Week of October 23, 2021 - Ed Sheeran (1)

[Editing: DON'T forget to replace this with an intro. I can only imagine what would happen if I forgot...]

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

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

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

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

Last Week's #1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (6)

#30: love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay (-7) [#23] {2 weeks}

#29: Hurricane - Cheat Codes/Grey/Tyson Ritter (DEBUT) [2 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#28: Way 2 Sexy - Drake/Future/Young Thug (-) [#28] {5 weeks}

#27: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY (-7) [#20] {2 weeks}

#26: For Tonight - Giveon (+4) [#26] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#25: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo (-1) [9 weeks at #1] {22 weeks}

#24: edamame - bbno$/Rich Brian (DEBUT) [3 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#23: justified - Kacey Musgraves (+6) [#23] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#22: Sheesh! - Surfaces/Tai Verdes (-1) [#21] {5 weeks}

#21: Paralyzed - Sueco (+1) [#21] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#20: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS (+7) [#20] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#19: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X (-5) [#14] {4 weeks}

#18: Ghost - Justin Bieber (-3) [#15] {4 weeks}

#17: Need to Know - Doja Cat (+1) [#17] {8 weeks} *new peak*

#16: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran (-3) [5 weeks at #1] {17 weeks}

#15: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear (+10) [#13] {12 weeks}

#14: Who's In Your Head - Jonas Brothers (+5) [#14] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#13: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn (-3) [#7] {20 weeks}

#12: Beggin' - Måneskin (-1) [#8] {11 weeks}

#11: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd (+1) [#7] {17 weeks}

#10: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo (-2) [#8] {8 weeks}

#9: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes (-) [#6] {11 weeks}

#8: Love Again - Dua Lipa (-1) [#3] {14 weeks}

#7: Easy On Me - Adele (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#6: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots (-2) [#2] {14 weeks}

#5: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow (-2) [#3] {12 weeks}

#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber (-3) [6 weeks at #1] {15 weeks}

#3: Take My Breath - The Weeknd (+2) [#3] {11 weeks} *new peak*

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

#1: Shivers - Ed Sheeran (+5) [1st week at #1] {4 weeks} *new peak*

Last Year's #1: Falling - Harry Styles [3/6 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: The Real Thing - Dixie

So we have three debuts on this week's countdown, the first two of which dropped out of Hit-Bound last week. We'll kick it all off with Hurricane by Cheat Codes, Grey and Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects. This song's pretty good. The chorus is pretty catchy, the production's not the best, but it's fine, and Tyson Ritter sounds pretty good here (and kinda like Louis Tomlinson). Overall, it's a good song, but it's pretty forgettable, and I'm not sure how it debuted. I don't expect it to last very long at all here.

Next up, coming in at #24, we have edamame by bbno$ and Rich Brian. This song's quite good. Overall, I'd describe this song as stupidly great. The production is kinda strange, but super fun. Both bbno$ and Rich Brian sound great here, and have really good flows in the verses. The chorus is ridiculously catchy, and I find it stuck in my head a lot. My only real issue with this is that the lyrics are... questionable at best. Anyways, I hope this does well here.

Finally, we have Adele's newest single, Easy On Me debuting all the way up at #7 this week. That's right, folks. That's an all-time record, tying Sucker's #7 debut. And, I don't even think that the top-30/top-45 thing made much of a difference at all, as this song definitely didn't have enough momentum to debut last week, even with a top-45 countdown. Anyways, this song's pretty great, but it's not really anything special. I mean, if you told me it was released five years ago, I would definitely agree with you. But, that being said, it's still an Adele song, and it's still great. Adele sounds amazing here, the piano line is well-constructed and the last chorus is easily the best part of the song. I have no doubts that this will hit #1 in a couple of weeks, which I'm totally fine with, but I hope INDUSTRY BABY can hit #1 before it gets there.

