Summer Jam 2010: May 17 Winners

Until I get bored with it, at the start of every week this summer we'll be showcasing the hottest Summer Tracks of the previous week. This is basically comprised from close examination of a couple Billboard Charts, Local Pop Stations and my own esteemed personal judgment of Jam-Worthy Tunes. My only real goal is to absolutely bury this obscure online journal. Thus, I give you the Top 8 Summer Jam 2010 Songs for the Week of May 7th to the 14th.

#8. "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum

This song I think crested its overplayed status a few weeks ago but is still generally pretty strong. Good enough for #8 because it's still on air everywhere. It's generally a perfect weird drunken hook-up / regret / drama song or something, should go well with the Graduation / Prom Season then fade after that.

#7. "In my Head" - Jason Derulo

Jason Derulo sucks, but his input in this song is marginally better than his input in "Whatcha Say" (although Imogen Heap's input is far better). Anyway, this ranking feels about right, it's a quasi-catchy dance number but definitely not worth the covetous title of King of Summer Jam.

#6. "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris

This is by far one of the most irritating Pop songs to come out in the past year. Probably because the Miley has been light as of late. Ludacris' spot is tight, but I keep thinking of either chickens ("bok bok bok bok bok your heart!") or something like, "break break your fart," which pleases me on many levels. But it's pretty instantaneously catchy and if it's not in your head yet, turn on any radio and it soon will be.

#5. "Naturally" - Selena Gomez & the Scene

This song also seems to be on the up, but I've a feeling this is as far as its up will go. We'll see. Think of her as Mexican Miley Cyrus but somehow with less singing credentials.

#4. "Your Love is My Drug" - Ke$ha

I'm looking at Ke$ha's diminishing returns the past couple months. "Tik Tok" was a monster hit, "Blah Blah Blah" was ok and by the time "Your Love is My Drug" has hit us we're like "So, you're pretty trashy. What else ya got?" This is rolling out the same shit and in doing so won't last too much longer.

#3. "OMG" - Usher ft. will.i.am

This was a big week for Da Ush, jumping pretty high on the charts as well as a pretty sudden increase in radio play. This is certainly not the last we've heard of this guy, although I'm surprised "Dick Ridin' Obama" hasn't done as well...

#2. "Rude Boy" - Rihanna

This is fucking everywhere. This will be around for a while and feels more like classic "Um--br--rr--rrella--ella" Rihanna than her other recent stuff. Its subject matter seems decidedly feminine-empowering and anti-gangsta when examined closely (can you blame her? That's going to be on Wikipedia FOREVER). The vocals alone are silky and bouncy enough to keep this song engaged for a good while.

#1. "Nothing on You" - B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars

I actually like this song, which is unfortunate because its severely overplayed already. In fact, the nuttiness of this song leaves little hope for its ability to carry out the rest of the summer. Enjoy it while you can, for now it's Top Dog.


So that's this week's update on Pop Shit. What have we learned? Well, nothing really, but a few of these tracks are close to decent, so that's something. What happened to rock? Well, it's pretty much out of here (if you haven't paid attention for the last 30 years), but keep waiting for Drake, GaGa and even maybe a little Eminem to cut it up next week.

And with any luck, The Black Eyed Peas will stay down for the count.