Looking at my dishonorable mentions, I can say that we got slightly less bad music on both the Hits 1 Weekend Countdown and the American Top 40, which means that like I said in the introduction, we got plenty of good music. But we also had some bad music, and I mean really bad. These songs below were so bad I just could not stand any of them. Now, I am ready to begin reviewing my 10 least favorite songs for 2018. Let’s get into it!

10. LSD – Thunderclouds
To kick things off, we have a group whose music hasn’t been very kind to me. I first heard about LSD actually being a collaboration between Labrinth, Sia, and Diplo. I came in very excited…only to find that their music is just plain garbage. To say I was disappointed after hearing the song is an understatement. Actually, no it’s not. I’ll just simply leave it at that. But the point I’m trying to get across is, the song is bad on every level. You’ve got Sia who sounds terrible, and this is coming from someone who fell in love with songs such as Chandelier. Then, Labrinth isn’t any better. He sounds bad with his voice as well. In addition, his verses have nothing to show for it. And finally, Diplo had a hand in terms of the production and to be blunt, it is lazy across the board. So yeah, everything about the song just sucks. I virtually don’t see any redeeming qualities whatsoever. But thankfully, it didn’t become a huge hit.

9. Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
I’m going to be straight up and simply say that I have nothing against the rap genre whatsoever. I enjoy some of the music from that genre, and there are good artists out there such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and some others I won’t mention right now. Lucid Dreams, on the other hand, is just plain bad. While I do think Juice WRLD’s voice is not as obnoxious, it’s still undesirable. The production is not good at all and the lyrics aren’t any better. I’m sure there are plenty of worse songs from that genre objectively, but Lucid Dreams is just a nightmare for me.

8. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
There’s no denying that I legitimately disliked Meant To Be from the beginning. When this song came around, I initially liked it at first thinking it was better than its predecessor. That got old really fast. I don’t know what I was thinking back then, because I find that it’s even worse than Meant To Be. Yeah, as the title says, this is indeed a mess (literally). Bebe does not sound good in any part of the song at all. At least in Meant To Be, she sounded decent. But here, her voice is drenched in auto-tune while singing the chorus, and in her verses she sounds underwhelming. The lyrical content and the production itself aren’t any better. Although I may have disliked its predecessor, this is just Bebe Rexha hitting rock bottom. Seriously, she is capable of much, MUCH better.

7. Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho

6. BTS featuring Desiigner – Mic Drop
I’m sorry, but I don’t really get the hype for BTS. I really don’t. And I didn’t like the collaboration with Desiigner, who was behind easily my least favorite song of 2016 with Panda. This came around at the beginning of the year, and to be frank I never liked it. First, the lyrics are just not good at all. Desiigner doesn’t make a contribution to any part of the song. He actually makes it worse. But the production to the song is just obnoxious. I just cannot stand it at all. For me, it’s probably one of the more annoying songs all around. They did release Fake Love, which isn’t really any better. So yeah, I’m not really a big fan of their music. Sorry.

5. Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy – Call Me Sir
Last year, I put Play That Song in my worst of the year list for 2017. That one was just bad all around and it was simply torture to my ears. But when I heard Call Me Sir, I found it to be even worse. I’m going to be straight up and just simply say that Pat Monahan’s voice sucks. At least in Play That Song, he didn’t sound good but his voice wasn’t really bad. But here, he just sounds obnoxious. His voice is really annoying and I can’t stand the chorus. Cam and Travie McCoy didn’t contribute to anything to help salvage the song. I want to hear more along the lines of Drive By and 50 Ways To Say Goodbye, not this mess. Personally, I’d say this is just as bad as Hey, Soul Sister, if not worse.

4. Lauv – I Like Me Better
When I did my first review of the YouTube 15, which was back when I first started blogging, I found out about Lauv – I Like Me Better. At the first listen, I had thought that it wasn’t really anything good, but at least it was something that I would hear every now and then. But after it started to gain traction later on, that’s when I started hearing it more, and things got worse from there. To be blunt, everything about the song is just atrocious. It starts with the production, which is just weird, and not in a good way. In addition, you have a lyrical content which I found to be cringe-worthy. The line, “I like me better when I’m with you”, does not appeal to me whatsoever. Lauv himself sounds decent with his voice, even though he doesn’t really stand out in any part of the song. But decent vocals alone won’t cut it, especially if everything else is bad all around. It’s a pretty darn shame that this became somewhat of a sleeper hit in 2018. He just recently released There’s No Way, which isn’t good either. But at least it’s better than this mess of a song.

3. Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie – Friends
Two of these artists have had good music of their own. Anne-Marie was featured in Rockabye, which was a huge favorite of mine from last year. Marshmello impressed me with his collaboration with Selena Gomez in Wolves. So, who would’ve thought that putting these two together would end up being a mess? Before the song was even released, I certainly didn’t think that way. But that’s what ended up happening. Why is the song a mess? There are many reasons, but the biggest reason of all is the fact that it’s a Friend-Zone anthem. The lyrical content is just horrible. It talks about wanting to just be friends. It doesn’t sit well with me. Marshmello did not do a good job when it comes to the production. It is just awful and it’s the furthest thing from EDM. Anne-Marie doesn’t really sound good. Her verses have no momentum whatsoever. As someone who fell in love with their respective songs (Rockabye and Wolves), this is a huge disappoint and frankly, a big mess. These artists can do much better. 

2. Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar
Personally, I think this is the my least favorite song from Post Malone. I’m not exactly sure why I feel this way. But I’ll do my best to explain. I can say whatever I want to about his earlier singles such as White Iverson. But at least that one had plenty of funny lines, even though it was still bad. Rockstar, on the other hand, is just annoying and often times underwhelming. I do not like his voice at all in the song and the production is not good. But that’s not even the worst of it. 21 Savage’s verses is just awful. The lyrics talk about him bragging about being a rockstar (hence the title). I’m not really a fan of the lyrics at all. I don’t get what people like about this. To me, it is just straight up annoying. Like I said before, he does have some good music that I like, but this is not one of them. Hopefully, we don’t get anymore songs like this.

It’s finally time, guys! I now present to you my least favorite song of the year. This was a song that I hated from the beginning. And it comes from an band that most people here never like…. 

1. AJR featuring Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up
Here it is, guys: my #1 least favorite song of the year. Hits 1 has picked up music from AJR since they debuted with I’m Ready back in 2014. Other than a couple of songs that I won’t mention which were kind of guilty pleasures of mine, everything else they’ve released has been straight up trash. Sober Up is no diferrent. Everything about the song is obnoxious from the top down bottom up. First off, the lyrical content is just horrendous. It may have some cool lines, but for the most part it’s just REALLY bad. And don’t even get me started on the vocals. They sound terrible and in some parts of the sound, they sound way too childish. I watched a video of Spectrum Pulse who heavily panned this song and their entire album The Click, and he couldn’t have been more accurate. There is not a single redeeming quality that I can say about this. I honestly don’t think I’ve found a much more annoying song of the year than this atrocious mess.

So, that’s it guys! Those were my least favorite songs of the year overall. Let me know what you think of the list I put together in the comments below. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I have more Year-End posts coming, so stay tuned for those. I hope you all have a good week as we close in on the New Year! As always, thank you for reading!  🙂

1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#2) [+1] [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug – Havana (Ooh, Na-Na) (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You (–9)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (+12)

New Entrants:
– Let’s start things off with the return of Olly Murs with a groovy new single of his, by the name of Moves. Olly Murs has had quite a few songs on the countdown before, with his last being Wrapped Up back in 2015. Since then, he’s been basically irrelevant, though he did have a couple of songs show up on the YouTube 15. It’s nice to see him back. Anyway, Moves is a solid song overall. It has that groove to it, similar to Hundred Handed – Too Good. It’s basically something that Bruno Mars would sing to. But I do like his voice and it sounds groovy. It’s nice to see Olly go for something different with Moves.

– After Camila Cabello and Normani, we get a new entrant from another member Fifth Harmony who has a new solo single. Lauren Jauregui makes her debut this week with Expectations. I’ll start by saying that Lauren has probably the best voice out of all the members from this group. Earlier, she did a collaborated with Steve Aoki in All Night, which I still absolutely love to this day. She sounded amazing in the song and I loved the production as well. Coming into her solo single, I had expectations (no pun intended) that she would deliver. I can say that she did meet some of them. The story of the song is basically about wishing they had no expectations, which is something most people don’t really have. Often times, people have high expectations and they ended up not meeting those goals. As for the rest of the song, I do like her voice in the song for the most part, though she doesn’t particularly shine in the chorus. But where the song gets me at is the production itself. The guitars are well used. Overall, I do love the song. I like to see some success out of it.

– With the highest debut of the week, we have newcomer Ava Max making her very first appearance on the countdown with her debut single titled Sweet But Psycho. Right off the bat, I can easily say that this a great first impression. First off, I love Ava’s voice. It sounds very unique and it shows when she sings the chorus. I didn’t have much else to say about it until I found out about the lyrics. What she is telling us is that a person is just being herself and not really psycho. I don’t quite get it just yet, but maybe if I look deeper I’ll probably have a better understanding. Still, it doesn’t make me dislike the song any less. The song is just divine all around. I hope to see it do well.

Best Debut Of The Week: Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho


Baby Don’t Blurb Me, No More
– As always, we’ll begin with our exits. To start, I didn’t exactly care for Body in the long run but I kinda still like it in a guilty pleasure way. Big Mistake is still enjoyable, but I didn’t think it would last long. Finally, we lost God Is A Woman. As polarizing as the song was, I still fell in love with it and I can safely say that it’s one of my favorite songs of the year. While I’m sure there are some happy about its departure, I’m not among that crowd.

– So, I read somewhere that Maroon 5 are struggling to find new artists to perform with them in next year’s Super Bowl. I wonder what’s up with that? I guess some people are just not interested. At least Justin Timberlake has some artists perform with him last year.

– Hey Look Ma, I Made It makes a massive jump back into the Top 20. It looks like the song is starting to gain back its momentum. We’ll see how long it lasts.

– The Last Of The Real Ones has spent a seemingly long time in the Top 10. Not that I’m complaining though, as I still like the song. I have a feeling that it may end up being ranked high on the Hits 1 Year-End Countdown, which is next weekend.