Best Debut: Easy On Me - Adele

Biggest Drop: love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay & Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY (-7): Yeah, so for some reason, both of these songs pulled Sunday Bests again this week, and both fell a lot from their debuts last week. I only have one question: why?

Biggest Jump: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear (+10): Well... that was certainly... unexpected. I'm not really complaining, as this is a pretty good song, but I just didn't really expect it to do anything after re-entering last week.

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: Paralyzed - Sueco

3 - Decent:

#23: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

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

4 - Good:

#21: Hurricane - Cheat Codes/Grey/Tyson Ritter

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

#19: Beggin' - Måneskin

#18: edamame - bbno$/Rich Brian

#17: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

#16: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

5 - Great:

#15: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#14: justified - Kacey Musgraves

#13: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

#12: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS

#11: Easy On Me - Adele

#10: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#9: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

#8: Love Again - Dua Lipa

#7: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#6: For Tonight - Giveon

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

#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#3: Saturday - Twenty One Pilots

#2: Ghost - Justin Bieber

#1: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

Overall Score: 112/150 = 75%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: Love Again - Dua Lipa & Saturday - Twenty One Pilots {14 weeks}
#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber {15 weeks}
#3: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran & You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd {17 weeks}
#2: A-O-K - Tai Verdes/24kGoldn {20 weeks}
#1: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo {22 weeks}

#1 Recommendation for Hits 1: Making A Fire - Foo Fighters

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

My Least Favourite Song Last Year: Heather - Conan Gray

Most Missed Countdown Song: Lucid Dreams - Juice WRLD

Hit-Bound

The Real Thing - Dixie [2]

i hope ur miserable until ur dead - Nessa Barrett [8]

Boyz - Jesy Nelson/Nicki Minaj [1]

Bad Day - Justus Bennetts [2]

Darling - Halsey [2]

Moth To A Flame - Swedish House Mafia/The Weeknd [1]

Giving In To The Love - AURORA [2]

Dynamite - Sean Paul/Sia [1]

One Day - Monsta X [7]

U Gurl - Walker Hayes [1]

MONEY - LISA [2]

The Weekend - 88rising/BIBI [1]

MAMMAMIA - Måneskin [3]

Alone - Trevor Daniel [5]

Our first Hit-Bound debut this week comes from ex-Little Mix member Jesy Nelson, teaming up with Nicki Minaj on her new song, Boyz. Now, I would find this song pretty good. Both Jesy and Nicki sound quite good here, and the chorus is pretty catchy, but the production here is extremely messy. The guitar in the chorus just sounds super out-of-place, and its rhythm feels off for whatever reason. And that's pretty much the only production that this song has, as nothing else is prominent enough to focus on instead of it. Will this song grow on me? I guess we'll see.

Well, it's been a very long time since we've heard anything from Swedish House Mafia, but this week they team up with none other than The Weeknd on a brand-new song, Moth To A Flame. From the moment I first heard this song, I knew that I loved it. Abel sounds great in this song, and his voice fits the darker production in the verses super well. Then, the chorus hits, and melodically, it's amazing. On top of that, the beat has just enough substance to keep me interested in the song, while still keeping the feel of the song dark. Overall, this is a great song, and a much better attempt at an EDM-The Weeknd song than Over Now.

*fake enthusiasm* Oh, great. New Sean Paul. This week, he teams up with Sia, on a new song called Dynamite. The only thing that I really like about this song is the super-fun production. Other than that, it's not that good. I've never really liked Sean Paul's voice, and I find Sia's voice decent. But, this song is essentially a Sean Paul song with a super-repetitive Sia hook. Overall, it's a little too fun for me to dislike, but it's not good either. Which I guess makes it decent? Either way, BTS' song of the same name is much better.

