billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 16, 2019 (VIDEO)

And here we go - bit of a messy recording process to get here, but here we are.

Next up, I think I'm ready to talk about Emotional Oranges, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 16, 2019

You know, it feels like it's been a while since we've had a week that I'd otherwise describe as 'normal' on the Hot 100 - a respectable number of entries, everything seems somewhat stable, only the rapidly fading remnants of an album bomb that's best forgotten. And it's also one of those 'normal' weeks that seems deceptively busy - more of a correction to what the equilibrium of the chart should have been the past few weeks, at least to me.

the top ten best hit songs of 2018 (VIDEO)

So that's the next list out - okay, Billboard BREAKDOWN and two lists left to write (plus the last episode of Resonators for this season), so my work's cut out for me. Stay tuned!

the top ten best hit songs of 2018

So here's where things get hard - I already said in my last list that 2018 was a pretty bad year for the Hot 100... but was it, really? When I started putting together this list, I actually found a pretty sizable list of pretty good songs where I actually had to make some cuts. But note my choice of words: there were plenty of good songs, but very few great ones, especially if we're going to make any comparisons to previous years, and that makes the flagrant awfulness stand out all the more starkly. But to explain why... well, the bad songs were execrable results of gross trends and chart manipulation, but I honestly couldn't get too mad at the latter because if the songs were good, nobody would be complaining about it.

Sadly, this is where the second part of the album bomb conversation comes up, and how they can prove surprisingly detrimental to more than just the album itself. Sure, it might give promoters a clue how to push certain songs to become sleeper hits, but it also can burn people out on potential singles faster, and limits their chance to rise within the top 40 - you only need to look at how Post Malone mismanaged 'Candy Paint' for an example of that. And while the radio will occasionally get onboard with late album singles, in order to maintain relevance they wind up pushing the most stale and broadly sketched music imaginable to satiate as wide of an audience, which doesn't always align with quality. But what's perhaps most damaging about an album bomb is the aftershocks around it, where potentially weird or obscure tracks riding a slow groundswell might get knocked aside, especially if you're not a megastar or you're in a subgenre that doesn't get mainstream attention anyway! The one thing I could say about 2017 hits is that they brought an uncommon wealth of talent and critical acclaim to bear where they could wind up on both my list of hits and songs proper - 2018, not even close, especially when you consider how many artists disappointed or outright fell off this year.

And yet by some miracle, I've got a list of songs that debuted on the year-end Hot 100 in 2018 that I can credibly call the strongest of this year, even if they don't hold a candle to the best of, say, the majority of this decade, so let's start with our Honourable Mentions...

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 3, 2018 (VIDEO)

Well, damn, that took way too long...

And judging what's coming up on Resonators, that might take way too long as well... as well as whatever's next on the schedule. Okay, might get tricky balancing what comes next, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 3, 2018

So this wasn't what I was expecting. I mean, sure, I knew there'd be some traction coming from Juice WRLD and Future's collaboration, but beyond that I'll freely admit that I wasn't expecting the same level of success from Khalid and Lil Yachty, or that none of them would result in the biggest new arrival this week! Again, it's impossible to see how much of this will last, but it does make for a slightly busier week than I was expecting.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 22, 2018 (VIDEO)

So this was a tricky week to put together, but overall it turned out okay.

Next up... man, I'm excited to talk about Noname, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 22, 2018

I've said before that certain weeks can seem deceptive on the Hot 100, and this is one of those weeks, where both more and less than you'd expect happened. On the surface, it just looks like a regular cooldown week, but dig between the margins and you'll see a fair amount of movement coming out of the summer... but whether that movement matters is a different question altogether.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 21, 2018 (VIDEO)

So yeah, crazy busy episode, but it seems like it's going down well, so enjoy!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 21, 2018

There are a lot of narratives that need to be considered going into this week, most of which I predicted and those that I didn't I'm not sure I wanted to entertain. Of course the biggest story is the Cardi B album bomb, but like last week the Hot 100 would have been plenty busy without her.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 27, 2018 (VIDEO)

My god, this was a messy week... and honestly, I think the thumbnail kind of captures that, admittedly not one of my best. 

Next up... hmm, it could be interesting, let's see!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 27, 2018

It feels weird when, for once, my predictions are actually mostly right on the money. Granted, they were pretty obvious predictions in who was going to #1 or was going to fall out of the top 10 or even some gains and loses - and if I were to say this week that both Drake songs are going to chart next week, that's not going to blow any minds - but still, it's an odd feeling, especially when there are songs coming up that look pretty damn promising!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 19, 2017 (VIDEO)

And here's an especially long episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN... man, this took a while to put together, as they always do...

But still not all tonight, stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 19, 2017

It's never the album bomb weeks that are actually interesting - it's the weeks that come after, the fallout period where you see the headlong rush to plug the holes. And considering the summer music season tends to have a dry spell in album releases, this is the time where songs that might not otherwise crossover have a shot for some traction, where the weird or strange stuff might bubble up.

video review: 'dua lipa' by dua lipa

Not really a tremendous amount to say about htis one - it's a good pop record, generally enjoyable, it connected for me.

But next... whoo boy, I've been looking forward to this one, stay tuned!

album review: 'dua lipa' by dua lipa

Well, it's about time this got released - and while I don't often claim to be ahead of the curve when it comes to pop music, I can definitely say I was in this case. I was covering Dua Lipa on World Hit months if not over a year ago on Billboard BREAKDOWN, and while I knew her throatier tones and poise would make her a natural fit for the Europop markets, I wasn't really expecting her to cross over to the United States. But then 'Blow Your Mind (Mwah)' hit the Hot 100, and Martin Garrix brought her on for 'Scared To Be Lonely', and the clock was set on that major label debut, which has been in development since early 2015. 

And I have to be honest, I had a hard time setting expectations - 'Be The One' is a terrific pop song, but it's one of six singles that Dua Lipa released trying to give this some traction, and from the nearly two dozen producers and songwriters backing her, I had the uneasy feeling that this was a record that's long been in development, maybe even overworked. Props to Dua Lipa for having writing credits on every song except 'Be The One', but at the same time, would this be the jump-off point for crossover success, or would Dua Lipa fall into the list of so many good but not great pop debuts that often become forgotten months later, especially on this side of the Atlantic?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 18, 2017 (VIDEO)

Well, this was an absolutely miserable week to get through... sorry, folks, but Migos is crashing hard and Sam Hunt is somehow getting worse. Fuck, this was hell to get through.

But on a different note, I've got Ty Segall next, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 18, 2017

To say I have some mixed feelings about this week would be understating it. On the one hand, I'm reasonably happy with a few shifts in our top ten - we've got a returning #1 I actually like and it looks like it'll have some staying power. On the other hand... this was the week Migos came in force, and nearly half of our new arrivals involved them - and that's not counting another song that seemed destined to even further sink my regards for the artist into the earth's crust, but we'll get to that in a bit.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 5, 2016 (VIDEO)

Well, not a great week, but you can get by on stuff like this. Plus 'False Alarm' came back and that song rules.

Next up, D.R.A.M., so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 5, 2016

Well, it couldn't last. The past few weeks on Billboard BREAKDOWN, while not perfect, have at least shown a little more potential, but this week shows that crap has its own certain inertia - even though there are some positive signs, a lot of this week feels for every two steps forward we're taking one step back.