11 of the Ugliest, Ugly Songs Ever! | Playlist 🎧

11 of the Ugliest, Ugly Songs Ever! features music courtesy of Ella Henderson, Lil Baby, Oliver Tree, Perfume Genius, and Sada Baby. 

Ah, when Ugly rears its ugly head – what a U-G-L-Y sight! There is nothing uglier than sin 😈! You look butt-ugly (oh, snap 🫰)! Look at it this way though, and ugly win is better than no win at all! If you couldn’t tell, this musical compendium is ugly AF! The keyword on 🎧 11 of the Ugliest, Ugly Songs Ever! is – you guessed it – UGLY! 🎧 11 of the Ugliest, Ugly Songs Ever! features music courtesy of 🎙 Ella Henderson, 🎙 Lil Baby, 🎙 Oliver Tree, 🎙 Perfume Genius, and 🎙 Sada Baby among others. Honestly, nothing more needs to be said.  Let the ugliness of this ugly music speak for itself 😝!

1. Perfume Genius, “Ugly Season”   

💿 Ugly Season • 🏷 Matador • 🗓 2022 

“I’m hideous / Raving / Feeling my fantasy.” 🎵 “Ugly Season” arrives as the sixth track on 💿 Ugly Season, the sixth studio album by 🎙 Perfume Genius (🎙 Mike Hadreas).  Hadreas hits differently on this experimental, avant-garde highlight. Musically, “Ugly Season” has a quirky, reggae vibe. The record feels dirty and horny intentionally – incredibly left of center. Furthermore, it feels very queer (nothing wrong with that).  Hadreas serves up a performance that is unrefined and not concerned with elegance, finesse, or pitch for that matter. One must listen closely, ideally with the lyrics in front of you, to fully comprehend what he is singing. Early on, as the first verse suggests, the ugliness is front and center. He follows up with an even more sus pre-chorus, asserting, “Turned from God / Sick with rot / Thick as Vaseline / Knee deep and filthy.” Woo! “Bitch, it’s ugly season,” he asserts in the chorus, “And I love it.” “Ugly Season” is utterly fascinating. The post-chorus is the section to beat, with its ear-catching lyrics. Furthermore, melodically, it serves as the most tuneful section of the record: “Notice the tongue / Notice the shape / Don’t look away / Notice the tongue / Split, black, pit / Notice the tongue.” “Ugly Season” thrives from its experimental vibes and queerness. 

Appears in 🔻:   

• Perfume Genius, Ugly Season: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 No. 36 (2022)   
• 14 Exceptional LGBTQ Songs from 2022   
• 50 Best Songs of 2022  
• Ugly: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 29 (2023) 

2. Lil Baby, “Get Ugly” 

💿 My Turn • 🏷 Quality Control Music / Motown • 📅 2020 

“I’m here ‘cause my granny 👵🏾 be prayin’ 🙏 for me / None of these niggas ain’t playin’ with me / Got hitters that’ll sit in that can for me, yeah.” Ooh-wee! 🏆 Grammy-nominated rapper 🎙 Lil Baby (Dominique Jones) commences his 2020 album, 💿 My Turn, with 🎵 “Get Ugly.” On “Get Ugly,” he showcases agile, rhythmic flows, drenched in autotune.  Sometimes, his bars run into one another, given the southern drawl. Still, if nothing else, “Get Ugly” sets the tone on the LP with its energy, dark, hard-hitting production (🎛 ATL Jacob), and a sweet chorus. “It can get ugly / Would you leave or stay like you love me,” Jones spits, continuing, “From the bottom, all I know is the struggle / Can’t get no job, so all I know is the hustle.” Word, bruh!

