Follow God would be my fave of the week, Orphans I like too.

Selah really could've done with the hallelujah section being shorter.

'Orphans' and 'Follow God' are way ahead of the other debuts this week for me, I didn't like 'Selah' much on first listen although has grown on me a little after a second listen. 'Closed On Sunday' remains a little too tacky though, easily among Kanye's worst songs to date. 'Frail State Of Mind' is also good and 'Floss' is decent. Don't care for the rest, worst of the week I agree goes to 'Halloween' with the typical awful lyrics of anything associated with D-Block Europe, AJ Tracey is seriously above this kind of trash.

Follow God would be my fave of the week, Orphans I like too.

Selah really could've done with the hallelujah section being shorter.

 

Follow God seems to be the most praised out of his album, and I can see why. Glad to see you like the two listed in the comment.

Personally, I'm fine with the length of the choir section.

 

 

 

'Orphans' and 'Follow God' are way ahead of the other debuts this week for me, I didn't like 'Selah' much on first listen although has grown on me a little after a second listen. 'Closed On Sunday' remains a little too tacky though, easily among Kanye's worst songs to date. 'Frail State Of Mind' is also good and 'Floss' is decent. Don't care for the rest, worst of the week I agree goes to 'Halloween' with the typical awful lyrics of anything associated with D-Block Europe, AJ Tracey is seriously above this kind of trash.

 

 

Yeah, I can understand why one would not like Closed On Sunday, or the Chick fil-A references in particular (Also, the restaurant has been having some anti-LGBT views recently which raises some mixed signals. It's fine by me if someone still chooses to eat food from there).

Glad to see you like the songs you referred to, though LOL at us having the same Least Fave Of The Week (I don't mind that song).

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Dan and Bre.

Edited November 4, 20195 yr by DalekOne-One

For me, best of the Week is Orphans (obviously, because I'm a Coldplay fan and the good is pretty good).

Honorable Mention goes to "Better Half Of Me" (I really like this song, it grows on me every time I'm listening to this song).

Worst of the Week goes to "Look At Her Now" (Selena could do much better than this).

Dishonorable Mention for me is "Halloween" (Like Selena, AJ Tracey could do so much better than this).

For me, best of the Week is Orphans (obviously, because I'm a Coldplay fan and the good is pretty good).

Honorable Mention goes to "Better Half Of Me" (I really like this song, it grows on me every time I'm listening to this song).

Worst of the Week goes to "Look At Her Now" (Selena could do much better than this).

Dishonorable Mention for me is "Halloween" (Like Selena, AJ Tracey could do so much better than this).

 

 

Hi Sergej,

I'm a Coldplay fan too.

I do agree that Tracey has better material (like Ladbroke Grove, Doing It and Blacked Out), and as for Selena, I think I prefer her on EDM production (like on Kygo's It Ain't Me and Zedd's I Want You To Know) over standard pop production. That's not to say that her popish material contains some gems like Naturally.

 

 

14/11/2019

 

 

NEW ENTRIES:

 

#95. Mahalia feat. Ella Mai - What You Did

#77. James Arthur - Quite Miss Home

#76. Sam Smith - I Feel Love

#72. Frank Ocean - In My Room

#63. Krept & Konan feat. Spice and Tory Lanez - First Time

#51. Ariana Grande, Normani, Nicki Minaj - Bad To You

#50. Sigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got Love

#42. Arizona Zervas - Roxanne

#35. Cast Of RuPaul's Drag Race UK - Break Up (Bye Bye)

#31. AJ Tracey and Skepta - Kiss And Tell

#30. M Huncho feat. Nafe Smallz - Thumb

#23. Krept & Konan feat. D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle - Tell Me

#2. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now

 

 

 

 

 

What You Did takes a sample off Cam’Ron’s 2002 hit Oh Boy, which in turn samples Rose Royce’s 1976 song I’m Going Down from the Car Wash soundtrack. In this song, Mahalia finds out that her lover has been cheating on her and she confronts him, saying that she knows what he did. Both Mahalia and Mai’s vocals are pretty smooth and blend with the beat well in a similar vein to SZA. However, the “boy”s that pop up occasionally can be distracting (like in the Cam’Ron song it sampled), and the phrasing of the lines in the “I know what you did” concept gives me the impression that she has been invading this guy’s privacy; the situation could have had a bit more elaboration.

 

 

Quite Miss Home shows Arthur doing business and making money while away from home, and he’s missing it. There is a nice sentiment to it, but the lyrics feel very basic and bland, like “I miss you telling me to leave my shoes at the door”. The instrumentation is quite good though, with some pedal-driven pianos driving Arthur’s voice and the string arrangements near the end slightly elevating this.

 

 

Sam Smith has put out a cover of the 1977 Donna Summer classic I Feel Love. The original is a truly fantastic gem that sounded ahead of its time, with zestful synth production from Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer putting on a very smooth vocal performance. The production of this song was influential on many aspects of EDM, as well as music in general. To cover a classic like this is pretty risky considering how people would react to it. Weezer did a recent cover album of classics like No Scrubs (TLC) and Take On Me (a-Ha) known as The Teal Album and that was met to pretty mixed reception. So how does Sam’s cover hold up compared to the original?

The production does a great job at capturing the energy of the synths in the original. Sam’s high range vocals are okay, but I notice it breaking and stopping at some points of the song. There’s also a few ad-libs in the intro and outro that end up feeling ominous and out of place.

 

 

In My Room has a nice synth tone to it, and Frank Ocean’s braggadocious personality blends quite well into it. The song could have been expanded with maybe a chorus or another verse, but for what it is, it’s pretty solid.

