Demi Lovato (1) – Week Of November 11, 2017

/ dhill92 / 31 Comments

Hello friends! So this past weekend for me was pretty good. I went to my best friend’s wedding and it was pretty enjoyable. And then the next day, I watch some football and then went to the movies immediately afterwards to see Thor: Ragnarok. It was really good, so I highly recommend you guys check it out. Anyway, I’m going off-topic. This is a music blog! I’m supposed to be reviewing music, not talk about what going on in my life. Okay seriously, I don’t know any way to put this introduction. Anyway, this is the Veteran’s Day edition of the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown. And I would like to honor those who have fought and sacrificed to protect and serve our country. As far as this week went, it was a pretty interesting for the most part. We had some activity going on, good and bad. Let’s get right into it. So with all that being said, here are the songs leaving the countdown this week:

  • Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know (#32)
  • The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You (#37)
  • Louis Tomlinson featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#44)

The Countdown:

Last Week’s #1 Song: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
45. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me (#41) [-1]
44. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like (#43) [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
43. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (#44) [+2]
42. Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® – Friends (#38) [-4]
41. Evaride – Heartless (#35) [-6]
40. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#42) [+2]
39. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (DEBUT)
38. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn (DEBUT)
37. Charlie Puth – Attention (#40) [+3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
36. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#36) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
35. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#39) [+4] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
34. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay (#34) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
33. Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee – Despacito (#28) [-5]
32. Linkin Park – One More Light (#23) [-9]
31. Lauv – I Like Me Better (DEBUT)
30. The Script – Rain (#31) [+1]
29. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#10) [-19] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1] (Ouch!)
28. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#28) [-2]
27. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#9) [-18] (Welp.)
26. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#14) [-12] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
25. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#27) [+2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
24. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#25) [+1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
23. Sabrina Carpenter – Why (#22) [-2]
22. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#21) [-1] (GO AWAY!!!)
21. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask (#33) [+12]
20. Dua Lipa – New Rules (#30) [+10]
19. Charlie Puth – How Long (#18) [-1]
18. Haliee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#20) [+2]
17. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#16) [-1]
16. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#29) [+13] (What the…)
15. Camila Cabello – Havana (#18) [+3]
14. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#13) [-1]
13. Kesha – Praying (#12) [-1]
12. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#11) [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
11. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (#24) [+13]
10. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#19) [+9]
9. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#5) [-4]
8. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#15) [+7]
7. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious (#8) [+1]
6. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#7) [+1]
5. Halsey – Bad At Love (#6) [+1]
4. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#3) [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
3. P!NK – What About Us (#2) [-1]
2. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#1) [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
1. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#4) [+3] [FIRST WEEK AT #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Shawn Mendes – Treat You Better (1st Of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Niall Horan – Slow Hands (-19)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do and Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (+13)

New Entrants
– To kick off this week’s new arrivals, we have Bebe Rexha replacing herself on the countdown with her new single titled Meant To Be, which features country band Florida Georgia Line. I can’t say I’m loving this one too much. Although, it’s slightly better than Body Like A Back Road, this song just goes to show how the quality of country music has declined in general. Many YouTube critics (Spectrum Pulse, Todd In The Shadows, TheDoubleAgent, etc.) have been bashing the country genre for some time now, and this song is basically no exception. Bebe’s vocals are okay for the most part, but I’m just not a fan of the vocals from that of the Florida Georgia Line. In fact, they basically do most of the singing throughout the song, which brings it down for me. Also, the lyrical content really isn’t all that good, much like some of the other mediocre country songs out there. Overall, it’s just not my cup of tea. So yeah, I’d skip this.

– I’m sure many of you didn’t quite expect to hear more from ZAYN so soon, huh? Well, guess what? He’s back, and he’s brought along Sia for their new single titled Dusk Till Dawn. At first listen, my reaction was not necessarily the greatest, seeing as I’ve had it in red at one point back when it made its debut on Hit-Bound, in part because I felt it was too slow and underwhelming. But if you’ve been following my blog lately, you’ll realize that I’ve warmed up to this song in record time. ZAYN’s and Sia’s vocals blend together very nicely, especially in both the chorus and the pre-chorus, and I’ve come to find that the production is solid all around. I recently watched the music video for the song, and it was cool for the most part. By the looks of it, it kinda reminds me of the 90’s action movie. Yeah, that music video gives me the chills. I love the suspense to it. Anyway, after more listens, I’ve come around to enjoy the song more and it’s easily the best debut of the week.

– Finally, we have newcomer Lauv with his first song on the countdown. The song is called I Like Me Better. This was on the YouTube 15 way back in the summer, when I briefly talked about this song. I don’t think many of you have noticed, but this song was slightly closer to red than it was to green. After repeated listens, I chose red simply because I just find it underwhelming for my tastes. The production is okay, but his vocals don’t really stand out, which brings the song down for me. My opinion could change, but right now, I’m just not feeling this one.

I’ll Blurb With You From Dusk Till Dawn
– So as always, we begin with the exits, all of which weren’t popular elsewhere, so I’m not surprised about either of them. First off, I’m thrilled to see You Already Know departing after spending only three weeks here, so no complaints there. Then there’s Wish I Knew You, which I did like and I wished it deserved better. Finally, the one that saddens me the most is Back To You. It was a solid collaboration between both Louis Tomlinson & Bebe Rexha and I enjoyed it from the start. It’s too bad the audience isn’t buying into either artists’ music. Good-bye, Back To You. You will be missed (by me at least).

– Spyder Harrison mentioned during his introduction of Attention that fans of Charlie Puth saw a Lego version of himself. I remember playing Lego back when I was a kid and I used building blocks to make signs. Those were the good old days (no reference to Macklemore and Kesha).

– Wow. The Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week kinda came out of nowhere. Although I don’t quite enjoy Slow Hands as much as I used to, I’m quite shocked to see it take a hard fall out of the Top 10. Guess this must be the end, unless it makes a comeback.

– On that note, Feel It Still took a surprising big drop out of the Top 10. I thought this was going to be a potential #1 in the near future. Never mind. It doesn’t look like it’s going to get that chance.

– Can Body Like A Back Road please drive southbound and get off the countdown already?! I am tired of hearing the beginning line, “Got a girl from the south side”, every time I drive in the car. It’s so annoying. How about we get some better country music for once?!

– Before introducing New Rules, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Dua Lipa doesn’t want people to be obsessed with her love life. Well, guess what Spyder? She’s famous. And like all the music artists, shes getting all the unwanted attention (no reference to Charlie Puth). I hope she haves fun with the paparazzi. 😛

– *sees #16* Oh my uffing goodness! Look What You Made Me Do made a shocking recovery after that massive drop last week. I wasn’t expecting it, but hey, I’m not complaining.

– On the note of other unexpected jumps this week, we have No Promises making it back into the Top 20, closing in on the Top 10. Looks like this one isn’t giving up yet despite the fact that it’s dying out elsewhere.

– We have two Top 10 entrants this week (Too Good At Goodbyes and …Ready For It?), and I’m thrilled about both of them entering that region. …Ready For It? I don’t really need to explain, and given that her album Reputation recently dropped on Friday, I can see it being a potential #1. That which I want to see.

– Unfortunately for Ed Sheeran, he did not make history this week, as Perfect dropped out of the Top 5 and Galway Girl was just dethroned from the top spot. This must have been a pretty bad week for Ed Sheeran, if I do say so myself, heh. Instead…

– We have a new #1 this week, in which Demi Lovato takes over with Sorry Not Sorry. I’m pretty much fine with it, personally, though I know some are not too kind about it. Keep in mind that this was #1 on the AT40 this week. Heh, I wonder is she telling Ed Sheeran “I’m sorry” for not letting him make history by replacing himself? 😛


Hit-Bound:

  • Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
  • Harry Styles – Kiwi
  • Sofi Tukker – Best Friend (DEBUT)
  • Nick Jonas – Find You
  • Walk The Moon – One Foot (DEBUT)
  • P!NK featuring Eminem – Revenge (DEBUT)
  • Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
  • Bruno Mars – Chunky
  • Taylor Swift – Gorgeous
  • Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
  • The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn
  • Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
  • Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor
  • X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself

– On this week’s edition of Hit-Bound, we have three new entrants. The first comes from the brand new musical duo, Sofi Tukker with their song titled Best Friend. I can’t really say I’m a fan of this at the moment, mainly because of the vocals and the production. That’s all I’ve got for this song for now.

– So, we have the return of Walk The Moon with their new single titled One Foot. We haven’t heard from these guys since Shut Up And Dance became their biggest hit back in 2015. As for this one, while it’s not quite as good, this is still pretty fun and enjoyable. Again, that’s all I’ve got right now.

– Finally, we have more P!NK. And who would’ve guessed that she would collaborate with Eminem, one of the best rappers of all time? Anyway, they bring us their new single titled Revenge. It’s very different compared to some of the other songs. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. I was juggling between blue and green for this one, and I decided to go with the latter for now. Maybe once I listen to it more, I’ll have a full opinion on it.

– I haven’t really talked about The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn, so I might as well talk about it now while we’re at it. It sounds pretty cool, although it’s not necessarily a great first impression. It does have some nice elements to it. Right now, I don’t have much more to say about this one.

– Due to repeated listens, Wolves has become the new best song on Hit-Bound. Selena’s vocals are pretty spot on, and I love the production overall. It’s nice to see Marshmello contribute very well. I’m hoping it can make its debut, which I’m sure it will eventually.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

TIE: 1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
TIE: 1. Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves
3. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
4. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
5. Harry Styles – Kiwi

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
None!

1 – Bad:
None!

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
20. Imagine Dragons – Believer
19. Halsey – Bad At Love

4 – Good:
18. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
17. Camila Cabello – Havana
16. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
15. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
14. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises

5 – Great:
13. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
12. Charlie Puth – How Long
11. Dua Lipa – New Rules
10. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
9. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
8. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
7. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
6. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
5. P!NK – What About Us
4. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
3. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
2. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Kesha – Praying


Overall Grade: 92/100 (A-)

Throwback Picks Of The Week: The Temptations – My Girl (1965) and Next – Too Close (1997)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Coldplay – Paradise
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kygo featuring OneRepublic – Stranger Things
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Jon Bellion – All Time Low and Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful

My Top 5 Picks
1. Kesha – Praying
2. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
3. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
4. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
5. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
2. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
3. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
4. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low
5. Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Bastille – Good Grief: Although it’s not as good as Pompeii, this is still quite enjoyable to some degree. A song that talks about an ex and how he’d miss her more works for me.
DNCE – Body Moves: This one is pretty fun and interesting, if I do say so myself. The music video is easily the best thing about it. Who would’ve guessed we would see Joe Jonas hang out with some random girl?

