Songs of the 2000s Mini Rankdowns (2023 Round)

[Steven_]

20. THE MOTHER WE SHARE – CHVRCHES

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

13.6

NICO: 2

TOM: 5

CHRIS: 8

COREY: 8

GIGI: 10

AKSHAR: 12

ALEX: 13

ERIK: 16

REI: 17

STEVEN: 17

WALLACE: 17

RICHARD: 19

DEREK: 20

LILY: 20

VICTORIA: 20

 

 

COREY

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A nice breezy feel-good song.

 

 

REI

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Just alright!

 

 

STEVEN

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I've never heard this song before. It's kind of catchy, but it didn't make much of an impression on me after a first listen.

 

 

WALLACE

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I have heard of some CHVRCHES' songs here and there over the years but I can't recall if I heard this one before. I want to say that I have heard this before? It's okay and has a cute sound to it. I didn't care too much for the opening verse, but it grew on me once it got to the chorus. Cute, enjoyable sounding song, but it's probably one of those songs that will need some multiple listens to grow on me.

 

 

 

RICHARD

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There’s something vaguely Kidz-Boppy about this one that kind of turns me off, haha. Maybe it’s the lead’s voice? I’d probably like this song better if someone else were singing it.

 

 

 

19. DISASTER – JOJO

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

12.53

DEREK: 2

STEVEN: 2

VICTORIA: 9

WALLACE: 9

COREY: 11

RICHARD: 12

GIGI: 14

REI: 13

ERIK: 15

LILY: 15

NICO: 15

TOM: 15

AKSHAR: 17

ALEX: 19

CHRIS: 20

 

 

DEREK

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Spoiler alert, if we ever did a second round of the Musician Discography game I'm 99% sure I'd pick JoJo as my artist.

 

 

STEVEN

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"Disaster" is one of my favorite JoJo songs. It's up there with "Leave (Get Out)" and "Too Little Too Late" for me, so it's disappointing to see this one rank so low. The hard-hitting production captures the angst of the lyrics well, and JoJo sounds incredible on the track too. I do prefer listening to the 2011 recording though. It has better production value than the 2018 rerecording, so I wonder which version the other rankers here listened to.

 

 

WALLACE

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I kind of actually forgot all about "Disaster" from JoJo as I hadn't heard this song in so long, but then I got reminded of it when Steven put this through as one of his picks. I have always really liked "Disaster." This song definitely reminds me of "Too Little, Too Late" - but just.... 5 years later. JoJo sounds great throughout this song. She sounds great on the verses, but I especially love how she sings and powers through that chorus:

'Cause the walls burned up when our love fell down
And it turned into whatever, now we're sayin' never
Feel the fire 'cause it's all around
And it's burning for forever and always
We gotta let it go and be on our way
And live for another day 'cause it ain't the same, my baby
Watch it all fall into the ground
No happy ever after, just disaster

From the second verse, that's a great part but I especially like the parts where she sings:

I only wanted to say I loved you right
But now you're walking away and leaving me here to stay, so foolish of me to wait for you
To realize all the things I gave you, made you, changed you, your dreams came true

The bridge does have a really strong and powerful buildup. I love how JoJo builds up and powers through that part of the song!  

You shot the bullet, you shot the bullet that killed me
Not feeling my heartbeat and now it's dying
I am through it, I-I am through all the agony
And now my eyes are drying, trying, no more crying, lying's just a game
So disaster strikes, and I'm alright 'cause my love's on its way
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Burning up forever and always, always
Yeah, yeah, yeah

"Disaster" is another really good pop song from JoJo. It's a shame of all of the stuff she went through with her music career (I believe of not being able to release music for years?), cause this song deserved and should have been a bigger hit than what it was. So it's sad this song couldn't be the hit it deserved. But I'm happy to see this make it here and be reminded of it. I remember JoJo's other songs making it to the Top 4. I don't see this song having the same fate, but we'll see.

 

 

 

COREY

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The tempo is okay, but there's nothing compelling about this song.

