Hello, fam! I’m here! It’s the Labor Day weekend, which means that summer is winding down and we’re approaching autumn. I’ll get to enjoy the cool weather, the leaves falling, and what not. Yeah, that’s some stuff I’ll be looking forward to. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (#38)
• Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee (#39)
• Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#40)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
40. Rescue Me by OneRepublic (DEBUT)
39. Better by Khalid (#37) [–2]
38. Panini by Lil Nas X (DEBUT)
37. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (#35) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
36. One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown (#36) [=]
35. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid (#32) [–3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
34. All The Time by Zara Larsson (#34) [=]
33. Time by NF (DEBUT)
32. Without Me by Halsey (#29) [–3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
31. Trampoline by SHAED (#31) [=]
30. Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus (#33) [+3]
29. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande (#27) [–2]
28. Hate Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD (#30) [+2]
27. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande (#25) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
26. Never Really Over by Katy Perry (#11) [–15]
25. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max (#20) [–5]
24. Just Us by DJ Khaled featuring SZA (#23) [–1]
23. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII (#22) [–1]
22. The Git Up by Blanco Brown (#24) [+2]
21. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#26) [+5]
20. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha (#21) [+1]
19. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (#18) [–1]
18. Speechless by Dan + Shay (#19) [+1]
17. Boyfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House (#28) [+11]
16. Wow. by Post Malone (#14) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
15. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#17) [+2]
14. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#12) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
13. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#16) [+3]
12. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#14) [+2]
11. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#13) [+2]
10. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift (#9) [–1]
9. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#10) [+1]
8. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco (#7) [–1]
7. Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#8) [+1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
6. Talk by Khalid (#4) [–2]
5. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#6) [+1]
4. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#3) [–1]
3. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#5) [+2]
2. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#2) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#1) [=] [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B (4^th of 5 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Never Really Over by Katy Perry (–15)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Boyfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House (+11)

New Entrants:
– Kicking things off this week is the return of OneRepublic after a while. They give us their single titled Rescue Me. Last year, they had Connection, which for some reason didn’t chart at all. I was a little mixed on that song, so I didn’t complain about it much. As far as Rescue Me goes, I think it’s a step up from that. I like the instrumentation and the beat. Ryan Tedder sounds good here, which proves that he is a good singer and hasn’t lost a step. I also kinda like the lyrics here, though there are ways in which it could be improved on. Despite this, I think it’s a good comeback for these guys. Do I think it’s their best work? Not really, but it’s a good listen.

– Up next is more of Lil Nas X, who has been a big name this year following the massive success of Old Town Road. This week, he gives us Panini. First off, the song clocks in at under two minutes, making this one of the shortest songs to ever hit the countdown. As far as the song goes, I’m pretty split on this. I kinda like the production here. It’s a bit of a step up from that of Old Town Road. But my concern is that Lil Nas X has a slightly underwhelming voice. That’s just me, though. I could possibly see myself getting on board with this one unlike its predecessor.

– Lastly, we have the return of NF with his latest single, Time. I don’t have much to say about this one. I think Time is a good song for the most part. NF proves that he can be a good songwriter and it shows when looking at the lyrics. I like his flow here. The production is pretty good for the most part. Overall, it’s solid.

Best Debut Of The Week: Rescue Me by OneRepublic

I Just Need Blurbs
– In terms of our exits this week, it’s about time we bid adieu to La La Land. That one was just annoying vocally, mostly because Bryce Vine doesn’t have a good voice. It’s even worse than Drew Barrymore from last year, which I did not like either. Sunflower and Close To Me both had a great run during their countdown tenure. I enjoyed both of those songs overall. Sunflower is what I can consider to be Post Malone’s best song, and Close To Me was a great comeback for Ellie Goulding even though she’s had better. Yeah, I’m happy they had some success.

– First off, I want to say happy one-year anniversary to Eastside. The song made its debut this time one year ago and would end up becoming a success. I still like this song quite a lot and I’m happy that it was a hit.

– Never Really Over did not deserve to drop. But of course, people are really over Katy Perry and it’s a shame because I adore that song. Oh well.

– On the opposite end of the spectrum, Boyfriend jumps into the Top 20 because of course. Ariana has not impressed me this year with her latest music and this is no different. I do hope it does not get any higher, but I have my doubts.

– Truth Hurts entering the Top 5 is no shock at all. That one looks destined to become a #1 hit on Billboard, much to the dismay of some people here. I don’t really mind this song at all, so I’ll be fine with this.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• No Guidance by Chris Brown featuring Drake
• With You by Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor
• Spicy by Herve Pagez & Diplo featuring Charli XCX

Extras/Optional Extras:

• This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna
• I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner
• Perfect by Ed Sheeran
• Want To Want Me by Jason Derulo
• Where Are You Now by Skrillex & Diplo featuring Justin Bieber
• Can’t Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
• One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa
• Mine by Bazzi
• Taki Taki by DJ Snake featuring Selena Gomez, Ozuna, & Cardi B
• Thunder by Imagine Dragons
• Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and watt
• In My Feelings by Drake
• Thank U, Next by Ariana Grande

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Boyfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House
19. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

1 – Bad:
18. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
17. Wow. by Post Malone
16. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift

2 – Mediocre:
15. Talk by Khalid

3 – Decent:
14. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
13. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber

4 – Good:
12. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug
11. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco
10. Sucker by Jonas Brothers

5 – Great:
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
8. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid
7. Only Human by Jonas Brothers
6. Speechless by Dan + Shay
5. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
4. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
3. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello
2. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rehxa

Total Score: 69/100 = 69% (D+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Black Or White by Michael Jackson (1991)

Most Missed Song: Just Give Me A Reason by P!NK featuring Nate Ruess

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Takeaway by The Chainsmokers & ILLENIUM featuring Lennon Stella

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Let You Be Right by Meghan Trainor (#34), The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey (#19), and God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande (#18)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha
2. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
3. All The Time by Zara Larsson
4. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown
2. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
3. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande
4. Boyrfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House
5. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid: I didn’t envision that song to be as big as it was. But I’m glad it did because it’s a really good song. I love the chemistry between Halsey and Khalid. Yeah, everything about this works well.

Side Effects by The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren: After their singles from Sick Boy were not to my liking, it was definitely refreshing to see them go back to their roots with this song. Even though it wasn’t as successful as I would like it to be, it was still a good song.

Hello, fam! This weekend, college football is making its comeback. If you’re like me and love to watch sports, then I’m sure you’re as excited as I am about watching college football. Also, the MTV Video Music Awards take place this Monday. I plan on watching the show in its entirety, though it’s not likely that I’ll do a review on the performances. But I’m sure it’ll be plenty of fun. Taylor Swift had her Weekend Takeover as she hosted both the Weekend Countdown and Hit-Bound. I think she did great at hosting. There were some interesting things she said about some artists. Let’s jump right into things, shall we? Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• P!NK – Hustle (#37)
• Andy Grammer – Don’t Give Up On Me (#40)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
45. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#45) [=]
44. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#44) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
43. Halsey – Without Me (#41) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
42. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#42) [=]
41. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#38) [–3] [Spent 7 Weeks At #1]
40. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her (DEBUT)
39. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#39) [=] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
38. Asher Angel featuring Wiz Khalifa – One Thought Away (#36) [–2]
37. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#26) [–11]
36. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#30) [–6]
35. Ava Max – So Am I (#33) [–2]
34. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie – ME! (#31) [–3]
33. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#34) [+1]
32. Zara Larsson – All The Time (DEBUT)
31. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix) (#29) [–2]
30. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#19) [–11]
29. Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again (#23) [–6]
28. SHAED – Trampoline (#35) [+7]
27. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#27) [=]
26. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (#43) [+17]
25. Stephen Puth – Look Away (#32) [+7]
24. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter (#20) [–4]
23. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (#24) [+1]
22. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#22) [=]
21. Katy Perry – Small Talk (#28) [+7]
20. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes (#25) [+5]
19. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#21) [+2]
18. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#18) [=]
17. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#10) [–7]
16. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#17) [+1]
15. Halsey – Nightmare (#13) [–2]
14. Khalid – Talk (#16) [+2]
13. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (#15) [+2]
12. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#14) [+2]
11. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#11) [=]
10. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9) [–1]
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#6) [–3]
8. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care (#12) [+4]
7. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#5) [–2]
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#3) [–3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#7) [+2]
4. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#8) [+4]
3. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#4) [+1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#2) [=] [Spent 13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#1) [=] [7^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (1^st of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me and PUBLIC – Make You Mine (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (+17)

New Entrants:
– It’s about time Hits 1 has picked up on Thomas Rhett. He makes his first appearance, I believe, on the countdown with his single titled Look What God Gave Her. I’m going to go on the record and say that Look What God Gave Her doesn’t quite live up to Marry Me, which was a huge favorite of mine outside of Hits 1 back in 2018. But it’s still pretty good for the most part. I like the lyrical content here. It shows how talented Thomas is as a songwriter. He has a nice voice and he uses it well. I like the chorus, along with the production of the song. I think it exceptional. Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing it have some success.

– Zara Larsson makes her return to the countdown this week. This time around, she gives us All The Time. She did give us Ruin My Life at the beginning of this year, which is a solid song overall and I enjoyed it for the most part. I think All The Time is a little bit of a step up from its predecessor, in large part because of the production. I absolutely adore it and the beat is interesting. Zara has a good voice and she genuinely impressed me with her performance in the song. The computerized backing vocals are just awesome to listen to. Simply put, this song is such a bop. It is fun, upbeat, and just makes me want to dance! When I hear the song come on, it definitely puts a big smile on my face. Yeah, she really wowed me with this track!

Best Debut Of The Week: Zara Larsson – All The Time

How Do I Blurb Without You
– We have two exits this week, but they were both expected. I did enjoy Don’t Give Up On Me quite a bit. But I’m not necessarily saddened by its exit considering that Andy Grammer hasn’t been a presence since Honey, I’m Good was his last huge hit. Hustle didn’t really take off elsewhere as it wasn’t an official single off of Hurts 2B Human. This is probably the last we’ll hear from P!NK for a while.

– Before introducing High Hopes, Taylor Swift mentioned that the song inspires people. I definitely agree with her on that statement. After all, Brendon Urie does have the talent to pull it off. I love when he’s able to create songs like this. With it having been on the countdown for well over a year, could this possibly break the record for number of weeks spent on the countdown? We’ll have to see.

– Before introducing Trampoline, Taylor Swift mentioned that the members of SHAED heard the song while they were shopping at a local store. One of the employees mentioned to them that they love the song. Well, guess what? So do I. I’ve heard stories of workers who share their favorite songs to their customers. I’ll bet they have some good taste in music.

