Of course, the one place he didn't quite touch was the top 10, where once again 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Bieber holds #1 - again, dominant on streaming, sales, the radio... but that lead is wavering, and its margins are starting to slip, especially in YouTube. Compare this to 'Wild Thoughts' by DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, which rose to #2 on surging airplay and powerful streaming and YouTube... but it managed to have a particularly rough sales week, so it's an open question if it's a real challenger. It did manage to pass 'I'm The One' by DJ Khaled and his posse at #3, where the sales might be better and the YouTube is monstrous, but streaming and radio presence is shrinking, it may have actually peaked here. 'That's What I Like' by Bruno Mars at #4 has clearly peaked, and it has a particularly bad week on streaming and sales... but it's still a YouTube monster and radio is taking its time dying off... which is a similar case for 'Shape Of You' by Ed Sheeran still at #5 - it's losing its strengths in YouTube and airplay, just not quite fast enough. And it's helped by 'HUMBLE' by Kendrick Lamar struggling too - propped up by a good sales week, its YouTube is slipping and its radio is dying pretty fast. I predict it'll probably be passed by 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons, which has real airplay traction to compensate for weaknesses in sales and streaming that won't hold it back that much. But this takes us to our new top ten entry at #8: 'There's Nothing Holding Me Back' by Shawn Mendes, a song tacked on to a record that would have improved it considerably if included, because this isn't bad at all - and with great sales and airplay momentum, it might just stick around for a bit there. Similar case for 'Unforgettable' by French Montana and Swae Lee up to #9, only it's been propelled by stronger streaming and YouTube to compensate for airplay that can seem a little spotty. Hopefully they'll be enough to push 'Body Like A Back Road' by Sam Hunt out of the top ten once and for all, but for now it's here, with airplay wavering and sales starting to dip - not fast enough!
But in contrast to these entries, if you go below the top ten it was a borderline massacre, so let's talk about losers and dropouts! And in the latter category... folks, there's a lot that's just gone and probably won't be coming back. Obviously I'm most exasperated by the loss of 'Sign Of The Times' by Harry Styles - it'll might miss the year-end list now if it doesn't make a return, and I'm not sure it will, but it goes bigger than that, taking out 'The Fighter' by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, 'Down' by Fifth Harmony and Gucci Mane, 'Swish Swish' by Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj, 'Portland' by Drake ft. Quavo & Travis Scott, 'Losing Control' by Russ, and 'How Not To' by Dan + Shay and probably preventing all from hitting that list. And that's before you get the biggest dropouts: 'Goosebumps' by Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar, 'T-Shirt' by Migos, and 'Tunnel Vision' by Kodak Black! And then we get to the losses... well, 'Signs' by Drake continued down to 83 and 'Slide' by Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean and Migos slipped back to 45, but the rest of the losses you could probably point to Jay as doing it. 'First Day Out' by Tee Grizzley to 59, 'Swalla' by Jason Derulo, Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign to 65, 'Passionfruit' by Drake down hard to 67, 'God, Your Mama & Me' by Florida Georgia Line & Backstreet Boys to 69, 'Thunder' by Imagine Dragons rocked to 70, 'Crying In The Club' by Camila Cabello dripping to 71, '4 AM' by 2 Chainz and Travis Scott down to 76, 'Privacy' by Chris Brown to 77, 'Everytime I Hear That Song' by Blake Shelton to 79, 'LOVE.' by Kendrick Lamar and Zacari to 82, 'The Cure' by Lady Gaga plummeting to 84, 'You Look Good' by Lady Antebellum to 87, 'Somebody Else Will' by Justin Moore to 93, and, most pleasingly, 'Weak' by AJR to 95 - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!
