Hello, fam! For those who are unaware, My 50,000 Pageview Special has finally been posted. If you haven’t already, feel free to check it out right here. Now with that finally out of the way, I now send you to this week’s Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. Simply put, this was a great week to close out the month of February. We had plenty of activity going on. We had two familiar faces returning, songs moving all over the place, and an unexpected new #1, which I’m totally cool with! Let’s get down to the action! Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, we say good-bye to the songs leaving us this week:
- Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask (#28)
- Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#41)
The Countdown:
44. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#44) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
43. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#42) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
42. Kesha – Praying (#39) [–3]
41. Louis Tomlinson – Miss You (#40) [–1]
40. Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar (#31) [–9]
39. P!NK – What About Us (#43) [+4] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
38. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#33) [–5] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
37. Symon – Lonely Girl (#36) [–1]
36. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#34) [–2]
35. WØLVES – Animal (#30) [–5]
34. Dua Lipa – New Rules (#23) [–11]
33. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#37) [+4] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
32. Troye Sivan – My My My! (#35) [+3]
31. Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton – Say Something (#38)[+7]
30. The Chainsmokers – Sick Boy (DEBUT)
29. All Time Low – Last Young Renegade (#26) [–3]
28. The Weeknd featuring Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (DEBUT)
27. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#21) [–6]
26. Camila Cabello – Havana (#27) [+1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
25. Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran and Future – End Game (#15) [–10] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
24. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#16) [–8]
23. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#24) [+1]
22. Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. – Finesse (Remix) (#14) [–8]
21. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#22) [Spent 3 Weeks At #1] [+1]
20. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#13) [–7]
19. AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#32) [+13] (…)
18. Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran – River (#29) [+11]
17. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t (#19) [+2]
16. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#18) [+2]
15. Maroon 5 – Wait (#17) [+2]
14. G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I (#25) [+11]
13. P!NK – Beautiful Trauma (#11) [–2]
12. NF – Let You Down (#10) [–2]
11. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#12) [+1]
10. X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself (#9) [–1]
9. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves (#6) [–3]
8. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#7) [–1]
7. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (#20) [+13]
6. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#5) [Spent 2 Weeks At #1] [–1]
5. Halsey – Bad At Love (#2) [Spent 2 Weeks At #1] [–3]
4. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#4) [=]
3. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#3) [=] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
2. Charlie Puth – How Long (#1) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Dua Lipa – New Rules (–11)
Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up and Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (+13)
– We have two new songs debuting this week that I’ll be covering. First, let’s begin with the return of The Chainsmokers. It wasn’t too long ago that they brought us Something Just Like This, which became a huge hit last year. That one was easily a favorite in the blogging community and also one of my favorites from last year. This week, they bring us one of their latest releases, in the form of Sick Boy. It’s pretty different than what we’re getting from these guys, but Andrew Taggart still shows what he is capable of as a singer. When I hear the chorus, he sounds a bit like Tyler Joseph from TWENTY ØNE PILØTS. This song basically talks about being political, when paying attention to the lyrical content. I won’t go into more detail about it. Overall, it’s a great song.
– For our second debut this week, we have The Weeknd making his return, also. This time, he’s collaborating with Kendrick Lamar in their latest single, Pray For Me. This is from the Black Panther movie soundtrack. As I said before, I watched the movie and it was really good. I highly recommend it. Anyway, Pray For Me pretty much sounds like Starboy in terms of the production. The Weeknd sounds great throughout the song, and Kendrick does a very good job with his verse. I do love the lyrics about wanting to be a hero and sacrificing for the world. Simply put, I’m in love with this solid track. I have a feeling it’s going to be another hit for these guys, and I certainly wouldn’t mind that because it’s a really good song.
– As always, we begin with our exits. First off, …Ready For It? makes its departure, and despite me growing out of it, I’ll still remember it as one of my favorites from Taylor Swift. It was definitely a banger that I enjoyed. Second, we also say good-bye to Too Much To Ask. I thought Slow Hands would leave first, seeing as that one has been here for a long time. But I guess I was wrong.
– Nice to see Rockstar tumble down to near the Bottom 5 this week. Now I’m hoping that this song gets out soon, like right now.
– The guest DJ that introduced What About Us gave a shout-out to her son, who’s 16th Birthday was this week! How very nice! I hope he enjoys his birthday presents!