– Did we really need With You to make a big jump like that? Come on, people. I wasn’t never fond of the song from the start. But now, I’ve had it. This song gives me another reason as to why I’ve been losing faith in the EDM genre lately. While With You isn’t as bad as One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown (which I referenced during my review of the song on the American Top 40 that it’s my new least favorite song of the year), it is still undesirable in every way. Meghan’s poor vocal performance and weak effort from Kaskade aren’t helping matters.

– Stephen Puth makes a move up this week as his song, Look Away, enters the Top 25. It won’t be much longer until his brother Charlie comes back, because he just released his new single which I’ll get to in just a bit. Looks like we have a family reunion next week, perhaps?

– Before introducing Mother’s Daughter, Taylor Swift mentioned that Miley Cyrus also has a thing for cats, much like Taylor does. Though, Miley has some pets which are different animals. I’ll bet Taylor would like to visit her and meet her pets.

– Thank you, voters, for allowing Love Me Less to drop out of the Top 10 this week. The sooner this asinine mess of a song leaves the countdown, the better. We don’t need anymore songs like that polluting the countdown, let alone the Top 10.

– On that note, our Top 10 is a pretty mixed bag. If I Can’t Have You holds at #1 once more, which is good considering it’s the best song in the Top 5 at this moment. There are songs that I would like to see start moving down soon. I hope Señorita can hit #1 real soon and hopefully hold the top spot until we get some better music.

Hit-Bound:
Taylor Swift is the host of Hit-Bound this week to celebrate the release of her new album, Lover. Here is the full list:

• Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA
• Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Lizzo – Good As Hell
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
• Charlie Puth – I Warned Myself (DEBUT)
• Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
• Taylor Swift – Lover
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Waterparks – Dream Boy

Entrant Reviews:
– First, we have more of 5 Seconds Of Summer as they bring us their new single titled Teeth, taken from the 13 Reasons Why soundtrack for the second season. I will say that it’s a step up from Easier because there’s some resemblance of a band here. But I’m not that impressed, mostly because I don’t like their vocal work. The lyrics also leave something to be desired. This’ll likely end up debuting on the countdown soon, because Hits 1 can’t seem to get enough of these guys.

– And of course, Charlie Puth makes his big return this week. He brings us his brand new single in the form of I Warned Myself. I came into this one with high expectations and he did not deliver for the most part. It lacks lyrical depth in many areas and the production leaves a lot to be desired. I also don’t like the way he chokes in the second verse. So yeah, this is just underwhelming all around. I have it in blue, but it’s closer to red.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend

1 – Bad:
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

2 – Mediocre:
13. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
12. Charlie Puth – I Warned Myself
11. Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA

3 – Decent:
10. Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth

4 – Good:
8. Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me

5 – Great:
7. Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
6. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
5. Waterparks – Dream Boy
4. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Taylor Swift – Lover

Overall Grade: 53/75 = 71% (C–)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Taylor Swift – Lover
2. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
4. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
5. Waterparks – Dream Boy

YouTube 15:

• Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
• Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolls $ign – Hot Girl Summer
• ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms
• Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
• Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
• Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
• Niki – Indigo
• Lizzo – Truth Hurts
• Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
• Khalid – Talk
• Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
• Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down
• Normani – Motivation

Song Reviews:
– EDM producer ILLENIUM collaborates with the group, X Ambassadors in their latest single titled In Your Arms. I’m going to be straight up and simply say that this is divine. I love the vocals we get from Sam Harris. He is a good singer as he showed me in Renegades, which was a huge favorite of mine from 2015, and Ahead Of Myself which I also liked. ILLENIUM did an excellent job as an DJ and I like his work here. I feel that he has the potential to get better. This is a fine work of art for him.

– On the less interesting side, we have a new singer named Niki, and she brings us Indigo. There’s not a whole lot about this one that is worth caring about. Her voice is not too good and the production is underwhelming at best. It lacks in many different areas that makes it unique. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this. NEXT!

– Miley Cyrus has a newer single that she just recently released following the break-up of Liam Hensworth. It’s called Slide Away. The song basically tells a story about their past relationship and moving on from said relationship. I like the lyrical depth in this one. Miley sounds good in the chorus and I like the beat here. Overall, it’s a solid song.

– Finally, we have more of Normani, who has been a big name following the success of Love Lies and Dancing With A Stranger. She brings us her new single titled Motivation. First off, I would like to say that the music video is pretty cool. It has a little bit of a throwback feel to it and I love that it transitions to the present day. The beginning definitely reminded me of the days when I watched music videos on television. Those were good times, indeed. Anyway, on to my opinion. I referenced before that Normani is one of the two best singers out of all the members of Fifth Harmony (the other being Lauren Jauregui) and I stand by that. But I’m not particularly sold on Motivation. She sounds decent here, but not at her best. Something about the production kinda puts me off. I don’t know why, but it’s not working for me in most aspects. Yeah, I’m not totally in love with this one. My opinion could change. But right now, I’d rather stick with her two biggest hits.

YouTube 15 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
14. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
13. Niki – Indigo
12. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
11. Khalid – Talk
10. Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

3 – Decent:
8. Normani – Motivation
7. Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign – Hot Girl 

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
6. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
5. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
4. Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
2. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The YouTube 15:
1. ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms

Overall Grade: 45/75 = 60% (D–)

Most Missed YouTube 15 Song: Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson – Symphony

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. ILLENIUM featuring X Ambassadors – In Your Arms
2. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
4. Miley Cyrus – Slide Away
5. Lizzo – Truth Hurts

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
19. AJR – 100 Bad Days

1 – Bad:
18. Jonas Brothers – Cool
17. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
16. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
15. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
14. Khalid – Talk

3 – Decent:
13. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
12. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care
11. Halsey – Nightmare
10. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other

4 – Good:
9. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime
8. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes

5 – Great:
7. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over

Overall Grade: 63/100 = 63% (D–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: LeAnn Rimes – How Do I Live (1997)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton – Say Something

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: The Chainsmokers & ILLENIUM featuring Lennon Stella – Takeaway

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman (#20), Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle (#10), and Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (#7)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
TIE: 1. Zara Larsson – All The Time
3. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
4. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me
5. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
2. AJR – 100 Bad Days
3. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
4. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You
5. Jonas Brothers – Cool

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
George Ezra – Shotgun: This doesn’t quite live up to Budapest, but it’s still solid, mostly because I do like George’s voice here. It is very unique and I like the instrumentation here. Yeah, this is enjoyable.
Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir: This is just as bad as Hey, Soul Sister. Pat Monahan’s voice is just obnoxious from the very first line, and the “oh oh oh oh oh” is annoying. Neither Cam and Travie McCoy made any sort of contribution here. Yeah, this blows. NEXT!
Brown & Gray – Top Down: This came a week after Dan + Shay debuted on the countdown last year with Tequila. I think Tequila is the better song, in part because it has better harmonies. But Top Down is upbeat and fun. Kaci Brown and Sam Gray both made a good first impression here. I like the vocal chemistry between the two and the guitar sounds great. I enjoyed it when it was new. They did just recently release Last To Know, which is pretty divine as well. I recommend listening to that song.
Weezer – Africa: I’ll never really understand the appeal to this. Underwhelming production combined with poor vocal performance from Rivers Cuomo does not make this a fun listen. Yeah, this was a terrible cover of the 1982 song from Toto.
Dennis Lloyd – Nevermind: The groove is there, but the song itself is so repetitive and not very interesting for the most part. Yeah, it’s not something I’ll remember in about two years or so.
Charlie Puth – The Way I Am: One of the weakest singles from Voicenotes, though it’s definitely not a bad song. I still like how Charlie handles the production, though. But everything else leaves quite a bit to be desired. One thing’s for sure though, I’d rather hear this than his newer single at the moment.
Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman: A controversial single if you will. But despite this, Ariana sounds amazing in the song, especially in the final chorus. Her voice alone is what makes me fall in love with this one.

Hello, fam! This is second consecutive week in which I got this out a little earlier than usual. It’s highly doubtful that it’ll happen every week. But I do try to get these out in a timely manner. Also, August has gone by pretty fast. We’re closing in on the month of September, and with it comes Fall, one of my favorite seasons of the year. I’m definitely looking forward it. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Find U Again by Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello (#29)
• Paradise by Bazzi (#34)
• Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump (#36)
• Cool by Jonas Brothers (#39)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
40. Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#40) [=]
39. Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee (#38) [–1]
38. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (#27) [–11]
37. Better by Khalid (#37) [=]
36. One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown (DEBUT)
35. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (#35) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
34. All The Time by Zara Larsson (DEBUT)
33. Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus (DEBUT)
32. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid (#31) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
31. Trampoline by SHAED (#32) [+1]
30. Hate Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD (#33) [+3]
29. Without Me by Halsey (#28) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
28. Boyfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House (DEBUT)
27. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande (#26) [–1]
26. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (#30) [+4]
25. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande (#23) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
24. The Git Up by Blanco Brown (#25) [+1]
23. Just Us by DJ Khaled featuring SZA (#24) [+1]
22. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII (#22) [=]
21. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha (#21) [=]
20. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max (#19) [–1]
19. Speechless by Dan + Shay (#17) [–2]
18. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (#15) [–3]
17. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#20) [+3]
16. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#18) [+2]
15. Wow. by Post Malone (#14) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
14. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#16) [+2]
13. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#13) [=]
12. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#11) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
11. Never Really Over by Katy Perry (#10) [–1]
10. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#12) [+2]
9. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift (#9) [=]
8. Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#5) [–3] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
7. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco (#6) [–1]
6. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#7) [+1]
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#8) [+3]
4. Talk by Khalid (#3) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
3. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#4) [+1]
2. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#2) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B (3^rd of 5 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (–11)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (+4)

New Entrants:
– Normally, I would go in order. But for this week, I’m going to save the two debuts for last. So, first up is more of Zara Larsson with her latest single titled All The Time. Earlier this year, she did give us Ruin My Life, which was solid overall. All The Time is just as good as its predecessor, maybe even better. One big reason for that is the production and the beat, which sounds really good. I like Zara’s voice here. She is a talented singer and she further proved my point in this song. The robotic vocals are just awesome. It makes me want to dance! So, hearing this one definitely puts a smile on my face. I don’t really expect it to last very long given that Zara is underrated in the US. But she has impressed me with this song.