– Speaking of the Top 10, we have Breathin’ make its entrance in that territory. I would’ve thought the presence of Thank U, Next would kill its momentum. But it’s not the case. I much prefer Breathin’ over its successor, though. I’m hoping its success continues.

– Finally, we’ve come to our brand new #1 song for this week! I’m definitely pleased that This Feeling was able to take the crown. It’s easily their best song since Closer. They did perform this at the halftime show during the Chiefs-Rams game and I have to say, the performance was just divine. Kelsea was just phenomenal with her singing. Hopefully it can hold at #1 for a while.

Hit-Bound:

• Dan + Shay – Speechless
• Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
• Seeb featuring BΔSTILLE – Grip (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
• Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
• James Arthur – Empty Space
• Charli XCX featuring Troye Sivan – 1999 (DEBUT)
• Khalid – Better
• Lauren Daigle – You Say (DEBUT)
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen

– Ryan Sampson is filling in for Mikey Piff as the host of Hit-Bound this week, who seems to have taken a vacation. We’ve got three new songs on the list, starting with Seeb collaborating with BΔSTILLE in their latest single, Grip. If you remember Seeb, then you probably know they were the ones who did the remix for Mike Posner – I Took A Pill From Ibiza back in 2016. This is better than Happier. The production is better and I like Dan’s voice. More on this when it debuts (hopefully).

– Charli XCX and Troye Sivan both take us back to 1999 with their single making its debut on Hit-Bound. I talked about this on the YouTube 15 a couple months ago when it was trending. To me, I find this to be better than Anne-Marie’s single, 2002. I like their vocals and they blend together nicely. We’ll see if it ends up debuting.

– Finally, we have Lauren Daigle with You Say. I know this may be an unpopular opinion to some people, but I actually really like this song. I personally Lauren has a great voice, and I like the piano work in this one. Here’s to hoping it debuts soon.

Best Debut On Hit-Bound: Lauren Daigle – You Say

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
3. Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
4. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
5. Lauren Daigle – You Say

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Shawn Mendes – Nervous
16. Anne-Marie – 2002
15. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
14. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
13. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
12. Camila Cabello – Consequences
11. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
10. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
9. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
6. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin’

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

Overall Grade: 83/100 = 83% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Haddaway – What Is Love (1993)

Most Missed Countdown Song: The Chainsmokers featuring ROZES – Roses

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Pentatonix – Hallelujah

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#12)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
TIE: 1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
4. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
5. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way
3. Halsey – Without Me
4. Marshmello featuring BΔSTILLE – Happier
5. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Symon – Lonely Girl: It was this time last year that Symon, who is currently one of the hosts for Hits 1 In Hollywood, came out of nowhere with this single. It’s quite a sweet song for what it is. It’s better than her predecessor in more ways than one.
Macklemore featuring Kesha – Good Old Days: The collaboration between these two artists turned out to be a great one. The song is just beautiful in every way possible. That’s all I can say about this one (for now).

QOTW: What is your favorite song from Avril Lavigne? And why?

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Halsey – Bad At Love (1^st of 2 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects (–12)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (+14)

Blurbs Like Me
– Spyder Harrison mentioned during the introduction for Beautiful that Camila Cabello became an ambassador for saving kids while they’re in poverty. It’s nice to see a singer do their part to help out children of need. Hopefully, she’ll give them some pizza to eat, perhaps?

– The big drop from Side Effects was a little saddening. But at the same time, I’m not all that surprised considering that it’s been around for a while. It had a nice run, but it’s time may be nearing its end. Hopefully, it’ll stick around for a little longer.

– Speaking of Camila, Spyder Harrison also mentioned before introducing Consequences that she calls Shawn Mendes by her nickname, Shawnito. I’d say that’s a creative nickname. I wonder, does Shawn have a nickname for her as well? If he does, I’d like to find out!

– Good to see I’m A Mess finally drop out of the Top 10. That song still blows big time. Now if we can get it to drop some more, or better yet leave the countdown, that would be great.

– In Top 10 news, I’m pleased about Tequila making its entry. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the song was done. But boy, I was wrong. It’s nice to see it get a second wind.

– Then, we get This Feeling in the Top 3 this week. It would be a miracle if this somehow manages to hit #1 despite it not being very popular elsewhere. I’m glad it has peaked higher than their recent singles from Sick Boy.

Hit-Bound:

• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• James Arthur – Empty Space
• Olly Murs – Moves
• Dan + Shay – Speechless
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen
• Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
• Khalid – Better
• Lauren Jauregui – Expectations
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
• Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely
• Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (DEBUT)
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright
• Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

Entrant Reviews:
– We get only one new song on Hit-Bound this week. We have Mark Ronson, the artist behind easily one of my favorite songs I won’t mention, collaborate with Miley Cyrus in their new single Nothing Breaks Like A Heart. After hearing this in full, I can say that it’s nowhere near his best song. But there’s plenty to like about this. I do like Miley’s voice in this one, and the lyrics are nice. I’ll have more on this should it debut.

