Billboard Hot 100 Top 10:
1- "Old Town Road" - Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (=) -- I told you this song would be here for a while. Not that anyone didn't believe, but still. Granted, it's only in week No. 2 at the top, but it had a really disgusting number of streaming this week getting 143 million U.S. streams. That's nearly 100 million MORE than what it had last week (46.6 million) when it shot up to No. 1. It also smashes the weekly streaming record set by Drake last year when the people putting their life in peril with the "In My Feelings" challenge sent that song to 116.2 million. Helping "Old Town Road" get so high is that we have two versions of the song contributing to one streaming total, the original version and the Billy Ray Cyrus remix. With this being the first week of charting for the remix, that contributed a large portion of the streaming total as it seems to be the version that's catching on the most. In connection with this, Billy Ray Cyrus has now earned his first ever No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. His previous peak was No. 4 with "Achy Breaky Heart" in 1992. Given that his daughter Miley hit No. 1 with "Wrecking Ball" in 2013, father and daughter both now have a No. 1 hit. There's also been many people complaining at the fact that Billboard removed this from the country charts after it hit No. 53 in its first week. That's because some country stations played it for a bit that first week, causing it to chart, but then country radio as a whole has rejected this song. Whether or not it can be classified as country is another debate, but country radio has to accept it in order for it to actually chart on the country charts. So if you want someone to blame, blame country radio instead of Billboard.
As far as my opinion on the remix, Billy Ray does make the song a lot more tolerable since he has a much better personality on the song than Lil Nas X does. And the song is also the length of a normal song as the remix adds about 45 seconds. But the content is still the exact same. It's still flex rapping, but with a strong country twang from Lil Nas and flexing about cowboy stuff. If I were to throw my personal opinion as to what genre this is, this is a lot more hip-hop than country. But I'm fine with calling it both. Country rap works for me. Just like I'm fine with calling things country pop. No need to have everything strictly in one genre. But if people want to be mad at Billboard or country radio, then fine. I mean, half of the songs on country radio aren't very country in the first place. Southern rock with a twang best describes most modern country. Most actual country gets rejected by country radio in favor of their bland nonsense.
2- "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" - Post Malone & Swae Lee (=) -- With all of that out of the way, we now have Post Malone and Swae Lee commiserating that they aren't celebrating another week at No. 1. If it weren't for "Old Town Road," it would've been two consecutive weeks now. That kinda makes me sad. I'm not madly in love with "Sunflower," but it's a lot better than "Old Town Road."
3- "Wow." - Post Malone (+1) -- The positive thing about "Old Town Road" being No. 1 is that "Wow." is bound to slip ahead of "Sunflower" at some point here. But the highest it'll get is No. 2, which saves us all for what would've been one of the worst No. 1 hits.
4- "7 rings" - Ariana Grande (-1) -- I have a feeling that the floor is about to disappear from underneath Ariana. And I don't feel sorry for her because it's her own fault for rushing her release pattern. Now she's about to experience the consequences. I thought her new single "Monopoly" was set to rise this week with its first full week of tracking. But it only rose one spot from No. 70 to No. 69. Thus it appears that Ariana is already starting to suffer from overexposure. Girl, I love your voice and sometimes I love your music, but it's time to take a break from releasing music.
5- "Without Me" - Halsey (=) -- Halsey remains at No. 5. For now. She's also barely holding onto the top spot on my personal tracking of the most popular songs of the year chart. This distance between her and "Sunflower" is hurting her.
6- "Sucker" - Jonas Brothers (+2) -- A definite positive sign for the Jonas Brothers as it is now apparent that the song has started to gain real traction. And I am totally happy about this. "Sucker" is a fun, upbeat pop song worth keeping around. They also have a new song called "Cool" that I'll be covering down below.
7- "Please Me" - Cardi B & Bruno Mars (-1) -- I'm genuinely surprised that this song is failing to gain traction. I assumed it was going to stick around based solely on star power. But are people growing tired of Cardi and/or Bruno? If so... good.