3. Ella Henderson, “Ugly”  

💿 Everything I Didn’t Say • 🏷 A Major Toms / Asylum UK • 📅 2023 

The connotation of ugly is negative, at least most of the time.  With beauty standards dictating so much of society, who wants to feel or be deemed ugly? Even the prettiest of people can launch into self-deprecation mode quickly.  On 🎵 “Ugly,” English pop singer/songwriter 🎙 Ella Henderson paints a picture of perceived ugliness superbly in the first verse:  “Too thin, too smart / Monday, don’t fit in my jeans 👖, stretch marks.” UGLY! She goes on to say in the pre-chorus, that attempting to be perfect is far too much pressure.

That leads into the chorus, which embraces ugliness rather than running away from it.  “So, go ahead and rip, tear me apart / ‘Cause I’m not afraid of my flaws,” she sings, authentically and beautifully, adding, “If the scars on my skin make me ugly / Then let’s get ugly.” Henderson makes legit points on this well-written (Henderson, 🎼 ✍ Sasha Alex Sloan, Two Inch Punch, Matthew Holmes, and Philip Leigh), well-produced (Holmes and Leigh aka 🎛 Mac & Phil) third track from her 2023 LP, 💿 Everything I Didn’t Say.  

4. Oliver Tree, “Ugly Side” 

💿 Alone in a Crowd • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2023

“Watch you freak out, baby, don’t scream out / Maybe one day, you could catch me on the rebound 🏀.” Fill in the blank: 🎙 Oliver Tree is _____________.  My answer: one of a kind.  In 2023, the alternative musician released his third major studio album, 💿 Alone in a Crowd.  1/14th of the album was U-G-L-Y.  That’s right, 🎵 “Ugly Side,” the unlucky seventh track, is flat-out ugly!  Here Mr. Tree sings and raps, which is quite the experience.  According to him, per the sung chorus, “It’s your ugly side that you’re showin’ / Keep your mouth shut and keep goin’ / You’re not someone worth knowin’ / Please go, I hope you’re jokin’.” Oh, snap 🫰! Tree raps over the course of two verses, exhibiting an agile flow. He also drops some salty 🧂 language in the process like “Bitch, this ain’t a joke like the beanstalk broke / And the giant came through, singin’ ‘fee-fi-fo’,” and “Actin’ like they got the wrong dude / Bitch, can you tell this ain’t a fuckin’ cartoon.” Ooh-wee! “Ugly Side” = interesting 1:18 track.

5. Jason Derulo, “Get Ugly”  

💿 Everything Is 4 • 🏷 Warner • 📅 2015  

“Baby, I’ma tell you some’ only ‘cause I love ya / People all around the world sexy motherfuckers.” WOO! The 🎙 Jason Derulo single, 🎵 “Get Ugly,” confirms why his 2015 album, 💿 Everything Is 4 earned that infamous parental advisory label. Of course, that mf-bomb adds to the character of this fun, infectious, and irresistible joint. On “Get Ugly,” there is a blend of pop, hip-hop, and a dash of, dare I say, Michael Jackson influence 💪.  The production (🎛 Wallpaper.) is laser sharp, filled with a grab bag of modern pop tricks.  Honestly, there is NOTHING ugly about this record, with its sexy lyrics (“Chinga-a-lang-lang… / Jeans so tight I could see loose change”) and unforgettable chorus (“Diddily, diddily, diddily, diddly / You’re too sexy to me, sexy to me / …Diddily, diddily, diddily, diddily / Damn, that’s ugly”).

Appears in 🔻:  

• Ugly: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 29 (2023) 

6. Sada Baby, “Ugly Sweater” 

💿 SkuBop • 🏷 Big Squad, LLC / Groundwerk, LLC / BMG Rights Management (US) LLC • 📅 2023  

“I be feelin’ like fuck whoever, huh / Niggas don’t understand my pain, I can’t trust you.” WOO! 🎵 “Ugly Sweater” served as an advance single from 💿 SkuBop, the 2023 album by rapper, 🎙 Sada Baby. Backed by malicious, minor-key production by 🎛 MIA JAY C, the Detroit MC drops fiery 🔥 bars 💪. He continues keeping it 💯 in the chorus: “This shit feelin’ like a ugly sweater, huh / I’ma wear it ‘cause I got to, ain’t got nothin’ better.” Notably, near the end of the first verse, Sada encourages safe sex: “Better wear a latex, you don’t want that late text / That ‘I think I’m late’ text, from a ho who ain’t shit, huh.” Well… he didn’t have to call her a ho 😏. One more note. DON’T MESS WITH HIS GIRLS: “Huh, disrespect my girls and you gon’ lie right there, huh / Huh, disrespect my girls and you gon’ end up dead, huh.” WORD, even if little of it has to do with an ugly sweater.

