The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: June '25

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. An overall score and brief summary are below the chart. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-11) overall which is a 3 point drop from our last edition in March. My favorite of the bunch is Ella Langley's "Weren't For the Wind." Sam Hunt says 'don't call it a comeback' and gives us the garbage we expect from him with "Country House." Aside from Sam Hunt and Josh Ross, everything's mostly mid as hell, even the good songs. 

The Current Poop of Country Radio: March '25

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. An overall score and brief summary are below the chart. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-8) overall which is a 10 point improvement from our previous ratings in October. Zach Top sits high atop the ratings with “I Never Lie” being the best song this month by far. Blake Shelton's "Texas" is the worst song, by a hair, over Jordan Davis' "I Ain't Sayin'." The Jelly Roll song is in no way country and I don't care for it, but it's still better than those two. Despite the strong improvement, there's a lot of meh. At least there aren't any trap beats in the top 20. 

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: October

A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. An overall score and brief summary are below the chart. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-18) overall which is an 8 point drop(!) from June. Zach Top sits atop the ratings with “Sounds Like the Radio” being the best song this month. Kane Brown and Marshmello’s “Miles On It,” is the worst, but it had some strong competition. This was one of the worst months since I started doing these ratings. When Dan + Shay’s single is one of the better songs in the top 20, you have a problem. We may need to have a talk about that whole neo-traditional revival. 

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And here is Bobby's version. Bobby goes a lot easier on 

mainstream music than I do and still only rates it a +3 overall

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: June '24

A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. A score and brief summary are below the chart. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-10) overall which is a 7 point drop(!) from March. Cody Johnson continues his winning streak with this edition’s best song, “Dirt Cheap.” The worst is Chase Matthew’s “Love You Again.” Mediocre is the general feel for the whole bunch; even Combs’ and Lainey’s songs are pretty generic. It’s probably downhill from here with it being “stupid beer truck summer song” season.  

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: March '24

A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (+3) overall which is an 8 point improvement from December. The best song is Cody Johnson's "The Painter." The worst is Hardy's "Truck Bed," with stiff competition from Kane Brown's "I Can Feel It." Overall, a decent set of songs but nothing to write home about. 

*Note: a few scores changed a bit since Dec. due to songs growing on me or the opposite

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: December '23

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even. This perfectly fits Chayce Beckham's "23" because the chorus ruins what seemed like it was going to be a very nice song. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-5) overall which is somehow a 5 point improvement from August (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse” by a nose over Cody Johnson’s “The Painter.” Luke Bryan’s insipid “But I Got a Beer in My Hand” has the dishonor of being the worst song, though he has strong competition. The big names seem overshadowed by all the up-and-comers this time around. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad trend; they’re not impressing me much so far. Oooh yeah, I see one other trend - no solo women.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: August '23

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk denotes a song  where the good attributes and the bad are dead even.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-10) overall which is a 4 point drop from May (the previous time we did this chart). The best song (by a hair over Hailey Whiters) is Luke Combs’ monster hit cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” The worst is Parmalee's "Girl in Mine" for the second time in a row, narrowly beating out Luke Bryan’s insipid “But I Got a Beer in My Hand.” I don’t really see any particular trends besides it being summer, always a celebration of cliches on country radio. 

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: May '23

A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk

denotes a song where the good attributes and the bad are dead even.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-6) overall which is a 9 point drop from March (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Cody Johnson's "Human." The worst is Parmalee's "Girl in Mine" which is somehow worse than Dan + Shay and Tyler Hubbard's current offerings. It's pretty precipitous drop in quality from last time, but we're heading into summer so that's to be expected. It's nice to see Joe Nichols back in the top 20!

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: March 2023

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive, an asterisk is mediocre (or the negatives outweigh the positives). I needed a new grading option - there’s more meh these days than flat-out bad. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (+3) overall which is a 19 point improvement (!!) from November (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Carly Pearce’s “What He Didn’t Do.” The worst is Tyler Hubbard’s “Dancin’ in the Country,” which is only a hair’s width worse that Dan + Shay’s drivel. Anyway, nice upgrade, country radio! The credibility scare is back in progress. 