AT40: Demi Lovato (1) – Week Of November 11, 2017

/ dhill92 / 15 Comments

Hello, friends! So, last week on a Sunday night after I watched some football, I decided to go to the movies and watch Thor: Ragnarok. I’ve got to say: it was pretty darn good. I highly recommend you check it out. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about movies; I’m here to talk about music. This is the Veteran’s Day Edition of the American Top 40. Let’s get down to business and review this countdown, shall we? So with that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week:

  • Now Or Never by Halsey
    Last Week: #34 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 28
  • Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller
    Last Week: #35 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 18

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man

40. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #40 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 35

39. Find You by Nick Jonas (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

38. That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #38 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 40

37. Too Much To Ask by Niall Horan (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

36. It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez [=]
Last Week: #36 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 36

35. Good Old Days by Macklemore featuring Kesha [+4]
Last Week: #39 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

34. Young, Dumb, and Broke by Khalid [+3]
Last Week: #37 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

33. Do Re Mi by Blackbear [-1]
Last Week: #32 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

32. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt [-2]
Last Week: #30 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

31. Why by Sabrina Carpenter [=]
Last Week: #31 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

30. How Long by Charlie Puth [+3]
Last Week: #33 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

29. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt [=]
Last Week: #29 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

28. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara [-2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #26 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 35

27. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B. [=]
Last Week: #27 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

26. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage [+2]
Last Week: #28 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

25. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee [-3] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #22 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 25

24. Love So Soft by Kelly Clarkson [+1]
Last Week: #25 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

23. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash [=]
Last Week: #23 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

22. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William and Beyoncé [+2] (GO AWAY!!!)
Last Week: #24 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

21. Believer by Imagine Dragons [-4]
Last Week: #17 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 25

20. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift [=]
Last Week: #20 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

19. New Rules by Dua Lipa [=]
Last Week: #19 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

18. Perfect by Ed Sheeran [+3]
Last Week: #21 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

17. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug [+1]
Last Week: #18 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

16. Bad At Love by Halsey [=]
Last Week: #16 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

15. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes [-4] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #11 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 26

14. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith [=]
Last Week: #14 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

13. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato [-5]
Last Week: #8 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

12. What About Us by P!NK [+1]
Last Week: #13 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

11. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee [-1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 17

10. Praying by Kesha [+2]
Last Week: #12 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14

9. Thunder by Imagine Dragons [+6]
Last Week: #15 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

8. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift [-6] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #2 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

7. Slow Hands by Niall Horan [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #7 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

6. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA [+3]
Last Week: #9 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

5. Attention by Charlie Puth [=] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #5 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

4. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #3 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

3. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid [+3]
Last Week: #6 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 17

2. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #1 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 12

1. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato [+3] [FIRST WEEK AT #1]
Last Week: #4 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 13

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (5th Of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift (-6)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Thunder by Imagine Dragons (+6)

New Entrants
– Our first of two entrants this week comes from returning artist Nick Jonas with his new single, Find You. At first, I didn’t really find it interesting. But with more listens, I’ve come around it. The lyrics to this one are pretty deep. It talks about how one tries to find love, but doesn’t really know where to look. I like the use of the guitars throughout the song. While it’s not quite as good as Chains, it’s pretty solid overall.

– And then, we have Niall Horan with another song on the countdown. Enter Too Much To Ask, the third single off of his recently released album, Flicker. I pretty much explained this song in my previous post when it debuted on Hits 1. Now, it’s not as upbeat as Slow Hands, but it does show that Niall is good at making acoustic tracks. This song talks about lost love, and the memories they shared together. But now, the person in question is alone and needs someone to come back. Overall, it’s a very nice song, and I’m hoping it does well.

I Never Really Know Just Where To Find Blurbs
– First up, our two exits. I did like Now Or Never for a while, but I knew it wouldn’t stick with me in the long run. Wild Thoughts, on the other hand, managed to stick with me and I’m sad to see it go. It held up well on this chart, and I’m glad that it got just as big as its predecessor. While some are throwing a be-gone party, I’m not one of them.

– So, Sorry Not Sorry at #1? I’m fine with it personally. I’ve slightly grown back into the song, though not quite enough to put it in green. I’d much prefer Feel It Still at the top, but you never know for sure if songs like Sorry Not Sorry can hit #1.

– 1-800-273-8255 has hit a new peak of #3. I can see it hitting #1 in the near future. If Sorry Not Sorry and Feel It Still did before, then this one has a chance, also.

– *sees #8* Ouch! Well, this didn’t take long. Look What You Made Me Do made a disappointing (to me, at least) drop out of the Top 5 rather quickly. Seeing as its still falling hard elsewhere, I shouldn’t be surprised. Good thing it spent 1 week at #1, so props to that.

– But then, there’s Thunder entering the Top 10 at #9, which isn’t a surprise since that one is still gaining. I have a feeling this could potentially hit #1 in the near future. Fun fact: both the biggest drop and jump moved 6 spots.

– Yes, you’re reading that right. I have indeed grown into Havana with repeated listens. I do like the piano work in this one, and I think Camila’s vocals are pretty good. Also, before introducing Havana, Ryan Seacrest mentioned that she performed a Spanish version of this song at the Latin Music Awards. Before today, I didn’t know Havana was her birth place. Heh, I guess I need to start studying these music artists more often.

– So, Ryan Seacrest mentioned during his introduction of Rockstar that it started out as a cell phone video. I wonder is that how most rap music began flooding the charts because of this? I mean, I heard it was due to the popularity of Vine. Now that Vine is basically gone, I wonder how will these rappers go viral, heh?

– Before introducing That’s What I Like, Ryan Seacrest mentioned that Bruno Mars had a sinus infection (feel better, Bruno!), but it didn’t stop him from making a epic performance at a concert. Yep, he’s still an electrifying entertainer!

Breakouts/On The Verge

  • He Like That by Fifth Harmony
  • Silence by Marshmello featuring Khalid
  • Faking It by Calvin Harris featuring Kehlani and Lil’ Yatchy

Extras/Optional Extras

  • Gold by Kiiara
  • My Love by Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
  • Daylight by Maroon 5
  • We Are Young by fun. featuring Janelle Monae
  • Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie
  • Love Me Now by John Legend
  • I’m The One by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper, and Lil’ Wayne
  • Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey
  • California Gurls by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
None!

4 – Good:
19. Bad At Love by Halsey
18. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
17. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
16. Slow Hands by Niall Horan
15. Attention by Charlie Puth
14. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato

5 – Great:
13. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith
12. New Rules by Dua Lipa
11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA
10. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
9. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
8. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
7. Perfect by Ed Sheeran
6. Thunder by Imagine Dragons
5. What About Us by P!NK
4. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
3. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Praying by Kesha

Total Score: 91/100 (A-)

Throwback Picks Of The Week: All By Myself by Céline Dion (1996) and My Heart Will Go On by Céline Dion (1997)
Most Missed Songs: Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding and Fight Song by Rachel Platten
#1 Recommendation For the American Top 40: Dusk Till Dawn by ZAYN featuring Sia

Favorite Countdown Song One Year Ago: Tie between All Time Low by Jon Bellion and Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara

My Top 5 Picks
1. Praying by Kesha
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift
3. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
4. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
5. What About Us by P!NK

My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt
TIE: 1. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William and Beyoncé
3. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
4. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B.
5. Do Re Mi by Blackbear

Ed Sheeran (3) – Week Of November 4, 2017

/ dhill92 / 13 Comments

Hello friends! This is the first Hits 1 Weekend Countdown of November! We’re getting pretty close to the end of 2017. Man, has time flown by so fast! And again, remember to set your clocks back 1 hour because Daylight Savings Time ends today. But enough about that. Let’s get right into the music business of things, shall we? Now, here are the exits this week:

  • Harry Styles – Two Ghosts (#35)
  • Lady Gaga – The Cure (#36)

The Countdown:

Last Week’s #1 Song: Imagine Dragons – Thunder
45. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (#44) [-1]
44. Louis Tomlinson featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#45) [+1]
43. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like (#41) [-2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
42. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#42) [=]
41. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me (#43) [+2]
40. Charlie Puth – Attention (#40) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
39. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#39) [=] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
38. Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® – Friends (#38) [=]
37. The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You (#37) [=]
36. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#31) [-5] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
35. Evaride – Heartless (#32) [-3]
34. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay (#34) [=] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
33. Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask (DEBUT)
32. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know (#27) [-5]
31. The Script – Rain (#33) [+2]
30. Dua Lipa – New Rules (DEBUT)
29. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#5) [-24] (Oh, my…)
28. Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee – Despacito (#29) [+1]
27. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#19) [-8] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
26. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#24) [-2]
25. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#26) [+1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
24. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (#22) [-2]
23. Linkin Park – One More Light (#21) [-2]
22. Sabrina Carpenter – Why (#23) [+1]
21. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#25) [+4] (Stop Jumping and Leave!)
20. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#20) [=]
19. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#28) [+9]
18. Camila Cabello – Havana (#16) [-2]
17. Charlie Puth – How Long (#17) [=]
16. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#18) [+2]
15. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#13) [-2]
14. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#4) [-10] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
13. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#14) [+1]
12. Kesha – Praying (#15) [+3]
11. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#12) [+1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
10. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#7) [-3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
9. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#6) [-3]
8. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious (#10) [+2]
7. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#11) [+4]
6. Halsey – Bad at Love (#8) [+2]
5. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#30) [+25] (Another hit, perhaps?)
4. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#2) [-2]
3. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#1) [-2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
2. P!NK – What About Us (#9) [+7]
1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#3) [+2] [THIRD WEEK AT #1!!!]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – Closer (5th Of 8 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (-24)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Ed Sheeran – Perfect (+25)

New Entrants

– So, more Niall Horan, huh? Too Much To Ask is pretty low-key, but he does prove that he can make acoustic tracks better than some other artists I won’t mention right now. I do think this and Slow Hands are one of the two better tracks off of his album, Flicker. It talks about lost love, especially when one looks back at the memories they shared together, but now the person in question is alone. It’s a very nice song, overall, and I’m hoping it becomes another hit much like Slow Hands.

– For our second and final debut of the week, we have newcomer Dua Lipa making her first-ever appearance on the countdown. Earlier this year, she had Blow Your Mind (Mwah) on Hit-Bound, but it failed to graduate. Today, she finally makes her debut with New Rules, which has recently reached 500 million views on YouTube. So, congratulations, Dua Lipa! Anyway, I do love the tropical house vibe to the song, and Dua Lipa makes better use of her vocals in this one. It’s another one of those break-up songs in terms of the lyrical content, which talks about how one can move on from their ex and trying to not be friends with them anymore. On the note of the music video, it shows her having a sleepover with her friends in the hotel. It basically shows her friends giving her advice on how to move on from an ex, while she does the same near the end. Anyway, the point I’m trying to get across is, it’s a solid track for her overall and it’s a better choice for her single in her debut album. We’ll see if it has some success here.


