Billboard Hot 100 Top 10:
1- "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" - Cardi B (=) -- Last week Cardi B became just the second female rapper in the history of the Billboard charts to be No. 1 on the Hot 100, the first being Lauryn Hill in 1998. In fact, the Nicki Minaj wannabe does something that Nicki hasn't yet accomplished in any form. The highest Nicki got was "Anaconda" at No. 2. Does that mean I should remove the "Nicki Minaj wannabe" title from Cardi? No. I'm keeping it. And, you know, I would be happier for Cardi and her accomplishments, except I don't like the song. In fact, I'm already sick of it being at the top and I'm sad that it's gained traction in all three categories, solidifying its position more this week as opposed to last week where it look like it just barely snagged the top spot.
2- "rockstar" - Post Malone featuring 21 Savage (=) -- Most songs that debut at the top actually dip in their second week. While the sales for "rockstar" plummeted, streaming was really stubborn and didn't budge, meaning that the song stayed put and quite frankly makes me really mad. This is a piece of trash song that doesn't belong anywhere close to the hot 100, let alone No. 2. And I'm really mad that rappers these days are so unintelligent that they have the audacity of calling themselves the new rock stars. They aren't. They're rappers. But you know, intelligence isn't required for song writing these days. And it really frustrates me that the standard for quality music is so low.
3- "Look What You Made Me Do" Taylor Swift (=) -- With Cardi B looking unstable and Post Malone's sales tanking in week two, Taylor thought she would be clever and add a 69 cent iTunes discount to her song to try to steal that top spot back. It failed.
4- "1-800-273-8255" - Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid (=) -- Has this song peaked on the Hot 100? If so, I'm glad it got so high. But I totally wouldn't mind it hanging out here in the top five for a while.
5- "Despacito" - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (=) -- It's time for "Despacito" to go. But if we're keeping track, it's now spent 24 weeks in the top 10, nine weeks away from Ed Sheeran's 33-week record. A record I hope it doesn't match. Not because I care about that Ed Sheeran record, I'm still kinda mad that it got it in the first place, but I'm just done with "Despacito."
6- "Unforgettable" - French Montana featuring Swae Lee (=) -- French Montana and Swae Lee stay put at No. 6. I wouldn't mind if they switch spots with "Despacito."
7- "Feel it Still" - Portugal. The Man (+3) -- The best news in the top 10 by far is that this song wasn't a one-week wonder in the top 10. I was afraid that it was going to jump in at No. 10 and fall right back out. But thanks to radio falling in love with this song, it jumps up three spots to No. 7. Now I hope the upward trend continues because I would be absolutely ecstatic if this jumped into the top five!
8- "Believer" - Imagine Dragons (-1) -- Imagine Dragons is now falling back down after getting a bit of a second wind. I would be happy about this, except "Thunder" is soaring up the charts, looking like it is set to replace "Believer" in the top 10. Sigh.
9- "Rake it Up" - Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj (-1) -- I've got to count the small wins. "Rake it Up" should've never got to the top 10. But at least it fell a spot. I would hate it if it hit the top five, but it looks like it's going to fail to do so. Now I just need to find some wood to knock on so this doesn't jump right back up.
10- "Sorry Not Sorry" - Demi Lovato (+5) -- Our new entry to the top 10 is another female!! Wahoo!!! That bumps our number of female entries in the top 10 this year up to 20, that compared to the 72 that have been male. That's 21.7 percent female and 78.3 percent male. Yes, I've been keeping track of that because there came a point that I noticed this year was extremely male heavy, which kind of upset me because I like female singers and I want more of them to have success. As far as Demi songs go, this one is decent and perfectly likable, even though it's not as good as some others on the album, like "Tell Me You Love Me" and "You Don't Do it For Me Anymore." I was also kinda surprised to notice that this is her first top 10 entry in four years. Her other recent songs barely missed. In fact, it's been since "Heart Attack" in 2013. In fact, her highest charting song was "This is Me" with Joe Jonas in 2008, which peaked at No. 9. So "Sorry Not Sorry" has the chance of becoming her highest charting song.