– It’s too bad that New Rules isn’t getting the recognition it deserves on Hits 1, what with it sitting at #34 after that big drop. Meanwhile, it’s #1 on the American Top 40 for two weeks in a row. Goes to show that this countdown is different from the other charts, such as Billboard.
– Of course, that big piece of garbage known as Sober Up would take a big jump this week, especially when the other two debuts from last week we’re more deserving of it. I don’t get the appeal to this. This song is what a certain blogger would like to call an “insta-station changer”. I’m hoping it’ll flop soon, but that’s not very likely at this point.
– We have two other songs jumping into the Top 20 this week. River I don’t mind too much, though I am starting to lose interest in it. Him & I, on the other hand, I’m greatly happy about. Let’s hope that one continues to gain steam.
– On the note of other big jumps, we have The Middle making its entrance in the Top 10. I’m definitely pleased by this. I’ve been enjoying it a lot more as of late and it’s becoming a huge favorite of mine at this moment. It’s good to see this one is catching on quick. Now I’m really hoping it can be #1 soon. Is that too much to ask?
– Speaking of which, we have a new #1 this week! Macklemore and Kesha both achieved their #1 with Good Old Days! I honestly did not think it would be a big hit on this countdown, but I have no complaints about it at all. It’s definitely a more meaningful song and I’m greatly appreciated that it got the top spot! I would like to thank the voters who pushed this song to #1! It’s definitely a candidate for My Top 10 or maybe Top 5 songs of 2018.
Hit-Bound:
- Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment
- Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends (DEBUT)
- Keala Settle – This Is Me
- Thirty Seconds To Mars – Walk On Water (DEBUT)
- Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (DEBUT)
- Kesha featuring The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman
- Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore, Dan Caplen – These Days
- Welshly Arms – Legendary
- Khalid – Young, Dumb, And Broke
- Bazzi – Mine (DEBUT)
- Wild Things – Don’t Wanna Feel It
- Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
- Niall Horan – On The Loose
- Alan Walker featuring Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
- 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back (DEBUT)
– But first, we have two debuts from last week that I didn’t get to cover. Let’s start with Niall Horan, who has a new single from his album Flicker, titled On The Loose. Right off the bat, this is definitely something different from the acoustic tracks we’re accustomed to. It’s more upbeat and the production is pretty amazing. Niall does showcase his vocal talent. I’ll have more on this when it debuts.
– Then, we have the return of Rudimental. Three years ago, they brought us Lay It All On Me, which featured Ed Sheeran. I pretty much enjoyed that song. This time around, they’re collaborating with Macklemore, Dan Caplen, and Jess Glynne in their single These Days. I love the production in this one, and all of the artists make nice contribution, especially Jess Glynne and Macklemore, who pretty much shine throughout the song. Not too much else I can say outside of that.
– Now this week, we have five debuts on Hit-Bound. First up, we have Marshmello with his latest single titled Friends, which features Anne-Marie. I can’t say I’m loving this one too much. Anne-Marie sounds a little underwhelming here, though the production is nice. I feel like Wolves is the better song. It might grow on me with more listens, but I don’t know yet.
– This next debut is one I’m sure some are delighted about. Thirty Seconds To Mars make their return with the single titled Walk On Water. I gave it a couple of listens this week and I was quite impressed. The chorus is really good and I like the production. Well, pretty much everything about this works. More details on this when it makes its debut.
– Oh, this is just great. More Post Malone is all we needed. And this time, he replaces himself on Hit-Bound with his latest release, titled Psycho. I know most of you are tired of hearing me rant about his music. But time and time again, he’s proven to me that he sucks, period. Again, I went into this one with an open mind and it’s just not working for me at all. Ty Dolla $ign, who is featured in the song, hardly adds anything to the mix. More on this when it debuts. Hopefully it doesn’t become a massive hit, because my reaction will NOT be pretty.
– We have newcomer Bazzi, who makes his first appearance with his debut single, by the name of Mine. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. The production is pretty good, but everything else is okay for the most part. I’ll have to give it more listens.