8- "Better" - Khalid (+8) -- Listen, I'm not violently opposed to this song being here. In comparison to a lot of other top 10 hits, it's fine. It's just that I think Khalid has done a lot better. Pun only partially intended there. That just happens to be the best way to put it. Objectively speaking, though, I'm not 100 percent convinced that this is here in the top 10 to stay. You see, Khalid's album impacted the charts this week. Thus, naturally, the current singles from that album all got a boost. Oftentimes album boosts go away and the song falls. So this might drop back to the teens next week. If it stays, then fine. But I'm just going based on history here. And if it falls out in favor of something like "Dancing with a Stranger" or "Sweet but Psycho," that would be fantastic.
9- "Middle Child" - J. Cole (+1) -- I thought this song might still be around this week. In fact, it managed to rise a spot thanks to it having a bit more traction than our next song.
10- "Happier" - Marshmello & Bastille (-1) -- The count for "Happier" in the top 10 is now 27 weeks, which is insane for an extremely basic EDM song. I'm not complaining too loudly, though. I still think this is a fun song and I've talked to a lot of casual music listeners that really enjoy it. But it is time for it to go so that we can let something else in. But maybe I'm just saying that this week because I really love our top two contenders in the risings songs section.
Rising on the Hot 100:
12- "Dancing with a Stranger" - Sam Smith & Normani (+3) -- I'm not considering this a done deal quite yet in terms of this making the top 10. I've seen a lot of songs get stuck at No. 11. But I'd be willing to bet that this has a lot more staying power than several of our current songs in the bottom half of the top 10. This would also be a great addition to the top 10. If pop music is on the uptick in 2019 when compared to previous years, this is song that deserves to be a part of the mix
16- "Sweet but Psycho" - Ava Max (+3) -- Making me even more excited than "Dancing with a Stranger" hitting top 10 is the idea of this song here making it. It has a few more obstacles to overcome because sometimes getting through the teens is a strong. But honestly there's not a whole of strength in the teens right now, so this could rise by default of slowly gaining traction. It's hard for casual listeners and pop radio to accept a brand new artist like Ava Max, but she's a girl who we really need to launch into superstardom. Make her the next Lady Gaga!
18- "Talk" - Khalid (+21) -- Again, this is getting a boost because of Khalid's new album. We'll talk later if it shows real signs of staying power beyond this week's album boost. And now I just realized that I made a pun with both of Khalid's songs.
21- "Beautiful Crazy" - Luke Combs (+5) -- I'm not really sure why this is the country song that we're knighting as the best song on the country charts. But whatever. I'm willing to guess that this doesn't have a lot of momentum left in it. And that's partially because it debuted way back in May. So we're almost on it's year mark of first charting.
26- "Racks in the Middle" - Nipsey Hussle featuring Roddy Ricch & Hit-Boy (+18) -- I said this last week and I'll say it again here. I'm genuinely devastated at the loss of Nipsey Hussle. No one deserves to leave this Earth premature in the way he did. But this song still isn't good. Nipsey alright, but any positive vibes he has here is completely ruined by the atrocious performances of the two featured rappers.
38- "Tequila" - Dan + Shay (+12) -- I'm really impressed at how long this song has last on the charts. I don't like the song. But I'm still impressed. However, Billboard has a rule that at 52 weeks if a song is not rising in the top 25, the song gets kicked off. "Tequila" is currently at 49 weeks. So it's chart life is about to get cut short real soon.
40- "Act Up" - City Girls (+7) -- Let's please not make these girls a thing.
45- "Here Tonight" - Brett Young (+6) -- Everyone loves Brett Young. I was once one of those people. But I'm thinking he was more of a one-hit wonder in terms of quality. He's certainly no one-hit wonder in terms of country radio, though. They've fallen madly in love with him. And I suppose I can't complain too much. This song is fine.