Rising on the Hot 100:
14- "Too Good at Goodbyes" - Sam Smith (+2) -- Can we please get this one back into the top 10? Falling from No. 4 to No. 16 wasn't a surprise. That's normal for a second week drop. But now I would love to see this get traction and soar to the top of the charts. Or at least back into the top 10. This two spot jump this week is good progress.
15- "Bank Account" - 21 Savage (+2) -- I really love how this song failed to get to the top 10 after getting so close. It rebounded a bit this week, but I hope we can keep 21 Savage and his horrible music away from the top 10. Off the charts would be really nice, too.
17- "Thunder" - Imagine Dragons (+13) -- Oh dear. This soared this week I think because of being featured in a commercial. Or something like that. With only 65,000 in sales, it's the top selling song of the week. That's pretty pathetic. Or just a sign that we are reverting more and more to streaming songs than to buying them. It is nice having a rock song topping the sales charts, but I really wish it were a good rock song rather than this empty piece of nothing.
20- "What Lovers Do" - Maroon 5 featuring SZA (+3) -- Well, this slowed down a bit when compared to last week's jump. I just hope this can somehow be stopped before hitting the top 10. Until Maroon 5 relearn how to write actual rock music, I think they should have a permanent ban from the top 10. No one cares. Or rather, no one should care.
44- "Havana" - Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug (+20) -- There must've been a music video drop or a sales discount on this song because this was a surprising jump. I'm not super upset, though. This is decent and I want to see Camila succeed.
46- "do re mi" - blackbear (+5) -- I forgot this song existed. Then I looked at my Excel file and was surprised that I gave it a good grade, so I had to go re-listen to it. And yeah, if we have to have a rap song do well, I can definitely tolerate this. Much better and more catchy than most rap songs these days. But obviously I won't miss it if it falls again.
48- "New Rules" - Dua Lipa (+5) -- I'm happy to see Dua Lipa break top 50. Keep going!
49- "Glorious" - Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey (+13) -- I've been waiting for this song to become a hit and was worried that it would flop. I hope this week is more than just a boost because of the album because Macklemore is one of the few rappers who seems like he cares. More from him later in the new arrivals.
52- "Gucci Gang" - Lil Pump (+19) -- This song rose again? Now I'm seriously concerned. I haven't read one comment from the internet that gives this song praise, even from the rap crowd. But now Lil Pump is going to become a thing and I hate it.
58- "Perfect" - Ed Sheeran (+31) -- Ed Sheeran's third single from his album after "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill." And I think this is a fantastic choice. It re-entered the charts last week and had a huge boost this week. Ed Sheeran is really good with his wedding ballads. If you are tired of them, I understand. But they still get me. Especially since Ed puts so much heart and passion into them. This is so romantic and lovely.
67- "DNA" - BTS (+18) -- I'm genuinely curious to see how well this song does. After its debut last week, I thought it was going to fall off and die. Instead it jumps 18 spots. Can it keep going? I don't think so. But it proved me wrong this week, so we'll see.
78- "No Limit" - G-Eazy featuring A$AP Rocky & Cardi B (+19) -- Huge boost because Cardi B is now at No. 1, right? No other reason for this to be doing well, I don't think.
81- "Fix a Drink" - Chris Janson (+13) -- Country song about getting a drink at a bar. Snooze. Come back with something more interesting, country radio.
New Arrivals:
65- "I Fall Apart" - Post Malone -- Another Post Malone song for a second straight week made me nervous that I was going to have to deal with a Post Malone album soon. While I suppose that could still theoretically happen, this is from his 2016 album "Stoney." You know, the *epic* album that brought us "White Iverson," "Deja Vu" and "Congratulations." Lyrically speaking, there's certainly a lot worse out there. But Post Malone starts the song by groaning and I was hoping that was just the intro, but he's kinda doing the groany yell thing throughout the whole song, which doesn't really go anywhere. He's just whining and complaining about this girl breaking up with him. He thought she would be a keeper because he bought her all this jewelry. Because that's all girls care about, right? Money and riches? Yeah, no. Thus I felt no empathy for Post Malone here. It's like having to deal with an immature teenage boy complaining about being dumped. I just don't care at all and I want him to move on with life.
