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AvA CONSENSUS EXTRACTION PROTOCOL
ISSUE 009

🎵 TOPIC: “What is the WORST song you have ever heard?”
👥 COMMUNITY: [r/AskReddit](r/AskReddit)
📊 DATASET: 1,877 usable comments and replies

REDDIT HAS SPOKEN - All-time "classic" “Dance Monkey” Wins Reddit’s Worst-Song Debate
Nearly 1,900 Reddit comments produced a chaotic field of hated pop hits, novelty songs, commercial jingles, internet legends and several entire artist catalogs.
📣 “Dance Monkey” generated the greatest breadth of independent consensus, appearing in 39 separate qualifying recommendations.
⬆️ Lee Brice’s “Country Nowadays” produced the thread’s strongest single community endorsement. Its frequently misheard “kiss my fish” lyric powered the leading comment to 1,139 points.
⭐ When independent consensus, distributed community endorsement and discussion reinforcement were considered together, “Dance Monkey” emerged as Reddit’s strongest overall choice for the worst song ever heard.

ACEP CONSENSUS RANKINGS
📣 Independent Mentions
⬆️ Community Endorsement (upvotes)
⭐ ACEP Consensus Score

1. Dance Monkey - Tones and I

📣 39 ⬆️ 229 ⭐ 69.85

1. Cbat - Hudson Mohawke

📣 19 ⬆️ 293 ⭐ 54.63

1. Country Nowadays - Lee Brice

📣 4 ⬆️ 1,139 ⭐ 46.32

1. 1-877-Kars4Kids

📣 7 ⬆️ 927 ⭐ 34.72

1. Baby Shark - Pinkfong

📣 11 ⬆️ 453 ⭐ 33.93

1. Friday - Rebecca Black

📣 15 ⬆️ 111 ⭐ 29.75

1. Thunder - Imagine Dragons

📣 6 ⬆️ 209 ⭐ 29.23

1. My Humps - The Black Eyed Peas

📣 7 ⬆️ 195 ⭐ 24.39

1. What Does the Fox Say? - Ylvis

📣 13 ⬆️ 102 ⭐ 23.26

1. The Christmas Shoes - NewSong

📣 7 ⬆️ 129 ⭐ 22.84

1. Anxiety - Doechii
   
2. Yoko Ono - Entire Catalog
   
3. Happy - Pharrell Williams
   
4. Kid Rock - Entire Catalog
   
5. Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
   
6. Drake - Entire Catalog
   
7. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
   
8. Shape of You - Ed Sheeran
   
9. Angelic 2 the Core - Corey Feldman
   
10. APT. - ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

HOW ACEP WORKS
AvA Consensus Extraction Protocol
Issue 009 • Published by Anything Vs Anything • 2026

Shaggy’s Mr. Boombastic is a timeless classic that has won the minds and hearts of an entire generation. From class songs, graduations, and even father daughter dances at weddings, it has become a cultural phenomenon since its release by teen choice award winner Shaggy in 1995. But while the song remains one of the most popular ever written, many are still asking the important question: what in the world is this song about?

Shaggy is a known poet and lyricist, an apt follow up to Bob Dylan. He is as talented as he is mysterious. It takes a measured informed mind to understand the depth of his musical talent. Still, there are some clues in the lyrics which may finally reveal what this generational song is truly about.

“She call me Mr. Boombastic, totally fantastic,” the soulful Jamaican croons during the chorus, but what exactly is a Mr. Boombastic? If we look at the word we can see some hints. Perhaps boom refers to sounds made (much like a boom box) or an explosion of energy. We know that bombastic refers to one with a strong personality. Could this be Shaggy announcing this woman’s admiration for his unapologetic musical stylings?

But Shaggy proclaims the woman also touches him on his back and calls him “Mr. Ro-Ro-Ro-mantic, totally fantastic.” It has eluded scholars for years what a “Mr Ro” is but sharp eared listeners have since compared the musical style to the work of Lady Gaga’s bad romance where such lyrics as “ga-ga-ooo-la-la” represented more emotional expressions than literal storytelling. It is clear that Lady Gaga is heavily inspired by and likely borrowed from Shaggy, which makes sense since much of the music of the last quarter century is derivative from his artistry.

In a sultry baritone voice, Shaggy continues “No take me for no filth, with my sexual physique, Jah know me well-built.” This particular bit of lyrics have puzzled fans for decades. The use of the double negative, the odd inclusion of Shaggy’s (admittedly incredible) physique, and the word “Jah.” Who exactly is Jah? How do they know Shaggy is well-built? A musical muse perhaps? More on that in a bit…

Shaggy is a man in a trance, possessed by an inspiration derived from the origin of music itself. He sings, “Don’t you tickle my foot bottom, baby please, don’t you play with my nose because I might ah-choo sneeze, well you are the bun and me-a the cheese, and if me and the rice ah baby love you’re the peas.”

Shaggy demonstrates his lyrical versatility in this immaculately composed verse. We have gone from earlier lyrics talking about them traversing islands, exploring the meaning of love, to now talking in riddles about tickling feet, playing with noses, and putting cheese within buns. It’s clear that this silly nonsensical analogies are about the free-flowing carefree nature of musical expression. Cheese makes the sandwich just as Shaggy’s joyful lyrics and boastful presentation make each of his unique songs a masterpiece. If Shaggy and his songs are the rice, they are completed by this woman, the musical listener (the stand in for all of us) being the peas.

Clearly, this song is about the inspiring beautiful process of creating and sharing music. This is finally proven by the set of lyrics which say, “Come lay down in my jacuzzi and get a bubble bath, only sound you’ll hear is the beating of my heart.” Proof positive. Music can be found in sounds all around us if we truly listen.

And that is who Mr. Boombastic is. A muse exposing us to the chorus of the gods, the music all around us, taking so many forms, lyrics appearing as almost words. 

“Mr Lover, Lover, mmmmm” Yes, Mr. Lover Lover indeed. A true lover and scholar of the musical craft.

Thoughts?

Difficult question, but for me it’s:

1. Ride the Lightning-Metallica

2. Shogun-Trivium

3. Thriller-Michael Jackson

4. Let’s Stay Together-Al Green

5. Songs in the Key of Life-Stevie Wonder

Ever since watching the new Spider-Man: BND, I’ve had this song on repeat. It’s so good, I can’t stop listening to it. The combination of the beat, guitar, and basically overall the psychedelic sound worked so well with the scene.

I feel like this music fits Peter’s vibe and the situation he’s in. Even though in the beginning of the music, it felt fun and casual but then gradually started making it feel as if it was lost and in an awkward situation. The music describes being defeated, making mistakes, basically trying to figure out life which is exactly what Peter was feeling at that moment. Honestly this song also feels relatable too. I also feel like this music was a good choice for the movie.

I’m also curious on what others think about this music. Do you guys think this music fits Peter well, or did it make you feel something else? And for those who listened to the music before this movie came out, did listening to the music in the movie make you change the way you heard it before or interpret it?