kirstin's "Break a Little" leads for sixth week, while Superfruit debuts at #2

kirstin's "Break a Little" leads for sixth week, while Superfruit debuts at #2 with "Bad 4 Us".

With "Break a Little" leading for a sixth straight week, it goes up to second in longest runs at #1, tying with Pentatonix's "Hallelujah", and Drake Bell's "Run Away", which led for seven weeks. "Break a Little" does face competition next week, and it's coming from the debut at #2, "Bad 4 Us" by Superfruit (comprised of Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying). This follows Avriel & The Sequoias' (Avi Kaplan), debut at #2 with "Fields And Pier". Maldonado's fellow Pentatonix members will be battling her for #1, as their debut EP, 'Future Friends - Part One', will be impacting the charts next week, with all seven songs set to debut in the Top 10. So far, Kevin Olusola is the only member of Pentatonix to not impact the chart at all, much less the Top 10.

Next, is "Coming In Hot" by Diamante, which rises 4-3. It's doing well, but this song, like every song below it, will take falls next week. Niall Horan's "Slow Hands" rises 7-4. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by Pentatonix continues to take losses, falling 3-5. Which takes us to our second new Top 10 entry, "Glorious" by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey. It rises 21-6, as it's doing extremely well. "Cut To The Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen rises 8-7. "Only One Me" by Ice Cube rises 9-8. Our previous #2, "All Night" collapses down from 2-9. The third new Top 10 entry, and one that's very unexpected, is "Strip That Down" by Liam Payne featuring Quavo, which rose big from 30-10. So far, Louis Tomlinson and ZAYN are the two One Direction members who failed to reach the Top 10 (Tomlinson's "Just Hold On" peaked at #22, and Zayn's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" peaked at #87).

As noted previously, Superfruit's whole EP is set for a Top 10 debut, and as such, this week, the "Superfruit Theme Song" picks up to 35-16, and Mitch Grassi's "Graveyard" rises 40-31. Also, the new single from rapper Desiigner, "Liife", which features rapper Gucci Mane, debuts at #30.

My Top 50 - kirstin Leads The Top 2; Ice Cube and Jason Reeves Earn Their First Top 10 entry.

"Break a Little" leads for a fifth week, while her follow-up "All Night" debuts at #2. Ice Cube and Jason Reeves both earn their first Top 10 entry.

What I'll start doing is rundowns of my chart every week on my blog, with a prediction post to follow. Hope it's at least interesting. 

kirstin's "Break a Little" leads for a fifth straight week. This is the longest run at the top since "Imagine" by Pentatonix also led for five weeks in April. This also makes the the third longest run at the top, as "Hallelujah", also by Pentatonix led for six weeks, and "Run Away" by Drake Bell led for seven weeks. "All Night", the follow up single from kirstin's L O V E EP, debuts at #2, and missed #1 by a margin of 10 points. For a bit of trivia, kirstin is the only lead female artist to ever lead the chart, and the only artist aside from Niall Horan to lead with their debut single. And aside from her, Pentatonix is the only one to lead the chart with two singles, making kirstin technically lead the chart twice. Expect at least a Top 3 debut from another Pentatonix project, Superfruit (Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying), as "Bad 4 Us" will be debuting on the chart next week.

Pentatonix or its associated members continues to dominate, as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" rises to #3. It's not really gaining or losing, but sticking around due to longevity. The second new Top 10 (and Top 5) entry comes from hard rock singer Diamante, who debuts at #4 with her first single under a record label, "Coming In Hot". The record label in question is Eleven Seven Music, who also has the likes of Papa Roach, Pop Evil, and Five Finger Death Punch in their roster. Another Pentatonix member, Avi Kaplan, or Avriel & The Sequoias follows with "Sweet Adeline" and "Fields and Pier", which fall from 3-5 and 2-6 respectively. Previous #1 "Slow Hands" by Niall Horan rises 8-7. "Cut To The Feeling" re-enters the Top 10, by rising 21-8. Ice Cube earns his first Top 10 entry with "Only One Me" which rises 19-9. And finally, as previously mentioned, Jason Reeves re-enters the chart with "Just Friends" at #10. The perfect friendzone anthem that describes my life. Further down, Liam Payne debuts at #30 with "Strip That Down", and Macklemore debuts at #21 with "Glorious". The latter features American Skylar Grey, and is the lead single from his second solo studio album. Macklemore previously led the Billboard Hot 100 twice as part of the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Aside from Superfruit next week, expect gains for Macklemore, Liam Payne, and Social Repose, along with debuts from Selena Gomez, Shania Twain, and Shawn Mendes.