NOOOOOOOO WHY!? NOBODY WANTED MORE WALKER HAYES! *sighs* After the success of Fancy Like, Walker Hayes decided he would go a little more pop on his new song, U Gurl. I despise this song. Honestly, it's worse than Fancy Like. At least that song was melodic. In this song, Walker Hayes decided to do the thing that some country artists decide to do in the verses, where they're pretty much just talking. I hate that style of "singing" with a passion. On top of that, it's got this obnoxious, pop-country bassline in the hook. Mix all that up with Walker Hayes' voice and some typical, awful, country music writing and you have an atrocious attempt at a song. But, y'know. Some people like this, and that's totally fine.

Well, we'll finish off our Hit-Bound debuts on a much better note, as 88rising and BIBI have released a new song called The Weekend. This is a pretty good song. BIBI sounds great here, the production's kinda funky, and the song as a whole is catchy. I'd love to see this become a hit.

As for dropouts, we lost Chasing Stars (again), Last One Standing and Love Back. For the former, I'm not sure what the point of bringing it back last week was if they were just gonna ditch it again, but whatever. For the latter two, they were both amazing songs, and definitely should've been huge here.

Best Hit-Bound Debut: Moth To A Flame - Swedish House Mafia/The Weeknd

Hit-Bound Ranking

-1 - Possibly the Worst Song I've Ever Heard:

#14: U Gurl - Walker Hayes

1 - Bad:

#13: MONEY - LISA

2 - Mediocre:

#12: Boyz - Jesy Nelson/Nicki Minaj

#11: Alone - Trevor Daniel

3 - Decent:

#10: Dynamite - Sean Paul/Sia

#9: Giving In To The Love - AURORA

4 - Good:

#8: The Real Thing - Dixie

#7: MAMMAMIA - Måneskin

#6: Bad Day - Justus Bennetts

5 - Great:

#5: The Weekend - 88rising/BIBI

#4: Moth To A Flame - Swedish House Mafia/The Weeknd

#3: One Day - Monsta X

#2: Darling - Halsey

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

Overall Score: 47/70 = 67%

In the Abyss

Angel Baby - Troye Sivan

Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G

Essence - WizKid/Justin Bieber/Tems

Faking Love - Anitta/Saweetie

Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

HIT IT - Black Eyed Peas/Saweetie/Lele Pons

Hurricane - Kanye West/The Weeknd/Lil Baby

I Feel Good - Pitbull/Anthony Watts/DJ White Shadow

Love Tonight - Shouse

Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

Well... Hit-Bound's being a little weird at the moment. Let me explain: Only one song currently on Hit-Bound is getting spins outside of any weekend shows, and that's Moth To A Flame (if we're not counting love nwantiti and Meet Me At Our Spot). Lately, songs have been leaving Hit-Bound, then starting to get spins, and then debuting the Countdown later, which makes Hit-Bound almost work like SiriusXM The Pulse's new music show, where songs only get spins after they've left it. Now, let me introduce to you something called the "Hits 1 Abyss". It's a state that a song is granted when they're being played on the station, but aren't played on either Hit-Bound or the Weekend Countdown. It's where many Hit-Bound songs have been going recently, and it's also where some old Countdown songs find themselves. Above, I have a list of every song in said "abyss", which includes Hit-Bound songs receiving spins (or songs that haven't made an appearance on Hit-Bound yet. More on that later) as well as old Countdown songs receiving spins that were included on my most recent Hit-Maker survey, meaning that they aren't gone. I'm gonna start a review of the "abyss" now, so this week, I'll go and review all the songs in the "abyss" that I haven't talked about yet.

But before we get to that, though, I'd like to talk about every other song that finds itself in the "abyss". For old Hit-Bound songs, we have Angel Baby, HIT IT and I Feel Good. I'm relatively happy that Angel Baby and I Feel Good aren't completely gone, as they're both pretty good, but I'd be more than happy if HIT IT could fully leave sometime soon. As for old Countdown songs, we have some good ones, like Essence, Happier Than Ever and Kanye's Hurricane, and one really bad one in Love Tonight.

