billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - june 5, 2021
So I’ve talked about album bomb weeks in rapid succession before - they have a weird impact on the Hot 100 as a whole, normally sweeping away great chunks of the chart, but if they land high enough back to back they mostly wind up replacing each other. Such was this week with Olivia Rodrigo landing a slightly smaller impact that wasn’t quite enough to knock off J. Cole from the Hot 100, but it did damage, and that makes whatever comes back next week to fill in the gaps really intriguing…
Not so much in our top ten, though, because just like last week, the expected album bomb #1 was blocked by a top debut that I did predict: ‘Butter’ by BTS at #1. Now we’ll get into the details about the song more later on, but BTS’ team has learned in the pursuit of chart success, so beyond just the insane sales and YouTube that aren’t sustainable, they’ve been making a not-unconvincing radio run, so while I don’t expect this to hold the spot for even another week, they’re building a more sustainable hit and throwing some weight behind it. This knocks back ‘good 4 u’ by Olivia Rodrigo to #2, but there was competition here, especially given strong sales and better streaming overall… the problem was it didn’t build the radio traction earlier and lost that little edge in the margins. But this is where her album bomb kicked in, because ‘deja vu’ returned to #3 thanks to its own insane streaming and a more defined radio run… but even then, it feels a bit slower than it should. This places ‘Levitating’ by Dua Lipa in a funny position at #4: the sales are still good and the streaming is fine, but it still looks like it’s getting a radio push and I have to wonder why - I’m not sure that channel alone is enough to muscle it to #1, especially as they already pulled out the sales tricks. It does hold up over ‘Leave The Door Open’ by Silk Sonic at #5, but peaking on the radio with sales ebbing away does not bode well for future traction, and ‘Peaches’ by Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon at #6 just lags behind it in every category, not even able to muster the radio takeover for the top spot. Then we have the slight pickup for ‘Save Your Tears’ by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande to #7 with an alright week on sales and streaming, but it’s in radio freefall and losing on the margins here - and while I keep saying it’ll get eclipsed by ‘Kiss Me More’ by Doja Cat ft. SZA at #8, outside of better streaming it just hasn’t closed the margin enough on sales and the radio. Next up is another album bomb entry from Olivia Rodrigo with ‘traitor’ at #9 - it’s the streaming, no surprises here - and then clawing back into the top 10 we have ‘Astronaut in The Ocean’ by Masked Wolf at #10, because while its sales are still ridiculous, its weak streaming and lack of true radio momentum is holding it back from making a more impactful run… at least until all the album bomb entries fall out.
And while we’re on that subject, our losers and dropouts, with the latter category mostly filled with cuts that are falling short - which is a shame because outside of ‘Lady’ by Brett Young, I like all of them! ‘La Noche de Anoche’ by Bad Bunny and ROSALIA, ‘The Business’ by Tiesto, and most unfortunately ‘Street Runner’ by Rod Wave - look, when the song just gets zero consistent radio traction longer term, the run is going to fizzle before its time. But the majority of our losers come from the J. Cole album bomb: ‘my.life’ with 21 Savage and Morray at 21, ‘pride.is.the.devil’ with Lil Baby at 26, ‘amari’ at 41, ‘95.south’ at 59, ‘interlude’ at 71, ‘applying.pressure’ at 72, ‘100.mil’ with Bas at 80, ‘let.go.my.hand’ with Bas and 6LACK at 83, ‘punchin.the.clock’ at 97, and ‘the.climb.back’ at 99. But those weren’t the only debuts that underperformed: ‘Seeing Green’ by Nicki Minaj, Drake and Lil Wayne fell to 48, ‘Straightenin’ by Migos slid to 69, and on a continued skid ‘Miss The Rage’ by Trippie Redd and Playboi Carti fell to 63. The last of our losers seem to be fading more naturally, with ‘Streets’ by Doja Cat clinching its year-end list spot at 79, ‘Tombstone’ by Rod Wave seeming to fall short at 82 along with ‘Hold On’ by Justin Bieber at 86, ‘Follow You’ by Imagine Dragons at 89, and ‘Pick Up Your Feelings’ by Jazmine Sullivan at 91, as well as ‘Hello’ by Pop Smoke and A Boogie wit da Hoodie once again failing to move much at 93. Finally we have that remix of ‘Goosebumps’ by Travis Scott and HVME at 84, which looks like it’s being rotated out and if there’s any justice it will fall short of the year-end list - it’s on the margins right now, we’ll have to see.