But these losses are telling, as they're pretty much across all genres - Jay-Z has that sort of impact and power, or maybe just sheer volume forced everything down, so you have to wonder what survived! Well, while there are no returning entries we did get a few gains, most likely building off of 'Despacito's continued success. 'Felices Los 4' by Maluma got the big boost to 49, but 'Mi Gente' by J Balvin and Willy William got a boost off the debut to 53 and 'Escapate Conmigo' by Wisin & Ozuna continuing up to 72. The other two gains... well, 'Rake It Up' by Yo Gotti and Nicki Minaj actually got a boost to 68 off the debut - joy - and with what I'm guessing is probably driven by a sales discount 'Most Girls' by Hailee Steinfeld surged to 66 - and considering the radio will probably not catch on, it'll probably fall back soon.
But now onto the much bigger story, all of these new arrivals, and we've got a busy week starting with...
94. 'Famous' by 21 Savage - so, let's put this on the record now: 21 Savage is not on my reviewing schedule. Mostly because said schedule is jammed up like you wouldn't believe, but also because it seems like the popular consensus is that this new 21 Savage record isn't all that good and really isn't the sort of hip-hop I'd otherwise like. And as this is the first of two songs that showed up on the Hot 100... and okay, I'll give 21 Savage a point for stepping outside of his typical dour, grimy comfort zone, and honestly I don't mind this piano accented eerie production, it cultivates a pretty potent atmosphere. The problem is 21 Savage - his slightly hoarse but flat delivery is better suited to something that's dark and gritty, and certainly not his pitiful attempts at crooning that he tries a few times here. And that's before you get to the content... and again, if this is supposed to be a song about celebrating success and fame, why does it feel so melancholy and sad, and why is anyone giving 21 Savage a pass for so many non-rhymes or rhyming phrases with themselves that even at their best feels pretty basic and flimsy? Look, I'm no 21 Savage fan, and there are things about this song that work for me... but not enough of them.
92. 'Fetish' by Selena Gomez ft. Gucci Mane - I can't be the only one who saw this collaboration and thought this could backfire, right? I get that Gucci Mane has more crossover appeal these days for some reason, but he and Selena Gomez are in very different worlds - intersection points between her and A$AP Rocky or The Weeknd, that makes, especially for a song titled like this. And right from the dank, smoky mix complete with a blocky trap beat and a pretty heavy bass swell, you can tell they're trying to update 'Good For You' for 2017... and while I don't think this is bad, it definitely falls short of the original. Sure, Selena is slowly becoming a more sultry performer and her playing a Lana Del Rey role is a good look for her, but saying this guy has a 'fetish' for her love strikes me very much as Selena trying to make this sound risque without actually mentioning any real adult sexual fetish. And Gucci Mane really doesn't help - again, this sort of song requires subtlety or at least some understanding of the atmosphere, and while lyrically Gucci is at least on topic, his flow does not work with this production and he really feels glaringly out of place. Again, I'm still one of those people who thinks 'Good For You' was actually a pretty decent song, so there's a part of me that's inclined to like this, but again, I know an inferior copy when I hear it.
91. 'Get Low' by Zedd & Liam Payne - okay, this was a team-up I wasn't really expecting. I'll admit that of the One Direction members splitting towards the mainstream, Liam's play to mainstream pop-R&B felt the most flimsy, but what this song indicates is that he might just have the least ideas and figures, 'well, connecting with Zedd gave Alessia Cara another top ten hit so why not try it?' And... well, at least this is more cohesive than 'Stay' was, but I honestly don't think this is better than 'Strip It Down'. The sharp staccato synth against the busy rattling, stuttering trap and tropical percussion straight from a Major Lazer cut, just with a little less color - par for the course with modern Zedd production - and Liam rattling through standard dance floor cliches that only get interesting on the bridge where it seems to imply that Liam is very much trying to make a baby with this girl. But at the end of the day, I can see this becoming background music for me, especially as the hook isn't quite as melodic, Liam doesn't really showcase a ton of dramatic range and all the backing vocals on the final hook feels muted for some reason! I dunno, it's tolerable, but of the One Direction members breaking out, Liam's not really impressing me here.
