Hot 100 Top 40: Week of August 8, 2020 - Taylor Swift (1)

Taylor Swift (1)

So yeah, there was a Taylor Swift album bomb this week, with her album folklore. Although I didn't generally like the album, there were a few songs that were pretty good, so before we get into all that, here's the insane amount of exits.

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To
Sunday Best - Surfaces (#40) [#19] {14 weeks}
Chasin' You - Morgan Wallen (#39) [#16] {16 weeks}
Conversations - Juice WRLD (#38) [#7] {2 weeks}
The Bigger Picture - Lil Baby (#37) [#3] {5 weeks}
Hate The Other Side - Juice WRLD/Marshmello/The Kid LAROI/Polo G (#36) [#10] {2 weeks}
The Box - Roddy Ricch (#34) [11 weeks at #1] {32 weeks}
Hard To Forget - Sam Hunt (#33) [#26] {10 weeks}
Falling - Trevor Daniel (#30) [#17] {30 weeks}
Bluebird - Miranda Lambert (#26) [#26] {5 weeks}
GREECE - DJ Khaled/Drake (#8) [#8] {1 week}

Last Week's #1: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch (7)

#40: The Bones - Maren Morris (-9) [#12] {31 weeks}
#39: this is me trying - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#39] {1 week}
#38: The Woo - Pop Smoke/50 Cent/Roddy Ricch (-6) [#11] {3 weeks}
#37: invisible string - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#37] {1 week}
#36: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee (-7) [#23] {16 weeks}
#35: seven - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#35] {1 week}
#34: We Paid - Lil Baby/42 Dugg (-14) [#10] {8 weeks}
#33: Die From A Broken Heart - Maddie & Tae (+2) [#33] {2 weeks} *new peak*
#32: For The Night - Pop Smoke/Lil Baby/DaBaby (-9) [#6] {4 weeks}
#31: Party Girl - StaySolidRocky (-7) [#21] {11 weeks}
#30: Life Is Good - Future/Drake (-2) [#2] {29 weeks}
#29: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande (-15) [1 week at #1] {10 weeks}
#28: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo (-6) [#5] {25 weeks}
#27: Say So - Doja Cat/Nicki Minaj (-6) [1 week at #1] {23 weeks}
#26: mirrorball - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#26] {1 week}
#25: One Margarita - Luke Bryan (-) [#19] {8 weeks}
#24: Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa (+3) [#2] {33 weeks}
#23: august - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#23] {1 week}
#22: Wishing Well - Juice WRLD (-9) [#5] {3 weeks}
#21: Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi (-2) [#19] {12 weeks}
#20: Circles - Post Malone (-2) [3 weeks at #1] {48 weeks}
#19: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa (-2) [#17] {18 weeks}
#18: I Hope - Gabby Barrett (-2) [#16] {20 weeks}
#17: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello (-8) [#2] {3 weeks}
#16: my tears ricochet - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#16] {1 week}
#15: Adore You - Harry Styles (-) [#6] {33 weeks}
#14: POPSTAR - DJ Khaled/Drake (-11) [#3] {2 weeks}
#13: the last great american dynasty - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#13] {1 week}
#12: Go Crazy - Chris Brown/Young Thug (-2) [#10] {8 weeks}
#11: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey (-) [#8] {20 weeks}
#10: Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo (+2) [#10] {5 weeks} *new peak*
#9: Savage (Remix) - Megan Thee Stallion/Beyoncé (-3) [1 week at #1] {19 weeks}
#8: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek (-3) [#4] {18 weeks}
#7: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles (-) [#7] {9 weeks}
#6: exile - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver (DEBUT) [#6] {1 week}
#5: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd (-1) [4 weeks at #1] {31 weeks}
#4: the 1 - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [#4] {1 week}
#3: WHATS POPPIN (Remix) - Jack Harlow/Tory Lanez/DaBaby/Lil Wayne (-1) [#2] {16 weeks}
#2: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch (-1) [7 weeks at #1] {15 weeks}
#1: cardigan - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [1st week at #1] {1 week}

Last Year's #1: Old Town Road (Remix) - Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus [18/19 weeks at #1]

Alright, I guess we start reviewing Taylor Swift now! For a lot of these songs, my opinion's gonna be the same, so I don't think any of these reviews are gonna be that long. This first song is called this is me trying. Taylor has similar vocal effects here as she did in The Archer, but I think it worked a lot better there than here. That being said, the hook here is pretty good, and I really like the chorus. I could probably see myself growing into this soon.

The next track, coming in at #37 is invisible string. This is one of the most boring songs on folklore. The (guitar? banjo?) doesn't sound that good at all, and this song is much too slow for my liking. Again, Taylor sounds pretty good, but I just get so bored listening to this.

seven comes up next. This is one of my least favourite songs on the album. Taylor actually doesn't sound that good in the chorus. She's singing a bit too high, and she sounds really breath-y. The production doesn't really give much to talk about, but I guess she sounds good in the verses, and it's not like I dislike anything about the song. It's just really boring (as I'm probably gonna say for most of the songs).

