But I'm getting ahead of myself: let's take a look at our top ten. And it's important to note how Kendrick got 'HUMBLE.' to #1: almost entirely on streaming and YouTube. Sure, he has sales and radio, but if 'HUMBLE.' proves anything it's that if your margins are big enough they'll catch up later. And that's already happening - radio has been slow to pick up on 'HUMBLE.' but they warmed up to 'Black Beatles' fast enough, this won't be far behind. In comparison, 'Shape Of You' by Ed Sheeran still has strength in every category... but it seemed to peak on radio, and it is slipping in other categories. Kendrick is going to slip back next week - the question of whether it loses the top spot will be on how much Ed Sheeran loses - and I have no dog in this fight, I still like both songs! And both have to contend with 'That's What I Like' by Bruno Mars at #3, which has real sales strength and airplay momentum - sure, the streaming margin doesn't favor it, but again, it's a margin's game. But Kendrick isn't out of the race yet: for a top 5 debut at #4, 'DNA.' smashed in at #4 with monster streaming, big sales, and considerable YouTube - but this I don't expect to stay long, because if the radio is hesitant towards 'HUMBLE.', 'DNA.' will be way too aggressive for them. To round out the top 5 we actually have 'Mask Off' by Future, which I'm a little amazed held on thanks to its streaming and YouTube - guess the audiences don't overlap, but still, it's impressive. Then we have 'iSpy' by KYLE and Lil Yachty, another song I expected to take a loss - and it did take a hit on streaming and YouTube... but it has some sales and radio has actually come around on it, which isn't bad. Then we have a surprising new arrival to the top 10: 'Stay' by Alessia Cara and Zedd, on huge sales and traction on radio and YouTube. Sure, its streaming is crap, but at this point it doesn't need it if it maintains this momentum. Kind of analogous case for 'Something Just Like This' by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay slipping to #8 - of course it dropped on streaming, but given its okay sales and very strong radio, it doesn't need streaming. Then we have another new arrival and probably the one that surprised me the most: 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee... courtesy of a remix with Justin Bieber. And this is actually big news, the first time a primarily Spanish-language song has entered the top 10 since the Macarena twenty years ago! And it has momentum - sure, radio's slow to get on board, but with streaming, sales, and especially YouTube momentum, I don't really see this slipping back. Finally - because they can't all be winners this week - we have 'XO TOUR Llif3' by Lil Uzi Vert at #10 - and people still trying to defend this song, we have multiple Kendrick songs in the top 10, if there was any excuse for this it's long gone!
But the real surprise for me was that it didn't fall out entirely, which takes us to the losers and dropouts. And that bloodbath I predicted... yeah, we got it. Mostly Kendrick massacred weak tracks that didn't have much momentum, but he also took out 'Think A Little Less' by Michael Ray, 'Play That Song' by Train, 'Fake Love' by Drake, and 'Don't Wanna Know' by Maroon 5 and himself! Yeah, 'Starboy' by The Weeknd and Daft Punk also fell off, but the win ratio here is incredible! But then we get to the losses... all thirty-five of them. Yes, this episode will go long as it seems like I'm covering half the chart, but let's start with the collateral damage in country: 'Dirt On My Boots' by Jon Pardi down to 62, 'The Fighter' by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood went down to 67, 'Any Ol' Barstool' by Jason Aldean collapses to 69, 'Black' by Dierks Bentley fades to 75, 'The Weekend' by Brantley Gilbert loses all of its gains to 77, 'God, Your Mama, And Me' by Florida Georgia Line and the Backstreet Boys falls to 82, 'Fast' by Luke Bryan bleeds to 85, 'You Look Good' by Lady Antebellum skids to 97, and 'Craving You' by Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris falls to 100. And speaking of pop music, 'Sign Of The Times' by Harry Styles takes a big sales drop to 22, 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever' by Zayn and Taylor Swift continues down to 36, 'Chained To The Rhythm' by Katy Perry and Skip Marley skids to 38, '24k Magic' by Bruno Mars gets hit to 41, 'Scars To Your Beautiful' by Alessia Cara falls to 43, 'Can't