– Immediately after that is Miley Cyrus with her single titled Mother’s Daughter, which is taken from her EP She Is Coming. She actually has a newer song out titled Slide Away, which was just recently released following her break-up with Liam Hemsworth. I do kinda like that song, but I won’t get into that one right now. As far as Mother’s Daughter goes, this is solid. I like the production in a way and her vocals sound good. Miley has talent as a singer and she uses it well here. I also like the lyrics for the most part. Yeah, this is a good song overall.

– Alright. Now I’m going to go through the two worst debuts of the week, and Dear Jesus, help me with those two. First up is more of Ariana Grande yet again because the whole world can’t seem to get enough of her these days. She collaborates with Social House in their new single, Boyfriend. Ever since Ariana released Thank U, Next, things have been going southward. 7 Rings was terrible and is easily a candidate for one of my Bottom 10 songs of 2019. But of course, it spent 5 fucking weeks at #1 on the AT40, which shows just how shitty the quality of music has gone. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored isn’t any better either. And now we have Boyfriend. The song isn’t as bad as the other two, but it is still underwhelming in every sense of the word. The production is not interesting and I do not like the beat. There is very little to no cohesion in that aspect. I don’t see a damn thing interesting about it at all. Ariana barely shows any vocal talent here, which is very sad for me to say because I really like her. But she hasn’t impressed me with her latest singles and this song isn’t helping matters. The members of Social House hardly make any sort of contribution towards the song. What the hell did these guys show me exactly that would make me give them the benefit of the doubt? I’m not seeing any of it here. And then there’s the lyrics, which lack depth whatsoever and it sends bad messages. Ariana is a good songwriter, but she does not show it in the song. Honestly, I know she can do so much better. Overall, this song is straight up terrible and it shows just how much Ariana has been selling out. I really hope it does not become a big hit, because it will not take it very kindly if it does. But it probably will anyway.

– Sigh…help me with this one. Last and definitely least, we have my new least favorite song of the year. It comes from the return of Marshmello because of course. And he collaborates with country singer Kane Brown in One Thing Right. Let’s get into this one. I’ve not been very fond of what Marshmello has to offer lately. Ever since his collaboration with Anne-Marie in Friends, it’s been all downhill for him. Other than Here With Me, almost every release has sucked. One Thing Right is no exception. I found this simply bad initially and it has quickly gotten worse from there. I’ll never get the appeal to the song whatsoever. This is not EDM. I’m going to emphasize this again: THIS IS NOT EDM IN THE SLIGHTEST! Everything about the song is a fucking mess from top to bottom. Marshmello did not put forth any effort at all when it comes to production. It shows just how lazy he’s gotten as an EDM producer. Kane Brown is a good singer and he has some stuff that I liked. But here, he sounds like absolute shit in every second of the song. I honestly can’t think of any part of the song where he shines. As a matter of fact, he is DRENCHED in auto-tune. And don’t even get me started on the bridge, as well as the last chorus, because it is just insufferable. Simply put, this is a fucking terrible song and is the worst I’ve heard in EDM this year. Marshmello has basically sold out. He was at his peak when he did a collaboration with Selena Gomez in Wolves, which is easily his best song by a clear mile. I was rooting for him following his success of that song, but now he’s become lazy and I don’t even know if I like him anymore at this point. I’m sure some here were saying the same about Zedd at this point last year. I still hold the 100% unpopular opinion on loving songs like Stay, The Middle (my #1 favorite song of 2018), and Happy Now. But unfortunately, Marshmello has been a different story. His latest singles have not been to my liking and this is another low for him. Thanks a lot. This song really gives me another good reason to lose faith in EDM right now.

Best Debut Of The Week: All The Time by Zara Larsson 

Something About The Way You Blurb Tonight
– We’ll start with the exits. First off, good riddance to Cool. I did like its predecessor for the most part, but Cool was simply underwhelming and frankly, not very good. Paradise didn’t exactly appeal to me the same way Mine did. I just couldn’t quite get into that one. Find U Again I was recently starting to grow into and I find it pretty solid. But it leaving didn’t affect me that much. The saddest one for me is Summer Days. It was definitely my jam for the summer and I’m sad this wasn’t a huge hit. But at the same time, I can’t say I’m surprised given that Martin Garrix isn’t relevant in mainstream.

– It’s very nice to see La La Land making a big drop down to the Bottom 5. I’m glad this ended up flopping because everything about it is not good whatsoever. Bryce Vine hasn’t impressed me with his music so far.

– Goodbyes enters the Top 10 because of course, people can’t seem to get enough of Post Malone nowadays. I do like the song quite a bit, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it continue its momentum.

– Señorita is continuing is upward march as it enters the Top 5 this week. This’ll likely end up as the next #1 within the next couple of weeks or so. Once it gets up there, I’m sure it hold it for a little while. I wouldn’t object to that because it is cool song with a Latin vibe.

– In even better news, the record-breaking Old Town Road has FINALLY been dethroned by Bad Guy this week on the Billboard Hot 100! I definitely did not envision this happening, but I’m very happy. It’s probably one of the coolest #1 songs we’ve had in a while. Also, here’s a fun fact: Billie is the first artist born in the 21^st Century to hit #1. So congrats to her for this achievement!

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Time by NF
• Rescue Me by OneRepublic
• Panini by Lil Nas X

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
• Dead And Gone by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake
• Don’t Wanna Know by Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar
• I Like Me Better by Lauv
• Look Back At It by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
• Wake Up by Travis Scott featuring The Weeknd
• I’m So Tired… by Lauv featuring Troye Sivan
• Nothin’ On You by B.O.B. featuring Bruno Mars
• Crazy In Love by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z
• No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato
• Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton
• Worth It by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink
• Friends by Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

1 – Bad:
19. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
18. Wow. by Post Malone
17. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift

2 – Mediocre:
16. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
15. Talk by Khalid

3 – Decent:
14. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber

4 – Good:
13. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug

5 – Great:
12. Sucker by Jonas Brothers
11. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco
10. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
9. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max
8. Only Human by Jonas Brothers
7. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid
6. Speechless by Dan + Shay
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello
4. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
2. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Never Really Over by Katy Perry

Total Score: 75/100 = 75% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Something About The Way You Look Tonight by Elton John (1997)

Most Missed Song: Stay The Night by Zedd featuring Hayley Williams (back when EDM was actually good)

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Higher Love by Kygo featuring Whitney Houston

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Backstreet Boys (#19) and The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey (#18)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
2. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha
3. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
4. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown
2. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
3. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande
4. Boyfriend by Ariana Grande featuring Social House
5. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
The Way I Am by Charlie Puth: One of Charlie’s weakest singles off of Voicenotes. Outside of the production and his vocals, there’s not a lot that this one has to offer. That’s really all I have to say about this one
Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD: Nothing about the song works well at all. Terrible beat, shitty lyrics, and poor vocal performance by Juice WRLD. Do I even need to say anymore?

Hello, fam! My 200,000 Pageview Special has now been posted. In case you missed it, I did a Q&A and I was able to answer some questions you guys have sent me. I put a lot of work into it. Feel free to check it out if you haven’t already. Also, we’re halfway through the month of August. The 2012 Billboard Year-End Rankdown is still going on. You have until the end of this month to submit your rankings. If you haven’t already, now is the time to do so. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• P!NK – Walk Me Home (#45)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
45. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#44) [–1]
44. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#43) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
43. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (#41) [–2]
42. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#40) [–2]
41. Halsey – Without Me (#33) [–8] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
40. Andy Grammer – Don’t Give Up On Me (#22) [–18]
39. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#37) [–2] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
38. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#38) [=] [Spent 7 Weeks At #1]
37. P!NK – Hustle (#26) [–11]
36. Asher Angel featuring Wiz Khalifa – One Thought Away (#42) [+6]
35. SHAED – Trampoline (#36) [+1]
34. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#28) [–6]
33. Ava Max – So Am I (#23) [–10]
32. Stephen Puth – Look Away (#34) [+2]
31. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie – ME! (#31) [=]
30. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#30) [=]
29. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix) (#17) [–12]
28. Katy Perry – Small Talk (DEBUT)
27. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#7) [–20]
26. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#27) [+1]
25. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes (#29) [+4]
24. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (#32) [+8]
23. Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again (#35) [+12]
22. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#25) [+3]
21. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#20) [–1]
20. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter (#39) [+19]
19. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#24) [+5]
18. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#19) [+1]
17. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#3) [–14]
16. Khalid – Talk (#10) [–6]
15. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (#18) [+3]
14. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#21) [+7]
13. Halsey – Nightmare (#4) [–9]
12. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care (#13) [+1]
11. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#16) [+5]
10. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#12) [+2]
9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#9) [=]
8. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#15) [+7]
7. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#8) [+1]
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#5) [–1]
5. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#14) [+9]
4. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#2) [–2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#11) [+8] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
2. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#6) [+4] [Spent 13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#1) [=] [6^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (2^nd of 8 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Lizzo – Truth Hurts (–20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter (+19)

New Entrants:
– We have more of Katy Perry as she gives us her follow-up to Never Really Over, which I absolutely ADORE with a burning passion. Enter Small Talk. This single is actually written by Charlie Puth, which I find to be interesting. Coming into the song, I was expecting this one to be just as good, maybe even better. But ultimately, it just didn’t happen that way. I like the well-written lyrics for the most part, though Charlie did most of the work on that aspect. Aside from that, there’s not a whole lot to the production, and the beat here is a little too simplistic. Katy sounds pretty decent here, but she’s not at her best. I’m very interested in what Katy Perry will bring in the future. But I’m not totally in love with the song as a whole. This may grow on me, but we’ll see.

I Knew You Were Blurbing
– I grew back into P!NK – Walk Me Home and of course, this is the week that it leaves. Though I won’t exactly be missing this song too much, it was still pretty good despite it not being P!NK’s best.

– So, Spyder Harrison mentioned that The Chainsmokers are now the highest paid DJ duo. Wow, that’s pretty darn impressive!

– *sees #27* Well, this didn’t last very long. Truth Hurts is right back to square one after only spending one week in the Top 10.

– Before introducing Rescue Me, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Ryan Tedder wrote the song in about 8 minutes. Heh, never knew Ryan was a fast writer. Or maybe he typed the lyrics on a computer. We don’t know for sure.

– That big jump we get from Find U Again is nice to see. That one I’m enjoying with each listen, so I’m cool with that! Also, Spyder Harrison mentioned during the introduction for the song that Camila Cabello has made it official. She and Shawn are actually dating. Figured this would happen sooner or later. Wow.

– Mother’s Daughter would wound up making the Biggest Jump Of The Week. And to cap it off, it kicked 100 Bad Days out of the Top 20. Good stuff!

– Along with Truth Hurts, If We Have Each Other didn’t spend long in the Top 10 either. It actually dropped out big time this week following its massive jump all the way into the Top 3 last week. Looks like its 15 seconds of fame was over quick!

– Our Top 10 entrants are ones I’m pretty mixed on. I’m not thrilled seeing You Need To Calm Down back up there. That song is just a disappointment for Taylor Swift overall. But she does have a much better single on Hit-Bound which I’m fixing to get to eventually. And don’t even get me started on Love Me Less. I cannot stand this song and the fact that its gaining momentum is only making matters worse. -_-

– In terms of the Top 5, Hey Look Ma, I Made It is still a good song and even though its close to lasting a year, I’m not sick of it yet. I may never get sick of it. I don’t know. But Cool should not be in the Top 5. It’s only up there because Hits 1 started falling in love with the Jonas Brothers since their comeback this year. But the song is just bad in and of itself.  I’m certain this will be on their Year-End list as well.

Hit-Bound:

• Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
• Waterparks – Dream Boy (DEBUT)
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Zara Larsson – All The Time
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20s
• Lizzo – Good As Hell
• Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA
• Taylor Swift – Lover (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend
• Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

Entrant Reviews:
– First up, we get an appearance from the band Waterparks as they bring us Dream Boy. Right off the bat, it’s a pretty cool song. I love the rock vibe here and these guys sound good. I’ll have more on this if it manages to debut.

– More of Taylor Swift is nice. We’re one step closer to her new album Lover as this week, she brings us the title track from her album. It’s pretty slow, but I love her voice in this one and the production is better. That chorus is just divine. I’ll save my words for if it debuts.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Taylor Swift – Lover

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend

1 – Bad:
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

2 – Mediocre:
13. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
12. Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA

3 – Decent:
11. Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder

4 – Good:
10. Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me

5 – Great:
9. Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
8. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
7. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
6. Waterparks – Dream Boy
5. Zara Larsson – All The Time
4. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
2. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Taylor Swift – Lover

Overall Grade: 58/75 = 77% (C+)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Alesso featuring Nico and Vinz – I Wanna Know

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Taylor Swift – Lover
2. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
3. Lizzo – Good As Hell
4. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
5. Zara Larsson – All The Time

YouTube 15:

• Lizzo – Truth Hurts
• Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial
• Grace Vanderwaal – Waste My Time
• Khalid – Talk
• Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
• Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
• Bazzi – No Way!
• Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
• Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
• Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
• Ruel – Face To Face
• Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down
• Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign – Hot Girl Summer

Song Reviews:
– I’m not thrilled about the YouTube 15 list for this week at all. First, we’ll kick things off is the former winner of America’s Got Talent, Grace Vanderwaal with her new single, Waste My Time. I think this pretty solid for the most part. Grace is talented and she shows it in this song. I love pretty much the instrumentation and lyrics. Yeah, this is a nice song.

– Following that, we have more of Bazzi as he gives us No Way! from his latest album Soul Searching. Personally, I much prefer his singles off of Cosmic over what he has to offer in his new album. Paradise didn’t exactly appeal to me and I’m not feeling his new single for the most part. It doesn’t have a whole lot to offer here and Bazzi doesn’t sound his best here. Then again, this is based on my initial reaction and it could change with more listens. But right now, I’m not impressed.

– Next is more of Ruel with Face To Face. There’s not much I can say about this one. I’m not exactly feeling his voice and everything else leaves a lot to be desired. Again, this is based on my initial reaction. We’ll see if it ends up growing on me.

– Finally, we have Megan Thee Stallion, and she is collaborating with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign in Hot Girl Summer. I’m not sure how I feel about this one overall. I like the beat here, but I’m not feeling the rest of the song. There’s not a whole lot of chemistry between those artists. Nicki’s verse is probably the best thing about it. I have it in blue for now, but it could change.

YouTube 15 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
14. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
13. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down
12. Bazzi – No Way!

2 – Mediocre:
11. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
10. Khalid – Talk
9. Ruel – Face To Face

3 – Decent:
8. Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
7. Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign – Hot Girl Summer
6. Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
5. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
4. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
3. Grace Vanderwaal – Waste My Time
2. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The YouTube 15:
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

Overall Grade: 43/75 = 57% (F)

Most Missed YouTube 15 Song: Sofia Carson – Love Is The Name

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
2. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Grace Vanderwaal – Waste My Time
4. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
5. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less

1 – Bad:
19. Jonas Brothers – Cool
18. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
17. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
16. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
15. Khalid – Talk

3 – Decent:
14. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
13. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care
12. Halsey – Nightmare
11. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other

4 – Good:
10. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime

5 – Great:
9. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
8. PUBLIC – Make You Mine
7. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
6. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine
2. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over

Overall Grade: 68/100 = 68% (D+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Aretha Franklin featuring Georgia Michael – I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (1987) (One year since she passed…)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Adele – When We Were Young

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Carly Rae Jepsen – Julien

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects (#20) and Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (#13)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me
2. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
3. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
4. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine
5. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
2. AJR – 100 Bad Days
3. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
4. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You
5. Jonas Brothers – Cool

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
PNAU – Go Bang: There’s not a whole lot I can say about this one. Production-wise, it’s okay. But it’s repetitive and too childish for my tastes. NEXT!
Dan + Shay – Tequila: I’m glad Hits 1 picked up on this song and it ended up being a success. I’m sure this’ll make their Year-End list. This won an award at the Grammys for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, which says a lot about it. It’s a divine song with good vocals from these guys, good lyrical content, and good harmonies. It’s much better than a certain country song that shall not be named.
Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess: Yeah, the title of the song speaks for itself. Everything about this song is literally a mess. The guitars are asinine and the beat is brittle. To top it all off, Bebe shows no effort in her verses and she is heavily DRENCHED in auto-tune when singing the chorus. All of those combined certainly does not make this a fun listen at all.

Hello, fam! I was finally able to post my 200,000 Pageview Special this week! In case anyone was wondering, it was a Q&A post. I answered some questions that you guys have sent me. It was a lot of fun. If you haven’t already, you can check it out in my previous post. Again, I definitely appreciate for all you do by simply reading this blog. Thank you very much! It won’t be much longer until I reach 300,000 Pageviews. I do hope to come up with some good ideas by then. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Nightmare by Halsey (#16)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber
40. Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#40) [=]
39. Cool by Jonas Brothers (#21) [–18]
38. Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee (#38) [=]
37. Better by Khalid (#36) [–1]
36. Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump (#32) [–4]
35. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (#33) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
34. Paradise by Bazzi (#34) [=]
33. Hate Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD (#39) [+6]
32. Trampoline by SHAED (#35) [+3]
31. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid (#29) [–2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
30. How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith (DEBUT)
29. Find U Again by Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello (#31) [+2]
28. Without Me by Halsey (#27) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
27. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (#18) [–9]
26. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande (#25) [–1]
25. The Git Up by Blanco Brown (#37) [+12]
24. Just Us by DJ Khaled featuring SZA (#26) [+2]
23. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande (#22) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
22. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII (#24) [+2]
21. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha (#23) [+2]
20. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#28) [+8]
19. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max (#19) [=]
18. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#30) [+12]
17. Speechless by Dan + Shay (#17) [=]
16. Somone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#20) [+4]
15. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (#13) [–2]
14. Wow by Post Malone (#12) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
13. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#14) [+1]
12. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#15) [+3]
11. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#9) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
10. Never Really Over by Katy Perry (#11) [+1]
9. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift (#10) [+1]
8. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#8) [=]
7. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#7) [=]
6. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco (#6) [=]
5. Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#5) [=] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
4. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#4) [=]
3. Talk by Khalid (#3) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
2. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#1) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B (2^nd of 5 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Cool by Jonas Brothers (–18)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Tie between The Git Up by Blanco Brown and Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (+12)

New Entrants:
– We get more of Sam Smith on the countdown as this week, he brings us his latest single titled How Do You Sleep?. And here’s a fun fact: this is actually the second time this year that Sam Smith has had a song debut at #30. Dancing With A Stranger debuted at that spot back in February. Heh, I guess he likes the number 30. I’m thinking that’s his lucky spot. But anyway, How Do You Sleep? is not to my liking. First off, the introduction is a little weird. I kinda like Sam’s voice for most of the song. But then, the rest of the song goes downhill when the drop comes after the chorus. The drop alone really killed the song’s potential. The rest of the production isn’t too good. Sam is a good songwriter, and it shows when looking at the lyrical content. But that’s really the only redeeming quality in a otherwise bad song. Yeah, Sam really let me down with this follow-up. I much prefer something more along the lines of Dancing With A Stranger and his singles from In The Lonely Hour and The Thrill Of It All.

How Do You Blurb?
– We say goodbye to Nightmare as that one never really took off. This is probably one of the few songs from Halsey to become a flop. I was starting to grow out of that one, so it leaving doesn’t affect me much.

– I Don’t Care has been dethroned this week as Bad Guy takes the #1, much to the distaste of some people here. But I certainly don’t mind at all. I like Billie’s mysterious voice here and she showed me how talented she is. Bad Guy has been one of my favorites for most of the summer. North America did a good thing by allowing this song to hold the crown.

– We get the Top 10 entrant from Never Really Over! This is good news as well! It’s nice to have a song from Katy Perry back in the Top 10, though I don’t expect it to last very long. I’m definitely interested in what her new album has in store.

– Now, this is what I like to see. Only Human and Beautiful People both make big jumps into the Top 20. replacing La La Land which thankfully dropped big and looks to be on its way out soon. I can see Only Human become another hit for the Jonas Brothers and I certainly wouldn’t mind that. Beautiful People is better than Cross Me and it gets better with each listen. I’m hoping that one can be a success and not flop like its predecessor did.

– You know it’s a good week when Cool takes a big drop all the way down to the Bottom 5 this week. The drop really set the tone for how this week would go. I’m glad that one didn’t end up getting any farther. I’m hoping it leaves soon and I think it’ll very likely happen next week.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus
• All The Time by Zara Larsson
• One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Happier by Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE
• Cross Me by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock
• Delicate by Taylor Swift
• Finesse (Remix) by Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B
• MIA by Bad Bunny featuring Drake
• Clarity by Zedd featuring Foxes
• Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
• Chlorine by TWENTY ØNE PILØTS
• Nice For What by Drake
• Let You Down by NF
• Latch by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
• Into You by Ariana Grande

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

1 – Bad:
19. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
18. Wow. by Post Malone
17. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift

2 – Mediocre:
16. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
15. Talk by Khalid

3 – Decent:
14. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber

4 – Good:
13. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug

5 – Great:
12. Sucker by Jonas Brothers
11. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco
10. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
9. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max
8. Only Human by Jonas Brothers
7. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid
6. Speechless by Dan + Shay
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello
4. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
2. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
1. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes

Total Score: 74/100 = 74% (C)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Live To Tell by Madonna (1986) (Happy 61^st Birthday to her!)

