We have such a weird relationship with pop music in 2012. In past eras, unimpeachable megastars like Michael Jackson and Madonna comprised the mainstream. Today, there's almost a sense of shame associated with enjoying pop music.
If anything, trying to deny the appeal of the most popular songs in the country is something to warrants shame. Luckily, a strong contrarian nature in music culture leads to a great deal of people coming out in defense of pop records explicitly because it's not the cool thing to do. Plus, those annoying hits that are on the radio every two seconds? They're actually good. There's no sense in putting up a front.
No, it's not weird to like Taylor Swift. No, you're not a lame if you occasionally get down to Flo Rida. Yes, it's best that your tastes expand beyond songs in that realm, but if you never went H.A.M. to "Call Me Maybe" at some point this year, that's where the real problem lies.
You won't catch us skipping songs in embarrassment when Katy Perry pops up on shuffle around the homies. These are the 10 Best Guilty Pleasure Songs of 2012.
Written by Ernest Baker (@newbornrodeo) and Lauren Nostro (@laurencynthia)
RELATED: The 50 Best Songs of 2012
RELATED: The 50 Best Albums of 2012
10. Psy "Gangnam Style"
Album: PSY 6, Part 1
Producer: Park Jae-Sang, Yoo Gun Hyung
Label: YG, School Boy, Universal Republic
We know, everyone hates this song now. But seriously: Show some respect. Not since Amadeus rocked us and Los del Rio made us do the "Macarena" has a pop star dropped in from another country with a non-English song and totally dominated shit on the level that Psy did this year.
New Billboard rules even made "Gangnam Style" the No. 1 rap song in America for a time in the Fall, and last week it became the first video to clock ONE BILLION views on YouTube. It's useless to have a problem with a song this massive. Dude won. Hello, globalization.
9. Flo Rida "Whistle"
Album: Wild Ones
Producer: DJ Frank E, Glass
Label: Poe Boy, Atlantic
Yup, this really classy song about the sound a woman's privates make during sex is also quietly one of the year's best. You need to have an appreciation for really overproduced, cash-in, pop music—and you should, there's a reason that stuff works.
"Whistle" is like a three minute lecture on songwriting. The fact that the beat incorporates an extremely catchy, real—musical not sexual—whistle means that lyrics like, "You just put your lips together and you come real close," don't even sound awkward if you're in the car with your parents.
"Whistle" walks the line of disgusting and charming as well as "Candy Shop" and "Lollipop" before it. The public agreed, making it Flo Rida's third No. 1 on the Hot 100.
8. Katy Perry "Wide Awake"
Album: Teenage Dream
Producer: Dr. Luke, Cirkut
Label: Capitol
This wasn't another chart-topper for Ms. Perry, but when you've already tied Michael Jackson's record for most number one songs from an album, you can't have it all. (No. 2 ain't too shabby, either.)
"Wide Awake" features Perry not-so-discreetly addressing her failed marriage to comedian Russell Brand. It's like her 808s & Heartbreak in one succinct take. The beat is sparse and contemplative, requiring Perry to sing on the track in a way that almost sounds like she's rapping. And yes, she has flow for days.
7. Chris Brown "Don't Wake Me Up"
Album: Fortune
Producer: Benny Benassi, Alle Benassi, Free School, William Orbit, Brian "BK" Kennedy
Label: RCA
Chris Brown does a lot of things that make it easy to dislike him. He also makes a lot of great songs that explain why we continue to tolerate him. This year, "Don't Wake Me Up" was that song.
On it, Brown continues his streak of merging R&B and dance music in the least corny way possible. He always sounds at home on these massive EDM beats, and at the same time, brings a certain groovy soulfulness to them that a lot of urban artists who meddle in electronic sounds struggle to achieve without getting lost in their crossover attempt.
Hate him or love him, Chris Brown is still a talented guy and he's good for consistently releasing music that will remind you of that.