Stop The Feeling' by Justin Timberlake - yes, it's still here - falls to 47, 'Mercy' by Shawn Mendes loses to 49, 'Down' by Marian Hill drops to 57, 'Now Or Never' thankfully takes a blow to 66, 'Heavy' by Linkin Park and Kiiara droops to 68, 'Green Light' by Lorde blinks to 74, 'Call On Me' by Starley slips to 83, and 'Scared To Be Lonely' by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa somehow holds on to 91. And don't think the forgettable or shitty side of hip-hop was spared: 'Look At Me' by XXXTENTACION goes to 52, 'Party' by Chris Brown, Gucci Mane and Usher dies out to 71, 'Losin Control' by Russ loses to 79, 'First Day Out' by Tee Grizzley slides to 86, 'Selfish' by Future and Rihanna falls to 88, 'Everyday We Lit' by YFN Lucci and PnB Rock goes out to 90, and 'Good Drank' by 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane and Quavo spoils to 96. But perhaps most satisfying is Kendrick putting his rivals in their place: 'Moves' by Big Sean to 84, 'Portland' by Drake, Travis Scott and Quavo to 60, 'Gyalchester' also by Drake to 92, and 'Deja Vu' by J. Cole thankfully to 89. Lastly, we have two songs that don't easily fit categorization: 'Shining' by DJ Khaled with Jay Z and Beyonce to 70, and a brief interruption to the momentum of 'Swalla' by Jason Derulo with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign - of all the songs I just listed, I expect this one to rebound the most.
But beyond that... by the Nine Hells, what survived all of this? Well, I already mentioned 'Despacito', but there are two other gains worth mentioning that actually stuck around more than I expected: 'Unforgettable' by French Montana and Swae Lee up to 59 - probably because of some decent streaming numbers - and 'Cake' by Flo Rida and 99 Percent, because we're heading towards summer and beach parties need something to play. Beyond that, there were no returning entries, just all nineteen of our new arrivals, some of which were not from Kendrick Lamar. As such, like with before I will endeavor to keep this pretty brief given that I already reviewed the album and the majority of you have seen it, so...
99. 'The Night We Met' by Lord Huron - okay, I've been asked what my opinion is on the show 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, and here it is: from what I've seen, I'm not really a fan. It's the sort of teenage melodrama that doesn't really engage me the way it used to - along with a lot of really unsettling subtext surrounding suicide and depression - but the show is popular and thanks to the inclusion of this song in a dance scene between the protagonists, it's now on the Hot 100. For those who don't know, Lord Huron is an indie folk act that has quietly become one of those silent majority acts to sell a lot of records - and listening to this song... well, I was going to say you can see why, but I actually don't mind this at all. Yeah, the liquid waltz cadence in the guitars rings as depressingly familiar, but when the guitars pick up a little more muscle that's borderline country, I can dig this, even if I wish it picked up a little more grit. Hell, for a haunted western-inspired post-breakup song, the lyrics and mix do nail the atmosphere - I think my big issue comes with the frontman Ben Schneider, who strikes me as a little too willowy in his vocal tones to anchor a track like this. Compare, for instance, to...
93. 'Broken Halos' by Chris Stapleton - you know, I was thinking Kendrick would walk away with the best of the week without competition, but apparently we're now in an era where Chris Stapleton can break a song produced by Dave Cobb on the Hot 100 and which angel decided to make the new entries pure awesome this week, this is crazy! Because yeah, this is a great song, easily - full organic pickups for the acoustic guitars that play off a solid underlying bass without sounding dated, and Chris Stapleton delivering a simple but amazingly effective country song, all about those angels that help us... and fail, leaving no real answer. There's a mournful core to this song that Stapleton's husky vocals perfectly sell with his wife Morgane's welcome support behind him, giving it a real subtlety that doesn't need to be oversold... and I'm honestly at a loss for words how I can criticize a track like this! Maybe it could have afforded one more verse to really flesh out the story, but that'd just be gravy on a terrific song already! So yeah, Kendrick, you've got competition!
