Hello, fam! I know it’s hard to believe. But today is actually the 25th anniversary of Pokémon. Man, it’s crazy. I remember back when I LOVE to watch the anime (and I still do even today) and play the actual games on my console. Those were good times. I might end up doing a post regarding my thoughts on the franchise in general, if I have the time. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:
- Take You Dancing by Jason Derulo (#22)
The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco
40. Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles (#39) [–1] [Spent 8 Weeks At #1]
39. Girl Like Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira (DEBUT)
38. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi (#36) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
37. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI (#38) [+1]
36. Dynamite by BTS (#34) [–2]
35. Best Friend by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat (#37) [+2]
34. Savage Love by Jawsh 685 featuring Jason Derulo (#32) [–2] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
33. Lasting Lover by Sigala featuring James Arthur (#33) [=]
32. ily (i love you baby) by Surf Mesa featuring Emilee (#30) [–2]
31. Goosebumps (Remix) by Travis Scott featuring HVME (#35) [+4]
30. Lifestyle by Jason Derulo featuring Adam Levine (#40) [+10]
29. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#27) [–2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
28. Dákati by Bad Bunny featuring Jhay Cortez (#29) [+1]
27. SO DONE by The KID LAROI (#28) [+1]
26. I Hope by Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth (#24) [–2]
25. My Head & My Heart by Ava Max (#31) [+6]
24. Laugh Now, Cry Later by Drake featuring Lil Turk (#21) [–3]
23. Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear (#26) [+3]
22. Diamonds by Sam Smith (#13) [–9]
21. Body by Megan Thee Stallion (#25) [+4]
20. Willow by Taylor Swift (#23) [+3]
19. Kings & Queens by Ava Max (#15) [–4]
18. Afterglow by Ed Sheeran (#17) [–1]
17. Anyone by Justin Bieber (#19) [+2]
16. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke (#18) [+2]
15. Golden by Harry Styles (#16) [+1]
14. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd (#20) [+6]
13. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear (#14) [+1]
12. Bang! by AJR (#10) [–2]
11. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney (#12) [+1]
10. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae (#11) [+1]
9. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper (#5) [–4]
8. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish (#8) [=]
7. Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo (#9) [+2]
6. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby (#7) [+1]
5. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior (#4) [–1] [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
4. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug (#6) [+2] (…….)
3. Positions by Ariana Grande (#3) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
2. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco (#1) [–1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
1. 34+35 by Ariana Grande (#2) [+1] [1st Week At #1]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Circles by Post Malone (6th of 7 Weeks At #1)
Biggest Fall Of The Week: Diamonds by Sam Smith (–9)
Biggest Rise Of The Week: Lifestyle by Jason Derulo featuring Adam Levine (+10)
New Entrants:
– Another week of not-so-good debuts. Well, we have only one new entrant actually. It’s come from The Black Eyed Peas who collaborate with Shakira in Girl Like Me. It was this time last year that Shakira teamed up with Jennifer Lopez for their performance in Super Bowl LIV. They were honestly amazing overall. In terms of her solo music, we haven’t seen much from her since 2014, when Can’t Remember To Forget You was her last big hit. I loved that song and it was a huge favorite of mine back then. I’m hoping we get some new solo music from her soon. But right now, she is teaming up with The Black Eyed Peas in this song….and no, I don’t buy into this. The production is basically nonexistent other than just the beat, which is very bland. It literally goes nowhere and that’s not good. Their versses have no momentum and I don’t like the chorus at all. Here, she is singing “ayyy” in the chorus on top of being underwhelming. Is this really the best you could do? Not really, and don’t even get me started on will.i.am. He just shows no personality here, and the lyrics are basically nonsense. Simply put, this song is shit and worse than Mamacita and RITMO (Bad Boys For Life), both of which I also despised. Huge disappointment for Shakira. If this is the direction that she is going to take for her next album, then I’m good.
Where Have All The Blurbs Gone?
