Hello, fam! I’ve been really busy with work as of late. When you’re 25 going on 26 (And yes. In case you didn’t know, my birthday is next weekend!), it’s difficult to get a lot of spare time given that I now have a busy schedule. I’m just overwhelmed with a lot of stuff right now. And yet somehow, despite all of this, I still manage to keep reviewing music. I’m just one of those special guys that mostly gets these posts out on time on a consistent basis. Okay, maybe I’m not too special, but you see what I mean. The Grammy Music Awards is tomorrow night, and I’m glad to be off that day because I get to watch all of the performances. I do plan on writing a review of the Grammys, though it may take some time to get those done because like I said, I have a life and I’m working all the time. So if I don’t have it done this week, it might be until next week. Thus, you’ll just have to be patient and bear with me. And yes, I still have the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Review that I’m trying to post. Unfortunately, due to my schedule, I haven’t gotten around to finishing it yet. I promise, I’ll try to have those two posts out sooner or later. I just don’t know when I’ll get those done. But anyway, I’ve said enough. Let’s get down to the action on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown! Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week:
- Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor (#26)
- Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#39) [Spent 9 Weeks At #1] (!!!!!!!!)
- Harry Styles – Kiwi (#45)
- Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#44)
The Countdown:
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (–22)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: Maroon 5 – Wait (+18)
– Next up, we have rapper NF debuting this week with the song that is currently gaining steam right now, by the name of Let You Down. I know some people are not very thrilled by me not liking the song. Allow me to explain why. The chipmunk vocals in some parts of the song just doesn’t sit well with me, and I really don’t like the vocal work from NF either. Sure the lyrical content is great and all, mainly because it talks about a father & son relationship, but how it’s executed is just pretty poor. He doesn’t really show any emotion and the chipmunk vocals blended together in the chorus doesn’t make it any better. I’m sorry, but I’m just not impressed.
– Now that What About Us is about to be out of the picture, P!NK’s next single is about to take its place. Enter Beautiful Trauma, the title track off of her latest album. Once again, P!NK almost never disappoints, and this song is no exception. Her voice shines like always throughout the song, and I love the production in this one. Those who like this can explain more about this one in detail better than I can, but the point is I’m hoping it can be just as successful as its predecessor.
– With the highest debut of the week, we have more Camila Cabello with her second single off of her self-titled album. Enter Never Be The Same. I talked about this one in detail when it debuted on the American Top 40. To sum it up, my concern about this song is her vocals. How she hits those high notes doesn’t sit well with me, especially in the pre-chorus. I’m not too sold on the lyrical content. The production mostly makes up for some of these flaws I just mentioned. Here’s how I view Camila Cabello at this moment. While she does have the potential to be a rising star, I think she needs to work on improving her vocals more, and maybe I’ll probably like this more. But right now, it is what it is for me. I have it in blue for now, but it could change with more listens.
– Let’s first talk about our exits. To start, we have two members of One Direction (Harry and Liam) who have songs that left. Both of their respective songs, Kiwi and Bedroom Floor, deserved better. It’s a shame that Strip That Down became a hit over its successor because it is clearly the better single. As for Kiwi, I’m sad that it left, but at the same time it’s not surprising given that people aren’t really buying into Harry Styles’s music. That said, both of these songs will be missed by me. That leaves us with two other songs. Look What You Made Me Do, as polarizing as it was, is still a favorite of mine and I may be one of the few who actually still likes it. It did get big for a while because of Taylor Swift’s star power. But in the end, people weren’t too fond of it and thus, it failed to become a bigger hit much like her singles off of 1989. While many are throwing a be-gone party over Look What You Made Me Do, I’m not going to be attending. Finally, we have the important exit. After spending a year and two weeks, Shape Of You, Ed Sheeran’s biggest hit of his career, is officially no more. From day one, this song nearly broke many records, in terms of sales, streaming, and airplay. From the first listen, I knew he would have a big hit coming and soon enough, it appeared to be the case. 12 Weeks #1 on Billboard, 10 Weeks on the American Top 40, and 9 Weeks on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. That is an incredible accomplishment. I enjoyed this song from start to finish and I never really got sick of it. I know many people will say that Ed Sheeran is currently overrated, but honestly I can’t help but enjoy his music. Farewell, Shape Of You. You lasted long and hard on this countdown. You will be truly missed.
– So, P!NK is going to perform in the Super Bowl. And guess what? Her hometown team, the Eagles, will be playing in that game. How cool is that to have your hometown team make it to the promised land? It’d be even cooler if her team actually won in the promised land. I watched that game last week against Minnesota and man, they dominated big time. Must be nice to watch them thrash the opposing team.