Shameless social media plugin: https://twitter.com/Naos210

News Of The Week #1 - Introduction

Outline and Stories Featured:

1. Introduction

2. Josh Peck Does Not Invite Drake Bell To His Wedding

3. Band Thriller 'American Satan' Gets Release Date 
4. YouTuber Austin Jones Arrested on 2 Counts of Child Pornography 

5. Beyoncé and Jay-Z Announce Twins

6. Pentatonix Members Are Releasing Music

7. Conclusion

8. Sources Used

Introduction:

So, a semi-regular segment I often do on the Billboard comments was a little segment. It was often music-only news. This time, I'm expanding it to include any sort of news I may have heard of. Plus, this will be a more pleasing aesthetic. I may miss something, and it may come off as a tabloid to some degree, but fuck your opinion, I do what I want on this blog. So to start us off...

Josh Peck Does Not Invite Drake Bell To His Wedding

Actor Josh Peck, known for his role on "Drake & Josh", married his longtime girlfriend, Paige O'Brien. Attendees to the wedding include his "Grandfathered" co-star John Stamos, and actor Jason Nash. Drake Bell was notably a non-presence. Instead of being happy about his upcoming film, like Donald Trump, Bell takes to his Twitter to let his 3.24 million followers know his feelings. These tweets are: "When you're not invited to the wedding the message is clear", "Loyalty is key, ALWAYS remember where you're from.", and "I'll miss you brotha.". These tweets were later deleted by Bell, then he contacted Peck himself via Instagram, replying to his photo with the message: "When you're not invited to your brothers wedding... cool I get it bro, thanks for the invite." Oddly enough, while this comment could have been deleted by Bell like his tweets, according to one user, other people's comments were deleted as well, implying this could have been deleted by Peck. Josh Peck has yet to formally reply to this, despite this story getting covered by numerous sources. Speaking of that previously mentioned film...

Band Thriller 'American Satan' Gets Release Date

The trailer for the upcoming film, 'American Satan', a film project from record label Sumerian Records, will be released in October, on the 13th. The plot reads as: “A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams. Living in a van, their passion and talent exceed their means to survive. An enigmatic stranger sees their true potential and emotionally manipulates them during a time of weakness. Caught in the middle of a Faustian deal, their music and controversial altercations end up influencing society beyond anything this century has seen, but can they take back control of their destiny before it’s too late?”

Cast includes: Andy Biersack, Ben Bruce, Drake Bell, Malcolm McDowell, Denise Richards, Boo Stewart.

YouTuber Austin Jones Arrested on 2 Counts of Child Pornography

YouTuber/singer Austin Jones, who's channel had over half a million subscribers (mostly teenage girls), was arrested for the production of child pornography. This came after 2015, in which he asked his audience for twerking videos, even twerking himself to show them how to do it. Sick fuck. So, recently, he asked a 14 and 15 year-old, telling them what to wear and what to do in the video. Well, he'll be the perfect bitch in prison. First off, he's a pretty boy, guys are going to want his ass... literally. Along with that, most prisoners hate pedophiles. I would say good luck Jones, but no... fuck you.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z Announce Twins

The superstar husband and wife, according to various sources such the Los Angeles Times, TMZ, and CNN, have welcomed twins into the world, on 18 June 2017. This marks the third children for them, after Daughter Blue Ivy.