 

 

We’ve got new entries from Krept & Konan’s new album Revenge Is Sweet. I’ve got to say that the album was a good listen for me (I have more thoughts on it for my quick review on AlbumOfTheYear in case anyone’s interested). Unfortunately, the two new entries from that album were two of the weaker tracks.

First Time reminds me of B Young’s Jumanji in some way. Both have an acoustic guitar play over a slow rhythm, and both have at least one vocalist use Jamaican patois (in the latter’s case, Tory Lanez and Krept are doing it). Tory has done this accent quite a handful of times (examples include Luv, Wiley’s My Love and Stay Flee Get Lizzy’s 2 Cups), and his chorus is okay, though a repeated line in the chorus explicitly mentions the loss of virginity. It’s not a very good innuendo, though there are worse lines, like Krept making love to a girl until her belly starts hurting or Konan talking about a girl making his jeans expand or Spice’s submarine line. The instrumentation is quite nice though and does fit the tone of the song decently

Tell Me has a pretty decent beat with some good ass instrumentation, and the way some of the artists phrase some of their lines vocally reminds me of Travis Scott’s SICKO MODE, but I’m kinda mixed on the overall result with the ups and downs being pretty close to each other.

Krept goes for this melodic autotune vocal style and it does not sound very good (especially in the pre-chorus). As for D Block, they blend into the beat okay, though Adz’ verse has a line about watching his girl pee and Dirtbike’s autotuned-filled verse is distracting, thus weighing the song down. Ling Hussle’s part is mostly focused on flexing, but she sounds decent. Konan’s verse is also pretty decent, despite a line in which he attempts to correct his Simpsons reference.

 

 

First, there was Milanari, and now we have Arinormanicki. Bad To You takes some elements of reggae and adds a sultry vibe to them in a similar vein to Side To Side and Bloodline. The percussion could have used more than just an 808 snare backbeat to convey this mood better (it’s what made the vibe in the aforementioned Ari songs stand out). There was also a moment where I thought the beat was slipping off rhythm, plus Nicki’s verse has this addition of a bass boosted D note that sounds out of place.

 

 

We Got Love sees Sigala drifts away from his usual tropical house sound and opt for a more 80s synth-driven vibe. The production is just amazing on this, with the instruments flowing together really well, even if the violins in the post-chorus sounded too loud to the point where it overpowered the rest of the mix. The clav solo near the end is especially a true highlight. Ella’s vocals are also really good, as are the lyrics in which she tells a guy who’s down on his luck to maintain his strength and enjoy his life.

 

 

Roxanne carries some acoustic guitars with lo-fi production over a trap beat that reminds me of Lil Tecca’s Ransom. Zervas puts on a pretty fun, charismatic personality throughout, though there’s some autotune showing up in the chorus. There are a few silly lines in which she only likes cocaine and whole foods and one in which Zervas only takes pictures of Roxanne when her ass is out. Still, it’s a pretty enjoyable, upbeat song, though it’s nowhere as good as that Police song of the same name.

 

 

Time to start ya engines, because we’ve got an entry from the cast of the UK edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Break Up (Bye Bye) has some swagger in it with the trumpets playing over the trap beat, and I quite liked Baga Chipz’ verse, but the lyrical content is centered around breaking up with someone because you’re famous, which can come off as pretty obnoxious.

 

 

Both AJ and Skepta come with some good vocal chemistry between each other on Kiss And Tell, as well as some solid flows. Our two artists brag about girls (along with shoe brands and alcohol) while boosting these brags thanks to their combined charisma over a dark, minimalistic beat

 

 

The last time M Huncho and Nafe Smallz collaborated was during last year with Broken Homes. I didn’t really like that song, and I can pretty much say the same thing for Thumb. The pianos sound quite nice and the production gives them a tone that makes it feel different from the other piano trap beats I’ve been hearing recently. I also like that part in the 1st verse where Huncho talks about wanting to do a tour as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to his fans for taking him out of the hard times of his life. Unfortunately, there is a line about sticking a finger in a girl’s butt that is a recurring line throughout the song, we also get a one-liner in which Smallz dives in ‘that p***y’ like a cheerio. Plus, he has these autotuned Young Thug-esque vocals that don’t come out sounding very well.

 

 

Don’t Start Now carries a groovy disco feel to it while dealing with a post break-up situation. The instrumentation is very uplifting with the house style piano chords in the chorus and the bass guitar in the verses to capture that 1970’s atmosphere. In this song, Dua has moved on from a break-up and is with another guy, and she tells her ex not to show up if he doesn’t approve of her decision. She also talks about how in the 2nd verse that he was the one who caused the downfall of the relationship and how he wasn’t too hurt by it. This elaboration make this stand out from some of the other songs calling out exes nowadays that try too hard to be empowering.

 

 

 

Overall, this week was just okay. There were five songs ending up below decent territory, though there were two excellent songs to bump it up a little. Both of these have a lot of retro spirit to them and they are getting the respective spots for Fave Of The Week and the Honourable Mention. These being We Got Love by Sigala and Ella Henderson (which was close to getting a GOLD rating) and Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa. My least favourite would have to be Thumb by M Huncho and Nafe Smallz despite a good instrumental.

