Billboard Hot 100 Top 10:
1- "Despacito" - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (=) -- With a 15th week at No. 1, "Despacito" now stands alone in second place on the list of longest-leading No. 1 hits in the history of the Hot 100. Only one more week to tie the all-time record set by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men with "One Sweet Day." With the latter song being in the 1990's, that means "Despacito" is now the longest-running No. 1 hit of the 21st century and it also stands alone as the longest-running primarily non-English No. 1 hit of all-time. It's also the longest running No. 1 hit on both the digital sales chart and streaming chart. And while we're at it, a reminder that it's also the most viewed YouTube video of all-time as of a couple of weeks ago.
So the big question is, can it do it? Can "Despacito" tie the 16-week record? Well, we first look at the current runner up, "Wild Thoughts," and the margin decreased quite a bit from this week to last week as "Despacito" now only holds a 1.19-to-1 lead, compared to the 1.46-to-1 lead from the last two weeks. But don't be deceived. "Wild Thoughts" made that push due to a 69-cent iTunes discount because "Despacito" remained steady in all three categories while "Wild Thoughts" went nowhere on radio and streaming. When it comes to 69-cent iTunes discounts, two can play at that game as "Despacito" has now just gone on sale, guaranteeing that "Wild Thoughts" will not stop it from hitting 16 weeks.
But it's still not a guarantee that it will get there as the biggest competitor now will be Justin Bieber's new single "Friends," which is headed for a lofty debut next week. Can Justin Bieber humorously stop himself from getting the most prestigious Billboard record? If he doesn't, *rumor is that Taylor Swift is set to drop a new single on Friday, which will be in play when "Despacito" tries to go for the official record-breaking 17th week at the top. Taylor's snake videos on Twitter and Instagram seem to confirm that at least something is coming real soon. It's proven harder and harder for songs to debut at No. 1 with how important streaming is now, but if any act can do it, both Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift would be the most likely candidates.
*- Rumor confirmed. After typing this up, I went to Taylor's Twitter to see if there was an update and earlier today she announced that her new album "Reputation" will be out November 10 with the first single coming tomorrow night (late Thursday/early Friday). That will take effect when "Despacito" goes for week 17, as previously mentioned.
2- "Wild Thoughts" - DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna & Bryson Tiller (=) -- As I previously noted, Rihanna and friends made a pretty tactful push with that iTunes discount. But it proved to be too little, too late. Record or no record, "Wild Thoughts" is still on target to eventually pass "Despacito," but the aforementioned singles from Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift could prove difficult to overcome if they do in fact debut high and stay high. "Wild Thoughts" may be joining the long list of songs that almost made it to No. 1. Which, if that ends up being the case, I'll be happy. Rihanna doesn't need another No. 1 hit. She's had too many of those in her career.
3- "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" - Cardi B (+5) -- It took us eight whole months, but we finally have a solo female top three hit in 2017. Rihanna, Halsey and Taylor Swift made it into the region this year, but they were accompanied by other male singers on their songs. This is also the first female rapper to hit the top three with a debut entry since Iggy Azalea's "Fancy," featuring Charlie XCX, in 2014 and also the highest charting female rap song unaccompanied by another artist since Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda," also in 2014. This is all fine and dandy, but I really wish a different female artist would've been the one to set these marks because I really don't like this song. But even though it's surging right now, I question how high it can actually go because it currently only has streaming going for it. It could be an eventual candidate for No. 1 if radio and sales catch. I hope they don't, though. This is as high as I want this song to go.
4- "Unforgettable" - French Montana featuring Swae Lee (-1) -- It actually makes me sad to see this song slip a spot. I would've loved to see this pass "Wild Thoughts" on the charts and I would've been fine if it eventually snuck into the No. 1 spot. But now with "Bodak Yellow" skyrocketing into the region, that seems like hopeless thought. But oh well. I won't lose too much sleep over this.
5- "Believer" - Imagine Dragons (-1) -- It's good to see Imagine Dragons falling a spot this week.
6- "Attention" - Charlie Puth (-1) -- It's good to see Charlie Puth falling a spot this week.
7- "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" - Shawn Mendes (-1) -- It's good to see Shawn Mendes falling a spot this week.
8- "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars (-1) -- It's good to see Bruno Mars falling a spot this week.