Pentatonix Members Are Releasing Music

Pentatonix seem to be going the way of One Direction, releasing solo music in a variety of styles after Avi Kaplan's departure. Kirstin Maldonado, or "kirstin" appears to be taking a more traditional pop route, in the way of Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne. Avi Kaplan's "Avriel & The Sequoias" seem to going the way of Niall Horan with folk, albeit far less of a mainstream style. And two members of the original line-up (the other being Maldonado), Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying will be continuing their project, "Superfruit", who actually put out a song in October of 2016. It is as of now, unclear what kind of music Superfruit will be releasing, and if Kevin Olusola, will be releasing solo material at all. It is also unclear whether this will lead to the eventual full-break up of the group despite Kirstin Maldonado's denial in interviews. Further updates will be posted as they come.

So far, these are the release dates for the extended plays:

'Sage and Stone' - Avriel & The Sequoias: 9 June 2017 (already released as of posting)

'Future Friends Part 1' and 'Future Friends Part 2' - Superfruit: 30 June 2017 and 15 September 2017

'L O V E' - kirstin: 14 July 2017

Conclusion:

Sorry for not really being all that interesting this week. This was made from 11-1 at night/morning and it was extremely rushed. It is also extremely hot where I live at the moment. I also apologize for any messiness/formatting issues, it looks different in the editor than it does when it's published. Any feedback would be appreciated. Also, if you would prefer this to be more humourous or just completely serious. That aside, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.

Sources Used:

http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/06/18/drake-bell-disses-josh-peck-wedding-invite/

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/drake-josh-star-josh-peck-marries-longtime-girlfriend-article-1.3257252

http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/watch_american_satan_movie_trailer_starring_andy_black_ben_bruce_and_more

http://loudwire.com/black-veil-brides-andy-biersack-asking-alexandrias-ben-bruce-extended-american-satan-trailer/

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-entertainment-news-updates-june-the-holy-trinity-is-complete-maybe-1497825029-htmlstory.html
www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7832832/youtube-austin-jones-arrested-child-pornography

http://www.popmatters.com/post/avriel-the-sequoias-field-pier-video-premiere/

http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/06/15/pentatonix-superfruit-future-friends-ep/

https://twitter.com/SUP3RFRUIT/status/874681371821621248

http://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/music/article156575114.html

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7833781/kristin-maldonado-new-song-all-night-video-interview-pentatonix

https://twitter.com/RCARecords/status/876139127720124417

Carly Rae Jepsen - Artist Review

Artist grade: A

Vocal grade: C+

Vocal range/type: Soubrette (Soprano), C3-D6 (Three Octaves, One Note)

Best album(s): E•MO•TION

Worst album(s): N/A

Best song(s): "Sweetie, "Run Away With Me", "Call Me Maybe", "Cry", "Bucket", "Tonight I'm Getting Over You", "Good Time" (with Owl City), "Sour Candy" (ft. John Ramsay), "Your Type", "Part Of Your World", "Your Heart Is A Muscle"

Worst song(s): "It Takes Two" (with Mike-Will-Made It and Lil Yachty)

Positives: Nice, pleasant sounding, bright and airy vocals that fit all styles of music she has attempted. The voice is extremely light and has a youthful, but not immature tone that stays pretty consistent throughout her range, including her falsetto. Her voice does lose quite a bit of its breathiness in the upper range, starting around the A4. 5th octave notes are a bit raspy. Like said prior, her falsetto is bright, and she can easily transition to it from chest voice, and can stay in it for a long time. While she's had her share of immature songs, her songwriting often shows experience and maturity, which is good considering she's in her 30s. Often well-written compositions. Diverse personality, allowing her to play all sorts of roles in her content. While she often doesn't utilize it, she is a decent guitar player. 

Negatives: The immature songwriting at times such as with "Call Me Maybe" can come off as off-putting for some people. There's not a lot of support from her diaphragm, causing the voice to lack resonance throughout the entire range. A lot of people, particularly classical and choral music listeners, won't often be fond of the breathy vocals, especially in her lower range. She has trouble with intonation and support while belting. Not everyone is a fan of raspy vocals, and her more cute, girly tone is not to everyone's tastes. Her voice doesn't carry a lot of weight.

