– To kick off this week’s new arrivals, we have a debut that I was not looking forward to at all. This is one that I’m sure many of you are expecting me to thrash big time.
Post Malone makes his first-ever appearance on the countdown along with newcomer
21 Savage with the song called
Rockstar. If I’m being honest, I never thought Hits 1 would pick up a song of this caliber, seeing as they don’t care for rap/hip-hop. But alas, here it is. When I first talked about
Body Like A Back Road, a song that continues to test my patience (and many others as well), when it debuted back in June, I’ve said that it is an embarrassment to the country genre. I won’t rant anymore about that song right now. I’ve pretty much said what I needed to say about
Body Like A Back Road (at least until I do my Year-End posts). Let’s just get into reviewing
Rockstar. This song is another representation of just how bad the quality of rap music has been in recent years. I’m pretty sure you can figure out why I don’t like it. The production is flat-out bad across the board, the lyrical content is really stupid like all of today’s rap music, and the vocals, while somewhat tolerable, aren’t good. I am honestly just as shocked as you are that Hits 1 would pick up something like this. The fact that it has spent 6 annoying weeks at #1 on Billboard is very disappointing, and unfortunately it’s destined to spend another week there (and maybe more, since the music video has just dropped). That alone is bad enough, but making matters much, MUCH worse is that we have song even worse than
Rockstar that I won’t mention currently sitting at #3 has the potential to be the next #1 in the near future. At this point in time, I really start to question why America is making these two big hits when they’re horrible on so many levels. I don’t care if it’s streaming that made them this way, and I don’t even care if it’s doing well in sales. Either way, it’s making the rap genre look bad, and it’s sad because I used to like rap music. But time and time again, it’s all the same because of either the stupid lyrical content, the lazy production, or both. It really makes me sad that people would prefer to listen to this over the lovely
Rachel Platten, whose album just recently came out last month mind you. Or
Lorde, who had an amazing lead single which not only failed to graduate Hit-Bound, but was a huge flop elsewhere, along with the rest of her sophomore album. Or maybe
Carly Rae Jepsen, who’s music is great but is severely underrated for whatever reason still unbeknownst to me. Or maybe someone like
Ellie Goulding perhaps. Heck, I’ll even take
Meghan Trainor for the matter. Sorry everyone, but as strange as it may seem, I’d much rather, and I’m going to emphasize:
I’D MUCH RATHER have
Meghan Trainor flood the charts than these two songs sitting at #3 and #1 (though, I’ll admit her last album wasn’t good). That’s saying a whole lot. I’m sorry guys if this is a long rant, but I felt it was necessary. Anyway, I’ve pretty much said enough about this song, and seeing as Hits 1 does not care for rap or hip-hop, it looks destined to not last long. Hopefully, I am right because this song is just a dumpster fire.
