Week of July 18, 2020 - Harry Styles (4)

Harry Styles (4)

I’d say this week was much better than last week. We had some great jumps, and although I didn’t love our debuts this week, the Hit-Bound entrants are much better. Let’s kick off this week’s Fresh 30 with our two exits and our one “exit”.

Songs We’re Saying Goodbye To
Daisies - Katy Perry (#27) [#27] {1 week}
Level of Concern - Twenty One Pilots (#25) [#7] {14 weeks}
X - Jonas Brothers/KAROL G (#12) [#10] {9 weeks}

Last Week’s #1: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles (3)

#30: 17 - Pink Sweat$ (RE-ENTRY) [#30] {2 weeks}
#29: MAMACITA - Black Eyed Peas/Ozuna/J. Rey Soul (+1) [#29] {4 weeks} *new peak*
#28: Heather - Conan Gray (DEBUT) [2** weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}
#27: 100 Ways - Jackson Wang (DEBUT) [12* weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}
#26: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo (-3) [#11] {19 weeks}
#25: Like That - Doja Cat/Gucci Mane (+1) [#18] {6 weeks}
#24: Control - Zoe Wees (+5) [#24] {3 weeks} *new peak*
#23: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey (-2) [#18] {6 weeks}
#22: Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift (-) [#22] {5 weeks}
#21: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch (+7) [#20] {4 weeks}
#20: I Hope - Gabby Barrett/Charlie Puth (-1) [#19] {6 weeks}
#19: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee (-6) [#13] {17 weeks}
#18: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek (+6) [#18] {10 weeks} *new peak*
#17: The Bones - Maren Morris (-8) [#8] {12 weeks}
#16: Kings & Queens - Ava Max (+4) [#16] {3 weeks} *new peak*
#15: Moral of the Story - Ashe/Niall Horan (+2) [#15] {10 weeks} *new peak*
#14: Falling - Trevor Daniel (+4) [#14] {15 weeks}
#13: Oh My God - Alec Benjamin (+2) [#13] {13 weeks}
#12: Savage - Megan Thee Stallion (+4) [#11] {6 weeks}
#11: Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi (-4) [1 week at #1] {24 weeks}
#10: Supalonely - BENEE/Gus Dapperton (+4) [#8] {16 weeks}
#9: Stuck with U - Ariana Grande/Justin Bieber (+2) [#9] {10 weeks} *new peak*
#8: Sunday Best - Surfaces (-) [#8] {17 weeks}
#7: Be Kind - Marshmello/Halsey (+3) [#6] {11 weeks}
#6: No Judgement - Niall Horan (-1) [1 week at #1] {19 weeks}
#5: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande (+1) [#5] {8 weeks} *new peak*
#4: Old Me - 5 Seconds of Summer (-1) [1 week at #1] {16 weeks}
#3: Midnight - Alesso/Liam Payne (+1) [#2] {12 weeks}
#2: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa (-) [#2] {13 weeks}
#1: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles (-) [4th week at #1] {19 weeks}

Last Year’s #1: Who Do You Love - The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds of Summer [1/2 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: Breaking Me - Topic/A7S

17 re-entered the Countdown this week. Honestly, I’m happy. This song is extremely close to being green, the only thing that’s holding it back is that it’s a little boring. But yeah, I’m happy this is here again.

Our first actual debut this week is my new least favourite song on the Countdown, and honestly, if Daisies didn’t leave this week, I think it still might’ve been my least favourite. It’s Conan Gray’s new single, Heather. That’s right, the same guy that did Maniac is doing a ballad. Which is probably the main reason I don’t like this. His voice really doesn’t fit with the song. Like at all. He’s much more suited for the upbeat stuff. The production’s a bit boring, but honestly, on the more interesting side of ballad production. That’s not a huge issue with this song. The lyrics are also really weird. The line: “You gave her your sweater/It’s just polyester” is really weird. I mean, why does it matter that it’s polyester? I seriously think he was just trying to rhyme with the word sweater. The vocal effects on his voice are also really odd. There’s a lot of unnecessary heavy reverb, and when he yells “I wish I were Heather”, I don’t know what’s going on. Don’t even get me started on the storyline of this though. I’ve narrowed it down to either the person he was dating was bisexual, or he’s gay, and this is way of coming out. Take your pick. But yeah, this shouldn’t be here.