Overall: She's cute. Coming from someone who's over a decade younger than her, I'll admit that. Crush on her aside, while being far from stellar as a vocalist, she often has good production to support her vocals, and she knows what music works well for her voice. It's fun to think she has the same top note as me (a D6, though I can probably go higher). She is a competent songwriter and composer. She can convincingly play cute and innocent, sensual, or sexy in her content. I'd be willing to call her a hidden and very underrated gem. Carly Rae Jepsen shows you can be an amazing musician without being a great vocalist.

Top 10 Celebrity "Crushes" (female)

Time to embarrass myself to the masses. Note some of these are in order, but a few are interchangeable. Also note this is all based on my impressions and my opinions. I'm putting myself out there. I will be judging women here, that's the idea. So no, I'm not body shaming or anything. And I might do males too. And yes, almost all, if not all, of these females will be either white or Asian. Just the way it goes. For reference, Emma Watson just missed the list along with a few others. Now, here's the thing. My "crushes" rarely ever stemmed purely from looks, but rather their artistry (because all of them do some form of art), who they are as a person. I mean, I have those instances where looks can just do it, they could be a terrible person, and I'd still for some reason like them. But that's rare, so let's get into it starting with the honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions: Emma Watson, Mary Pickford, Christina Grimmie, Halsey, Selena Gomez

10. Ashley Greene

Height: 5'5'' or 165 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kilograms

Birthdate: February 21, 1987 (age 30)

Birthplace: Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Occupation: Actress, Model

Known for: The Twilight Saga, Kristy, Rogue

Comments: She looked really good with short hair... now she doesn't have it. Well, that aside, she still looks really good, and can definitely play to the sexual side much better than Ariana. Alice was honestly, the only character I loved in Twilight. She's a very talented actress, able to play various kinds of roles. Decent height. Not too tall. Her age is a bit too high, and I miss her short hair. 

9. Hilary Duff

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 55 kg

Birthdate: September 28, 1987 (age 29)

Birthplace: Houston, Texas, United States

Occupation: Actress, Singer

Known For: Lizzie McGuire, Agent Cody Banks, Cheaper By The Dozen, Younger

Comments: Height's good, weight's good. She's a good actress, especially for comedy work. Her vocals are a step above Britney Spears, which isn't saying much. Two main problems: She's a bit too old, and the fact she's a mother. Look, Luca's cute. I just couldn't imagine having to take of care of children. Eh, at least it's still at the age before humans turn into assholes.

8. Park Gyu-ri (Gyuri)

Height: 5'4'' or 162 cm

Weight: 99 pounds or 45 kg

Birthdate: May 21, 1988 (age 28)

Birthplace:  Euljiro-dong, Seoul, South Korea

Occupation: Singer, Actress, Radio personality

Known For: Girl group Kara, song "Geudaeman Bwayo" (Look Only At You)

Comments: Is pretty attractive, and is a pretty talented actress and singer. Her work with Kara was pretty good, along with her solo work. My problems would be her age, mainly. She's also a little lighter than I'd prefer weight-wise. Also, while she's attractive as a woman... she's also really cute as a boy. Okay, kill me now. Where's the devout Christians to flog me like the heathen I am?

7. Megan Lee

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm
Weight: 105 pounds or 48 kg
Birthdate: September 18, 1995 (age 21)
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation: Singer-songwriter, Actress
Known for: Make It Pop, solo music career, group XO-IQ
Comments: Oh look, another Asian. Surprised? Don't be. For once so far, her age is not a problem. Height and weight are both fine. She's pretty. I actually found her through YouTube before I saw her on Nickelodeon's Make It Pop. I haven't seen much of her acting, but she is a great singer. I hope she gets signed and becomes huge.

6. Sabrina Carpenter

Height: 4'11'' or 150 cm

Weight: 105 pounds or 48 kg

Birthdate: May 11, 1999 (age 17)

Birthplace: Leigh Valley, Pennsylvania, United States

Known for: Girl Meets World, song "Thumbs".

