Hello friends, and Happy (early) Halloween! Welcome to the spooky world of the American Top 40! What scary things await us on this week’s countdown, you ask? You’ll just have to read and find out for yourself! Let’s get right into the spooky business of things, shall we? Now, this week was much better than last week, in a way. Despite having an iffy class of entrants, our #1 definitely excites me. And we did get some activity, so I’ll take that. Now, with that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week:

• Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
  Last Week: #40 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 40

• Something Different by Why Don’t We
  Last Week: #35 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

40. Do Re Mi by Blackbear (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

39. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #38 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 33

38. Why by Sabrina Carpenter [+1]
Last Week: #39 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

37. That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #36 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 38

36. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

35. It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #34 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 34

34. Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller [-11]
Last Week: #23 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 17

33. Now Or Never by Halsey [-1]
Last Week: #32 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 27

32. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo [+1]
Last Week: #33 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

31. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B. [+6]
Last Week: #37 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

30. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt [+1]
Last Week: #31 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

29. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt [-2]
Last Week: #27 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

28. Perfect by Ed Sheeran [+2]
Last Week: #30 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

27. Love So Soft by Kelly Clarkson [+1]
Last Week: #28 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

26. Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey [-6]
Last Week: #20 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14

25. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara [-3] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #22 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 33

24. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash [+2]
Last Week: #26 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

23. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William [+2]
Last Week: #25 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

22. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug [+7]
Last Week: #29 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

21. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee [-4] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #17 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

20. Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® [-7]
Last Week: #13 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

19. New Rules by Dua Lipa [+2]
Last Week: #21 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

18. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift [+1]
Last Week: #19 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

17. Thunder by Imagine Dragons [+7]
Last Week: #24 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

16. Bad At Love by Halsey [+2]
Last Week: #18 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

15. Believer by Imagine Dragons [-1]
Last Week: #14 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

14. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith [+2]
Last Week: #16 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

13. What About Us by P!NK [+2]
Last Week: #15 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

12. Praying by Kesha [=]
Last Week: #12 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 12

11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA [=]
Last Week: #11 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

10. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes [-3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #7 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

9. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee [+1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 15

8. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid [+1]
Last Week: #9 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 15

7. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato [-1]
Last Week: #6 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

6. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato [+2]
Last Week: #8 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

5. Attention by Charlie Puth [-2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #3 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

4. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man [=]
Last Week: #4 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

3. Slow Hands by Niall Horan [-1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #2 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

2. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #1 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 19

1. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift [+4] [FIRST WEEK AT #1!!!]
Last Week: #5 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (3rd Of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller (-11)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Tie between Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug & Thunder by Imagine Dragons (+7)

New Entrants
– Our first of two new entrants this week comes from Blackbear with the single Do Re Mi. To put it simply, I can’t say I’m a fan of this one. It’s basically him trying to be like Eminem and it just doesn’t work. Also, the production seems uninteresting, and I’m not sold on the lyrical content either. My opinion could change, but I doubt it. Here’s to hoping it leaves us soon.

– Blech. We have more Post Malone with the song I’m sure many you are expecting me to thrash big time. His new single is titled Rockstar, which features 21 Savage. I’ll admit, it’s better than the atrocious mess that is of Congratulations, but it’s still undesirable by any means. Now the production and the vocals are actually somewhat tolerable, hence why it’s not the worst rap song I’ve ever heard. But it’s the lyrical content that brings the song way down for me, much like all the other mainstream rap songs nowadays. I’m pretty pissed that this was #1 on Billboard for two weeks. And unfortunately, it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. I’m going to be honest here: why can’t we have artists like Lorde flood the charts instead? Or Rachel Platten, who had just recently released her new album Waves? Heck, I’d much rather have Meghan Trainor (or Meghan Meghans, as a certain someone I won’t name would call her) flood the charts just for one week. Anyway, I have a bad feeling it’s going to have a long stay here, so I’m preparing for the worst.

‘Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Blurbs
– So, we had two exits this week, including the all-important one, and we’ll get to that in a bit. To start, we lost Something Different by Why Don’t We, which I had just started to grow into recently, but I knew it wouldn’t last long here. Then, there’s the all-important exit: Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran. That one had an incredible run on most charts, including this one, where it spent 10 weeks at the top. Although I do like some of his singles off of Divide better, it was good to see this one becoming his biggest hit of his career. While I know some people are rejoicing over its departure, I’m not one of them. Farewell, Shape Of You. Thank you for your time on this countdown. You will be missed.

– This is the third straight week in which Wild Thoughts took the biggest drop this week. Zoinks! Talk about a hard fall. Keep in mind that this was in the Top 10 earlier this month.

– I’m not too thrilled about the jump from Bodak Yellow (Money Moves). However, it’s nice to see Thunder jumping into the Top 20 this week. I would like to see that one in the Top 10 soon, which I’m sure it will given that it’s still gaining a lot of steam elsewhere and it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

– Also, we have Havana making a big jump. Something tells me Camila Cabello may have her first hit as a solo artist. Personally, I’d be okay with it, since I’ve started to slightly grow into this song recently.

– So, if you haven’t heard, Justin Timberlake will be performing in Super Bowl LII. It’s been a while since he’s done one, back in 2004 when the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” occurred while performing with Janet Jackson. I wonder will he perform his new single, or just play his biggest hits? We don’t know yet. We’ll just have to wait and see.

– So, I just recently watched the music video for …Ready For It?, and I must say: it was pretty cool for the most part. I won’t really talk about it in detail, but it seems like Taylor Swift is stepping up her music video game big time. Now, I wonder will some of the other artists follow her path and at least try to make a cool music video like Taylor is doing right now? Only time will tell on that.

– I was thinking Feel It Still would have a shot at #1 this week, but that didn’t appear to be the case, as a certain artist has leapfrogged everyone else in the Top 5. I’m sure it’ll get there soon enough. Again, as I’ve said before, it’s nice to see indie songs of this caliber catching on to the audience.

– Speaking of which, we’ve come to our #1! Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift has finally made it to the top spot! If I do say so myself, it’s quite an unusual, but stand-out track for her that at least got some recognition because hey, it’s Taylor Swift. I’m not sure how the rest of her album sounds yet as we have to wait two more weeks until it drops. Still, I’m definitely thrilled about that #1 this week!

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Find You by Nick Jonas
• Young, Dumb, & Broke by Khalid
• He Like That by Fifth Harmony

My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt
TIE: 1. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William
3. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo
4. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B.
5. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage