If you’ve been keeping up with baseball this weekend, then you probably already know that Joe Musgrove became the first Padres pitcher ever to throw for a no-hitter last Friday. So congrats to him! That was a thrill. On the not-so good side, Atlanta got robbed of a series sweep against Philly on Sunday all because of some bullshit call in the last inning. Just shameful. In basketball land, the Hawks have been on the winning track and look poised to make the playoffs, so that good news. Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk about. Before we get to this week’s fresh 40, here are the songs we’re saying goodbye to this week:
- Golden by Harry Styles (#17)
- Star by LOOΠΔ (#37)
- Talk About Love by Zara Larsson featuring Young Thug (#39)
The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo
40. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (#40) [=] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
39. Hold On by Justin Bieber (DEBUT)
38. Laugh Now Cry Later by Drake featuring Lil Turk (#38) [=]
37. Way Less Sad by AJR (DEBUT)
36. I Hope by Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth (#35) [–1]
35. Good Days by SZA (DEBUT)
34. Bad Girl by Daya (#36) [+2]
33. Lil Bit by Nell featuring Florida Georgia Line (#34) [+1]
32. Kings & Queens by Ava Max (#31) [–1]
31. The Business by Tiësto (#30) [–1]
30. Bang! by AJR (#29) [–1]
29. Astronaut In The Ocean by Masked Wolf (#33) [+4]
28. Up by Cardi B (#32) [+4]
27. Holy by Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper (#26) [–1]
26. Girl Like Me by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira (#28) [+2]
25. Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear (#20) [–5]
24. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby (#23) [–1]
23. Heat Waves by Glass Animals (#27) [+4]
22. Best Friend by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat (#24) [+2]
21. Lonely by Justin Bieber featuring Benny Blanco (#18) [–3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
20. Dákati by Bad Bunny featuring Jhay Cortez (#22) [+2]
19. Willow by Taylor Swift (#16) [–3]
18. Goosebumps (Remix) by Travis Scott featuring HVME (#19) [+1]
17. Beautiful Mistakes by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion (#21) [+4]
16. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak) (#25) [+9]
15. WITHOUT YOU by The KID LAROI (#15) [=]
14. We’re Good by Dua Lipa (#14) [=]
13. My Head & My Heart by Ava Max (#13) [=]
12. Anyone by Justin Bieber (#12) [=]
11. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior (#9) [–2] [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
10. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear (#10) [=]
9. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke (#11) [+2]
8. Go Crazy by Chris Brown featuring Young Thug (#8) [=]
7. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd (#7) [=]
6. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae (#6) [=]
5. Positions by Ariana Grande (#) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
4. 34+35 by Ariana Grande (#3) [–1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
3. Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney (#4) [+1]
2. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish (#2) [=]
1. Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo (#1) [=] [4th Week At #1]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (5th And Final Week At #1)
Biggest Fall Of The Week: Monsters by All Time Low featuring Blackbear (–5)
Biggest Rise Of The Week: Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak) (+9)
New Entrants:
– I’m sure many here are tired of hearing more from Justin Bieber (save for Anyone). Don’t worry, I am too. But it looks like he’s here to stay. This week, he gives us another new single in the form of Hold On. His newest album, titled Justice, recently came out and it comes just after Changes, which was last year. I would question such a move given that it’s just going into his overexposure. But I’ll admit, it’s a solid album overall and I’m happy that it dethroned the terrible album from Morgan Wallen after several weeks of being #1 on the Billboard 200. As far as the song goes, I like it a little more than I should. It’s not quite his best and I prefer the singles off of Purpose because that album was a masterful work of art. Hold On has a nice sentiment to it. I enjoy the beat and the production here. Plus, Justin sounds pretty good in the chorus. He does have another song, Peaches which is gaining huge traction right now, so I’m sure we’ll see that one on the countdown pretty soon. But Hold On is a solid track overall and I hope it sticks around for a long while.
– Oh, this is just great. More of AJR is exactly what the world needs because why the hell not. They give us their latest song titled Way Less Sad. It comes as no shock that I don’t like these guys. They have not been impressing me with their music. Every single they’ve released has ranged from pretty bad to outright terrible. So you won’t be shocked to know that I’m not fond of Way Less Sad. It’s a little bit of a step up from Bang!, which is just a mess. But that in and of itself isn’t saying much because their new song is still awful. It is overproduced and I don’t like the loud solo trumpets that come after the chorus. But even beyond that, they don’t sound good in any part of the song and lyrically, it’s annoying as crap. They tried to take a different approach here and the result (as you would expect) is not good. And the sad thing is is that these guys have suddenly became popular in mainstream, which makes me even further annoyed. Hopefully, it dies out fast because it’s terrible.
