Week of October 16, 2021 - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (6)

Hey, everybody! So, after a relatively boring week, we're jumping right back into the eventful weeks with five Countdown exits, four Countdown debuts, one Countdown re-entry, six Hit-Bound debuts, one Hit-Bound re-entry, seven Hit-Bound dropouts, two 10+ spot drops, a 10-spot jump, two 5+ spot jumps into the top 5, and two songs pulling a Sunday Best. So yeah, I have a lot to talk about this week.

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

I am not a woman, I'm a god - Halsey (#28) [#22] {7 weeks}

Arcade - Duncan Laurence (#27) [#10] {14 weeks}

Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish (#22) [#22] {8 weeks}

everything sucks - vaultboy (#21) [#15] {8 weeks}

People Watching - Conan Gray (#19) [#17] {10 weeks} [x2]

Last Week's #1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (5)

#30: For Tonight - Giveon (DEBUT) [2 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#29: justified - Kacey Musgraves (-4) [#25] {4 weeks}

#28: Way 2 Sexy - Drake/Future/Young Thug (+1) [#28] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#27: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS (DEBUT) [2 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#26: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers (-11) [#2] {21 weeks}

#25: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear (RE-ENTRY) [#13] {11 weeks}

#24: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo (-6) [9 weeks at #1] {21 weeks}

#23: love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay (DEBUT) [2 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#22: Paralyzed - Sueco (+8) [#22] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#21: Sheesh! - Surfaces/Tai Verdes (+5) [#21] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#20: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY (DEBUT) [3 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#19: Who's In Your Head - Jonas Brothers (+4) [#19] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#18: Need to Know - Doja Cat (+2) [#18] {7 weeks} *new peak*

#17: Summer of Love - Shawn Mendes/Tainy (-4) [#9] {8 weeks}

#16: @ my worst - blackbear (-2) [#14] {8 weeks}

#15: Ghost - Justin Bieber (+2) [#15] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#14: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X (+10) [#14] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#13: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran (-10) [5 weeks at #1] {16 weeks}

#12: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd (-4) [#7] {16 weeks}

#11: Beggin' - Måneskin (+5) [#8] {10 weeks}

#10: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn (-) [#7] {19 weeks}

#9: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes (-3) [#6] {10 weeks}

#8: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo (+1) [#8] {7 weeks}

#7: Love Again - Dua Lipa (-3) [#3] {13 weeks}

#6: Shivers - Ed Sheeran (+5) [#6] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#5: Take My Breath - The Weeknd (-) [#5] {10 weeks}

#4: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots (-2) [#2] {13 weeks}

#3: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow (+9) [#3] {11 weeks} *new peak*

#2: Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU (+5) [#2] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (-) [6th week at #1] {14 weeks}

Last Year's #1: Falling - Harry Styles [2/6 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: Love Back - Why Don't We

Giveon scores his second song on the Countdown this week, after Heartbreak Anniversary tried really hard and failed to do so, called For Tonight. I'm really glad that this is the song that ended up debuting, because it's great. I still find Giveon's voice a bit strange, but I've grown used to it now, so it doesn't really bother me. Actually, I find him quite a good singer now. The chorus in this song is quite catchy for a ballad, and the verses hold up pretty nicely too. The production evolves really well here too. Overall, this is a great song, and I'd love to see it become a hit.

Also returning after dropping out of Hit-Bound last week, we have My Universe by Coldplay and BTS debuting at #27. Coldplay dropped their album, Music Of The Spheres yesterday, and I'm not so sure I plan on listening to it, but I might. Anyways, this song's pretty great, which is really surprising for a collaboration from two bands with very different sounds. But, for whatever reason, they mesh really well together. Chris Martin and the guys from BTS sound great together (even though the rapping verse feels out of place) and the production does a good job of sticking to Coldplay's sound while also including a nice little baseline that fits BTS. I wouldn't complain if this was a hit here.

For whatever reason, Memory by Kane Brown and blackbear is back at #25. I'm not really complaining, but I doubt this will last long.

