Taylor Swift boosts to #1 with "Look What You Made Me Do"

The pop star goes 40-1. She also debuts a song in the Top 10, and takes up over 10% of the whole chart, breaking the record for most songs on the chart.

"Look What You Made Me Do" rises 39 spots to take the #1. It breaks multiple records this week. Most points earned in a week (10,000). This amount overtakes the previous record holder, kirstin's "Break a Little", by 3000 points. It also breaks the record for biggest jump to #1. I could this sticking around for a while, if only a certain someone didn't decide to drop a amazing song of Spanglish goodness (which I will get to later). Now, this pushes back "Honest" by Drake Bell down to #2, which is facing a lot of competition despite its momentum. Now, what doesn't have a lot of momentum is "Craving You" by Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris. Its days are numbered, it's lasted quite long. It'll be replaced soon likely by the #4, "Unforgettable" by Thomas Rhett. 

Now, "Imaginary Parties" by Superfruit and "Break a Little" by kirstin, these Pentatonix members have done well on the chart, but those songs are starting to sputter out. Now, we get to our #7, and I can't believe I'm saying this, it's "Sixteen" by Thomas Rhett, meaning we could have three Thomas Rhett songs in the Top 5 eventually. Joy. Now, another competitor is "Why" by Sabrina Carpenter, which rose 10-8, and it's still doing fine. Now, "Cut To The Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen... well, it might get a modest boost from Leap!, but it's falling to #10. If it does come back, it'll be short-lived. 

Back to discussing Taylor Swift, as the heartfelt ballad "Ronan", about a 4-year-old boy who died of nueroblastoma back in 2011, debuts at #9. It's a damn good song, and when people say all Taylor Swift writes about is breakups... there you go. Along with this, she takes over 10% of the chart, with 16 songs currently on the chart. But, the big challenger is "Hey Guapo" by kirstin and Play-N-Skillz. With only three hours of tracking, the Spanglish pop song debuts at #42, and like I said, could make a serious play for #1.

According to predictions, it may slightly overtake "Look What You Made Me Do", and could achieve double the points of Drake Bell's "Honest". If it does, it'll be the first foreign language song to top the chart, and will mark Kirstin's third #1 (not counting her work with Pentatonix). Although, these two songs may not be the best thing for the chart, as this could lead to a lock up of at least the top 2 spots, if not more.

For a link to the full chart for this week, click here!

kirstin - 'L O V E' EP - Album Review

The sole female singer from Pentatonix releases a pretty good pop EP.

Release date: 14 July 2017

Record label: RCA Records

Genre: Pop, Dance-pop

Best songs: "Break a Little", "Naked", "Bad Weather"

Worst songs: "See It", "All Night"

Rating: 8/10

Now, a little background. Every time music groups go on hiatus, maybe to do their own thing, or there's any sort of tension, or someone leaves, there tends to be rumours of breakups. And, this did happen with Pentatonix, an a cappella vocal group from Texas who gained prominence after their competing in the third season of 'Sing-Off'. Avi Kaplan, the vocal bass left the group, and it led to members feeling they could be doing solo projects. This brings to Kirstin Maldonado, the only female of the group. Who decided to release an EP influenced by a lot of recent dance-pop. So, what did we get with 'L O V E'?

Well, quite a bit actually, and no, this isn't because she's a cute Latina girl with an admitting good looking body. And yes, I'm pointing this out for a reason, just look at the album cover and one of the tracks, I'm not a huge pervert. She's one of the few pop stars aside from Adele who's not considered skinny. And like Adele, she's got the pipes, although I'd argue Kirstin's far better. It's actually a pretty tasteful piece of art. And it's representative of the album, especially the song I wanna talk about first: "Naked". One of my favourite songs, "Naked" talks about how her intimate most parts about herself (much like her body), are for her lover's eyes only. It starts with a couple sensual verses, leading to huge chorus about how "With you, I'm naked baby, with my clothes off", so even when she's put up her shield and try to hide, he can see through it. He can help her "get her clothes off". And really, you can take it as an outright sex song, because she actually comes off as sexy in her vocal tone and can really pull it off. It has that breathy sound that definitely works. The bumping bass and percussion in the chorus, and the nice quieter verses. It's a nice contrast. Next we'll talk about the lead single, "Break a Little". It starts with a nice piano, and slowly builds up, like with "Naked" with a bombastic chorus. The synths creating the dance-up elements are very well done, and the lyrics about a bad breakup gone wrong and that sticking with it, clinging to that person, could just make things worse. Which if you know Kirstin's romantic situation, it could be unconvincing, as she's engaged and soon to be married, but she's a good enough singer to convince me otherwise, it's a really great song and could have done well had RCA sent it to radio.