Most Missed Song: Team by Lorde

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Julien by Carly Rae Jepsen

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Backstreet Boys (#19) and The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey (#17)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Call You Mine The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha 
2. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
3. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
4. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
5. Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
2. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande
3. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII
4. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG
5. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande: A controversial single if you will. But it’s still good, thanks in large part to Ariana’s amazing voice, especially at the end. It gives me chills.
No Brainer by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, and Chance The Rapper: This is basically a rehash of I’m The One, except worse. I’m not feeling the production here and neither artist has good vocal chemistry here. Yeah, this was disappointing more than anything else.

Hello, fam! I have been wanting to do this for some time. But after all that work, it’s finally here. For my 200,000 Pageview Special, I will be doing my very first Q&A post. It’s been over two years since I’ve started this blog. I would like to say thank you all for reading this amazing blog for two years. So, I think now is the appropriate time for me to be able to do this. You’e asked me some questions, and I’ll be giving you answers. Let’s not waste any time, shall we? Here we go!

• Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
• Ally Brooke featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie – Lips Don’t Lie
• OneRepublic – Rescue Me
• Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Hello, fam! Whew! What a busy weekend this was for me. I’m just about worn out. But hey, at least I got this post out. That’s all that matters. Football season is back, and we’re getting ever so close to Fall as well. It’s my favorite time of the year. Also, the MTV Video Music Awards is this month. I plan on watching the performances. I don’t plan on reviewing them as it is time consuming. But I’m sure they’ll be fun. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump – Summer Days (#37)
• Bazzi – Paradise (#39)
• Push Baby – Mama’s House (#41)
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me (#43)
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#44)
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine (#45)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
45. P!NK – Walk Me Home (#40) [–5]
44. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#32) [–12]
43. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#43) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
42. Asher Angel featuring Wiz Khalifa – One Thought Away (DEBUT)
41. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (#25) [–16]
40. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#38) [–2]
39. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter (DEBUT)
38. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#35) [–3] [Spent 7 Weeks At #1]
37. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#36) [–1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
36. SHAED – Trampoline (DEBUT)
35. Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again (DEBUT)
34. Stephen Puth – Look Away (DEBUT)
33. Halsey – Without Me (#29) [–4] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
32. OneRepublic – Rescue Me (DEBUT)
31. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie – ME! (#30) [–1]
30. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#28) [–2]
29. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes (#24) [–5]
28. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#26) [–2]
27. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#17) [–10]
26. P!NK – Hustle (#33) [+7]
25. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#27) [+2]
24. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#31) [+7]
23. Ava Max – So Am I (#7) [–16]
22. Andy Grammer – Don’t Give Up On Me (#23) [+1]
21. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#20) [–1]
20. AJR – 100 Bad Days (#34) [+14]
19. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#15) [–4]
18. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (#16) [–2]
17. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix) (#8) [–9]
16. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#10) [–5]
15. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (#4) [–11]
14. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#9) [–5]
13. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care (#12) [–1]
12. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#14) [+2]
11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#6) [–5] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
10. Khalid – Talk (#18) [+8]
9. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#19) [+10]
8. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#13) [+5]
7. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#22) [+15]
6. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#3) [–3] [Spent 13 Weeks At #1]
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#11) [+6]
4. Halsey – Nightmare (#2) [–2]
3. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#21) [+18]
2. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#5) [+3] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#1) [=] [5^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (1^st of 8 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You and Ava Max – So Am I (–16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (+18)

New Entrants:
– Kicking things off is the song tied with the lowest debut of the year, and it’s from Asher Angel, who is the star in Shazam. He brings us One Thought Away. I wasn’t really expecting too much out of that song. But this is actually pretty decent here. I’m not necessarily huge on his voice. But the instrumentation ere is really good. I like the guitar and some of the lyrics here. I don’t have much else to say about it. Overall, it’s a decent song.

– Next, Miley Cyrus makes her return this week as she brings us Mother’s Daughter from her EP She Is Coming. The last time she was on the countdown was when she collaborated with a certain act who also makes his return, which I’ll get to in just a bit. As far as her solo single goes, it’s pretty good. She is talented for the most part and I like her vocal work here. The production is good and I like the lyrical depth here. It shows how talented she is as a songwriter and a singer overall. Yeah, I’m digging this one.

– We have newcomer alternative band SHAED making their very first appearance on the countdown. They bring us Trampoline. This was used in a TV commercial back in the fall of last year. I first heard the song and I thought to myself, “wow, this is unique”. My opinion has not changed since then. The singer here is Chelsea Lee, whose voice is interesting. I love it and it fits well with the interesting beat and production. The mysterious vibe here is just awesome and it pulls me in. Yeah, this is definitely special in every way and I would love to see it have some success.

– Immediately following that, we have Mark Ronson making his return as he collaborates with Camila Cabello in Find U Again. Last time, he did give us Nothing Breaks Like A Heart which I fell in love with. This one, however, is a different story. I find it not very interesting here. Camila sounds decent here, especially in the chorus. But she sounds underwhelming for the rest of the song, which brings it down for me. I like Mark’s work here as a producer. But he has done much better in songs like its predecessor and of course, Uptown Funk!, which is still a big favorite of mine. Overall, this is okay. But not what I was hoping for.

– While we wait on Charlie Puth to release some new music, we have his brother Stephen making his second appearance on the countdown with Look Away. Right off the bat, it’s a step down from Sexual Vibe. I much prefer its predecessor over this one because in that song, Stephen managed to have some uniqueness with his voice. But here, he sounds a little more like his brother and thus, he loses what sets him apart from Charlie. I do not like his voice in the chorus when he sings in auto-tune. The production is decent here in part because of the guitar in some parts of the song. But the lyrics lack depth in some areas and thus, it kinda leaves something to be desired. To put it simply, Stephen didn’t exactly wow me with his latest single.

– It’s been a few years since OneRepublic last had a song on the countdown. They’ve been under the radar since. But this week, Ryan Tedder and company are back with their latest single Rescue Me. Believe it or not, they did make their comeback last year with Connection, which never charted. I was a little indifferent on that song so it didn’t affect me much. Rescue Me is a step up from that song. I like the instrumentation and the beat here is infectious. These guys sound good with their vocals. My only concern is the lyrics here, which lacks depth in some areas. Despite this, it’s a great comeback single from them.

Best Debut Of The Week: SHAED – Trampoline

I’m One Blurb Away
– First up, our exits. It’s about time we bid adieu to Mama’s House, which was not good at all. The same can be said for Chlorine, although that one was simply a disappointment from these guys, but I do like what the song was going for. I’m okay with Paradise leaving. It didn’t appeal to me the same way Mine did last year. Close To Me had a pretty good countdown run. It was nice to have Ellie Goulding back and get some success with that song. Summer Days was definitely my jam for the summer and it’s a shame that this didn’t become a hit. Well, summer is almost over so I can’t say I’m surprised by its departure. Finally, we sadly bid adieu to Dancing With A Stranger, which was a huge favorite of mine for most of the year. It’s very likely that I’ll revisit it come December when it’s time to do my Year-End post.

– Sweet But Psycho sadly made its way down to the Bottom 5. I definitely enjoyed that song while it lasted, unlike some people. Much like with Dancing With A Stranger, I’ll also have to revisit that one come December when I post my Best Songs Of 2019. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have With You in the Bottom 5 also. That one is just simply not good for the most part. Hopefully, it’ll leave soon.

– I find it weird that High Hopes was the #1 song one year ago this week and it’s still here on the countdown. It’s such a rare occurrence. Also, I don’t know if anybody here realized this, but High Hopes currently has spent 58 weeks on this countdown. It’s appears to be closing in on the record held by Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light ‘Em Up), which had 66 weeks if I’m correct. Spyder Harrison described that song as “The song that would never go away”. I’m sure he can say the same for High Hopes right now. Man, that song!

– Spyder Harrison mentioned during his introduction for Goodbyes that Post Malone has a new song on Hit-Bound titled Circles. Um, Spyder. That song has NOT been out yet. Are you seriously daydreaming again? I heard it’s supposed to come out within the next week or so.

– Here With Me finally dropped out of the Top 20 after a while. I still love that song. I’m glad it had some success here as opposed to everywhere else, where it was a flop. I’m 100% certain this will be on Hits 1’s Year-End list come December.

– On that note, So Am I took a big hit as it has now out of the Top 10 all of a sudden. Seems like whatever momentum it had the past couple of weeks is now just a distant memory.

– And of course, 100 Bad Days would jump big into the Top 20. Just great. But I’m 95% sure it won’t last very long here and I’m hoping it doesn’t because the song is a mess.

– On a more positive note, remember when I said that Call You Mine fell short of what it had to offer? Yeah, that thought is now a distant memory. I grew into that song over the past couple of weeks and I’m now ready to declare it my favorite song on the countdown. The Chainsmokers have impressed me once more. They do have a new single out which I also love as well. It’s called Takeaway. I find that song to be amazing as well.

– You Need To Calm Down took a big hit this week for some reason as it is back to square one. Yikes! I may not like the song, but I’m little surprised about that move since that one is still gaining momentum elsewhere. It’s nice to see Cool finally starting to die off.

– As much as I dislike those songs, none of them are as annoying as Love Me Less, which continues to slowly walk towards its way into the Top 10. Argh, why are we letting this one gain like this?!?! I honestly cannot stand Quinn XCII’s verse at all. It’s definitely one of the most obnoxious verses I’ve heard this year and it makes the song even more insufferable. You know things are really bad when I prefer 100 Bad Days over this song. Heck, I’d rather listen to even Old Town Road despite me not being a big fan of that song at all either.

– Hey Look Ma, I Made It finally dropped out of the Top 10 after spending a very long time in that region. I have a sinking feeling it’ll last a year on this countdown much like its predecessor.

– We have the unwelcome return of Talk and Someone You Loved in the Top 10. But it’s nice to have Señorita back up there, though. Hopefully, that song continues it upward trajectory.

– On that note, Hits 1 may have gotten word that Truth Hurts was gaining momentum elsewhere. So, they decided to have the song enter the Top 10 this week. I’m cool with this. She even has a new song on Hit-Bound which I’ll get to eventually. According to Ryan Sampson, he did mention that none of the Minnesota Vikings have said they’re Lizzo’s man. Heh, I wonder where did she get those lyrics from?