 

 

RICHARD

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Good song. Not the most distinctive or memorable compared to a lot of the others here, but it’s definitely not a bad listen, and JoJo is clearly a great singer.

 

 

REI

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I've never heard this before but it was good.

 

 

ALEX

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This site’s obsession with JoJo is confusing. She’s fine I guess?

 

 

 

18. DON'T HURT YOURSELF – BEYONCÉ FEAT. JACK WHITE

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

12.4

ALEX: 2

NICO: 3

LILY: 4

ERIK: 6

REI: 6

WALLACE: 8

GIGI: 12

DEREK: 15

CHRIS: 16

VICTORIA: 17

RICHARD: 18

STEVEN: 19

AKSHAR: 20

COREY: 20

TOM: 20

 

 

ALEX

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Whew! Jay-Z you bettah be scared!

 

 

REI

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Lemonade is brilliant and this song is brilliant.

 

 

WALLACE

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Pheww wow Lemonade was really such an experience of a Beyoncé album and a visual project. There were a number of songs that got me scared and makes you realize to never mess with or do Beyoncé wrong..... and "Don't Hurt Yourself" is one of those very top songs. I do love the risk and unexpected flavor/style that this song has. Beyoncé doing a hard rock song like this.... has me shook.  I also don't know why but I always thought of this song as the angrier version of "Ring the Alarm." (And oooh yayy someone else said this in a Youtube comment!) I do love the angry attitude she has and truly sells with this song. 

LOL the part where she sings Who the f do you think I am? always sticks in my mind whenever I think of this song.  Then some other parts that stands out to me are where she sings:

You ain't married to no average, boy 

And keep your money, I got my own
Get a bigger smile on my face, being alone
Bad, God complex
Motivate your, call me Malcolm X

 

Oooh but then I really love the parts where she sings those "let it be, let it be" parts, especially with how she really builds that up!  

We just got to let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, baby
You just got to let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, babe

 

 

I'm not too huge on Jack White, but I do really like his part of the song where he comes in singing:

When you hurt me, you hurt yourself
Don't hurt yourself
When you diss me, you diss yourself
Don't hurt yourself
When you hurt me, you hurt yourself
Don't hurt yourself (don't hurt yourself) don't hurt yourself
When you love me, you love yourself
Love God herself

Then I also really like the part where she sings:

You ain't trying hard enough
You ain't loving hard enough
You don't love me deep enough
We not reaching peaks enough
Blindly in love, I fs with you
'Til I realize, I'm just too much for you
I'm just too much for you

But whoaa the buildup she does after that part of the song is absolute KILLER!  Those "let it be, let it be" parts are so good. Then the rest of what she sings so angrily.... also SO good.  

You just got to let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, baby
Hey baby, who the f do you think I am?
I smell that fragrance on your Louis knit, boy
Just give my fat a a big kiss, boy
Tonight, I'm f'ing up all your s't, boy
you hurt yourself
Try not to hurt yourself
(When you play me) you play yourself
Don't play yourself
(When you lie to me) you lie to yourself
You're only lying to yourself (don't hurt yourself)
When you love me, you love yourself
Love God herself

 

 

But then danggg the way she ends this song! Just soo oomg. 

Uh, this is your final warning (don't hurt yourself)
You know I give you life (don't hurt yourself)
If you try this s again (don't hurt yourself)
You gon' lose your wife

Dangg, this song is just sooo crazy,  out there and INTENSE. It definitely scares me but I love it.  It's just SO out there, different and unexpected from Beyoncé. Granted, it's farr from my favorite from her or from Lemonade but I do still really appreciate this and love the risk and different kind of track she did here.

 

 

 

 

RICHARD

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Now this is the type of Beyoncé song I just don’t really like, lol. Just pretty self-indulgent in my opinion and trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy. Not a fan, personally.

 

 

STEVEN

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I didn't want to rank Beyoncé this low, but I honestly didn't care for this one. The effects placed on Beyoncé's vocals just didn't appeal to me.

 

 

COREY

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This song couldn't be any worse if it was just sound effects from Beyonce eating a sandwich.