7. The Gays, Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly 

💿 The Agenda • 🏷 Island • 🗓 2018 

“You got great hair / What does that say about me?” Well, honestly, 🎙 Will Riley, not much… 🤷🏾‍♂️ But, maybe, just maybe, that’s the point the Montreal, Québec 🇨🇦 ‘collective,’ 🎙 The Gays is trying to make 🤔.  The objectification that is 🎵 “Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly”, the fifth track from 💿 The Agenda, reissued in 2023 in a deluxe edition, continues: “White teeth 😁 / All the better for biting baby / Full lips / And they’re talking to me.” ¡Muy interesante! This raw, punk joint excels at expressing gay desire – we STAN.  That said, is this expression at a cost? 

“Cause I don’t care 

If they came to love me 

You know 

Pretty boys make me feel ugly.”

So, let me get this straight. Riley doesn’t care if these gorgeous, perfect men love him? That seems to be the case.  Of course, it depends on how you perceive ugly.  In the second verse, Will continues to paint a picture of that fine dude many a women and men would fall for, apparently at any cost. “And look out boy / Cause I’m coming for you,” he sings, “You don’t care / You’re cumming too…”  So, basically, um, 🍆 💦 🍑 😈… and no shame… “Every time they come around this is what they do.” To put a bow 🎀 on this, The Gays (😝) paint a picture of god-like men that are yummy AF, and even if they make them feel ugly, it simply doesn’t matter because the love below ⬇️ 🍆 wants what it wants. 🎵 “Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly” is brief but ear catching to the nth degree whether you’re one the gays or just a music enthusiast 😉.

Appears in 🔻:  

• The Gays, Pretty Boys Make Me Feel Ugly: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 No. 36 (2023) 

8. Nas, “Ugly” 

💿 Magic • 🏷 Mass Appeal • 📅 2021

“It’s ugly outside, it’s muggy, it’s money outside / One hundred and five Fahrenheit 🌡️, thunderous skies.” 🏆 Grammy-winning rapper 🎙 Nas never fails to catch the ear with his bars. On “Ugly” he channels his inner 🎙 Ashford & Simpson – “Solid / solid as a rock!” (“Knew I had a vision before I seen an optometrist 👓 / I seen a whole lot of shit / Never altered my confidence or my consciousness”). “Ugly” features soulful, sophisticated production courtesy of 🎛 Corbett and Hit-Boy. “Ugly” samples Swoope Sample Pack Vol. 1, courtesy of 🎙 Soul Surplus. The backdrop gives off jazz rap, old-school vibes. One of the things that make the backdrop charming is its detuned nature – as if the tape is worn out. Of course, it’s not merely the instrumental that shines like a beacon on “Ugly.” Nas is at his best.  His flow is electrifying, as to be expected. Also, for a rapper not necessarily known for his hooks, he delivers a simple, yet infectious one: “It’s ugly (it’s ugly, it’s ugly) / It’s ugly (it’s ugly, it’s ugly) / Shit is ugly (Shit is ugly, shit is ugly) / Yeah, one time, yeah.” Nas offers no shortage of ugly things, but “Ugly,” the third track from 💿 Magic, isn’t one of them 💪!

