Whether evoking the villains and creatures of sci-fi and fantasy entertainment or presenting something dark within humanity as a whole, the word “monster” has powerful connotations in art. Songwriters have long been drawn to the word and the imagery that it conjures—but never as much as in the years since 2009.
In that time, several artists (many of them multi-platinum superstars) have released songs titled “Monster” or “The Monster.” In fact, so many songs discussed monster culture that we thought it was necessary to rank them all. Honorable mentions go out to hits with longer titles, like Ne-Yo’s “Beautiful Monster” or Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” From Kanye to Gaga to Eminem, you decide whose “Monster” mash was the biggest graveyard smash.