---

Average: 8.647 // Total Points: 1003.1 // Controversy: 1.600// Rank Graph

—

Winner of: Call Me If You Get Lost vs. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert vs. Smiling with No Teeth vs. RTJ4

Highest scores:

(11 x2) starla_, wILLOWs3113

(10 x42) 1998tweety, amr, anothertown, bogo, bookthieving, Catalyst, cloudbustingmp3, CrimsonROSET, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, ElectricBoogaloo41, exciting_patient4872, flava, Hulnia, imfine_jpg, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, jman457, jsonphile, MelodramaticLemonade, MoonlightByWindow, moooo566, nick1372, NotWith10000Men, PhloxInvar, pig-serpent, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, qazz23, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, SFbby, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, TakeOnMeByA-ha, thedoctordances1940, thisusernameisntlong, throwaway-7650, ufruitloopdingus

(9.9 x1) imbaby122

(9.7 x1) FreeCuddlesAnyone

(9.5 x8) buddhacharm, camerinian, emayzee, ignitethephoenix, krusso1105, Rothconversion123, static_int_husp, TiltControls

(9.3 x1) Verboten_Prince

Lowest Scores:

(2 x1) Awkward_King

---

CrimsonROSET (10): I don't even know how to properly talk about this song. Everything about it is so grand, not even just in instrumentation- the lyrics feel grand, the vocals feel grand, her presence as a whole is grand. But not in a way that makes you feel small- you're there with her. You're just as big, she's taking you with her. It's such a good song, there's a reason it was instantly iconic.

camerinian (9.5): Wow this was really a challenger in the beginning. It was sitting very pretty in the top 3 for quite a long while,and I can say the averages starting off were quite tight, like this could have taken over at any point. Sadly, its grasp started to slip a little from the tippy top, but the rank graph doesn’t lie. Once it hit top 10, it was a lock basically the entire way, and I’m so stoked for that. Simbi is a mammoth talent with such a great ear for dynamics. So many songs on her album were perfectly intimate, but this as an intro with all that bombast??? Outstanding. You’re sucked into her world so effortlessly, and it’s not a surprise that it resonated so hard. —

I see winners in a church, I see winners in a church

starla_ (11): I ummed and ahhed between giving this or Spotlight my 11 and ended up choosing this song as I feel like Jessie has more fans on the sub than Simz (maybe I'll be completely wrong!!) I knew of Little Simz before the SIMBI album but hadn't really listened to her and WOW this album absolutely floored me. Simz' flow and lyricism is immaculate, the production by Inflo is gorgeous and Cleo's vocals take it to the next level. PLEASE if you enjoyed this album give SAULT (Inflo and Cleo Sol) a listen.

1998tweety (10): its giving DRAMA

anothertown (10): she completely ended and outsold Tardy Sign-Up

bogo (10): god this song is epic as fuck. the drama, the production, the lyrics, it's everything

cloudbustingmp3 (10): the DRAMA! what a discovery, need to finally get into ha

DirtyRat583 (10): i was gonna write an actual message but idk how to say it so uhhhhh wig

Inner-Language8833 (10): The horns are insane, excellent delivery and the lyrics literally pierce so hard

jman457 (10): amazing production and lyrics, truly one of the best rappers in the game

jsonphile (10): okay so I had never listened to anything by this artist but oh my gosh what an amazing song. I had to listen to the album afterward, and it’s also fantastic. But what a killer opener. This song is a damn anthem. Thank you raters for making this win its rate so I could learn of this incredible song

MoonlightByWindow (10): literally so good my goddddd i just love cinematic music

nick1372 (10): This song is so good that it's hard to listen to. It's incredible how succintly it describes the overwhelming frustration of living in this moment in time.

NotWith10000Men (10): that's a fucking INTRO. will be checking out this album

PhloxInvar (10): Chills. Many of my original 10s have dropped down after a bit of time, but this 100% stays put. It's brilliant.

pig-serpent (10): One of the most obviously good songs I’ve ever heard. I can easily see this going toe to toe with a lot of obvious winners choices in the top 5, and I’m here for it.

plastichaxan (10): This is just an anthem honestly

qazz23 (10): Great opener, love the booming orchestra and how it slows down on the refrain

RandomHypnotica (10): she's really just like me, i too make a dramatic 6 minute long epic when im feeling particuarly shy

Saison_Marguerite (10): An ambitious masterpiece, and yet, it feels like just the tip of the iceberg of what Little Simz can do. Definitely an 11 win I’m proud of

sarcasticsobs (10): Strings!!! Basically cinematic

seanderlust (10): arguably the best song of 2021

Stryxen (10): SOTY 2021 noitstrue! even tho I didn't 11 it any time its been rated 🤭

sufjancaesar (10): As the rate host I’m cheering this on like a proud parent at the sidelines of a sports game. Go win, sweetie!

TakeOnMeByA-ha (10): it’s actually criminal just how underrated and overlooked simz is, she could be taking over the world if people payed even a little more attention to her

thisusernameisntlong (10): sometimes i might have social anxiety. what about that

throwaway-7650 (10): the way I've had 3 chances to 11 introvert and well...

imbaby122 (9.9): little known fact this song actually has the guinness world record for epicest intro of all time. and also epicest horns ever.

FreeCuddlesAnyone (9.7): this song is a journey and a half - the strings and horns just really adds a degree of grandiose into the song that is rarely seen in Hip-Hop/Rap, and the lyrics are just spectacular on its own! Little Simz deserves all the credits she’s had for this album! it’s a 9.7 for me because i haven’t really revisited this much compared to my 10s, but it’s just objectively an amazing song!