– We have Easier making its way into the Top 5 because of course, that’s what Hits 1 wants. This is not ideal. I may have liked that song initially, but my love for it died out pretty fast considering it’s mediocre compared to what they’ve done in the past. There’s no band here and their vocals are underwhelming. So yeah, I’m not thrilled seeing it up there

– Wowzers! We have If We Have Each Other making a big comeback this week as it jumps all the way into the Top 3. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this. I’m not huge on Alec Benjamin as a whole, but I think this is a nice song by any means. I don’t necessarily want it at #1. I’d much rather have If I Can’t Have You at the top.

– Speaking of If I Can’t Have You, it is very fitting to have it at #1 on the week of Shawn Mendes’s birthday. Happy Birthday to him!

– As a bonus blurb, I’m going to be doing a review on The Chainsmokers’s newer single titled Takeaway. It features Lennon Stella who sings the song and EDM producer ILLENIUM. Now, right off the bat, this is just amazing. I absolutely ADORE Lennon’s voice here. She shines in the chorus. She shows me how talented she is vocally. Andrew sounds good as well. I love the vocal chemistry between the two artists and that drop is just divine. Yeah, this is just another fine piece of work for these guys. I’m glad it worked out well. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Hit-Bound:

I’m very happy that we’ve got Katy Perry hosting Hit-Bound this week! She has a brand new single which I’ll talk about below. Here is the full list:

• Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson – All The Time
• Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype (DEBUT)
• Taylor Swift – The Archer
• Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
• Katy Perry – Small Talk (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend (DEBUT)
• Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
• Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• Lizzo – Good As Hell (DEBUT)

Entrant Reviews:
– We have yet another single from Panic! At The Disco because Hits 1’s love for them is still at an all-time high. This week, Brendon Urie and company takes us back to the Roaring 20’s. Right off the bat, this is not quite as good as their other singles from Pray For The Wicked. But I still like it, in part because of Brendon Urie himself and how talented he is vocally. I’m sure this will make its debut to the countdown at some point.

– As one song from TWENTY ØNE PILØTS leaves the countdown, another is looking to step in and fill the void left behind. Enter The Hype, the latest single off of Trench. It’s been almost a year since the album came out. I enjoyed it for the most part even though there were a few songs that weren’t exactly to my liking. I do love The Hype. The production here is better than Chlorine, which didn’t have much to it if I’m being honest, and Tyler Joseph sounds better here. It doesn’t quite come close to Jumpsuit, which remains as a huge favorite of mine from the album. Even though the song doesn’t exactly live up to the hype (no pun intended), I still love it for what it is.

– Because Hits 1 started to fall in love with Alec Benjamin, they decided to pick up on another single from him as this week, he gives us Jesus In LA. I already talked about this one when it was on the YouTube 15 a couple weeks ago. It’s slightly better than Let Me Down Slowly. But outside of the decent guitar, Alec doesn’t exactly sound good here. Overall, I’m not a huge fan.

– With Katy Perry hosting Hit-Bound this week, she brings us the follow-up to Never Really Over. And I’ll be making a little Small Talk about this one. This was written by Charlie Puth, which I find interesting. As far as the rest of the song goes, I’m pretty split on this. While the songwriting is great here, Katy didn’t exactly wow me with her vocal performance and the production is kinda underwhelming here. I’m still interested in what she has to offer for her new album, but the song isn’t quite what I was hoping for.

– Ariana Grande has been a major disappointment this year and she continues to regress even further as this week, she brings us her latest single titled Boyfriend, which features the duo Social House. This is a step up from 7 Rings and Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored. But it isn’t saying much because this is still underwhelming in almost every way. Ariana does not shine with her voice at all and the beat is too minimalistic with no cohesion. The members of Social House hardly make any sort of contribution here. I also don’t like the lyrics and the message that it sends. Yeah, this isn’t good and it really doesn’t come as a surprise given how low Ariana has sunk this year. I honestly don’t know what has happened to her.

– Last but not least, we have more of Lizzo with her “older” single, titled Good As Hell. I emphasized the word “older” because the song has actually been out since 2016. I’ll say this is better than Truth Hurts, which I still kinda like for the most part. The beat is here and I like her voice. The chorus here is pretty darn amazing. It gives me throwback vibes and I’m a big sucker for those. Yeah, I’m digging this one. It’s nice to see Lizzo getting some recognition.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Lizzo – Good As Hell

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend

1 – Bad:
14. Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
13. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

2 – Mediocre:
12. Alec Benjamin – Jesus In LA

3 – Decent:
11. Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
10. Katy Perry – Small Talk

4 – Good:
9. Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me

5 – Great:
8. Panic! At The Disco – Roaring 20’s
7. Taylor Swift – The Archer
6. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
5. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
4. Zara Larsson – All The Time
3. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
2. Lizzo – Good As Hell

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People

Overall Grade: 55/75 = 73% (C–)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Lorde – Green Light

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
2. Lizzo – Good As Hell
3. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – The Hype
4. Zara Larsson – All The Time
5. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her

YouTube 15:

• Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
• Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
• Noah Cyrus – July
• Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
• Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Gryffin featuring Carly Rae Jepsen – OMG
• Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
• Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial
• Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down
• Au/Ra – Dance In The Dark
• Khalid – Talk
• Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
• Lizzo – Truth Hurts
• Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend

Song Reviews:
– This week’s list here looks slightly better than last week. But it’s not exactly all roses here. We’ll start with the return of Noah Cyrus as she brings us her latest single, July. It’s a bit of a step up from what she had before. But it isn’t saying a whole lot here given that she’s not that good of a singer. The instrumentation is nice here, but that’s about it. I have a feeling that one is going to be on the YouTube 15 for a little while since Jenna Marbles seems to have fallen in love with Noah Cyrus in recent years. It’s kinda like how Hits 1 falls in love with some of the other artists. That aside, while the song is in blue, it’s much closer to red than it is green.

– Carly Rae Jepsen released her new album this year titled Dedicated and it is impressive. That album is filled with gems such as Now That I Found You, The Sound, Julien, and others. This week, she collaborates with EDM producer Gryffin in their single OMG. This is definitely a good song for the most part, largely because Carly is a great singer and she proves it in this song. I like the work Gryffin has done here and the drop is good. He did give me Tie Me Down with Elley Duhe, which I find to be amazing. This is just as good as that one.

– Remember Au/Ra who was featured in Alan Walker’s single Darkside from last year? Well, guess what? She makes her return this week as she brings us Dancing In The Dark. This is really cool and different. I love the beat here and the mysterious vibe it gives off. Au/Ra has a unique voice and she shows it throughout the song. I think she is talented. Yeah, I’m definitely digging this one. I highly recommend it.

YouTube 15 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
14. Ariana Grande featuring Social House – Boyfriend
13. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
12. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
11. Khalid – Talk
10. Noah Cyrus – July

3 – Decent:
9. Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
8. Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
7. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
6. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Gryffin featuring Carly Rae Jepsen – OMG
2. Au/Ra – Dancing In The Dark

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The YouTube 15:
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

Overall Grade: 47/75 = 63% (D–)

Most Missed YouTube 15 Song: Ellie Goulding – Flux

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
2. Au/Ra – Dancing In The Dark
3. Gryffin featuring Carly Rae Jepsen – OMG
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
5. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
19. AJR – 100 Bad Days
18. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
17. Jonas Brothers – Cool
16. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
15. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
14. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
13. Khalid – Talk

3 – Decent:
12. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
11. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other
10. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care

4 – Good:
9. Halsey – Nightmare
8. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime

5 – Great:
7. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
6. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
5. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
4. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine

Overall Grade: 61/100 = 61% (D–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (1987) (Today would’ve been her 56^th Birthday)

Most Missed Countdown Songs: Tie between Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan (Happy 21^st Birthday to him) and Kesha – Praying (The song that debuted this week two years ago)

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: The Chainsmokers & ILLENIUM featuring Lennon Stella – Takeaway

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects (#38) and Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa – One Kiss (#14)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine
TIE: 1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
3. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
4. Dan + Shay – Speechless
5. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
2. AJR – 100 Bad Days
3. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
4. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You
5. Jonas Brothers – Cool

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects: After the release of the underwhelming singles from Sick Boy, this was a step back in the right direction for these guys. Emily Warren deserves some credit for this one as she shines with her voice. Overall, it’s a great song.

Hello, fam! Things are better here on the American Top 40 than the Billboard Hot 100, where things aren’t looking good at all. The AT40 isn’t exactly in the best shape either, but we did get rid of some mediocrity this week. So, that’s good news, I guess. Also, I still have to work on my Q&A post as part of my 200,000 Pageview Special. It’ll be out soon, I promise. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs leaving us this week:

• Cross Me by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock (#17)
• Happier by Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE (#40) [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber
40. Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#39) [–1]
39. Hate Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD (DEBUT)
38. Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee (#37) [–1]
37. The Git Up by Blanco Brown (DEBUT)
36. Better by Khalid (#35) [–1]
35. Trampoline by SHAED (#38) [+3]
34. Paradise by Bazzi (#34) [=]
33. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (#32) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
32. Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump (#31) [–1]
31. Find U Again by Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello (#30) [–1]
30. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (#33) [+3]
29. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid (#28) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
28. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (#36) [+8]
27. Without Me by Halsey (#25) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
26. Just Us by DJ Khaled featuring SZA (#26) [=]
25. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande (#23) [–2]
24. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII (#27) [+3]
23. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha (#29) [+6]
22. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande (#21) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
21. Cool by Jonas Brothers (#15) [–6]
20. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#24) [+4]
19. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max (#19) [=]
18. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (#22) [+4]
17. Speechless by Dan + Shay (#18) [+1]
16. Nightmare by Halsey (#14) [–2]
15. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#20) [+5]
14. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#16) [+2]
13. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (#12) [–1]
12. Wow. by Post Malone (#7) [–5] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
11. Never Really Over by Katy Perry (#11) [=]
10. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift (#10) [=]
9. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#8) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
8. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#13) [+5]
7. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#9) [+2]
6. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco (#6) [=]
5. Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#4) [–1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
4. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#5) [+1]
3. Talk by Khalid (#2) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
2. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#3) [+1]
1. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B (1^st of 5 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Cool by Jonas Brothers (–6)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Only Human by Jonas Brothers (+8)

New Entrants:
– First up, we get more of Ellie Goulding as Close To Me is finally singing its swan song. She collaborates with Juice WRLD in Hate Me. So when I first heard about this possible collaboration, I actually came in with low expectations in part because Juice WRLD has not been good as far as his solo music goes. When hearing the song in full, this isn’t too bad for the most part. I do like Ellie’s voice here, but her performance here is not as good as what she’s had in her previous singles. I’m mixed on Juice WRLD here, but he does sound better in this song than in his other singles. Looking deeper into the lyrics, it’s about loathing a lover who longs for someone. I feel like they’re should be a little more lyrical depth here. This is good, but I can’t really see myself revisiting this in a year or two.