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
3. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
4. Olly Murs – Moves
5. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You
16. Shawn Mendes – Nervous
15. Anne-Marie – 2002
14. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:
13. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
12. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
11. Camila Cabello – Consequences
10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – My Blood
6. Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
2. Ariana Grande – Breathin’

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila

Overall Grade: 80/100 = 80% (B–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Queen – We Are The Champions (1977)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Paramore – Still Into You

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: MKTO – Superstitious

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#16)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
2. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
4. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
5. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way
3. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know
4. Halsey – Without Me
5. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
None!

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (4^th And Final Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Calvin Harris featuring Sam Smith – Promises (–19)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower and Dan + Shay – Tequila (+14)

New Entrants:
– We’ll get the most displeasing debut out of the way first. I was not looking forward to more Lauv, especially after we got slammed by I Like Me Better for most of the year. But alas, here he is and he’s collaborating with Julia Michaels in his latest single titled There’s No Way. Yeah, I’m not in love with this, as you can tell. I do find both of their vocals to be underwhelming, and they don’t shine at all in the chorus. However, I’ll go ahead and say that production-wise, it’s a huge step up from its predecessor. That’s the only redeeming quality of the song. But other than that, it’s not very good in most aspects. So yeah, I’m not a huge fan.

– Immediately after that, we get the return of Little Mix! Now they’ve had quite a few songs on the countdown before, such as Wings in 2012 and especially Black Magic back in 2015. The latter was a huge favorite of mine, and it still is to this day. Here, they’re collaborating with Nicki Minaj in their latest single titled Woman Like Me. The song does remind me of Side To Side, in which it does have a reggae vibe to it. I do like what Little Mix is going for in this one. Adding Nicki Minaj was a great idea as she contributes nicely to the song. The way she raps in some of the verses is just awesome. I love how they blend together in the chorus. I think they have a great vocal chemistry. To put it short, Little Mix’s new single just rocks.

– The last time we’ve heard from David Guetta was three years ago, I believe, when he had Hey Mama as one of his biggest hits of 2015. Today, he makes his return to the countdown by collaborating with Anne-Marie in his new single titled Don’t Leave Me Alone. Right off the bat, I can say that this is better than anything Anne-Marie has been a part of thus far (outside of Rockabye). I think she has a nice voice and she uses it well in the song. I also like the production David put together. He put forth the effort while doing his work on the song. The verdict: it’s an enjoyable song and both of these artists don’t disappoint me there.

– Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month or so, then you probably know by now that Ariana Grande has her new single titled Thank U, Next, which has been reigning at #1 for a few weeks now. Not only that, but her music video is breaking records left and right. Anyway, the song basically talks about Ariana simply thanking her ex-boyfriends, including the late Mac Miller, who passed away a few months ago. I do like the song in large part because of Ariana alone. As I’ve said before, she has a great voice and she uses it very well most of the time. My only concern for the song is that there’s not too much going on in terms of the production. I do think a little more could be done in my opinion. Although this is probably one of her weakest lead singles out of all of them, it’s still a good song on its own. I’m looking forward to seeing this one become a success here on this countdown, which it probably will.

Best Debut Of The Week: Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me

Don’t Leave Blurbs Alone
– We’ll start with our exits this week. First off, good riddance to both Thunderclouds and Lucid Dreams, especially the former. I could not stand that song at all. But I’m glad it’s gone. As for the other two, Lie sputtered after having the biggest drop of the year a couple months ago and never recovered. And Kamikaze was not destined to last long. Too bad Walk The Moon will forever remain as one-hit wonders.

– High Hopes is back at #1 once again. That song has been dominating on Hits 1 for the second half of this year and it looks like with it still gaining momentum, it may very well carry on into 2019.

– 2002 has entered the Top 5 this week, which I’m okay with. Though I would much prefer if this didn’t hit #1 as I’m slightly starting to lose interest. But if anything, I’ll definitely take this over a certain song I won’t mention any day.

– So in case anyone’s wondering, yes, I do indeed have Tequila as my new favorite song on the countdown. This song has been getting better with each listen. I can safely say that this is one of the premier country songs of 2018 in my opinion. It’s nice to see it make a massive jump back into the Top 20 this week!

– On the minus side, we have Lost In Japan making a big drop this week unfortunately. I had thought that it was a shoe-in to become another hit for Shawn Mendes. Boy, I was wrong. Not helping is that it’s losing momentum elsewhere. Oh well.

Hit-Bound:

• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
• Dean Lewis – Be Alright (DEBUT)
• Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• Lauren Jauregui – Expectations
• Dan + Shay – Speechless (DEBUT)
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen
• Olly Murs – Moves
• Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely (DEBUT)
• Khalid – Better (DEBUT)
• James Arthur – Empty Space
• Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine

Entrant Reviews:
– We have a new round of arrivals that I’ll be covering. First, we have Dean Lewis with Be Alright. When listening to the song, I find that Dean has a good voice. But what stands out to me is the lyrics. I think they are well written for the most part. Overall, I can say it’s a good song.

– Next, we have more Dan + Shay, this time with Speechless. I personally think this is just as good as their current representation on the countdown. I love their vocals, the production is great, and the lyrics are solid. What more can I say? Here’s to hoping it makes its debut soon. I think they’re the best duo in the country genre right now.