70- "Good Old Days" - Macklemore featuring Kesha -- I haven't yet listened to Macklemore's new album "GEMINI," yet. But I have it on my queue. A few collaborations worry me, like the Offset and Lil Yachty songs, but I saw Kesha attached to a song and I got excited. That sounded like a winner. And I was certainly right to be excited because this is a solid song. And it starts out as a piano ballad from Kesha as she puts a lot of passion into her chorus. Then it picks up in Macklemore's verses, but goes back to ballad when Kesha takes over the chorus again. It's a solid flow for a Macklemore song that's a lot more toned back and mellow than his usual upbeat self. I also really enjoy the story he tells in this song about how all his thoughts were focused on the future when he was younger. Now that the future has arrived, he laments about the past, wishing he would've taken advantage of those times more while not dwelling on them too much. He sort of realizes that the he needs to do a better job at taking advantage of the present instead of always looking forward to the future. "Maybe I've been missin' what. Been scared of the future, thinkin' about the past, while missin' out on now," he sings in the third verse. I like it. I think Macklemore has a way for words.
94- "Losing Sleep" - Chris Young -- Now in the 90 range we have three country songs before finishing off with A$AP Ferg. Our first one falls into mediocre country range. Chris is just telling us how he wants to make love with this girl all night. That's pretty much it. It's not explicit or raunchy like a lot of rap songs. But I don't think it's quite as romantic as Chris was hoping for. He talks about being wrapped up in the sheets, wanting to breathe the air she breathes, telling her that every touch is special because they're winning when their losing sleep. I'm just sitting here like, get a room Chris. I feel like I'm just an awkward onlooker into something I shouldn't be knowing about.
95- "Like I Loved You" - Brett Young -- From the boring Young to the good Young. Brett Young, if you remember, is the guy who sang "In Case You Didn't Know," a country song from earlier this year that I rather enjoyed and was rather pleased when I saw it do so well on the charts. And now the follow-up single to that huge breakout hit is "Like I Loved You," which has the opposite message to the former song. "In Case You Didn't Know" is a very sweet, romantic love song that is perfect for a wedding playlist. "Like I Loved You" is a sad and somber breakup song. She gives him the "lets be friends" spiel and he doesn't buy it and he doesn't want it. He's realized she never loved him like he loved her and thus he's come to terms with the fact that they're just going to fade into oblivion after going their separate ways. Just like "In Case You Didn't Know," this isn't breaking any ground when it comes to country, but there's an honesty and a passion that Brett brings to this song. He's not trying too hard with the lyrics or the music, rather he's giving us a simple and honest look into some emotions that he's going through in his life. I wish more country was like this.
97- "Round Here Buzz" - Eric Church -- The last of the three country songs of the week comes from Eric Church, who delivers his first single of the year. And no, this is not the start of a new album, this is still from his 2015 album, which gave us "Record Year," "Mr. Misunderstood" and "Kill a Word." Seems like he could've timed this better by releasing these songs a little closer together instead of stretching them out so far. But whatever. How's the song itself? Eh. Whatever is a good way to describe it. Eric is stubbornly sticking to his small town while his girl has left to the big city. He claims that he can have just as much fun down here as she can over there. So ever since she "caught that out there bug," Eric catches himself "a 'round here buzz." I don't know. There's not a lot of life to this song. Feels like a bit of a lazy song to go along with his lazy release pattern of waiting over a year to release another mediocre song from the same album.
98- "Plain Jane" - A$AP Ferg -- For some reason I thought I knew A$AP Ferg. The name sounds awfully familiar, but maybe that's because A$AP Rocky has such a similar name because A$AP Ferg has only had two previous songs chart, with the highest of the two getting to No. 90. So he's apparently not really a mainstream rapper. And perhaps he should go back into obscurity because this isn't worth anything. Sure, unlike rappers such as Lil Pump, it actually sounds like A$AP Ferg actually knows how to rap. He has groove and flow. And he's not trying to copy Migos, like everyone else is. But I have no clue what he's talking about in this song. The lyrics don't make much sense at all, even when I read through them. I suppose if lyrics don't mean a thing for you and all you need is a beat, then I suppose it's possible for you to like this song, but I personally do care about lyrics. It's actually possible to put a lot of depth and emotion into a rap song, but this just sounds like A$AP Ferg through a bunch of random lines together and called it a song. Not my style. Sorry. I prefer my songs to mean something.
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