– On a more positive note, there’s a debut that I’m sure many of you expected to happen, and it’s much, MUCH better than the debut that I just finished talking about. I’m very pleased to see that it’s the highest debut of the week. Selena Gomez makes her return once more. Making its debut at #20, her new single is titled Wolves, which features Marshmello, a new EDM artist trying to make his presence known in the music business. As far as Selena Gomez goes in terms of her music, it has been quite a mixed bag for many. Earlier this year, she brought us her amazing collaboration with Kygo in It Ain’t Me. But after that, she also brought us Bad Liar and Fetish, both of which were very disappointing singles to say the least. When I first heard that she was doing a collaboration with Marshmello, I’m sure many had low expectations coming in, especially after they were jaded big time by her two awful songs I just mentioned. I myself pretty much felt the same way. In fact, even before she seemed to go downhill with her music (with the exception of It Ain’t Me), some have questioned the quality of her music, especially after her last album, Revival, was seen by some as just simply not a good album. After listening to Wolves in full, I was impressed with how it turned out. Based on my initial reaction, I felt this was a good song and I had said that this is something that Selena Gomez should be doing at this point in time, and not her sultry tracks that I just talked about. However, after repeated listens and paying more attention to the lyrics, I have fallen madly in love with the song. I’ll make it simple: this song is amazing. IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Simply put, this song is divine in every sense of the word. Let me be honest for a second: Selena is definitely a talented artist and she does have a great voice. It’s just a matter of how she uses it and overall, she does an excellent job here. Her vocals are absolutely spot on, especially in the chorus where she shines. Some of the other great things about this song is the pre-chorus leading up to the chorus. And then after the chorus comes the best part about the song: the beat drop. The recently released music video for this song may not seem like much, but I’ve got to say, she looks stunning. In terms of the lyrical content, it talks about a journey to love, basically what Selena has been doing recently. If you’ve been keeping up with social media, you’ve probably have heard stories about her relationship with The Weeknd, who have since split and now has started to hang out with Justin Bieber. Heh, I’m guessing it’s been quite a struggle for Selena to find a long-term relationship. Hopefully, she can be able to pick and choose the right man. Anyway, this song is near-flawless from start to finish and is easily the best debut of the week by a landslide. While it unfortunately isn’t eligible for My Top 45 Songs of 2017, it’s an early front-runner for my best song of 2018 so far. I’m overjoyed to see it graduate from Hit-Bound and make the countdown, and I’m hoping it can do well because frankly, it deserves it.
I’ve Been Blurbing With The Wolves To Get To You
– So, we say good-bye to two songs: one of which was not popular elsewhere, and the other was a flop. Sweat had been a grower for me the first few weeks it was here, and I had just started to slightly enjoy it. Given that The All-American Rejects have not been relevant since their last big hit, I shouldn’t be surprised to see this one go. The other exit is Friends. I thought Justin Bieber was going to have another hit, but it did not catch on to the audience and it instead decided to flop. With many are still sick of him especially after they were jaded big time by Despacito getting overplayed, I probably should’ve seen it coming.
– It was expected that Thunder would reclaim the top spot sooner or later, given that it’s still a monster in both sales & radio. But hey, I’m cool with it, since I still enjoy this song.
– Meanwhile, Bad At Love has reached a new peak at #2. While I prefer some other songs in the Top 5, I do see some potential in it reaching the spot at some point. I underestimated by how well this would do on the charts. I think Bad At Love is a better choice for #1 over her predecessor, Now Or Never. So if this hits #1, I’ll be okay with it.
– Next in line, we have Perfect holding at #3. I was thinking it would be #1 after that big jump last week, but I was proven wrong. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up getting there, since it’s sales are gaining and it’s gaining traction on radio as well. Plus, Hits 1 still loves to play some Ed Sheeran, so it helps.
– For the second week in a row, we have two Top 5 entrants this week. The first being Havana, which was honored the Biggest Jump Of The Week for the second time during its tenure. After struggling for the first few weeks after its debut, it has managed to gain some ground. It’s good to see this one becoming Camila’s biggest hit thus far into her solo career.
– Our other Top 5 entrant comes from What Lovers Do. It was destined to enter that region eventually, given that most Maroon 5 singles have been in the Top 5. I won’t be too surprised if this hits #1, and I’ll be perfectly fine with it, since it’s better than the other two representations they had earlier this year.
– Ouch! This didn’t last long; What About Us dropped out of the Top 5 very quickly after hitting #1, much like Sorry Not Sorry did last week. I guess Hits 1 though 1 week at #1 for these songs were too much, heh.
– It’s hard to believe that Believer is still in the Top 20, given that it lost popularity a long time ago. Also, Spyder Harrison mentioned upon its introduction that Dan Reynolds talked about sexual harassment during his speech at the American Music Awards. It’s good to see someone speak out about the issue, especially since it’s been popping up on the news in recent weeks.
