billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - june 13, 2020

I should be less surprised that this week is as busy as it is. Because here I was going with the thought that since the album bombs were fading things would quiet down, where instead we got a new #1 and a slew of new arrivals that are basically rushing to fill a vacuum in an increasingly awkward year on the Hot 100. And I’ll be completely honest: there might be more off-kilter weirdness coming, because nothing here seems built for sustainability.

Case in point, our top ten, and especially our new #1: ‘ROCKSTAR’ by DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch. I’ll admit to being half-right with this one, in that I did expect it to go to #1 courtesy of its insane streaming numbers and strong sales and radio… just not yet. And at this point with the #1 turnover as wild as it’s been, I have no way of predicting whether this’ll hold a slot - it’s one megastar single or viral trend away from getting knocked off. That’s why ‘Savage’ by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce continuing to have strength at #2 is interesting , because it dominates sales, is right behind on streaming, and has considerably better radio - it’s all about the margins here. And I think some of that also contributes to ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd rising to #3 - yeah, it might have reached its peak on the radio and streaming, but sales were better than expected this week… although I’d probably chalk its gain and that of ‘Say So’ by Doja Cat ft. Nicki Minaj to #4 despite even sharper losses on streaming and the radio more to the dropoff of ‘Rain On Me’ by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande to #5, which despite solid streaming and a radio run took a nosedive on sales, so while I think it’ll stick in the top 10 for a while, it only got #1 because of sales traction, even if I think this could peak again. Then we have ‘Toosie Slide’ by Drake stubbornly holding at #6 - the radio might be sick of it but somehow the streaming is only getting better - and ‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa still holding #7 because despite really just having radio, it’s not falling off fast at all. What could and should fall off fast is ‘Intentions’ by Justin Bieber and Quavo, which actually gained a spot to #8 despite hitting what seems like a peak there, but really I’d argue it picked up the spot because ‘The Box’ by Roddy Ricch is fading down to #9 in all channels except streaming. Finally, cracking the top ten for the first time - and I’m kind of ambivalent on whether that’s a good thing - ‘Roses (Imanbek Remix)’ by SAINt JHN is at #10, with very real traction in every channel; the way it’s going, it might not get to the top, but it’s absolutely going to stick around.

What isn’t are our losers and dropouts, which in the latter category with pretty much the entire Gunna album bomb going away, we also saw ‘Sum 2 Prove’ by Lil Baby and ‘RITMO’ by the Black Eyed Peas and J Balvin gone too - don’t get too excited, they both clinched year-end list spots, yay. And most of our losers are tied to residual album bombs too - from Gunna ‘Dollaz On My Head’ with Young Thug and ‘Cooler Than a Bitch’ with Roddy Ricch went to 73 and 81 respectively, and from Future ‘Trillionaire’ with YoungBoy Never Broke Again and ‘Solitaires’ with Travis Scott went to 95 and 100. Outside of that, off the debut ‘Need It’ by Migos and YoungBoy went to 76, ‘In Your Eyes’ by The Weeknd slipped off the remix to 53, ‘Beer Can’t Fix’ by Thomas Rhett and Jon Pardi looks to be starting its exit at 51, and ‘GOOBA’ by 6ix9ine continues to collapse at 37 - good, keep going.

But like with every album bomb, we have to consider what’s rushing to fill its space… and I have to say, I’m not impressed at all. Sure, in the returns we got ‘Stupid Love’ by Lady Gaga back at 42 thanks to the release of Chromatica, and ‘Girl Of My Dreams’ by Rod Wave at 91 and that’s a decent song, but also ‘Sigues Con El’ by Arcangel and Sech at 93 and ‘That Way’ by Lil Uzi Vert at 94 - I thought we were rid of that last one. But our gains seem seem characterized by country rushing to fill in the gaps… and a lot of it doesn’t seem sustainable? I might be mostly fond of ‘Drinking Alone’ by Carrie Underwood continuing up to 77, or ‘Die From A Broken Heart’ by Maddie & Tae at 70, or ‘In Between’ by Scotty McCreery at 69, but is it worth another rebound for ‘Be a Light’ by Thomas Rhett and co. at 60, or ‘Here And Now’ by Kenny Chesney up big to 48, or ‘Heartless’ by Diplo and Morgan Wallen at 39, even if it is riding a boost from the album? And it’s not like the rest of the songs rising are good - ‘If The World Was Ending’ by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels picking up to 58, ‘OUT WEST’ by JACKBOYS and Young Thug somehow still here at 61 - this should have fallen off this week as it’s below the top 50 and over twenty weeks, so I guess Billboard is giving it another chance - or ‘BELIEVE IT’ by PARTYNEXTDOOR and Rihanna at 63, or ‘Ride It’ by DJ Regard at 65, or ‘Grace’ by Lil Baby and 42 Dugg picking up to 85. The one promising growth I see is ‘Don’t Rush’ by Young T and Bugsey ft. Headie One actually getting a boost to 79 - I do’nt expect a UK hip-hop song to have a huge run, but this is promising.