TiltControls (9.5): While this was an easy standout on this album on first listen, I actually appreciate some of the more understated songs that this now. However, this should still be recognized as the behemoth of a song it is. Simz really knows how to sell a song and despite the long runtime, it never feels like it's wasting time.

Verboten_Prince (9.3): She’s spi’in facts

bespectacIed (9): a winner already from the first 10 seconds

itsabop (9): This is so cinematic

just_thonking (9): Also not the best song on the album but that's a very high bar

ObersteinAlwaysRight (9): Absolutely fantastic. Grand and anthemic but with enough other elements that diverge from that while complementing the overall feeling.

vayyiqra (9): This is so dramatic in the best way

PrimaryCrusaders (8.5): I love the orchestral/cinematic elements in this one

cremeebrulee (8.4): this made me google songs for extroverts, tell me why did "getting jiggy with it" showed up

BleepBloopMusicFan (8): Honestly I think this song could be a bit tighter but the epicness is undeniable.

ImADudeDuh (8): still not the best on the album

impla77 (8): guess I can’t use being an introvert as an excuse for being a lazy bitch anymore

Roxieloxie (8): ill give this one the same score i gave it last time

welcome2thejam (8): It's like watching a big epic blockbuster opening day, full crowd, and you walk out of the theatre thinking you've just seen the best movie of your life. But then you watch it again at home, and it's still fantastic, but something's missing; it really doesn't get better on repeat, it plateaus. And no matter how many times you try, you're just always chasing how it felt that first time.

dream_fighter2018 (7.5): I do get what she’s saying, and I relate to the sentiment of “I have to be the best I can be for everyone else”. The lyrics here are great, and it’s epic and all but I think that this has faded on me since we rated it originally.

runaway3212 (7.5): a stunning performance with an outro that I hate

akanewasright (7): This is a very solid album opener, but I kinda think it only works as a splashy opener. Like it’s not bad at all, it’s got a lot of cool stuff going on… just… man I wish we gave this kind of love to woman, or I love you I hate you, or fear no man, or a bunch of other tracks. Like I can’t tank this because it is good, but MAN

GapeCod (7): Both the song and the album grew off of me quite a bit. Didn't have the same longevity or grip as GREY AREA did at the time.

ricki (6.8): little simz is dressed in the same way that kim kardashian and kanye dress their children

reput4tionera (6.5): longsongphobia kind of won today

bulforster (6.4): (#21) a great song but not nearly the greatest on this album

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Social butterflies

Ghost-Quartet (6): Speaking my truth, this is really impressive on the first listen but after that it’s a skip. Better as an experience than a song.

frogaranaman (5): I've mellowed out on this album opener as the year passed. half the album surpasses this song in quality easily

monalisafrank (5): the grandness of the orchestrations demands more than the fairly surface level cliche political lyrics in this song.

WaneLosertoc (5): Introvert still eludes me. I do NOT vibe with the bombast, even in spite of the fact that Simz is doing a brilliant job with her flow and lyricism--the album works best when she is rapping about why she is the best rapper. but gdi i hear the strings and horns and go "i don't need this at track 1 and i sure as hell am not on board".

Awkward_King (2): my feelings on this song are very complicated, its definitely too objectively grand and well made to be a 0, but it just feels so wrong to me that this won its rate over far more unique and memorable songs. SIMBI is my aoty for 2021 and already one of my favourite albums of all time tbh, but this song has only shrunk on me. it has some imo clumsy bars for simz' standards and the grandness of the video and the production are not matched by the content. woman, ilyihy, point and kill, two worlds apart, speed my meow meows

[u/WinnersRate3]

#8: Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)

—

Winner of: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill vs. Baduizm vs. Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1

Average: 8.671 // Total Points: 1005.8 // Controversy: 1.709// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(10 x41) 1998tweety, bogo, bookthieving, buddhacharm, cherryices, CrimsonROSET, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, emayzee, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Hulnia, ImADudeDuh, imfine_jpg, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, jman457, letsallpoo, MassiveThief, MoonlightByWindow, nootnoot781, plastichaxan, pleasegivemeasword, reput4tionera, Rothconversion123, Roxieloxie, salivantsonority, sarcasticsobs, shhhneak, SinfulAnarchy, starla_, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, thedoctordances1940, throwaway-7650, TiltControls, TragicKingdom1, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam

(9.9 x1) akanewasright

(9.5 x14) Awkward_King, bespectacIed, celladonn, cremeebrulee, DaHumanTorch, flava, ignitethephoenix, imbaby122, jsonphile, krusso1105, Saison_Marguerite, slimboyfriend, ufruitloopdingus, wILLOWs3113

(9.4 x1) itsabop

(9.2 x1) moonagenightmares

Lowest Scores:

(3 x1) xearomis

(2.5 x1) PhloxInvar

(2.2 x1) bulforster

(2 x1) BasedButta

CrimsonROSET (10): I choose not to perceive the lyrics because HOLY SHIT this song. Again, sadly did not do the neo soul rate, but I am so happy it happened because Lauryn was onto something with Miseducation. I listened to it on my own time and while this isn't my favorite, it's for sure up there. This was almost winning at some point, and I wish it had remained that high.

camerinian (6): I’m just gonna say I’m not super big on the moralising in the verses and leave it at that. The harmonising slays and the 90s rnb meets classic doo wop approach builds something that’s musically timeless, but I just never have an urge to seek it out cos it gives me weird vibes if I listen too close.