– Finally, we have the big return of one of Hits 1’s favorites. 5 Seconds Of Summer make their comeback with their latest release titled Want You Back. We haven’t heard from these guys since Girls Talks Boys back in 2016, which was really not to anyone’s liking. Their new single, Want You Back, is different from what we’re used to hearing from them. It’s almost certain to make its debut next week, and by then I’ll have more details on it.
– So, in case anyone is wondering, I have indeed decided that Legendary is my new favorite song on Hit-Bound. Yeah, that powerhouse chorus pulls me in and I love the rock elements used throughout the song. We’ll see if it ends up making it debut soon, which I hope it does.
– Both Whatever It Takes and All Falls Down have been here for a seemingly time and they’re still on Hit-Bound. The former I’m pretty sure it’ll debut eventually, given that it’s just now gaining steam on all fronts. The latter, on the other hand I can’t really picture it graduating since it’s not very popular elsewhere. It’s quite a shame because it’s the only song I like from Noah Cyrus.
– We say good-bye to three songs this week. First, good riddance to I Fall Apart. That one thankfully never really took off, so I’m glad it left. I’m hoping its successor follows its footsteps and become a flop as well. Second, there’s also Whatever, but I’ve heard it quite a bit this week. So unfortunately, it’s not gone for good and it could potentially graduate to the weekend countdown next week. On a sad note, I Miss You left us this week. It’s too bad Julia Michaels is being considered a one-hit wonder, especially when this song shows just what she is capable of. But at least Clean Bandit had two hits under their belt. That aside, I Miss You will be missed by me.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
20. AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
19. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
18. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low
1 – Bad:
17. Maroon 5 – Wait
16. NF – Let You Down
15. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same
2 – Mediocre:
None!
3 – Decent:
14. Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran – River
4 – Good:
13. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
12. Charlie Puth – How Long
5 – Great:
11. Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
10. X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
9. P!NK – Beautiful Trauma
8. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
7. Halsey – Bad At Love
6. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
5. Walk The Moon – One Foot
4. G-Eazy featuring Halsey – Him & I
3. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
TIE: 1. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
Most Missed Hit-Bound Drop-Out: Disturbed – The Sound Of Silence
Noah Cyrus featuring Labrinth – Make Me (Cry): One may think it’s cool to add the teardrop sound to replace the word “cry”, but it actually makes the song worse. Noah didn’t make a good first impression here.
Linkin Park featuring Kiiara – Heavy: While some hate this because they think they’re selling out, I’m not one of them. Everything about this song pretty much works, and it’s good to see what Kiiara is truly capable of.
Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me: I love when new EDM artists make a mark in the world of music. Kygo does a fantastic job here, and adding Selena to the mix makes this song divine on all fronts.
QOTW: 5 Seconds Of Summer are back. What are your thoughts on their new single, Want You Back?
Music Reviews + More 
If by never took off you mean was a top 20 hit in the U.S. yet failed to make it onto the countdown as a flop, then no.
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Not looking forward to 5 Seconds of Summer. I might like this better than their other music. I Fall Apart was definitely one of his better songs. I liked how he showed just R&B and vocals and didn't focus on rap. And it also didn't have a trap beat and another featured talentless artist.Got some very bad news about Psycho, I heard it on my local radio station yesterday saying \”Get ready, Big world premiere of Post Malone, Psycho.\” And it's having success on I-tunes. Another article said \”please stream Psycho.\” Most likely will debut high on Billboard and have success. Unfortunately, not good.Jesus Christ, can someone please help us?
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Well, either way, I'm glad I Fall Apart didn't graduate Hit-Bound, though I rather hear this than his latest release. Even that's not saying much.
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I Miss You is probably going to be my Lights Over Paris Award this year.
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5 SOS’ new album is pretty good.QOTW: What do you think about the week of 10/24/15?
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America lost the privilege of knowing what a good song is.
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Yeah, it's high on iTunes at this moment, unfortunately. Hopefully, it ends up being a flop, but it doesn't seem likely right now.Honestly, I look forward to the day that someone can save pop music. But right now, we'll have to learn to put up with the sh***y rap/trap music such as Gummo, that is currently flooding the charts.
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Why?
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Nice post! If this is what you call a late post then wow.
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Not only for Sober Up jumping, but One Foot faltering.
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Yeah, I got finished with it sooner than I expected it to.
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Question: What do you think of the week of 10/24/15? It was a former week on the countdown that was really good.