9- "Shape of You" - Ed Sheeran (=) -- I've been so focused on the potential record-breaking run of "Despacito" that I almost forgot that Ed Sheeran just tied the second-most prestigious record in the history of the Hot 100, that being the 32-week record of weeks in the top 10 of the Hot 100. Ed Sheeran is now in a three-way tie with The Chainsmokers' "Closer," featuring Halsey, and LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live." One more week and Ed has the record all to himself, which is looking fairly likely. Although is certainly not a guarantee, especially if Justin Bieber debuts in the top 10 next week.
10- "Body Like a Back Road" - Sam Hunt (+1) -- Well, I saw this coming because Sam Hunt was hanging out at No. 11 while "I'm the One" was taking a nosedive, but... WHY?!?!?!?! Why in the name of tarnation can't we get rid of this abomination?
Rising on the Hot 100:
13- "Strip that Down" - Liam Payne featuring Quavo (+2) -- And why is Liam becoming the most popular 1D member? At least at the moment, because we can't discount Zayn. But even then, why are Zayn and Liam the two 1D members celebrating the most staying power. Harry Styles actually made a really good album and we threw him in the trash in favor of these two punks. Shame.
15- "Slow Hands" - Niall Horan (+2) -- I'm also not a huge fan of Liam doing well. But I could take him over Liam. And why isn't Louis doing well, either? We as an American population should learn to reward good behavior, not reward artists making lazy and/or boring songs.
29- "What About Us" - P!nk (+53) -- This was certainly expected as P!nk debuted at No. 82 last week with only a day's worth of tracking. Now in her first full week, she earns herself a top 30 hit. And I can only hope that this is a song that will stick around. Typically songs tend to drop again in their second full week, so I'll expect that next week, but I really want this to rise into the top 10. Thankfully the radio has always loved P!nk, so I'm crossing my fingers here.
33- "Versace on the Floor" - Bruno Mars (+10) -- I'm now wondering if "Versace on the Floor" will play out more like Ed Sheeran's "Castle on the Hill" and not quite catch on. If this missed the top 10, I would shed no tears, but at the moment the fact that it is rising is a good thing because that takes away from Bruno's other baffling hit, the extremely overrated "That's What I Like."
37- "1-800-273-8255" - Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid (+13) -- Say what you want about the quality of this song. It has inspired people to actually call the suicide hotline and get help. That's a huge win. Although I'm a bit confused as to why it is rising right now. Did a music video get released? Because I thought this was slowly on the way out. Oh well. I don't mind. I both enjoy this song and really appreciate what Logic is setting out to do.
52- "The Race" - Tay-K (+18) -- Do I have to remind you of this song's story. This punk kid is facing murder charges and is currently in prison. He wrote this song during his tenure of breaking free before getting caught again. Why are we rewarding him with fame? Get rid of this right now!
68- "When it Rains it Pours" - Luke Combs (+12) -- And the rest of the risers this week are country songs. This being definitely the least of them. And sadly the top of the risers from this week. Typical country radio. Playing all the dumb country songs.
73- "Unforgettable" - Thomas Rhett (+13) -- In a hilarious turn of events, I have no idea how this song goes. I see the title "Unforgettable" and I start singing the French Montana and Swae Lee song. I sometimes re-listen to songs when that happens to remind me of what I thought about it, but in this case I think it would prove a point by not doing so. This song is quite forgettable.
79- "It Ain't My Fault" - Brothers Osborne (+12) -- Oh heck yes! This song has been hanging out in the bottom of the charts and I've been wanting it to break through. I'm still not confident that it will, but I would love it if this were the country song that becomes a huge hit. I'm not quite as big of a fan of it as some people are, but it's certainly better than most country songs right now.
80- "All the Pretty Girls" - Kenny Chesney (+12) -- And this song can please go away. Again, go listen to the Fun. song of the same title from Fun.'s first album. It's really good. This is not.
85- "Every Little Thing" - Carly Pearce (+13) -- Oh please, please, please, please, please let this be a smash country hit. Good songs deserve to be rewarded, remember?
New Arrivals:
42- "Silence" - Marshmello featuring Khalid -- After a huge year last year, EDM has been rather quiet in 2017, at least when it comes to mainstream hits. Since I love the genre, it's great see a good EDM song show up again. Although I'm not sure how much of this is Marshmello or how much of it is Khalid. Probably more Khalid, but Marshmello is becoming more mainstream after "Alone" broke out last year. As far as EDM hits goes, this is not a strong banger that you can blast at parties and it's not necessarily super deep lyrically, but Khalid has a great voice that works well with an EDM backdrop. On his own, he's still good. But he can ride the line of a bit boring at times. Marshmello gives him just enough energy to make this a better than average Khalid song and it does have enough emotion, given that Khalid is speaking of being emotionally broken by love and thus becoming one with the silence, yet is trying his best to get his sense of confidence back. This is a very nice song that I hope does well. If it does catch on, I would envision more Marshmello collaborations with mainstream artists in the future, which will definitely improve our current state of music.