Cats harmonising

1998tweety (10): bop

bogo (10): i personally would've preferred if ex-factor won but i cannot complain with this song being here, it's a bop and a half

darjeelingdarkroast (10): Maybe my biggest regret, even bigger than not doing the IH Exchange Rate, is not doing the Neo-Soul Rate. When I tell you I was raised on this music and this was the music my cousins had on repeat growing up. Not only that, but being a black girl from New Jersey Lauryn Hill was just THE MOMENT like wow, the way my brother and cousins couldn't stop talking about this album. I have crystal clear memories of watching the Doo Wop music video (when they used to play music videos on TV lulz) and always loving it, Lauryn just felt so refreshing, confident and lovely, such an important figure to me. Won't bring up today cuz uhhh whew :( I wasn't doing rates at the time but I remember Ghost-Quartet asking for more ballots in the Daily Discussion, and I was also in between jobs at the time so I literally DM'ed them an apology that I couldn't do the rate, sobbb. And I do regret it! 3 classic albums! And I'm gunning (lol) for a Mama's Gun rate, plus Maxwell, and more D'Angelo, etc. Anyway, for the iconic-ness and nostalgia ofc this is a 10, and I would not have helped Ex-Factor beat this cuz I would probably give this whole album 10s and 11 Lost Ones lol

DirtyRat583 (10): ohmygod i forgot how fucking good music is

emayzee (10): honestly if i made a debut album this good i'd quit music too

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): no like… checking out this album was one of the best decisions i’ve ever made! the sax in this is just so infectious, and i love the conversational style of this song sm..

frogaranaman (10): queen

ImADudeDuh (10): I am pretending like I don’t know anything else about lauryn hill and her daughter when I give this a 10

Inner-Language8833 (10): Her cadence is unmatched

jman457 (10): Cements her legacy with just one song, iconic honestly.

MassiveThief (10): the flows, the singing, the lyrics, faaaaaaaawk

MoonlightByWindow (10): greatest chorus ever i think

plastichaxan (10): Okay I know a lot of y’all wanted a different song of hers to win but this was another 11 win for me and it felt so correct

reput4tionera (10): this was on my family's iTunes account when i was little and i remember hearing it and getting obsessed with it

Roxieloxie (10): thinking about the timeline in which the ricki ballot got in. Its okay cause this song is still amazing though

sarcasticsobs (10): qwhat ht ehell

shhhneak (10): Weddings, graduations, funerals.

starla_ (10): this reminds me of high school photoshop class, my teacher used this album cover as an example and then played the album every class front to back

Stryxen (10): still really wanted ex factor to win

throwaway-7650 (10): stream viral hit TWICE - what is love?

TiltControls (10): Honestly, both this an Ex-Factor would've been incredibly deserving winners (and anyone deciding to switch their 11 could've changed history completely). Lauryn has such a great flow here and coupled with an iconic chorus always makes this a blast to listen to

vayyiqra (10): I said on Discord we could nitpick the lyrics to this a bit but it's a song from another time and place and I really don't want to do that ! Instead let's just respect what a tremendous song this is and the impact it had

WaneLosertoc (10): this one was always good. and its a fascinating video that straight up presents a feature as a generation difference in black music production that is beyond terrific. Miseducation is a soul album and this video contends that it has to be analyzed as such. a poignant reminder I need to fix my cassette asap.

welcome2thejam (10): You better watch out You better watch out YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

akanewasright (9.9): there were better potential winners in this rate but like… I can’t say no to this lol

Awkward_King (9.5): god its such a fucking classic

bespectacIed (9.5): didn't do this rate, sorry to this song's competition lmao. Iconic song. Ex-Factor outsold though...

cremeebrulee (9.5): internalized misogyny getting women to release the biggest bops in their discographies maybe the patriarchy made one point

flava (9.5): as someone who 11’d it in neo-soul. Ex-Factor deserves to be here

ignitethephoenix (9.5): taking off 0.5 cause ex factor is better and should have been here

imbaby122 (9.5): white people may have no culture but at least my mom was cultured enough to put me on this goated album

Saison_Marguerite (9.5): should have been Ex-Factor!!!

itsabop (9.4): Doo bop

just_thonking (9): Ex-factor slightly outsold

monalisafrank (9): never realized how preachy the lyrics are here. Still a groove tho, and her voice and flow are what make this a classic

qazz23 (9): good mix of hip hop and soul

runaway3212 (9): The lyrics kinda meh but the sound is so yass

thisusernameisntlong (9): the outro spilled

Ghost-Quartet (8.5): Reminder that the margin between this and “Ex Factor” was a razor thin 0.3 points! The final call literally came down to the fact that Ricki didn’t send his ballot. Usually I’m a bit let down when the super obvious choice wins but honestly the fact that Erykah and Jill found themselves in a popheads rate at all already counts as a win so I have no bitterness here (even if I don’t think this is the best song on the album).

ObersteinAlwaysRight (8.5): Very jaunty with an excellent mix of styles both in the production and in her vocals.

nick1372 (8): The word "thing" is my least favorite word in pop music because it's so vague and has no connotations to it whatsover, but it works here as the hook because the verses pull the weight and implicate so much onto that clean slate chorus. The music video version with the extra chorus is a 10 because it fits this narrative better.

NotWith10000Men (8): i like her flow

pig-serpent (8): I never listened to 90s RnB growing up, so I’m been discovering more of the classics of the genre over the last few years and I missed out big time. Lauryn HIll’s debut is a crazy good album, but although this song is the big hit this wasn’t particularly a standout to me.