Somehow, this next song got 40+ spins in the past week. Not sure why or how, but that's okay. I'm talking about love nwantiti (ah ah ah) by CKay, which debuts at #23 this week. Now, I'm not necessarily complaining that this is here, but I'm not ridiculously excited either. Honestly, this song's just kinda there, with not much to bring to the table. I like the production, but CKay's autotuned voice doesn't sound great. I have a feeling that this song's run will be very similar to Iko Iko's from earlier this year, where it sticks around the middle of the Countdown for around 10 weeks, then leaves.

Debuting all the way up at #20, we have WILLOW and Tyler Cole, A.K.A. THE ANXIETY with Meet Me At Our Spot. This song's actually grown on me a bit since it debuted Hit-Bound a few weeks ago. I think both WILLOW and Tyler Cole sound pretty good here, and the song's super catchy. The nice, chill, production fits the song really nicely, and the "woo! woo!" is stupidly hilarious and I love it. I'd love to see this do well here.

Best Debut: For Tonight - Giveon

Biggest Drop: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers (-11): Yeah, I definitely expected this. This will likely be this song's last week here, which I'm totally fine with, because it's faded on me.

Biggest Jump: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X (+10): Yay! I expected it to jump this week, but I didn't expect it to jump all the way up to #14. Needless to say, I'm super happy, and I'd love to see this make it to the top 10 sometime soon after INDUSTRY BABY starts to drop.

Countdown Ranking

0 - Awful:

#30: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

#29: Way 2 Sexy - Drake/Future/Young Thug

#28: Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU

1 - Bad:

#27: Need to Know - Doja Cat

2 - Mediocre:

#26: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn

#25: Sheesh! - Surfaces/Tai Verdes

#24: Summer of Love - Shawn Mendes/Tainy

#23: Paralyzed - Sueco

3 - Decent:

#22: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#21: love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay

#20: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

4 - Good:

#19: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#18: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

#17: Who's In Your Head - Jonas Brothers

#16: Beggin' - Måneskin

5 - Great:

#15: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#14: justified - Kacey Musgraves

#13: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

#12: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS

#11: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#10: Love Again - Dua Lipa

#9: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

#8: @ my worst - blackbear

#7: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow

#6: For Tonight - Giveon

#5: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots

#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#3: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#2: Ghost - Justin Bieber

#1: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

Overall Score: 109/150 = 73%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: Love Again - Dua Lipa & Saturday - Twenty One Pilots {13 weeks}
#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber {14 weeks}
#3: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran & You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd {16 weeks}
#2: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn {19 weeks}
#1: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers & good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo {21 weeks}

#1 Recommendation for Hits 1: I Need a Minute - Imagine Dragons

My Favourite Song Last Year: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby

My Least Favourite Song Last Year: Moral of the Story - Ashe/Niall Horan

Most Missed Countdown Song: I'm Ready - AJR

Hit-Bound

One Day - Monsta X [6]

Easy On Me - Adele [1]

Alone - Trevor Daniel [4]

The Real Thing - Dixie [1]

MONEY - LISA [1]

Chasing Stars - Alesso/Marshmello/James Bay [3]

Last One Standing - Skylar Grey/Polo G/Mozzy/Eminem [2]

Darling - Halsey [1]

MAMMAMIA - Måneskin [2]

Love Back - Why Don't We [2]

i hope ur miserable until ur dead - Nessa Barrett [7]

Bad Day - Justus Bennetts [1]

Giving In To The Love - AURORA [1]

Well, it finally happened. After five years, Adele is finally back with the first single from her upcoming album 30, which is called Easy On Me. I've never been a die-hard Adele fan, but I tend to enjoy anything she puts out, so I had decently high expectations for this song. And boy, did it deliver. It's classic Adele, just how we like it. Adele (as per usual) sounds incredible here, and the piano line fits the song really nicely. I have absolutely no doubts that this will debut next week with the highest debut of the year so far, somewhere in the top 10.