– As far as our exit goes, we say goodbye to Take You Dancing by Jason Derulo. I didn’t particularly love the song, so I’m okay with it departing. However, I much prefer that song over Jason Derulo’s two current representations still on the countdown, in part because it was better produced.
– Lightning won’t strike twice for Justin Bieber this time around as 34+35 by Ariana Grande gets the #1 spot this week. Sure I’ll take it over Lonely, but this is still decent at best. As I’ve referenced before, Ariana has done much better in the past with her first two albums and some of Sweetener. But she’s also done a lot worse (cough *7 Rings* cough). 34+35 lands somewhere in the middle when ranking her songs in my opinion. It’s not that exciting of a song, but it’s nothing I loathe in the big picture.
– Are you kidding me?! Go Crazy magically rose to #4 this week. Gross. The only reason it’s up there is because Tik Tok. I honestly can’t believe we’re letting this become a bigger hit than No Guidance (which I detested as well). This has no business being in the Top 5. Let’s hope that 34+35 can hold the #1 long enough for this to drop down soon.
– Here, we have You Broke Me First by Tate McRae enter the Top 10, which I’m also not really too thrilled about either. This song continues less interesting with each and every additional listen. Then again, it did kick Bang! by AJR out of the Top 10 for good, which is a nice plus.
– Gotta love how The Weeknd is continuing his momentum with Save Your Years jumping big to #14 this week. That Super Bowl performance really helped the song get a boost. Here’s to hoping it can get to the Top 10 soon.
– Of all the debuts from last week, Lifestyle of course ends up taking the Biggest Rise Of The Week despite it not being a good song. However, we did see My Head & My Heart move up six spots so it’s nice to see it gain a little momentum.
Breakouts/On The Verge:
- Star by LOOΠΔ
- Talk About Love by Zara Larsson featuring Young Thug
- Skin by Sabrina Carpenter
- We’re Good by Dua Lipa
- The Business by Tiësto
Extras/Optional Extras:
- Coffee For Your Head by Powfu featuring Beabadoobe
- Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
- Intentions by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo
- Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller
- Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara
- Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
- ROCKSTAR by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch
- The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey
- High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco
- Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash
- Falling by Trevor Daniel
- One Thing Right by Marshmello featuring Kane Brown
Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney
19. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper
18. Bang! by AJR
17. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug
16. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke
1 – Bad:
None!
2 – Mediocre:
15. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco
14. Afterglow by Ed Sheeran
3 – Decent:
13. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae
12. 34+35 by Ariana Grande
11. Willow by Taylor Swift
4 – Good:
10. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear
9. Positions by Ariana Grande
5 – Great:
8. Anyone by Justin Bieber
7. Golden by Harry Styles
6. Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo
5. Kings & Queens by Ava Max
4. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
3. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
2. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
Total Score: 62/100 = 62% (C)
Throwback Pick Of The Week: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone by Paula Cole (1996)
Most Missed Song: Get Lucky by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell
#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Overdrive by Conan Gray
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (#3)
My Top 5 Picks
1. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
2. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby
3. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
4. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
5. Kings & Queens by Ava Max
My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. SO DONE by The KID LAROI (His voice is extremely annoying)
TIE: 1. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI (Same applies here)
3. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney (Should not even exist)
4. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper (Should not still be in the Top 10)
5. Girl Like Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira (A terrible collaboration)
Congrats to both AJR and Travis Scott for somehow missing out on my Bottom 5 picks.
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Intentions by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo: Blech. More Justin Bieber. At least with Yummy, I somewhat find it amusing. But my goodness, this is just a dumpster fire on so many levels. Do I even need to say anymore?
Know Your Worth by Khalid featuring Disclosure: These two team up once more, this time with a more superior track. Whereas Talk is just bland and underwhelming, this one is more upbeat and lively. And I hear this song A LOT at work and I often dance to it whenever I’m not busy. Good times.
Rare by Selena Gomez: A step down from Lose You To Love Me if you will. There’s really not much to the production, and the verses don’t have any momentum here.
Music Reviews + More 