Week of February 5, 2022 - Lil Nas X (2)

Hi, all! I'm really sorry that this is so late, but I've been extremely busy lately, and I probably will continue to be. I'll try to get on a new schedule that works out for me, but I'm just gonna need you guys to give me a bit while I figure that out. For the sake of not falling behind, I'll be skipping last week's Top 40, because I haven't even started making the list. I'll just give Velcro another week at #1, cool? Also, reveals for the Rankdown should start up again this week. Anyways, this week's Countdown was honestly quite good, there was a lot of great stuff happening, especially with some of our entrants on both the Countdown and Hit-Bound. Here are our exits for this week.

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

I Feel Good - Pitbull/Anthony Watts/DJ White Shadow (#19) [#13] {8 weeks}

Moth To A Flame - Swedish House Mafia/The Weeknd (#17) [#9] {13 weeks}

Smokin Out The Window - Silk Sonic (#15) [#14] {12 weeks}

Bite Me - Avril Lavigne (#12) [#10] {10 weeks} [x2]

Last Week's #1: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X (1)

#30: Have Mercy - Chlöe (DEBUT) [10 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#29: I Love You So - The Walters (DEBUT) [3 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#28: I AM WOMAN - Emmy Meli (-1) [#25] {7 weeks}

#27: Do It To It - ACRAZE/Cherish (+3) [#23] {9 weeks}

#26: High - The Chainsmokers (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#25: Need to Know - Doja Cat (-3) [#8] {23 weeks}

#24: Love It When You Hate Me - Avril Lavigne/blackbear (DEBUT) [3 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#23: For Tonight - Giveon (-2) [#17] {17 weeks}

#22: Easy On Me - Adele (-8) [#2] {16 weeks}

#21: Big Energy - Latto (+7) [#21] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#20: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY (-) [#14] {17 weeks}

#19: Woman - Doja Cat (+7) [#19] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#18: WYD Now? - Sadie Jean (+5) [#18] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#17: Enemy - Imagine Dragons/JID (+12) [#17] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#16: I Hate U - SZA (+8) [#16] {4 weeks} *new peak*

#15: Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU (-8) [#2] {20 weeks}

#14: Fingers Crossed - Lauren Spencer-Smith (+2) [#14] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#13: Shivers - Ed Sheeran (-7) [14 weeks at #1] {19 weeks}

#12: GHOST TOWN - Benson Boone (+6) [#12] {9 weeks} *new peak*

#11: Sacrifice - The Weeknd (+2) [#11] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#10: Light Switch - Charlie Puth (+15) [#10] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#9: One Right Now - Post Malone/The Weeknd (+1) [#9] {13 weeks} *new peak*

#8: feel like s**t - Tate McRae (+3) [#8] {9 weeks} *new peak*

#7: Oh My God - Adele (+1) [#7] {9 weeks}

#6: Message In A Bottle (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift (+3) [#6] {11 weeks} *new peak*

#5: abcdefu - GAYLE (-) [#5] {9 weeks}

#4: Ghost - Justin Bieber (-) [#4] {19 weeks}

#3: Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G (-) [#3] {15 weeks}

#2: Overpass Graffiti - Ed Sheeran (-) [#2] {12 weeks}

#1: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X (-) [2nd week at #1] {19 weeks}

Last Year's #1: Levitating - Dua Lipa [2/3 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jax

So after spending way too long in the Abyss, Have Mercy by Chlöe (of R&B duo Chloe x Halle) debuts on the Countdown this week at #30. I'm really happy to see this here. Chlöe sounds great throughout this entire song, especially during the chorus with all the harmonies, and I think the dude's voice in the background is kinda fun, especially since it's not there the entire time. Yeah, this is just a really fun song that's decently catchy, and I enjoy it whenever it pops up.

Coming in immediately after that, we have a significantly worse song. At #29, it's I Love You So by The Walters, a song from 2014. I have no clue how or why this blew up on TikTok, but it did, so naturally, it gets a pop radio run right now. 'Cause that's the way things work now, apparently. Yeah, this song sucks. Whoever's singing here sounds very bad, the chorus is ridiculously annoying, and while the instrumentation's decent, it's definitely not enough to save the song from everything wrong with it. Why is this here? I seriously don't get why old, annoying songs and repetitive EDM songs blow up on TikTok so much.

The Chainsmokers' newest single, High, also debuts this week, at #25. This is actually quickly becoming the biggest Chainsmokers song with only Drew Taggart as a vocalist (even if I'm still not convinced The Kid LAROI isn't actually singing here). Anyways, this song's pretty decent. The drop's good, Drew sounds less bland than usual, and the upbeat pace of the song really drives it forward. My only real issue with the song is that the last drop feels extremely out of place, and I'm not sure why it sounds so different from the other drops. Ah, well, it's okay. I'm still perfectly fine with this being here.