The first new song that I get to talk about this week is what's been announced as the next One to Watch, Better Days by NEIKED, Mae Muller and Polo G. This song's a bop. The production from NEIKED is great, and super upbeat and fun. Mae Muller sounds great in her verse and chorus, and Polo G's verse is, as per usual, nothing short of amazing. Everything about this song just comes together so well, and the three artists work really well together. I'm pretty sure that all three of them are being considered as the Ones to Watch, too, which is great.

Next up, we have a new one from Anitta and Saweetie called Faking Love. I don't have a great track record with liking Saweetie's music, so I wasn't too excited for this song when I saw it, but it's much better than I expected it to be. Anitta sounds great here, and Saweetie really shocked me with a spectacular verse. My only issue with this is that the production's a little hollow, especially in the hook. But, other than that, this is a good song, and I'd love to see it on either the Countdown or Hit-Bound eventually.

For our last new "abyss" song, we have Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift. I was debating on whether I wanted to include this or not, as it could technically be considered an old song, but then it started falling in airplay, so I thought "why not"? So yeah, even though Taylor's releasing RED (Taylor's Version) in November, she decided to re-record a song from 1989, as it was getting tons of streams on TikTok. Overall, this is a great song. The original's great, but the production's a little more orchestral here than in the original, which is great, and obviously, Taylor sounds better here. I doubt that this will debut the Countdown, as Love Story (Taylor's Version) didn't do too well, but, then again, it did debut, so you never know.

Go BLUUUUUUUUUUUUURBY on Me, Baby

We lost three Countdown songs this week, Leave Before You Love Me, Summer of Love and @ my worst. Leave Before You Love Me was pretty old, so I'm not sad at all that it's gone. Summer of Love was nothing short of underwhelming, so I also don't care that it's gone, and @ my worst was great, but admittedly pretty forgettable, so it's fine.

For Tonight, justified and My Universe all got big jumps after being in the bottom 5 last week, which is great for each song.

So, apparently, after only two weeks on the Countdown, Paralyzed isn't the One to Watch anymore. Not sure what that's all about.

Nooooooo. Why did THATS WHAT I WANT and Ghost both drop? That's not fair!

Who's In Your Head is in the top 15 now, which I definitely expected. I'd be fine if this was a hit, but it shouldn't be too big.

Aw, Saturday isn't in the top 5 anymore... big sad.

Well, we have a new #1, as STAY dropped to #4 this week. And it's... Shivers? Oh, come on. INDUSTRY BABY deserved the top spot so much more than Shivers. But, of course, you've gotta give the #1 to the white guy with the guitar. You can't have a black person be #1 unless they're dead or The Weeknd. Do better, Hits 1.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100

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

#2: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#3: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

#4: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

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

#6: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#7: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA
#8: Levitating - Dua Lipa

#9: Essence - WizKid/Justin Bieber/Tems

#10: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#11: Need to Know - Doja Cat

#12: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

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

#15: Beggin' - Måneskin

#16: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#18: My Universe - Coldplay/BTS

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

#21: traitor - Olivia Rodrigo

#22: Girls Want Girls - Drake/Lil Baby

#24: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

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

#26: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

#30: Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

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

#32: Ghost - Justin Bieber

#34: A-O-K - Tai Verdes

#38: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

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

#42: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#44: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#47: Love Again - Dua Lipa

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

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

#52: Wild Side - Normani/Cardi B

#57: Late At Night - Roddy Ricch

#60: Memory - Kane Brown/blackbear

#63: Woman - Doja Cat

#68: Easy On Me - Adele

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

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

#84: Summer of Love - Shawn Mendes/Tainy

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

#98: For Tonight - Giveon

Top 10 on the Hunger Games Countdown

#10: Paralyzed - Sueco

#9: Don't Go Yet - Camila Cabello

#8: NDA - Billie Eilish

#7: F***BOY - Dixie

#6: Summer of Love - Shawn Mendes/Tainy

#5: Reckless - Madison Beer

#4: jump - Against The Current

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

#2: Lifestyle - Jason Derulo/Adam Levine

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

Top 10 If the Countdown Made Sense

#10: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

#9: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#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: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

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

#1: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

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