Our highest debut, after a really long time in Hit-Bound is 100 Ways by Jackson Wang. I also don’t like this, except it’s definitely one of the better bad songs here… if that makes sense. I’m honestly quite surprised Jackson Wang landed a second song on the Countdown, since he’s a solo k-pop artist. The song’s catchy enough and everything, and the production’s alright, but his voice is really odd, and I kind of can’t stand it. I get that it’s mostly just his accent, but that’s also one of the reasons that I don’t like k-pop. I’m a little upset that this wasn’t a Hit-Bound dropout, as I’m pretty sure everyone thought it would be, but I’m kind of indifferent about it being here.

Best Entrant: 17 - Pink Sweat$

Best Debut: 100 Ways - Jackson Wang

Biggest DROP!!!: The Bones - Maren Morris (-8): Oh boy. This song just needs to make up its mind on whether it wants to be a hit here or not, because all of this dropping and jumping is ridiculous. That being said, I like the song, so I’d much rather have it jump.

Biggest Jump: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch (+7): Luckily, this song jumped back up from the bottom 5. I’m super happy, because this song is great. It’s #1 on the Hot 100, so I’m sad it didn’t jump higher, but hopefully it’ll keep jumping in the coming weeks.

Countdown Ranking

0 - Crap:
#30: Heather - Conan Gray
#29: Moral of the Story - Ashe/Niall Horan
#28: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee
#27: Supalonely - BENEE/Gus Dapperton
#26: Old Me - 5 Seconds of Summer

1 - Bad:
#25: Falling - Trevor Daniel
#24: 100 Ways - Jackson Wang
#23: Oh My God - Alec Benjamin

2 - Mediocre:
#22: No Judgement - Niall Horan

3 - Decent:
#21: Control - Zoe Wees
#20: 17 - Pink Sweat$
#19: Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi
#18: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo

4 - Good:
#17: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles
#16: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa
#15: Like That - Doja Cat/Gucci Mane
#14: Stuck with U - Ariana Grande/Justin Bieber
#13: Midnight - Alesso/Liam Payne
#12: MAMACITA - Black Eyed Peas/Ozuna/J. Rey Soul

5 - Great:
#11: Kings & Queens - Ava Max
#10: The Bones - Maren Morris
#9: Sunday Best - Surfaces
#8: Savage - Megan Thee Stallion
#7: Be Kind - Marshmello/Halsey
#6: I Hope - Gabby Barrett/Charlie Puth
#5: Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift
#4: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey
#3: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek
#2: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande
#1: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch

Overall Score: 96/150 = 64%

5 Oldest Songs
#5: Falling - Trevor Daniel {15 weeks}
#4: Supalonely - BENEE/Gus Dapperton & Old Me - 5 Seconds of Summer {16 weeks}
#3: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee & Sunday Best - Surfaces {17 weeks}
#2: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo, No Judgement - Niall Horan & Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles {19 weeks}
#1: Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi {24 weeks}

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: High Fashion - Roddy Ricch/Mustard

My Favourite Song Last Year: Happier - Marshmello/Bastille

My Least Favourite Song Last Year: bad guy - Billie Eilish

Hit-Bound

Black And White - Niall Horan [7**]

Banana (Minisiren Remix) - Conkarah/Shaggy/DJ Fle [3; 2nd time]

Daisies - Katy Perry [1; 2nd time]

Wildflower - 5 Seconds of Summer [3]

Breaking Me - Topic/A7S [6*]

Falling - Harry Styles [7*]

Be Like That - Kane Brown/Swae Lee/Khalid [1]

Together - Sia [9*]

Past Life - Trevor Daniel/Selena Gomez [2*]

Drinks - Cyn [4]

Lose Somebody - Kygo/OneRepublic [4]

Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo [1]

Ur So F**kInG cOoL - Tones And I [7]

Bang! - AJR [12]

Don’t Rush - Young T & Bugsey/Headie One [5]

Also Available For Vote

Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello [1*]

Wishing Well - Juice WRLD [1*]

WHATS POPPIN - Jack Harlow [1*]

Funny - Zedd/Jasmine Thompson [1*]

Heartless - Diplo/Julia Michaels/Morgan Wallen [5*; 2nd time]

*indicates one week spent on the Voting Poll, rather than Hit-Bound

Before we get to the debuts, Daisies re-entered. I’m happy it left, but really sad that it’s back.