– Before introducing Let Me Go, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Hailee Steinfeld has her birthday coming up and yet, she hasn’t decided on what to do for her celebration. I’m guessing she wants to do something big. Maybe throw a big party, perhaps?
– The guest DJ that introduced Feel It Still gave a shout-out to her fiancé. She told Spyder Harrsion that they plan on having their wedding next year. I wonder will Spyder attend?
– Before introducing Too Good At Goodbyes, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Sam Smith thanks Rihanna for being an inspiration by being unapologetically herself. It’s nice to see an artist be an inspiration to someone who has made his mark in the music industry. That said, I’m not thrilled about Too Good At Goodbyes taking a shocking big drop out of the Top 10.
– Speaking of drops, this is the first time Save Me A Place is not in the Top 20. It had a good run there while it lasted, so props to that.
– And I Like Me Better is back to square one, as it took a tumble back down to its debut position at #31. That which I’m fine with since it’s just simply not a good song in my opinion.
– Looks like this is the end of 1-800-273-8255 after that big drop down to the bottom 5. While Hits 1 didn’t really treat it as well as I had hoped, at least it made it here, which I’m happy about. Fun fact: this is the second week in a row in which both the Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! and Jump Of The Week moved the exact same number of spots.
– On that note, our Bottom 5 consists of 3 songs that have been here for a long while, one that wasn’t popular elsewhere, and the other which I talked about was pretty underrated on Hits 1 despite its huge popularity.
Hit-Bound:
UPDATE: Here’s this week’s edition of Hit-Bound:
- Nick Jonas – Find You
- X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
- WØLVES – Animal (DEBUT)
- Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
- P!NK – Beautiful Trauma (DEBUT)
- Bruno Mars – Chunky
- Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels – I Miss You (DEBUT)
- Harry Styles – Kiwi
- Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
- Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
- Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor
- Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future – End Game (DEBUT)
- Walk The Moon – One Foot
- Sofi Tukker – Best Friend
– We had two songs leaving us on Hit-Bound. The first being P!NK featuring Eminem – Revenge, which only spent two weeks here, though I’m sure it’ll be a single somewhere down the road. The other was Taylor Swift – Gorgeous, which was a promo single off of her new album, reputation.
– To start our new round of arrivals, we have newcomer WØLVES making their appearance with their debut single, Animal. This one sounds pretty fun, and I love the production throughout. That’s all I’ve got for this song for right now.
– As one song from P!NK departs from Hit-Bound, another comes to take its place. Enter Beautiful Trauma, the title track off her album and it’s her second single. Right off the bat, her voice shines a little more than its predecessor, and I do like the chorus. Since this is being pushed as her second single, it’s almost certain to debut on the countdown at some point. So I’ll have more words about it later on.
– I’m sure most people here weren’t looking forward to hearing from Julia Michaels again, especially after Issues was not to anyone’s liking and Uh Huh thankfully flopped and didn’t take off. Here, she is collaborating with Clean Bandit in their single titled I Miss You. It wasn’t too long ago since we’ve heard from Clean Bandit, what with Rockabye becoming a big hit earlier this year. Much like I talked about with Wolves when it made its debut, this is something Julia Michaels should be doing at this point, given she’s not that good of a solo artist (at least not yet). She sounds much better in this track, and the production is solid too. I’ll talk more about it should it make the countdown.
– Finally, we come to possibly the next single off of Taylor Swift’s new album, reputation. Enter End Game, which features Ed Sheeran and Future. I’m sure many are cringing about Future being included in this track, and I am too, given that most of Future’s music reeks. When I first heard about a possible collaboration between these two artists, I was afraid of what I was getting into. To say the least, after listening to this song in full, it’s actually not bad. Future actually sounds decent. And I do love how their vocals blend together. With this being the next single, it’s going to debut on the countdown soon. So, I’ll talk much more about this later on.
