billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 30, 2019 (VIDEO)

Oh boy, this was a total mess... and about the last time I'm properly rendering a video in 4K, because I'm not entirely pleased with how this turned out when it came to this timeline. Anyway, next up... not sure, as the schedule gets messy, but we'll see how it turns - enjoy!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 30, 2019

You know, normally Billboard is a bit more organized when they delineate when their tracking year begins and ends - not this year. A lot of this is tied into some of the messiness that came when they adjusted their tracking week to be closer to current activity instead being so far post-dated, but since the calendar doesn't exactly correlate, this could well be counted as a 53rd week in this year... or the first next year. It's annoying, to say the least, but I'll adjust my records and thumbnail as we get new information.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 13, 2019

Okay, bit of a slower week, but kind of a mess too...

Anyway, tomorrow is the sixth year anniversary, and I've got something fun planned, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 13, 2019

Am I the only one who thinks that we all dodged a bullet this week? I figured there was a real possibility that given the sparse set of releases we could get something disruptive and unpleasant like a week full of Chris Brown, but he only managed to lodge one new song on the Hot 100 and otherwise... looks like a pretty relaxed week. Not precisely a great one, but thankfully a bit slower.

trailing edge - episode 014 - april-june 2019 (VIDEO)

Okay, long time overdue to get this done, but I'm happy it's here.

Next up... probably handling Thom Yorke if I don't put him on the Trailing Edge, and then Dreamville - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 20, 2019 (VIDEO)

Alright, this came off a tempestuous day behind the scenes (and I'm still fighting to get over something... GAH), but I'm on track now and hopefully I can have this billy woods review finished tomorrow. 

So yeah, stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 20, 2019

And here I was making the assumption that this was going to be a pretty mild week on the Hot 100... and maybe in comparison to a regular album bomb it is, but I'll admit I completely forgot that Khalid put out a project that did spark some significant shifts on the Hot 100 for his surprising number of charting singles. I'd still argue it doesn't quite move the needle that much and this still does feel like a post-album bomb week, but it's worth mentioning at least, even if the album will wind up being a perennial occupant of the Trailing Edge.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 23, 2019 (VIDEO)

So yeah, this took a bit longer this evening than I was anticipating (I had RL work stuff along with a spur-of-the-moment choice to do my taxes), but it's here regardless. Kind of underwhelming, but what can you do.

Next up... well, it might take a day or two, depending on when the data I need comes in, but I think we're going to stay in hip-hop - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 23, 2019

So this week surprised me - a lot. I was gearing up for a Juice WRLD album bomb that would make my life miserable, and to my amazement that didn't happen. In fact, we got a pretty average week on Billboard BREAKDOWN, where Juice WRLD did make an impact but nowhere close to what I was predicting, and that leads me to questions about his label and management I didn't expect I'd have. Hell, I knew the kid had a short shelf-life, but I didn't expect Interscope mismanagement to be the biggest contributing factor, I thought the album just being crap would have done enough!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 23, 2019 (VIDEO)

So yeah, I know it's a bit of a wild prediction that thank u, next won't quite last on the Hot 100... but I've seen enough album bombs to see exactly how Ariana Grande will fade, especially in the face of the projects in the wings coming.

Next up, we're talking Avantasia - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 23, 2019

So everyone and their mother was going to predict that Ariana Grande would have an album bomb this week. That's not surprising, and I'm fully aware that me saying it last week was not blowing anyone's mind. I will say I'm a bit surprised that she broke through so high in the top 40, with only one song from the album not placing there. And what I find interesting here is that when you combine a relatively modest track length - we're only talking new songs from Ariana here - and only a few other breakthroughs around it, it leads to a week that didn't quite feel as disrupted as I expected. More just at the top than anything, and that gives me the impression that thank u, next as an album might suffer a steeper dropoff than Ariana's people are prepared to acknowledge. Hey, you make an album custom-built for streaming, you suffer the consequences!

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 29, 2018 (VIDEO)

Man, quick rendering time helps me get these out so much faster... shame it was a rough week, though.

Okay, next up... I think it's time for Vallendusk and maybe one of these hip-hop records, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 29, 2018

This week feels more transitional than I think it actually is. Sure, we have a new #1 and a sizable number of new arrivals and it's not an album bomb week and we are indeed changing seasons... but I dunno, what we're getting on the Hot 100 doesn't exactly seem built to last, which means while I won't call this precisely bad, I don't think it's all that good either.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 28, 2018 (VIDEO)

So bit of an overstuffed week, but it happens - I'm frankly amazed I just managed to get it out on time.

But next up... again, as I said, underground. Stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - july 28, 2018

And here I was thinking this week was going to be easy. Well, okay, all of that has to be put in perspective - we were going to see the continued fallout of Drake songs, but what threw me a bit was how neither Future or Meek Mill could sustain much coming out of last week, which led to a healthy crop of new arrivals that probably makes this chart as interesting as it's been in some time... for better or worse.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - june 30, 2018 (VIDEO)

So I don't think people were expecting how harsh I was in this video.

Oh well, I'm not going to mince words, and I've already made my lengthy pieces surrounding XXXTENTACION. It's your choice to not reckon with the consequences of your listening choices, not mine.

Anyway, might as well talk Death Grips next, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - june 30, 2018

...you know, it's funny, people were reaching out to me for my reaction when XXXTENTACION posthumously went to #1 this week and all I tweeted was '...'. That was it, and people assumed or projected so many emotions upon that tweet... when reality I just did not care. And I still don't - I've said my piece on XXXTENTACION a number of times, my review of ? was over fifteen minutes long, and to see this response... well, it's very telling to say the least, that in the dumpster fire of the Hot 100 in 2018, instead of any of his other songs American audiences chose to send the one where he's guilt-tripping a significant other by threatening suicide to the #1. 

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - june 9, 2018 (VIDEO)

And now we have a busy but overall pretty damn good week, I'm generally pleased with this.

Next up... okay, fine, we'll deal with the elephant in the room, and I won't have a lot of mercy - stay tuned!