Is It Too Much To Blurb

– So, we had two exits this week. Two Ghosts makes its departure, and given that people aren’t buying into Harry Styles’ music, I probably shouldn’t be as surprised about its exit. On a sad note, we lost The Cure, and with it brings Lady Gaga’s countdown run to a close. This is the first time we don’t have a Lady Gaga song on the countdown since September 10, 2016. Even though it was bigger elsewhere, it had a nice tenure and I enjoyed pretty much every bit of the song. I can see myself putting it in my Top 45 Songs of 2017. Farewell The Cure. Thank you for your time and service on the countdown. You will not be forgotten by me.

– Our bottom 5 remains the same, so nothing to talk about there.

– While I was out and about this week, I heard the instrumental version of That’s What I Like on a sports radio station. Quite the refresher.

– So, I recently found out that Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber are hanging out together again. I wonder does this mean they’ll be in a long-term relationship this time around? Only time will tell on that.

– Before introducing Attention, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Charlie Puth wears the same pants every day just so he could concentrate on his music. Heh, I wonder does he wash them every day?

– The guest DJ that introduced Wish I Knew You gave a shout-out to her cool cousin. How very nice of her!

– All of the songs from #40-#37 held their positions this week.

– Heartless doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere on the countdown, as it fell to #35 this week. Pretty unfortunate if you ask me.

– So, The Script band member Mark Sheehan just recently celebrated his 41st birthday this past Sunday. I would like to wish him a Happy Belated Birthday!

– My goodness! Look What You Made Me Do took a really hard fall out of the Top 5 all the way down to #29. It’s safe to say that it won’t hit #1 here, given that this one is free-falling elsewhere, also. And remember when I said back when it made its debut that this was going to be the Closer of 2017? Yeah, I jinxed it big time. For me, it’s a disappointment, but at the same time, it’s not surprising that this happened.

– How is Body Like A Back Road still jumping?! I know I rant about this song so often. But still, it needs to leave and stop polluting the countdown already!

– So, I shouldn’t be surprised to see Too Good At Goodbyes making a jump this week, given that his new album, The Thrill Of It All, has just been released yesterday.

– The guest DJ that introduced Save Me A Place gave a shout-out to all of her chemistry friends and her parents. She even mentioned her parents’ names. How very nice of her!

– Strip That Down dropping out of the Top 5 (and Top 10) is nothing but good news. Hopefully this is the end.

– Although Feel It Still hit #1 on The AT40, the same doesn’t ring true here (well, not yet at least). Hopefully, it can get that chance someday.

– It’s good to see Love So Soft making its arrival in the Top 10, rising to #7. I still enjoy that new sound of hers at this moment. I’m hoping it can stay in the Top 10 for a while.

– On the note of other Top 10 entrants, we have Perfect making a enormous jump this week into the Top 5, literally swapping places with Look What You Made Me Do. Man, he’s been dominating the charts this year. Something tells me that this could very well be another #1 hit in the making for Ed Sheeran.

– And while were on that subject, despite Thunder still dominating in sales & radio, lightning did not strike twice for Imagine Dragons this week, as they didn’t hold the #1 spot. Instead…

– We have What About Us reaching a new peak at #2. It’s good to see P!NK getting another big hit like she did with Just Like Fire back in 2016.

– And then our #1. Of course, Ed Sheeran was destined to get it back at some point. Now, would it be interesting if he replaces himself with Perfect in the next week or so? If that were to happen, it would be the first time since almost three years ago when Taylor Swift replaced herself at #1.

Hit-Bound

  • Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor
  • Taylor Swift – Gorgeous (DEBUT)
  • Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
  • Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves (DEBUT)
  • Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
  • The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn
  • ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
  • Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
  • Lauv – I Like Me Better
  • Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
  • X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
  • Nick Jonas – Find You
  • Bruno Mars – Chunky
  • Harry Styles – Kiwi

– Mikey Piff is back to hosting Hit-Bound this week. We have two debuts, starting with Gorgeous, which is another promo single off of Taylor Swift’s new album, Reputation. Now, all I have to say right now is it’s not as good as her other two singles, but I still like it.
– And we have more Selena Gomez once again. This time, she’s collaborating with Marshmello in her new single, Wolves. I talked about a possible collaboration of these two not too long ago in one of my posts. Anyway, it’s definitely something Selena should be doing right now, and not those awful sultry tracks she’s been releasing lately (if you know what I’m talking about). I’ll have more on this when it inevitably debuts.
My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
2. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
4. Harry Styles – Kiwi
5. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
19. Imagine Dragons – Believer
18. Camila Cabello – Havana

4 – Good:
17. Halsey – Bad At Love
16. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
15. Niall Horan – Slow Hands
14. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft

5 – Great:
13. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
12. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
11. Charlie Puth – How Long
10. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
9. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still
8. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
7. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
6. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
5. P!NK – What About Us
4. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
3. …Ready For It? Taylor Swift
2. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Kesha – Praying

Overall Grade: 89/100 (B+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Aretha Franklin – Respect (1967) (A timeless classic!)
Most Missed Countdown Song: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Kesha – Learn To Let Go
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Jon Bellion – All Time Low
My Top 5 Picks
1. Kesha – Praying
2. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
3. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
4. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
5. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
2. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
3. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know
4. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
5. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis – Greenlight: It’s not as good as Timber, but Pitbull always showcases his energy and charisma. Oh, and both Flo Rida & LunchMoney Lewis verses are solid all around.
Fifth Harmony – That’s My Girl: Yeah, I’m not a fan of the fart-sounding trumpets in this one, or their vocals. Sorry.
Jon Bellion – All Time Low: This was one of Adrian’s favorite songs of 2016. He can explain it better than I can. This song does have some neat stuff to it. It’s good to see songs like this become a sleeper hit worldwide for an artist not really known to many people.

AT40: Portugal. The Man (1) – Week Of November 4, 2017

/ dhill92 / 4 Comments

Hello, friends! We begin our first AT40 countdown of November! We’re getting pretty close to the end of the year. Thus, I have started working on my Year-End Review posts, which I plan on getting those done by around Christmas time. Oh, and just a reminder to set our clocks back one hour because daylight savings time ends on Sunday. But enough about that, let’s review the American Top 40, shall we? So with that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week:

  • Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo 
    Last Week: #32 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10
  • Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey
    Last Week: #26 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14
  • Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop®
    Last Week: #20 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift

40. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #39 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 34

39. Good Old Days by Macklemore featuring Kesha (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

38. That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #37 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 39

37. Young, Dumb, and Broke by Khalid (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

36. It Ain’t Me Kygo featuring Selena Gomez [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #35 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 35

35. Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller [-1]
Last Week: #34 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 18

34. Now Or Never by Halsey [-1]
Last Week: #33 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 28

33. How Long by Charlie Puth (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

32. Do Re Mi by Blackbear [+8]
Last Week: #40 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

31. Why by Sabrina Carpenter [+7]
Last Week: #38 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

30. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt [-1]
Last Week: #29 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

29. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt [+1]
Last Week: #30 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

28. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage [+8]
Last Week: #36 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

27. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B. [+4]
Last Week: #31 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

26. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara [-1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #25 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 34

25. Love So Soft by Kelly Clarkson [+2]
Last Week: #27 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

24. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William [-1]
Last Week: #23 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

23. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash [+1]
Last Week: #24 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

22. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee [-1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #21 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

21. Perfect by Ed Sheeran [+7]
Last Week: #28 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

20. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift [-2]
Last Week: #18| # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

19. New Rules by Dua Lipa [=]
Last Week: #19 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5 

18. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug [+4]
Last Week: #22 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

17. Believer by Imagine Dragons [-2]
Last Week: #15 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

16. Bad At Love by Halsey [=]
Last Week: #16 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

15. Thunder by Imagine Dragons [+2]
Last Week: #17 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

14. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith [=]
Last Week: #14 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 

13. What About Us by P!NK [=]
Last Week: #13 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

12. Praying by Kesha [=]
Last Week: #12 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 13

11. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 25

10. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee [-1]
Last Week: #9 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 16

9. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA [+1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

8. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato [-1]
Last Week: #7 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

7. Slow Hands by Niall Horan [-4] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #3 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

6. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid [+2]
Last Week: #8 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 16

5. Attention by Charlie Puth [=] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #5 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

4. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato [+2]
Last Week: #6 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 12

3. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #2 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 20

2. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #1 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

1. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man [+3] [1st Week At #1]
Last Week: #4 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (4th Of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Slow Hands by Niall Horan (-4)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Tie between Do Re Mi by Blackbear & Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage (+8)

New Entrants
– To kick off our new round of arrivals this week, we have more Khalid with another solo single, by the name of Young, Dumb And Broke. My initial reaction wasn’t necessarily good at first, especially after the mediocre Location was on here a while back. It’s a step up from its predecessor in terms of the production and his vocals, but its premise is quite dull. As of right now, it’s not really a bad song, but I don’t have much of an opinion on this yet.

– With the highest debut this week, Charlie Puth has his second song on this countdown. Enter How Long, the second single off of Voice Notes. Right off the bat, this is basically part 2 of Attention, in which it talks about one’s relationship. Like its predecessor, this one has some groove to it. Whether or not this will become another hit for Charlie, we’ll have to see. Overall, while it’s not as good as Attention, I can put up with this solid track of his.

– Finally, we have more Macklemore, which is nice. And guess what? He replaces himself on the chart with its successor titled Good Old Days, and he brings Kesha along for the fun! Now right off the bat, it’s not quite as good as Glorious, but I love how their vocals blend together in this one. Plus, the piano & instrumentation is pretty solid here. I recently watched the music video, and it feels pretty nostalgic. It shows them camping out with their friends and living the good life. Overall, it’s a pretty sweet song. Both of them managed to win me over with this one.

How Long Has This Been Blurbin’ On
– Let’s first talk about our exits. To begin, the exit from Friends was kinda unexpected, especially from a high position at #20. Though, it was bound to happen sooner or later, given that people are still too jaded by Despacito getting overplayed. That aside, I kinda wished it deserved better. However, I’m thrilled to see the departure of Know No Better, which was thankfully a flop and wasn’t with us for too long. That one will never be missed. Well, not by me at least. And finally, Glorious took its departure. That one I enjoyed quite a bit and it was a solid collaboration for these two artists (Macklemore & Skylar Grey) overall. Whether this makes my Top 45 songs of the year, I’m not sure yet. But yeah, that song will be missed by me.

– Ryan Seacrest mentioned during the introduction of Now Or Never that Halsey put on a show in New Jersey with her friends & family. My guess is they were overjoyed to see her perform on stage. That was nice.

– I’m not thrilled about the big jumps from Why, Do Re Mi, and Rockstar. I still find these songs (especially the last two) extremely annoying. Unfortunately, the very latter is not leaving anytime soon, so I’ll just have to learn to put up with it.