– We have more Alessia Cara with one of her weakest singles from her latest album, The Pains Of Growing which came out this week, titled Trust My Lonely. I talked about the song when it debuted on the American Top 40 last week. To recap, the production is just pretty weird and out of place. Alessia’s vocals are okay, but she doesn’t really stand out for much of the song. Not really a bad song, but she’s had better.

– Finally, we have more of Khalid with his latest single, Better. Much like with Trust My Lonely, I find Khalid’s voice to be okay, but doesn’t really shine in the chorus. However, the production in the song is better, and I do like the lyrics though.

Best Debut on Hit-Bound: Dan + Shay – Speechless

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Speechless
2. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
3. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
4. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
5. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations

YouTube 15:

• Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You
• Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You
• Billie Eilish – Come Out and Play
• Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
• Cher Lloyd – None of My Buisness
• Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
• ZAYN featuring Nicki Minaj – No Candle No Light
• Ariana Grande – Breathin’
• Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamond and Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier
• Loren Gray – Kick You Out
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
• Alan Walker featuring AuRa and Tomine Hacket – Darkside
• Halsey – Without Me
• Jake Miller – Wait For You

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Shawn Mendes – Nervous
16. Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower
15. Anne-Marie – 2002
14. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
13. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
12. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
11. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
10. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
9. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
6. Benny Blaco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
2. Ariana Grande – Breathin’

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila

Overall Grade: 80/100 = 80% (B–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Britney Spears – Oops!… I Did It Again (2000)

Most Missed Countdown Song: George Ezra – Budapest

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Little Mix – Touch

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying

My Top 5 Picks
1. Dan + Shay – Tequila
2. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
3. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
4. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
5. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way
3. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know
4. Halsey – Without Me
5. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Harry Styles – Kiwi: I love how Harry went for the 70’s-80’s rock vibe in this one. And hearing this again, it does somewhat remind me of I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett.
X Ambassadors – Ahead Of Myself: These guys haven’t really had much to offer since both Renegades and Unsteady became big hits. This one is interesting in almost every way. While it’s not as good as Renegades, at least it’s something I can enjoy.
Nick Jonas – Find You: Since Nick started going solo after the break-up of the Jonas Brothers, he’s had a few singles I loved. This turns out to be one of them. The song does sound similar to Lady Gaga – Perfect Illusion, especially when listening to the intro.

– Only two debuts to cover this week. First, we have Ariana Grande with her lead single from her upcoming fifth album, titled Thank U, Next. As you already know, the song had been reigning at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three last few weeks now. Right off the bat, I can say that I do like the song overall. However, I can also say that it’s over of her weaker singles, though it’s definitely not a bad song. Ariana shows that she has a good voice, and I do like the lyrical content about her ex, including Mac Miller who sadly passed away a few months ago. I’m not necessarily big on the production. It lacks something that makes it interesting. I’m sure it’ll end up doing well on this countdown and seeing as I do like the song right now, I’m looking forward to it.

– Our other debut for this week comes from the return of DJ Snake. Here, he has an interesting collaboration with Selena Gomez, Ozuna, and Cardi B in his new single, Taki Taki. I like the Latin-based vibe that DJ Snake is going for. The verses in the song flow pretty nicely. I think all of the artists here are better suited for a song like this, especially Cardi B. She has proven that she’s able to rap in a different language. Overall, it’s quite a fun song. I would like to see it stick around.

Best Debut Of The Week: Taki Taki by DJ Snake featuring Selena Gomez, Ozuna, and Cardi B

Trust My Blurbs
– Good riddance to two of our exits. Drew Barrymore was simply uninteresting and ultimately unappealing to me. At least it didn’t become a sleeper hit elsewhere. But more importantly, we must celebrate as I Like Me Better by Lauv has finally left the countdown! That song will never be missed.

– As you probably can tell, I’m not all that thrilled about our new #1 song. It’s just mediocre EDM for me. Although I can say that it’s better than Friends lyrically, I find the production to be underwhelming and Dan’s voice only okay. It’s a shame that this had to be the bigger hit over Wolves, which his easily the best thing Marshmello has been a part of.

– There’s really not a lot of action as both Lie and our former #1 God Is A Woman dropped big by only 2 spots. The only other big move we get this week was Sunflower, which has risen 5 spots into the Top 20.

Breakouts/On The Verge:

• Tequila by Dan + Shay
• Close To Me by Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee
• 8 Letters by Why Don’t We

Extras/Optional Extras:

• Jackie Chan by Tiesto & Dzeko featuring Preme & Post Malone
• Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
• Animals by Maroon 5
• Time Of Our Lives by Pitbull & Ne-Yo
• Done For Me by Charlie Puth featuring Kehlani 
• Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars
• Needed Me by Rihanna
• Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) by Cardi B
• Demons by Imagine Dragons
• Song About You by Mike Posner

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 – Garbage:
20. I’m A Mess by Bebe Rexha
19. Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD

1 – Bad:
18. Without Me by Halsey

2 – Mediocre:
17. Happier by Marshmello featuring Bastille

3 – Decent:
16. Girls Like You by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B.
15. Sunflower by Post Malone featuring Swae Lee