 

 

#95. Mahalia feat. Ella Mai - What You Did [7/10]

#77. James Arthur - Quite Miss Home [6/10]

#76. Sam Smith - I Feel Love [7/10]

#72. Frank Ocean - In My Room [7/10]

#63. Krept & Konan feat. Spice and Tory Lanez - First Time [6/10]

#51. Ariana Grande, Normani, Nicki Minaj - Bad To You [6.5/10]

#50. Sigala feat. Ella Henderson - We Got Love [9/10] (Fave Of The Week)

#42. Arizona Zervas - Roxanne [7/10]

#35. Cast Of RuPaul's Drag Race UK - Break Up (Bye Bye) [6/10]

#31. AJ Tracey and Skepta - Kiss And Tell [7/10]

#30. M Huncho feat. Nafe Smallz - Thumb [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#23. Krept & Konan feat. D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle - Tell Me [6/10]

#2. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now [9/10] (FOTW HM)

 

The two Krept & Konan songs are easily the worst this week for me which is a shame as I usually like them, but the lyrics on their recent songs are just shockingly bad. I think 'First Time' is actually even worse than 'Tell Me' :drama:

 

Frank Ocean takes best of the week easily, followed by Dua Lipa (which has been quickly growing on me this week) and AJ Tracey. Mahalia and Sam Smith also pretty good. James Arthur's is better than his last few singles although still not exactly one of his best songs. Arizona Zervas is decent and catchy enough and might prove to be a grower as well. I can do without the other handful of newies although I'm glad that 'Break Up Bye Bye' charted for what it is and there are certainly worse songs to come out of Drag Race ~

The two Krept & Konan songs are easily the worst this week for me which is a shame as I usually like them, but the lyrics on their recent songs are just shockingly bad. I think 'First Time' is actually even worse than 'Tell Me' :drama:

 

Frank Ocean takes best of the week easily, followed by Dua Lipa (which has been quickly growing on me this week) and AJ Tracey. Mahalia and Sam Smith also pretty good. James Arthur's is better than his last few singles although still not exactly one of his best songs. Arizona Zervas is decent and catchy enough and might prove to be a grower as well. I can do without the other handful of newies although I'm glad that 'Break Up Bye Bye' charted for what it is and there are certainly worse songs to come out of Drag Race ~

 

There was better off of the Revenge Is Sweet album. Oh, and on that note, one of the tracks on there is a contender for my Top 75 Songs Of 2019 in my upcoming End Of Year countdown (which might come out in January).

Dua's track is a great throwback, I can see why it's becoming a grower for you.

 

 

21/11/2019

 

NEW ENTRIES:

 

#99. Gerry Cinnamon - Sometimes

#83. Lil Mosey feat. Gunna - Stuck In A Dream

#80. Doja Cat feat. Tyga - Juicy

#75. Bring Me The Horizon - Ludens

#69. Lil Baby - Woah

#64. Ant Saunders - Yellow Hearts

#56. Tory Lanez and T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger

#34. Darkoo and One Acen - Gangsta

#28. Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One - Don't Rush

#18. KSI, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, S-X - Down Like That

#15. Dave - Paper Cuts

#13. Fredo - Netflix & Chill

#5. J Hus - Must Be

 

 

 

The first time I remember hearing Sometimes was back in November 2018 when I saw it getting playlisted by Radio 1. I thought it was excellent upon first listen and my thoughts on this song haven't changed a year later.

The acoustic guitars and electric guitars are mixed together brilliantly, and the way they sound reminds me of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven without the elements of shoegaze and art rock. Gerry is also great on this as he reminisces about his youth and him getting into cocaine back in the day. It’s thanks to the instrumentation that the imagery in these lyrics are nicely captured.

 

 

Stuck In A Dream carries some good ol' electric guitar sounds, which Mosey blends quite well into. He's decent on this, even though there’s a handful of flexing in his verse.

Gunna's was also okay (I thought it was better than his verse on Young Thug’s Hot), despite a line in which he brags about making your 'ho' moist.

 

 

Juicy is a whole load of mindless fun. There's a sexually explicit tone in the lyrics but Doja Cat enhances them with a ton of charisma over some glossy, upbeat xylophone sounds.

Tyga's verse is pretty solid with him singing from the perspective of the guy Doja is referring to in the 1st verse, though I wasn’t too keen on his Madonna reference where he describes a p***y as ‘tighter than a virgin’.

 

 

Ludens is hugely pulsating in its sound. The verses come with this experimental, spine-chilling noise in the background, while the chorus comes with a heavy guitar riff. Oli Sykes sells the dark tone of the song incredibly, especially during the “You call this a connection” breakdown. I also love the way the usual downbeat lyrics of BTMH’s work blends with the dystopian tone of the Death Stranding universe, with the song questioning leaders and their corrupt motives, as well as breaking down the gradual desolation of the artificial world. Easily my favourite off of the Death Stranding soundtrack.

 

 

Woah has Lil Baby flexing while being accompanied by a piano playing over a trap beat. He rides the beat decently, though the chorus has a weak brag where his car is being noisy and his melodic vocal style doesn’t really back up the lines where he’s throwing shots at the haters.

 

 

Yellow Hearts has this minimalistic feel to it. I like me some minimalism, but these glossy keyboard chords have this sickly sweet sound to them and the 808 drum loop feels weak. I’m not a huge fan of the production in this.

The lyrics feel basic with this theme of love, but the production isn't good enough to elevate them. There are a few decent sounding melodies popping up at some points in this song and the chorus has a bit of a poetic vibe to it, which I appreciate.

 

 

Tory Lanez has managed to get T-Pain his first appearance on the UK Singles Chart since 2014. Jerry Sprunger samples T-Pain’s 2005 hit I’m Sprung. The original was about T-Pain trying to get away from a girl that wasn’t good for him, but he keeps getting ‘sprung’ which prevents him from leaving. I thought it was alright. It had some nice melodies over an 808 backbeat, though the autotune didn’t age very well. This version replaces the backbeat of the original with syncopated percussion.