– However, I’m pleased to see the jump from Perfect, barely missing out on the Top 20 this week. Something tells me it’s going to be another big hit for Ed Sheeran. It’s gaining a lot of traction in sales & radio at this moment. Man, he’s been killing the charts this year with his recent singles.

– Honestly, I feel very alone when it comes to my opinion of Mi Gente, but I really don’t care because this song sucks. Although Body Like A Back Road angers me more (and still does), this one continues to get more and more grating every time I hear it. It needs to leave this countdown now.

– Before introducing Despacito, Ryan Seacrest mentioned that Demi Lovato was working on a duet with Luis Fonsi. I wonder will it become another hit like its predecessor? I sure hope so. In fact, we could really use another big hit soon just so it can top the charts, especially on Billboard where the Top 5 is still a mess.

– Both Imagine Dragons songs (Believer & Thunder) swapped places with each other this week.

– So, the biggest drop of the week is only 4 spots. Of course, Slow Hands is declining elsewhere, but still this is quite a small drop.

– And we’ve come to our new #1 this week. Portugal. The Man now has the top spot. I do enjoy Feel It Still, so I’m thrilled to see it up there. It’s good to see indie songs getting bigger in the U.S. So, congrats to Portugal. The Man on their first-ever #1!

Breakouts/On The Verge:

  • Find You by Nick Jonas
  • Too Much To Ask by Niall Horan
  • He Like That by Fifth Harmony

Extras/Optional Extras:

  • Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop®
  • Cold by Maroon 5 featuring Future
  • We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
  • I Don’t Wanna Live Forever by ZAYN featuring Taylor Swift
  • Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo
  • Mercy by Shawn Mendes
  • Same Old Love by Selena Gomez
  • When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Putrid:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
19. Believer by Imagine Dragons
18. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug

4 – Good:
17. Bad At Love by Halsey
16. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
15. Slow Hands by Niall Horan
14. Attention by Charlie Puth

5 – Great:
13. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato
12. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith
11. New Rules by Dua Lipa
10. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA
9. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
8. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
7. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
6. Thunder by Imagine Dragons
5. What About Us by P!NK
4. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
3. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic Featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Praying by Kesha

Total Score: 83/100 (B-)

Throwback Picks Of The Week: Hero by Mariah Carey (1993) and Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey (1996)

Most Missed Songs: Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne and Green Light by Lorde

#1 Recommendations For The American Top 40: Chunky by Bruno Mars and Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran

My Top 5 Picks
1. Praying by Kesha
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift
3. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
4. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
5. What About Us by P!NK


My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt
TIE: 1. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William
3. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
4. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B.
5. Do Re Mi by Blackbear

Imagine Dragons (1) – Week Of October 28, 2017

/ dhill92 / 25 Comments

Hello, fam! Welcome to this year’s edition of the Halloweekend Countdown! Spooky things awaits us this weekend, so prepare to be frightened! Anyway, Kid Kelly hosted the countdown in place of Spyder Harrison, who apparently got sick. Poor Spyder. Hope he’s feeling better. Let’s get right into the spooky business of things, shall we? There are no songs leaving the countdown this week, so let’s go.

The Countdown:

Last Week’s #1 Song: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
45. Louis Tomlinson featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#44) [-1]
44. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (#43) [-1]
43. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me (#45) [+2]
42. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#42) [=]
41. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like (#41) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
40. Charlie Puth – Attention (#40) [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
39. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#30) [-9] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
38. Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® – Friends (#36) [-2]
37. The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You (#34) [-3]
36. Lady Gaga – The Cure (#38) [+2]
35. Harry Styles – Two Ghosts (#37) [+2]
34. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay (#31) [-3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
33. The Script – Rain (#21) [-12]
32. Evaride – Heartless (#32) [=]
31. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#22) [-9] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
30. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#39) [+9]
29. Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee – Despacito (#27) [-2]
28. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#26) [-2]
27. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know (#35) [+8]
26. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#15) [-11] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
25. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#24) [-1]
24. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#33) [+9]
23. Sabrina Carpenter – Why (#23) [=]
22. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (#11) [-11]
21. Linkin Park – One More Light (#28) [+7]
20. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#25) [+5]
19. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#19) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
18. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#18) [-12]
17. Charlie Puth – How Long (#13) [-4]
16. Camila Cabello – Havana (#29) [+13]
15. Kesha – Praying (#17) [+2]
14. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#10) [-4]
13. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#20) [+7]
12. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#16) [+4] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
11. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#14) [+3]
10. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious (#18) [+8]
9. P!NK – What About Us (#12) [+3]
8. Halsey – Bad At Love (#8) [=]
7. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#7) [=] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#5) [-1]
5. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#9) [+5]
4. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#4) [=] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#1) [-2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
2. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#2) [=]
1. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#3) [+2] [FIRST WEEK AT #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – Closer (4th Of 8 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between The Script – Rain & Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (-12)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Camila Cabello – Havana (+13)

And No One’s Gonna Save You From The Beast About To Blurb

– So, it happened. Thunder managed to grab the #1 spot this week. Perfectly fine by me as I’ve come to enjoy this song at the moment. In fact, Thunder made it to #1 faster than Believer did, which took about 4 months for it to get there since its debut. Now the question is, how long will it stay there? Time will tell on that. But either way, I’m thrilled to see it at the top spot.

– Holding at #2, we have Sorry Not Sorry. Again, I was thinking this would be our #1 this week, what with it continuing to gain traction on most charts. Although I much prefer her other singles (Cool For The Summer, Confident, etc.), it won’t be the end of the world if Sorry Not Sorry actually gets there.

– At #5, we have Look What You Made Me Do finally entering that region! It’s good to see this one not giving up yet. Keep in mind this was #1 on the American Top 40 this week. I’m hoping the same rings true here.

– Speaking of Taylor Swift, I recently watched the music video for …Ready For It?, and…it was really cool for the most part. Taylor Swift apparently isn’t playing around when it comes to making music videos as she’s trying to step up her game big time. I’ll bet some of the other mainstream artists are jealous. 😛

– Glorious back in the Top 10? Fine by me. I still somewhat enjoy this song, despite the fact that its dying out elsewhere. But I’m hoping its successor will graduate from Hit-Bound soon and have similar success like this one is having right now.

– After two weeks of doing nothing but drop, Havana made a big jump into the Top 20. I have been starting to grow into this song recently, so I’m cool with that jump.

– However, I’m not cool with Save Me A Place taking a huge drop out of the 10, especially after being so close to entering the Top 5 for a few weeks. I’m hoping it can recover from this hard fall and get back in that region soon.

– Let Me Go jumping into the Top 20? Sure, I’ll take it! I wonder will it become the next Starving in terms of success? I’m hoping it does.

– I’ll admit, I laughed Kid Kelly called Sam Hunt “Sam Hunk” during his introduction of Body Like A Back Road. That said, I can’t wait for this song to leave already and stop polluting the countdown.

– Looks like There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back may be nearing the end of its tenure with that drop out of the Top 20. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

– Both Ed Sheeran songs (Shape Of You & Perfect) have swapped places with each other this week. The former looks like it’s nearing its end, while the latter is going to be here to stay for a long while.

– On the subject of drops, Rain is right back to where it was two weeks ago, at #33. Apparently, North America doesn’t really care for The Script anymore.

Hit-Bound:

  • Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
  • Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask
  • Bruno Mars – Chunky
  • Nick Jonas – Find You
  • Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
  • Lauv – I Like Me Better
  • Harry Styles – Kiwi
  • Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
  • The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn
  • Dua Lipa – New Rules
  • X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
  • ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
  • Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
  • Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor

– Sabrina Carpenter hosted this week’s edition of Hit-Bound. There are no new entrants this week. Thus, the list remains the same as last week.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
2. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
4. Harry Styles – Kiwi
5. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn

Top 20 Review:
0 – Awful:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
19. Camila Cabello – Havana

4 – Good:
18. Halsey – Bad At Love
17. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
16. Imagine Dragons – Believer
15. Niall Horan – Slow Hands

5 – Great:
14. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
13. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
12. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
11. Charlie Puth – How Long
10. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still
9. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
8. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go
7. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
6. P!NK – What About Us
5. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
4. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
3. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
2. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Kesha – Praying

Overall Grade: 91/100 (A-)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Michael Jackson – Thriller (1983)
Most Missed Countdown Songs: Katy Perry – Wide Awake & Katy Perry – Dark Horse (DO NOT kill me for this, guys!)
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Echosmith – Get Into My Car
Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber – Let Me Love You

My Top 5 Picks
1. Kesha – Praying
2. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
3. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
4. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
5. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
2. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
3. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know
4. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
5. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj – Side To Side: These two teamed up once again since Bang Bang, and they did not disappoint. Their verses flow very nicely, and I love the reggae feel to it. Overall, it’s another win for both Nicki & Ariana.

AT40: Taylor Swift (1) – Week Of October 28, 2017

/ dhill92 / 2 Comments

Hello friends, and Happy (early) Halloween! Welcome to the spooky world of the American Top 40! What scary things await us on this week’s countdown, you ask? You’ll just have to read and find out for yourself! Let’s get right into the spooky business of things, shall we? Now, this week was much better than last week, in a way. Despite having an iffy class of entrants, our #1 definitely excites me. And we did get some activity, so I’ll take that. Now, with that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week:

  • Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
    Last Week: #40 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 40
  • Something Different by Why Don’t We
    Last Week: #35 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

40. Do Re Mi by Blackbear (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

39. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #38 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 33

38. Why by Sabrina Carpenter [+1]
Last Week: #39 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

37. That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #36 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 38

36. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

35. It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #34 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 34

34. Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller [-11]
Last Week: #23 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 17

33. Now Or Never by Halsey [-1]
Last Week: #32 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 27

32. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo [+1]
Last Week: #33 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

31. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B. [+6]
Last Week: #37 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

30. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt [+1]
Last Week: #31 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

29. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt [-2]
Last Week: #27 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

28. Perfect by Ed Sheeran [+2]
Last Week: #30 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

27. Love So Soft by Kelly Clarkson [+1]
Last Week: #28 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

26. Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey [-6]
Last Week: #20 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14

25. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara [-3] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #22 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 33

24. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash [+2]
Last Week: #26 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

23. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William [+2]
Last Week: #25 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

22. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug [+7]
Last Week: #29 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

21. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee [-4] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #17 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

20. Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® [-7]
Last Week: #13 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

19. New Rules by Dua Lipa [+2]
Last Week: #21 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

18. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift [+1]
Last Week: #19 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

17. Thunder by Imagine Dragons [+7]
Last Week: #24 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

16. Bad At Love by Halsey [+2]
Last Week: #18 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

15. Believer by Imagine Dragons [-1]
Last Week: #14 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

14. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith [+2]
Last Week: #16 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

13. What About Us by P!NK [+2]
Last Week: #15 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

12. Praying by Kesha [=]
Last Week: #12 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 12

11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA [=]
Last Week: #11 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

10. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes [-3] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #7 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 24

9. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee [+1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 15

8. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid [+1]
Last Week: #9 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 15

7. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato [-1]
Last Week: #6 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

6. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato [+2]
Last Week: #8 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

5. Attention by Charlie Puth [-2] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #3 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

4. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man [=]
Last Week: #4 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

3. Slow Hands by Niall Horan [-1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #2 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

2. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #1 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 19

1. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift [+4] [FIRST WEEK AT #1!!!]
Last Week: #5 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (3rd Of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller (-11)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Tie between Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug & Thunder by Imagine Dragons (+7)

New Entrants
– Our first of two new entrants this week comes from Blackbear with the single Do Re Mi. To put it simply, I can’t say I’m a fan of this one. It’s basically him trying to be like Eminem and it just doesn’t work. Also, the production seems uninteresting, and I’m not sold on the lyrical content either. My opinion could change, but I doubt it. Here’s to hoping it leaves us soon.

