To be fair, The Chemical Brother's Go did alright in the chart.

Also, done with Muse it seems!

I think that's one of the more sudden changes from Radio 1 especially considering how much they loved every single from their last album Drones in 2015-16. In fairness though, I thought the Drones album was absolutely fantastic whereas I'm less impressed with the quality of what's been released so far from Simulation Theory.

Absolute banger. Would have been nice if they had playlisted something else from the album but I guess St Vincent and Beck aren't that R1-friendly, and they were nowhere near as poppy as Go.

I think that's one of the more sudden changes from Radio 1 especially considering how much they loved every single from their last album Drones in 2015-16. In fairness though, I thought the Drones album was absolutely fantastic whereas I'm less impressed with the quality of what's been released so far from Simulation Theory.

 

I was happy when Thought Contagion got on the playlist. But they have been threatening to get rid of Muse for years. George Ergatoudis said "we'll have to think very carefully about their next album" about five or six years ago, yet they outlived him in the world of Radio 1. I can see how it must be a tough balancing act, you can't saturate the airwaves with people who have been around for 10-20 years because the station's job is to promote new talent, and there have been a lot of chart veterans receiving heavy rotation over the past few years. 2016 was all about people like Sia, Beyonce and Craig David! And Coldplay!

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by 34yopoppicker

But they have been threatening to get rid of Muse for years. George Ergatoudis said "we'll have to think very carefully about their next album" about five or six years ago, yet they outlived him in the world of Radio 1.

Well after the unremarkable The 2nd Law you could understand why they might have considered ending Muse's time on the Radio 1 playlist, but then they came out with the superb Drones and Radio 1 thought the same in that Muse largely improved in that era.

I think Radio 2 supported quite a few Muse singles last time, and they playlisted Dig Down whereas R1 didn't. But I just can't see myself ever transitioning to R2 ever, they take the big pop hits of Radio 1 but very little of the indie/dance/urban and are still terrified of many of the edgier 1990s bangers, which is probably why you're still far more likely to hear 22-year-old Firestarter and Born Slippy (and even the 26-year-old On a Ragga Tip and Out of Space) on Radio 1's Greatest Hits Show/Ten Minute Takeover than Radio 2. Bound to change eventually, you'd think.

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by 34yopoppicker

I think Radio 2 supported quite a few Muse singles last time, and they playlisted Dig Down whereas R1 didn't. But I just can't see myself ever transitioning to R2 ever, they take the big pop hits of Radio 1 but very little of the indie/dance/urban and are still terrified of many of the edgier 1990s bangers, which is probably why you're still far more likely to hear 22-year-old Firestarter and Born Slippy on Radio 1 than Radio 2. Bound to change eventually, you'd think.

Radio 2 supported Dead Inside and Mercy for about two weeks, it was very little compared to Radio 1's support. The transition did indeed come with Dig Down. And you're right that Firestarter and Born Slippy are much more likely to be played on Radio 1 despite their age, but those seem to be part of only a few tracks that R1 consider 'classics', there is still very little music from the 1990s other than dance and rap that you'd actually hear much at all on Radio 1 (outside maybe their Greatest Hits show).

Yes - we don't really hear them in normal non-Greatest Hits show programming. Those songs should probably belong on Radio 2 now but that station seems to prioritise its older listeners over its younger ones. If I had my way, Radio 2 would be playing more classic gangsta rap and not playlisting Cliff Richard, it would certainly help me make the transition! But the BBC's problem is that Radio 2 has clashing generations to consider, with a lot of people in their sixties hating the music people in their late thirties and early forties grew up with and vice versa. Older listeners on Radio 2 social media were blowing a fuse about them playlisting Calvin and Dua FFS ("stop turning the station into Radio 1") etc, which is ridiculous really because One Kiss doesn't sound a million miles away from what today's 50-year-old would have danced to in their early twenties.