6. Justin Bieber f/ Big Sean "As Long As You Love Me"
Album: Believe
Producer: Rodney Jerkins, Andre Lindal
Label: RBMG, Schoolboy, Island
Got a problem with Justin Bieber? 2012 is the year that you were forced to get over it. With the swoopy hairstyle and underage status a mere memory, the Biebs decided to go for the gusto. "Boyfriend" was cool, and with its raps about fondue and whatnot, but it still felt like Bieber was trying to sell his maturity to us on that record.
"As Long As You Love Me" doesn't have to sell what it so clearly is. The vocals, content, and even a welcome guest verse from Big Sean all signal true, meaningful growth for Bieber's music career. A song like this is why you know his next album will matter, too.
5. Nicki Minaj "Starships"
Album: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Producer: RedOne, Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk
Label: Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Republic
Write "Starships" off because it's a blatantly pop attempt from a rap star if you want, but the truth is, this song goes so damn hard. Nicki unabashedly leapt for the mainstream here, and you can't slander her for it, because she succeeded.
The lyrics are simple to the point of being brilliant—it's probable you'll have the bulk of the song memorized after a few listens, whether you like it or not. And the production is top-notch with a breakdown that still gets every girl in the club to twerk. Then Nicki tells those girls to "fuck who you want and fuck who you like" and things can't get any better.
"Starships" made that a very possible, nightly scenario this year. Well done.
4. Carly Rae Jepsen "Call Me Maybe"
Album: Kiss
Producer: Josh Ramsay
Label: 604, Schoolboy, Interscope
The minute those first string chords start up, you know what song's going down and you can feel the entire venue about to go collectively insane. Then Carly Rae Jepsen begins: "Hey, I just met you," and it's a wrap.
"Call Me Maybe" is the greatest sing-along song of the year because absolutely everyone knows the lyrics. It's likely there were even a few times you heard "Call Me Maybe" while out and were like, "Turn this shit off," but then you'd start mobbing with a group of girls and give in to its twisted pleasures. We're all victims.
3. Taylor Swift "I Knew You Were Trouble"
Album: Red
Producer: Max Martin, Shellback
Label: Big Machine
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was good in that obvious, "it's Taylor Swift" way. She makes huge pop hits, and you don't even have to listen to them to know that they're important in the scope of the contemporary zeitgeist. But "I Knew You Were Trouble" is a Taylor Swift song that you actually want to listen to—a lot.
The record is a combination of Swift's pop appeal and country roots at their most polished. The writing is flawless and Swift executes the lyrics at the same level which they're written. It helps that the tabloids give us a constant gaze into her personal life. The song comes across more authentic as a result. It may all be a part of the impossibly savvy 23-year-old's grand scheme, but damn, even if it is, she nails it. Bravo.
2. Ke$ha "Die Young"
Album: Warrior
Producer: Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Benny Blanco
Label: Kemosabe, RCA
Ke$ha wasn't supposed to be an elite pop star. She was supposed to be relegated to brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack for the rest of her days and that would be it. Well, sorry, that didn't happen.
"Die Young" announced the arrival of Ke$ha 2.0, a slightly cleaned-up but just as sleazy version of the girl America fell in love with two years ago. Ke$ha and Dr. Luke have the chemistry of a Nas and DJ Premier, and balk at that comparison all you want, but we're not being hyperbolic.
Her brand of bubblegum hedonism is so successful in part because it has a sound that defines it so well. As time goes on, Ke$ha's become more performer and less spectacle, and there's a case that her music has gotten better because of it. "Die Young" acts as the star witness.
1. Rihanna "Diamonds"
Album: Unapologetic
Producer: Benny Blanco, StarGate
Label: Def Jam
There's one problem with Rihanna's "Diamonds" and it's that diamonds don't exactly shine, they reflect light. But other than that, it's the slow-burning, pop ballad that we all knew Rihanna was totally capable of, and undeniably one of the hottest songs of the year.
Is it even a guilty pleasure? Rihanna is so close to hip-hop that even the most hardcore rap head has a familiarity with her that's absent with other pop stars. That same dude probably caught himself singing the chorus—accent and all—in the shower at some point this year.
"Diamonds" isn't so head-on like Rihanna's louder, more aggressive anthems, but apparently the world loves to see a softer side of her, too. Last month, it became her record-setting 12th No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.
