Hello, fam! Is this thing on? Testing….
Ok, I’m ready. Now, I’m back (for real this time)! I just want to say happy new year to you all! Here’s to hoping 2021 is a better year for all of us. That’s all I wanted to say for my introduction. Right now, I’m ready to review the first AT40 countdown of 2021! Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:
- Control by Zoe Wees (#21)
- Fallin’ by Why Don’t We (#26)
- Wonder by Shawn Mendes (#31)
- WOW by Zara Larsson (#35)
- Say So by Doja Cat (#40) [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
40. If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels (#39) [–1]
39. Hawái by Maluma featuring The Weeknd (DEBUT)
38. Roses by SAINt JHN (#37) [–1]
37. So Done by The Kid LAROI (DEBUT)
36. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke (#38) [+2]
35. Adore You by Harry Styles (#34) [–1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
34. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd (DEBUT)
33. Lemonade by Internet Money featuring Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav (#33) [=]
32. Heather by Conan Gray (#32) [=]
31. Prisoner by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa (DEBUT)
30. ROCKSTAR by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch (#29) [–1]
29. Holiday by Lil Nas X (#36) [+7]
28. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear (#28) [=]
27. Break My Heart by Dua Lipa (#24) [–3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
26. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney (DEBUT)
25. Baby, I’m Jealous by Bebe Rexha featuring Doja Cat (#22) [–3]
24. Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles (#20) [–4] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
23. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae (#30) [+7]
22. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi (#17) [–5] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
21. Take You Dancing by Jason Derulo (#27) [+6]
20. Savage Love by Jawsh 685 featuring Jason Derulo (#14) [–6] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
19. 34+35 by Ariana Grande (#25) [+6]
18. Be Like That by Kane Brown featuring Swae Lee and Khalid (#8) [–10]
17. Monster by Shawn Mendes featuring Justin Bieber (#23) [+6]
16. ily (i love you baby) by Surf Mesa featuring Emilee (#7) [–9]
15. Golden by Harry Styles (#18) [+3]
14. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#11) [–3] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
13. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish (#16) [+3]
12. Diamonds by Sam Smith (#15) [+3]
11. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco (#19) [+8]
10. I Hope by Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth (#3) [–7]
9. Laugh Now Cry Later by Drake featuring Lil Durk (#10) [+1]
8. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug (#13) [+5]
7. Bang! by AJR (#12) [+5]
6. Dynamite by BTS (#6) [=]
5. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby (#9) [+4]
4. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper (#4) [=]
3. Kings & Queens by Ava Max (#2) [–1]
2. Positions by Ariana Grande (#5) [+3]
1. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior (#1) [=] [9th Week At #1]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Good As Hell by Lizzo (6th And Final Week At #1)
Biggest Fall Of The Week: Be Like That by Kane Brown featuring Swae Lee and Khalid (–10)
Biggest Rise Of The Week: Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco (+8)
New Entrants:
– To kick off our first set of debuts for the new year, we have a collaboration between Maluma and The Weeknd in the single titled Hawai. The Weeknd himself has seen a resurgence last year thanks to Blinding Lights being a massive hit. It wasn’t a surprise to see him try to continue his momentum by collaborating with different artists such as Maluma. I must say, I’m quite wowed by what this song has to offer. There’s not much to the production other than the solid beat. But everything about the song is interesting. I like the verses we get from both of these guys. I think The Weeknd did very well with his singing in Spanish. It shows how much he has evolved as an artist overall. He has definitely come a long way since he had his breakout year in 2015. This is a good song overall and if you haven’t heard it, I recommend that you check it out.
– Up next, we have The Kid LAROI with his song called So Done. I don’t really get the appeal to this song. Right off the bat, it’s incredibly annoying. First off, his voice is just obnoxious in every sense of the word. Like, every time I hear his voice, it just makes me cringe because of the way he hits those high notes. The production here isn’t very good either. The guitar here is weak and the beat isn’t all that interesting. I’m not sold on the lyrics. So yeah, it’s terribly written, produced, and sung. Why it is gaining momentum is beyond me. But I hope it dies out fast. NEXT!
– Now on to our next debut! We have more of The Weeknd with his latest single from After Hours, this time with Save Your Tears. I enjoyed a lot of what his album has had to offer and Save Your Tears is really no different. His voice is just amazing all throughout the song. I know I mention this alot, but he reminds me of the late Michael Jackson every time I hear his voice. I can definitely hear the comparisons between the two. The production here is great and I like the lyrics as well. What more can I say? Yeah, this is another impressive single that I love from his album and I’m hoping it can become another hit for him.
– Up next is a collaboration between Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa in their latest single titled Prisoner. It appears that Miley is channeling her inner Stevie Nicks, as evidenced in her predecessor Midnight Sky. I haven’t really heard much of what Plastic Hearts has to offer. But I’m sure it’s pretty damn good in terms of what she is going for. I enjoy the 80’s style production with the groove and the awesome beat. Their vocals are good throughout the song. They show really good chemistry. I’m definitely impressed with this song and I do hope it has some success.