Now since it’s an album bomb week don’t really have much in the way of gains or returns - ‘All I Know So Far’ by P!nk managed to climb back to 87 because of course it’s getting some radio traction, and for gains we saw Nashville throw some weight behind ‘Minimum Wage’ by Blake Shelton to 70 and Mooski get a remix with Chris Brown for ‘Track Star’ to push it to 32. And while I already mentioned Olivia Rodrigo with ‘deja vu’ - she also saw a boost for ‘drivers license’ to 11 - what caught my interest was the release of 42 Dugg’s mixtape that gave a shot to ‘4 Da Gang’ with Roddy Ricch up to 67 - not the only impact from that, but we’ll get to it.
But once again we have a pretty stacked list of new arrivals, because all of Olivia Rodrigo’s album bomb landed in the 40, and that’s not all we got, so we have to start with…
92. ‘24 Hours’ by A Boogie wit da Hoodie ft. Lil Durk - why. No seriously, the only reason I can fathom as to why A Boogie has had the staying power outside of his brief moment a few years back is because New York needs to have at least one utterly interchangeable trap artist on the scene, the drill scene be damned! I’ve been saying for years now that A Boogie is not an interesting presence and I’m fairly certain the only reason he still charts is name recognition, ergo I’m placing more weight here on Lil Durk. And that was probably the right idea, because at least he seems sincere in trying to woo this girl and highlight how a lot of dudes coming out of the streets don’t get girls in the same way, whereas A Boogie just goes to the brand names and lets in a little more self-serving exasperation than he can convincingly sell. And the percussion feels this slow against a reverb-saturated mix, this tells me that A Boogie wanted to make his version ‘Calling My Phone’… and even if I’m lukewarm on that song at best, it’s catchier and better constructed than this - next!
85. ‘Leave Before You Love Me’ by Marshmello & Jonas Brothers - because this is what the Jonas Brothers needed to do to fix their production issues and waning relevance: work with Marshmello! Now truth be told, there’s enough other producers and cowriters behind this to make it an organized production to continue muscling in that Jonas Brothers comeback whether we want it or not - kind of a shame, because that Nick Jonas album did have a few singles that could be worked - especially as this sounds just like a song from The 1975 circa 2018. The watery guitar rollick off the percussion and fake handclap, the vocal layering and especially that lead melody, I can even argue the lyrics play in the same territory where they’d love to stay and have more hot sex, but they just have to take off and run before you fall in love - it’s got that same sort of self-effacing-but-not-really vibe that if the Jonas Brothers were a hair less slick or sincere, I’d say Barney Stinson wrote this! But that’s the thing: in terms of just ripping off The 1975, the song is crisp and well-balanced enough to actually work… in other words, I actually kind of like this one, make of that what you will.
68. ‘Maybach’ by 42 Dugg ft. Future - so this is the other impact of note for that mixtape that 42 Dugg released, the collab with Future that got a music video, and… well, this is actually partially an interpolation of Future’s song of the same name from 2016 - which might be cliche Future but it does hit harder than this - and on some level this just feels more like his song than 42 Dugg’s, even if they both seem weirdly placed a bit too far back in the mix. Or maybe it’s because the main melody feels buried behind the much heavier trap beat and synth bass, and there’s so much empty space around all of them - it doesn’t sound badly mixed or mastered, it just sounds hollow… which is appropriate as 42 Dugg has nothing to really say beyond brand names and a few tossed off commemorations. I can imagine more people will care about Future post-Lori Harvey going back to nihilistic Monster mode, but this verse does not reflect the focus or tightness of that era, especially as in between the flexing he’s complaining about having to pay child support. I dunno, you can tell this became a single because of the feature, but I’m not sure it’s enough to make me care more - ‘4 Da Gang’ goes way harder than this.
66. ‘SUN GOES DOWN’ by Lil Nas X - am I the only one a bit perturbed that this single hasn’t seemed to catch the same attention as ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ did? It’s just odd that there’s less of the flagrant promotional tactics being muscled behind this cut for Lil Nas X. And that’s kind of a shame, because I think I like this more. Yeah, there are problems - it’s basically one verse bracketed by extended hooks, and the production feels a little clunky and overcompressed which is evidence of Lil Nas X pushing more fragments instead of fully-fleshed out songs, but he still manages to put a lot in it already. It explores deep-seated anxieties and depression that has moments where he thought about ending it all to ‘see the sun’, but he’s letting that sun go down and that allows him moments of vulnerability and gratitude that feel genuine. I actually really like that he references how much he stanned Nicki, which highlights how online fandom can become a place where people find comfort, and as much as the frail acoustics feel a bit underweight opposite the percussion, the strings sliding in are a nice touch. So yeah, it might be a little short - primed for the expanded remix - but it does what it sets out to do well; good stuff.