But we actually have a pretty sizable number of new arrivals filling in the gaps too, so let’s get this started with…

97. ‘One Beer’ by HARDY ft. Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson - well, we’re here: time for me to explain who the hell HARDY is. If you’ve been familiar with mainstream country, he’s been a writer affiliated with Big Loud, the label behind Florida Georgia Line run by Joey Moi, and the best way I can describe his contributions are… mixed. He’s got a few legit great songs, but as of last year he’s started releasing projects of his own, notably HIxtape Vol. 1, a collab project that frankly shows his unbelievable network of collaborators. This is a song with consistently underrated Lauren Alaina and likable if utterly forgettable Devin Dawson, and… I can’t be the only one who thinks this should be better than it is? For one, why is Devin Dawson even here when he’s just going to be filling the same role HARDY does on the verse with a very similar vocal tone - hell, why is Lauren Alaina even here given that she’s stuck on glorified backing vocals? I mean, I know why she’s here - it’s a song about one beer turning into a hook-up and now someone’s pregnant and kids are there, and it’s nice to have the girl feature on the song - but she’s got no distinctive presence on the song. And while I kind of liked the subtle ‘heartbeat’ in the bass off the ticking percussion, you’d think the twang would feel more organic when the hook starts to feel so muddy around the buzzy groove - it’s starting to become a consistent problem with Joey Moi’s production, and even if the pedal steel and acoustics sound good, they shouldn’t turn to mush on the hook. In other words… I see where this could have been good, but it’s not quite there. Passable, though.

92. ‘Like That’ by Doja Cat ft. Gucci Mane - look, I know some of you are expecting me to say more about Doja Cat’s run of controversy… honestly, I think the situation around her is a total mess, it recasts her signing with Dr. Luke in an even more disgusting light, and while she’s said and done some really questionable things, I’m not about to join the incel backlash pile-on because she didn’t show her tits after going to #1. That said, if she’s looking for a way to hamstring her career, working with Gucci Mane and Dr. Luke doing a straight ripoff of Mustard is certainly a way to get there… and again, it’s a similar issue to ‘Say So’ in that it’s more just kind of forgettable and lacking the same tune or flavour that compliments Doja Cat, especially as I think she’s a decent rapper and as the outro proves a better singer. Granted, she’s stuck opposite Gucci Mane, who has the line, ‘shakin’ like Elvis, damn near broke my pelvis’, and I’m stuck wondering if this is a joke again. Actually, Gucci’s entire verse is pretty embarrassing, as he’s ‘acting like a treat when a dog sees him’, and ‘walking off the scene like a whole in my jeans’ - I’m not even sure how that’s supposed to make sense! Either way… ehh, not terrible and I see it being catchy enough to last - thanks, TikTok - but it’s not good either, next!

90. ‘One Of Them Girls’ by Lee Brice - you know, I’ve had a long-running and frustrating relationship with Lee Brice and any song he cuts about women, but between ‘Rumor’ and his collaboration with Carly Pearce I had some hopes for this… and honestly, considering it’s a pretty basic song where he’s trying to hookup with ‘one of them girls’ who plays hard to get that’s barely a step away from bro-country, I’m surprised how much I like this! For one, Lee Brice carries a little more gravelly presence in his delivery and and I like how so much of the song is him getting shut down but still doggedly trying to flirt. But what might impress me a bit more is the production - originally I thought the kick drum and electric guitar groove felt a little too heavy, but not only does the groove feel more organic, it kicks into a hook with the same richer swell and balanced cadence that transitions into the warmer organic solo damn near perfectly. In other words… maybe it’s just taken until now for Lee Brice to really deliver, but this is surprisingly good, I dig it!

88. ‘Lose Somebody’ by Kygo & OneRepublic - I kind of skimmed over talking about this song when I reviewed Kygo last week, because what is there really to say? It’s not like the song departs from the exact instrumental palette you’d expect from both artist: grounded in piano, a warm cushion of acoustics playing off underweight percussion, Ryan Tedder riding a pretty robust backing arrangement until a drop that I don’t think makes the most of his expanded vocal range, and a lingering feeling could deliver more here. Granted, a big part of that is linked to the content: he leaves or becomes distant first, she moves on, and now he’s complaining about it and you get the ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’ narrative… but maybe it’s just me, but I don’t Tedder sells the emotional complexity at all - I don’t buy that he’s the first one to break things off, and that hurts a song that’s already not that immersive. Now even with that, I do think there’s a hook here and I’m more inclined to like a Kygo song than I won’t… but this is far from his best, especially off that album.