88- "More Girls Like You" - Kip Moore -- The first of our trio of new country songs goes to Kip Moore. I'm not super familiar with Kip Moore and when I looked at this title, I didn't have very high expectations. But I quickly found myself rather enjoying life while listening. So much so that I listened to the song three times in a row right off the bat. The fact that this is only two and a half minutes helped with that. In addition to a quick song, this is a simple song with a catchy beat that might make me be humming it for the rest of the day. What I really appreciate here from Kip Moore is that he's not trying to hard. He's just singing a simple song about a guy falling in love with a girl that makes me get up and want to go country dancing. And I don't go country dancing.
92- "Something New" - Wiz Khalifa featuring Ty Dolla $ign -- I think there's only been one previous Wiz Khalifa song that I've enjoyed and that of course is "See You Again," the Paul Walker tribute from "Furious 7." And yes, it bugs the living crap out of me when radio stations play the version of that song without Wiz Khalifa, because his rap is what makes that song. Without it, it's just another bland and boring Charlie Puth pop song. Anyways, enough of that and onto this song. Which continues Wiz's streak of making it so there's only one Wiz song that I love. Because yeah this song is crap. And I'm definitely convinced that "See You Again" was just a strange fluke. We actually start out with a nice beat and Ty Dolla $ign opens with a decent chorus, but then the song goes nowhere from there. Wiz sounds bored. Ty sounds slightly less bored. Musically the song goes nowhere and lyrically it's just about them sleeping with women. Yawn.
95- "Untouchable" - YoungBoy Never Broke Again -- What's with this trend of prison making rappers popular? I swear, if you want to find success in the rap community, go commit a crime, spend some time in prison and release a song right when you get released and the whole rap community will think you are the next savior of the world. Oh well. I suppose I shouldn't dwell too much on this. The story with this kid is that he went to the studio right before he got arrested and just spewed out some thoughts he had about life, then did his time and almost forgot about the song. People told him it was awesome and so when he got out, he wrote a second verse and released. Thus we have a simple rap song that's like a before and after prison song. It's actually not that bad when it comes to rap standards. Even though he's partially mumbling and stumbling through both verses, I can actually sense some emotion here. I can tell he's rapping what's honestly on his mind instead of giving your typical sex, drugs, fame rapping. Nothing I'm going to listen to on my own free will. But there's worse out there, so it's whatever. Also, he should pick a different rap name because this one is dumb.
97- "I Could Use a Love Song" - Maren Morris -- I have a soft spot for female country singers. I've always preferred them over male country singers. Along with that, I've grown to enjoy Maren Morris. I wouldn't call her pure country. She's more of a country pop singer that reminds me a lot of Taylor Swift's early years. You know, back when Taylor actually sang country pop, before she completely abandoned the country side of that and went to straight pop. Since Maren is only four months younger than Taylor, I like to think of her as the type of singer that Taylor would be right now if Taylor had stuck with her roots. "I Could Use a Love Song" is fairly simple, but there's an honest hurt to her voice as Maren sings about how bitter love has made her and how she yearns to hear a love song that will take her back to the days where she was hopeful and happy about love, so that she can cure some of the heartbreak she's experiencing now. And, well, in thinking of Taylor Swift again, I feel that if Maren turned on "Love Story," that would be the perfect cure for her!
98- "Fix a Drink" - Chris Janson -- I was hoping we could go three for three this week with our country music after Kip and Maren delivered strong songs. But sadly that's not the case. Yet this is not quite a lost cause. I like Chris Janson's voice and I think this song has a decent groove to it as a country rock song. But there's just no depth behind this. Yeah, Kip and Maren's songs were simple as well, but they were singing about things that I found interesting and they had a lot of passion behind it. Chris is just informing us that he can't fix any of the problems in the world, but he can fix himself or someone else a drink. And that's literally pretty much it. Good for you, Chris. Now after you're done drinking your drink that you so amazingly put together, go back to the drawing board and give me something interesting next time that I can get behind.
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