66. ‘Twerkulator’ by City Girls - am I the only one who is convinced the City Girls should be bigger than they are? I kept thinking we were going to see a breakthrough for them a couple years back alongside Cardi, but it’s been hit-and-miss, and with this song… well, it’s a flip of the first ever rap song that used an 808, ‘Planet Rock’ by Afrika Bambaataa, which also got acclaim for being an early fusion of rap and electronic music and of course led to sample clearance issues when it started going viral on Tiktok. But in a strange way it feels like City Girls used that as an excuse to go full retro, down to the flows on their verses and an uncredited Lil Yachty playing hypeman and how the song allows City Girls to default to a standard ass-shaking song. Which, fine, it’s their bread and butter, but this is the sort of song that highlights just how limited the City Girls have been in both personality and content, where their peers have found a little more to work with or have expanded. I certainly don’t mind this - although given the heinous charges thrown at Afrika Bambaataa you’d think that the City Girls could have chosen a different act to sample and split with - but this also feels like an undercooked fragment, and not one I can see lasting long.
33. ‘Gang Gang’ by Polo G & Lil Wayne - so even though I’ve effectively covered Polo G a few times courtesy of his album bombs, I actually would really like to review one of his project proper on my main channel at some point - Patrons, if you’re looking for ideas at some point - and given how much ‘RAPSTAR’ has grown on me, I was curious how he’d play off of Lil Wayne on this track. And… honestly, pretty good! The glassy rattle of faded synths is well-balanced against the sandy percussion and thick bass hits, and if there’s going to be a song where both rappers are talking about the bleak experience of shooting snitches in the streets, Polo G is at least credible here, even if I think his verse is a bit short. But then we have Lil Wayne… and sure, he’s focused and the sports references work and for once he actually avoids the toilet humour, but I’m not wowed by this verse, and it makes me think if Polo G wanted to truly go toe-to-toe with his idol, he could. But as it is… yeah, the song is fine, I’ll take it.
29. ‘hope ur ok’ by Olivia Rodrigo - so like last week, nearly all the remaining songs are from one artist except for the #1, and I’ve already reviewed Olivia Rodrigo in On The Pulse on my main channel - shorter review to be sure, but it’s a shorter album and there’s simply less to say about it so I’m going to try and keep this brief. This is one of the songs I actually like a fair bit as the closer with the faint rattle of bass strumming playing off the haze of guitar and twinkles as Rodrigo reflects on teenage friends with rough and unsupportive families where she hopes they’ve been able to move on, with some sketches to the breakup narrative on the album as a whole. I will say trying to make a parallel between her breakup and queer teenages suffering neglect or abuse from their families is questionable - it has a very ‘You Need To Calm Down’ sentiment, echoed by the Swift-esque backing vocals on the bridge - and I think it was a mistake to leave the studio chatter in around the outro, but the sentiment does feel more restrained and genuine; fine enough.
24. ‘jealousy, jealousy’ by Olivia Rodrigo - this one is a bit of a clunker for me; the leaden piano with the buzzy guitar embellishments, and the sour feeling of spending too much time on Instagram getting jealous of people who flaunt their success… and this is where immersion becomes an issue, because Olivia Rodrigo is a social media starlet who not only has a lot of what she’s complaining about, when wedged into the breakup framing of the album it just adds a layer that might make her seem more relatable, but less likable. And that’s assuming you can relate - woo indeed.
19. ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’ by Olivia Rodrigo - man this composition feels basic… which is strange because this was cowritten with Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, who brought a little more refinement to the production and left an obvious influence in the song’s lyrical cadence. It also plays into the uncertain back-and-forth of a bad relationship, where for as much as Rodrigo suspects this guy is a gaslighting jerk, she’s second-guessing herself just as much. Again, it leans on being relatable and this one mostly works… but with the pedigree behind it, I keep thinking it should be better.
18. ‘favorite crime’ by Olivia Rodrigo - this is another song I quite like, specifically because it takes the complexity of this failed relationship and adds more detail, showing that it was spurred by her now ex cheating on his former partner and using her crush to that advantage… and this is where her wider-angle framing helps, because she acknowledges she’s not as much of a victim here, and that adds some real moral ambiguity to everything on display. So great in the context of the album, but I’d also say the spare acoustics that build with the multi-tracking especially into that final hook helps this stand alone. Really solid song - it won’t be a single, but as a choice deep cut I’d recommend it.