Upon first listen, I didn't like Lanez' high range voice as it felt too distracting, but I now think that it feels smooth and meshes well into the sample. T-Pain’s verse weighs the song down as he sounds too loud to the point where it overpowers the mix, as well as him talking about a girl ‘making it clap’ and your girl spitting out champagne because she thought it was nasty. Also, the mix of Tory Lanez, the T-Pain sample and the newly recorded backing vocals of T-Pain in the chorus feel a bit claustrophobic.

 

 

Gangsta serves as an upbeat piece of afrobeat with Darkoo giving off a fun verse and chorus. Loving someone like a gangster sounds pretty ridiculous, but the verses come through with a solid amount of charisma. One Acen sings from the perspective of the guy that Darkoo is trying to love and while I didn’t like his verse as much as her’s, he still brings some enjoyment with amusing lines like “I'll be your sponsor, tell me what you want love / No more Indomie, now it's Steak & Lobster.”. There is also a short, but catchy guitar line popping up in the chorus that sounds like something off of a Super Mario game.

 

 

Young T & Bugsey return with their buoyant sound in Don’t Rush. The song opens up with a really good intro that sounds like it came from a game show, before our two artists come in to set the vibe. There are a few ridiculous lines such as Bugsey making his girl blush by ‘flood(ing) his ice’ and that Busta Rhymes reference in Young T’s verse, but there are also some good ones such as ‘Off my whites, right my wrongs’ and Headie One ending off his verse with a great use of wordplay on his hometown of Tottenham.

 

 

Down Like That has a pretty weird blend of lyrical content. The chorus is about a relationship going badly, while the verses focus on flexing. KSi and Rick Ross have pretty good verses on this. S-X sounds like half-Khalid half-Weeknd. It took me a while to get used to the higher range of his voice, but now I’m starting to like it. Lil Baby’s my least fave of the four on this track, he’s okay but his flows aren’t as good as the other verses and the beat completely mutes at the beginning of that verse. The piano setting on this song is pretty basic with just a two note line but the beat comes in during the first chorus and it does a good job accompanying it along with a dark tone provided.

 

 

Paper Cuts sees Dave trying out a drill track and bringing his wordplay-driven lyrical style to it. He adds some comedy to contrast with the dark feel of the song, such as talking about eating asparagus in France, as well as referencing Star Wars and The Avengers.

 

 

Netflix & Chill carries a guitar melody accompanied by an 808 beat. Netflix And Chill is a meme that peaked somewhere between 2015 and 2016 so referring to it in a track can end up dating it. There’s also a part in the verses where Fredo switches between singing and rapping and it feels a little too sudden. Fredo does rap good as usual, and there are a handful of good lines such as him talking about still being in a cage if he didn’t start rapping and talking about killing the game while others in his circle are killing opps.

 

 

Must Be carries a wonderful jazz fusion sound to it with its instrumentation. The saxophones and strings sound like they came from a mid-20th century sample, plus J Hus does a great vocal performance on this. He talks about seeing his friends getting locked up in jail, as well as having his chorus talk about how people jump to conclusions based on how a person looks or talks.

 

 

 

 

Overall, better week than last week with more songs getting higher than just 7/10. My favourite is definitely Ludens by Bring Me The Horizon, with Juicy by Doja Cat and Tyga getting the honorable mention.

My least fave of the batch is Yellow Hearts by Ant Saunders.

 

 

#99. Gerry Cinnamon - Sometimes [9/10]

#83. Lil Mosey feat. Gunna - Stuck In A Dream [7/10]

#80. Doja Cat feat. Tyga - Juicy [GOLD] (FOTW HM)

#75. Bring Me The Horizon - Ludens [GOLD] (FAVE OF THE WEEK!)

#69. Lil Baby - Woah [6/10]

#64. Ant Saunders - Yellow Hearts [5.5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#56. Tory Lanez and T-Pain - Jerry Sprunger [6/10]

#34. Darkoo and One Acen - Gangsta [8/10]

#28. Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One - Don't Rush [7/10]

#18. KSI, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, S-X - Down Like That [7/10]

#15. Dave - Paper Cuts [8/10]

#13. Fredo - Netflix & Chill [6.5/10]

#5. J Hus - Must Be [9/10]

 

 

28/11/2019

 

 

NEW ENTRIES:

 

#97. Jhene Aiko feat. Big Sean - None Of Your Concern

#96. MK and Sonny Fodera feat. Raphaella - One Night

#94. Bastille feat. The London Contemporary Orchestra - Can't Fight This Feeling (John Lewis Xmas Ad 2019)

#83. LAUV and LANY - Mean It

#79. Khalid - Up All Night

#70. Tory Lanez feat. Snoop Dogg - Beauty In The Benz

#62. Marshmello, YUNGBLUD, blackbear - Tongue Tied

#47. Tory Lanez feat. Chris Brown - The Take

#35. Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar

#19. Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go

#3. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted

 

 

 

Jhene Aiko gets her first appearance on the UK Singles Chart since 2015, when she was featured on Omarion’s Post To Be and had a verse known for that infamous grocery line. She has recently featured on the Summer Walker song I’ll Kill You and is back with a new single None Of Your Concern.

In this song, Aiko breaks down a relationship she's in that has gone downhill after she caught her lover cheating on her. She elaborates on her reactions to the incident really well. The (former) lover keeps calling on the phone obsessively with Aiko constantly ignoring him, with her also wishing that he can move forward in life.