– So, I decided to give Best Friend another listen, and there was something about this song worth mentioning. It kinda sounds like the theme song from The Fairly Oddparents TV series, which I used to watch back in the day. Probably one of my favorite cartoons back then.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
2. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
4. Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future – End Game
5. Walk The Moon – One Foot
YouTube 15:
It’s been a while since I’ve done the YouTube 15. Let’s get right into it, shall we? Here are the songs trending this week:
- Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
- Madison Beer – Say It To My Face
- Avicii featuring Rita Ora – Lonely Together
- Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
- Maggie Lindemann – Obsessed
- Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
- Steve Aoki featuring Lauren Jauregui – All Night
- Ed Sheeran – Perfect
- Calvin Harris featuring Kehlani and Lil’ Yatchy – Faking It
- Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
- Jack & Jack – Beg
- Imagine Dragons – Thunder
- Alan Walker featuring Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
- Camila Cabello – Havana
- Parson James – Only You
– First off, we’ll begin with Madison Beer with her new single titled Say It To My Face. I’ll say that it’s better than her predecessor, in part because I like the acoustic guitar in this one, and there’s a little more going on in terms of the production.
– Next, we have Maggie Lindemann with her new single titled Obsessed. To say the least, it’s pretty fun and upbeat. I do love the groove in this one. That’s all I’ve got right now.
– We have more Steve Aoki, this time collaborating with Fifth Harmony member Lauren Jauregui in their new single, All Night. Let me be straight up right now: this song is absolutely FANTASTIC in EVERY sense of the word, period. I love Lauren’s vocals all throughout, and the production is very well done. Steve Aoki impress yet again, much like with his previous single, Just Hold On. Both of these artists have managed to win me over with this song.
– Next up, we have Jack & Jack with the song called Beg. Right off the bat, I can’t I really care for this one, mainly because of the production. However, I do like their vocals. While it’s not bad, I’ve heard better.
– Noah Cyrus is back again. This time, she’s collaborating with Alan Walker and Digital Farm Animals in the song titled All Falls Down. Really, it’s Noah’s vocals that bring the song down for me some, though she has slightly improved since the rotten Again, which thankfully did not become a hit. Everything else about this one is pretty solid, though.
– Finally, we come to Parson James with Only You. I do somewhat like the guy’s vocals, and the lyrical content is pretty decent. While not as upbeat as some of the other songs, at least this is one I can listen to every once in a while.
– So, I recently watched the music video for Ed Sheeran – Perfect, and…it was pretty good overall. It tells a story about him falling in love with the girl. I like the ending when they finally get together.
My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Steve Aoki featuring Lauren Jauregui – All Night
2. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
3. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
4. Avicii featuring Rita Ora – Lonely Together
5. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
None!
1 – Bad:
None!
2 – Mediocre:
None!
3 – Decent:
20. Imagine Dragons – Believer
19. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises
18. Halsey – Bad At Love
17. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
16. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
4 – Good:
15. Camila Cabello – Havana
14. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
13. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still
5 – Great:
12. Charlie Puth – How Long
11. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask
10. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
9. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
8. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
7. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
6. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
5. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
4. P!NK – What About Us
3. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying
Overall Grade: 89/100 (B+)
Throwback Pick Of The Week: Gloria Estefan – Anything For You (1988)
Most Missed Countdown Song: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass (Seriously, guys. You think I care if you despise Meghan Trainor so much? Or this song for the matter? Honestly, it just makes me sad that people can’t seem to appreciate this because I really really like it. :/)
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kygo featuring OneRepulic – Stranger Things
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful
My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying
TIE: 1. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
3. Taylor Swift – … Ready For It?
4. P!NK – What About Us
5. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
2. Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
3. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
4. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
5. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Train – Play That Song: Sorry, Train, but no one wants to play a song that is just as stiff all around as the horrible Hey, Soul Sister. Honestly, I’d much prefer when they did songs like Drive By and 50 Ways To Say Goodbye.
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