 

 

 

17. WHY'D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE HIGH? – ARCTIC MONKEYS

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

12.13

ALEX: 1

REI: 2

VICTORIA: 7

COREY: 9

DEREK: 9

ERIK: 10

LILY: 11

AKSHAR: 15

CHRIS: 15

NICO: 16

RICHARD: 16

STEVEN: 16

TOM: 16

WALLACE: 19

GIGI: 20

 

 

ALEX

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I will never be the best Alex as long as Alex Turner is around.

 

 

REI

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All 20 songs in this round could have been from the Artic Monkeys and I would have been happy. This is a brilliant song and will undoubtedly get robbed by most of IDFers questionable taste. We need an Arctic Monkey round on the Music Mini-Rankdown

 

 

COREY

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This has none of the mysterious power that can be heard in other songs by this band, but it's better than most on this list.

 

 

ERIK

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Unexpectedly like this

 

 

RICHARD

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I was actually pretty excited when I put the music video on, because I recognized the song and remembered that I liked it… only to hear the *actual* song come on ⅓ of the way through and not like it nearly as much, oop. It’s not bad overall, but it’s pretty forgettable to me.

 

 

STEVEN

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I'm not familiar with the Arctic Monkeys. I ended up liking this better than I anticipated, but not enough to rank it higher than a lot of the other songs here in this Top 20.

 

 

WALLACE

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I don't know if I heard this song before Alex entered it in this round or not. I don't really follow Arctic Monkeys or know much of their music. It's not really doing much for me while listening to it. But I do like how it kinda has a funky sound to it? The music video is something else.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Steven_

[Steven_]

The first set of results has been posted.

 

@jarmon @Alex95 @*Chris @Qorey @FrogLenzen @erik g @taylorkat @*Lily @NGM @.Rei @rdhaley96 @~Tom~ @1234567890 @*Wallace

[Alex95]

Amazing final two, great job everyone! We can move on now.

[Alex95]

2 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

 

ALEX

 

I will never be the best Alex as long as Alex Turner is a wrong.

 

Is around*

[Steven_]

5 minutes ago, Alex95 said:

Is around*

 

That's what I thought you meant, but wasn't sure. I'll fix it. 

[rdhaley96]

No complaints. Pleasantly surprised that “Don’t Hurt Yourself” bit the dust in the first set, as this site tends to rank Beyoncé quite high even when she doesn’t always deserve it, oop.~

[erik g]

22 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

AKSHAR: 20

COREY: 20

TOM: 20

jail

[FrogLenzen]

JoJo 

[Steven_]

Quote

Spoiler alert, if we ever did a second round of the Musician Discography game I'm 99% sure I'd pick JoJo as my artist. - @FrogLenzen

 

I'd probably pick Maluma if we ever did get a second round of the discography mini-rankdown. 

[*Wallace]

20. Fine with the ranking of "The Mother We Share." Okay/decent song.

19. Aww I do wish that "Disaster" could have ranked higher than this but not too surprised that it showed up so quickly either. Wow I am seeing lots of #15s for this one though. Oooh I have heard of the re-recorded version but forgot which year that was from and I'm not sure if I ever heard that version? I'm curious to check that one out now. 

18. Aww I'm kinda surprised and a bit bummed to "Don't Hurt Yourself" showing up this soon as I thought it would have ranked higher than this. But at least it was the Beyonce song I was hoping to show up first here so I can live with that, at least. Alex's comment tho.... he ain't lying.   Not one of my favorite Bey songs ever but I can get how this song can be polarizing as it's definitely far from her style in general. 

17. Fine with the ranking of the Artic Monkeys' song, but it's nice reading the fans comments of this song though.
 

[*Wallace]

A little more than half of the #20s got revealed while a #1 also got revealed from this set.