Replacing Bite Me this week, we have Avril Lavigne's newest, Love It When You Hate Me featuring blackbear. I definitely like this more than Bite Me. Both Avril and blackbear sound great here, and both fit really well with this type of song in their own different ways, but also blend together really well. The chorus is quite catchy, Travis Barker's production is on point (as per usual), and I have a lot of fun listening to this. I'd love to see this become an actual hit.

Best Debut: Love It When You Hate Me - Avril Lavigne/blackbear

Biggest Drop: Easy On Me - Adele & Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU (-8): I find both of these songs to be overrated, and they both had very good runs here, so I'm not about to complain about either of these.

Biggest Jump: Light Switch - Charlie Puth (+15): Ayy, a top 10 song on its second week! That's awesome, and it makes me really hopeful for the rest of this song's run.

Countdown Ranking

0 - Awful:

#30: Do It To It - ACRAZE/Cherish

#29: Need to Know - Doja Cat

#28: I Love You So - The Walters

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

1 - Bad:

NONE!

2 - Mediocre:

#26: Woman - Doja Cat

3 - Decent:

#25: I Hate U - SZA

#24: WYD Now? - Sadie Jean

#23: High - The Chainsmokers

#22: Oh My God - Adele

#21: I AM WOMAN - Emmy Meli

#20: Overpass Graffiti - Ed Sheeran

4 - Good:

#19: GHOST TOWN - Benson Boone

#18: One Right Now - Post Malone/The Weeknd

#17: Easy On Me - Adele

5 - Great:

#16: feel like s**t - Tate McRae

#15: Have Mercy - Chlöe

#14: Fingers Crossed - Lauren Spencer-Smith

#13: Sacrifice - The Weeknd

#12: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#11: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#10: Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G

#9: Big Energy - Latto

#8: Love It When You Hate Me - Avril Lavigne/blackbear

#7: Ghost - Justin Bieber

#6: Message In A Bottle (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

#5: For Tonight - Giveon

#4: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

#3: abcdefu - GAYLE

#2: Light Switch - Charlie Puth

#1: Enemy - Imagine Dragons/JID

Overall Score: 112/150 = 75%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: Easy On Me - Adele {16 weeks}
#4: For Tonight - Giveon & Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY {17 weeks}
#3: Shivers - Ed Sheeran, Ghost - Justin Bieber & THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X {19 weeks}
#2: Cold Heart (Remix) - Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU {20 weeks}
#1: Need to Know - Doja Cat {23 weeks}

#1 Recommendation for Hits 1: Velcro - spill tab/Gus Dapperton

My Top 10 Songs Last Year

#10: Lie Lie Lie - Joshua Bassett (#19)

#9: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo (#3)

#8: my ex's best friend - Machine Gun Kelly/blackbear (#2)

#7: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd (#12)

#6: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby (#1)

#5: Monsters - All Time Low/Demi Lovato/blackbear (#4)

#4: positions - Ariana Grande (#14)

#3: Lasting Lover - Sigala/James Arthur (#23)

#2: My Head & My Heart - Ava Max (#27)

#1: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI (#24)

Most Missed Countdown Song: Still into You - Paramore

Hit-Bound

Chosen - Blxst/Tyga/Ty Dolla $ign [1]

So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Caroline Polachek [1]

Infinity - Jaymes Young [4]

Don't Text Me When You're Drunk - Stacey Ryan/Zai1k [1]

she's all i wanna be - Tate McRae [1]

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jax [3]

Boys Don't Cry - Anitta [2]

Anxiety - Coi Leray [2]

Every Summertime - NIKI [2]

Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold [1]

emo girl - Machine Gun Kelly/WILLOW [1]

Beg For You - Charli XCX/Rina Sawayama [2]

We Don't Talk About Bruno - Encanto Cast [1]

don't miss me - Claire Rosinkranz [3]

The Weekend - BIBI [16]

pushin P - Gunna/Future/Young Thug [1]

Abyss

love nwantiti (ah ah ah) - CKay

Peru - Fireboy DML/Ed Sheeran

Record Player - Daisy the Great/AJR

The Motto - Tiësto/Ava Max

Wandered To LA - Juice WRLD/Justin Bieber

When I'm Gone - Alesso/Katy Perry

Our first song is a song that should've debuted Hit-Bound a long time ago, but it's fine, it's here now. Chosen by Blxst, Tyga and Ty Dolla $ign. This is a very solid song. I'm a fan of pretty much anything Ty Dolla $ign puts out, so that instantly makes me like it more, but Blxst sounds quite good here, and his chorus is extremely catchy. I'm still not a huge fan of Tyga's voice, but his verse here really doesn't bother me. It's probably because the beat is so good, and it can support him really well. The guitar lick is awesome, and the way the instrumental stays kinda chill while still moving nicely with the song and feeling kinda upbeat is really cool. I'd love to see this debut the Countdown sometime soon. Will it? I'm not sure, it's probably 50/50.