87. 'Black Spiderman' by Logic ft. Damian Lemar Hudson - and on the topic of competition, our favourite Kendrick imitator is back with his newest song which is looking to pick up much of the social commentary that Kendrick moved more to the subtext on DAMN., so how does that turn out? Well, it's certainly a lot more utopian and positive than what Kendrick put forward this week, as it seems like Logic has pivoted hard towards brighter territory, from the firm bass against the cloud of cascading keys, lush strings and horns. And yeah, it's really hard to ignore that Logic's flow is very much like Kendrick's, but it's also hard to ignore that his message and flow is on point, trying to break apart stereotypes and prejudices in art and culture and challenge expectations, asking less a question of why than 'why not'? If anything, it might slide a little bit too utopian, or not quite feel as grounded as it could or should be, and I think the jokes at the end play to the same broadness, and yeah, there's a part of me that knows Joey Bada$$ had just released material that was riding on very similar vibes and sounds that I think were executed a little better, but no, I can't hate this. Solid track.
78. 'Peek A Boo' by Lil Yachty ft. Migos - look, they can't all be good here. And look, I get that thanks to Patreon I'll probably be stuck covering Lil Yachty's follow-up to Lil Boat called Teenage Emotions, but that doesn't mean I have to be thrilled about it. In any case, this is a song that Lil Yachty said was specifically made for the clubs, all about saying 'peek a boo' to the pussy - I wish I was kidding. But from there, Lil Yachty goes on about screwing a girl and her sister, having an Asian girl blow him like a cello - a line he outright admits is a mistake - and generally spitting against sparse bleak production that I've heard dozens of times before outside of odd distant screams. As for Migos... for once, it looks like Offset had the most diverse and interesting verse in comparison to Quavo's more staccato flow and Takeoff's hashtag rap, but it's still disconnected and utterly forgettable. And as you well know, I'm no Lil Yachty fan, but isn't he supposed to be more interesting than this? Because this is forgettably mediocre - not a good sign.
76. 'Good Life' by G-Eazy & Kehlani - and speaking about people not being interesting, this is apparently a song associated with the new Fast & The Furious movie called The Fate Of The Furious. And given that I don't think I've ever cared about this franchise through as many times as I've covered songs for it on Billboard BREAKDOWN, I don't see this becoming another 'See You Again'. For one, it's a little alarming how dated the production sounds - drill-like trap snares, a thin fizzy set of drums, watery melodies, this sounds like something that would have been rejected two years ago - and for another, how is it that for a Fast & The Furious anthem, we don't get anyone referencing family - or cars? The most we get is a reference from G-Eazy at the Bentley store, but he's also referencing planes and stacking paper and all the rest of the generic luxury rap cliches - it barely feels connected to the movie! And I wish I could say Kehlani saves the song, but none of the production plays to her subtle strengths as a singer, and she, along with G-Eazy and the rest of this song, ends up forgettable.
(not here... sadly)
63. 'DUCKWORTH.' by Kendrick Lamar - so we start off our Kendrick entries with one of the best tracks on the album and also the last one, where the internal focus of the record snaps back into sharper focus as Kendrick tells a story against a gorgeously lush Ted Taylor sample before 9th Wonder brings the sharp kickdrum and bass in. And this is the Kendrick I like the most, the storyteller as he sketches out a scene years earlier of two men, Anthony and Ducky, the former a dangerous drug dealer, the second a guy working at KFC trying to support his family. And the linchpin comes as the song nearly ends - because to placate Anthony Ducky gave him a little extra chicken every day, the store never got robbed, Anthony never landed in jail so he could start TDE, and Kendrick could grow up with a father. It's an utterly chilling revelation, and even Kendrick can't help but laugh at the sheer raw coincidence brought by God or Life or perhaps both - not wicked nor weak, but a way out in the balance. And then the record stops and rewinds back to the beginning... to start the choices anew. Fantastic track, no complaints whatsoever, stellar production and flows, and a whole lot better than...