 

#1s revealed (1): Alex, 
#1s remaining (14): Akshar, Chris, Corey, Derek, Erik, Gigi, Lily, Nico, Rei, Richard, Steven, Tom, Victoria, Wallace

 

#20s revealed (8): Derek, Lily, Victoria, Chris, Akshar, Corey, Tom, Gigi
#20s remaining (7): Alex, Erik, Nico, Rei, Richard, Steven, Wallace
 

[*Wallace]

2 hours ago, rdhaley96 said:

No complaints. Pleasantly surprised that “Don’t Hurt Yourself” bit the dust in the first set, as this site tends to rank Beyoncé quite high even when she doesn’t always deserve it, oop.~

 

Slightlyy teasing.  

 

1 hour ago, erik g said:

jail

[Alex95]

So @1234567890 sent her songs rankings but still hasn’t sent me her 1993 films ranking?

[1234567890]

59 minutes ago, Alex95 said:

So @1234567890 sent her songs rankings but still hasn’t sent me her 1993 films ranking?

I can still send them in?

[Steven_]

16. CUT TO THE FEELING – CARLY RAE JEPSEN

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

12.13

COREY: 7

AKSHAR: 8

STEVEN: 8

RICHARD: 9

TOM: 9

NICO: 10

WALLACE: 10

GIGI: 11

LILY: 12

CHRIS: 14

ALEX: 15

REI: 16

DEREK: 17

ERIK: 17

VICTORIA: 19

 

 

COREY

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I have to admit this song is chart-worthy despite never appearing on Billboard.

 

 

STEVEN

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I wasn't really familiar with "Cut To the Feeling" until I saw that it almost won the Carly Rae Jepsen discography round. I gave it a listen, and I liked it right away. It's got such a cheerfulness to it, as well as a really catchy pop production. Carly's sweet vocals and earnest delivery sells the song well too. 

 

 

RICHARD

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The lesser of Carly’s two songs here… but still a *cut* ahead of “Call Me Maybe.” It’s a shame that Carly fell off the radar before releasing her best music. This song is just really solid pop, and it doesn’t really need to be anything more.

 

 

WALLACE

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I do really like "Cut to the Feeling” from Carly Rae Jepsen and think this is a really cute and fun song from her. I do like the upbeat, fun and poppy feel that this song has. From the first verse, I really love those parts where she sings some of the lyrics faster with a hard hitting beat that goes:

it was on. We crossed the line, it was on this time 

You want from me, talk to me, baby

But the chorus is my favorite part of the song and what always stands out to me! It's so fresh, fun and has such a feel good vibe to it. 

I wanna cut through the clouds, break the ceiling
I wanna dance on the roof, you and me alone
I wanna cut to the feeling, oh yeah
I wanna cut to the feeling, oh yeah (woo)
I wanna play where you play with the angels
I wanna wake up with you all in tangles, oh
I wanna cut to the feeling, oh yeah
I wanna cut to the feeling, oh yeah

 

 

Then from the second verses, I love the parts where she sings:

Cancel your reservations, no more hesitations this is on
Can't make it stop, give me all you got 

Now give your
Everything to me, let's get real, baby

The bridge has a fun sound to it as does the rest of the song. Since I believe that "Run Away with Me" seems to be Carly Rae's more beloved song, I can see that doing better. But I do like "Cut to the Feeling" more and would love to see that song rank higher in this rankdown (though I'm not expecting it to).

 

 

 

 

REI

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I know that this is a fan favorite but after going though CRJ´s discography recently for the mini-rankdown, I can say that this bottom tier from her. It is still a good and catchy song.

 

 

 

15. CHANTAJE – SHAKIRA FEAT. MALUMA

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

11.93

REI: 1

STEVEN: 3

COREY: 5

DEREK: 8

LILY: 8

ALEX: 11

WALLACE: 11

ERIK: 14

TOM: 14

VICTORIA: 15

CHRIS: 17

RICHARD: 17

AKSHAR: 18

GIGI: 18

NICO: 19

 

 

REI

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One of Shakira's finest singles. This is gonna place really low 'cause god forbid if the rankers here would ever listen to a non-english song.