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GREAT throwback pick, that one is a huge favorite of mine. Would it be considered an unpopular opinion for me to consider it high among my favorites of theirs in the face of, say, Dreams and Rhiannon?As far as the exits go, while Too Much To Ask I'm not surprised to see off, I honestly keep forgetting that both Miss You and Slow Hands are still on the countdown. I would laugh if the latter lasted a full year.Didn't Walk on Water by 30 Seconds to Mars exist since like the fall or so? Not sure why it's only getting picked up now, unless it's being released to radio at this time or something. Also I heard I Miss You earlier in the week so it might resurface (although unless it re-enters the Hot 100 or something, I don't see it sticking around).As for Want You Back, I kinda like it. I didn't care for She's Kinda Hot or their two 2014 hits too much (although I think Amnesia is VERY overreacted to, but that's a story for another day), but this is certainly a step up with what I heard.Also, in before . accuses you of Make Me (Cry) slander lol.
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Yeah, I hated Make Me (Cry) the same way you did. I don't know why she decided to make a song with a teardrop replacing the word \”cry\”. It's not cool. It was really the worst part about the song. And don't forget, T3chJ3t gave a damning review of the song too.Walk On Water was released back in August. I heard it on quite a few commercials, especially during football season when the sports networks were promoting the games.Little Lies is also one of my favorites from the 80's as well. Maybe my Top 10.
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Streaming and obnoxious rap music has success over actual talent
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Pop music in decline is very sad. If all pop music keeps flopping in the future (10 years from now) Hits 1 might be an all-rap station. God darn it.
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This is exactly why America lost the privilege of knowing what a good song is. Pop music would have been in the same success frame if there was no Bad And Boujee. Bad And Boujee is the nausea that started this rap trend.
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YES at that most missed song! I love that one! Also, you seem to really love Rachel Platten since you're always recommending her songs.
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I actually got the countdown and Hit-Bound about the same time as you did.
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Yep, I absolutely love Rachel Platten, though unfortunately it's not likely going to be on Hits 1. I'm just throwing it in my recommendations because I'm not finding any good music as of late.However, I did find one other song that I should've added as my recommendation. That is the new single from Mono Mind titled I Found My Soul At Marvingate. I just heard it and it's really really good.
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Hits 1 is a pop station that's all they play for the most part. Just because rap is more dominate doesn't mean people aren't gonna listen to less pop or that no one will make pop music anymore. And no Bad and Boujee was not the start, it was before that song you can blame streaming in 2013 and beyond.
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No one fucking cares about your QOTW because no one but you cares about the exits. None of us are gonna remember what happened on a a certain week years ago, so why must you constantly push this shit down our throats?!?!
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No one fucking cares about your QOTW because no one but you cares about the exits. None of us are gonna remember what happened on a a certain week years ago, so why must you constantly push this shit down our throats?!?!
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Walk On Water got picked up because it is gaining on pop radio.
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I thought they cut out Ty Dolla $ign? Anyway, I am not liking this at all. I may like Rockstar and I Fall Apart but I just can't with this.I thought Sober Up was #31 last week? Oh well. This is going to become a hit here for sure and make the year-end list.Want You Back is really good. It is probably the only song I like from them.I just realized everyone has their posts out before me lol.
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It was #32, actually. Made a mistake while typing my post.And I do agree with you on Psycho. Pretty much everything about the song sucks. I hope it doesn't become a hit like Rockstar.
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Did you hear Want You Back on Hitbound? Cause it did not air during the Friday night/early Saturday airing
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I know it didn't, but I added it just so I can share my thoughts on the song.
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Okay when I have the time I'm going to explain what makes Make Me (Cry) an amazing song.
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And if you do I'm gonna explain what makes Make Me (Cry) a terrible song.
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Actually Miles, you can go ahead and explain your reasoning first.
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I may give some thoughts. Though I feel like Miles will accurately explain why it’s not good.
