Beyonce and Post Malone Top 10 Most Songs About Drinking
There are a few schools of thought about how people are influenced by song lyrics that promote drinking. Some are concerned about the impact, especially on younger audiences. They worry that glorifying substance use might normalize or encourage risky behavior.
Then there are those like me who think it’s an artistic expression that people can relate to their own experiences. People also debate about whether the inclusion is driven by commercial motives, intending to appeal to certain audiences.
A recent study was conducted by the alcohol and drug rehab center Lantana Recovery. They analyzed the lyrics of 1100 songs from 2013 to 2023 to count the total drinking and drug-related words. What they learned was that some artists like to sing about it much more than others.
It revealed Drake and Migos as the top artists with the most alcohol and drug references in song lyrics over the past decade, each with 131.
Drake’s song lyrics show that nearly 80% of his top 33 songs contain mentions of drinking and drugs. Migos has an equal amount with 131 drinking and drug-related words appearing in 7 songs from the same decade.
Future ranks third with 109, mostly drug-related. He had 11 songs from the list analyzed, with more than 90% references. Gucci Mane follows with 87 alcohol and drug-related words across four songs. Fifth on the ranking is Grammy-award-winning hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, with a total of 85 mentions of drugs and alcohol.
Post Malone Lands on the List of Most Songs About Drinking
Morgan Wallen, the highest-ranked country singer in the top 10, landed sixth, using alcohol and drug-related words 81 times in 14 songs, with more than 90% referring to the subject. Travis Scott ranks seventh, with 59 alcohol and drug-related words appearing in all his eight songs on the list. Post Malone ranks eighth, with 57 words.
Florida Georgia Line, DJ Khaled, and Megan Thee Stallion are tied for ninth place, each with 51 alcohol and drug-related words. Florida Georgia Line’s eight songs have an 87.5% reference rate, while DJ Khaled’s six songs all reference drinking and drugs.
Other artists in the top 20 were Panic! at the Disco, Luke Combs, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, and Beyonce.
Lindsay Richerson, Lantana Executive Director and recovery health expert says “Music is a mirror of society, often reflecting and amplifying cultural norms and behaviors. The frequent mention of drugs and alcohol in popular songs doesn’t just entertain, it influences. For young listeners, these references can shape perceptions and attitudes toward substance use, potentially normalizing risky behaviors.
They analyzed 1,100 songs from the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 lists from 2013 to 2023 to capture the most popular music of the decade and ensure a diverse and representative dataset. Using a custom analytical tool, they examined the lyrics to identify and count references to alcohol and drugs. It included general terms, specific substance names, brand names, and slang. Each song was checked for these terms, and the results were aggregated to reveal the total mentions across all songs.
Top 10 All-Time Yacht Rock Songs Ranked
July is here and it’s prime season for Yacht Rock Songs. Time to sit back on your yacht, or ummm dingy, and listen to the smooth sounds from the mid-70s to the mid-80s, with temp hopefully right there as well. The seagulls cry the white caps slap against the fiberglass hull, and you hold your glass of buttery chard oh so gently while inspecting those bikinis. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s yachtta do it!
Yeah, But What The Hell Is Yacht Rock?
According to AllMusic, Yacht Rock is a broad music style and aesthetic commonly associated with Soft Rock, one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Drawing on sources such as Smooth Soul, Smooth Jazz, R&B, and Disco. Meanwhile, common stylistic traits include high-quality production, clean vocals, and a focus on light, catchy melodies.[6] The term yacht rock was coined in 2005 by the makers of the online video series Yacht Rock, who connected the music with the popular SoCal leisure activity of boating. It was considered a pejorative term by some music critics.
Furthermore, In 2014, AllMusic‘s Matt Colier identified the “key defining rules of the genre:”
- Keep it smooth, even when it grooves, with more emphasis on the melody than on the beat
- Keep the emotions light, even when the sentiment turns sad (as is so often the case in the world of the sensitive yacht rocksman)
- “Always keep it catchy, no matter how modest or deeply buried in the tracklist the tune happens to be“
So Who Is The Yachtiest Of The Yacht Rockers?
This is 100 percent my own opinion. Top Ten does not leave a lot of room for error. I consider myself a pretty solid Yacht Rocker, and quite the musicologist. However, in the rare case you feel I make a mistake and leave off one of your Yacht Rock favs, have my people call your people and we’ll get together off the coast of Island Beach State Park for some Sangria and Cheese, and a little Yacht Rock, of course!
By The By, Lovey, if you’re looking for the perfect Yacht Rock swag to rock this summer, check this article out!
Plus if you need a place to dry dock and yacht rock, here’s a spot that Yachts every Sunday all summer long!