How is it possible that I like all six of the Hit-Bound/Voting Poll entrants this week? Anyways, this first one is probably one of my least favourites, which is to say really good. It’s called Be Like That by Kane Brown, Swae Lee and Khalid. So Kane Brown actually makes his second Hits 1 appearance with this, and I actually don’t mind his music, because it sounds more like pop than country. This is definitely no exception. The chorus is pretty catchy, with the main hook line being: “Sometimes it be like that”, and I completely agree. Sometimes it do be like that. Swae Lee also makes his second Hits 1 appearance, although he should’ve been on Close To Me. He also does a pretty good job here. I like his voice, and it’s not different here. Khalid also fits really well with the song. His soulful voice somehow works well with Kane Brown’s country voice, and Swae Lee’s somewhat unprofessional voice. Don’t ask me how.

Next up, we have a song that I’ve been recommending for a while now, and I’ve reviewed it a couple times on my weekly Hot 100 posts, so if you haven’t been reading those, maybe it’s time to catch up. Jawsh 685’s Laxed - Siren Beat makes an appearance on Hit-Bound here, in the form of Savage Love with Jason Derulo. Yes, I’m also surprised this isn’t purple. I’ll explain later. So basically, Jason Derulo just put lyrics to an existing instrumental TikTok song, and it made this masterpiece. Jason Derulo always sounds good, and it really shows here. I think he sings slightly too high for his voice in the chorus, but it’s not too much. Laxed - Siren Beat (the production) is really good, and I quite like the horns in the chorus. They add a nice flair to the song. This is an extremely catchy song (what did you expect? It’s Jason Derulo), but my only complaint would be that in the last chorus, Jason screams “SAvage, baBY”, and I really don’t like that, but other than that, this is a really good song.

Our first Voting Poll song is the song that stole the purple from Savage Love, and surprisingly the first of two Juice WRLD songs from his new album, Legends Never Die. It’s called Come & Go, and Marshmello put it all together. I listened to this entire album, and I really liked it, but this is hands-down the best track on the album. (If you want an album review, just wait for my Hot 100 post this weekend) I think Marshmello put this together really well, considering he just had to work with what Juice recorded before he passed. It doesn’t sound too choppy, which I greatly appreciate, but that could also be because they pre-recorded this together. Either way, it’s very good. I miss Juice a ton, and this song is a huge proof why. His voice is awesome, and it fits well with anything that he does. But I give a lot of credit here to Marshmello, who put together an awesome instrumental, with a literal jaw-dropping drop (see what I did there?). I really hope this does well as a single, and maybe since it’s the newest single, it could hit #1 on the Hot 100, or at least pretty high. Oh also, fun fact, if you listen to the beginning of this song, you hear someone saying: “Mello made it right”. That right there, my friends, is none other than Roddy Ricch. Which just makes this song a million times better than it already is, because in case you didn’t know, Roddy Ricch is one of my favourite artists right now.

The next Juice WRLD song isn’t as good, but it’s still definitely solid. Wishing Well seems to be the better-performing single, as it seems to be outperforming Come & Go on Spotify. This song feels a little more choppy than the last song, but it’s still good. Juice sounds good again, and the beat is pretty well made. I like the piano line, it’s actually pretty interesting to listen to. I don’t love the verses, but again, they’re still really solid, I’m just comparing this to Come & Go. I like the chorus, it’s pretty catchy, and I like the lyrics here, and they speak really well to Juice’s story. He says at one point: “If it wasn't for the pills, I wouldn't be here/But if I keep taking these pills, I won't be here”, which is a super sad line, considering how he left this earth. But yeah, this whole album was a good tribute to Juice WRLD.

So, I reviewed this next song and it’s remix. I’m not certain which version is here, but I’m gonna review the original for now. I’m talking about WHATS POPPIN by Jack Harlow. This is definitely one of the best rap hits this year so far, and I’m super happy that Hits 1 is picking up more rap, because this deserves to be here. Jack has some pretty good flow throughout the song, and the chorus is also really good. The piano in the song actually fits really well, and I don’t get too tired of listening to it over and over again (since it never changes). So yeah, this is good.

And finally, we have a new Zedd song, with Jasmine Thompson, called Funny. This is definitely one of the better Zedd songs. Not quite on the same level as Break Free or Good Thing, but very close. It’s definitely not mediocre/bad like Happy Now or The Middle. The clock still hasn’t gone away, but it’s less noticeable here. The drop of this song really sounds like Stay, with the huge synth hits, and the robotic harmonies. I think Zedd picked a really good vocalist. Jasmine Thompson sounds really good here, and I like her accent. This song isn’t too catchy, but hey. I still like it. Good song.

Best Hit-Bound Entrant: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello

Hit-Bound Ranking

0 - Crap:
#20: Daisies - Katy Perry
#19: Drinks - Cyn

1 - Bad:
NONE!

