The 8th Annual Lou Bega Award!

In 1999 -- the worst year in music history -- my friend Jon Katz and myself co-founded the Lou Bega Award, named after the worst recording artist of all time. This prestigious award, given annually each December, goes not necessarily to the artist with the worst song, but to the one which most desecrates the concept of popular music altogether.

Previous Recipients:
1999 - Lou Bega "Mambo #5"
2000 - Baha Men "Who Let The Dogs Out?"
2001 - Afroman "Because I Got High"
2002 - Nelly "Hot In Herre"
2003 - Sean Paul "Like Glue"
2004 - tie - every song involving Lil' Jon
2005 - Gwen Stefani "Hollaback Girl"

This year's inductee is "It's Goin' Down" by Yung Joc.
Yes that's right. After one year of bucking the trend by inducting a white woman, we are back in black!

Meager speller Yung Joc titled his debut album "New Joc City" despite hailing from College Park, Georgia. In his signature song, Joc waxes poetic on how difficult it can be when no matter where you go "it" is goin' "down". Whether Joc heads to the mall, the club, or even the trap (?) it's pretty much guaranteed it's goin' down. In the song's video, Joc gets an entire house party and the all-female staff of a clothing store to join him in his signature dance, the Joc-in. In Joc's second video for the Cribs-inspired "I Know You See It," the hook from "It's Goin' Down" plays during the intro and seamlessly transitions into another song, thus demonstrating the variation of his songs.

What happened, Yung Joc? Couldn't you follow in the successful footsteps of Young Jeezy, Young Dro, Young Gunz, even Neil Young?? Apparently not, which is why you are 2006's lucky recipient of the Lou Bega Award.

Some runners-up:

Hinder "Lips Of An Angel" - How can a band be worse than Nickelback? If they are from Oklahoma City. Hinder is synonymous with buzzphrase "Red State Rock." This band sucks worse than any rock song of the 21st century, but it's hard to win the Lou Bega Award without a hit outside of, uh, "the heartland". Hinder surely would have nabbed this year's award had they simply attempted to expand their market to either coast where I would have heard it in Philly, and Jon would have heard it in LA.

Fergie "London Bridge" - A few years ago, a relatively unpopular hip-hop group hired a former child star to sing for them and all of the sudden they became the world's most popula r hip-hop group. Then she peed her pants on stage and released a solo album and we're left with what seems to be a wannabe Beyonce covering a wannabe "Hollaback Girl". Officially replacing Kelis's "Milkshake" as the strangest euphemism for sexual acts in a modern pop song.

Thanks for another great year of terrible music, guys! Who knows what's waiting for us in 2007! Keep 'em comin'!

Yours,
Bill Benz
Jon Katz