Billboard Hot 100 Top 10:
1- "Despacito" - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (=) -- Streaming is skyrocketing and quite frankly unstoppable right now. Sales are pretty good and slowly rising while pop radio is quickly catching up with this mostly Spanish hit. Yeah, I'd say we have a huge summer hit on our hands. I'm not yet upset even though I realize this isn't the best and the original mix is much better. It's far superior than what's hanging out at the next two spots trying to dethrone it, so as long as those songs are still around, I'm game with this holding the top spot.
2- "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars (=) -- It would really be nice if Bruno started to decline on the charts. This is really not that great of a song. Bruno has done much better... on this "24K Magic" album. And it's a pretty sub-par album, even for his standards. So I'm glad this is looking like it only is going to get that one week at the top. But it's now spent way too long at the runner-up spot.
3- "I'm the One" - DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne (=) -- But even Bruno's song is much better than this giant DJ Khaled and friends mess of a thing he's calling music. Radio is picking up with this, probably because Justin Bieber is invincible at this point. He could probably record himself singing the alphabet and get a top five hit out of it. But thankfully it's looking like streaming and sales aren't getting much higher, which means that I doubt this is going back to No. 1 as long as "Despacito" is around. Which I'm happy about.
4- "Humble." - Kendrick Lamar (+1) -- Hey look! "Humble." switched spots with "Shape of You"! I'm happy with that. This is easily the best song in the top five at the moment. I wish this were the song camping out at No. 1, but oh well. I'll take what I can get. At least it's sticking around in the top five.
5- "Shape of You" - Ed Sheeran (-1) -- Ed Sheeran broke a record. After debuting in the top five, "Shape of You" has now spent its first 20 weeks in the top five. That's the longest any song has stayed in the top five after debuting in the range. Take that as your obscure Billboard broken record of the week. And now let's hope that "Shape of You" is done with the top five sooner rather than later.
6- "Mask Off" - Future (+1) -- What in the fetch?!?!?! Why is this BACK at No. 6? Is it because of the Mask Off Challenge? Is the internet and our generation of young music listeners really that gullible in following a dumb challenge from an awful rap song?
7- "Stay" - Zedd & Alessia Cara (+2) -- Zedd is now No. 1 on pop radio. Hence the rise to No. 7 this week. Worse things have happened to me in this life, but pop radio should really pick a different song to get stuck on repeat because we shouldn't encourage Zedd to make more average music.
8- "Something Just Like This" - The Chainsmokers & Coldplay (-2) -- After getting a several week positioning battle with "Mask Off," have The Chainsmokers been defeated? Or do they have another random surge left in that to top Future again? The Chainsmokers currently have 56 straight weeks in the top 10 and given that they have no incoming hits primed to keep that streak going, it looks like Katy's streak of 68 weeks is safe. This is my favorite song in the top 10 right now, but it's had a good run, so I won't be too upset if it exists.
9- "XO Tour Llif3" - Lil Uzi Vert (-1) -- Thank goodness this fell yet another spot. Can we officially kick it out soon?
10- "It Ain't Me" - Kygo & Selena Gomez (+2) -- Justice has been served! Kygo and Selena have returned to the top 10! I believe this was due to an iTunes discount that is now over, so I fear this is heading right back out, but I really wish it could gain a little more traction and hold a place in this top 10 because we're struggling with quality here in 2017, so we could use an actual good song like this.
Rising on the Hot 100:
11- "Issues" - Julia Michaels (+3) -- I'm making a guess that Julia Michaels has made another push with "Issues" because of her performance of the song at the BBMA's. Even though I'm fine with the song and I would welcome Julia Michaels into the top 10, that live performance was pretty bad.
15- "Believer" - Imagine Dragons (+5) --I'm also guessing that Imagine Dragons got a push this week from the BBMA's. Their performance was actually pretty good, so I'm totally fine with this rising. The song has grown on me slightly even though it's still not in the realm of Imagine Dragons' best performances. But I'd certainly prefer this over several other current chart toppers.