 

 

STEVEN

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Tú eres puro, puro chantaje / Puro, puro chantaje.  This is such an awesome song. "Chantaje" remains one of my favorite songs that Shakira or Maluma have released. It's got such a cool and catchy feel to it, and I like how Shakira and Maluma play off each other here. It's a great collaboration for sure. I'm disappointed to see this rank so low. If you don't know what the song means, "Chantaje" translates to "Blackmail." As for the lyrics, Maluma wants some clarification on where they stand romantically. Shakira doesn't mean to mislead him, but she's a free-spirited woman who belongs to no one and will call the shots here. So, that's why Maluma calls himself a masochist since he's still interested in her regardless. 

 

 

COREY

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The spiciness of a Shakira sone with a bit of a weird twist from whoever that other artist is.

 

 

WALLACE

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Ranking the two Shakira songs here are really hard. I guess these songs of hers would be my lesser favorites songs of hers I'm familiar with. I feel more familiar with and heard "Empire" more but I feel more drawn to "Chantaje"? So for that, I'll give  "Chantaje" the higher ranking. This is a really hot, sexy and steamy song from Shakira and Maluma. They have great chemistry here and I really like their back and forth singing they do here. The chorus definitely has a really fun sound to it where they sing:

Tú eres puro, puro chantaje
Puro, puro chantaje
Siempre es a tu manera
Yo te quiero aunque no quiera 

Tú eres puro, puro chantaje
Puro, puro chantaje
Vas libre como el aire
No soy de ti ni de nadie

 

 

Not only is this a hot song, but it also has a hot video to it. Shakira works it with her dancing like she always does so effortlessly.  

 

 

 

RICHARD

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Kind of forgettable to me. It’s another one that I’d consider elevator music, lol. It’s okay, but it doesn’t really leave much of an impression.

 

 

 

14. JUDAS – LADY GAGA

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

11.73

COREY: 1

LILY: 2

REI: 5

GIGI: 6

RICHARD: 7

ALEX: 10

VICTORIA: 10

CHRIS: 12

WALLACE: 14

AKSHAR: 16

DEREK: 16

NICO: 18

TOM: 19

ERIK: 20

STEVEN: 20

 

 

COREY

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The competition wasn't even close. I brought this song in for a reason. It's one of my favorite songs ever.

 

 

REI

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To be honest, I would have been perfectly fine advancing this song on the first round but as Shakira´s only vocal supporter, I just need to ensure she would have a song there. 

 

This is a brilliant song and one of my favorite from Gaga.

 

 

 

RICHARD

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I wouldn’t say this is one of Gaga’s best songs, but that’s a pretty high bar to clear. On its own merits, it’s still great. Hooky, catchy, really solid production. Checks off basically all the boxes of what makes a good Lady Gaga track.

 

 

WALLACE

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I do love a lot of Lady Gaga songs but "Judas" was honestly never one of my favorites from her and this song was kind of a letdown for me. I guess I'm familiar with and like it enough to rank it here at #14? I do still like it, but don't love it like I do with a number of Gaga songs. And it's never a song I go back to unless in these rankdown games. This song does have a fun and catchy feel to it. I do like how she sings those parts that goes:

I'm just a Holy Fool, oh, baby, it's so cruel
But I'm still in love with Judas, baby

I do kinda love those Judas, Juda-ah-ah, Judas, Juda-ah-ah parts of the song. Those are fun.  Oh and the part where she says "ew" also cracks me up.

Yeah this is far from my favorite Lady Gaga song and would have preferred other songs from her to make it over this one but oh well. I feel like this song could have polarizing rankings and not do as well as most of her songs have done in this game. But then it could also do just as well as them too? It's really hard to predict.

 

 

 

 

ERIK

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This song confuses me

 

 

STEVEN

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I don't like this song.

 

 

 

13. EMPIRE – SHAKIRA

MUSIC VIDEO LINK

 

11.46

REI: 3

ALEX: 4

DEREK: 5

STEVEN: 6

NICO: 7

TOM: 10

RICHARD: 11

WALLACE: 12

CHRIS: 13

LILY: 14

COREY: 15

GIGI: 17

ERIK: 18

VICTORIA: 18

AKSHAR: 19

 

 

REI

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Another perfect Shakira song. I love this so much!