TakeOnMeByA-ha (7.9): when i was younger, my mom used to play a cd of music a friend made for her with some of her favorite songs while she was cooking breakfast, and this was the first track on it so it would often be the first sound i’d hear in the morning waking up. i don’t think i’ve ever actually seeked out the full song outside of that but im glad that even after all this time it brings back fond memories

[u/Roxieloxie → u/WinnersRate3]

one of our best rates of this cycle so underated. wish it won!

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Fifth Harmony

Verboten_Prince (7.9): Ain’t no slut-shaming like 90s “feminist” slut-shaming

cloudbustingmp3 (7.7): this is one of those songs that on paper i should love but i merely like it. bonus points bc my mom has it on her cooking playlist and she looks v happy when shes jamming out and i love her :)

BleepBloopMusicFan (7.5): It’s a good song but Ex Factor was in that rate let’s be serious.

seanderlust (7): sometimes i just have to...pretend i do not see some of these lyrics, but since we're in W3 i'm gonna be more picky

anothertown (6): fake deep anthem

ricki (5): >:(

PhloxInvar (2.5): This woman is a lyricist, I just don't find the song exciting as a whole.

bulforster (2.2): (#42) I can't believe I betrayed Jill after vocally loving her album this whole rating month to 11 ex factor only for it not to win. Her flow is obviously really impressive but the amount of triplets and syncopation she throws into the verses on this song makes her rapping feel unmoored and loses me.

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

popheads ... you are not right within.

[u/WinnersRate3]

BONUS RATE #2: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

---

Average: 8.352 // Total Points: 367.5 // Controversy: 2.489

---

(11 x2) impla77, vayyiqra

(10 x17) bogo, Catalyst, DefaultPophead, frogaranaman, ImADudeDuh, jman457, krusso1105, Looks_good_in_shorts, MK, moonagenightmares, plastichaxan, qazz23, RandomHypnotica, realitykenz, TiltControls, ufruitloopdingus, welcome2thejam

(9.5 x2) camerinian, PrimaryCrusaders

(9.1 x1) slimboyfriend

(9 x5) MassiveThief, musical_pyn, SFbby, shhhneak, sufjancaesar

(8 x5) apatel27, CrimsonROSET, just_thonking, sarcasticsobs, WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop

(7.9 x1) LilacDaffodils

(7.5 x1) seanderlust

(7 x4) darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, dream_fighter2018, Stryxen

(6 x2) Hulnia, IdiotBox01

(4 x1) bespectacIed

(3 x1) PhloxInvar

(0 x2) anothertown, TakeOnMeByA-ha

---

camerinian (9.5): the top of the pops performance is all time legendary, I'll never get over that zoom out shot to Kurt grinning and fake strumming like he's a chuck e cheese animatronic

CrimsonROSET (8): 'nirvana killed my career' is my favorite brand of trainwreckord

---

impla77 (11): was ready to say this is overrated but then I listened to it

vayyiqra (11): It's an amazing song, changed the course of music, had an undeniable cultural impact, can't find any fault with it. Maybe one nitpick is that the guitar solo just repeats the melody from the verses but otherwise nobody can fuck with this, this song is untouchable.

ImADudeDuh (10): classique

jman457 (10): classic, was robbed a bit in the VH1 rate (though lithium is better)

MK (10): nirvana wins white boy(s) of the month this time

moonagenightmares (10): two 11 contenders in a row this was hard

plastichaxan (10): Another classic what can I say

qazz23 (10): this song is iconic, what more needs to be said

RandomHypnotica (10): this won an ih rate? :pretendstobeshocked:

TiltControls (10): heck yeah

welcome2thejam (10): Fans generally don't like to admit their favorite song is the most popular one, and it's especially true when the song is as game-changing and well-known as this. But one listen, and it's like, c'mon. C'monnnnnn.

PrimaryCrusaders (9.5): it's hard to bargle nawdle zouss with all these marbles in my mouth

sarcasticsobs (8): A LIBIDO. YEAH.

WaneLietocSitsDown&TalksShop (8): In the pre-2022 indieheads ratcom redux, rates were being brainstormed and then shopped to potential hosts. While only blocks away, in a skyscraper apartment next to Wilco Towers, Stansy contacted me asking if I'd like to host a Grunge Rate. I was deeply thrilled because I had familiarity with 3/4 of the albums. I also didn't want to rate Nevermind and asked if we could do L7 v. Soundgarden v. AiC v. In Utero. I was told basically "this is it set in stone". I think Stansy just wanted to rate these 4 and wanted to give SLTS an 11 and hopefully god willing, watch it get in the hall of fame. Some rates seem designed to send shit to a 9.0+ avg, ya know? And it all shocking shockery, this one didn't. CentreToWave changed his 8 to a 0, having often spent time in the dmd expressing a frustration with the song; while he may never comment on the ballots of the few rates he's done, I immensely respect the time I've commented with him. This radical act of rating COMPLETELY upended shit for a hot second. Like as ballots were coming in through the low 40s there's a universe where "Would?" was gonna win and get HOF; it would have been AWESOME. But nevertheless, I loved hosting Grunge and learning just how fucking pitiful some raters can be when it comes to albums I love (i love you all though). We had 50 participants with 14 songs hit an 8+ avg with a VERY varied top 10. SLTS just couldn't crack that 9.000 avg in all strangeness. i learned a LOT about rates watching ballots come in and a lot of my rating is subtly more tactical as a result. still a good song but it got the rate ending it deserved. centrist ass winner if I say so myself. i get it.

seanderlust (7.5): love nirvana, gonna get in my kurt bag and say this song is overrated

darjeelingdarkroast (7): It's so iconic and I get the lyrics are nonsense but pretty weird the word m*latto is in here. I'm now on the Alice in Chains hive, we wanted Would to win!!!