9. XXXTENTACION, “Ugly”  

💿 Bad Vibes Forever • 🏷 Bad Vibes Forever / EMPIRE • 📅 2019

“I seem out of it / The dream I had about her in my head / It seems I won’t forget / Am I insecure? I’m not really sure…”  Indisputably and undeniably 🎙 XXXTENTACION was a controversial, polarizing artist during his lifetime. Regardless, his murder at age 20 was unfortunate. Jahseh Onfroy was on an upward trajectory as far as his commercial success despite his offstage life being troubling to the nth degree.  In his short career, Onfroy moved beyond rap, hence why 🎵 “Ugly,” which appears on the posthumous album, 💿 Bad Vibes Forever, should be associated with rock or alternative music.  Brief at just a minute and a half, it is an emotional track that samples the song 🎵 “Invisible” by 🎙 Grouper.  Untouched by his producer and manager upon posthumous release, clearly this is authentic XXXTENTACION. He continues, singing, “It seems I fought less / Crying a river, miss me or deliver.”   

Appears in 🔻:  

• Ugly: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 29 (2023) 

10. $uicideboy$, “Ugliest”  

💿 Long Term Effects of SUFFERING • 🏷 G*59 • 📅 2021  

“Death addict, my mathematics you can’t add up / So tragic, my baggage comes with no back-up.” WOO! The beat on 🎵 “Ugliest,” the penultimate record from $uicideboy$’ album, 💿 Long Term Effects of SUFFERING, recalls the 90s.  It’s dusty and old-school, which sounded refreshing in 2021, when the album arrived. In the context of the LP, jazz-rap vibes return for the first time since an earlier highlight, 🎵 “5 Grand at 8 to 1”. There are only two $uicideboy$, cousins 🎙 Scott Arceneaux Jr. and 🎙 Aristos Petrou, who embrace various personas on their projects.  In the case of “Ugliest” the listener gets a mix of personas: Northside Shawty (“Devilish sins, devilish grins, got motherfuckers like  ‘Here we go again, this motherfucker Scrim’”), Oddy Nuff da Snow Leopard (“I’m still the fuckin’ same, covered in spots, not stripes”), and Lil Waaaaaa (“Soulja by the lake-lake”).  Those $uicideboy$ are LITERALLY characters.   

Appears in 🔻:  

• Ugly: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 29 (2023) 

11. Fantasia, “Ugly”  

💿 The Definition Of… • 🏷 19 Recordings / RCA • 📅 2016

“Now skinny jeans and Maybelline / Make pretty girls do crazy things / Teenage tears and bathroom mirrors / Will stick with you throughout your years…” 💿 The Definition Of… was an uneven album for 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B artist, 🎙 Fantasia, as much as I hate to say that 😔. The 2016 LP had is moments, but as a cohesive album, it left more to be desired.  Regardless, the world did get a change of pace from the versatile singer with her single, 🎵 “Ugly”. “Ugly” was written by 🎼 ✍ Nicolle Galyon, renowned for her country songwriting skills, and 🎼 ✍ Audra Mae, known primarily for her pop songwriting.  So, with a country songwriter and pop songwriter, the result is a country/pop ballad, who sound is further executed by the production of 🎛️ Ron Fair.  Again, surprising, and perhaps, an attempt to see if Fantasia could crossover, but it sort of works.  The lyrics, as excerpted above, are beautiful. When Fantasia lets loose, awakening her natural soul tendencies towards the end especially, she’s at her best. The Definition Of…

“So Gimme a rusty old rain silo  

Gimme good food that sticks to my bones  

Thank you for that good, good man who loves me  

With dirt on my hands and scrapes on my knees  

The feeling at night when I wash it all clean  

I’m telling ya girls, it’s a beautiful thing  

Trust me, it’s far from ugly.”    

Appears in 🔻:  

• Ugly: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 29 (2023) 

11 of the Ugliest, Ugly Songs Ever! (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 19 Recordings, A Major Toms, Asylum UK, Atlantic, Bad Vibes Forever, Big Squad, LLC, BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, EMPIRE, G*59, Groundwerk, LLC, Island, Mass Appeal, Matador, Motown, Quality Control Music, RCA, Warner; S. Bartels from Pixabay]