The emotions and motives are framed greatly in this scenario with a pedal-driven piano to blend smoothly into the background, as well as some echoing B-VOX from Ty Dolla $ign to further convey an ambient atmosphere. We also have a muted drum line reminiscent of that of Drake’s 2011 song Marvin’s Room. Big Sean also does a pretty good job diving into the perspective of the lover, though there are a few times where his fast flows end up splitting offbeat and he talks about making his lover ‘c*m nine times’ but that line fits fine enough in the character he’s playing the role of in this situation.

 

 

One Night shows a couple that can’t point out problems around them carefully and to forget them all, they decide to have fun and forget the world for one night. The song comes with some uplifting instrumentation consisting of piano chords blending with a drum pattern, and the production giving this a nice night time club vibe. The post-chorus sounds like a blender mixing the musical styles of Disciples and Sigala together and I like it.

 

 

Bastille cover REO Speedwagon’s 1984 song Can’t Fight This Feeling for this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. The original combines the sounds of piano and keyboard together, along with some great guitar solos. The song is about a man who has romantic feelings for a friend and has finally found the right moment to let them out, these themes are backed by triumphant sounding instrumentation along with an explosive chorus.

This cover switches up the rock instrumentation with something more orchestral (i.e. string arrangements), but keeps the piano in. There’s only one verse (and it’s shortened) and the pre-chorus is only sung once. This shortening of lyrics does make the ‘feeling’ seem more vague, but I can see that it was done to fit the visuals of the commercial. I don't like Dan Smith's vocals in this as much as that of Kevin Cronin's in the original but he sounds quite solid on this.

 

 

Mean It has LAUV and Paul Klein sing about starting a relationship with a woman, but she has to make a deal with them in which she shouldn’t emotionally manipulate them or let her love for them get the best of her. This is a good thing to be telling her since these things can negatively affect a partner. There is also a vibrant, sustained synth in the instrumentation that gives a night time feel.

 

 

Up All Night uses a chordal synth setting over a dance style drum pattern that reminds me of the one that Soul II Soul would use in a few of their songs (Keep On Movin’ and Back To Life are a few examples), before adding some piano chords in the chorus. The song is about Khalid progressing in life and being thankful for the fact that he’s still living since that gives him more time to find answers to the questions involving the wonders of the universe that have been keeping him up at night. Khalid puts on a good personality as usual and his vocal performance fits well into the beat.

 

 

We’ve got two new entries from Tory Lanez’ new album The Chixtape 5, with many of the tracks, apparently, sampling R&B hits from the 2000’s. It goes to show that not every musical throwback needs to be 70’s or 80’s, it can also be from a modern, more recent decade.

Beauty In The Benz takes the Neptunes-produced beat from Snoop Dogg’s 2002 track Beautiful, and pitches it down along with the backing vocals of said track to make a solid beat. Tory gives off a semi-decent performance, though there are a few weak lines such as his girl leaving because her partner ‘doesn’t c*m enough’ followed by Tory saying that he’s the ‘runner-up’ and him sinking his teeth into ‘it’ like Dracula. Snoop Dogg’s verse has some chillness to it, though it wasn’t as good as his verse in the original Beautiful. The track ends off with a breath-taking outro consisting of dreamy synth strings and chopped vocal fragments that surprisingly fit into the tone.

The Take pitches down the chorus of Chris Brown’s 2007 hit Take You Down like with Beautiful in Beauty In The Benz, as well as making use of interpolations of that song. I'm not too keen on Tory’s verse as it is loaded with off-putting sex metaphors focusing on the likes of ice cream and Thanksgiving. Chris’ verse was okay though, with him attempting to convey the mood that he did on said 2007 song, though the line about his old material playing on his girl’s radio kinda shoehorns the nostalgia value, as well as the part in the pre-chorus in which he hits the rewind button.

 

 

Tongue Tied bears a downbeat atmosphere to back up lyrics dealing with anxiety. YUNGBLUD does a swell verse and chorus focusing on these issues and the way he blends with the low range synth in that verse reminds me of Oliver Tree’s Hurt a bit. While blackbear’s verse isn’t as good, it’s decent and sticks to the subject matter solidly.

 

 

Watermelon Sugar offers a nice slice of summery, upbeat indie pop. The song makes use of a sublime mixture of electric guitars and trumpets with Styles giving off a good vocal performance (along with some elegant harmonies in the chorus). These two singles leave me interested in what his sophomore effort has to offer.

 

 

 

Just a little warning that these next two sections mention some serious subject matter.

 

 

Before You Go deals with a loved one’s suicide in its lyrics, which show Lewis feeling guilty for not giving that person enough support when he or she needed it. The instrumentation also backs up that emotion divinely, with the verses starting off with an acoustic guitar before building up textures with string arrangements and drums later on. Lewis does a great job showing his feelings in the lyrical content and vocals altogether, and his vocal tessitura doesn’t get too high in the chorus, thus providing the right kind of melancholiness for this track.

 

 

everything i wanted paints a gut-wrenching picture of a dream in which Eilish commits suicide by jumping off a bridge, followed by the tragic event being ignored by everybody, even those who witnessed it. The music is carried by ambient piano chords reminiscent of the ones used in Nora En Pure’s Come With Me from 2013 and while that track uses them to convey a chill, relaxing atmosphere, the Eilish song uses them to display a downbeat vibe. Eilish gives an excellent, sombre vocal performance to fuse into the tone of the track.

 

 

 

 

This was a pretty swell week for debuts overall with a good enough batch of great songs. My favourite of these being None Of Your Concern by Jhene Aiko and Big Sean, with the honorable mention going to Everything i wanted by Billie Eilish.

My least favourite of those is The Take by Tory Lanez and Chris Brown.