4 – Good:
14. Broken by lovelytheband

5 – Great:
13. Lie by NF
12. Back To You by Selena Gomez 
11. Beautiful by Bazzi featuirng Camila Cabello
10. Better Now by Post Malone
9. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco
8. Youngblood by 5 Seconds Of Summer
7. Love Lies by Khalid featuring Normani
6. Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid
5. God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande
4. Natural by Imagine Dragons
3. Electricity by Silk City featuring Dua Lipa
2. Lost In Japan by Shawn Mendes

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Breathin’ by Ariana Grande  

Total Score: 79/100 = 79% (C+)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: …Baby One More Time by Britney Spears (1998)

Most Missed Song: In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix featuring Bebe Rexha

#1 Recommendation For The American Top 40: Bad Liar by Imagine Dragons

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Praying by Kesha

My Top 5 Picks
1. Breathin’ by Ariana Grande
2. This Feeling by The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini
3. The Middle by Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey
4. Lost In Japan by Shawn Mendes
5. Electricity by Silk City featuring Dua Lipa

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. I’m A Mess by Bebe Rexha
2. Friends by Marshmello featuring Anne-Marie
3. Thunderclouds by LSD
4. Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD
5. Sicko Mode by Travis Scott featuring Drake

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:

Silence by Marshmello featuring Khalid: Interestingly, Marshmello had two songs debut on this countdown one year ago. As far as Silence goes, I thought he did a pretty nice job with the production, and I like the addition of Khalid. But this pales in comparison to…

Wolves by Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello: This song. Easily the best thing Marshmello has done thus far. Again, I’ll have more to say about this in a few weeks or so.

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Imagine Dragons – Thunder (2^nd of 5 Weeks At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Walk The Moon – Kamikaze (–22)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (+14)

New Entrants
– We’ll start things off with probably my least favorite debut of the week. New to the countdown, we have Alec Benjamin with his latest single titled Let Me Down Slowly. Now, Alec has had quite a few songs that were on the YouTube 15. His music is okay to say the least. I have mixed feelings about Let Me Down Slowly. I’m not really a fan of his vocals. It sounds a little too childish. The lyrical content and the production are okay, but they’re not special. So yeah, I’m mixed on this. It’s in blue, but it’s slightly closer to red than it is green. So don’t be surprised if it ends up being in red at some point in time.

– Next, we have more Shawn Mendes with his third song on the countdown, by the name of Nervous. Although it’s not officially his next single from his self-titled album, Hits 1 picked it up because they seem to love Shawn Mendes. I personally think there were better singles from that album in my opinion. Nervous is just a little underwhelming for my tastes. It sounds pretty similar to Bad Liar. First off, there’s not much to the production other than just the acoustic guitar. Shawn himself sounds good in parts of the song, but doesn’t really stand out in the chorus. The lyrics talk about him thinking about a girl and sometimes he can get stressed out. During the introduction for the song, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Taylor Swift helped him get through stage fright. Heh, it was nice of her to help out Shawn a little bit. That aside, I guess I can appreciate what the song wants to be. But I feel like the execution could’ve been better. It’s not really a bad song, but again I feel like he can do better.

– Hits 1 seems to have a thing for Post Malone nowadays, as they continue to pick up music from him. He brings us a song taken from the movie soundtrack of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, titled Sunflower. The song also features Swae Lee, who he is collaborating with. My initial reaction to the song wasn’t really the best. But after a few listens, I’ve slightly come around to it. I do kinda like their vocals in the song, and the verses are decent. My main problem is the production. I feel like there’s not much going on and it doesn’t really stand out. Yeah, I’m still pretty mixed on this as a whole. It’s not too far off from being red again.

– With our highest debut this week, we have Camila Cabello with her next single off of her self-titled album. This time, we get a piano ballad in the form of Consequences. Right off the bat, it’s a big step up from Never Be The Same vocally. Camila actually sounds good in this ballad. She doesn’t try too hard to hit those high notes, much like she did in Never Be The Same which I wasn’t fond of. It fits her well and I think she’s better suited for songs like this. The piano sounds pretty divine throughout the song. The lyrical content is great for the most part. It tells a story about being in love can have its pros and cons. But judging by the lyrics, it’s more about the cons than the pros. Overall, it’s a sweet song. I’m glad she chose it as a single.

Best Debut Of The Week: Camila Cabello – Consequences

Let’s Get Blurbical
– As far as our exits go, I never really liked Drew Barrymore, so I’m happy to see it off. Free Free Free was not destined to last very long. Jackie Chan I thought was pretty cool, but didn’t quite stick with me in the long run. And finally, we lost Heart To Break. It was a great song overall and it deserved better. Kim Petras made a nice first impression there. I’m hoping we get to hear more from her soon.

– So, I recently found out that Taylor Swift is dating someone named Joe Alwyn and she gave a shout-out of him on Instagram. Aw, it was nice of Taylor to post something just like that. I guess they really like each other.

– Kamikaze took a massive drop this week. Yikes! It is clear that it won’t become the next One Foot in terms of success.

– Before introducing I Wanna Know, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Bea Miller freaked out because Ariana Grande actually liked her tweet. Wow, she seemed to be impressed by this. I actually had that moment before where I freaked out because a celebrity liked my tweet. I love this feeling (no pun intended).

– So, Demi Lovato actually unfollowed Selena Gomez on Instagram?! That’s a shocking turn of events if you ask me. It seemed like the two were close, but I guess something must’ve happened for this to occur. And Spyder Harrison called it “the end of the world as we know it”. Geez, Spyder! You’re really exaggerating there.