Dixie D'Amelio brings a new song to Hits 1 this week. This one's called The Real Thing, and it's pretty good. Dixie sounds great here, and the chorus is pretty catchy. The production's good, but the last chorus is so anticlimactic. I actually hate the last chorus because of that. It seems like it's building up to a drop, then delivers the exact same production that's been heard throughout the song with no additions. It's still a good song, though.

Next up, we have BLACKPINK member LISA with her new song MONEY... what did I just listen to? Um... I guess this song isn't awful, but it's honestly just really strange. It goes through a bunch of changes throughout the song, and I'm not sure if I particularly like any of them. LISA sounds good throughout the song, which is good, but the production's kinda weird. On top of that, the writing also isn't great. This song reminds me why I wasn't a huge fan of k-pop before BTS released Dynamite.

Chasing Stars re-entered Hit-Bound after leaving it a few weeks ago. I'm fine with this being back, although I doubt it'll debut the Countdown.

We got another Halsey song on Hit-Bound this week, as Hits 1 picked up on another non-single from their album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power today, with this one being called Darling. This song's honestly beautiful. Halsey sounds angelic throughout the song, the writing's an amazing ode to their son, Ender, and they just execute it fantastically. The acoustic guitar throughout the song sounds great, and I honestly don't wish that there were any more production, the acoustic sound fits the song perfectly. Overall, I'd love to see this become a hit, though it'll likely drop out next week.

Next up is more of a guilty pleasure for me, Bad Day by Justus Bennetts. This song's super short, and kinda stupid, but it's really fun, and I like it a lot. Justus doesn't sound great here (and kinda reminds me of Tai Verdes, honestly), but the production's good, and the chorus is super catchy. I'm not really sure what else to say about this, except that I like it probably more than I should.

Finally, we have AURORA with a new song called Giving In To The Love. And I just wanna ask, does anyone else find the phrasing of that title really strange, or is it just me? Anyways, this song's fine. I'm not a huge fan of AURORA's voice, and I never have been, but she sounds decent in the verses. The production's pretty cool, honestly, and the pre-chorus is great. But other than that, this song isn't really anything special. This is decent for now, but it could definitely drop to mediocre.

As for the Hit-Bound Dropouts... *sighs* we have seven. 24/5, Cheat Codes' Hurricane, Don't Be Shy, Reckless (again), Get Into It (Yuh), edamame and Angel Baby. I really liked 24/5, so I'm pretty sad that it's gone. Hurricane finds itself in the abyss, so it's definitely not gone. Don't Be Shy was never that good, so I don't care about it. Reckless was just taking up space, so I'm also fine with this leaving. Get Into It (Yuh) almost started to grow on me again, but not enough that I care that it's gone. edamame was stupidly great, so I'm honestly kinda sad that it's gone. As for Angel Baby, it was extremely forgettable, so I don't care that it's gone.

Oh yeah, also, both love nwantiti and Meet Me At Our Spot both pulled Sunday Bests this week, which explains why there are only 13 songs listed here.

Best Hit-Bound Debut: Darling - Halsey

Hit-Bound Ranking

0 - Awful:

NONE!

1 - Bad:

#13: MONEY - LISA

2 - Mediocre:

#12: Alone - Trevor Daniel

3 - Decent:

#11: Giving In To The Love - AURORA

#10: Chasing Stars - Alesso/Marshmello/James Bay

4 - Good:

#9: The Real Thing - Dixie

#8: Bad Day - Justus Bennetts

#7: MAMMAMIA - Måneskin

5 - Great:

#6: One Day - Monsta X

#5: Love Back - Why Don't We

#4: Easy On Me - Adele

#3: i hope ur miserable until ur dead - Nessa Barrett

#2: Last One Standing - Skylar Grey/Polo G/Mozzy/Eminem

#1: Darling - Halsey

You, You Are My Blurb-iverse

We lost five songs from the Countdown this week, I am not a woman, I'm a god, Arcade, Happier Than Ever, everything sucks and People Watching (again). I am not a woman was good, but honestly quite forgettable. Arcade was also good, and had a good run here, so I'm not really complaining. Happier Than Ever should've done much better here, and I'm really sad to see it go. everything sucks lasted for longer than I expected it to, so that's good, and I'm not sure why People Watching re-entered a couple weeks ago, so I don't care that it's gone again.

