Hello, fam! I hope everyone here had a good Easter weekend! First off, I want to say congrats to Baylor for winning the NCAA Championship. They dominated that game. It was a thrill watching them from start to finish. Baseball season is now underway. I’m hoping my Braves can win it all this year after choking the 3-1 series lead in the NLCS. That one hurt. I’m hoping they can bounce back. But we’ll see how their season plays out. This week’s countdown was definitely a lot more interesting as far as the debuts go. We got rid of one huge piece of trash and replaced it with quite possibly my new favorite song of the year so far. We did get some activity here and there, but not much. Let’s get right into things. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:
- Lifestyle by Jason Derulo featuring Adam Levine (#22)
- Lasting Lover by Sigala featuring James Arthur (#27)
- Skin by Sabrina Carpenter (#35)
The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo
40. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#39) [–1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
39. Talk About Love by Zara Larsson featuring Young Thug (#38) [–1]
38. Laugh Now Cry Later by Drake featuring Lil Turk (#36) [–2]
37. Star by LOOΠΔ (#37) [=]
36. Bad Girl by Daya (DEBUT)
35. I Hope by Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth (#33) [–2]
34. Lil Bit by Nelly featuring Florida Georgia Line (#34) [=]
33. Astronaut In The Ocean by Masked Wolf (DEBUT)
32. Up by Cardi B (#40) [+8]
31. Kings & Queens by Ava Max (#30) [–1]
30. The Business by Tiësto (#31) [+1]
29. Bang! by AJR (#26) [–3]
28. Girl Like Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira (#29) [+1]
27. Heat Waves by Glass Animals (#32) [+5]
26. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper (#23) [–3]
25. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak) (DEBUT)
24. Best Friend by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat (#24) [=]
23. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby (#19) [–4]
22. Dakaiti by Bad Bunny featuring Jhay Cortez (#25) [+3]
21. Beautiful Mistakes by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion (#28) [+7]
20. Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear (#18) [–2]
19. Goosebumps (Remix) by Travis Scott featuring HVME (#21) [+2]
18. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco (#16) [–2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
17. Golden by Harry Styles (#14) [–3]
16. Willow by Taylor Swift (#17) [+1]
15. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI (#20) [+5]
14. We’re Good by Dua Lipa (#15) [+1]
13. My Head & My Heart by Ava Max (#13) [=]
12. Anyone by Justin Bieber (#12) [=]
11. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke (#11) [=]
10. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear (#9) [–1]
9. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior (#8) [–1] [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
8. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug (#6) [–2]
7. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd (#10) [+1]
6. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae (#7) [+1]
5. Positions by Ariana Grande (#5) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
4. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney (#4) [=]
3. 34+35 by Ariana Grande (#2) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
2. Therfore I Am by Billie Eilish (#3) [+1]
1. Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo (#1) [=] [3rd Week At #1]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (4th of 5 Weeks At #1)
Biggest Fall Of The Week: Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby (–4)
Biggest Rise Of The Week: Up by Cardi B (+8)
New Entrants:
– Kicking things off is the return of Daya with her latest single Bad Girl. It’s been about five years since she rose to fame with Hide Away and Sit Still, Look Pretty, both of which were absolutely putrid in their own way. There was also a collaboration with The Chainsmokers in Don’t Let Me Down, which I didn’t mind for the most part. The last time she made an appearance on the countdown was back in 2018 with New, which only lasted one week and never took off elsewhere. Now, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to hearing more from her. But after listening to Bad Girl in its entirety, I find it to be pretty good. The lyrics are pretty questionable, but everything else works well for me here. I like the production. It’s got an interesting beat and Daya sounds good with her voice. So yeah, it’s one of her better songs. I doubt it’ll last very long, though.
– Next up is another song that is blowing up out of nowhere. It’s from newcomer Masked Wolf and he brings us Astronaut In The Ocean. Now, this was actually released in 2019, but here it is catching on in 2021. Seems like there’s a lot of songs that’s getting popular nowadays despite it being out for a while. Anyway, I like his energy and what he brings to the table. His vocal performance shows that and the verses are pretty good. But production-wise, it’s not as interesting and it’s missing something that makes it catchy. I don’t know. I think this is fine, but it could’ve been a lot better.