19- "In Case You Didn't Know" - Brett Young (+4) -- Man, we're on a pretty good streak here with these risers. I'm so happy to see Brett Young in the top 20 with this song and now I'm curious as to what this song's ceiling can be.
22- "Redbone" - Childish Gambino (+7) -- Four for four! "Redbone" surprises me yet again! Can Childish Gambino get a top 20 hit? Can this song even sneak into the top 10? That would be pretty great if it did!
25- "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" - Shawn Mendes (+7) -- Oh man, Shawn, you had to mess things up. Things were pretty good until you showed up. But since the radio has a love affair with sub-par Shawn Mendes crap, this is probably heading into the top 10 soon.
26- "Now or Never" - Halsey (+12) -- Halsey also performed at the BBMA's and she did fine although she was wearing some very sketchy outfits the whole time like she's crying for attention, so I don't think we should give it to her, especially since this song is pretty average.
27- "Bad Liar" - Selena Gomez (+53) -- Selena skyrockets up the charts this week following her first full week of sales. Overall I think I'm totally fine with this song being in the region. There's definitely a lot worse on the charts and I kinda like this song. Although first full week of sales usually means a dip next week, so I don't expect another big jump next week. But maybe eventually this will become a top 10 hit?
30- "Castle on the Hill" - Ed Sheeran (+9) -- Easily the best performance of the night at the BBMA's out of the current group of singers on the charts. Of course Cher and Celine Dion blew everyone out of the water, but that's to be expected with how many years of experience both of them have. I'm glad to see "Castle on the Hill" back in the top 30. Now let's hope it goes even higher because this NEEDS to be a hit! We need good music to be accepted!
35- "Attention" - Charlie Puth (+10) -- Is there anyone on earth that loves Charlie Puth? The radio certainly seems to think so. I fear that Charlie and Shawn are going to team up to put a huge damper on our summer radio, which is unfortunate.
71- "You Look Good" - Lady Antebellum (+12) -- Oh hey! Lady Antebellum got a boost on the charts this week. This is a fun country song originating back from April that I thought was going to be a dud because it didn't do much after its debut. If this ended up being a country hit, I'd be fine with that.
74- "No Promises" - Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato (+21) -- Not surprised to see rising on the charts after finally debuting last week. I'm just wondering how big of a hit this will be. Will Cheat Codes become the next Chainsmokers or will they be like Marshmello by showing up for a bit and disappearing again?
82- "Thunder" - Imagine Dragons (+12) -- Both Imagine Dragons songs got a boost this week, so that's good news for them. Although I don't know how long "Thunder" is going to actually stick around on the charts, but we'll see if it ends up surprising me.
New Arrivals:
42- "Strip that Down" - Liam Payne featuring Quavo -- We've heard from Zayn, Niall, Louis and Harry. Now we get our final former One Direction member giving us his solo single. Liam Payne. And he found a perfect way to annoy me right off the bat by featuring Quavo. I suppose he's trying to be cool and hip by featuring a Migos member, but I hate just about everything Migos related, so I would've rather had him release a single on his own, without Quavo, because we have the trademark sound effects and echoes scattered throughout the song. Not only is Quavo doing it, but Liam himself is trying to do it, too. Luckily it's not quite as bad as I was expecting going in, but it's still annoying. Ignoring that, this is still not a great song. He tells us that not he's out of 1D that he feels free and so he's just going to go bang this girl. Not only do these lyrics have no depth, but if I'm Zayn, Niall, Louis or Harry, what do I feel about Liam's confession in this song? He's essentially saying that his time with the group made him feel trapped and held back. So no, I'm not feeling this. And now if I'm ranking the 1D members' solo work, from best to worst I'm going with Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam and Zayn, with Harry being way ahead and Zayn being way behind.