– Blech. We have more Post Malone with the song I’m sure many you are expecting me to thrash big time. His new single is titled Rockstar, which features 21 Savage. I’ll admit, it’s better than the atrocious mess that is of Congratulations, but it’s still undesirable by any means. Now the production and the vocals are actually somewhat tolerable, hence why it’s not the worst rap song I’ve ever heard. But it’s the lyrical content that brings the song way down for me, much like all the other mainstream rap songs nowadays. I’m pretty pissed that this was #1 on Billboard for two weeks. And unfortunately, it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. I’m going to be honest here: why can’t we have artists like Lorde flood the charts instead? Or Rachel Platten, who had just recently released her new album Waves? Heck, I’d much rather have Meghan Trainor (or Meghan Meghans, as a certain someone I won’t name would call her) flood the charts just for one week. Anyway, I have a bad feeling it’s going to have a long stay here, so I’m preparing for the worst.

‘Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Blurbs
– So, we had two exits this week, including the all-important one, and we’ll get to that in a bit. To start, we lost Something Different by Why Don’t We, which I had just started to grow into recently, but I knew it wouldn’t last long here. Then, there’s the all-important exit: Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran. That one had an incredible run on most charts, including this one, where it spent 10 weeks at the top. Although I do like some of his singles off of Divide better, it was good to see this one becoming his biggest hit of his career. While I know some people are rejoicing over its departure, I’m not one of them. Farewell, Shape Of You. Thank you for your time on this countdown. You will be missed.

– This is the third straight week in which Wild Thoughts took the biggest drop this week. Zoinks! Talk about a hard fall. Keep in mind that this was in the Top 10 earlier this month.

– I’m not too thrilled about the jump from Bodak Yellow (Money Moves). However, it’s nice to see Thunder jumping into the Top 20 this week. I would like to see that one in the Top 10 soon, which I’m sure it will given that it’s still gaining a lot of steam elsewhere and it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

– Also, we have Havana making a big jump. Something tells me Camila Cabello may have her first hit as a solo artist. Personally, I’d be okay with it, since I’ve started to slightly grow into this song recently.

– So, if you haven’t heard, Justin Timberlake will be performing in Super Bowl LII. It’s been a while since he’s done one, back in 2004 when the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” occurred while performing with Janet Jackson. I wonder will he perform his new single, or just play his biggest hits? We don’t know yet. We’ll just have to wait and see.

– So, I just recently watched the music video for …Ready For It?, and I must say: it was pretty cool for the most part. I won’t really talk about it in detail, but it seems like Taylor Swift is stepping up her music video game big time. Now, I wonder will some of the other artists follow her path and at least try to make a cool music video like Taylor is doing right now? Only time will tell on that.

– I was thinking Feel It Still would have a shot at #1 this week, but that didn’t appear to be the case, as a certain artist has leapfrogged everyone else in the Top 5. I’m sure it’ll get there soon enough. Again, as I’ve said before, it’s nice to see indie songs of this caliber catching on to the audience.

– Speaking of which, we’ve come to our #1! Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift has finally made it to the top spot! If I do say so myself, it’s quite an unusual, but stand-out track for her that at least got some recognition because hey, it’s Taylor Swift. I’m not sure how the rest of her album sounds yet as we have to wait two more weeks until it drops. Still, I’m definitely thrilled about that #1 this week!

Breakouts/On The Verge:

  • Find You by Nick Jonas
  • Young, Dumb, & Broke by Khalid
  • He Like That by Fifth Harmony

Extras/Optional Extras:

  • Into You by Ariana Grande
  • Two Ghosts by Harry Styles
  • Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy
  • Congratulations by Post Malone featuring Quavo
  • The Hills by The Weeknd
  • Location by Khalid
  • E.T. by Katy Perry featuring Kayne West
  • Fetish by Selena Gomez featuring Gucci Mane
  • Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Awful:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
None!

4 – Good:
19. Bad At Love by Halsey
18. Believer by Imagine Dragons
17. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
16. Slow Hands by Niall Horan
15. Attention by Charlie Puth

5 – Great:
14. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato
13. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith
12. Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop®
11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA
10. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
9. Thunder by Imagine Dragons
8. New Rules by Dua Lipa
7. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
6. What About Us by P!NK
5. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
4. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
3. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Praying by Kesha

Total Score: 91/100 (A-)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Thriller by Michael Jackson (1983)

Most Missed Songs: Style by Taylor Swift & Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

#1 Recommendations For The American Top 40: Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran & Broken Glass by Rachel Platten

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Let Me Love You by DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber


My Top 5 Picks
1. Praying by Kesha
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift
3. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
4. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
5. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid

My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt
TIE: 1. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William
3. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo
4. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B.
5. Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage

20,000 Pageview Special: My Top 10 Songs of 2016

/ dhill92 / 9 Comments

For my 20,000 Pageview Special, I’ve decided to share of list of my Top 10 Songs of 2016. Now, 2016 wasn’t really the best year for music in general, in part due to a lot of mediocre music being released. Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t find a good song worthy of being in my Top 10. Let’s get right into it, shall we? But first, here are some of the few honorable mentions I want to talk about:

TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Heathens
Taken from the Suicide Squad movie soundtrack, the blogging community had mixed opinions about this one. In fact, this was Graham’s most hated song of 2016. As for me, I beg to differ. This is a special kind of song for TWENTY ØNE PILØTS in general. In terms of the lyrical content, you can see that it talks about newcomers coming from different backgrounds. In fact, they wrote this song about their fan-base. This is another win for this band, and I wish we had more songs like this.

Adele – Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
I’ll admit, it’s not her best single off of 25. There were definitely some better single choices in the album than this one. Still, I can’t deny the fact that this is still good for what it is. Although the production may not seem like much, the rest of the song itself is a different story. Looking at the lyrical content, Adele shows that she is still a fantastic songwriter, and her vocals are still stellar, even when it’s not her best. Overall, she pleases my ears yet again with this one.

Lukas Graham – 7 Years
I’m going to ask you this one simple question: which would you rather listen to? A nonsensical rap song like Desiigner – Panda, or a boring song that tells a great story about a father & son relationship like this one? For me, I’m going to choose the latter. It’s sad that most people here in the blogging community don’t appreciate this just because they find it boring. I’ll admit, I wasn’t head over heels about this one at first, but I warmed up to it big time. Lukas Graham did a very nice job at making a good first impression as a band. Too bad this was their only hit in the states.

Coldplay featuring Beyoncé – Hymn For The Weekend
Adrian’s #1 song of 2016, and for a very good reason. This is an interesting collaboration that turned out well for both artists. The production is absolutely superb on all fronts. Both Chris Martin’s & Beyoncé’s vocals blend together very nicely. Actually, Beyoncé’s vocals are easily the best part about this song. I love how she opens the intro with the line, “Let me shoot across the sky”, along with the nature-like sounds in the background. Most radio stations played the SeeB remix at the time this became popular. While I do like the remix, it’s nothing compared to the original. I’m pretty pleased this became a hit for both artists.

Mike Posner – I Took A Pill In Ibiza
What? Were you guys expecting this to be in my Top 5 or something? Sorry to disappoint you, but I think differently. Anyway, this is probably one of my favorite comeback singles of 2016. It’s a huge step up from the bland and mediocre Cooler Than Me. He tells a story and he tells it really well. Mike Posner showcases his vocal talent with emotion, and the songwriting is amazing. The SeeB remix played on most radio stations made it even better than the original. Overall, this song is one of the few perfect examples of how to make a comeback in the music business.

Now, with all the honorable mentions out of the way, here is a list of my Top 10 Song of 2016 and my thoughts on the songs below. So, get ready:

10. P!NK – Just Like Fire
Taken from the Alice Through The Looking Glass movie soundtrack, this song was adored by the blogging community. They can explain it better than I can, but I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. While P!NK isn’t necessarily my go-to artist, at least she can make great music, and this is no exception. I absolutely love P!NK’s verses in this one, as well as both the chorus and the pre-chorus. Not too much else I can say about it, but I’m glad this became another huge hit for her, hitting the Top 10 on most charts in 2016.

9. Zara Larsson featuring MNEK – Never Forget You
Don’t you love it when a Swedish artist manages to get a hit in the states? That’s pretty much what happened with Zara Larsson when she released this song. It tells a story about being in a relationship in a way which one can never forget the other, even when he/she is alone. And I’m sure people can relate. I love how their vocals blend together. For both artists, they did really well at making a good first impression.

8. Demi Lovato – Confident
Ah, yes. The follow-up single to the amazing Cool For The Summer. The chorus in this one is just awesome, and I love how Demi can hit those high notes. As the title track says, there’s nothing wrong with being confident in yourself so long as you continue to do. The music video was pretty cool too, but I won’t get into it right now. While it doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, this is still a keeper.

7. Adele – When We Were Young
It’s basically a lesser version of Hello, but I don’t care. This song is still amazing by any means. Many music critics called this one of the best songs of 2016. Unfortunately, the blogging community doesn’t feel the same way. I beg to differ. From her great vocals to the divine lyrical content, this is probably the best single off of 25. While I may still enjoy its predecessor, I may find this one to be even better.

6. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Stressed Out
After putting themselves on the radar with Tear In My Heart, the band decided to take advantage of that and release a follow-up late in 2015. I’ll make it simple: this is probably their best song they’ve released in my opinion. Although their vocals may not be necessarily the best, the biggest reason why I love this is the lyrical content, period. It tells a story about how when we were kids, we always played pretend, but today we’re always stressed out, as the song title says. It also has some cool lines, especially near the end of the bridge where they sing, “Used to dream of outer space, but now there laughing in my facing singing, ‘Wake up, you need to make money’, Yeah”. Tyler Joseph has proven to be a great songwriter. He shows that you can add cool lines and still come up with great lyrical content, unlike many artists who have tried and have failed mightily. *cough* AJR *cough*. Yeah, it’s definitely my favorite single off of Blurryface and I’m glad it was a huge success.

5. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Jet Black Heart
Come to think of it, there’s not really a whole lot to like about 5 Seconds Of Summer in general. They have some pretty good songs though (Hey Everybody!, Girls Talk Boys, Amnesia, etc.), so I’ll give them that. However, no song stands out to me more than Jet Black Heart. When this song came around, I was impressed. It talks about that special someone in our lives and that you still love them no matter what. This is song that not only is fun to listen to when going on a ride with friends, but it’s also something that people can relate to. It does have that classic rock vibe which we don’t really get to hear nowadays. That said, I wish this was a bigger hit elsewhere because this is fantastic.

4. The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – Closer
If both Roses & Don’t Let Me Down were the start of chart success for The Chainsmokers, there was no doubt that they would end up having their biggest hit of their career at some point in time. And lo and behold, this is the one. This song nearly broke all kinds of records (both in streaming and on Billboard). What’s more interesting about it is the fact that we get to hear the vocals from Andrew Taggart himself. You don’t really hear those often in DJ collaborations. I love Halsey’s vocals as well. They blend together very well in this song. Plus, it helps that it has references to Blink-182. I do still enjoy this song so much, and I’m happy to see that this became their biggest hit of their career.

3. Ariana Grande – Into You
Ah, yes. The follow-up to the title track off of Dangerous Woman, and a epic one at that. For me, this is easily her best song she’s ever released by a landslide. I love how Ariana can try to be sultry and make it work, unlike some artists who are currently going that route nowadays. *cough* Selena Gomez *cough*. The production put together by producer Max Martin is near-flawless, and I absolutely love the lyrical content, especially when it has references to Mariah Carey’s 2008 single, Touch My Body. Speaking of which, I also love how Ariana channels her inner Mariah Carey in this one. Again, Ariana manages to impress me with her second single off of that album.

 

2. Ellie Goulding – Something In The Way You Move
Nowadays, it’s very rare to find an artist who continues to impress with each single they’ve released. Back in the day, artists such as Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Whitney Houston were many examples that come to mind. This decade, you have Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift who have managed to impress me many times (though each had a few hiccups along the way, which were not to my liking). However, to me, there’s no artist that never fails to disappoint me than Ellie Goulding. Ever since she went into the spotlight with Lights, every single she has released has wowed me to the point where she’s now one of my favorite artists of the decade. Something In The Way You Move is no different. For me, it’s my third favorite single from her (only behind Lights and Love Me Like You Do). I absolutely LOVE both the chorus and the pre-chorus. Her vocals absolutely shine bright like a diamond (no reference to Rihanna). Not only that, but Ellie Goulding has also proven herself to be one of the best songwriters around when looking at the lyrical content of this song. Even though this wasn’t a bigger hit like I wanted it to be, I’m still love it no matter what. Thank you, Ellie Goulding, for making yet another amazing song.

1. Rachel Platten – Stand By You
Okay. Now I’m quite sure many of you did not expect this to be my #1 song of 2016. I had thought long and hard about what should I put as my #1, and I’ve decided that this song was worthy of getting the top spot on my list. It’s the follow-up to the awesome Fight Song, which was (and still is) a huge favorite of mine 2015. Now, as much as I really love its predecessor, I actually find this one to be superior. In fact, this song is basically EVERYTHING I LOVE about Rachel Platten as an artist. The chorus is probably the best thing I’ve ever heard in a long time. Rachel’s vocals absolutely shine in this one. It is also a huge step up in terms of the lyrical content, which is better written than even that of Fight Song. Yet, as much as I really love this song on its own, that’s not even the best of it. The best thing about this song is the music video. It may not seem like much, but she just looks absolutely stunning, and I love how she dances with the choir in the music video. I was overjoyed to see this being another hit for Rachel, what with it reaching #2 on the Hits 1 weekend countdown. Overall, Rachel Platten has managed to impress me yet again, and I’m hoping she continues to make music just like this, because this is absolutely divine across the board.

And that’s that! Those are my Top 10 best songs of 2016! You can share your thoughts about it in the comments below. It took a while, but I finally made this list. Again, thank you all for reading my blog and making my page special!

Ed Sheeran (2) – Week Of October 21, 2017

/ dhill92 / 22 Comments

Hello, friends! I’m still working on my 20,000 Pageview Special. I’ve been busy all week, which is why I haven’t gotten it finished yet. I promise, I’ll get it posted sometime next week. This was another good week for the most part. Our #1 remained the same, and we got rid of one big piece of garbage. More on that later. And we got some activity going on, for better or worse. Now, before we get to the countdown, here are the exits:

  • Zedd featuring Liam Payne – Get Low (#39)
  • Selena Gomez – Fetish (#34) (Good Riddance)
  • Panic! At The Disco – L.A. Devotee (#35)

The Countdown:

Last Week’s #1 Song: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
45. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me (#44) [-1]
44. Louis Tomlinson featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#45) [+1]
43. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (#40) [-3]
42. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#43) [+1]
41. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like (#42) [+1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
40. Charlie Puth – Attention (#41) [+1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
39. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (DEBUT)
38. Lady Gaga – The Cure (#38) [=]
37. Harry Styles – Two Ghosts (#37) [=]
36. Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® – Friends (#36) [=]
35. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know (DEBUT)
34. The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You (#27) [-7]
33. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#17) [-16]
32. Evaride – Heartless (DEBUT)
31. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay (#28) [-3] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
30. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#31) [+1] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
29. Camila Cabello – Havana (#26) [-3]
28. Linkin Park – One More Light (#29) [+1]
27. Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee – Despacito (#23) [-4]
26. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#25) [-1]
25. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#24) [-1]
24. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#18) [-6]
23. Sabrina Carpenter – Why (#32) [+9]
22. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#10) [-12] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
21. The Script – Rain (#33) [+12]
20. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#22) [+2]
19. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#21) [+2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
18. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious (#14) [-4]
17. Kesha – Praying (#20) [+3]
16. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#15) [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
15. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#9) [-6] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
14. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#16) [+2]
13. Charlie Puth – How Long (#30) [+17]
12. P!NK – What About Us (#7) [-5]
11. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (#19) [+8]
10. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#13) [+3]
9. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#12) [+3]
8. Halsey – Bad At Love (#8) [=]
7. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#5) [-2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
6. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#6) [=]
5. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#11) [+6]
4. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#2) [-2] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
3. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#3) [=]
2. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#4) [+2]
1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#1) [=] [SECOND WEEK AT #1!!!]
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Heathens (1st Of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (-16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Charlie Puth – How Long (+17)

New Entrants

– Well, whaddya know? Our #1 artist this week, Ed Sheeran has another new single in its stead, by the name of Perfect, which is currently gaining popularity elsewhere right now as opposed to his #1 song. This song is quite different compared to some of the other songs off of Divide. It’s a solid ballad to say the least, and he showcases his vocal talent more here. I would definitely recommend this song for a wedding. Will this be another big hit for Ed Sheeran? Only time will tell on that, but right now, I’m sold on this one.

– Next up, Fergie has a new collaboration with Nicki Minaj in their single, You Already Know. This song is from her album Double Dutchess, which was just released last month, and…unfortunately, I can’t say I’m a fan at this moment. The lyrics are kinda meh, and I’m not too fond of Fergie’s vocals. It sounds a little off, especially in the verse where she starts the beginning line “Life’s a movie”. Probably the best thing about this is Nicki Minaj. Her verses flow nicely and is better than that of Fergie’s. When I think of Fergie, I think of her 2007 hit, Big Girls (Don’t Cry), not some of her recent work. Overall, it’s just not my cup of tea. Sorry.

– For our final debut of the week, we have a new band making their first-ever appearance on the countdown. Enter Evaride, which consists of former One Direction drummer Josh Devine, Hayden Maringer, and Sean Michael Murray. Their debut single is titled Heartless. Now, right off the bat, this is a nice first impression for the band. It has that classic rock vibe to it, I do love the lyrical content, and their vocals shine here. Not too much else to say about it. We’ll see how well this song does on the countdown.

Life’s A Movie, Let The Blurbs Roll

– On the note of exits, Get Low never caught on with the public, so I wasn’t too surprised to see that one leave. A part of me kinda wishes this became another big hit for both Zedd & Liam Payne, but it was just not meant to be, especially since these two were coming off their biggest hits of this year. As for me, I can’t say I’m heartbroken about it. On a positive note, we say good riddance to Fetish. I’m going to be honest here; Selena just needs to go back to making upbeat songs, because her current direction is simply not working. No wonder this, along with her predecessor, both had disappointing runs on the charts. I’m just tired of her making all those nonsensical sultry songs. Good-bye, Selena Gomez – Fetish. You will definitely not be missed. Finally, we lost L.A. Devotee. And with that brings an incredible run of Panic! At The Disco to a close. It seems like forever ago that they entered the countdown with Victorious back in 2015. If it had stayed for a little while longer and not left earlier, they would’ve spent two years on the countdown in general. Then, there was Death Of A Bachelor, which was still respectable despite not being on the same height of success as its predecessor. And finally, there’s this. I know there are going to be some people throwing a Panic! At The Disco be-gone party, but I won’t necessarily be one of them. Thank you for your time on the countdown, Panic! At The Disco. Even though you weren’t as big elsewhere, I did enjoy your music to some degree. Good-bye, Panic! At The Disco. You will be missed.

– Galway Girl holds the top spot in its second week. It’s good to see Hits 1 giving it some love despite this not being big elsewhere, because hey, it’s Ed Sheeran and they’re still not sick of him as of yet. Also, I heard he got hurt while on his bicycle. Feel better, Ed!

– Also, we have Thunder holding the #3 spot. I was for sure either this or Sorry Not Sorry would be our #1 song this week, but I was proven wrong.

– Feel It Still has made its way into the Top 5. It’s good to see Hits 1 giving indie artists of this caliber some love, as is everybody else. I’m hoping it can get the #1 spot someday, maybe sooner.

– Save Me A Place clearly just won’t budge from the #6 spot. I heard it being introduced as Most Wutchuwanted the past few times throughout the week, yet it hasn’t entered the Top 5. Still, I’m glad this Ellie Goulding-esque track is getting bigger than what I expected it to be. Keep in mind, this has yet to debut on the American Top 40, which I hope it does someday.

– By no surprise, How Long made a big jump in its second week. Something tells me this is going to end up being another huge hit for Charlie Puth. With all the attention he is getting right now, this shouldn’t be much of a problem.

– Well, looks like this is it for There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back in the Top 10 (unless it makes a re-entry). It had a great run while it lasted. I’m glad to see this one spent 5 weeks at #1. I still enjoy it and it’s definitely a contender for my Top 10 Songs Of 2017.

– The same can be said for Something Just Like This as well. Now that one is out of the Top 20. And with it brings The Chainsmokers’ reign in the Top 20 to an end. It won’t be too much longer until it leaves, sadly.