"Bad Weather" has a good instrumental loop, and she shows off her great, darker part of her range. Just own who you are, is what the songs is telling. Believe what you believe, and don't care what others say. It's very confrontational. Talking about rumours, and how they can give you a bad image, and it does kinda piss her off. Hell, a media outlet reviewing Kirstin cut up her interview and made her look petty. I guess Kirstin knew this was going to happen, or it happened to her already. It's a huge anger I haven't seen from her, and it's great. In "Something Real", I love the dance synth work on this song, it's a banger. And honestly, it's a fun, and it's kinda asking for sex. At least that's what I got from it. Then we get to see "See It", and it's not great, but it's decent. Far too percussion heavy, but I like the snaps. Has a okay bit of anger, not near "Bad Weather" however. Not much to say as a whole.

Now to the song I don't like... "All Night". It's not the lyrical content. I've gone through this situation. Someone on your mind, and you're not sure if they're actually good or bad for you. It is just all in your head, actually just wishing they were there for you? But the pitch shifting and repeating syllables... see if you got rid of that, I'd love the song. It's not bad by any means, but it's certainly not great. 

See, she has the look, personality, charisma, writing chops. She has the vocals to be able to pull off different emotions, and has an amazing range. I can definitely see her breaking into the mainstream. It's a crime she hasn't. Of course, there's always seems to be bad luck for artists I like, so maybe it's wishful thinking. 

Taylor Swift set to rise to #1 next week

If the predictions are correct, "Look What You Made Me Do" will be destroying the weekly points record.

Looking at point totals throughout the weeks, the pop star should easily overtake the record for most points obtained in a week. It also should have the biggest gain in points, and the biggest jump to #1. The previous record holder for the most points in one week was kirstin's "Break a Little". The song, which led at #1 for 10 weeks (the record so far), managed to score 7000 points for two weeks, in its debut week, and the week the parent EP 'Love' debuted. Crunching the numbers:

1. Look What You Made Me Do (+39) - 8000 (+7200)
2. Honest (-1) - 5200 (+300)
3. Craving You (-1) - 4200 (+100)
4. Unforgettable (+1) - 3800 (+900)
5. Imaginary Parties (+1) - 3500 (+300)
6. Break a Little (-2) - 3100 (-1000)
7. Sixteen (+1) - 2400 (+400)
8. Suna No Wakusei (+1) - 2200 (+200)
9. Why (+1) - 2000 (+100)
10. Cut To The Feeling (-3) - 1800 (-900)

Drake Bell's "Honest" returns to #1

The Nickelodeon star returns to #1 with "Honest". Also, Aly & AJ debuts in the Top 3.

With it still going strong, Drake Bell's "Honest" returns to #1. Which blocks Thomas Rhett from his #1, as "Craving You" featuring Maren Morris, is stuck at #2. And it may have to settle for #2. We'll get to that later. The comeback single from 2000s teen pop stars, Aly & AJ, makes a lofty debut at #3 with "Take Me" (note: Aly & AJ was originally estimated to debut at #1). "Break a Little" by kirstin took a hit, going 1-4. It's been around pretty long though, as it holds the record for most weeks at #1 (10). Rounding out the Top 5 is "Unforgettable" by Thomas Rhett, which holds the same position as last week.

Rising 8-6 is the #3 peaking "Imaginary Parties" by Superfruit. The Top 5 is relatively strong, so I don't see this getting much higher. I could make the same case for Carly Rae Jepsen's "Cut To The Feeling", which goes 6-7. But, the film "Leap!" is being released, so it'll probably get a boost from that. Now, Thomas Rhett scores his fourth Top 10 entry with "Sixteen", which rises 11-8. Rhett is the first artist to have three songs in the Top 10 at once that's not due to an album release. "Suna No Wakusei" by Hachi featuring Hatsune Miku loses 7-9, and finally "Why" by Sabrina Carpenter makes its first week in the Top 10, by rising to #10. 

Further down the chart, "1-800-273-8255" by Logic, Alessia Cara, and Khalid re-enters at #20. Now, the bigger story is "Look What You Made Me Do" by Taylor Swift. The pop starlet debuts at #40, after only tracking for three hours. Prediction article coming later.

Kirstin's "Break a Little" Gets 10th Week at #1

"Break a Little" leads for its tenth week at #1, extending its record for longest running #1.