– Before introducing Eastside, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Ariana Grande posted a screenshot of her conversation with Halsey. Looking at the conversation, it’s basically about them talking about their respective songs being successful. It seemed that they were still being nice to each other. I’ll bet they’re just glad that they’re getting big hits.

– Don’t Go Breaking My Heart took a rather shocking jump back into the Top 20. Heh, I guess the song’s tenure isn’t over yet as it looks to get a second life. I still like it though, so I’m cool with the shocking jump.

– It’s really nice to see This Feeling in the Top 5. It’s definitely the best things The Chainsmokers have released since Closer. It would be even nicer if this ended up hitting #1. I watched them perform on the halftime show of the Chiefs-Rams game and I must say, I was very impressed. Kelsea sounded great performing the song live. It was a thing of beauty. I hope to see more performances like this.

– It was only a matter of time until Without Me made its way into the Top 5. I’m not thrilled about this. Halsey has had better in the past and of course, this ends up becoming more successful at this moment (since her feature in Closer). I’m hoping it doesn’t end up hitting #1, but I have my doubts.

– But then we get to our #1, in which Youngblood is back on top. I’m perfectly fine with this so long as it roadblock songs such as Without Me, Happier, and especially I’m A Mess. The song has been in the Top 5 for what seems like forever. I have a feeling that it may end up being ranked high on the Hits 1 Year-End when it comes around next month.

Hit-Bound:

• Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (DEBUT)
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
• Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
• James Arthur – Empty Space (DEBUT)
• Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen
• Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (DEBUT)
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• Lauren Jauregui – Expectations
• Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee – Close To Me
• David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone
• Olly Murs featuring Snoop Dogg – Moves

Best Debut On Hit-Bound: Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
TIE: 1. Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo and Swae Lee – Close To Me
TIE: 1. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
3. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life
4. David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone
5. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations

YouTube 15:

Mikey Piff is taking over for Jenna Marbles this week on this Thanksgiving Weekend Edition of the YouTube 15. Here are the songs trending this week:

• Ariana Grande – Breathin’
• Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamond and Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Hozier – Movement
• Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
• Alan Walker featuring AuRa and Tomine Hacket – Darkside
• Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You
• Alessia Cara – Not Today
• Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier
• Cher Lloyd – None Of My Business
• Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
• Rita Ora – Velvet Rope
• Halsey – Without Me
• Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You
• Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (No joke)
• Kyle featuring Alessia Cara – Babies

Song Reviews:
– We get another single from Hozier titled Movement. I do kinda like this for the most part. While the production is just okay, I like Hozier’s voice to an extent. Not much else I can say about that. It’s in blue, but it’s slightly closer to green.

– Next, we have Alessia Cara with the first of two songs on the YouTube 15 this week. This time, she brings us another single from her new album The Pains Of Growing which comes out next week, titled Not Today. I can say it’s a little better than Trust My Lonely, but not by much. Although the production is decent and not as weird, Alessia doesn’t really shine too much in any part of the song. Her vocals are decent, but that’s about it. So yeah, I’m not too much of a fan. Hopefully, the rest of her new album has some better songs.

– We have the return of Rita Ora with her latest single titled Velvet Rope. I really like her voice in this one. She sounds amazing when she sings in the chorus. The production is very good as well. Overall, I’m in love with this.

– Finally, we have rapper Kyle collaborating with Alessia Cara in her second appearance on the YouTub15, titled Babies. I personally think this is better than two recent singles from Alessia Cara. I like the verses for the most part, and the vocals are pretty good. The production is decent, but I think it could use a little more work. Overall, not a bad song at all.

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. Rita Ora – Velvet Rope
2. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
3. Alan Walker featuring AuRa and Tomine Hacket – Darkside
4. Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamond and Luis Fonsi – Baby
5. Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Anne-Marie – 2002
16. Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B – Girls Like You

4 – Good:
15. Loud Luxury featuring Brando – Body
14. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
13. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
12. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
11. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
10. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
9. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
8. Benny Blaco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
7. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
6. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
5. Imagine Dragons – Natural
4. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity
3. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Ariana Grande – Breathin’

Overall Grade: 83/100 = 83% (B–)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Olivia Newton-John – Physical (1981)

Most Missed Countdown Song: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Jet Black Heart

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Kungs & Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Dan + Shay – Speechless

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie between Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves (#20) and Kesha – Praying (#13)

My Top 5 Picks
1. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
2. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
3. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
4. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
5. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. LSD – Thunderclouds
3. Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
4. Halsey – Without Me
5. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – Rockstar: Blech. I never liked this from the start. The verses don’t offer any momentum whatsoever. While it’s better than White Iverson, that isn’t saying much.
Selena Gomez featuring Marshmello – Wolves: For me, this is the best thing both Selena and Marshmello have been a part of. Everything about this is just awesome in every sense of the word. You’ll see this on My Top 50 songs of the year, and I’ll have more to say about it in my post.

1. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier (#1) [=] [2^nd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: P!NK – What About Us (1^st And Only Week At #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (–18)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (+17)

Keep On Blurbin’
– The Way I Am took quite a massive fall this week. The song’s time may be nearing its end. And barring some sort of miracle, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting anything new from Charlie anytime soon.

