Huge Pop Week this week, the sheer amount of songs I tracked on the radio was astounding. I literally listened to "Airplanes" twenty times. Woof. Anyway, we've got some new solid songs penetrating this week including some pretty awful ones that we'll certainly have to listen to for the remainder of summer. And for the first time in months there is no Usher to be found anywhere! Hooray for everyone.
#8: "Find Your Love" - Drake
Yeah, this song sucks but it's gaining some ground. It features almost a video game beat with some drawn out vocals that Drake cannot pull off. I'm pretty soured on this song if you haven't gotten the impression yet. It's a really typical moany love song, there's nothing of real value here. But it's popular. Good enough.
#7: "Cooler than Me" - Mike Posner
This song is fucking terrible. It makes my dick hurt to listen to. The beat is whack, Posner's vocals are far to silky for a white dude. It's that kind of Jason Mraz wiener hipster shit that really irritates me. I'm still probably late including him on this list though, because this track has been lingering around the pop charts for a while, although it took this long for it to consistently reach my ears. This song is everywhere now and can only go up really. Dammit.
#6: "Your Love" - Nicki Minaj
With a new video last week this song has been tearing up the Rap Charts and deserves a mention here. It's actually a pretty good video with some unique set design and even a good twist at the end. Who knows why she's in love with Gamble, but whatever. It works in part because both the video and the song itself are pretty subdued for a Minaj song (ie no high-pitched screaming, pink hair or weird faces). It fits the tone and brings the song to a new level. It also strikes this perfect balance between rapping and singing with a chill enough summer beat interplayed with some intense vocal work. In essence, this song rules. Check out that vid:
#5: "Billionaire" - Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars
Here's where the list gets pretty predictable. This song still won't die despite my predictions every week. I'm at a dumbfounded point right now but I guess this track has some more staying power than I give it credit for. It's been fun enough although reaching dangerously overplayed levels. Not that that actually matters though in the Pop World.
#4: "Airplanes" - B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams
This was tough, like I said earlier I literally heard this song about three times a day for the past week, but there's better songs out there that have nestled their way into Pop Culture a bit better. Again, I know, Charlie St. Cloud (2010) is a big deal I guess (Zefron! Wait, what?) but there's tracks beating this this week. Both versions are getting some equal airtime although for the most part not on the same station. More and more Pop stations are playing Part II which is pretty sweet and still refreshing this track for audiences. Keeping that up will let "Airplanes" easily run to the finish line.
#3: "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
I still heard "Break Your Heart" a lot this week but clearly no countdown is long enough to include two Taio Cruz tracks at once. This song is awesome though and its popularity is actually a bit surprising. It's a solid club track, pop song, and finds a rhythm in between Hip-Hop and R&B that really works. It's also doing pretty strongly in Digital Downloads which is always a good sign that people aren't hearing the song enough on radio and want it for themselves. Anyway, I'm pumped.
#2: "Love the Way You Lie" - Eminem ft. Rihanna
Ohhhh upset. This was a tough call this week, Em's positions on iLike and Digital Downloads are certainly signs that this should close out Summer pretty easily after this week but for now I'm liking Katy's charting on Pop and Radio demonstrating a more ready infiltration of Pop Culture. "Love the Way You Lie" is such an intense song though, apparently a video is coming which should leave it in a solid First Place for the foreseeable future. It's funny how Eminem has this ability to switch between these emotionally high, real tracks and his bullshit, really only demonstrating his full talent on his serious work. This is one of the best cases for the former.
#1: "California Gurls" - Katy Perry ft. Snoop Doggy Dogg
Yep. This song cannot be stopped although Em and Rihanna are gunning hard and will surely be here next week. The innate Summerhood of this song is really unlike anything I've heard before. It transcends Pop Sensibilities to really reach a Summer Song status that will be implemented on Summer Mixes for years to come. You get the impression that this is a Summer Song yet? Sexy, wet, wild bikini martinis. That's all you really need.
So that's looking good. Em has got to nab that #1 spot next week, the charts don't lie. I won't count out Nicki for a while, nor anyone on this week's list really. Can Usher fight back on to grab a spot? I'd say his time is over for now, although what's more likely is that "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" makes a splash. Other than that, Derulo might fight back on but it's pretty crowded. I'm also waiting for "143" to make some bigger ripples than it has so far. It's been a while since I heard a song that stupid, it's gotta do something here. What the fuck does 143 mean?
Happy Listening!
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