Comments: She's tiny. Which is great for me, being relatively small. She seems to be a nice person from what I know. She's a teen girl that actually looks like a teen girl. Doesn't look 25. Good. She also in Girls Meets World, portrays this more spunky attitude than I can see her being in real life, and I kinda like that.

5. Miranda Cosgrove

Height: 5'5'' or 165 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kg

Birthdate: May 14, 1993 (age 23)

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

Occupation Actress, Singer

Known for: Drake & Josh, iCarly, Despicable Me

Comments: She was my childhood "crush" before I knew what crushes were. What can I say? Decent singer, and actress.

4. Kirstin "Kirstie" Maldonado

Height: 5'3'' or 160 cm

Weight: 145 lbs or 66 kg

Birthdate: May 16, 1992 (age 24)

Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas, United States

Occupation: Singer

Known for: Pentatonix

Comments: Well, she's the only one of three women here to be engaged. Another being Ashley Greene, and the other one coming up later in the post. She looks good, she's actually almost overweight apparently, and looking through pictures of her, I don't see it anywhere. But since she appears to have a curvy or so figure, it probably went to hips, thighs, etc. If I was a typical male, I would like that quite a bit. But since I'm not, I'll take it or leave it. She has amazing vocals.

3. Carly Rae Jepsen

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm

Weight: 115 pounds or 52 kg

Birthdate: November 21, 1985 (age 31)

Birthplace: Mission, British Columbia, Canada

Occupation: Singer-songwriter, Actress

Known for: "Call Me Maybe", "I Really Like You", and 'Grease: Live'

Comments: The oldest celebrity on the list, yet she actually looks young for her age. She could say she was 25 and I'd believe her. She's the cute, girl-next-door type, at least it seems that way. And the blue eyes are quite pretty (yes, I'm a sucker for blue eyes). She's nice and petite. Would I care about her age though? Maybe, can't say. And she's apparently engaged I think that's what her Facebook said, I know she's dating someone... but congrats to her!

2. Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-Metal)

Height: 5'1'' or 154 cm
Weight: 82 pounds or 37 kilograms
Birthdate: December 20, 1997 (age 19)
Birthplace: Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Occupation: Singer, Idol
Known for: Babymetal
Comments: Yet another Asian. What are the odds? She's Japanese. Need I say more? I mean, she's super light, but that's common for Japanese people. She's cute too I guess. She's one of the few within my age range as well. She also seems, like Carly Rae Jepsen, pretty approachable.

1. Taylor Swift

Height: 5'10'' or 178 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kg

Birthdate: December 13, 1989 (age 27)

Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Occupation: Singer, actress, former child model

Known for: Various songs. In acting, The Lorax, Valentine's Day, and The Giver

Comments: Okay, here are the more big "crush" moments. For several reasons. One. She is far too tall for me, I would never in my life date a woman who's 5'10'' (at best, I'm only 5'8''). Two. She's almost ten years older than me. Three. I prefer the teenage version of her over the more adult version (the hair especially). And oddly enough, I wouldn't even care. She's beautiful in my opinion, she's a very good songwriter, good at instruments. And seems like she's someone with a good heart. Wear heels if you want, Taylor! You rock 'em!

And yeah, that was my most embarrassing moment of this blog. If anyone does read this, especially if they get to the end, don't make fun of me too much, okay?

Fearless by Taylor Swift - Album Review

The stellar country pop release from Taylor Swift released almost a decade ago, getting only my second 10/10 so far on this blog. 

Release date: 11 November 2008

Record label: Big Machine Records

Genre: Country pop

Best songs: "Fifteen", "You Belong With Me", "Love Story", "Forever and Always"

Worst songs: "The Best Day" (if I had to pick one)

Rating: 10/10

See, I was only 9 in 2008, so I really wasn’t too much into music, and what I grew up was Usher, TLC, 90s-2000s R&B, along with a bit of the classics like The Beatles. Taylor Swift was one of the mainstream acts, one of the first, that I got exposed to. Granted, I didn’t put it together, because again, I was 9. But I loved “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” as a kid, such excellent songs. I didn’t know who they were from - I never kept track of artists. Skip to 2012-2013, and we had “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. Arguably, her sellout anthem that everyone I knew hated, and to be honest, I hopped on the bandwagon. Not knowing that the teenage girl I used to love listening to turned into this. So, we get 2008’s ‘Fearless’. Her best-selling album so far, and getting pretty good reviews. Does it hold up past nostalgia?