– So, it’s been five years since the release of 24K Magic, and I was wondering whether we get something new from Bruno Mars anytime soon. Well, five years later, here he is with his newest project. He teams up with Anderson.Paak to form his own band called Silk Sonic. They give us Leave The Door Open. Bruno has come a long way since his debut album, which is almost a decade ago. My goodness, time flies! He has the type of energy and charisma that pulls me in and that’s one of the reasons why I adore his music. It wasn’t exactly like this early on, as proven in songs like Grenade, It Will Rain, and the god-awful The Lazy Song where he didn’t harness much of his talent. But when Treasure and Uptown Funk were released, everything changed. People started to love him because he was able to embrace his old school style by channeling his inner Michael Jackson (although I can say this about The Weeknd as well as his latest music is a reflection of that). He was able to do it again with 24KMagic. That album was filled with gems such as Finesse, Chunky, That’s What I Like, and of course the title track itself. It comes as no surprise that I absolutely adore his newest song. I love the chemistry between him and Anderson.Paak. These guys have such amazing voices and they know how to deliver in the chorus. They also had a hand in the production and it works well to perfection. I enjoy the final chorus with the key change as Bruno delivers with his very high notes. Yeah, this is my new favorite song of the year so far. I’m looking forward to this becoming a hit! 🙂
Best Debut Of The Week: Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak)
I’ma Leave The Blurbs Open
– I have no complaints at all about either of our exits. Skin was just a mess and thankfully didn’t take off. I don’t even know what Sabrina Carpenter was going for here, but it did not send a good message at all. Yeah, that song will never be missed, and it’s definitely a candidate for My Bottom 10 Songs of 2021 when December rolls around. Lifestyle wasn’t really my thing either, though it wasn’t nearly as annoying and I can somewhat see the appeal unlike Skin. And Lasting Lover was getting less interesting with each and every additional listen. Sigala has done much better in the past, but the song didn’t live up to that. So I’m kinda glad it’s gone.
– Before introducing Star, Ryan Seacrest mentioned that when the group created the song, they wanted to interconnect with the fans and they were able to make a visual music video out of it. I like the fact that they care for the fans. I think they feel special to them.
– Ryan Seacrest mentioned during his introduction for Up that Cardi B doesn’t want Selena Gomez to retire from music. She said that fans wanted something they’ve never heard before. I mean, I don’t blame her not one bit, because I think Selena Gomez is still talented vocally and she hasn’t lost a step. I’m hoping we hear more from her soon.
– I honestly don’t know how songs like I Hope and Bang! are still here. They both need to leave. Like, right now.
– On the note of shitty songs, we have WITHOUT YOU entering the Top 15. Why the hell are we making this a thing?!?! There is no appeal. It’s just as bad as SO DONE, which left about a couple weeks ago. He’s not a good singer at all and everything about the song is a mess. Seriously, it needs to die out, fast.
– Ryan Seacrest mentioned upon introducing My Ex’s Best Friend that Machine Gun Kelly decided to make the switch from hip-hop to alternative rock for his latest album. I find it interesting considering that the majority of his discography consisted of hip-hop songs. I do quite like what he’s going for in his album.
– Not much has changed in the Top 10 othe than some songs moving spots, so really nothing else to talk about here.
Breakouts/On The Verge:
- Good Days by SZA
- Way Less Sad by AJR
- Hold On by Justin Bieber
Extras/Optional Extras:
- Afterglow by Ed Sheeran
- Breathin’ by Ariana Grande
- Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign
- I Like It by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin
- Lemonade by Internet Money featuring Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav
- Be Like That by Kane Brown featuring Swae Lee and Khalid
- Demons by Imagine Dragons
- Same Old Love by Selena Gomez
- The Bones by Maren Morris
- Holiday by Lil Nas X
- Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay
- Over Now by Calvin Harris featuring The Weeknd
- If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Crap:
20. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI
19. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney
18. Goosebumps (Remix) by Travis Scott featuring HVME
17. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug
1 – Bad:
16. We’re Good by Dua Lipa
15. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke
2 – Mediocre:
14. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco
3 – Decent:
13. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae
12. 34+35 by Ariana Grande
4 – Good:
11. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear
10. Willow by Taylor Swift
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. My Head & My Heart by Ava Max
4. Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear
3. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
2. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
1. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
Total Score: 62/100 = 62% (C)
Throwback Pick Of The Week: Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (1988)
Most Missed Song: Treasure by Bruno Mars
#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Street Runner by Rod Wave
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#8)
My Top 5 Picks
1. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic
2. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
3. Therfore I Am by Billie Eilish
4. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby
5. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
My Bottom 5 Picks
1. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI
2. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney
3. Girl Like Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira
4. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper
5. Lil Bit by Nelly featuring Florida Georgia Line
Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Sad Tonight by Chelsea Cutler: Yeah, I think it’s a nice song and the girl’s voice is cute. That’s really all I can say about this one. Fun fact: her and my father both share the same birthday (February 11).
I Love Me by Demi Lovato: Yeah…I’m not a fan of this. It’s underwhelming and Demi doesn’t showcase her talent here. This was not a good comeback for her overall. She did get better with Dancing With The Devil, which just recently came out.
Music Reviews + More 