2 - Mediocre:
#18: Banana (Minisiren Remix) - Conkarah/Shaggy/DJ Fle

3 - Decent:
#17: Together - Sia

4 - Good:
#16: Black And White - Niall Horan
#15: Be Like That - Kane Brown/Swae Lee/Khalid
#14: Wildflower - 5 Seconds of Summer
#13: Funny - Zedd/Jasmine Thompson

5 - Great:
#12: Don’t Rush - Young T & Bugsey/Headie One
#11: Past Life - Trevor Daniel/Selena Gomez
#10: Wishing Well - Juice WRLD
#9: Ur So F**kInG cOoL - Tones And I
#8: WHATS POPPIN - Jack Harlow
#7: Falling - Harry Styles
#6: Breaking Me - Topic/A7S
#5: Heartless - Diplo/Julia Michaels/Morgan Wallen
#4: Bang! - AJR
#3: Lose Somebody - Kygo/OneRepublic
#2: Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo
#1: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello

Overall Score: 81/100 = 81%

There Are 100 Blurbs to Leave a Lover

We lost two actual exits this week: Level of Concern and X. Both songs are good, but I’m more upset about X. It deserved to be a much bigger hit.

We lost one Hit-Bound song this week, Man. This song was extremely forgettable, and also not very good, so I’m happy.

It looks like Heartless is gonna leave soon. I’m sad, but it’s dropping on pop radio, so it makes sense.

Okay, fine. I like Like That. It grew on me quite a bit. It’s pretty catchy, and I much prefer it to Say So.

Control is still not doing too well despite getting a ton of airplay, but I think it’s just a Hits 1s to Watch thing, where they push the song to death, despite how well it’s doing on the Countdown.

I’m glad death bed dropped again. Now if it could just leave, that would be great.

Roses is finally in the top 20!!! This definitely needs to be a hit here, because it’s a huge hit everywhere else.

Moral of the Story doesn’t deserve to be in the top 15. It’s only here because of Niall Horan, which is always a stupid reason for a song to be jumping despite it not being a hit.

Stuck with U is somehow in the top 10? It’s starting to drop on the charts, I have no clue why it’s jumping.

Rain. On. Me. (It’s in the top 5!!!)

I like Watermelon Sugar again, because I’ve just accepted that it’s a hit.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100
#1: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch
#2: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd
#3: WHATS POPPIN (Remix) - Jack Harlow/Tory Lanez/DaBaby/Lil Wayne
#4: Savage (Remix) - Megan Thee Stallion/Beyoncé
#5: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek
#7: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles
#8: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey
#9: Say So - Doja Cat/Nicki Minaj
#10: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo
#12: Adore You - Harry Styles
#13: Circles - Post Malone
#15: Don’t Start Now - Dua Lipa
#16: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande
#17: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa
#18: The Bones - Maren Morris
#21: The Box - Roddy Ricch
#23: I Hope - Gabby Barrett
#25: Falling - Trevor Daniel
#26: Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi
#29: Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo
#30: Sunday Best - Surfaces
#32: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee
#38: Toosie Slide - Drake
#45: Stuck with U - Ariana Grande/Justin Bieber
#47: Supalonely - BENEE/Gus Dapperton
#50: Be Kind - Marshmello/Halsey
#59: If the World Was Ending - JP Saxe/Julia Michaels
#61: Like That - Doja Cat/Gucci Mane
#67: MAMACITA - Black Eyed Peas/Ozuna/J. Rey Soul
#68: Don’t Rush - Young T & Bugsey/Headie One

Top 10 on the Hunger Games Countdown
#10: Together - Sia
#9: X - Jonas Brothers/KAROL G
#8: Nice to Meet Ya - Meghan Trainor/Nicki Minaj
#7: Kill My Mind - Louis Tomlinson
#6: Oh My God - Alec Benjamin
#5: The Hype - Twenty One Pilots
#4: Savage - Megan Thee Stallion
#3: Kings & Queens - Ava Max
#2: MAMACITA - Black Eyed Peas/Ozuna/J. Rey Soul
#1: Lose Somebody - Kygo/OneRepublic

Top 10 If the Countdown Made Sense
#10: Falling - Trevor Daniel
#9: I Hope - Gabby Barrett/Charlie Puth
#8: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey
#7: The Bones - Maren Morris
#6: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch
#5: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa
#4: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande
#3: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek
#2: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles
#1: Savage - Megan Thee Stallion

Kwaheri, everyone! See you all Friday.