43- "Deja Vu" - Lauren Duski -- And in a surprising turn of events, it's Chris Blue that wins season 12 of "The Voice." Not Lauren Duski. She's the runner up. But did Chris really win? Lauren's song charted at No. 43 while Chris' song charted at No. 66. And Lauren even charted two songs this week instead of just one. And if all the years of me watching "American Idol" have taught me anything, it's that winning a show like that means jack squat. You just need to successfully get your name out there and see where your career takes you. In terms of initial success, it appears that Lauren has the early lead. And the better song. Because in the finale, you perform three times. One cover song, one duet with your mentor and one original song. This is Lauren's original song. And while it's not as good as her "Ghost in this House" cover that charted last week, this song still has a lot of emotion to it as she's trying to get rid of the memories of this man, but is failing to do so. And she has a really nice voice. She's a girl that country radio could really use, so let's hope they buy into her.
46- "Swish Swish" - Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj -- Oh dear Katy, what in the blazes are you doing? I was ready to be excited for this upcoming album because I loved "Prism" and our lead-off single for this one, "Chained to the Rhythm," was one that I thought was pretty good, even though I was in the minority in thinking that. But that's OK. This is music. It's all subjective. But then Katy came out with "Bon Appetit," which had me reeling backwards it was so bad. Then we had the music video for "Bon Appetit," which was so repulsively disturbing and very unsexy. And now this? This is a lazy, generic attack at Katy's haters that has no heart and passion. I don't know who this song is aimed at, but whoever it is will probably be laughing their head off after hearing this lazy, pathetic attempt of a song. And in a weird twist of events, Nicki Minaj comes in and gives the song energy and passion. When I'm more impressed with Nicki Minaj's part in your song, you know you've failed. This isn't as bad as "Bon Appetit," but that's not a very high bar to cross.
47- "Crying in the Club" - Camila Cabello -- Here we have another debut solo single from a former group. Yes, Camila has done solo work before with Shawn Mendes and Machine Gun Kelly, but this is her debut solo single for her upcoming debut album. I've always liked Camila as I've seen the potential that she has as a singer. She's talented and has a nice voice. But I feel that piece of trash Fifth Harmony group was holding her back. Such awful writing with pretty much every song. Thus I was happy when she officially left and was intrigued by the idea of a Camila solo career. I was crossing my fingers that this debut album would be good and while the jury is still out because the album hasn't been released, this is actually a nice start. Speaking of writing, Sia contributed in the writing of this song and you can definitely feel Sia's influence and Camila even sounds like Sia for most of the song. Lyrically this song doesn't quite hit the emotional height that it has the potential to get to after a solid start and Camila's vocals never hit a home run, but this is a pretty good start for Camila as overall I enjoy this. This is far superior than anything Camila did with Fifth Harmony, so it looks like breaking off from them will end up being a great decision.
66- "Money on You" - Chris Blue -- This is my first introduction to our winner of "The Voice" season 12, Mr. Chris Blue. Given that I didn't watch "The Voice," and probably never will, I have no idea how he did overall this season and if he deserved to win, but this isn't a very good introduction for me. He has charm and charisma singing the sing. And his stage presence is pretty great. So I suppose I see the appeal and potential, but this song has no life to it. He has obviously had a great time with this girl and now he's trying to convince her to top it off by sleeping with him. She could be the highlight of his night and he could be the highlight of her's. It's not an explicit song or an awful song. It's just a boring one for me. No winner of "The Voice" has ever amounted to anything. All the show has managed to do is spark a light in the careers of the judges themselves. I highly doubt that if this is the direction Chris Blue is going to take to try and become relevant in the pop world that he's going to be the one to change things.
76- "Yours if You Want It" - Rascal Flatts -- Hey look! We have a Rascal Flatts sighting! I can't say I've been a huge fan of Rascal Flatts, but they've had a few fun songs like "Life is a Highway" and "What Hurts the Most" that I've enjoyed. "Yours if You Want It" is the lead-off single for their 10th studio album, which was released a couple weeks back. This is the lead-off single to that album, which was released back in January but took until now to actual chart, which was obviously due to the album's release, so we'll see if this actually sticks around. Despite being extremely consistent for the better part of the 2000's, the 2010's haven't been quite as nice to the group and perhaps it's because the quality of their music hasn't been as good? It's been a long time since I've heard a Rascal Flatts song that connected with me like the two aforementioned smash hits and this certainly isn't one of them. It's upbeat and catchy with a nice groove to it, like a Rascal Flatts song should be, but the lyrics and overall style slip into the bland, boring country range. It doesn't seem like there was much thought put into any part of this song. Just a generic, catchy country song.