Up next is mirrorball. This song is at least somewhat interesting. The (chorus? I'm not even quite sure about the structure here) is really good, and Taylor sounds really good too. The production's alright, but it doesn't really add much to the song. Moving on.

Eeeh! A good song! This next song is called august, and it's actually really good. The chorus is actually pretty catchy, and the production is actually pretty interesting. Taylor sounds good, especially in the bridge, and this is actually a song that I can remember what it sounds like after.

The next one is my tears ricochet. Taylor sounds absolutely fantastic in this song. The writing is also really really good. It tells a really cool story, and I highly recommend you either look it up or listen to it. That being said, the song is still pretty boring. The production is super uninteresting, and it really gives me nothing to talk about. So yeah, it's not good, but it's very solid.

the last great american dynasty is the next song, at #13. The production here is honestly kind of interesting, and Taylor's voice is good. The chorus is catchy, and the verses are also solid. My problem though, is that it's still kind of slow and boring. Oh, well. I can definitely see myself growing into this.

The next two songs are actually pretty good. I'm gonna keep this one short, since it's making its debut on Hits 1 tomorrow. It's exile with Bon Iver. I actually like Bon Iver's voice, although he doesn't sound great in the first verse, because he's singing too low. But yeah, Taylor sounds great, and the song overall is very beautiful. I'll save the rest for next week.

The album opener comes up next, and it's called the 1. I think this was a fantastic song to choose for the first song. The piano line and the production is actually really really good. Most of the song is super catchy, and Taylor sounds fantastic. Yeah, this definitely deserved the top 5 debut. Great song.

...And our new #1 is Taylor's newest single from folklore, cardigan. I have no clue why she picked cardigan as the lead single, as it's one of the weakest songs on the album. I find this to be one of the weakest Taylor Swift singles too. I'm not gonna get into the actual song at all, since I've reviewed the song twice on my Hits 1 posts. But yeah, this shouldn't have replaced ROCKSTAR, and I hope it comes back to #1 next week.

Best Debut: exile - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver

Biggest Drop: Rain On Me - Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande (-15): Aw, man. This song lost all of its spots gained from last week, plus one more. This should've been a much bigger hit than it is.

Biggest Jump: Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa (+3): Um... okay? I feel like this was entirely luck. Funny song to get the biggest jump though, since it's so old.

My Top 5 Picks

#5: exile - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver
#4: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch
#3: Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo
#2: The Woo - Pop Smoke/50 Cent/Roddy Ricch
#1: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello

My Bottom 5 Picks

#5: Party Girl - StaySolidRocky
#4: Die From A Broken Heart - Maddie & Tae
#3: death bed (coffee for your head) - Powfu/beabadoobee
#2: Adore You - Harry Styles
#1: We Paid - Lil Baby/42 Dugg

Top 20 Ranking

0 - Crap:
#20: Adore You - Harry Styles

1 - Bad:
#19: POPSTAR - DJ Khaled/Drake

2 - Mediocre:
NONE!

3 - Decent:

#18: my tears ricochet - Taylor Swift

#17: cardigan - Taylor Swift
#16: the last great american dynasty - Taylor Swift

4 - Good:

#15: Break My Heart - Dua Lipa

#14: Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles

#13: Circles - Post Malone
#12: the 1 - Taylor Swift

#11: Savage (Remix) - Megan Thee Stallion/Beyoncé

5 - Great:

#10: I Hope - Gabby Barrett

#9: Roses (Remix) - SAINt JHN/Imanbek

#8: WHATS POPPIN (Remix) - Jack Harlow/Tory Lanez/DaBaby/Lil Wayne

#7: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

#6: Blueberry Faygo - Lil Mosey

#5: Go Crazy - Chris Brown/Young Thug

#4: exile - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver

#3: ROCKSTAR - DaBaby/Roddy Ricch
#2: Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo

Bonus: 6 - Best Song in the Top 40

#1: Come & Go - Juice WRLD/Marshmello

Overall Score: 81/100 = 81%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: Intentions - Justin Bieber/Quavo {25 weeks}
#4: Life Is Good - Future/Drake {29 weeks}
#3: The Bones - Maren Morris & Blinding Lights - The Weeknd {31 weeks}
#2: Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa & Adore You - Harry Styles {33 weeks}
#1: Circles - Post Malone {48 weeks}

On the Verge
Hard To Forget - Sam Hunt (RE-ENTRY)

betty - Taylor Swift (DEBUT)
Bluebird - Miranda Lambert (RE-ENTRY)

illicit affairs - Taylor Swift (DEBUT)
The Box - Roddy Ricch (RE-ENTRY*)

Nobody's Love - Maroon 5 (DEBUT)

mad woman - Taylor Swift (DEBUT)
Falling - Trevor Daniel (RE-ENTRY)
Chasin' You - Morgan Wallen (RE-ENTRY)
The Bigger Picture - Lil Baby (RE-ENTRY)
Lion King On Ice - J. Cole (DEBUT)
The Climb Back - J. Cole (DEBUT)
One Big Country Song - LOCASH
Emotionally Scarred - Lil Baby
GREECE - DJ Khaled/Drake (RE-ENTRY*)

We lost some Top 40 songs that came back to On the Verge this week: Hard To Forget, Bluebird, The Box, Falling, Chasin' You, The Bigger Picture and GREECE. I'm really sad that Hard To Forget and The Box are gone, but happy that Bluebird and Falling are gone. Although they'll all probably be back next week... maybe not GREECE.