– Last but not least, we have a song that is finally here! It’s from the return of SZA and she gives us Good Days! I’ve been a fan of her for quite sometime. It’s was this time last year when she collaborated with Justin Timberlake in The Other Side, which unfortunately failed to take off chart-wise. In terms of how the new song goes, it’s pretty amazing. Basically, she’s talking about moving past negativity and thinking about the good days (hence the title). I like the sentiment to it and it’s executed very well. The production is well put together and SZA has an amazing voice throughout the song. Like I said, I’ve been a fan of her and she’s talented as evidenced in songs such as The Other Side and her feature in All The Stars from Kendrick Lamar. I’m in love with this song overall. SZA has wowed me yet again.
Best Debut Of The Week: Good Days by SZA
Good Blurbs
– We’ll start with our exits. To begin, Talk About Love didn’t last long at all and it’s no shock considering Zara Larsson is underrated in the US. But it wasn’t anything amazing to start. She’s done better. So, I guess you could say I’m kinda happy with it departing. Star was something I loved, and it’s sad that it didn’t catch on unlike Dynamite by BTS. Lastly, there’s Golden, which leaves from a relatively high poisition this week. This is probably the last we’ll hear from Harry Styles, at least for a while. But he had a good run.
– As you probably can tell, I’m not thrilled about Put Your Records On being in the Top 3. Hopefully, it won’t last very long up there. Again, why we made this shitty cover of a song from Corinne Bailey Rae a massive hit is beyond me.
– In better news, Leave The Door Open makes it’s way into the Top 20 by having the Biggest Rise Of The Week. It’s definitely an enjoyable song and I’m impressed with how Bruno and Anderson put it all together. With this becoming a massive hit, I’m almost certain it’ll stick around for a while and I’ll be happy with that.
– I’m not surprised to see Beautiful Mistakes enter the Top 20 as it continues to gain a little traction at the moment. But I’m not thrilled about this. I know I say this all the time, but I much prefer their older albums and some of V because they were full of gems that I revisit from time to time. Beautiful Mistakes is not memorable in any way and Megan didn’t contribute to anything in the song at all. Hopefully, it ends up flopping like Nobody’s Love. But I have my doubts.
– With Monsters having the Biggest Fall Of The Week, it’s safe to say that this won’t become a sleeper hit. I still like the song, and when it started gaining momentum at the beginning of the year, I kinda thought it would be similar to Panic! At The Disco from 2018-19 when High Hopes became a surprise hit. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case with All Time Low. At least it was #1 on Hits 1, so I’m kinda happy with the tenure it had.
Breakouts/On The Verge
- POV by Ariana Grande
- Sacrifice by Bebe Rexha
- I’m Not Pretty by JESSIA
- Peaches by Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caeser and Giveon
Extras/Optional Extras:
- Umbrella by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z
- Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles
- Wolves by Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello
- Wake Me Up by Avicci featuring Aloe Blacc
- How Long by Charlie Puth
- Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo
- Heartless by The Weeknd
- Truth Hurts by Lizzo
- RITMO (Bad Boys For Life) by The Black Eyed Peas featuring J Balvin
- Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
- Better Now by Post Malone
- SO DONE by The KID LAROI
- It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez
- Uptown Funk! by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
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. Beautiful Mistakes by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion
14. What You Know About Love by Pop Smoke
2 – Mediocre:
None!
3 – Decent:
13. You Broke Me First by Tate McRae
12. Dákati by Bad Bunny featuring Jhay Cortez
11. 34+35 by Ariana Grande
4 – Good:
10. My Ex’s Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear
9. Positions by Ariana Grande
5 – Great:
8. Willow by Taylor Swift
7. Anyone by Justin Bieber
6. Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo
5. My Head & My Heart by Ava Max
4. Mood by 24KGoldn featuring Iann Dior
3. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
2. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak)
Overall Grade: 61/100 = 61% (C)
Throwback Pick Of The Week: Party Up (Up In Here) by DMX (2000)
Most Missed Countdown Song: Love Lies by Khalid featuring Normani
#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 (#)
My Top 5 Picks
1. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic (starring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak)
2. Levitating by Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby
3. Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish
4. Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
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:
Sunday Best by Surfaces: My #2 least favorite song of 2020, and for good reason. This is definitely not Sunday Best whatsoever. Terrible production, obnoxious vocals, and embarassing songwriting doesn’t make this a fun listen for me.
Modern Loneliness by Lauv: This is another in a long line of underwhelming songs from this guy. The piano leaves a lot to be desired and I don’t like his voice in general. Yeah, this is not good, and it’s not surprising since Lauv has mostly been a miss with his music.
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