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by 34yopoppicker

Most older people have the opinion that new music is crap. I know we all have our era's, but there's always been crap in the charts alongside the good songs even in the so called 'glory days' of the 70's and 80's.

I think a lot of older listeners lost interest in pop around 1987/88 with the advent of house etc (which was when I was just getting to grips with what music even was). They probably felt how I feel about all those tedious afro bashment and mumble rap songs we get in the lower reaches of the Top 40 now!

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by 34yopoppicker

I think a lot of older listeners lost interest in pop around 1987/88 with the advent of house etc. They probably felt how I feel about all those tedious afro bashment and mumble rap songs we get in the lower reaches of the Top 40 now!

Has there actually been any mumble rap in the UK chart at all?

 

The term gets thrown around a lot here, but I can't actually remember any being in the UK chart.

Has there actually been any mumble rap in the UK chart at all?

Bad & Boujee and Mask Off come to mind instantly without spending much time thinking

Done some research but these are songs I generally hear in the first 30 mins of the chart show. Apparently the following are all deemed to be 'mumble rappers' and have certainly all been in:

 

BlocBoy JB

6ix9ine

XXXTentacion

Lil Peep (posthumously - I actually don't mind that song!)

Lil Pump

Future (don't mind Mask Off either)

Lil Uzi Vert

 

But it's more these lifeless (to my ears) sub-J Hus songs like Jumanji and most things involving Not3s etc that grind my gears. Not really aimed at me though I guess.

 

 

 

Yeah, Radio 1 loved Wild Frontier but it did nothing, so I'm not surprised they seem to be ignoring them this time. They also loved Omen, Warrior's Dance etc back in 2009 and still played them for years after. Radio 1 normally stick with older acts (especially rappers and dance acts) until they have an underperforming era. Hoping it's not too late for Light Up the Sky as it's all over the specialist shows but not holding my breath. Too good to be left to 6 Music and it's not like Radio 2 are going to playlist it! I also loved it when they got behind Go by the Chemical Brothers so enthusiastically, but Free Yourself isn't a patch on that. Also, done with Muse it seems! I've been ignoring the fact I'm out of the target audience for years because I think it's all a lot of outdated shit and there's nowhere else for someone like me to go.

 

Yeh they aren't supporting Prodigy on daytime it seems - the albums out in 2 weeks. Muse have moved over to radio 2 it seems. As for Go it became so big commercially they had no choice but to support it as I think they were planning on dropping them. They're a classic dance act though so pity it seems they are dropped.

Lil Peep definitely isn't mumble rap, he's closer to singing like Post Malone than 'rapping' tbh.

 

 

Cardi B & 21 Savage's track Bartier Cardi instantly strikes me as another example too.

I don't get everything Cardi B does but at least she has energy and passion, things which seem to be lacking in a lot of urban chart music from both sides of the Atlantic at the moment. Just as I was enjoying tropical house/pop and future bass finally fecking off, afro bashment and mumble rap came along!

6ix9ine's Fefe is definitely mumbling, but Stoopid is probably as far from it as you can get :P

Done some research but these are songs I generally hear in the first 30 mins of the chart show. Apparently the following are all deemed to be 'mumble rappers' and have certainly all been in:

 

BlocBoy JB

6ix9ine

XXXTentacion

Lil Peep (posthumously - I actually don't mind that song!)

Lil Pump

Future (don't mind Mask Off either)

Lil Uzi Vert

 

But it's more these lifeless (to my ears) sub-J Hus songs like Jumanji and most things involving Not3s etc that grind my gears. Not really aimed at me though I guess.

 

I agree it's a result of how huge grime has become over the past decade that so many random artists get into the lower top 40 also streamers are more likely to stream this guff!

 

I agree it's a result of how huge grime has become over the past decade that so many random artists get into the lower top 40 also streamers are more likely to stream this guff!

Most of the urban artists that get in the top 40 definitely aren't grime!