90. 'Marcy Me' by Jay-Z ft. The-Dream - so given that we have nine Jay-Z songs to get through and that I already reviewed the album at length, I'm going to endeavor to keep this pretty short, and we're starting off with a song that do like, but not quite love in the same way. I dig the choppy piano sample against the muffled scratch of the beat, as Jay-Z retraces the steps through his old neighborhood, full of references to his rough comeup and where he is now, as well as a few passing shots at the modern scene of rappers posing with guns and firing them off, but never actually confronting the reality of that violence. But I have to be honest: what really clicks the song for me is The-Dream's outro, which is perfectly framed and caps of a song where otherwise it would be territory Jay has gone over before plenty of times. Still good, mind you, but there are better here.
89. 'Glorious' by Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey - when I heard that Macklemore was splitting with Ryan Lewis for a solo record... I had mixed feelings, to say the least. I'm not going to deny that their last record was a total mess together and maybe it could help to get some fresh blood, but if you're thinking that's going to come with getting Skylar Grey on your hook, I expected real trouble. And yet on the surface things seemed okay here - Macklemore got himself a piano-driven beat that sure, wasn't as textured as something Lewis would give him, but it was familiar territory... and then Skylar Grey comes on for the hook and I immediately tune out. I'm sorry, her voice is just way too frail to match this sort of gospel swell for which this record is trying, you can even tell in the multitracking, and the slowdown of the beat doesn't help either! And that's before you take a look at the lyrics and... where is the flavour? Where's the speedy flows or intensity? Where's the corny references that at least showcased some detail and personality? Basically with 'Glorious' Macklemore made a less interesting, kinetic, or powerful version of 'Can't Hold Us', and self-congratulation looks a lot less interesting from that point of view. He might have made worse songs, but the bigger crime here is that it's dull and generic, and if this is a sign for Macklemore's upcoming album... yikes.
86. 'Moonlight' by Jay-Z - okay, maybe it's just the oldschool hip-hop fan in me, but I kind of love this song beyond just the great Fugees sample and pitch-shifting that actually works and the sly wordplay, because while there are plenty of rappers who call out modern mumble rap and look corny, Jay is actually smart enough to do it well, anchored in a cultural comment on the hook that despite how much these guys might seem to win now, it's not going to last. Hell, it's not like they own their masters or aren't signing bad deals or faking an image they can't back up, so when the taxman is coming they'll have to run back to record executives who have already taken off. And while it does run a little short, Jay still finds enough time to mimic their choppy staccato flow for a few bars before showing just how beneath him it is - uh, yes please! Yeah, I'm not going to mince words, I really dig the hell out of this song, as well as...
63. 'Caught Their Eyes' by Jay-Z ft. Frank Ocean - I've heard some debate how well Frank Ocean works against this sort of old-school production with the choppy Nina Simone sample with the guitars and swells of strings, but I thought he sounded great - for some odd reason I find Jay-Z and Frank Ocean fit pretty well together, which was true on 'Oceans' in 2013 and is definitely true here. And yet while the first verse might reflect a pretty typical smackdown of modern fakers where Jay-Z grew up with a much more intimidating and stone-faced brand of gangsta, the second verse is what I really love, where Jay-Z puts the name of Prince's former attorney on wax and accuses those graverobbing and profiting off of Prince's estate after he passed away, which flew in the face of what Prince stood for through so much of his career. And yeah, the vocal fidelity shift does slightly annoy me a bit, it's still such a potent verse that I cannot complain at all. And to continue on the list of great tracks...