 

 

#97. Jhene Aiko feat. Big Sean - None Of Your Concern [9/10] (Fave Of The Week)

#96. MK and Sonny Fodera feat. Raphaella - One Night [9/10]

#94. Bastille feat. The London Contemporary Orchestra - Can't Fight This Feeling (John Lewis Xmas Ad 2019) [8/10]

#83. LAUV and LANY - Mean It [7/10]

#79. Khalid - Up All Night [8/10]

#70. Tory Lanez feat. Snoop Dogg - Beauty In The Benz [7/10]

#62. Marshmello, YUNGBLUD, blackbear - Tongue Tied [8/10]

#47. Tory Lanez feat. Chris Brown - The Take [6/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#35. Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar [8/10]

#19. Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go [9/10]

#3. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted [9/10] (FOTW HM)

 

 

I don't know if I'll be doing the added comments or elaboration for December and January, as I'll be needing more time to prepare for my End Of Year Countdown.

 

The original of Can't Fight This Feeling is a real guilty pleasure of mine, or rather, just a pleasure. Bastille's version is OK but a strange choice for them as he's not the best at the high notes. (I haven't seen the ad yet.)

 

A shame we can't see your reviews of the last two songs - I think many people just assumed the lyrics of Before You Go were about a failed relationship.

A shame we can't see your reviews of the last two songs - I think many people just assumed the lyrics of Before You Go were about a failed relationship.

 

You can click on the text and scroll it down to review them.

Yes, I thought that too upon first listen, considering that it was a main theme in the Divinely Uninspired album.

 

05/12/2019

 

#99. Summer Walker feat. London On Da Track and Chris Brown - Something Real [7/10]

#97. Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff - Some Things Never Change (from Frozen 2) [7/10]

#94. Coldplay - Church [8/10]

#93. Coldplay - Champion Of The World [9/10] (FOTW HM)

#92. DaBaby - Bop [8/10]

#84. Geko x Stefflon Don x Deno x Dappy - Link Up [5.5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#74. Panic! At The Disco - Into The Unknown (from Frozen 2) [7/10]

#68. Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood - Show Yourself (from Frozen 2) [8/10]

#64. The Weeknd - Heartless [9/10]

#62. GRM Daily feat. Not3s and Blade Brown - Cash Train [7/10]

#59. Little Mix - One I've Been Mssing [6.5/10]

#57. Ellie Goulding - River [7/10]

#46. Trevor Daniel - Falling [7/10]

#36. Idina Menzel and AURORA - Into The Unknown (from Frozen 2) [9/10] (Fave Of The Week)

#35. ZieZie feat. Aitch - French Kisses [6/10]

#31. PARTYNEXTDOOR feat. Drake - Loyal [7/10]

#16. DigDat feat. D-Block Europe - New Dior [7/10]

#3. Stormzy feat. Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy - Own It [9/10]

 

 

Additional comments:

 

Church has a nice, vibrant instrumental that reminds me of the sounds that Lemon Jelly would come through with in their 2002 album Lost Horizons. There’s also some religious metaphors that reminds me of the ones Hozier used in Take Me To Church, though not as potent as the ones in that song.

Bop has an addictive flute line similar to that of Goin Baby.

Heartless starts off as a melodic braggadocious hip hop track, but in the chorus, The Weeknd says that he tries to change himself for the best but still ends up doing morally wrong things, so he could have been bragging to distract from his self-pity and nihilism. The bridge elevates it to another level of drowning in sorrow. Would have loved for Blinding Lights to have charted, but I’m good with this one.

I remember hearing a short snippet of Falling a lot on some hip hop channel’s videos earlier this year (forgot its name). The track is like Travis Scott mixed with Juice WRLD

The way Daniel says “Talk to me” in the 1st verse reminds me of the same lime from Alice Deejay’s 1999 hit Better Off Alone.

Really like AURORA’s ethereal “ah-ah”s in the background of Into The Unknown.

Edited December 2, 20195 yr by DalekOne-One

12/12/2019

 

NEW ENTRIES:

 

#89. Koffee feat. Gunna - W

#87. The X Factor Celebrities 2019 - Run

#41. Nines - Pride

#12. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

 

 

 

In W, Koffee blends smoothly with the instrumentation, as well as giving a good summery reggae vibe. Gunna's verse, surprisingly, blends well into the tune, and has him showing appreciation towards a girl. It isn't explicitally stated if it's Koffee or not, but it's a nice sentiment. The only problem there is that Koffee spends most of her verses flexing and ‘living (her) best life, making the two artists’ parts feel like two different songs.

 

 

Have I taken a TARDIS to the near end of the 2000’s? Because we have an X Factor Ensemble charity cover (the first one since 2011 with Rose Royce’s Wishing On A Star). It’s a cover of the 2003 Snow Patrol song Run (which X Factor winner Leona Lewis covered in 2008, and got a number one from it).

The original is a heartfelt song about being separated from your loved one, with some melancholy, but, in some places, climatic rock instrumentation. Leona Lewis’ cover switches up the rock instrumentation for a strings and piano arrangement, giving the cover a more orchestral feel. I quite prefer the Leona Lewis cover as there is a more gripping sense of emotion in that version.

The cover takes the instrumental of the Leona cover and makes use of some good vocal harmonisation. There are some times where the vocals switch up unexpectedly, which become a bit of a distraction, but other than that, I like this version, not as much as the original or the Leona cover.

 

 

Pride has a beat of what sounds like chopped up fragments of guitar sounds, which Nines rides well with a handful of fun from his braggadocious persona. He does repeat ‘follow the drip’ a bit too much in the pre-chorus and has a line in the 2nd verse about stepping in shit.