77- "Most Girls" - Hailee Steinfeld -- Shall we dissect yet another attempt at a female empowerment anthem from Hailee? I initially defended her because I love her as an actress and I thought "Love Myself" showed she had great potential as a singer and I initially said that people were taking "Love Yourself" the wrong way. Turns out she stabbed me in the back with her ensuing singles, proving to me that I was wrong about her and everyone else was right. I felt betrayed. Now we have a song that feels generic as heck with the message and completely uninteresting musically. And I do know that Hailee has a voice somewhere in there that she completely hides for this song. But let's talk more about this message. It actually took me a while to discern what she was talking about because she starts by describing how many girls act and I thought she was going to say that she DOESN'T want to be like most girls and that she wants to be herself. But she caught me off guard by saying she DOES want to be like most girls, thus I was confused. But at a second glace, she actually says that SOME girls are obsessed with their appearance and kiss new guys each night, but that MOST girls are smart and strong and beautiful. She wants to be like MOST girls and not like SOME girls. Got it. So generic female empowerment anthem that is a little confusing and poorly worded. And then she says that it's OK if you want to change the body you came in instead of feeling good in your own skin? Shouldn't that be the other way around? Yeah, this song is kind of a mess. Sorry, Hailee.
92- "The Dance" - Lauren Duski -- The other song from Lauren Duski's night on "The Voice." While "Deja Vu" was her original song, this was her choice of a cover song. Her third song, the duet with Blake Shelton, didn't chart. "The Dance" comes via Garth Brooks. It's his final single from his debut album back in 1989 and was released as a single in 1990. It went No. 1 on the country charts, in both the U.S. and Canada, but never charted on the normal Hot 100. In fact, Garth Brooks didn't cross over to the Hot 100 at all until his live album in 1998, which surprised me when I looked it up. So yeah, at No. 92, this cover has already officially charted higher than the original. Take that for what it's worth. Now I am not familiar with Garth Brooks' music, so I made sure to do my due diligence and listen to the original before listening the to cover and holy cow this song is beautiful. Makes me feel like I should educate myself on Garth Brooks. He says that he's glad things are left to chance and that he didn't know how things would end because, while he would've missed the pain, he would've also had to miss the dance. That is fantastic. If we're being picky, Lauren doesn't add anything to the original with her cover, but it was a great song selection for her and she sang it beautifully. Based on this and "Deja Vu," I'm confused as to why she lost.
94- "Boy" - Lee Brice -- We end this week with Lee Brice, a country singer who I personally know for the song "I Drive Your Truck," a song written about a father whose son was killed in Afghanistan while trying to save a fellow soldier. In the song, the father is driving his son's truck so that he can feel close to his son. That hit a personal chord for me because the song was released right around the time my brother passed away. I haven't listened to Lee Brice's other songs, but this latest song, "Boy," has a similar emotional feel to it. It's not about a father who has lost his son, but it's about a father singing to his son. In this case I'm pretty sure it's Lee Brice singing to his own son who is somewhere in the realm of four years old. He's telling his son that he is going to grow older one day and experience life in various stages and is reminiscing about what things he's going to do. Things that a father would realistically say and ponder about when it comes to his young children. Towards the end of the song, he mentions that it's 3 a.m. and he'd do anything to get this boy back to sleep and that this is the same face he'll have when the boy is leaving home for the first time. I like this a lot! It reminds me of the book "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch, which is a fantastic little kids book. If you haven't heard of it, go look it up and you'll know what I'm talking about.
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