ML Hammer95

I agree about 'i', loved it at the time and thought it sounded very fresh but it hasn't really aged well and has been overtaken by subsequent singles. I think 'The Blacker The Berry' has the least replay value for me, so went for that.

In response to some suggestions, the R&B forum will be introducing some more rates to see how popular demand for them is - and we start with one of the biggest artists in the world right now! The stock of Kendrick Lamar has never been higher, with his highly successful DAMN. album released earlier this year and a sell-out tour of Europe planned for next year. Forgetting his rent-a-rapper features on some pop songs, he has an incredibly strong back catalogue already and we have selected twelve of his most known singles to determine which is Buzzjack's favourite. Voting for Round 1 will close Friday at midnight, please feel free to discuss and post!

It's interesting because I'm a fan of all the songs you have mentioned here and on first listen I only thought 'Hurtin Me' would be a hit. I did also think 'Bestie' could do well if it got promotion, but I'm still in the mind-set of thinking success for these type of songs is the A-List on 1Xtra and maybe Radio 1 playlisting. I think streaming has a lot to answer for - without generalising too much, I think fans of urban music are less likely to actually buy music and I think a lot of urban hits pre-Spotify explosion were heavily illegally downloaded. So the fact urban music tends to be popular on Spotify isn't a great surprise to me. I also think the success of UK artists such as Skepta, Stormzy and J Hus in recent years has made certain radio stations more open to backing this type of music. As you said, without J Hus I couldn't see a song like 'Unsigned' being big previously. I do think this type of Hip Hop/R&B is a trend though, possibly stemming from the success of Trap Queen which ironically was hugely melodic. Without putting too much thought into it, I think songs like 'Shut Up' and 'Panda' which were both huge and long-running have opened doors for this type of music to be a success. However, considering the trend a few years ago was for Mustard beats I'm sure something else will come along soon.

Which ones would you call nondescript? I think the influence of American Spotify is the reason a lot of these songs have crossed over here.

Quite like this actually, she's got a good voice!

Agree! Will look into this. I propose Stormzy and The Weeknd too.

t0PlrB9OTLg The instant hit from Giggs' new mixtape, sounds radio and club ready and is already in the Spotify Top 50. The fact it sounds almost identical to 'Lock Doh' helps.

The fact this is as good as the original is pretty impressive!

Craig David doing a song called 'For The Gram' makes me cringe a little. I know this album is supposed to be R&B, but I'd really like to see him drop a huge garage anthem like 'When The Bassline Drops' again.

Lead single 'Tell Me' has dropped, which features Kojo Funds. Already with a million views in a week, this manages to be both on trend and very fresh - strong African vibe to this. One of my favourite songs right now and hopefully an indication to the strength of the album. XO273RIGifY

Really into this at the moment, came up on my radar through late night 1Xtra and that chorus is pretty killer! Would not surprise me to see this receive a push in the next few months,

Not a given the way they've been playing. And they finished 4th in their Euro 2016 qualifying group. Nigeria qualified tonight and expect to see the likes of Poland, Costa Rica and Egypt join them in the next few days.

Good thing about Stefflon Don (and Yungen) smashing it lately is that the success of their current singles should mean they could get away with releasing something less mainstream next time and still do well. They'd certainly get the support now. Stefflon Don especially.

I was at a student event on Tuesday and everyone knew the words to 'Lock Doh' when it came on so I definitely agree with this!

Not too surprised at Giggs, he's very popular right now. 'Linguo' sounds exactly like Lock Doh too.

Now officially a Top 10 chart smash! :wub: I first heard this in mid-June and it's still rising, the longevity and reach of this song has been amazing.

What an inspired choice of feature!

He became experimental and it sounded weaker than his signature productions. Also, I think a single producer dominating urban radio ahs a limited shelf life (Timbaland, Mike Will etc..) and he did well to have two years at the top.

3M_5oYU-IsU No thread for this yet?! This is probably the biggest novelty track to come out of the UK this year, cannot underestimate the power this is having right now. Already a chart hit of course, how far can this go?

Yeah, they wouldn't have taken 'rockstar' off. :lol: Loving the adds for Krept & Konan, Hardy Caprio, Sneakbo (big song atm) and Wretch 32 (favourite song right now). Great to see Bryson Tiller, Jorja Smith and Yxng Bane up to the A-List.

Oh yeah, both City and Rovers went up that year and got everyone at school very excited. :lol: I actually do sing it, the more drunk I get the more Bristolian I sound! Also, I don't think I've ever been at a West Country wedding where the 'Cider Drinker' song isn't played.

It's a big shock to see Argentina on the brink, but consider they have scored less than a goal a game in qualifying - with players like Messi, Aguero, Higuaín to call upon! Also, while they reached the final in 2014, they were pretty dire to watch. Their knockout games were something like 1-0, 1-0, 0-0. I haven't seen much of South American qualifying, but Peru might be a breath of fresh air in the finals. Certainly never been near a World Cup in my lifetime and the kit is pretty iconic.

Any Giggs showing up yet?

I think a lot of people hoped he would.

Any reason why a Wurzels song about Bristol City charted that week? :lol: Couldn't get much more West Country, even I've been asked to sing the Combine Harvester song on a night out.