 

 

ALEX

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AND I’M LIKE

 

 

DEREK

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Shakira releasing this insane vocal song while she was a coach on The Voice was such a boss bitch power move. Like all the people who audition and think they are being cool and quirky died instantly. All the people who said Shakira shouldn't be a judge burst into flames.

 

 

STEVEN

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This is a great song from Shakira, and she sounds very impressive here. The explosive production is cool and allows Shakira to really show off vocally.

 

 

RICHARD

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I initially voted for this over “Judas” in the battle round, but listening back, I actually prefer that one. Regarding “Empire,” it’s good, if not amazing. I like Shakira’s vocals here, and the overall composition here is solid enough.

 

 

WALLACE

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Ranking the two Shakira songs here are really hard. I guess these songs of hers would be my lesser favorites songs of hers I'm familiar with. I feel more familiar with and heard "Empire" more but I feel more drawn to "Chantaje"? Anyway, back to "Empire," Shakira does sound really pretty on this song. The verses are soft and pretty. But I really like how she builds up the pre-chorus and powers through the chorus where she sings:

Like the empires of the world unite
We are alive
And the stars make love to the universe
You're my wildfire every single night
We are alive
And the stars make love to the universe
And you touch me
And I'm like and I'm like and I'm like
Woo, woo
And I'm like, woo woo
And I'm like, woo woo
And I'm like, woo

Other standout parts are where she belts out those We are alive on the second chorus. Then the bridge is another standout part where she sings:

I'm just gonna raise my head
Welcome to the final edge
And I'm gonna fall
I'm just gonna raise my head
And hold you close

Hmm after relistening to this song, I feel like I like it more than I remembered. I like and appreciate all of the dynamics of this song. It'll be interesting to see which Shakira song does better as I can't call which one will do better.

 

 

 

 

COREY

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This is not a song modeled after Shakira's signature sultry style, and it is nothing special.

 

[*Chris]

Minus Chvrches, no major complaints.

[~Tom~]

CHVRCHES robbed, but no other big complaints!

[Alex95]

1 hour ago, 1234567890 said:

I can still send them in?

I was waiting on you

[*Wallace]

16. Hmm, I don't know if I'm surprised about the ranking of "Cut to the Feeling" or not. I guess not? But kinda surprising to see no Top 6 rankings for this one. I did figure this would be her first song to show up here. But a fun pop song from Carly Rae Jepsen.

15. "Chantaje" is a fun and sexy song from Shakira & Maluma. I think I was expecting it to rank higher than this but I'm okay with this spot for it, I suppose. I know the Spanish language songs don't normally rank high though Shakira's does the best here. Ooh whoa, I'm definitely reallly surprised and didn't expect that #19 ranking from Nico though. OMGG at "from whoever that other artist is." from Corey.

14. Hmm another song where I'm kinda both surprised and not surprised with its ranking. I didn't expect "Judas" to rank as highly as past Lady Gaga songs but I think it might have done a little better than this. I am definitely not surprised that this is a polarizing song here though.

13. It's kinda interesting how "Empire" is nearly in the same range as Shakira's other song, as I like both songs about the same and struggled with which one to put higher. I'm not surprised this ranked higher but this is a good song from her, though not one of my very favorites.

I feel like a lot of my middle'ish rankings have shown up. Curious what I got left remaining *checks*: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, Veryy happy that my Top 7 is still in tact.  

[*Wallace]

Two more #1s and #20s are revealed here.

 

#1s revealed (3): Alex, Rei, Corey
#1s remaining (12): Akshar, Chris, Derek, Erik, Gigi, Lily, Nico, Richard, Steven, Tom, Victoria, Wallace

 

#20s revealed (10): Derek, Lily, Victoria, Chris, Akshar, Corey, Tom, Gigi, Erik, Steven
#20s remaining (5): Alex, Nico, Rei, Richard, Wallace
 

[Steven_]

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