(not here... sadly)
58. 'GOD.' by Kendrick Lamar - I got some backlash for including this as my least favourite track, with its watery synths and trap snares and Kendrick mockingly sing-rapping just like so many mumble-rappers, complete with autotuned backing tones. And look, if you dig it that's fine - with that hook, it'll probably kill on tour - but you can tell Kendrick is coasting here, both in his bars and content as he basically succeeds in showing he can do Migos' triplet flow just as well as they can. And sure, it's a flexing song, it doesn't exactly need to be complex, and Kendrick does get a little more intense on the second verse, but by the time he drops into that bridge, I'm just not enjoying it in the same way - just because he can do their style better doesn't mean it's a style that flatters his voice or style. But moving on from that...
(not here... sadly)
54. 'BLOOD.' by Kendrick Lamar - the intro that sets up the themes for the rest of the record, establishes the wickedness/weakness motif against some touches of strings against a faint scratch of the beat, as Kendrick confronts a blind woman only to get gunned down. Now there's been a lot of debate who that woman is, with the most prevalent theory now being it's 'Lucy', representative of Lucifer from To Pimp A Butterfly and the sin that ultimately proves Kendrick's downfall, which differs slightly from my initial interpretation of her as Lady Justice, whose blind strike reflects the modern system that'll cut down any black man... and the chilling thing is that thematically, with the extended metaphor as black men as the fallen Israelites, it could very well represent both. Powerful way to open a record, have to say.
(not here... sadly)
50. 'FEAR.' by Kendrick Lamar - this track is characterized by a few elements that really deserve a ton of attention, the first being the dusty scratch of the beat and liquid guitar courtesy of The Alchemist, an extension of one of the beats from 'The Heart Part IV' - man, I've missed his production work, when is that next Step Brothers album coming? But more of the story is Kendrick's three verses. The first is from the perspective of his mother scolding a seven-year old Kendrick for not standing strong even as her own fears come through, the second is from a seventeen-year old Kendrick partially interpolating Beanie Segel's 'Die' as he tiredly lists the ways a young black teenager would probably die, and the final verse shows him at 27 questioning newfound fears having made it, holding onto his wealth and now expected to be the standard bearer for hip-hop. And while I really do love how he subtly modulates his flow and writing style to reflect very different speakers, the fourth verse then references all of the previous songs' themes and the open question whether he's living through his art or his fears. It's a potent moment all on its own, reinforced when Kendrick's cousin Carl delivers an extended voice mail about the continued plight of the lost Israelites - black people, Latinos, and Native Americans, who will be chastised until they find God again. And look, given that Kendrick references this on another song I think he believes it, but at the same time the racial undercurrent to this assertion, projected on someone with such a scrupulous conscience like Kendrick - hell, no wonder he feels like he's damned no matter how he turns. Still, despite how much I might disagree with this - the projection flies in the face of Christian ideas of Jesus' sacrifice, of which I thought Kendrick believed - it's a damn potent song all the same, definitely like it.
(not here... sadly)
42. 'LUST.' by Kendrick Lamar - in conversations about this record, it seems like this song gets overlooked and I have no idea why. For one, the binaural warping guitars when coupled with the warping knock of the bass and Kendrick slipping across his vocal range to highlight his craving for any sense of relief both intellectually and physically, it's got a twisted sort of groove to the song I really dig. But beyond that, I love the lyrical themes running through the verses, showing the gradual repetitive nature of trying to live that hedonistic life, with the second snapping to both a bigger and more personal scope, not just how his own life can blur together, but how the community at large is falling back into routine even despite the encroaching horror of the election and what that could mean down the line, the protests slowly fading as drones go back to the hive. It's a chilling, frighteningly realistic song that pulls in an oliy grind of a guitar before the final hook... hell, maybe that's why people don't talk about it much.
39. 'The Cure' by Lady Gaga - this was a track where I heard about the backlash long before I heard the song, a track Lady Gaga debuted at Coachella that was immediately derided for being too close to popular trends. And yeah, between the noisier, borderline tropical percussion, snaps, and very muted tones, it's clear she is playing to a modern sound - but let's get real, it's not like Gaga hasn't been doing this to some extent her entire career, with the only difference being it's so much easier to spot the tropes she's cribbing from. But if I'm being brutally honest, I don't mind this at all - just because there are tropical tones doesn't mean they aren't well executed, especially that faint guitar on the prechorus, if a little conventional in the writing department. But at the end of the day, I'm a little unsure how to view this track - it doesn't feel like a new lead-off single so much as a tidbit to satiate hardcore fans. Whether it did satiate them is a different question, but for me... yeah, I don't mind this, not bad.