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For one, the song is boring, and considering that someone like you . actually likes this is shocking. The production is weird and awfully layered as well, it's trying to be soulful electro, but just ends up being boring R&B trash liek something from the early 2000s. Another thing is these lyrics, especially the chorus. All it's saying is I need you now, yet I hate you now and you make me cry, like why are you staying with each other if you make each other cry then, there are other people who make you happy. And Noah Cyrus is far, FAR more inferior to her sister. When Miley was at her worst with shit like Her Dead Petz album, it was baseless, and awful, you could only like it if you were fucking high on acid or something. Noah is tone-deft, can't sing, and is just a boring, non-presence on all of her songs, this included. And It's not like Labrinth is better, he's also a non-presence, they both sound bored as Hell in this song. Noah Cyrus is a industry plant, she's the most generic, and baseless pop singer of the decade so far, and can't do anything good on any song she touches. It's a bad sign when XXXTentacleporn from one of her own songs is better and has more personality than her. Make Me (Cry) is another pointless, generic \”electro\” song that is as boring as Not-So-Savage Garden, and as generic as your average trap song, and it should be forgotten, same with any attempts of Noah Cyrus trying to have a music career.
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Miles, I think you may have given your most accurate review on that song. Yeah, we can all agree that Make Me (Cry) is not a good song at all (in before Hollow Man and . both try to defend it).
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Just for the fun of it, I'll go ahead and do something what the others are doing on Adrian's blog. Here I go.Most Missed Song: Demi Lovato – Cool For The Summer#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Hailee Steinfeld featuring BloodPop® – Capital Letters#1 Recommendation For You: Mono Mind – I Found My Soul At Marvingate#1 Recommendation (A song to hit #1 here): Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The MiddleRecommended song to leave next week: Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – RockstarRecommended song to leave Hit-Bound: Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (though it likely will debut on the countdown at some point unfortunately)
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Yeah, about that, it's currently #1 on iTunes and #2 on Spotify only behind God's Plan. Expect this to be Rockstar all over again. x_x
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Yeah, I saw. Something tells me it's going to be in the Top 5.I hope someone can release something to block those two songs soon. I'm honestly tired of these guys running away with everything.
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Most Missed Song: Shawn Mendes – There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (TAKE IT, SASHA)#1 Rec for Hits 1: Logic ft. Rag'n Bone Man – Broken People*#1 Rec for You: Hailee Steinfeld ft. BloodPop – Capital Letters#1 Rec for #1 Slot: All Time Low – Last Young Renegade, although it'll probably never happen :(Rec song to leave countdown next week: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (So dang overly sick of this song)Rec song to leave HitBound next week: Hm, grew in to This is Me, and haven't heard a HB debut, so idk tbh.*YT15 doesn't count, kids.
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There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back is still on the countdown.
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Yeah I agree. Miles touched on pretty much every aspect that makes it a bad song. It seems like Noah Cyrus is trying to use the fact that she's related to Miley as a way to get big, when she is not nearly as talented.
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You said it. And also as I mentioned several times, adding the dripping noise to replace the word \”cry\” is not cool at all whatsoever. That is not how an artist wins me over. All they're doing is making me slowly step away.
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On an unrelated note, good news for you Adrian: Imagine Dragons – Thunder is not Most Wutchuwanted anymore. You can relax now.
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That's something at least. Though it'll probably cruise around the Top 20 for the next few months or so similar to Believer. Hits 1 is not going to let go of this that easily even after it leaves charts like the Hot 100.
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Yeah, pretty much. But watch out…I just heard The Middle as Most Wutchuwanted. So, prepare yourself. Be afraid. Very, very afraid.
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Doesn't surprise me. Zedd over-promoted this song like crazy, which is why it's doing well. I hear it almost everywhere I go.
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Here's the Billboard Hot 100 so far for this week:1. God's Plan (Five Weeks At #1)2. Perfect3. Finesse4. Havana5. Look Alive6. Rockstar7. All The Stars8. So Not Meant To Be (Ugh)9. Pray For Me10. Stir Fry13. The Middle (New Peak)43. Love Lies (DEBUT)
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Other notable songs:12. Let You Down14. Him and I15. LOVE.18. Mine20. Lights Down Low23. King's Dead30. Say Something36. Marry Me (please don't let this miss the Year-End D:39. Wait60. Whatever It Takes90. I Like Me Better
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Can I ask what is it about Marry Me that makes you like it?
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I don’t see what the problem is with it. It sounds like a nice song. Then again, I have a thing for slower songs like this.
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And it's a part of Target's latest ad-campaign…. great.
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