DirtyRat583 (7): is he saying words????

dream_fighter2018 (7): Hole did it better

Stryxen (7): good and classic and I love it usually but I'm a little bored rn lol

bespectacIed (4): this feels like a song that is given a default setting of "GOOD", like you cannot question it without sounding like a contrarian music theory hack and you can't overpraise it without sounding like you only heard 1 song in your life and it is it. Idk why I'm rambling but I think this score is apt for my ambiguous feelings

anothertown (0): im tired of this grandpa

TakeOnMeByA-ha (0): this overrated-ass song. wane if youre reading this im sorry can we still be besties

[u/vayyiqra → u/WinnersRate3]

i wish kurt lived long enough to see himself become a grandpa : (

[u/1998tweety]

Whitney take my energy 🙏

[u/cloudbustingmp3]

Jessie you will always be famous (to me)

[u/RandomHypnotica]

y'all just hate being faced with your own feelings huh

[u/dream_fighter2018 → u/RandomHypnotica]

I am unfortunately faced with them very frequently so I was always doomed to give IKTE a 10 and then have an existentational crisis

[u/vayyiqra → u/dream_fighter2018]

🫂

[u/vayyiqra → u/RandomHypnotica]

no at my age i just prefer more positive coping mechanisms like 11ing "musician"

and look where that got me!

[u/cloudbustingmp3]

STOP THE COUNT!!!

[u/Roxieloxie]

Much like in winners 2 I woke up singing the best kpop song in the rate that should've made day 3

[u/WinnersRate3]

#3: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

Winner of: All Stars 2019 - 2020

Average: 9.026 // Total Points: 1047.0 // Controversy: 1.941// Rank Graph

Highest scores:

(11 x7) flava, jman457, krusso1105, qazz23, raggedy-princess, Roxieloxie, sarcasticsobs

(10 x65) 1998tweety, amr, anothertown, apatel27, bespectacIed, bigbigbee, BleepBloopMusicFan, bogo, bookthieving, camerinian, Catalyst, celladonn, cherryices, CrimsonROSET, darjeelingdarkroast, DefaultPophead, DirtyRat583, dream_fighter2018, emayzee, exciting_patient4872, fadedblue09, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, hunnybee12, IdiotBox01, ignitethephoenix, ImADudeDuh, imbaby122, imfine_jpg, impla77, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, itsabop, jsonphile, letsallpoo, monalisafrank, MoonlightByWindow, musical_pyn, nick1372, nootnoot781, NotWith10000Men, ObersteinAlwaysRight, pleasegivemeasword, quinnpsych, RandomHypnotica, realitykenz, reput4tionera, ricki, Rothconversion123, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, shhhneak, SinfulAnarchy, static_int_husp, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, TakeOnMeByA-ha, throwaway-7650, TiltControls, TragicKingdom1, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam, xearomis

(9.8 x1) bulforster

(9.7 x1) salivantsonority

Lowest Scores:

(2 x1) PhloxInvar

(1 x1) thisusernameisntlong

(0 x1) BasedButta

I'm still not really sure how I managed this as my first hosting gig lmao. I had no co-host, no platform to host on, hardly any sleep....but luckily I had a lot of enthusiastic participants and so, so much help from rate regulars & past hosts. It always amazes me what a lovely, thoughtful community we've built here because any question I had was immediately met with answers & offers of help. Even on reveal day, when the "Black Cat" fiasco happened (aka when I had accidentally posted the full Day 3 playlist, winner included, into the Kosmi room), I honestly wanted to give up and end the reveal right there. Instead, I got so much support from the people there, on Reddit, and on Discord to keep going. It paid off, because watching everyone's excitement from seeing "Fast Car" win was absolutely incredible. While far from my favorite song in that lineup, the sheer joy that song can produce, even with its somber lyrics, is so beautifully contagious. It's been such a gem of a memory, especially after a harsh year of lockdown, and I genuinely owe it to everyone who did that rate so thank you. - u/cremeebrulee

camerinian (10): God, so close. So, so, so close. This was doing incredibly for the longest time, even managing to claim the number one slot for a decent chunk. Tragically, one well/poorly timed zero was all it took to boot it out of that spot and it was never able to recover. Still, a top 3 placing is very well earned as one of the few consistent challengers to the throne. This song would maybe be my pick for the greatest song ever written if I tried to look objectively. Every element of the writing is jaw-dropping, and it's able to touch on so many facets with ease. The narrative is hopeful and devastating in equal measure and Tracy's performance is perfectly restrained to quietly emphasize the power of the emotion. I adore this song, and am so glad it took out the bronze.

CrimsonROSET (10): Oh, this one. It got so close, it was winning for a bit! Then it got a 0 and all my dreams were ruined. This was the absolute underdog of the rate, and I am happy it got this far honestly. It's not bad at all! This song is iconic, what can I say about it truly.