46- "Here with Me" - Marshmello featuring CHVRCHES (+9) -- I'm patiently waiting for a proper CHVRCHES song to chart as a residual effect of this song doing well. And maybe that'll happen if this continues to rise.
48- "Look what God Gave Her" - Thomas Rhett (+26) -- Country radio has always been in love with Thomas Rhett. And that's what makes them look silly in regards to this "Old Town Road" debate because Thomas Rhett has never really been country. He's more of a pop act. But sorry Lil Nas X. While country radio has always accepted pop stars who mask themselves as country artists, they're not yet willing to accept rappers who are doing the same thing. That's just how things are right now, for better for for worse.
49- "God's Country" - Blake Shelton (+10) -- I'm totally not surprised at this. This very much makes me want to stand up and shout Hallelujah! And that'll make me accept it as tolerable. And if it makes me do that, it's definitely going to convince everyone in charge of country radio to blast it as often as possible.
53- "Good as You" - Kane Brown (+15) -- Nope. I'm not going to accept Kane Brown.
57- "Saturday Nights" - Khalid & Kane Brown (+24) -- I'm still not going to accept Kane Brown. Not even when he throws himself on a decent Khalid song.
60- "Make It Sweet" - Old Dominion (+13) -- I've also never been a fan of Old Dominion. That might be a slightly more controversial statement, though.
63- "Suge" - DaBaby (+24) -- Please no.
67- "I've Been Waiting" - Lil Peep & ILoveMakonnen featuring Fall Out Boy (+11) -- Ew, gross. I just threw up.
78- "Rumor" - Lee Brice (+12) -- OK, this is slightly better than the other songs I just was forced to bring up. But not by a whole lot.
80- "Don't Call Me Up" - Mabel (+12) -- Finally. We landed on a song that's worth its status as a rising song. People around the world have already embraced this song and I really hope that we can get on that train, even if we're a bit late.
82- "Pop Out" - Polo G featuring Lil Tjay (+11) -- I guess we're ending on a down note. Make this one go away.
New Arrivals:
27- "Cool" - Jonas Brothers -- Would it be too much to call this song cool? Yeah, it probably would be. Although the only definition of cool that accurately describes this song is the cool that's the opposite of warm. Because I'm not really feeling this. It feels like a lighthearted, self-aware tune that's fairly harmless. But all they're doing is singing about how cool they are. It's the type of song that feels like it would work perfectly during a scene of a movie or TV show where the young, immature boy is trying to impress the pretty girl. A bit of a joke song that no one can really take seriously as it seems designated towards a much younger crowd. The type of song that the Jonas Brothers might write when they're putting together their very first album. I don't know, I can't hate it, but it seems like empty popcorn fluff devoid of any interesting content. And musically it's not that interesting, either. In "Sucker" I think Nick and Joe did a great job of bouncing off each other while making the other sound better as they sung together. With "Cool" it seems like they just took turns with the mic and didn't really blend together very well. Thus I don't think there's anything here for me to grasp on to, but I'm sure their fan base will still love this.
41- "Kill This Love" - BLACKPINK -- The music video for this song beat the all-time record for quickest video to 100 million views, taking 2.6 days to get there. The previous record was held by PSY's "Gentleman" at 2.8 days. Although BLACKPINK weren't able to celebrate for long because BTS just broke their record as their video for "Boy with Luv" hit 100 million views in 1.6 days. This just goes to show how huge the K-Pop fan base is. However, when it comes to the U.S. Billboard charts, only U.S. YouTube views count, which is why this only debuted at No. 41 and is also why I don't believe "Boy with Luv" is going to debut as high as the BTS army think it is. But we'll get to BTS next week. For now we deal with "Kill This Love." It just so happens that BLACKPINK is a K-Pop group that I prefer way more than BTS. It's not just that they're female, although that could play a role in this. It's more or less that I get annoyed with K-Pop groups that have 9,000 members. BLACKPINK only has the four of them and they do a lot better and intermixing with each other. You could fire half of BTS and no one would ever realize a difference. In judging this specific song, a lucky thing for me is that they put English subtitles on their music video, thus helping me learn that this is a female empowerment anthem where they say to heck with boys and relationship. They're stronger and more powerful on their own without this toxic love in their life. And that's fine, I suppose. I might be more critical if I could actually understand the lyrics. What I pay attention to with these foreign songs is the music itself. This is a very loud and celebratory anthem where these girls have a lot of passion with what they're saying. And that's what makes this a fun song. There's not a ton of depth or substance, but I accept it.