– Next up is Blanco Brown with a country cross-over song that’s been on the rise for some time, titled The Git Up. Like Old Town Road, this one got popular thanks to a meme from TikTok. I did have mixed feelings on this one at first. But after a while, I started to grow into it. Yeah, this is pretty fun overall. This is basically a dance lesson, and I’m usually not a sucker for those. But The Git Up is an exception. It’s a lot better than Old Town Road thanks in part to the production. This guy here has some swagger and it shows throughout the song. I’ll probably never understand the hate this song gets from the blogging community because I find this appealing. Yeah, I’m hoping it sticks around.

Best Debut Of The Week: The Git Up by Blanco Brown

Beautiful Blurbs
– We’ll start with our exits, and I’m very happy about both of them. I’m sure most people here will be sad about Happier. But for me, it will certainly not be missed. That one was long overdue. And thankfully, Cross Me didn’t become a hit. It was just a mess overall. Yeah, it’s about time we bid adieu to these songs. NEXT!

– It was only natural to see Señorita continue its fast rise as it now enters the Top 10 this week. I definitely like the song overall even though I’m not huge on Camila’s contribution. A large part of that has something to do with the Latin vibe and I’m a sucker for those. I do hope this can get a #1 spot at some point in time and it has a very good chance given that it’s momentum is going strong elsewhere.

– On that note, I would like to wish Shawn Mendes a Happy Birthday this week as he is now 21! And of course, the news is he decides to kick things off with Camila. Interesting!  🙂

– The Jonas Brothers made some interesting moves with their respective songs this week. Having Cool dropping out of the Top 20 is definitely ideal. Hopefully, this means we’ll see the end of that song soon enough. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we get Only Human gaining momentum into the Top 30. We’ll see if that ends up becoming a hit.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus
• All The Time by Zara Larsson
• One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown

Extras/Optional Extras:

• One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla
• Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
• Lie by NF
• Payphone by Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa
• What About Us by P!NK
• It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez
• New Rules by Dua Lipa
• Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay
• What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber
• Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
• Paris by The Chainsmokers

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG
19. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

1 – Bad:
18. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
17. Wow. by Post Malone
16. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift

2 – Mediocre:
15. Talk by Khalid
14. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

3 – Decent:
13. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber

4 – Good:
12. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug

5 – Great:
11. Nightmare by Halsey
10. Sucker by Jonas Brothers
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
8. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco
7. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max
6. Speechless by Dan + Shay
5. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
4. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
2. Never Really Over by Katy Perry

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes

Total Score: 70/100 = 70% (C–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: How Will I Know by Whitney Houston (1985)

Most Missed Song: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Tonight by Alice Chater

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa (#9)

My Top 5 Picks
1. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
2. Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump
3. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
4. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
2. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande
3. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII
4. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG
5. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Jackie Chan by Tiësto & Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone: This is actually pretty cool for an EDM song. I like the verses from these guys and I think Tiësto did a nice job. There were much better songs in 2018 objectively, but I enjoyed that one quite a bit when it was new.

Hello, fam! I’ll be busy all next week for a special occasion, so I’m going to get this post out as soon as possible. I won’t be wasting time trying to come up with any introductions. I’ll just simply make this relatively quick. But anyway, the month of August is now finally upon us! Let’s get into the countdown. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (#45)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
45. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine (#44) [–1]
44. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#41) [–3]
43. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier (#42) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks at #1]
42. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close to Me (#43) [+1]
41. Push Baby – Mama’s House (#36) [–5]
40. P!NK – Walk Me Home (#40) [=]
39. Bazzi – Paradise (#39) [=]
38. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#38) [=]
37. Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump – Summer Days (#37) [=]
36. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#35) [–1] [Spent 8 Weeks at #1]
35. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#34) [–1] [Spent 7 Weeks at #1]
34. AJR – 100 Bad Days (DEBUT)
33. P!NK – Hustle (#30) [+3]
32. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#29) [–3]
31. PUBLIC – Make You Mine (#33) [+2]
30. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie – ME! (#28) [–2]
29. Halsey – Without Me (#27) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks at #1]
28. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#24) [–4]
27. Blanco Brown – The Git Up (#31) [+4]
26. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#26) [=]
25. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You (#32) [+7]
24. Post Malone featuring Young Thug – Goodbyes (#23) [–1]
23. Andy Grammer – Don’t Give Up On Me (#18) [–5]
22. Lizzo – Truth Hurts (#25) [+3]
21. Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (#15) [–6]
20. Katy Perry – Never Really Over (#19) [–1]
19. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (#8) [–11] (Happy now, everyone?)
18. Khalid – Talk (#10) [–8]
17. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me (#16) [–1]
16. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime (#20) [+4]
15. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine (#21) [+6]
14. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less (#22) [+8]
13. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita (#15) [+2]
12. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care (#6) [–6]
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier (#9) [–2]
10. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy (#12) [+2]
9. Jonas Brothers – Cool (#13) [+4]
8. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix) (#7) [–1]
7. Ava Max – So Am I (#14) [+7]
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#2) [–4] [Spent 3 Weeks at #1]
5. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds of Summer – Who Do You Love (#1) [–4] [Spent 2 Weeks at #1]
4. Taylor Swift – You Need to Calm Down (#17) [+13]
3. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#5) [+2] [Spent 13 Weeks at #1]
2. Halsey – Nightmare (#4) [+2]
1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You (#3) [+2] [4^th Week at #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Taylor Swift – Delicate (3^rd And Final Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (–11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down (+13)

New Entrants:
– Alright, so another year, another AJR song that would eventually debut on the countdown. This time they bring us a song from the latest album Neotheater, titled 100 Bad Days. Right off the bat, it’s really not that different compared to what they’ve done in the past. I’ll give it to them that the production isn’t awful though. It’s still tolerable to some degree. But everything else about the song is not good. It consists of bad lyrical content and poor vocal performance from these guys. I also think The vocal effects that come before the chorus are unnecessary. So, I’m not thrilled to see AJR make their return. But I’ll give these guys credit because they’ve replaced one of my least favorite songs of the year (which I’ll get to in just a bit). Still, this is not a good song overall and considering that I’m not very fond of what they have to offer (and neither is everyone else here including the YouTube critics), it does not come as a surprise. Hopefully, it does not last long. But we’ll see.

A Hundred Bad Blurbs Made A Hundred Good Stories
I technically don’t have a hundred bad blurbs, but there was quite a bit to talk about this week and I’m going to make the most of them. So let’s get right into things.

– First off, let us celebrate as 7 Rings has now finally left the countdown! It was a asinine single that did not deserve to have success. But it’s nice to see this one finally off!  Good riddance! That song will never be missed!

– Before introducing Happier, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Marshmello competed in the Fortnite World Cup, but ended up losing. I’ll give him points for trying, though. I’m sure he did his best.

– Mama’s House is having a abysmal run on the countdown so far seeing as it has now dropped down to the Bottom 5, which is a good thing because the song is no good. We have some better songs on Hit-Bound that can replace it.

– So, Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour has now officially surprassed U2’s tour as the highest grossing tour of all time. Congrats to Ed Sheeran!

– We get some new songs in the Top 10 this week. Hits 1 was a little late to the party with Bad Guy, but I’m glad it’s getting some recognition. I’m a little surprised about So Am I doing so well. I’m not complaining though, so I’ll take it! And I’m not all that thrilled about Cool entering. It’s only up here because Hits 1 has fallen in love with the Jonas Brothers despite the song falling off elsewhere.

– On that note, I want to say a quick prayer to Joe Jonas whose dog passed away this week. My hearts go out to him.

– Not too happy about You Need To Calm Down entering the Top 5, let alone have the Biggest Jump Of The Week this week. I’m sure it was destined to enter that region eventually. But nothing about the song appeals to me outside of the lyrics and the okay beat.

– However, it’s good to have If I Can’t Have You back at #1. I much prefer that song at the top over any other song in the Top 5 at this moment. Hopefully, it can stay up there for a little while longer.

Hit-Bound:

• Dominic Fike – 3 Nights
• OneRepublic – Rescue Me
• Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again
• Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
• Stephen Puth – Look Away
• Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?
• Jonas Brothers – Only Human
• SHAED – Trampoline
• Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
• Taylor Swift – The Archer (DEBUT)
• Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
• Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter
• Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People (DEBUT)
• Asher Angel – One Thought Away
• Zara Larsson – All The Time

Entrant Reviews:
– New to Hit-Bound this week is more of Taylor Swift with her promotional single from Lover, titled The Archer. Vocally, this is a step up from You Need To Calm Down. I think Taylor shines a little more here. I also kinda like the production in a way. Overall, this is pretty good. I’m interested to see what else she has in store has her new album comes out later this month.

– Unfortunately, we say goodbye to BLOW this week. But taking its place is another Ed Sheeran single off of No. 6 Collaborations Project, titled Beautiful People. I already talked about this one when it debuted on the AT40 this week. I like the production here and the chemistry between the two artists is great here. I do hope to see it on the countdown soon.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant Of The Week: Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People

Hit-Bound Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
None!

1 – Bad:
15. Dominic Fike – 3  Nights

2 – Mediocre:
14. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep?

3 – Decent:
13. Asher Angel – One Thought Away
12. Stephen Puth – Look Away
11. Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha – Harder
10. Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello – Find U Again

4 – Good:
9. Taylor Swift – The Archer

5 – Great:
8. Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD – Hate Me
7. Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter
6. Jonas Brothers – Only Human
5. OneRepublic – Rescue Me
4. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
3. SHAED – Trampoline
2. Zara Larsson – All The Time

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On Hit-Bound:
1. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People

Overall Grade: 60/75 = 80% (B–)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Ellie Goulding – Still Falling For You

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid – Beautiful People
2. Zara Larsson – All The Time
3. SHAED – Trampoline
4. Thomas Rhett – Look What God Gave Her
5. OneRepublic – Rescue Me

YouTube 15:

• Khalid – Talk
• Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
• Why Don’t We – I Still Do
• Lizzo – Truth Hurts
• Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
• Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
• Big Sean – Single Again
• Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
• Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
• Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Mabel – Bad Behaviour
• Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
• Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial
• Taylor Swift – You Need to Calm Down
• Chance the Rapper featuring Shawn Mendes – Ballin Flossin

Song Reviews:
– I’m not all that impressed with this week’s YouTube 15 for the most part. We’ll start with more of Why Don’t We once again, by the name of I Still Do. I think this is okay vocally. But I’m not too big on the instrumentation here. These guys have had better and it’s a little hard to reach the height of 8 Letters, which I think is their best song.