 

 

 

Flashback to the previous week:

Would have loved for Blinding Lights to have charted, but I’m good with this one (Heartless).

 

And I am glad that this managed to break the Top 40.

The Weeknd teams up with Oscar Holter and Max Martin to produce Blinding Lights, a dazzling 80s throwback with a sound reminiscent to that of the score from the 2011 film Drive or M83’s 2016 album Junk (which also carried some great 80s throwback styles). The upbeat sounds of the synths display a magnificent contrast to The Weeknd’s downbeat lyrics in which he tries to search for a lover following a break-up, but can’t seem to find a good one. He comes through with some vivid metaphors to his loneliness that come through with some word-painting from the shining synths.

 

 

 

And that's it. No honorable mention as there's not a lot of debuts. My fave of the four is easily Blinding Lights by The Weeknd. As for my least favourite? I liked all of the songs there, but if I had to choose by default, then probably Pride by Nines.

 

 

#89. Koffee feat. Gunna - W [8/10]

#87. The X Factor Celebrities 2019 - Run [8/10]

#41. Nines - Pride [8/10] (Least Fave[?] Of The Week)

#12. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)

Edited December 7, 20195 yr by SantaDalek32

19/12/2019

 

#79. Juice WRLD - All Girls Are The Same [8/10]

#76. Don Toliver - No Idea [7/10]

#71. Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm [6.5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#69. Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby - My Oh My [7/10]

#66. Bugzy Malone - December [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)

#60. JAY1 - Million Bucks [8/10]

#41. John Legend - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) [7/10]

#11. Harry Styles - Adore You [9/10] (FOTW HM)

 

 

 

 

Additional comments:

• All Girls Are The Same has some melancholy chiming sounds to accompany Juice, who is singing about his struggles during a break-up. He is sad to the point where he is shaming women and shutting them out of his mind. This soundS sexist, but I can understand why he’s thinking that because of the emotions he’s detailing out in this scenario and how he became heartbroken during so.
• My Oh My has Camila fall for a bad boy like in Havana with some really good call and response in the chorus. DaBaby raps from the perpsective of the bad boy but his flows are a bit too fast for the slow moving rhythm of the instrumentation.
• December has a gloomy Winter sound to it while Bugzy dives into similar reflective themes to MEN II. What’s different about the two is that December has a verse-chorus structure rather than just long verses and the instrumentation switches up occasionally. There is also an addition of dark choir vocals during the 2nd verse.
• The vocal harmonisation in the chorus of Adore You sounds breath-taking.

 

 

Edit: Forgot Christmas Tree Farm

Edited December 29, 20195 yr by SantaDalek32

26/12/2019

 

#99. Roddy Ricch - The Box [7/10]

#98. Juice WRLD - Legends [7/10]

#94. D-Block Europe - Darling [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#83. Jonas Brothers - Like It's Christmas [6/10]

#77. Sidemen - The Gift [6/10]

#57. Lil Uzi Vert - Futsal Shuffle 2020 [6/10]

#48. Jarvis Cocker - Running The World [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)

#39. Harry Styles - Falling [8/10]

#9. Stormzy - Lessons [9/10]

#6. Stormzy feat. Headie One - Audacity [9/10] (FOTW HM)

#1. LadBaby - I Love Sausage Rolls [6/10]

 

 

 

 

Additional comments:

 

 

Legends is a song about Juice lamenting the deaths of the relatively young, with its instrumentation carrying a melancholy mood. The vocals are a bit too loud and there’s a ‘stealing your girl’ brag that sounds out of place next to the rest of the lyrical content, but it’s a solid song.

 

Former Pulp vocalist Jarvis Cocker recently delivered an excellently tense single in the form of MUST I EVOLVE. We now go back to 2006, the year in which he released his first solo album following the split of Pulp. One of the songs from that album is currently part of a chart campaign, and that song is Running The World.

What can I say? This is an excellent piece of music diving into the corrupt state of politics, as well as tackling the broken economy of Britain. This is all backed by gripping arrangements of instrumentation (piano, electric guitar and strings). There’s also an effective use of contrast occurring throughout the song. Cocker’s vocals sound relatively quiet at first, before getting loud near the end. This buildup shows a person gradually becoming more confident in speaking up for the many issues circling his country.

 

We’ve got two tracks from Stormzy’s album Heavy Is The Head. While I don’t like it as much as Gang Signs & Prayer, it’s still a very good album.

Lessons shows Stormzy look back on a previous relationship that didn’t go well. He displays his guilt and what he could have done to stray away from the huge problems. The mellow, jazz keyboards add to the reflectiveness of this song.

In Audacity, Stormzy goes hard with his flows while an arrangement of strings back him up to give a vicious vibe. While I didn’t like Headie’s verse as much as Storm’s, he does come with some solid flows and some interesting lines involving his situations with the police.