56. 'Smile' by Jay-Z ft. Gloria Carter - there's a lot going on in 'Smile' that I like, between the bass-heavy skittering hi-hats that anchor a sample from Stevie Wonder, all the way to Jay-Z following his mother's coming out and realizing his own necessity to open up and step out of the shadows, and that's before you get the massive third verse that touches on everything from facing further disconnection from expensive toys to refocus on reinvestment, a bittersweet acknowledgement of those who would just take off TIDAL anyway, robbing him and the culture, and highlighting how that struggle to build black-owned industry will come against stiff resistance from the larger systems who will seek to imprison or delegitimize those businesses - and yet the more Jay-Z tips his hand to do it, even though they might fear him more he can finally smile with a clear conscience. It's a layered song to break through - and there is a part of me that thinks Jay-Z wishing his mom could have the money of Marie Antoinette kind of misses the other side of that hubris-driven history, but still, great track. And on the topic of vulnerability...
55. 'Kill Jay-Z' by Jay-Z - this is the moment where Jay-Z starts dropping the walls, the first track... and man, it's a meaty one, one extended verse against echoing sirens, strings, a choppy sample, rough-edged drums, and Jay-Z systematically tearing down his walls as he's forced to face his demons, from his antisocial attitudes to those who he loved to whom he sold drugs, to the increasingly splintered relationship with Kanye to the stabbing of a record producer nearly twenty years ago, to how he goaded Solange in the elevator three years ago despite her knowing the truth. It's a harrowing opener and not the sort of thing that Jay-Z has ever really been known to do at this length - in other words, the perfect opening surprise to a great album.
52. 'Sorry Not Sorry' by Demi Lovato - so we're going to take a brief break from Jay-Z to talk about Demi Lovato... and can I be the first one to say that I don't quite know what she's doing with her career right now? Last time I heard from her she was on hiatus from recording, and yet now she's got a new lead-off single? And it's certainly a departure from what I expected from her - huge bassy backbeat against gospel swell with pitch shifting with some pianos that honestly isn't nearly as well-balanced as it should be with that beat, as Demi puts together yet another huge kissoff against the haters that seems like schadenfreude personified... and look, I'm not crazy about it. I've always made it very clear that Demi Lovato actually sounds really damn good and raw against rock production, and while I think gospel could be in her wheelhouse, there's no attitude or bite to this, and her vocals really sound sloppily blended against the rest of the mix. Coupled with lyrics that really ring as pretty devoid of detail and even then seem more petty than they should be... I'll be blunt, it's a step back for her, and I really hope she pulls together something better than this.
51. 'Family Feud' by Jay-Z ft. Beyonce - okay, I like how Beyonce was sampled and blended into the backing mix, and she really does click against the sparse beat. And Jay-Z calling out both young rappers for not learning the lessons of the past and older rappers trying to co-opt a younger style - along with a passing shot at Drake's increasing desperation in trying to emulate Jay instead of build his own identity - works too, especially as he calls back to black-owned businesses and bucking against respectability politics that divide the black community against each other, especially as he's trying to build that legitimacy. But I wouldn't quite call this one of my favourite tracks here, mostly because it can ring as more of a celebration of his obscene wealth with Beyonce - and that the outro can run a little long. Good track, and I like a lot of the message, but again, there are better ones here. It is better than...
47. 'Bam' by Jay-Z ft. Damian Marley - this is probably my least favourite track on this record, mostly because it feels the most out of place, with Jay-Z giving over most of the runtime to Damian Marley's hook and outro against the horns and blocky beats and when he does rap, he's focusing on slapping back and it's overall not quite as interesting as other tracks around it on this record. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad track, but it does feel a little more basic, and I'm not surprised it was one of the highest debuts - might actually be one that sticks around, too. What surprised me that debuted higher was...
35. '4:44' by Jay-Z - the title track and centerpiece of the record that shows Jay-Z breaking down everything he did wrong with Beyonce, and it's a doozy. I might not like that it took Jay-Z to have a daughter to realize a woman's importance, but I don't think even he is forgiving himself for that, as he runs through how he wasn't there when Beyonce's child was stillborn, how the two had distance in their relationship as Jay-Z started cheating on her, and now he has to live with the encroaching fear that someday his children will find out the truth about what he did to their mother. All against a stellar Hannah Williams sample that anchors a killer vocal snippet for the hook as the horns and guitars wail, and the real shaken emotion that Jay-Z has rarely ever put into his delivery, recorded on Beyonce's microphone... it's a tour-de-force, the sort of song that many people including myself didn't think Jay-Z was capable of... and yet he pulled it off. Incredible track.