(not here... sadly)
37. 'PRIDE.' by Kendrick Lamar - can I start by saying that I really love Steve Lacy's introduction here before breaking into the hollow rattle that forms the oddly psychedelic tone of the beat, that was sampled from 'Echoes' by Pink Floyd? It certainly leads into one of the stranger tracks on the album, as the pitch of Kendrick's verse wavers across the verse, highlighting his own struggle to maintain humility despite being hailed as one of the best rappers alive and expected to live up to that lifestyle. And yet regardless of all of it, he senses the frostiness of everyone around him, the lack of trust that shows cowards not snapping back, even as he wishes to unite everyone in the same humility he struggles to hold. Now the one element of this song that I still haven't quite figured out is the hook - the back and forth between Lacy and Kendrick implies that he's trying to care... but he wasn't there, so maybe he can't quite understand in the same way, another set of mirrors thrown up for Kendrick to doubt even further. Weird song, and one I definitely like a lot, but I'm still not sure how much it works.
(not here... sadly)
35. 'FEEL.' by Kendrick Lamar - and on the topic of mirrors, this is another track where Kendrick is digging in deep to his feelings and wondering about reciprocation, all against a pretty hollow, dusty beat from Soundwave with a great bassline from Thundercat. And it's an outpouring of raw feelings, mostly surrounding being continuously misunderstood and feeling that it's not his problem to explain himself, especially in hip-hop that feels compromised and jaded and a lingering feeling of survivor's guilt surrounding a world he hasn't been able to change, even despite winning more and more success. And when he amps up his delivery for the second verse, he lashes out, wondering that despite everyone holding him up as the savior of hip-hop, who's praying for him, the rare moment of self-pity that feels utterly and completely justified. It's a bleak track, but man, it's potent.
(not here... sadly)
33. 'XXX.' by Kendrick Lamar ft. U2 - and yet by some miracle this actually turns out to work. I think absolutely everyone was expecting this to blow up and not work - although in retrospect, given their repeated messianic themes and angst at a fading America, it's almost surprising that U2 and Kendrick didn't work together even before this. The truth is that U2 is barely here - they handle the second half of the track with Bono contributing a pretty tasteful hook, and we don't even get a guitar solo from The Edge. But that's not the intense part of the track - it starts with a scratched intro and broken piano showcasing the black youth who wants to become a rapper... and then the whirring squeals highlight Kendrick giving advice to a friend who has lost a son to shoot back and screw black power anthems, right before giving a speech on gun control, a callout of hypocrisy that might not have the impact of 'The Blacker The Berry', but still stunning all the way. But the second half of the song crystallizes a real message, showing how it doesn't matter whether wickedness or weakness is embraced in America, with a system that'll wall them out, sell them guns, and then brand them as killers, only exacerbated by the gangs that remain and provide another brutal reflection. Hauntingly bleak track, definitely won't stick around... but man, I really wish it would.
(not here... sadly)
32. 'YAH.' by Kendrick Lamar - have to say it, I was never really crazy about this track. Don't get me wrong, the bass-heavy dusty rumble of the beat from Soundwave and DJ Dahi works, but the flow feels a bit simplistic, especially with the repetitive 'yah yah' repeated on the hook. But outside of directly calling out Geraldo Rivera and highlighting how despite the possibility of God walking among them he's still got a life of sin and temptation he'll live, it can feel a little too much like setup for later tracks in its references - especially to Deuteronomy and the 'black Israelite' construct - and pretty brief runtime. Not bad at all, though, but I wouldn't really call it great.