Yes, "Break a Little" further extended its record for another week, as it held up against "Craving You" by Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris, as it goes 4-2. The latter is going strong, while the former continues to slowly fall in performance. Drake Bell's "Honest" holds on to #3, as it has stabilized. "Glorious" by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey loses 2-4, as everything about it is just doing better. And, we get our first new Top 10 entry at #5: "Unforgettable" by Thomas Rhett. Roaring up from #11, it is Thomas Rhett's second Top 5 and third Top 10. Along with this, "Sixteen", also by Rhett, manages to debut at #11, it being the highest debut of the week. It is the third highest peaking country song, as "It Ain't My Fault" peaked at #10, and "Yesterday's Song" peaked at #2.

Now, "Cut To The Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen holds on to #6. It's doing okay for now, when Leap! gets released, it could continue to rise. It might not hold up against "Suna No Wakusei" by Hachi and Hatsune Miku, which goes 10-7. And, this brings "Imaginary Parties" by Superfruit down to #8, despite a gain in performance. I could see this getting a boost. Not the same case for "Naked" by kirstin, which falls 7-9 as it's just not holding up against everything else. And, off the album Rainbow, Kesha's "Praying" rises 14-10. While being a good song, it's not really something I listen to a ton, so it may not be in the Top 10 long, but speaking of Kesha, "Let 'Em Talk" featuring Eagles Of Death Metal is the highest debut from the album, debuting at #19.

My Top 50: Drake Bell's "Honest" Tops Chart

Drake Bell earns his third #1 on the chart with "Honest", which moves 17-1. Also, Brothers Osbourne reaches the Top 10.

As Drake Bell continues promotion for his EP 'Honest', the title track shoots up to #1. This makes his second #1 from the EP and third #1 on the chart overall. "Break a Little", in a close race, had to settle for #2, rising 3-2. "Glorious" by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey hits a new peak, rising 4-3. "Craving You" by Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris gets his first song in the Top 5, as it goes 9-4. And closing out the Top 5, the previous #1, "Naked" by kirstin, falls 1-5.

Drake Bell's "Rewind", falls 2-6. "Imaginary Parties" by Superfruit takes a modest fall from 6-7. "Cut To The Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen continues to do well, rising 10-8. "Leaves" by Drake Bell re-enters the Top 10, going 11-9. And finally, at #10 - "It Ain't My Fault" by Brothers Osburne (which goes 15-10). 

Regarding debuts, there were few. Only five, and only one got into the Top 40. Regarding large gains, "Suna No Wakusei" by Hachi featuring Hatsune Miku surges from 41-21, and "With You" by Alex J. O'Connor (a lovable atheist Brit who runs a YouTube channel called "CosmicSkeptic"), goes 50-24.

Now, predictions will be added to the Top 10 article (unless there is a close competition to be expected). "Break a Little" is set to return to #1. How it's looking:

1. Break a Little (+1) - 4900 (-100)

2. Glorious (+1) - 4200 (=)

3. Honest (-2) - 4000 (-1000)

4. Craving You (=) - 3900 (+400)

5. Cut To The Feeling (+3) - 3200 (+700)

6. Imaginary Parties (+1) - 3100 (-300)

7. Naked (-2) - 2700 (-800)

8. Bad Liar (+3) - 2500 (+250)

9. There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back (+3) - 2400 (+200)

10. Suna No Wakusei (+11) - 2000 (+1000)

Linkin Park - Artist Review

Credit: James Minchin

Artist grade: B

Vocal grade: B

Vocal range/type (Chester Bennington): Tenor, G2-G5 (Three octaves)

Best album(s): Hybrid Theory, Meteora, Minutes To Midnight

Worst album(s): One More Light

Best song(s): "In The End", "One Step Closer", "Leave Out All The Rest", "What I've Done", "Waiting For The End", "Burn It Down"

Worst song(s): "Heavy" (featuring Kiiara)

Positives: The late Bennington has (had) a immediately recognizable tenor voice, with a lot of presence. Exceptional belts. Darker timbre. A nice, decent range, but nothing exceptional. Often emotional, convincing delivery. Mike Shinoda, the rapper of the group, was able to deliver good bars and had a great flow. The writing often dealt with topics such as depression, which is pretty much what the band is known for, and they have the composition to match. They have pretty catchy songs and some great guitar riffs.

Negatives: Writing can come off as immature (like the band are a group of emo teenagers) or pretentious. Bennington's vocals can be a bit thin at times. The sellout to a more pop sound can be off-putting to people.