Well, it definitely does. I always went back to listen to the two aforementioned singles. But, then I got into “Fifteen”, and it made me want to go back and look at the whole record. And it holds so well. You get the Romeo & Juliet referenced “Love Story”, the friendzone anthem of “You Belong With Me”. Sure, she did it with “Teardrops On My Guitar”, and while that song is good, it came off as a bit petty compared to this one. And the fact I can kind of sympathize with this song (not the having a crush on a jock part as referenced from the video), but feeling that you could be a better match for the one you love. Although, this is where my bit of a crush on Taylor comes in, because who the hell would friendzone Taylor Swift? Like, seriously? Personal feelings aside, it has a surprising bit of energy and a nice build-up behind the melody. Then you get the advice song that is “Fifteen” saying that you may not know who you’re supposed to be, that life hasn’t truly started even though you may think so. And that boy you may love may not be the right one, being told from her own high school experiences. And that’s where she definitely shines on this album. Her charisma, her relatability. This is why I don’t feel good about bashing those who have teenage fanbases, especially when they’re teenagers themselves. If she can emotionally connect with them, then that’s pretty good. The breakup anthem of “Forever And Always” abou Joe Jonas has some good energy and is more a question of why this went wrong. The nice ballad of “White Horse” doesn’t get boring, where she realizes that this boy won’t be sweeping her off her feet, he’s a different person than she thought. And hell, while I can’t relate to the love part, and certainly can the misconceptions about a person. It shows that she can move on pretty well, while other songs show a bit of difficulty at times, this pulls it off really well with a nice guitar melody.

If I had to pick a song I don’t like, it would be “The Best Day”. While it does do a nice sentiment, a song about her growing up, the composition is so basic and dull. It gets boring really easily. Something that doesn’t happen with songs like “Tell Me Why” or even the ballad “White Horse”.

But really, I had to be forced to nitpick at one song specifically, and there’s not really any overarching problem. I love this album, I guess I’m a bit biased as a fan of Taylor Swift and someone who’s also 18, like she was on this album. I didn’t think a musician barely considered an adult could impress me so much, but she showed strength in songwriting, that was at times sloppy, but honest. I had a ton of charm and personality, it had a nice country pop sound, the production was done pretty well. And while Swift doesn’t do much range wise, her charisma sure makes up for it. 10/10.

Ariana Grande - Artist Review

Artist grade: B+

Vocal grade: A-

Vocal range/type: Soprano, D3-E7 (Four octaves, one notes)

Best album(s): Yours Truly

Worst album(s): Dangerous Woman (though it's not really bad)

Best song(s): "The Way", "Love Me Harder", "One Last Time", "Emotions", "Into You", "Boyfriend Material", "Jason's Song (Gave It Away)", "Baby I"

Worst song(s): "Bang Bang", "Side To Side", "Focus"

Positives: Very good vocal range. She can go pretty low despite being a soprano. While it is the weakest part of her range, she can still get there. Great vibrato and melismas. She also has a good whistle register. Brings presence on both stage and in the studio. Comparisons have been made to Mariah Carey.

Negatives: Her whistle register is not easy to control, she isn't much of a songwriter. She can be a little too feminine for someone's taste. Her words are not sometimes easy to understand, such as in "Dangerous Woman", and "Break Free". Like stated before, the biggest thing holding her back is probably her lower range - it's unsupported because of her high tessitura. And there is a lack of breath support.

Other comments: She often plays better to a sensual, rather than complete sexual side. She can also be good at portraying innocence. She could also do better with more emotional territory, rather than just straight (sometimes formulaic) pop songs.