For whatever reason, justified dropped down to #29. Kinda sucks, because the song's pretty good.

I'm genuinely surprised that good 4 u is still here, considering how quickly Hits 1 has been letting songs go recently. I'm still not complaining, though, as I still quite like the song.

Paralyzed jumped a ton after its debut last week. I'm not sure why this happened, and I really hope that it doesn't stick around for long after it's done being the One to Watch. Also, quick side note: the One to Watch songs have recently been staying for a while. I remember back when the One to Watch thing was kinda new, the songs tended to leave immediately after their "One to Watch" status was removed.

Sheesh! should not have jumped as much as it did. I hope this is short-lived.

Bad Habits took a huge hit this week, dropping ten spots to #13, which I'm alright with, because the song's been around for a while. Also, for whatever reason, Spyder Harrison seemed very adamant about the fact that Love Again was #3 last week and Bad Habits was #4, which just isn't true.

Beggin' has slowly climbed its way back up to #11, which is awesome. I'd love to see it become a hit here.

Oh, thank goodness, Fancy Like fell to #9 this week. Hopefully this means that it'll drop some more.

Love Again fell out of the top 5 this week, which kinda sucks, because it's a great song, and should've been at least bigger than We're Good.

Shivers finds itself at #6 this week, which is awesome. I'd love for this to hit #1.

Saturday lost its #2 spot this week and fell to #4, which isn't great, but a #2 peak is still better than Twenty One Pilots have done in a while, so I can't complain.

Completely out of nowhere, INDUSTRY BABY jumped nine spots to #3 this week, which is awesome. This song's just kept growing on me, and I'd love for it to become both artist's first #1 here.

Cold Heart jumped all the way up to #2... this didn't need to happen. I really hope this doesn't replace STAY at the top spot next week.

Speaking of STAY, it's been plummeting in airplay, so this is likely its last week at #1. Six weeks is incredible (and the second-most this year), though, so I'm not complaining whatsoever.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100

#1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#2: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow

#3: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

#4: Way 2 Sexy - Drake/Future/Young Thug

#5: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#6: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#7: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#8: Levitating - Dua Lipa

#10: Essence - WizKid/Justin Bieber/Tems

#11: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#12: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS

#13: Need To Know - Doja Cat

#14: Save Your Tears (Remix) - The Weeknd/Ariana Grande

#15: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

#16: Beggin' - Måneskin

#17: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#18: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#20: Girls Want Girls - Drake/Lil Baby

#21: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

#22: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

#26: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

#29: Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

#31: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#32: Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU

#34: A-O-K - Tai Verdes

#35: love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay

#37: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

#39: Peaches - Justin Bieber/Daniel Caesar/Giveon

#40: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

#41: Love Again - Dua Lipa

#44: Hurricane - Kanye West/The Weeknd/Lil Baby

#47: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#48: Wild Side - Normani/Cardi B

#49: Late At Night - Roddy Ricch

#58: Butter - BTS

#62: Woman - Doja Cat

#68: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

#70: Thot S*** - Megan Thee Stallion

#78: Last One Standing - Skylar Grey/Polo G/Mozzy/Eminem

#84: Summer of Love - Shawn Mendes/Tainy

#85: Get Into It (Yuh) - Doja Cat

#93: Ghost - Justin Bieber

Top 10 on the Hunger Games Countdown

#10: Paralyzed - Sueco

#9: edamame - bbno$/Rich Brian

#8: Dinero - Trinidad Cardona

#7: In The Morning - Jennifer Lopez

#6: Way Less Sad - AJR

#5: Reckless - Madison Beer

#4: Sucks Being Sober - Annika Wells

#3: Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

#2: Leave Before You Love Me - Marshmello/Jonas Brothers

#1: F***BOY - Dixie

Top 10 If the Countdown Made Sense

#10: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn

#9: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#8: Need To Know - Doja Cat

#7: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

#6: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

#5: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#4: Beggin' - Måneskin

#3: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow

#2: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

Kwaheri, everybody! See you all in the next one.