– Big Sean makes his comeback this week, and he brings us Single Again. Lyrically, I love what it’s trying to do and it’s something we can relate to. However, the weird instrumentals don’t make this a fun listen. I think Big Sean has potential, but I’m not quite feeling that comeback single of his. This might grow on me with time. We’ll see.

– Mabel has another new single making its appearance on the YouTube 15, by the name of Bad Behaviour. I think this is pretty good, mainly because Mabel has a good voice and the production is nice. It’s not as good as her previous singles, though.

– Chance The Rapper just dropped his debut album titled The Big Day. One of those songs off the album is a collaboration with Shawn Mendes in Ballin Flossin. There’s not much to the production here and I’m not exactly feeling the lyrics. Shawn is probably the best part about this one. I like his smooth voice in this one. But Chance’s vocal performance doesn’t do much for me. Overall, I’m not wild about this one.

YouTube 15 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
15. Becky G featuring Myke Towers – Dollar
14. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
13. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
12. Khalid – Talk

3 – Decent:
11. Alan Walker featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko – On My Way
10. Ed Sheeran featuring Travis Scott – Antisocial
9. Chance The Rapper featuring Shawn Mendes – Ballin Flossin
8. Why Don’t We – I Still Do
7. Big Sean – Single Again

4 – Good:
6. Mabel – Bad Behaviour

5 – Great:
5. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway
4. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
3. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
2. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The YouTube 15:
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

Overall Grade: 48/75 = 64% (D–)

Most Missed YouTube 15 Song: Logic featuring Rag’n’Bone Man – Broken People

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Sam Smith featuring Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
2. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
3. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
4. Lizzo – Truth Hurts
5. Sebastian Yatra featuring Jonas Brothers, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha – Runaway

Hits 1 Weekend Countdown Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
19. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)

1 – Bad:
18. Jonas Brothers – Cool
17. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Easier
16. Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down

2 – Mediocre:
15. Khalid – Talk
14. Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

3 – Decent:
13. The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
12. Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
11. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing’s Not A Crime
10. Halsey – Nightmare
9. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
7. The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha – Call You Mine
6. Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES – Here With Me 
5. Ava Max – So Am I
4. Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – Señorita
3. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
TIE: 1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over

Overall Grade: 70/100 = 70% (C–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Mariah Carey featuring Boyz II Men – One Sweet Day (1995)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Coldplay – Paradise

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Alice Chater – Tonight

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Jumpsuit (#33) and Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (#9)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
TIE: 1. Shawn Mendes – If I Can’t Have You
3. Dan + Shay – Speechless
4. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
5. Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump – Summer Days

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. MAX featuring Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
2. Push Baby – Mama’s House
3. AJR – 100 Bad Days
4. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
5. Kaskade featuring Meghan Trainor – With You

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
PRETTYMUCH – Summer On You: I think this one is underwhelming for a group that gave us Would You Mind, which I loved but sadly got stranded on Hit-Bound. I much prefer that song over this one. But it’s slightly better than what they’ve been releasing lately.
lovelytheband – Broken: I’m surprised this one became a bit of a sleeper hit here and stayed for as long as it did. I quite liked the instrumentation here, as well as the lyrics and their vocals. I’m interested to see what else these guys can give us.

Hello, fam! We are now officially in the month of August. And with it comes the month when football officially makes its return. Hopefully, my team can be able to win it all this year. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed. I feel like summer has gone by very quickly, and it won’t be much longer now until Fall starts. So while we wait, here’s the AT40 countdown post for you guys. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:

• Wake Up by Travis Scott featuring The Weeknd (#28)
• Chlorine by TWENTY ØNE PILØTS (#32)
• Look Back At It by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie (#37)

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Talk by Khalid
40. Happier by Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE (#40) [=] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
39. Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee (#38) [–1]
38. Trampoline by SHAED (DEBUT) 
37. Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee (#36) [–1]
36. Only Human by Jonas Brothers (DEBUT)
35. Better by Khalid (#33) [–2]
34. Paradise by Bazzi (#35) [+1]
33. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid (DEBUT)
32. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco (#31) [–1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
31. Summer Days by Martin Garrix featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump (#34) [+3]
30. Find U Again by Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello (#30) [=]
29. Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha (#26) [–3]
28. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid (#27) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
27. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII (#25) [–2]
26. Just Us by DJ Khaled featuring SZA (#24) [–2]
25. Without Me by Halsey (#23) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
24. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi (#29) [+5]
23. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande (#22) [–1]
22. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG (#19) [–3]
21. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande (#20) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
20. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (#39) [+19]
19. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max (#18) [–1]
18. Speechless by Dan + Shay (#21) [+3]
17. Cross Me by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock (#15) [–2]
16. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer (#17) [+1]
15. Cool by Jonas Brothers (#12) [–3]
14. Nightmare by Halsey (#14) [=]
13. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello (#16) [+3]
12. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (#9) [–3]
11. Never Really Over by Katy Perry (#11) [=]
10. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift (#10) [=]
9. Truth Hurts by Lizzo (#13) [+4]
8. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani (#8) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
7. Wow. by Post Malone (#7) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
6. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco (#6) [=]
5. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes (#5) [=]
4. Sucker by Jonas Brothers (#4) [=] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish (#3) [=]
2. Talk by Khalid (#1) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
1. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Delicate by Taylor Swift (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Tie between Call You Mine by The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha, La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG, and Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (–3)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug (+19)

New Entrants:
– Kicking things off this week is the first appearance of an alternative group named SHAED with their single Trampoline. I first heard this song on a commercial back in the fall of last year and I thought to myself, “this is pretty good”. I think this is unique overall. I like Chelsea’s voice quite a lot here. The chorus is solid and it has good instrumentals. Yeah, I’m impressed by this.

– Next is more of the Jonas Brothers with their latest single off of Happiness Begins, titled Only Human. With Sucker now on the decline and Cool thankfully on a free-fall, it was only a matter of time until this showed up. And I’m glad that it did because it’s a solid song overall. It’s slow-paced than Sucker, but it still has the catchiness of that song, something which Cool lacked. I like the beat here and the instrumentation is pretty good. Lyrically, it’s much better written than that of Cool and after hearing Only Human in its entirety, that one ended up only getting worse in part because I find the lyrics kinda offensive. I like the vocals we get from Nick Jonas as well. He shows that he has a good voice even though it isn’t particularly amazing. Yeah, this is enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind it sticking around.

– Last but not least, we have more of Ed Sheeran and he collaborates with Khalid in their single off of No. 6 Collaborations Project, by the name of Beautiful People. I’ve been kinda mixed on his latest album for the most part. I don’t think the song gets anywhere near the height of BLOW, which is easily the best song off of the album. But Beautiful People is still enjoyable in every way. It’s a lot better than Cross Me, which was simply not good. I like the beat and Ed sounds great here. Khalid makes a nice contribution as well. The chemistry between the two artists is there and it shows in the song. Yeah, I definitely like this and I do hope it has some success like its predecessor which has hit #1 this week, and I’ll get to in just a bit.

Best Debut Of The Week: Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid

Blurbin’ On A Trampoline
– On the note of exits, I didn’t really care for Wake Up that much. But it was a lot better than Sicko Mode. Chlorine was just a disappointment considering TWENTY ØNE PILØTS have had better in the past, but they did release The Hype which is an improvement. And Look Back At It I did kinda like for the most part, but I knew it wouldn’t last long given that it had been out for a while and the AT40 was late on picking this up.

– I Don’t Care gets the nod at #1, which doesn’t surprise me at all considering it’s from two big name artists (Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber). But it’s not all that great for me honestly. It may be catchy, but I feel like it lacks something that makes it stand out. I’ll give it to them that it’s better than the last two #1 songs that we’ve had this past month.

– I much prefer to have either If I Can’t Have You or Bad Guy at #1. To me, those are really the only great songs in the Top 5 at this moment. One of those songs deserve to spend some time at the top spot.

– To some people’s distaste, Truth Hurts makes its way into the Top 10 this week. I feel like this song is too overhated. Even though it’s not as good as Juice, I still kinda like it overall. I’m glad Lizzo is getting a hit. She deserves it.

– I would love for Never Really Over to enter the Top 10 soon. It’s definitely an amazing comeback single for Katy Perry and I feel it should be having more success than what it is ultimately getting right now.

– It was really only a matter of time until Goodbyes would make a massive jump this week. I already know it’s going to be here for a while. And that’s fine with me because I’m slightly growing into the song.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• The Git Up by Blanco Brown
• Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus
• Hate Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Juice WRLD

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars
• What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA
• God’s Plan by Drake
• I Like Me Better by Lauv
• Please Me by Cardi B featuring Bruno Mars
• Attention by Charlie Puth
• Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line
• ME! by Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie
• Lean On by Major Lazer featuring DJ Snake and MØ
• The Hills by The Weeknd
• All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA
• How Long by Charlie Puth
• Stay by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. Cross Me by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock
19. Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

1 – Bad:
18. Cool by Jonas Brothers
17. Easier by 5 Seconds Of Summer
16. Wow. by Post Malone
15. You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift

2 – Mediocre:
14. Talk by Khalid

3 – Decent:
13. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber
12. Goodbyes by Post Malone featuring Young Thug

4 – Good:
None!

5 – Great:
11. Nightmare by Halsey
10. Suckr by Jonas Brothers
9. Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco
8. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
7. Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max
6. Speechless by Dan + Shay
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello
4. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
2. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Never Really Over by Katy Perry

Total Score: 68/100 = 68% (D+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey featuring Boyz II Men (1995)

Most Missed Song: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: BLOW by Ed Sheeran featuring Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: One Kiss by Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa (#10)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Never Really Over by Katy Perry
2. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
3. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
4. Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith featuring Normani
5. Señorita by Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
2. Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored by Ariana Grande
3. La La Land by Bryce Vine featuring YG
4. Love Me Less by MAX featuring Quinn XCII
5. Cross Me by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Nevermind by Dennis Lloyd: Eh, it’s not really special. I like the groove, but the repetition gets boring after a while.
In My Feelings by Drake: Already talked about this one in my previous post. It just didn’t click with me and I much prefer some of his other singles off of Scorpion.
I’m A Mess by Bebe Rexha: The title of the song speaks for itself. Between the grating guitars, no momentum from Bebe’s verses, and her voice being heavily drowned in auto tune, everything about the song is a mess, literally.