58- "Outta My Head" - Khalid & John Mayer -- Since I'm already a tad bit late in getting this out this week, I'm going to take a rain check on the new Khalid songs. Honestly I expected Khalid to have a bigger impact on the charts with his new album, but he didn't make much of an impact at all. Outside boosting several of his singles, his album release only got four new songs to chart and none of them debuted in the top 50. In fact, this here is the only one to debut in the top 80. So I'm expecting these four songs to all be gone next week or at least take a huge nosedive. If any of them re-enter at some point and start rising on the charts, I'll cover them then. I like Khalid, but not enough to cover his entire mini album bomb, especially since I spent the whole day last week covering all the Billie Eilish album bomb, which was a lot of fun for me, but also fairly time consuming. So that's another reason for me passing on Khalid this week.
84- "Don't Pretend" - Khalid & SAFE -- See previous comment.
87- "Bad Luck" - Khalid -- See previous comment.
93- "Right Back" - Khalid -- See previous comment.
95- "Inmortal" - Aventura -- I was at first excited when I saw the band name Aventura because it looked like a new band that was charting on the Hot 100. Turns out it's just Romeo Santos' band, which was a bit disappointing. I didn't even know Romeo Santos even had a band. But he does. And this is the second time they've charted on the U.S. Hot 100, with the first time being in 2005 when then peaked at No. 97 with "Ella y Yo." They've been around since 1994, but were on a hiatus for the better part of this decade. While this is my first exposure to the band as a whole, Romeo Santos himself has charted quite a bit recently, so I'm familiar with his style and I accept it. Specifically I learned that Aventura is a Bachata band, so those familiar with Bachata will probably love this song because this feels like it will be perfect for Bachata dancing or any sort of Latin dancing for that matter. I'm not much of a dancer myself and Latin dancing specifically is something I often avoid simply for the fact that everyone participating looks like an expert in my eyes while I'm always tripping over my feet. It makes me super self-conscious as I feel participating lessens my chances of "getting the girl," so to speak, as I figure the girls would much rather dance with and be with people who can actually dance. That aside, even though I don't have a huge emotional investment in the genre because of this, I can appreciate the music on its own. I have no idea what Romeo Santos is saying here, but his voice is super romantic as always and the beat behind it pleases me, so this is a solid song in my books.
99- "Big Ole Freak" - Megan Thee Stallion -- Megan Thee Stallion is a name that I've heard for some time without having listened to much of her music. Thus I am led to believe that many people might be excited to see her show up on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever. When it comes to the hip-hop genre, females are extremely under-represented. Megan Thee Stallion showing up is a direct consequence of Cardi B doing her best to try to change that, thus I can certainly appreciate the female representation here for the genre. But on a personal level, I certainly don't need anymore Cardi Bs floating around. If we're going to get more female representation in the hip-hop genre, lets find some girls who are actually talented and worth listening to. I can't judge Megan Thee Stallion as a whole right now, but I can judge this particular song. And it sucks. If you were to play this without telling me who it is, I'd quickly tell you to turn off that awful Cardi B music. In terms of content, sound and style, it's practically identical. Megan does all of the stuff that I get annoyed at Cardi doing.
100- "Victory Lap" - Nipsey Hussle featuring Stacy Barthe -- Rest in peace, Nipsey Hussle.
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