– The guest DJ that introduced Castle On The Hill dedicated this song to one of his friends. How adorable!

– Rain made a nice jump after doing virtually nothing of note last week. We’ll see how much further it goes. Also, Spyder Harrison made a mistake by saying it was down 12 spots. Silly Spyder. You need to step up your game a bit. 😛

– Meanwhile, Havana has done nothing but drop since it debuted. It seems that people are really tired of Camila Cabello after all. Not that I really care, though.

– Speaking of drops, I’m not thrilled to see the suicide song drop big this week. As I’ve said, this has been getting better with each listen. Not cool, Hits 1.

– I never really mentioned this, but we had many guest DJs introduce the songs during the past two countdowns. We haven’t had those in a while. I think it’s been about a month since we last had one.

Hit-Bound

  • Lauv – I Like Me Better
  • Harry Styles – Kiwi (DEBUT)
  • Dua Lipa – New Rules
  • Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days (DEBUT)
  • X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
  • Liam Payne – Bedroom Floor (DEBUT)
  • ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
  • Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (DEBUT)
  • Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
  • Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask
  • Bruno Mars – Chunky
  • The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn (DEBUT)
  • Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
  • Nick Jonas – Find You
– We have quite a big shake-up on this week’s edition of Hit-Bound, so let’s get right into it, shall we?

– To start, we lost both Something Different & Would You Mind. The former I grew into, but I’m not quite sad to see it off. The latter, however, I’m disappointed to see it go. I was hoping that one would graduate, but it just wasn’t meant to be, unfortunately.

– For our first entrant, we have more Harry Styles with Kiwi. There is definitely a lot more to it than Two Ghosts or even Sign Of The Times in terms of the production. It has that 80’s rock vibe to it much like the songs in his self-titled album. I’ll have more on this when it debuts.

– More Macklemore is nice, and he brings Kesha along for the fun! Good Old Days isn’t as upbeat as its predcessor, but it’s still really good by any means. I love how both of their vocals blend together. I’ll talk more about it should it debut on the countdown.

– I wasn’t looking forward to Liam Payne, but alas, here he is with Bedroom Floor. With Strip That Down still not to anyone’s liking, I was hoping for something better from Liam Payne. And to say the least, it’s not really that bad. The production is better than that of its predecessor. I do question some of the lyrics though, and I’m not sure whether adding that falsetto was necessary.

– Oh, cool! More Imagine Dragons is nice to have! Whatever It Takes packs a lot of punch. This one is more lively than its two representations currently on the countdown. Will this be another huge hit for them? We’ll just have to wait and see.

– For our last debut on Hit-Bound, I’ll talk about The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn some other time, since I’ve only heard it once and I don’t have much of an opinion on it right now.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
2. Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
3. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes
4. Harry Styles – Kiwi
5. Dua Lipa – New Rules

Top 20 Review:
0 – Awful:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
None!

4 – Good:
19. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
18. Halsey – Bad At Love
17. Niall Horan – Slow Hands
16. Imagine Dragons – Believer

5 – Great:
15. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises
14. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
13. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
12. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
11. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
10. Charlie Puth – How Long
9. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still
8. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
7. P!NK – What About Us
6. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
5. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
4. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
3. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying

Overall Grade: 94/100 (A)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Jodeci – Cry For You (1993)
Most Missed Countdown Song: Selena Gomez – Come & Get It (Seriously, why can’t she go back to making songs like this?!)
#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Lorde – Homemade Dynamite
Favorite Countdown Song One Year Ago: DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber – Let Me Love You

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying
TIE: 1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
3. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
4. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
5. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
2. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
3. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low
4. Liam Payne – Strip That Down
5. Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
RUNAGROUND – Chase You Down: It’s repetitive, but that doesn’t always mean it’s bad. The production is solid all around, and his vocals are good. Not much else I can say about this one.
Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar – The Greatest: I decided on whether to put this in green or blue for this one, and I decided on the latter, mainly because it not anything like her. It’s not as good as Chandlier, but there are some things I like about it. I’m surprised Hits 1 didn’t cut out Kendrick Lamar, but he did contribute nicely.
Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful: Easily my second-favorite single from her, only behind her 2015 hit, Here. I love the message behind this one. That chorus gives me the chills every time. Overall, it’s another win for Alessia Cara.
Maroon 5 – Don’t Wanna Know: Now, I’ll admit I was being too hard on this one when it got bigger. However, it’s stiff all around, mainly because of the lyrical content and the repeating of the word “know” wasn’t really necessary. Probably the best thing about this was the music video where they were dressed in Pokémon costumes.

AT40: Liam Payne (1) – Week Of October 21, 2017

/ dhill92 / 5 Comments

Hello, friends! This week…to put it easy, was kinda meh if I do say so myself. But I guess I’ll learn to put up with it. Although we had some decent activity, so I’ll give it that. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week:

  • Hoodie by Hey Violet
    Last Week: #39 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3
  • Two Ghosts by Harry Styles
    Last Week: #37 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5
  • Fetish by Selena Gomez featuring Gucci Mane
    Last Week: #24 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

The Countdown:
Last Week’s #1 Song: Slow Hands by Niall Horan

40. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran [=] [Spent 10 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #40 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 40

39. Why by Sabrina Carpenter (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

38. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay [=] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #38 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 32

37. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B. (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

36. That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars [-1] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #35 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 37

35. Something Different by Why Don’t We [+1]
Last Week: #36 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

34. It Ain’t Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez [-1] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #33 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 33

33. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo [-5]
Last Week: #28 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

32. Now Or Never by Halsey [-1]
Last Week: #31 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 26

31. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt [+1]
Last Week: #32 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

30. Perfect by Ed Sheeran (DEBUT)
Last Week: N/A | # Of Weeks On Chart: 1

29. Havana by Camila Cabello featuring Yung Thug [+5]
Last Week: #34 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

28. Love So Soft by Kelly Clarkson [+1]
Last Week: #29 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

27. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt [-1]
Last Week: #26 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 20

26. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring Gnash [+1]
Last Week: #27 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

25. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William [=]
Last Week: #25 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

24. Thunder by Imagine Dragons [+6]
Last Week: #30 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 2

23. Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller [-8]
Last Week: #15 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 16

22. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara [-3] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #19 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 32

21. New Rules by Dua Lipa [+2]
Last Week: #23 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

20. Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey [+1]
Last Week: #21 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 13

19. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift [+3]
Last Week: #22 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 3

18. Bad At Love by Halsey [+2]
Last Week: #20 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

17. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee [-1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #16 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

16. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith [+2]
Last Week: #18 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 4

15. What About Us by P!NK [+2]
Last Week: #17 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 8

14. Believer by Imagine Dragons [-3]
Last Week: #11 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 22

13. Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® [-1]
Last Week: #12 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 7

12. Praying by Kesha [+2]
Last Week: #14 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 11

11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA [+2]
Last Week: #13 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 5

10. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee [-2]
Last Week: #8 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14

9. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid [+1]
Last Week: #10 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 14

8. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato [+1]
Last Week: #9 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 10

7. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes [-2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
Last Week: #5 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 23

6. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato [+1]
Last Week: #7 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 20

5. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift [-1]
Last Week: #4 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 6

4. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man [+2]
Last Week: #6 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 9

3. Attention by Charlie Puth [-1] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #2 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

2. Slow Hands by Niall Horan [-1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
Last Week: #1 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 21

1. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo [+2] [1st Week At #1]
Last Week: #3 | # Of Weeks On Chart: 18

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (2nd Of 7 Weeks At #1)

Biggest Fall Of The Week: Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller (-8)

Biggest Rise Of The Week: Thunder by Imagine Dragons (+6)

New Entrants
– To begin our new round of arrivals, we have Sabrina Carpenter making her second appearance on the AT40, in the form of Why. I pretty much talked about this one on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown a few weeks ago. To recap, it’s not really an interesting song to say the least. She doesn’t really showcase her vocal talent very well, and the production is kinda meh all around. Overall, it’s just not all that good. Sorry.

– Next, we have more mediocre rap music once again. This time, we have Cardi B. making her debut with Bodak Yellow (Money Moves). Now, if I’m being honest, her vocals aren’t as bad as I thought it would be at first listen. They’re actually somewhat tolerable. The problem is the asinine lyrical content and the underwhelming production kills the song for me. I’m not too thrilled that it hit #1 on Billboard a while ago. We’ll see how far this goes on here.

– Our final debut comes from Ed Sheeran with his new single Perfect. This song is quite different compared to some of the other singles off of Divide. While it’s not the best single off of that album, it’s a nice slow ballad to say the least. He definitely showcases his vocal talent here. This is a nice song can I would recommend for a wedding. I’ll talk more about it later when it debuts on the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown.

Believe It Or Not, I’m Blurbing On Air
– We’ll talk about our exits first. To start, I’m thrilled to see Fetish depart from this countdown. Now, I’ll say this: Selena just needs to go back to making upbeat music, because whatever she’s doing right now isn’t working. And the public seems to agree, because this and its predecessor both flopped (and rightfully so). The other two exits I’m quite sad about. I’m not surprised Hoodie got the boot, given that the public isn’t too kind to Hey Violet’s music. Same with Two Ghosts, although he does have a new single in its stead, which I’ll talk about later this weekend.

– I’m not happy to see Strip That Down at #1 this week. But I shouldn’t be surprised given that it’s still near the top of the charts right now. Still, I’d rather have Slow Hands at the top for at least another week.

– Speaking of our #1, it doesn’t look like Look What You Made Me Do is going to get there as much as I hoped. I may have jinxed it when I said that it was going to spend a long time at that spot, in part because it’s Taylor Swift and this was #1 everywhere else.

– Meanwhile, we have Feel It Still in the Top 5. Something tells me this will hit #1 in the near future. Hopefully, it can dethrone Strip That Down within the next week.

– By no surprise, Thunder takes a big jump this week. Imagine Dragons are pretty much having a great year so far, what with Believer being a big hit and this one still gaining a lot of steam. It’s good to see this one catching on.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

  • Rockstar by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
  • Do Re Mi by Blackbear
  • Find You by Nick Jonas

Extras/Optional Extras:

  • Don’t Wanna Know by Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar
  • Wake Me Up by Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc
  • Sorry by Justin Bieber
  • Play That Song by Train
  • Hoodie by Hey Violet
  • Best Day Of My Life by American Authors
  • Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz
  • The Heart Wants What It Wants by Selena Gomez
  • Love On The Brain by Rihanna

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Awful:
None!

1 – Bad:
20. Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo

2 – Mediocre:
None!

3 – Decent:
None!