Anyways, getting into more Taylor Swift, we have betty. Um... harmonica? Anyways, other than that, this song is just super boring. There's literally nothing to comment about here. Also... whose perspective is this from? I think it's a story, so whatever. Although I've read that this is gonna be the next single after exile, so great. It's better than cardigan though, because the production's much more interesting.

Our second-last Taylor Swift song today is illicit affairs. I actually like this song. It's slow, but it's actually interesting. This is how you do a slow song. Taylor sounds good, and there's actually some production. The bridge is also quite good. The chorus is solid, and yeah, I like this.

Next up is Nobody's Love by Maroon 5. Yeah, I've grown out of this song. I've realized that most of the song is actually quite boring, and Adam Levine doesn't actually sound that great. I think I was just happy that it was better than Memories. Once it does start up though, it's solid.

Our last Taylor Swift song is next, and it's called mad woman. This one is also blue. It sounds kind of boring, and there's seriously not much to talk about here that I haven't already touched on on every other song.

Mini J. Cole album bomb anyone? We have two J. Cole songs next, starting off with Lion King On Ice. This song's a little weird, but it's solid. J. Cole has solid flow, but the chorus is just so weird. I have absolutely no clue what's happening with the background vocals, and I'm not sure what J. Cole's doing in the chorus. But yeah, this is still decent, because I actually quite like J. Cole's voice.

The next J. Cole song is The Climb Back. This song is great. J. Cole has fantastic flow here, and it's pretty much Lion King On Ice without the constant weird background vocals (they're still there), but yeah, J. Cole sounds really good here.

Best On the Verge Debut: The Climb Back - J. Cole

On the Verge Ranking

0 - Crap:

#15: Bluebird - Miranda Lambert
#14: Emotionally Scarred - Lil Baby

1 - Bad:
#13: Falling - Trevor Daniel

2 - Mediocre:

#12: betty - Taylor Swift
#11: GREECE - DJ Khaled/Drake

3 - Decent:

#10: mad woman - Taylor Swift

#9: One Big Country Song - LOCASH

#8: Lion King On Ice - J. Cole
#7: Nobody's Love - Maroon 5

4 - Good:

#6: Chasin' You - Morgan Wallen

#5: illicit affairs - Taylor Swift

#4: The Climb Back - J. Cole
#3: The Bigger Picture - Lil Baby

5 - Great:

#2: The Box - Roddy Ricch
#1: Hard To Forget - Sam Hunt

Overall Score: 42/75 = 56%

And When I Felt Like I Was An Old Blurb-igan

There were a few songs that left this week that didn't make it back to On the Verge: Sunday Best, Conversations and Hate The Other Side. I expected this from the Juice WRLD songs, but why does Sunday Best have to leave? It's still really good.

We lost a lot of On the Verge songs this week: Rags2Riches, Life's A Mess, Said Sum, Toosie Slide, Girls in the Hood, Supalonely, Walk Em Down, Blood On My Jeans, Righteous, If the World Was Ending, Got What I Got, I Love My Country and Got It On Me. I'm really sad about Got It On Me and Walk Em Down, but happy that Supalonely's gone.

Can The Woo stay a bit longer? Please?

Haha, We Paid is losing so much momentum.

Come & Go took a pretty big fall this week, which kind of sucks, because I was kind of hoping that it could be a huge hit.

POPSTAR also took a pretty big fall though, so I'm happy about that.

Savage Love still managed to jump, and is now in the top 10!

Yeah, not much else to talk about. See you guys next week in an actual normal week.

Hot 100 Exits from Past Top 40 Songs

Sunday Best - Surfaces (#40) [#19] {21 weeks}

Titanic - Juice WRLD (#62) [#14] {2 weeks}

Stay High - Juice WRLD (#64) [#34] {2 weeks}

Bad Energy - Juice WRLD (#86) [#16] {2 weeks}

THE SCOTTS - THE SCOTTS (#74) [1 week at #1] {13 weeks}

Tell Me U Luv Me - Juice WRLD/Trippie Redd (#77) [#38] {4 weeks}

Fighting Demons - Juice WRLD (#79) [#35] {2 weeks}

Does To Me - Luke Combs/Eric Church (#88) [#20] {19 weeks}

Yeah, this was expected from all the Juice WRLD songs and Does To Me, since it was losing momentum from the first week I started doing this, but I'm really sad to see Sunday Best and THE SCOTTS leave, since both were great songs.

Kwaheri, everybody! See you all soon.