– Before introducing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Spyder Harrison mentioned that a police officer was singing one of the singles from the Backstreet Boys on the intercom. Sounds like he wanted to put on a show. That’s some cool stuff!

– It’s nice to see Eastside gain some late momentum after not doing much last week. I would like for it to swap places with Without Me, but I know that’s not going to happen.

– Before introducing Electricity, Spyder Harrison mentioned that Dua Lipa was able to finally get some time off after working on music for so long. Wow, Dua must be tired from doing all this work. I’ll bet she’s happy about getting some free time.

– I figured Hey Look Ma, I Made It would enter the Top 10 sooner or later. Although its predecessor is gaining momentum elsewhere and has shown no signs of slowing down, Hits 1’s love for Panic! At The Disco is at an all-time high. Thus, it was only natural for its successor to gain momentum on this countdown.

– While the rest of the Top 5 remain unchanged, we see Natural moving back up into that territory. I guess one week out of the Top 5 was simply enough based on Hits 1’s logic.

Hit-Bound:

• David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie – Don’t Leave Me Alone
• Lauv featuring Julia Michaels – There’s No Way
• Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – Sunflower
• Imagine Dragons – Machine
• Lauren Jauregui – Expectations
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – Killer Queen
• Olly Murs – Moves
• TWENTY ØNE PILØTS – Chlorine
• Ellie Goulding featuring Diplo – Close To Me
• Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me
• Shawn Mendes – Nervous
• Camila Cabello – Consequences
• Steve Aoki featuring BTS – Waste It On Me
• Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly
• Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next

YouTube 15:

• Halsey – Without Me
• Alan Walker featuring AuRa and Tomine Hacket – Darkside
• Madison Beer featuring Offset – Hurts Like Hell
• Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B. – Girls Like You
• Cher Lloyd – None Of My Business
• Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me
• Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier
• Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamond and Luis Fonsi – Baby
• Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
• CNCO featuring Meghan Trainor and Sean Paul – Hey DJ
• Post Malone – Better Now
• Benny Blanco featuring Calvin Harris – I Found You
• Cardi B. featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin – I Like It
• LÉON – Falling

– Remember Madison Beer who brought us songs like Dead and Home With You? Well, guess what? She’s back, and this time she brings us Hurts Like Hell. Not too much I can say about this one. I do like her vocals in this one, but I’m not big on the verses we get from Offset. That’s probably the only thing that brings it down for me. Other than that, it’s a decent song overall.

– We have more Sabrina Carpenter once again, this time with Sue Me. I do think this is her best song overall. She shines a little more with her vocals, and the production is decent all around. I recently found out that the song talks about her life after a lawsuit was filed against her. I do hope we hear more songs like this.

– Next, we have CNCO collaborating with Meghan Trainor and Sean Paul with the single, Hey DJ. This is a pretty interesting collaboration. I like the Latin vibes in the song. These artists did a nice job with the verses. It’s a fun song overall.

– Lastly, we have LÉON with Falling. Right off the bat, she has a very unique voice and she uses it very well in the song. The production here is very good. There’s not much else I can say about it. Yeah, it’s an awesome song.

My Top 5 YouTube 15 Picks
1. LÉON – Falling
2. Clean Bandit featuring Marina And The Diamond and Luis Fonsi – Baby
3. Alan Walker featurin AuRa and Tomine Hacket – Darkside
4. Post Malone – Better Now
5. CNCO featuring Meghan Trainor and Sean Paul – Hey DJ

Top 20 Review:
0 – Putrid:
20. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

1 – Bad:
19. Halsey – Without Me

2 – Mediocre:
18. Marshmello featuring Bastille – Happier

3 – Decent:
17. Anne-Marie – 2002

4 – Good:
16. lovelytheband – Broken

5 – Great:
15. Calvin Harris featuring Sam Smith – Promises
14. Dan + Shay – Tequila
13. Khalid featuring Normani – Love Lies
12. Walk The Moon – Kamikaze
11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
8. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones
7. Benny Blaco featuring Halsey and Khalid – Eastside
6. The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren – Side Effects
5. The Struts featuring Kesha – Body Talks
4. Imagine Dragons – Natural
3. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity
2. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

Overall Grade: 86/100 = 86% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Earth, Wind, & Fire – Let’s Groove (1981)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Martin Garrix featuring Bebe Rexha – In The Name Of Love (Two years since it debuted)

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Paramore – Hard Times

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Kesha – Praying (#18)

My Top 5 Picks
TIE: 1. Zedd featuring Maren Morris and Grey – The Middle
TIE: 1. The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
3. Ariana Grande – Breathin’
4. Shawn Mendes – Lost In Japan
5. Silk City featuring Dua Lipa – Electricity

My Bottom 5 Picks
1. Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess
2. LSD – Thunderclouds
3. Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams
4. Bryce Vine – Drew Barrymore
5. Halsey – Without Me

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
The Shadowboxers – Hot Damn: This is pretty cool and unique in more ways than one. And what’s even more interesting about it is two things. One is the fact that Justin Timberlake helped produced the song, and two is that the band is from my hometown of Atlanta. How cool is that?