Next up is a song blowing up on TikTok (because of course) by somebody named Caroline Polachek. This song's called So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings, and it's fine. The beat's a little weird, so I'm not a huge fan of that, but Caroline sounds pretty good throughout the song, so it's fine. This song isn't too memorable or all that interesting, though, so I'd be fine with this dropping out, which it probably will.

I really question how Hits 1 finds some of the songs that they do, and this next one is a good example of that. Because where the hell did they find out about Don't Text Me When You're Drunk by Stacey Ryan and Zai1k? I haven't heard of either artist, and it's not even like the song's going viral. Whatever, it's fine. This song's decent. Both artists' voices are kinda underwhelming (except for when Stacey does her runs at the end), but the beat's really fun, the chorus is kinda catchy, and I really like that last part. Cool. Moving on, then.

Tate McRae is an artist that I haven't been actively paying attention to, but I've kinda been forced into paying attention to by Hits 1, but if she makes any more songs like this new one, she's all i wanna be, I could be pretty interested in what she does next. I mean, sure, if you just slow this down and switch out the production for a piano line, it's just a typical Tate McRae song, but the thing is, the production isn't slow. It's this upbeat, almost-pop-punk-type production, which fits extremely well with Tate's voice for some reason. Speaking of Tate, she sounds really great here, probably the best she's sounded in a song yet. The chorus is so much fun, and I just really enjoy this song. I'd love to see this knock feel like s**t off the Countdown next week. Not because I dislike feel like s**t, just because I really enjoy this song.

This next song kinda come out of nowhere, but is starting to gain some traction lately, and will probably end up being our next One to Watch. It's Em Beihold with her song, Numb Little Bug. I love songs that sound happy, but have sadder lyrics, and this song does that really well. The chorus is so much fun, and is really upbeat and catchy, but the lyrics are really dark if you listen to them. But, yeah, the great production and Em Beihold's voice make this song a bop. Overall, this is a pretty good song that I'd be totally fine with hearing more of. I'm not so sure if I find it great quite yet, but it's getting there.

When I first saw that Machine Gun Kelly and WILLOW were releasing a song together, I got really excited, because they're both pretty good new alt artists, but this new song, emo girl is... not great. For starters, the mixing in this song is really bad. I don't know why, but the instrumental just sounds like a wall of sound. I don't like it. Then, MGK sounds really nasally in the chorus, which sucks, because he usually sounds great in alt songs. The only saving grace of this song is WILLOW. She sounds amazing in her verse, and really saves this song from being bad. It's certainly far from great, though. Sorry, WILLOW. I really wanted to like another one of your songs.

Well, folks... this next song is our current #1 on the Hot 100, We Don't Talk About Bruno by Carolina Gaitán - La Gaita, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero and Stephanie Beatriz, or as I'm gonna call them to save space, the Encanto Cast. Yeah, so obviously, this is a song from Disney's new movie, Encanto (which is awesome, by the way). The soundtrack from that movie has just been blowing up recently, and this is undoubtedly the biggest song from it. Obviously, the lyrics are a little weird, because you need some context within the movie, but the song itself is actually quite good. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote this, who is nothing short of a genius, so naturally, it's gonna be pretty good. Anyways, this song's got a nice salsa beat, and everyone's got their own little verses that are all a little different melodically, which is pretty cool, and at the end, they all come together at once, which just sounds nothing short of amazing. Some of my favourite verses are Rhenzy Feliz's and Diane Guerrero/Adassa's. The only thing, though is... why is this on pop radio? Like, this is actually becoming a pop hit, which is really strange. I guess I'm fine with it, because the song itself is quite good, but... it'll take some getting used to.

Okay, what the actual hell is this next song? It's pushin P by Gunna, Future and Young Thug, and it's just... all three guys mumbling words starting with the letter 'p', while some of them occasionally say, "pushin p" multiple times. I... don't get it. People actually think this is good? It's so weird. I guess the beat is solid, but the rest of it is just so weird and straight-up bad. I really hope this doesn't debut.

This week's Hit-Bound dropouts are The Motto, When I'm Gone, Delorean, Peru and ur just horny. The only ones that are actually gone are Delorean and ur just horny, the rest are in the Abyss (which is good, they're all songs I want to debut). Delorean was quite bad, so I'm pretty glad that it only lasted a week here, and ur just horny was solid, so I'm kinda sad that it's gone.

From the Abyss, we lose It'll Be Okay, Life Goes On, SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY and 26. It'll Be Okay was great, but it wasn't really a radio song, so it's fine. Both Life Goes On and SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY were quite bad, so good riddance, and I never expected 26 to debut Hit-Bound, so I don't care that it's gone.