87. ‘Why We Drink’ by Justin Moore - you know, I keep getting the feeling that there’s a part of me that should turn around on Justin Moore, that beyond the flagrant pandering and questionable production that there’s something to him that might stick given he’s somehow maintained an audience for over ten years, especially as he’s always tried to place himself closer to neotraditional tones… and yet even despite all of that, he rattles off an increasingly nonsensical set of reasons to keep drinking that of course brings up the red, white & blue boys and girls overseas and I’m reminded of when Zac Brown did the same damn thing on ‘Chicken Fried’, which is considerably better than this. I think what I find most frustrating about Moore is that his content or approach has never evolved or developed much unique personality - give this template to Luke Combs or Jon Pardi and I can hear there being more beyond a song that feels like it should be funny, but has no jokes. And I don’t mind the twangy, distinctly neotraditional tone of the song… but while that’ll get me in the door, that alone won’t keep me around - so yeah, it’s passable at best.

86. ‘Hasta Que Dios Diga’ by Anuel AA & Bad Bunny - man, Bad Bunny must really be a good sport to keep working with Anuel AA - again, maybe this is something I’m missing because I don’t speak Spanish, but I’ve never been impressed by whatever personality he claims to have, and this song is a prime example of a contrast that does him no favours. Which seems like kind of a shame, because while the rubbery reggaeton beat is completely stock, the warbling keys and whistles seem to have a little more distinguished elegance than we normally hear, Yeah, the hookup content seems pretty routine and as casually explicit as it tends to be, but there’s a part of me that just thinks if Bad Bunny took the entire song over we’d be better off - not sure if it’d be great, but it might be more than above-average, which is what this is.

84. ‘Alice’ by Lady Gaga - I actually mentioned this song briefly when I reviewed Chromatica last week and I’ll be honest, I’m a little disappointed it wound up charting, mostly because it’s emblematic of the two big issues I had with the album: pretty underwhelming production and weak writing. I mean, the Alice In Wonderland reference, even somewhat sidestepped in the song as she’s not Alice but wants to lose herself in Wonderland, it feels really cliche for someone like Gaga who can get into weirder, wilder territory. But okay, if you’re going to go there, shouldn’t the song sound like more than just rote, house-driven dance-pop with a rubbery pulsating groove and questionable vocal layering and mastering because BloodPop? Honestly, placing a song this underwhelming or borderline routine as effectively the opener of Chromatica might have been emblematic of the album’s problems - but it is representative of the sound, which is certainly fine and passable because Gaga is a great performer… but you won’t remember this, and I sincerely hope Gaga doesn’t push it as a single, just saying.

83. ‘T.D.’ by Lil Yachty & Tierra Whack ft. A$AP Rocky & Tyler The Creator - yeah, if there was any chance we were getting a Lil Yachty song this week, it was going to be this one, widely considered pretty much the only reason why Lil Boat 3 was worth hearing at all. And it sure as hell wasn’t because of Yachty, who is the worst thing about this song by a mile providing you can get behind the rote leaden bass, clipped sliding flutters, and tinkling clanks that passes for melody with an utter lack of a hook. Thankfully, A$AP Rocky’s empty flexing is fine even with some questionable ad-libs… and then Tyler the Creator and Tierra Whack run away with the entire song with more imposing presence, better bragging, stronger flows, and just better punchlines - and considering Tierra Whack ends her verse with a disinterested yawn, that might say a lot more than Yachty would want to admit, especially as he tries to end out the song and I’ve lost interest. Look, cut Yachty off this and you have three strong verses over solid production - hard to do on his song, but hey, that’s the only way this works, so….

82. ‘One Big Country Song’ by LOCASH - it’s probably not a good sign that I had to look up what songs LOCASH previously charted on the Hot 100, which I then discovered were ‘I Love This Life’ and ‘I Know Somebody’ and then remembered exactly why I forgot them: weak writing, worse production. Anyway, they wound up changing labels and are now pushing this single from their album from March of last year - and how on earth did they somehow get slightly warmer acoustics and even a bit of pedal steel and then keep the programmed handclap and drum machine with a half-rapped second verse for a flimsy song where really, despite not everyone knowing all the cliched details, isn’t life all just one big country song? And the problem isn’t that it’s list-driven bro-country in everything but the hookup, it’s actually how this song feels like a total ripoff of Joe Nichols’ ‘Old School Country Song’, a deep cut from 2013 that remains one of my favourite songs of that year, mostly because it tried to highlight a heavier emotional throughline that this has no interest in hitting. And thus… look, I’m not expecting depth or heaviness in a bouncy sing-a-long… but I do expect it to be better produced and written than this - next!