33. 'Bank Account' by 21 Savage - to go from Jay-Z to 21 Savage... look, it's a step down, especially when 21 Savage thought what he needed was autotune against a faint guitar, glossy synths, sparse hi-hat, and darker bass beat. I will say it does feel marginally sharper than 'Famous' courtesy of the bars actually connecting, even if the content is nothing remotely interesting - seriously, 'I been smoking gas, and I ain't got no asthma', that's what we're going with here? And when was the last time that Chingy got referenced in a hip-hop song, especially as it's used to rhyme with blingy? That said, I don't deny that the hook is pretty catchy and it at least gets a little closer to the atmosphere where 21 Savage has some limited appeal, so while I don't think I'd ever have the need to seek this out, it's tolerable enough...
25. 'Praying' by Kesha - look, I've spent more time on this channel talking about Kesha's business and her legal battles than I have talking about her music: let's change that, shall we? Because make no mistake, I'm thrilled 'Praying' is on the charts, but it also serves as a fascinating contrast to 'Sorry Not Sorry', mostly because there's a greater sense of balance and dynamics here and a sense of real stakes and pain. And while I'm not quite certain whether this would have the same power if you didn't know about the whole scene with Dr. Luke, there's still a sense of maturity and gravitas to Kesha realizing so much of this was driven from him and he needs to face his own demons and burn as she has finally found some peace. Oh, and that's before the pianos and strings and brass build to one of the most propulsive and raw hooks she's ever delivered - without a trace of autotune, as her fans have known she's never needed it - hell, she's hitting whistle tones on this track, who saw that coming? In short, even critics and folks who never liked Kesha have found themselves in awe of this... and yeah, for damn good reason. About time you're back, Kesha, this is everything I was hoping for and more.
23. 'The Story Of O.J.' by Jay-Z - so I know this was the lead-off single: it's got the striking and fascinating video recontextualizing old racist cartoons to highlight the system's view of black men in America, it's got some of the most quotable lines like the derisive snap back at O.J. Simpson to highlight reality, it's got a fascinating sample blend from both Kool & The Gang and Nina Simone, it's got the weight of experience as he reflects on misspent money and a need to refocus and teach people how to spend well - especially in comparison to rappers fronting on Instagram, and there's some smart wordplay and double entredres connecting it. And while the whole 'Jewish people own all the property in America' is a stereotype that's already gotten Jay-Z in trouble for going too broad and it's bound to be misconstrued by too many people, what strikes me as more exasperating is the assertion is how he talks about not spending two million to buy a building that's now worth so much more - look, most of us don't have a free two million to throw around, and that can kind of hurt your populist message, even if you know this advice has value and you're selling it for 9.99. But regardless, there's a lot that I do like about this song, and while I don't think it's close to the best here, it's still a solid tune, happy it charted.
So yeah, overall I have to say this week was pretty damn great, so much so that I'm having a hard time picking an outright worst of the week. I think the song that feels most disappointing is 'Glorious' by Macklemore and Skylar Grey, but I still think that's a Dishonourable Mention compared to 'Famous' by 21 Savage, which is just incompetent across the board. Worst of the week there, but for the best... '4:44' is the Honourable Mention, but I have to give best of the week to 'Praying' by Kesha. Call me a fanboy all you want, that song has maturity and the sort of firepower these charts could really use, and in a just world, it'd get some real chart traction and become a hit. But really, I could see a good four or five of these Jay-Z songs sticking well if streaming holds up, so we'll see...
No comments:
Post a Comment