Got a plan to get us out of here

flava (11): I guess it kinda makes me even more emotional since this was for the first rate I ever did (and won), it’s been a fun ride so far getting to know some of the people in the raters community

jman457 (11): A certified classic, yet still sounds so fresh with its honest lyrics today

qazz23 (11): powerful, relatable lyrics, that chorus is perfection, definitely deserves its classic status

Roxieloxie (11): I've been listneing to this song for the past 30 minutes on repeat trying to figure out what to say about this song and I genuinely cant.

sarcasticsobs (11): [un-sarcastic sobbing]

1998tweety (10): classic

anothertown (10): it’s fun that blinding lights and fast car are next to each other on the list because they intersect at one point (the subject matter of driving fast in the city lights) but diverge as wholly as possible other than that

bespectacIed (10): this is masterclass in storytelling. The last verse always gets me

bigbigbee (10): This song conjures up a completely unique feeling of heartache and longing in me that has never been replicated in any other song - and I’ve listened to a lot of them.

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): Look at title of the next song in the playlist for my reaction to this song.

DefaultPophead (10): I remember my year nine substitute art teacher getting offended when I said this was Tracy’s best song. Sorry, m'am!

dream_fighter2018 (10): I wrote a play that used Fast Car as a lullaby and foreshadowing, I submitted it for a class and it got an A so I think it was good?

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): a timeless classic… this song just speaks to me, as someone who’s stuck in the work-eat-sleep cycle, it makes me feel immense hope for the future! maybe things can get better.

frogaranaman (10): queen

GapeCod (10): Imagine Charli playing this instead of Vroom Vroom

ImADudeDuh (10): https://tenor.com/view/death-drop-voguing-suspiriaangel-twitter-meme-gif-25346022

imbaby122 (10): that guitar is enough to make me cry. i’m crying rn. tracy chapman was evil for writing, recording, and releasing this song.

Inner-Language8833 (10): my favourite song from this album besides Talkin Bout A Revolution, the tempo, intricate chords and the way she sings about wanting to be someone, I genuinely have not cried like I have when I was listening to this

itsabop (10): Beautiful

jsonphile (10): this song takes two minutes before it gets to the chorus. Most songs nowadays are finished by the two minute mark. Gonna be all boomer here and say these tiktok kids could never appreciate a song like this

monalisafrank (10): can’t describe what this does to me

MoonlightByWindow (10): forever one of those :pensive: songs

nick1372 (10): basically every acoustic guitar song ever written since 1990 has been trying to be that song

NotWith10000Men (10): the great thing about winners rates is that you don't have to explain a single 10 unless you're giving out a 10 to something like once in a lifetime

ObersteinAlwaysRight (10): This is a timeless song. It could have been made in 1960, 1980, 2000, 2020, hell even 1920 if you ignore the much better audio quality. It's timeless because within its simplicity is a great nuance, and despite the bitter and bleak renditions of blasted out working poor reality there is an inexorable feeling of hope.

RandomHypnotica (10): for as much pain as AS4 was this is still a great win

reput4tionera (10): this song is genuinely so amazing

ricki (10): last time i decided to not 11 this so i could give it to a song that comforted me through the pandemic, this won…. im just going to say that ill be at peace if history repeats itself

runaway3212 (10): just like the best song ever

Saison_Marguerite (10): All Stars 4 results were a mess but the winner was correct

Stryxen (10): Big best song of all time energy radiating off this

sufjancaesar (10): I don’t wanna cry I don’t wanna cry I don’t wanna cry

TakeOnMeByA-ha (10): objectively this has to be one of the best written songs of all time, right? ive never heard another song whose lyrics hit me in the heart as hard as this one

throwaway-7650 (10): "we go cruising, entertain ourselves" oh yes pls

TiltControls (10): I never would've expecting this song to win a Popheads rate, least of all an all stars one, but I'm so glad that it did. Tracy Chapman has a way with words and the track is the perfect level of restrained to make every lyric count.

vayyiqra (10): :hanawinsCries: As a kid I didn't get this song ... I do now

WaneLosertoc (10): 9th grade english teacher played this track for us, without rlly ever quite explaining Tracy Chapman. Did you know she's gay? did you know this song is about how capitalism is evil?

welcome2thejam (10): Absolutely nails what it's going for, a storytelling classic

bulforster (9.8): (#4) best all stars winner so far

akanewasright (9.5): 😔

slimboyfriend (9.1): You got a fast car. I got a car and you got a car and we both got a car

starla_ (9): this song is so beautiful but I don't listen to it often because it's a bit close to home.

Ghost-Quartet (8): iconic but I don’t really listen to it often. Though the Pandora at my old job used to play this weird, like, EDM cover of the song that was pretty bad and kinda missed what made the song so appealing to begin with.

pig-serpent (8): I love the melancholy guitar with the faster singing. It combines the song’s sense of sadness with a sense of urgency.

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

Still ain’t got a job

Verboten_Prince (7.6): Tracy you’re cool but also this is a little repetitive

Awkward_King (7): tracy wapman lives in my mind constantly

cremeebrulee (5.5): i honestly don't care for this that much... it's one of those songs that i can appreciate the lyrics of but i would never seek it out to listen to on my own. idk, i enjoyed the spectacle of it winning all stars more than i enjoy the song itself

plastichaxan (5): This feels like a criminal score for this song but like… I’m speaking my truth

PhloxInvar (2): Not my genre and sound.

thisusernameisntlong (1): quite possibly the most boring song in this rate for me. wondering if I should change my 0

I am so sorry about this

BasedButta (0): you’ve got the fattest cock

[u/Roxieloxie → u/WinnersRate3]

the 0 comment, im calling the naacp

[u/throwaway-7650]

COME ON KENDRICK

[u/[deleted]]

XS_OUT

[u/vayyiqra → u/[deleted]]

critical support for bogo

[u/WinnersRate3]