 

 

 

 

 

02/01/2020 (lots of zeros and twos)

 

#73. Liam Payne - All I Want (For Christmas) [7/10] (this piano ballad looks into a broken point in a relationship. The way it uses the typical 'having fun on Christmas' imagery to contrast with the drama is interesting)

#70. Jessie J - Man With The Bag [8/10] (Fave Of The Week) (love the orchestration in this, and Jessie's voice has a retro feel to it)

 

Edited December 29, 20195 yr by SantaDalek32

09/01/2020

 

#99. Jonathan Groff - Lost In The Woods [Frozen 2] [7/10]

#95. JP Saxe feat. Julia Michaels - If The World Was Ending [7/10]

#92. Noah Cyrus - July [7/10; 8/10 for the version with Leon Bridges in it]

#85. Mustard feat. Roddy Ricch - Ballin' [8/10] (FOTW HM)

#83. Doja Cat - Say So [GOLD] (Fave Of The Week)

#81. Evan Rachel Wood - All Is Found [Frozen 2] [8/10]

#78. M Huncho - Bando Ballads [6/10]

#72. YNW Melly - Suicidal [6/10]

#63. D-Block Europe - Molly World [5/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

#60. JACKBOYS (Don Toliver feat. Quavo and Offset) - Had Enough [6/10]

#59. JACKBOYS (with Pop Smoke and Travis Scott) - Gatti [7/10]

#57. JACKBOYS (feat. Don Toliver) - What To Do [7/10]

#53. D-Block Europe - Creep [6/10]

#52. JACKBOYS (with Sheck Wes, Luxury Tax and Don Oliver) - Gang Gang [7/10]

#33. J Hus - No Denying [8/10]

#28. D-Block Europe - No Cellular Site [6/10]

 

 

 

Additional comments;

 

Ballin' is a fun, upbeat jam, and has my fave vocal performance from Roddy Ricch so far.

Say So has a smooth disco sound to it. It reminds me of Good Times by Chic

Didn't expect brass instruments over a drill beat, but No Denying did that well.

 

16/01/2020

 

 

#93. Olivia Rodrigo - All I Want [High School Musical: The Series]

The first High School Musical entry in the Top 100 in 12 years. This focuses on Rodrigo’s character Nini. She is wanting a love that lasts and has to deal with the fact that a 'happily ever after' ending doesn't come as easy in life as the fairytales make it out to be. The production is a bit basic and the use of the term ‘good guy’ can come out as vague, but the lyrical content is decent for the most part.

 

 

#79. Saint Jhn - Roses

Wow! A song from 2016 charting in 2020! Anyway, Saint Jhn raps with slow melodic flows over looping piano chords. It’s alright, the slow flows and bragging don’t really compliment each other, but I quite liked the aerobics line in the 2nd verse.

Edit: So I hear that this song has mainly charted due to a remix from Imanbek. This remix raises the pitch of SAINT JHN's vocals, but the house instrumentation backs it up quite well.

 

 

#78. BROCKHAMPTON - SUGAR

SUGAR looks into the feelings generated from the absence of a partner. The acoustic guitar playing throughout gives a sense of emotion, with Ryan Beatty’s low range vocals blending well with that instrument in the chorus. There’s also some nice layers of vocal harmonisation getting added in Kevin Abstract’s bridge with each repeat of four lines. Dom McLennon’s autotune in the 1st verse is a bit distracting though. It’s not my favourite off of the GINGER album (we may get to that in my Top 50 Songs of 2019), but it’s still a good song.

 

 

#71. DigDat - 8 Style II

Solid drill song. Don't have a lot to say unfortunately.

 

 

#35. MIST - Savage

MIST does sound quite savage on this. The ‘gangster in the morning’ sample works with the beat, even though near the end of it, it sounds offkey.

 

 

#5. Justin Bieber - Yummy

I like the chilled R&B vibe of this, but the parts in which Bieber say ‘yummy-yum’ are a bit cringey.

 

 

 

 

Not a lot this week. My favourite of the six would have to be SUGAR by BROCKHAMPTON, and my least favourite is Yummy by Justin Bieber.

 

 

#93. Olivia Rodrigo - All I Want [7/10]

#79. Saint Jhn - Roses [6.5/10] [7/10 for the Imanbek remix]

#78. BROCKHAMPTON - SUGAR [8/10] (Fave Of The Week)

#71. DigDat - 8 Style II [7/10]

#35. MIST - Savage [7/10]

#5. Justin Bieber - Yummy [6/10] (Least Fave Of The Week)

Edited January 14, 20205 yr by DalekTurret32

The 'Roses' song from 2016 is charting because of a dance remix from Imanbek - shame he's not actually credited in the chart though.

 

Gonna join in with the song rating this year because why not xo

 

9 Jan:

3 No Cellular Site

8 No Denying

8 GANG GANG

0 Creep [Worst of the Week]

9 WHAT TO DO? [Honourable Mention]

7.5 GATTI

6.5 HAD ENOUGH

4 Molly World

1 Suicidal [Dishonourable Mention]

5 Bando Ballads

7 All Is Found

9 Say So [best of the Week]

8 Ballin'

5 July

2 If The World Was Ending

5 Lost In The Woods

 

'Creep' is the worst D-Block Europe song I've heard to date which is saying quite something x 'Molly World' is narrowly the best of the three DBE songs for me purely because it at least has a somewhat decent melody. 'Bando Ballads' may as well just be a 4th DBE song although it's again marginally better than the rest because M Huncho isn't as punchable a presence as Young Adz I guess. And I despair at the public continuing to condone YNW Melly's awful music, 'Suicidal' is an absolute slog. Some right bores among the lower charting new entries, though 'All Is Found' was better than I expected, the 2nd best of the charted songs from Frozen II (behind 'Into The Unknown' which I've grown to quite like, only Idina's version tho).

 

16 Jan:

5 Yummy [Worst of the Week]

6.5 Savage

7.5 8 Style II

8 SUGAR [Honourable Mention]

8 Roses (Imanbek Remix) [best of the Week]

6 All I Want [Dishonourable Mention]

 

Nothing really bad among the small crop this week although 'Yummy' may become worse over time. 'All I Want' was surprisingly ok xx and BROCKHAMPTON entering as a concept is best of the week, although this is not quite one of their best songs so it doesn't quite get best song of the week (although it would do if I was rating 'Roses' on the original version which would cause it to drop from best of the week to worst of the week lol).