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: November 2022

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-22) overall which is an 11 point drop (!!) from July (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Jelly Roll's "Son of a Sinner." (If I had a time machine and went back and told myself about this one in 2015, I'd think future me was on crack.) The worst is Russell Dickerson and Jake Scott's "She Likes It" followed closely by Dustin Lynch's "Party Mode." I thought we were supposedly in the midst of another great credibility scare...

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: July '22

A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-11) overall which is a 3 point drop from April (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Ernest/Morgan Wallen’s “Flower Shops.” The worst is Dustin Lynch’s “Party Mode.” There are less women and more trucks… the typical summer regression.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: April '22

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-8) overall which is an 8 point drop from January (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Carly Pearce/Ashley McBryde’s “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” The worst is Walker Hayes’ “AA” (big surprise, huh?). The songs are getting dumber as summer nears, like they usually do.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: January '22

  A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (0) overall which is exactly the same as this past October (the previous time we did this chart). The best song is Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” but Carly/Ashley and Cody Johnson have a strong claim. The worst is Sam Hunt’s “23,” by a hair over Blake Shelton’s “Come Back as a Country Boy.” Sam’s rating is because it’s adult contemporary pop meh. Blake’s is cookie cutter listing song drivel.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: October '21

 A poop emoji is negative, a strike thru is positive. Total score below the chart.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (0) overall which is a 4 point improvement from August (the previous time we did this chart). A zero score huh… that’s some Thanos level equilibrium. The worst song and the lowest rated song ever on this chart is Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” with the very first 5 turd rating. The highest rated is once again, Kenny Chesney’s “Knowing You.”

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: August '21

A poop emoji is negative, a strike-thru is positive.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-4) overall which is a 5 point improvement from May (the previous time we did this chart). The peculiar thing about this chart is the wide variance of quality. There are several truly excellent songs and several bottom of the barrel offerings. Usually, there’s a lot more mediocre going on. The worst song (just like May) is Dan + Shay’s “Glad You Exist.” The highest rated is Kenny Chesney’s best song in ages, “Knowing You.” The glacially slow pace of country radio is on full display here as half of these songs were also on the chart TWO FREAKING MONTHS AGO. Yawn.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: May 2021

 A poop emoji is negative; a strike-thru is positive.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-9) overall which is a 2 point improvement from February (the previous time we did this chart). The worst song is Dan + Shay’s “Glad You Exist,” but Sam, Dylan, Luke, and Cole also have terrible entries. The best song is Eric Church’s “Hell of a View” with Lainey Wilson’s “Things a Man Oughta Know” nipping at its heels.  The chart is somewhat stagnant, quality-wise, but there are hints of promise.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: February '21

 A poop emoji is negative. A strike-thru is positive. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-11) overall which is a 7 point drop from November (the previous time we did this chart). The worst song is Niko Moon’s “Good Time,” but there are a lot of contenders. The best song is Eric Church’s “Hell of a View.” The chart is really bad again, and there’s not even a Kane Brown song on it.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: November 2020

A poop emoji is negative. A strike-thru is positive. 

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-4) overall which is a 5 point improvement from August (the previous time we did this chart). The worst song by a long shot is Dan + Shay’s “I Should Probably Go to Bed.” The best song is Jon Pardi’s “Ain’t Always the Cowboy,” edging out Stapleton’s latest by a hair. There are some decent tunes here and the chart should improve a little more over the fall and winter. On a negative note, there’s only 1 solo woman, so we’re back to square one on that front. Do better, Nashville.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: August 2020

A poop emoji is negative. A strike-thru is positive.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-9) overall which is a 15 point drop from May (the previous time we did this chart). Not too surprising, since summer on country radio is for mindless beer truck boyfriend songs. The worst song is Florida-Georgia Line’s “I Love My Country” being slightly worse than Kane Brown’s “Cool Again.” The best song is Maddie & Tae’s “Die From a Broken Heart,” which finally hit number 1 after forever on the chart.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country Radio: May 2020

A poop emoji is negative. A strike-thru is positive.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (6) overall which is a 25(!!) point improvement from December (the previous time we did this chart). I wouldn’t say the country chart is more country these days, but the quality has improved by leaps and bounds. There’s more depth. There are more women. The worst song is Florida-Georgia Line’s “I Love My Country.” The best song is Maddie & Tae’s “Die From a Broken Heart,” which has been on the charts for …ever, it seems.

Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.