15. ‘happier’ by Olivia Rodrigo - this is the sort of song that only works if you’re in high school, because once again while it is relatable to not want your ex to be happier with his new partner than he was with you, the passive-aggressiveness across the hook rings very obvious. This isn’t magnanimous, it’s putting on a fake smile and it feels petty as all hell, only accentuated with the waltz piano line and strings for faux elegance that also doesn’t match with the guitars and clicking percussion. So yeah, this was comfortably the worst song on the album - don’t like at all.
14. ‘enough for you’ by Olivia Rodrigo - so this is the problem with Billboard BREAKDOWN when you have an album bomb for a project that can feel a little one note, because a lot of what I say repeats itself: Olivia Rodrigo reflects on the failed relationship where she overcommitted and blames herself about as much as her partner, and while there’s definitely some relatable truth in trying really hard for a partner where it goes unappreciated or ignored - and Rodrigo can sell that heartbreak - the acoustic composition is so frail that it just doesn’t give this more to stand out. It’s okay, but not memorable, at least for me.
12. ‘brutal’ by Olivia Rodrigo - ah, the album opener where they want to immediately subvert the pretty strings with sharp, distorted guitars with rattling strums, a bit of feedback creeping in, and a rougher vocal pickup to try and convince folks this is heavier than it actually is. And I said this in the review, the production from Dan Nigro just leaves this underpowered with more fuzz than fire… and again, as much as I can applaud the content for being a raw string of teenage complaints, the sardonic flip on the hook means that I can’t take it that seriously, and the lack of serious immersion definitely comes back into play when the song feels like it’s supposed to explode one last time after the outro and it never does. Again, I don’t dislike what this is doing, I just wish it was better at it.
9. ‘traitor’ by Olivia Rodrigo - and this is the highest debut from Olivia Rodrigo… and am I the only one, even with the understanding that this is pure teenage melodrama, thinks that it’s a little oversold to call this guy a ‘traitor’ just because he found someone new relatively soon after they broke up? What’s exasperating is that on a level of emotional logic, it makes sense, and she knows this is hyperbolic, which is why I’m more forgiving - I understand how melodrama works - but she’s also got a lot of songs on the project in this territory, including ‘good 4 u’ which is better all the way down, including production where she’s immediately in ballad mode where she’s trying to be very tasteful with the gentle guitars and keyboards and I kind of wish the song went for broke to match how much presence Rodrigo is trying to deliver - it’s close with the backing vocals and heavier touches, but if you wanted a grand strings section, this was the song for it. As it is… well, it’s reflective of the album: decently written and solidly performed, but underpowered and relying on relatability almost to a fault. Not bad, but not as good as it could have been.
1. ‘Butter’ by BTS - …am I wrong to have low expectations for this? BTS’ singles primed exclusively for the American market haven’t impressed me or shown off the personality that I know they have, and after ‘Dynamite’ felt so damn hollow to me, I didn’t expect much out of ‘Butter’… and let’s be real, there’s not much here. For one, it’s not nearly as smooth as it says it is with that blocky percussion that seems to struggle to get any stable groove, and when you pair it with the fat bass and buzzy synths and that tinny squeal leading into the final hook, it feels like BTS trying to synthesize what Bruno Mars already delivered years ago with ‘Finesse’, given just how much this song is cribbing from late 80s pop rap but with none of the fun texture of new jack swing! Like if there was a song for rollicking, smooth guitars to flatter the group, it’s this one, and they just aren’t here - and that’s kind of a shame, because this is the most animated BTS’ individual members have sounded outside of their Korean and Japanese material. It’s definitely a lightweight dance track in terms of content, but they’re trying to be more debonair and flashy and it’s a look they can pull off pretty well. It’s kind of a shame because I do think this has potential, but it feels like BTS trying to imitate sounds rather than be themselves, and they’re missing the fine details - not bad by any means, there’s certainly some charm to this, but I’m not really gripped.
And that was our week - feels a little shorter, but the best and worst do fall out easier, in the latter category with ‘happier’ by Olivia Rodrigo as by far the worst of the week and ‘Maybach’ by 42 Dugg and Future as the Dishonourable Mention - I don’t even particularly like both artists here and yet I feel disappointed! Best of the week, however… ‘favorite crime’ by Olivia Rodrigo just edges out ‘SUN GOES DOWN’ by Lil Nas X… which is tying ‘Leave Before You Love Me’ by the Jonas Brothers and Marshmello - yes, I know. Next week… the fallout for the past two weeks, so strap in.