– Too Good At Goodbyes took a rather big drop down to the bottom 5. Yikes! It’s dying out elsewhere right now, so I won’t be too heartbroken if it leaves us soon.
– Before introducing Dusk Till Dawn, Spyder Harrison mentioned that there are rumors that Zayn is collaborating with Selena Gomez in a new song for the movie Aladdin. It’s too bad that we’ll have to wait until next year to see what these artists have cooking up, because the movie won’t be out until then. Hopefully, their song will be at least to my liking.
– Speaking of Strip That Down, that one needs to go soon. I honestly don’t really know anyone who still supports this.
– I would like to say congrats to Ed Sheeran and his girlfriend on their engagement! Very heartwarming!
– It was cool to hear Symon introduce her single, Lonely Girl. Very rarely do we hear artists introduce their own songs on the countdown.
– Before introducing What Lovers Do, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Adam Levine is rocking his platinum hair, mainly because his wife seems to love it so much. He is known for having dark hair pretty much for most of his life, but I guess his wife loved his blonde hair so much he decided to dye it for her. I’ll be she’s hoping that he keeps it that way. That said, with his song dropping big this week, it looks like this may be the end as its successor is starting to gain steam, and I’ll talk more about it in a bit. But yeah, it did have a good run, so props to that.
– So, Justin Timberlake has been married to his wife for five years? I probably knew that he was with Jessica Biel, but I’m quite surprised that their marriage lasted that long. If only most of the other celebrities would at least take a page from his book, heh.
– Before introducing River, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Ed Sheeran brought three houses, and he’s apparently looking to build an estate. I wonder will it be the start of something big? Maybe Michael Jackson’s Neverland perhaps, or something else? Hmm…no one knows, but I’m interested to see what he has up his sleeve.
– I thought Too Much To Ask would be another moderate hit for Niall Horan after jumping to #7 last week. But that doesn’t appear to be the case, as it fell out of the Top 10 quickly down to #22 this week. Looks like the end for this song is near.
– Finesse taking a big jump this week? Yes, please! Now how about getting in the Top 10, or even better, the Top 5? Please Hits 1, make it happen!
– However, I’m not thrilled to see Wait take a big jump as well. Of course, because this is Maroon 5, I unfortunately expect it to be here for a while, so I’ll just have to learn to put up with it.
– Not surprised to see Hold Me Tight Or Don’t make a rebound this week given that their album was released this past week. I wonder how long will the hype last? Hmm….
– And yet somehow, Believer is still hanging around in the teens. My goodness, this song’s longevity is just great. Also, Spyder Harrison mentioned during its introduction that Dan Reynolds has a upcoming documentary named after the song title. I’m interested to see what happened during their hiatus from music in between albums.
– Ahead Of Myself made a nice recovery back into the teens this week after some unnecessary drops. Here’s to hoping it continues its upward trajectory and eventually become another hit for the X Ambassadors like its two previous representations. And the guest DJ that introduced the song was from Niagara Falls. Very cool, and I still have yet to visit that place. I’m hoping someday that I’ll be able to take a vacation there. I’ll bet it has some cool stuff going on!
– It’s good to see Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves making it back into the Top 10. Hopefully, it can enter the Top 5, or even better hit #1 at some point.
– How Long dropped out of the Top 5 relatively quickly. I thought it would potentially be #1 this week with how much I’ve been hearing it lately. Close, but no dice.
– On that note, we have two Top 5 entrants this week. Both End Game and Good Old Days are making their arrival, the former which may potentially end up being an elusive hit for Taylor Swift. The entrant from Good Old Days was pretty unexpected, but I’m happy to see that it’s doing pretty well right now. Could that have the potential to be #1 in the near future? Let us hope.
– And of course, Thunder holds the top spot, which means the constant change of our #1 stops right here. A part of me wishes that we kept the streak going, seeing as some people are starting to hate this one now. But me and some others beg to differ.
Hit-Bound:
- Sofi Tukker featuring NERVO, Alisa Ueno, and The Knocks – Best Friend
- Troye Sivan – My My My!
- Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels – I Miss You
- The Chainsmokers – Sick Boy
- Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (DEBUT)
- Post Malone – I Fall Apart (DEBUT)
- All Time Low – Last Young Renegade
- Wild Things – Don’t Wanna Feel It (DEBUT)
- Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (DEBUT)
- Alan Walker featuring Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
- AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
- Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
- Kesha featuring The Dap–Kings Horns – Woman
- Spencer – Whatever
– We have four new songs entering Hit-Bound this week. Let’s get the displeasing debut out of the way, first. With Rockstar being as big as it was, I’m not surprised to see Post Malone follow-up with another single in its stead. Enter I Fall Apart. I know many people are tired of hearing me rant about his music, but honestly I’m not fond of his music. While it’s slightly better than Rockstar, it’s still something I can’t get on board with. Sorry. I’ll talk more when it debuts.
