billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 29, 2017 (VIDEO)

And this episode took WAY too long to finish... but overall pretty good, I think.

Okay, next review on the way, stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 29, 2017

Okay, I'll be very honest: I was not expecting this week to be as chaotic as it was. I expected that Kesha would cross over and we'd maybe get a few tracks from 21 Savage and maybe one or two from Jay-Z - after all, it's not really a radio-friendly record, I didn't see a lot of crossover potential. And boy, was I wrong, because nine out of the ten songs from 4:44 hit the Hot 100 - along with the expected Kesha and 21 Savage, along with singles from Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato and the point is that this week turned out way busier than I expected. I clearly underestimated the still-remaining star power from Jay, because it took out a swathe of the charts - and in the middle of the summer, it'll be fascinating to see what even has a chance of recovering.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - may 21, 2016 (VIDEO)

Believe it or not, this was actually an easier episode to edit than the last one - took less time too, so go figure.

Next up, Cole Swindell, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - may 21, 2016

This is probably not going to be one of the nicer episodes of Billboard BREAKDOWN, just so you're all forewarned. And those of you who follow this series probably know that already because I've been calling this for a few weeks now. Well, my predictions came true, and not only did we lose every single Prince song from the Hot 100, they all got replaced by Drake, including the #1. And I'm going to say this right now: Views has only become less interesting since I covered it, and while you could cite that being my own fault given that I've been listening steadily to Aesop Rock and Death Grips, it doesn't change the fact the record is tedious, inconsistently produced, and increasingly badly written. And yet the mainstream public jumped all over it, giving Drake the record number of Hot 100 entries - and yet unlike Beyonce, I wouldn't expect many of these to stick around.

special comment: '#freekesha - a response' (VIDEO)

Well, this happened. Hope it goes over well, but even as I read more stories about this, I can't help but feel my information will be woefully outdated.

Eh, it happens. Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN, so stay tuned!

special comment: #freekesha - a response

I hoped that I would never have to make this.

In 2013, I made an extended Special Comment video surrounding the mismanagement of pop star Kesha's career, culminating in the cancellation of the collaboration project she made with the Flaming Lips, Lip$ha. In said Special Comment, I outlined all of the reasons why this was an asinine decision that ultimately cost them a considerable profit and the opportunity to market a more versatile and bankable star instead of doubling down on club boom trends that were nearing their final moments. Granted, the entire Warrior rollout and promotion had been a catastrophe where the labels had repeatedly shot themselves in the foot, to the point where you could argue it was intentional sabotage.