4 – Good: 
19. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
18. Bad At Love by Halsey
17. Attention by Charlie Puth
16. Slow Hands by Niall Horan
15. Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith
14. Believer by Imagine Dragons

5 – Great:
13. No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato
12. Friends by Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop®
11. What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 featuring SZA
10. Glorious by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey
9. Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
8. Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
7. What About Us by P!NK
6. Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee
5. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid
4. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
3. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Praying by Kesha

Total Score: 91/100 (A-)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury (1981)

Most Missed Song: Slow Down by Selena Gomez

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Save Me A Place by Mono Mind


My Top 5 Picks
1. Praying by Kesha
2. …Ready For It? by Taylor Swift
3. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
4. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes
5. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid

My Bottom 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt
TIE: 1. Mi Gente by J. Balvin featuring Willy William
3. Know No Better by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo
4. Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B.
5. Why by Sabrina Carpenter

Ed Sheeran (1) – Week Of October 14, 2017

/ dhill92 / 15 Comments

Hello, friends! So, my blog has reached 20,000 Pageviews! Again, thanks to everyone who’s been reading my blog! I’ll try to come up with a special post sometime next week. This was an interesting week for the most part. We have a new #1, which I’m very thrilled about, and we have a song that I’ve been waiting for that just arrived on Hit-Bound! You’ll see what I’m talking about later. Before we get to this week’s fresh 45, here are the songs exiting the countdown this week:

  • Hey Violet – Hoodie (#45)

The Countdown:

Last Week’s #1 Song: Liam Payne – Strip That Down
45. Louis Tomlinson featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals – Back To You (#43) [-2]
44. Kygo featuring Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me (#42) [-2]
43. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low (#41) [-2]
42. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like (#44) [+2] [Spent 1 Week At #1]
41. Charlie Puth – Attention (#29) [-12]
40. The All-American Rejects – Sweat (#25) [-15]
39. Zedd featuring Liam Payne – Get Low (#36) [-3]
38. Lady Gaga – The Cure (#40) [+2]
37. Harry Styles – Two Ghosts (#39) [+2]
36. Justin Bieber featuring BloodPop® – Friends (#33) [-3]
35. Panic! At The Disco – L.A. Devotee (#30) [-5]
34. Selena Gomez – Fetish (#31) [-3]
33. The Script – Rain (#32) [-1]
32. Sabrina Carpenter – Why (#35) [+3]
31. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (#37) [+6] [Spent 9 Weeks At #1]
30. Charlie Puth – How Long (DEBUT) [=]
29. Linkin Park – One More Light (#34) [+5]
28. Zedd featuring Alessia Cara – Stay (#27) [-1] [Spent 4 Weeks At #1]
27. The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You (#21) [-6]
26. Camila Cabello – Havana (#23) [-3]
25. Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes (#24) [-1]
24. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (#38) [+14]
23. Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee – Despacito (#22) [-1]
22. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It? (#17) [-5]
21. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (#26) [+5]
20. Kesha – Praying (#14) [-6]
19. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises (#18) [-1]
18. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road (#28) [+10] (Are you kidding me?!)
17. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 (#20) [+3]
16. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft (#19) [+3]
15. Imagine Dragons – Believer (#11) [-4] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
14. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious (#8) [-6]
13. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do (#16) [+3]
12. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do (#12) [=] (Get back in the Top 10, please!)
11. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#9) [-2]
10. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#13) [+3] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
9. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (#5) [-4] [Spent 5 Weeks At #1]
8. Halsey – Bad At Love (#15) [+7]
7. P!NK – What About Us (#7) [=]
6. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place (#6) [=]
5. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (#3) [-2] [Spent 3 Weeks At #1]
4. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry (#10) [+6]
3. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#4) [+1]
2. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (#1) [-1] [Spent 2 Weeks At #1]
1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (#2) [+1] [FIRST WEEK AT #1!!!]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – Closer (3rd Of 8 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: The All-American Rejects – Sweat (-15)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line and Watt – Let Me Go (+14)

New Entrants

– As Attention is dying out here and everywhere else, Charlie Puth decides to go ahead and release a follow-up single. Enter How Long, his second single off of his upcoming album, VoiceNotes, due out sometime in early 2018. This is basically part 2 of Attention, in which it talks about a relationship. Similar to its predecessor, it has a nice groove to it. Now, do I think this is better than Attention? I can’t say yet, but I do like it for now at least. We’ll see how far it gets.

I’ll Drive A Million Miles, To Blurb With You Tonight

– For our exit, we’ve lost Hoodie, which was indeed more likable to the blogging community. A part of me kinda wishes that Hey Violet would have a respectable hit at least, since they seem to be getting better with each single they’ve released, but the public just isn’t buying into their music. Oh well, maybe another day.

– Before introducing It Ain’t Me, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Selena Gomez was with The Weeknd at Comic-Con where he launched his new comic called “Starboy”. I liked how Spyder said the name itself, in a superhero tone. I wonder, is The Weeknd going to get in the comic business soon? Let’s hope it doesn’t interfere with him still making music!

– Before introducing Attention, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Charlie Puth wrote this song about Bella Thorne during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. I wonder, did he intend for this song to be about their relationship or was it just about her in general? Hmm…no one really knows.

– Just as I was growing into Sweat, it took a massive drop all the way down to #40 this week. Dang!

– Spyder Harrison mentioned upon introducing Get Low that Liam Payne’s sister just had a baby. Congrats on being an uncle, Liam!

– Before introducing Two Ghosts, Spyder Harrison mentioned that a girl lost it when she got tickets to see Harry Styles perform live. I’m guessing with that reaction, she seems to be a huge fan of him. I remember my cousin giving me tickets for a concert and though I didn’t have the same excitement as she did, I still very much enjoyed it. Someday, I like to go to another concert, which hopefully features a big name artist!  That would be so cool!

– So, Spyder Harrison mentioned during his introduction for Friends that Justin Bieber is looking into acting. I wonder how will he work that out, what with him being as overexposed as he is right now. But then again, since people are tired of hearing his music at this point, maybe that’ll be the best choice for him. I wonder what genre he’ll start out with? Hmm…we’ll just have to find out!

– Before introducing Fetish, Spyder Harrison once again talked about Selena Gomez’s relationship with The Weeknd. He mentioned that both herself The Weeknd would take vacations so they could spend time together. I wish there were more couples like this who would do things like this together.

– Three of our four debuts from last week did nothing but dropped this week. Meanwhile, only Let Me Go jumped this week, and it was a big jump, too. It’s good to see this song starting to catch on.

– I’m not thrilled to see that Praying is just going to continue to drop like this. Just a few weeks ago, it was #5. Since then, it’s been falling quite steadily. Oh well, at least it managed to hit the Top 5.

– Don’t even get me started on Body Like A Back Road jumping back into the Top 20. I can’t believe I jinxed it when I said I wanted it to leave last week.

– Okay, so the person from the hotline crisis talked with Spyder Harrison about the song from Logic, which has actually helped more people. As I’ve said, it’s nice to have a song that people can relate to. Plus, it’s been getting better for me with each listen.

– This is the first time in seemingly forever that There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back is NOT in the Top 5. It had a great run while it lasted. I’m thankful this managed to spend 5 weeks at #1.

– So, Spyder Harrison mentioned during his introduction for What About Us that P!NK’s biggest critic is actually her daughter. I mean, really? My guess is, she probably listens to her music a lot and tells her which song is the best, heh.

– Speaking of our Top 5, we have Sorry Not Sorry back up there. Now if I’m being honest, my interest in this song is starting to wane a bit, as you can see. Other than some cool lines and some pretty good lyrics, the chorus in this one can be painful for some ears, as well as mine. I’m starting to get some mixed opinions about this one, also. And bad news for some, it could potentially hit #1 at some point, since it’s still gaining elsewhere. Me, personally, I’d be okay with it. If anything, I’ll take it over Strip That Down any day.

– And that brings us to our #1 song this week, in which Ed Sheeran manages to reclaim the top spot once again, this time with Galway Girl. I’m very pleased to see it get there as I consider Galway Girl to be a more superior single off of Divide. Despite this song not hitting big elsewhere and its successor is waiting in the wings, Hits 1 somehow managed to get this on the countdown, because they love Ed Sheeran. With the year he’s been having so far, I’m not a surprised. But I’m definitely happy that it hit #1, and I’m hoping it stays there for a while.

Hit-Bound

  • Why Don’t We – Something Different
  • Bruno Mars – Chunky (DEBUT)
  • Evaride – Heartless
  • Niall Horan – Too Much To Ask
  • PRETTYMUCH – Would You Mind
  • Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be
  • Ed Sheeran – Perfect
  • Nick Jonas – Find You
  • Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
  • Dua Lipa – New Rules
  • X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself
  • ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
  • Lauv – I Like Me Better
  • Fergie featuring Nicki Minaj – You Already Know


– On this week’s edition of Hit-Bound, we have more Bruno Mars once again, and this time, he brings us his new single titled Chunky. Pretty much everyone wanted this as his next single off of 24K Magic, and for a very good reason. It definitely has that funky vibe to it much like some of his other songs off the album. I’ll have more on this when it debuts. But yeah, I’m definitely loving this at the moment!

    My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
    1. Bruno Mars – Chunky
    2. PRETTYMUCH – Would You Mind
    3. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
    4. Dua Lipa – New Rules
    5. ZAYN featuring Sia – Dusk Till Dawn

    Top 20 Review:
    0 – Awful:
    20. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road

    1 – Bad:
    19. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

    2 – Mediocre:
    None!

    3 – Decent:
    None!

    4 – Good:
    18. Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry
    17. Halsey – Bad At Love
    16. Niall Horan – Slow Hands

    5 – Great:
    15. Imagine Dragons – Believer
    14. Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato – No Promises
    13. Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft
    12. Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey – Glorious
    11. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
    10. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still
    9. Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Lovers Do
    8. P!NK – What About Us
    7. Mono Mind – Save Me A Place
    6. Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
    5. The Chainsmokers featuring Coldplay – Something Just Like This
    4. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
    3. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do

    BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
    TIE: 1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
    TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying

    Overall Grade: 90/100 (A-)

    Throwback Pick Of The Week: Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love To You (1994)
    Most Missed Countdown Song: Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do 
    #1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days
    Favorite Countdown Song One Year Ago: DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber – Let Me Love You
    My Top 5 Picks
    TIE: 1. Kesha – Praying
    TIE: 1. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl
    3. Taylor Swift – …Ready For It?
    4. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
    5. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back

    My Bottom 5 Picks
    1. Sam Hunt – Body Like A Back Road
    2. Selena Gomez – Fetish
    3. Sabrina Carpenter – Why
    4. MAX featuring Gnash – Lights Down Low
    5. Liam Payne – Strip That Down

    Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
    Nick Jonas – Bacon: It’s quite a funny song if you ask me, and I do love how Nick Jonas used a kitchen set to perform this song in the 2016 VMAs.
    Bruno Mars – 24K Magic: Ah yes, Bruno Mars’s return to music. I call this Uptown Funk 2.0. It’s really sad that, even after the long gap between this and its predecessor, some people are still not too fond of his funky new sound.