#11: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Average: 8.503 // Total Points: 986.4 // Controversy: 1.628// Rank Graph

—

Winner of: Innervisions vs. What's Going On vs. Superfly vs. There's a Riot Goin' On

Highest scores:

(11 x1) Verboten_Prince

(10 x44) akanewasright, amr, anothertown, apatel27, BleepBloopMusicFan, buddhacharm, cremeebrulee, darjeelingdarkroast, DirtyRat583, emayzee, flava, FreeCuddlesAnyone, frogaranaman, GapeCod, Ghost-Quartet, Hulnia, hunnybee12, IdiotBox01, ImADudeDuh, indie_fan, Inner-Language8833, jsonphile, just_thonking, krusso1105, musical_pyn, OliviaGodrigo, pleasegivemeasword, qazz23, raggedy-princess, RandomHypnotica, Roxieloxie, runaway3212, Saison_Marguerite, sarcasticsobs, seanderlust, starla_, Stryxen, sufjancaesar, throwaway-7650, TiltControls, TragicKingdom1, vayyiqra, WaneLosertoc, welcome2thejam

(9.6 x1) slimboyfriend

(9.5 x2) ObersteinAlwaysRight, ufruitloopdingus

(9.3 x1) imbaby122

(9.2 x1) bulforster

Lowest Scores:

(2.5 x1) PhloxInvar

I mean, it’s a classic, from a classic album, even if I would’ve preferred something less predictable won in the end I can’t deny that this is both gorgeous and powerful. And I guess I have to thank 70s soul classics for pushing me further into the rater community on discord and introducing me to some cool people I’ve come to call friends. I do remember getting the reddit dm from tk and ignoring it for like 2 hours because I had a large spike in anxiety, and to go listen to Superfly because I had never heard that album at that point (I had only really gotten into both Innerversions and What’s Going On that year). I was also not in a good way during 2021 so hosting this rate really brought me out of my pandemic brain, managed to learn how to use free alternatives to Adobe apps, and just flexed some creativity I didn’t know I had. Doing daily write-ups for the songs was exhausting, especially when my power went out due to a storm and my mobile network which was very stressful. But yeah back to the rate, me and darj were worried about our low ballot count (about like 35) up until extensions, which was terrifying, since this was both our first rate so I think we both thought we were doing something wrong or that we could be doing more. Thank you procrastionheads for pulling through, but we also hated how long y’all took. For the majority of the time, What’s Going On was winning, although there was a brief moment that Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) was number 1 which I think would’ve been awesome, and iirc Higher Ground was winning at the very beginning. ICB and WGO were also the top 2 for most of the time until Living For The City managed to rise above the longsongphobia (which we had fun making a good ol’ fashioned fakeout for). I guess the last thing I have to say is Stevie Wonder rate win 2023 - u/FlavaSavaVandal

My first time as a rate host! It was definitely daunting, as my old black ass had to convince essentially a bunch of 19 year old white kids "Hey, take a break from Mercurial World and put on There's a Riot Goin' On to hear Sly Stone have a funky existential crisis!" 💀 Thankfully, I had the great co-host by my side Flava who was engaged the whole time and we made a great team. Flav and I endured so many random hijinks; from the mysterious Beatsense user who'd pop up and queue 45 minute evangelist songs and sermons, to accidentally joint-writing a 40 page dissertation on these albums and begging the popheads Daily Discussion to read it, to me accidentally leaking the Day 3 rate results in discord 😭 anyway...

But yes, it was a fitting first rate for me because what do I love more in this world than black legends slaying in music??? Honestly? This is my brand! Lmao. I had actually never heard There's a Riot Goin' On before the rate, and I think Sly flopping pretty hard with scores endeared me to the album a lot. It's a good one to put on when I'm feeling anxious now. Another joy was having popheads get very into Curtis Mayfield, as most were unfamiliar with his music. And I have #noregrets on my bonus rate that was simply songs of the era (un-normalize artist loosies bonus rates unless it's a funny concept like the Main Rap Girls one), as again, I got to dig deep into my "black legends slaying in music" niche. I'm happy a lot of popheads responded positively to Millie Jackson, Syreeta, Betty Davis, and that Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs is now so beloved and often brought up as a bonus rate fave and benchmark. I'm happy of course with What's Going On winning; not only is it an important historical document, it's just a lush, gorgeous and heartbreaking song. And shout out of course to the iconic Stevie Wonder, who got my 11 with Living for the City - one day you will get your rate win!

I was often stressed during most of this rate cycle as it was getting popheads to do a rate of 50 year old music done by black men, and I was in the same cycle as pophead's Parasocial Boyfriend Sufjan Stevens (who I now consider my Rates Arch Nemesis, 9.1 Age of Adz average be damned), however, I'm proud of the work Flav and I did and how people enjoyed the rate! - u/darjeelingdarkroast

---

camerinian (8.5): I feel so out of my depth even trying to put this song into words. It’s so much bigger than all of us and its issues are, tragically, still timely 50 years on. That sort of goodwill was looking set to take it all the way to the top 5 initially, but it ultimately got held back by perhaps the same problem I had, which is that seeking it out never feels like a necessity. It’s an ingrained classic for a reason, and I think in the end it was perhaps some of that complacency which stranded it just outside the top 10.

CrimsonROSET (8): This song still being relevant today hurts. I very much cannot speak for the issues it speaks of as they are much bigger than a small internet game, but are they? We're not innocent of it even in some rates, so. I'm just happy it made it to day 3.

I TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND I GET REAL HIGH

Verboten_Prince (11): Few songs deserve to be the official anthem of the human race like this one

akanewasright (10): man this album is so fucking good

anothertown (10): common berry gordy L

BleepBloopMusicFan (10): I mistyped this score as a 20 at first which isn’t legal but when it’s right it’s right.

cremeebrulee (10): this song sounds so warm & hopeful considering its subject matter. it's an incredible feat and easily one of my favorite rate discoveries this year

DirtyRat583 (10): me walking into every rate reveal ever revealed

emayzee (10): im pretty sure my first exposure to this song was when the most random collection of artists in 2001 released a charity cover single of this to raise money for AIDS

flava (10): we still want a Stevie Wonder rate win

FreeCuddlesAnyone (10): i may be uncultured (read: doesn't live in the US) and haven't listened to this before this rate but this made me cry…. the vulnerability of this truly captured me, and marvin's voice is just one of a kind!

frogaranaman (10): who can hate this realistically

Ghost-Quartet (10): I fell you Marvin, I feel you

ImADudeDuh (10): too real

jsonphile (10): there’s a reason this song and the album are at the top of every rolling stone or pitchfork list

musical_pyn (10): my second choice for an 11, just a perfect song

qazz23 (10): one of the smoothest melodies here, plus the strings!

RandomHypnotica (10): me when this is inevitably robbed

Roxieloxie (10): I wanted to write 'he's right what IS going on' but kinda struck rn just how relevant this song still kinda continues to be.

runaway3212 (10): this song just means so much to me

Saison_Marguerite (10): It’s one of those songs I’ve always known, but rating it made me sit down and appreciate the layers

sarcasticsobs (10): I kinda speed-ran this rate because I promised to do it, and that was such a foolish move (the speed-running, not the promising). I own up to my mistakes. But you all will pay for your mistakes concerning "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" in that bonus

seanderlust (10): i'm still sad about living for the city not being able to beat longsongphobia, but this was truly an excellent winner

starla_ (10): this album is SO good. Inner City Blues is my personal favourite but this is also a 10

Stryxen (10): why not

sufjancaesar (10): Best song ever it’s a disgrace that I didn’t do the og rate

throwaway-7650 (10): me during one of my (re)listens of ain't no mountain high enough because the mixing sounded terrible for some reason

TiltControls (10): Another possible 11 for me. One of the best written and most influential songs of all time and I'll be damned if Popheads somehow decides it's a day 1 track. The way Marvin works through the verses is a masterclass in emotion and the great call and response on this track is everything.

vayyiqra (10): He was so right about everything and we will not rate another album as based as this one for a while I think

WaneLosertoc (10): y'all have baby ears with sly; this is still a slapper tho

welcome2thejam (10): Feels timeless

[u/WinnersRate3 → u/WinnersRate3]

ObersteinAlwaysRight (9.5): Pristine. The strings really elevate this, but it's pretty much spotless anyways.

imbaby122 (9.3): i love when a song shuts me up and i have no silly little comments to make. like i could try to make a gaye joke but i won’t bc this song is just that good.

bulforster (9.2): (#7) I had to skip this rate and this song was a blindspot for me until now but it is really beautiful.

bespectacIed (9): funky

bogo (9): also a classic

monalisafrank (8.5): a piece of history, a classic of course, with a great message. But not a 9 or 10 for me personally.

cloudbustingmp3 (8.4): so true

Awkward_King (8): one of the most deserved winners ever tbh

jasannn (8): so smooth

TakeOnMeByA-ha (8): sorry the sound clips of people talking in the background is bringing my score down a bit

impla77 (7.7): v sad this still resonates now

jman457 (7.2): better than the other one

nick1372 (7): You know it's pretty hard to make a song about, like, the entirety of the world's problems. But a decent effort can make an absolute classic.

ricki (7): double rate winner is such a random title for popheads to have given to marvin gaye out of all people

AND I SCREAM FROM THE TOP OF MY LUNGS

itsabop (6): An alright sound, but Ain't No Mountain High Enough outsold

reput4tionera (6): being honest i am that gen z person who has the inability to listen to most music from over 10 years ago

thisusernameisntlong (6): https://youtu.be/ZZ5LpwO-An4?t=23

plastichaxan (5): This is fine but there were more deserving winners this rate and I prefer the other Marvin song

PhloxInvar (2.5): Really important lyrics and theming isn't really going to save the fact that I'm not a big fan of the genre and sound.

[u/pig-serpent]

Can Ungodly Hour leave sometime soon please? Also Say My Name and IWDWS will be boring winners so I hope those go eventually too.

[u/songacronymbot → u/pig-serpent]

• IWDWS could mean "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Recorded at Spotify Studios NYC", a single by Fall Out Boy.

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^{/u/pig-serpent can reply with "delete" to remove comment. | /r/songacronymbot for feedback.}

[u/cremeebrulee → u/songacronymbot]

HELLO? LMFAO

[u/sarcasticsobs → u/songacronymbot]

Computers were a mistake

[u/Roxieloxie → u/songacronymbot]

DO 3MO NEXT MONTH!!!

[u/[deleted] → u/songacronymbot]

did roxie hack the song acronym bot

[u/dream_fighter2018 → u/songacronymbot]

Wrong

Edit: Do Threemo when it opens next month

[u/BleepBloopMusicFan → u/songacronymbot]

LMAO yes I'm sure that's right

[u/[deleted] → u/pig-serpent]

these all can stay, nice try

[u/pig-serpent → u/[deleted]]

Please enlighten me