Best Hit-Bound Debut: Chosen - Blxst/Tyga/Ty Dolla $ign

Hit-Bound/Abyss Ranking

0 - Awful:

#22: pushin P - Gunna/Future/Young Thug

1 - Bad:

NONE!

2 - Mediocre:

#21: emo girl - Machine Gun Kelly/WILLOW

#20: So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Caroline Polachek

3 - Decent:

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

#18: Don't Text Me When You're Drunk - Stacey Ryan/Zai1k

#17: Peru - Fireboy DML/Ed Sheeran

4 - Good:

#16: don't miss me - Claire Rosinkranz

#15: Infinity - Jaymes Young

#14: Beg For You - Charli XCX/Rina Sawayama

#13: Wandered To LA - Juice WRLD/Justin Bieber

#12: The Motto - Tiësto/Ava Max

#11: Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold

#10: We Don't Talk About Bruno - Encanto Cast

5 - Great:

#9: Every Summertime - NIKI

#8: Anxiety - Coi Leray

#7: To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jax

#6: When I'm Gone - Alesso/Katy Perry

#5: The Weekend - BIBI

#4: she's all i wanna be - Tate McRae

#3: Boys Don't Cry - Anitta

#2: Record Player - Daisy the Great/AJR

#1: Chosen - Blxst/Tyga/Ty Dolla $ign

Overall Score: 86/110 = 78%

'Cause My Blurb-y So Big, Lord, Have Mercy

This week, we say goodbye to I Feel Good, Moth To A Flame, Smokin Out The Window and Bite Me. I'm kinda sad to see I Feel Good go, because it was pretty fun while it was here. Moth To A Flame was amazing, but it did better here than it did anywhere else, so it's okay. Smokin Out The Window was never that good, so whatever. As for Bite Me, Love It When You Hate Me is better, so I don't care.

Big Energy jumped a bunch this week, which is awesome. I'd love to see this become a hit here.

Woman got a big jump, which is cool, because it's starting to grow on me.

Enemy got a huge twelve-spot jump to #17 this week, which is awesome, but even more exciting is that Hits 1 switched to the original with JID! His flow in this song is amazing, he hardly even takes a breath, and it adds so much to the song. I'm so glad that they started playing his verse.

I Hate U also jumped big this week, which is pretty unexpected, but pretty cool.

GHOST TOWN is up to #12, which is... strange to say the least. I'd be fine with this sticking around.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100

#1: We Don't Talk About Bruno - Encanto Cast

#2: Easy On Me - Adele

#3: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

#4: STAY - The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber

#6: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

#7: pushin P - Gunna/Future/Young Thug

#8: abcdefu - GAYLE

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

#11: Need to Know - Doja Cat

#12: Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

#13: Ghost - Justin Bieber

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

#15: Smokin Out The Window - Silk Sonic

#17: Levitating - Dua Lipa

#18: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

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

#21: Oh My God - Adele

#23: One Right Now - Post Malone/The Weeknd

#24: Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G

#25: good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo

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

#29: Fancy Like - Walker Hayes

#30: Fingers Crossed - Lauren Spencer-Smith

#31: I Hate U - SZA

#33: You Right - Doja Cat/The Weeknd

#34: Essence - WizKid/Justin Bieber/Tems

#35: Kiss Me More - Doja Cat/SZA

#37: Sacrifice - The Weeknd

#39: Big Energy - Latto

#40: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#42: Light Switch - Charlie Puth

#45: Enemy - Imagine Dragons/JID

#46: Woman - Doja Cat

#47: Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

#57: Message In A Bottle (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

#61: Chosen - Blxst/Tyga/Ty Dolla $ign

#66: For Tonight - Giveon

#75: Do It To It - ACRAZE/Cherish

#81: I Love You So - The Walters

#83: Have Mercy - Chlöe

#84: Circles Around This Town - Maren Morris

#85: Take My Breath - The Weeknd

#99: I AM WOMAN - Emmy Meli

Hunger Games Countdown Top 10

#10: let you - iann dior

#9: Big Energy - Latto

#8: I AM WOMAN - Emmy Meli

#7: TWINNEM - Coi Leray

#6: Circles Around This Town - Maren Morris

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

#4: Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G

#3: Crisis - Joshua Bassett

#2: Infinity - Jaymes Young

#1: SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY (Remix) - Amaarae/Kali Uchis/Moliy

If the Countdown Made Sense Top 10

#10: Need to Know - Doja Cat

#9: Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY

#8: Oh My God - Adele

#7: Easy On Me - Adele

#6: One Right Now - Post Malone/The Weeknd

#5: Better Days - NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G

#4: abcdefu - GAYLE

#3: Ghost - Justin Bieber

#2: THATS WHAT I WANT - Lil Nas X

#1: Shivers - Ed Sheeran

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