– Blech. Finally, we get probably my least favorite debut of the week. It’s from Ritt Momney and he has a song titled Put Your Records On, a cover from Corrine Bailey Rae. Having listened to his version of the song…ugh. There are a number of things wrong with the cover overall. First off, his voice is not good. He sounds underwhelming in his verses and he is drowned in auto-tune in the chorus. The beat is rather lifeless and it doesn’t get any better throughout the song. I don’t have much else I can say beyond that. This is just a terrible cover of the original. But of course, it’s becoming a hit elsewhere because why the hell not. It’s a damn shame that a song of this caliber would—. Actually, you know what, I’m going to stop right here. I can’t do this anymore. Let’s just move on.
Best Debut Of The Week: Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
Save Your Blurbs
– As I do every week when reviewing the countdown, I start with the exits first. None of those will really be missed by me. Control wasn’t really my thing and Zoe Wees didn’t exactly made a good first impression with that song. Fallin’ is pretty decent, but it wasn’t anything special. WOW was probably one of the weakest singles I’ve heard from Zara Larsson. She’s done much better. Wonder is the best of the bunch and even that one was decent at best. While I liked that song to start, my love for it fizzled out relatively quickly. As someone who adored songs such as There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back and Señorita (my #2 favorite song of 2019), this was not his finest work. But I’d rather listen to that than his current representation on the countdown. Finally, it’s about time we bid adieu to Say So by Doja Cat. Good riddance. That one will never be missed.
– It’s nice to see Mood still at #1. I’m very pleased with how well the song is doing right now. It’s divine in every sense of the word. I’ve been listening to this song and it’s grown on me with each and every additional listen. I’m happy for 24KGoldn and overall, I’m happy that it’s still going strong!
– While I was away, we see Kings & Queens in the Top 5 on the countdown! It became a success on Hits 1 a few months back. But little did we know that it would soon gain momentum elsewhere and thus it would end up becoming another hit for Ava Max. This song is honestly just amazing and I’ve been enjoying it ever since it was released. Ava has impressed me with her music so far and I’m glad she’s getting the recognition she deserves. I’m very happy to see Ava getting another hit with this song.
– Speaking of artists whom I’m very happy to see getting success, we have Dua Lipa with another Top 5 hit in the form of Levitating. As much as I liked Don’t Start Now and Break My Heart, Levitating may very well be my favorite hit from Dua. This song has grown on me with each listen, moreso than her other singles. She has become a mainstay in music and I’m glad to see her become successful. I do hope to see Levitating at #1 someday.
– On that note, we have Positions rising close to the top at #2 this week and is in prime position to hit #1 in the coming weeks. I initially didn’t care for the song at first, but I’ve come around to it with time. Still, this song pales in comparison to what Ariana has done before. I enjoyed her first three albums overall and some of Sweetener. Those are the albums where gems such as Break Free, Into You, No Tears Left To Cry and more I won’t mention right now are located. Positions doesn’t live up to those. But I like the song for what it is.
Breakouts/On The Verge:
- Willow by Taylor Swift
- Daisy by Ashnikko
- Afterglow by Ed Sheeran
- Body by Megan Thee Stallion
- Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear
- Dakiti by Bad Bunny featuring Jhay Cortez
Extras/Optional Extras:
- Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max
- Cake By The Ocean by DNCE
- Perfect by Ed Sheeran
- Can’t Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
- Hate The Way by G-Eazy featuring Blackbear
- Mine by Bazzi
- WOW by Zara Larsson
- We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
- Tap In by Saweetie
- Hot Girl Bummer by Blackbear
- Fallin’ by Why Don’t We
- Delicate by Taylor Swift
Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. Bang! by AJR
19. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper
18. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug
17. Monster by Shawn Mendes featuring Justin Bieber
16. I Hope by Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth
1 – Bad:
15. Laugh Now Cry Later by Drake featuring Lil Turk
2 – Mediocre:
14. Savage Love by Jawsh 685 featuring Jason Derulo
13. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco
3 – Decent:
12. 34+35 by Ariana Grande
11. ily (i love you baby) by Surf Mesa featuring Emilee
4 – Good:
10. Positions by Ariana Grande
5 – Great:
9. Be Like That by Kane Brown featuring Swae Lee and Khalid
8. Dynamite by BTS
7. Diamonds by Sam Smith
6. Golden by Harry Styles
5. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
4. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
3. Kings & Queens by Ava Max
2. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby
Total Score: 60/100 = 60% (C)
Throwback Picks Of The Week: Space Oddity by David Bowie (1969) and Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley (1956)
Most Missed Song: Finesse (Remix) by Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B
#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Easy by Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#10)
My Top 5 Picks
1. Levitating by Dua Lipa
2. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
3. Kings & Queens by Ava Max
4. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
5. Prisoner by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa
My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bang! by AJR
2. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney
3. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper
4. Lemonade by Internet Money featuring Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav
5. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin: The comeback single from The Black Eyed Peas, and not a good one at that. The reggae production here is obnoxious and I can’t stand the vocals. But of course, this had to become a hit last year. Overall, it’s annoying. NEXT!
South Of The Border by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B: One of the better songs off of No. 6 Collaborations Project. I quite like the chemistry between the three and everything else about the song works well. Not as good as Beautiful People, but it’s still an easy listen every now and then.
Music Reviews + More 