(not here... sadly)
18. 'LOVE.' by Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari - of all the Kendrick songs that dropped this week, I'd probably put money on this one sticking around the longest, mostly because it's easily one of the simplest, poppiest cuts of his entire career. And believe it or not, I don't consider that a downside - Zacari's crooning works to ground the hook against the watery trap progression that gains some significant swell, and Kendrick's a strong enough rapper to beat Drake at his own game in a straightforward love song with arguably an even-harder beat, down to the R&B-inspired swells of synth that I really loved. And that's the thing: for Kendrick to deliver such a straightforward giving love song makes sense, especially when it doesn't really compromise his sound or thematic arc of the record, and I respect that. So yeah, it's an unconventional cut in Kendrick's discography, but it's a damn good one - and I'd put money on it sticking around.
(not here... sadly)
16. 'ELEMENT.' by Kendrick Lamar - only Kendrick would say that when he slaps a competitor, he's going to make it look sexy against mournful piano tones and hints of James Blake's voice blurred into the background. But there's enough subtle changeups in the beat to really stick in your mind and make it one of the more distinctive hooks on the record, even if its just a bragging smack back at many of his competitors. But damn, it's a good one, especially when you can tell part of it is Kendrick's frustration that none of them will fight back beyond subliminals - but while he tried to elevate black artists on his last record, there's a difference between 'black artists and wack artists', and he does not hold back. Still, I wouldn't quite say this is one of my favourite cuts from the record for anything beyond the flows and energy - I mean, it's good, but along with its paired track 'YAH.', it can feel more like setting the stage than actively dealing damage.
(not here... sadly)
14. 'LOYALTY.' by Kendrick Lamar ft. Rihanna - so let's be real: for as much as Kendrick does fine here, what caught a lot more people's attention was Rihanna, and for good reason. Not only does Kendrick pull a woman who has been on-and-off consistently in Drake's life and seems to show real artistic chemistry, but also manages to makes a song about commitment and loyalty. And yeah, I'll echo what a lot of people have said: Rihanna should probably rap more, as her dead-eyed disaffection and biting delivery does have intensity and flow, especially if Kendrick's writing for her. But in this case, the reason I don't quite think this is a great track comes back to the production - I'm sorry, that blocky beat against the whirring samples and chipmunk fragment, it just does not work for me, especially against another pretty repetitive hook. Not a bad tune by any stretch and Rihanna's presence will probably make it a hit... but if I were to point to a song I want to stick around...
4. 'DNA.' by Kendrick Lamar - and people thought 'HUMBLE.' went hard! The trunk-knocking bass courtesy of Mike Will Made It looking to make an effort to redeem his career, the warping samples, the beat switch anchored in a guitar that builds to a choppy vocal sample and rougher bass that somehow goes even harder, it was the hard rap side of Kendrick that nobody predicted he'd open the record! And his bars on this song... my god, those additional syllables he fits in before the beat switch is crazy, and that's before he starts his most aggressive delivery on the entire record! And yet while there are potent bars, there's still a thematic core to the song, the outburst of rage at being misunderstood while wholeheartedly admitting the darkness within himself and hip-hop as a whole, a frequently misunderstood and mischaracterized genre that still celebrates the sex, money, murder that Kurtis Blow referenced thirty-seven years ago in hip-hop's earliest years. And yet even with all that, this song crushes everything in its path, easily an album standout and a banger among Kendrick's best. Will it last on the Hot 100? Well, I already said the radio will probably never get on board, but if the streaming keeps up - and with a video with Don Cheadle that was all kinds of awesome - who knows, maybe...
All I know is that at the end of this long week, 'DNA.' is easily getting best of the week. And for a change of pace, instead of Dishonourable Mention I'm giving two Honourable Mentions, one to 'DUCKWORTH.' by Kendrick and the other to 'Broken Halos' by Chris Stapleton. Worst of the week is going to 'Peek A Boo' by Lil Yachty and Migos - because in comparison with what debuted... DUH. Regardless, next week will be the fallout - let's hope it's not too crazy and a lot of this sticks around.
I was so hyped for this weeks episode that I was refreshing your youtube page all day long. Right now,youtube is still processing the video I couldn't hold my excitement so I was amazed to find that there was a transcript online in your description. It was a great read can't wait for the video to finish processing!
ReplyDeleteBEST: DNA. (I sung this in science class)
ReplyDeleteHONORABLE MENTION: XXX. / DUCKWORTH.
WORST: Peek A Boo