78. ‘Got What I Got’ by Jason Aldean - can I just ask, haven’t we run out of reasons to keep Jason Aldean around by now? I stand by him having one deep cut in 2014 I love, but since then he’s put out three albums that are all utterly forgettable when they’re not turgid or just badly produced. It’s not like he even writes any of his music so him being swaggering, stoic, and antisocial doesn’t even have much of a root, so with this second single from his 2019 album… we didn’t so much get the tolerable country rock version of Aldean but the drum-machine accented surliness that’s a bit more pop as his girl questions whether or not he wishes being alone, and he has to try convincing her otherwise. But the problem is that Aldean is such a generally flat singer and the entire song plays with Garth Brooks-esque strings and sharper minor key guitar chords that he becomes less believable, and you get why she might not be reassured! The problem is that’s subtext that doesn’t even approach this song, which is just unpleasant in its complacency - in other words, not good at all - skip it.

66. ‘TKN’ by ROSALIA & Travis Scott - huh… so here’s where I admit a gap in my musical knowledge that’s not really explainable in 2020: I’m not all that familiar with ROSALIA’s music. I know she’s gotten tons of critical acclaim and Grammys within Spanish pop for being forward-thinking and a great songwriter and I just haven’t made the time to investigate further, and so when I saw her working with Travis Scott of all people, I wasn’t sure to expect… and after hearing this, I’m still not sure. Part of this is that the keyboard progression sounds kind of chintzy off the leaden beat and kind of lacking the atmosphere Travis Scott normally cultivates, but then when you look at the hook for how the melody feels off-sync with the groove - which when Travis shows up we do get a little more stability - the song feels jerky in a strange way. And I would get if that sense of unease was intentional - ROSALIA’s verse is all about secret codes of silence and danger - but Travis is in prime horniness territory and suddenly I’m a lot less impressed. I dunno, I get the impression this was more built for crossover and not representative of ROSALIA’s work, so maybe I do need to hear more… but even if that was the case, I’m not sure sheer bewilderment wins over mainstream fans, just saying.

41. ‘Tell Me U Luv Me’ by Juice WRLD & Trippie Redd - so okay, the posthumous single ‘Righteous’ from the Juice WRLD album was way better than it had any right to be, so I was intrigued where they’d be going next with a pretty obvious collaboration with Trippie Redd… and it’s nowhere near as good. A big part of it is that the brighter guitar-backed groove doesn’t really synchronize well with the hook or verses, especially with the shapeless bass and standard cheap trap percussion, and all Trippie Redd contributes is the hook… which leaves verses for Juice WRLD to sullenly guilt-trip his girl and threaten to kill her if she leaves. And sure, maybe you include this on a posthumous album because it highlights his drug abuse and unpredictable moods, but by the second verse the thoroughly unpleasant vibe has settled in and a cut like this becomes more clingy and openly toxic than anything else. In other words… yeah, this isn’t good at all, and not a good sign.

33. ‘Sour Candy’ by Lady Gaga & BLACKPINK - I turned some heads when I said this song kicked off the worst stretch in Chromatica… and I stand by that. Unlike with her other guests, Gaga doesn’t have great chemistry with BLACKPINK as a group, the writing is once again pretty thin - going to the candy girl reference point, even soured feels almost routine for everyone involved - but what I find more frustrating is the production, driven heavily off a sample of 'What They Say’ by Maya Jane Coles, which in and of itself is built off of more samples. And I can point out how ‘What They Say’ has been sampled before this decade in both ‘Truffle Butter’ from Nicki Minaj and ‘Swish Swish’ by Katy Perry, but I remember ‘What They Say’ playing when I was at the club in 2010 - alongside more colourful and interesting Lady Gaga songs, so why sample a weaker tune that you already surpassed a decade ago? So this just winds up feeling like a photocopy three times over where it’s blurry and underwhelming because BloodPop is a mediocre producer, or worse still a collaboration picked because why not utilize a k-pop stan army to goose your sales? It just feels thin and cynical, and a Gaga album should never feel like that - not terrible, but not good either.

So yeah, not really a great note to end things on - ‘Got What I Got’ by Jason Aldean is easily the worst of the week, with ‘Tell Me U Luv Me’ by the late Juice WRLD and Trippie Redd as the Dishonourable Mention - but there is some promise here. Best of the week… I’m going with ‘One Of Them Girls’ by Lee Brice as a welcome surprise in doing the basics really well, and Honourable Mention to ‘T.D.’ by Lil Yachty, Tierra Whack, A$AP Rocky and Tyler, and if you got rid of Yachty this would easily be the best. Next week, though… see, there’s barely anything in terms of name releases, so it could be very strange, we’ll have to see…