– I’ll talk more about the other two debuts (Live In The Moment and Don’t Wanna Feel It) some other time. Right now, let’s dive in to Zedd’s latest single, which seems to be getting too much hate from some mainly because it’s basically Stay 2.0. But not me, because I very much enjoyed Stay for a while, though I’ll admit Get Low was pretty mediocre. His new single, The Middle features country star Maren Morris. Now right off the bat, I like Maren’s voice in this one and like Alessia Cara, she pretty much shines throughout the song. Sure, Zedd has done better and this is not his best song, but that doesn’t mean I can’t support this. I know I may feel very alone with this opinion, but I don’t care right now because I like it. I’ll have more on this when it debuts.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
20. Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
19. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
1 – Bad:
18. Lauv – I Like Me Better
17. Maroon 5 – Wait
2 – Mediocre:
None!
3 – Decent:
16. Imagine Dragons – Believer
4 – Good:
15. Charlie Puth – How Long
14. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
5 – Great:
13. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
12. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
11. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
10. X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
9. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
8. Halsey – Bad At Love
7. Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future – End Game
6. Dua Lipa – New Rules
5. Camila Cabello – Havana
4. G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I
3. Walk The Moon – One Foot
2. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
1. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
Most Missed Hit-Bound Drop-Out: Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl
TIE: 1. Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. – Finesse (Remix)
3. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
4. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
5. Walk The Moon – One Foot
2. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
3. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
4. Lauv – I Like Me Better
5. Maroon 5 – Wait
None!
QOTW: Who do you want to win “Song Of The Year” in this year’s Grammy Music Awards and describe to me in sentences why do you want that song to win?
Music Reviews + More 
Chris Stapleton is performing once again.
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Logic and Alessia Cara are performing the song about suicide.
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24K Magic wins yet again. This time for \”Album Of The Year\”!
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A well deserved win. Honestly, I would've been 100% fine with any of them winning.Also, I'm wearing my t-shirt that I got from his 24K Magic tour while all this is going on. It may be total coincidence but it fits this perfectly!
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I wish I had that shirt. Boy, I need to get one of those.
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Quick notes on the Grammys:- Kendrick had a great opening. One of the best performances.- Lady Gaga and Sam Smith had enjoyable performances as well.- BS how Shape of You won for Pop Solo Performance over Praying, Million Reasons, and even What About Us. I would've loved to see Kesha win.- Childish Gambino's performance was actually pretty good.- The performance of Finesse was pretty good, but Cardi B looked awful.- I loved P!nk's performance.- The amount of times I heard The Middle tonight just made me hate the song more.- I loved the performance from DJ Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller. Wild Thoughts is still a favorite of mine.- Kesha's performance was amazing. I love how she brought Bebe Rexha, Camila Cabello, Andra Day, Cyndi Lauper, and Julia Michaels.- Logic, Alessia Cara, and Khalid had the best performance of the night in my opinion.I would've loved to have seen 1-800 win Song of the Year with how moving it was. It definitely had the best songwriting out of all the nominations. I'm not surprised it didn't win, but I still had hope.And I think Kendrick should've won Record of the Year and Album of the Year. But oh well. I'm happy for Bruno.
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I agree with his last two statements.
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Alright, guys. I've got the Billboard Hot 100 so far for this week. Here it is:1. God's Plan by Drake (DEBUT)2. Perfect by Ed Sheeran3. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug4. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage5. Finesse (Remix) by Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B.6. Bad At Love by Halsey7. Diplomatic Immunity by Drake (DEBUT)8. New Rules by Dua Lipa9. Thunder by Imagine Dragons10. No Limit by G-Eazy featuring ASAP Rocky and Cardi B.
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So, God's Plan did debut at #1. Chase was actually right for once.Also, Thunder is probably going to stick around for a while even after dropping.
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Of course God's Plan would debut at #1, it's streaming was incredible, and it was #1 on sales and Spotify with big gaps, I don't see how one could not think it wouldn't debut at #1.
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I guess I was thinking about how it was doing on radio compared to other songs., not streaming and sales.
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Yeah, streaming is king now. Billboard doesn't really care that much about radio (at least not as much as they used to).
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It's not that Billboard doesn't care, it's just they want to be really acurate with their formula and with the addition on Soundcloud and Pandora being added, they weighted streaming far too much and even critics have pointed out that they need to weigh more for sales and airplay and weigh a little less on streaming.
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