Bebe Rexha (1) – Week Of April 28, 2018

Hey guys! So as you probably know if you read my last post, this past Wednesday was my birthday. I'm 19 years old for those that don't know. So yeah. Other than that, nothing interesting really happened this past week. I thought the countdown was decent this week. There was only one thing that upset me and you can probably figure it out. But more on that in the blurbs. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Kesha/The Dap-Kings Horns – Woman (#29)
• Fall Out Boy – Hold Me Tight Or Don't (#43)

Last Week's #1 Song: Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

The Countdown

45. Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still (#45)

44. NF – Let You Down (#40)

43. Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (#42) [1 Week At #1]

42. Charlie Puth – How Long (#38) [2 Weeks At #1]

41. Selena Gomez/Marshmello – Wolves (#44)

40. Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton – Say Something (#17)

39. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#39) [1 Week At #1]

38. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma (#41)

37. Camila Cabello – Havana (#37) [1 Week At #1]

36. MAX/Gnash – Lights Down Low (#21)

35. Alice Merton – No Roots (#34)

34. Post Malone/Ty Dolla $ign – Psycho (DEBUT)

33. Portugal. The Man – Live In The Moment (#36)

32. NOTD/Bea Millers – I Wanna Know (#35)

31. AJR/Rivers Cuomo – Sober Up (#27)

30. Halsey – Bad At Love (#32) [2 Weeks At #1]
29. Noah Kahan/Julia Michaels – Hurt Somebody (#31)

28. Drake – God's Plan (#30)

27. Ed Sheeran – Perfect (#26) [2 Weeks At #1]

26. Zayn – Let Me (#33)

25. Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso/Florida Georgia Line/watt – Let Me Go (#16) [1 Week At #1]

24. Bruno Mars/Cardi B – Finesse (#20)

23. Charlie Puth/Kehlani – Done For Me (#23)

22. Halsey – Alone (DEBUT)

21. Walk The Moon – One Foot (#22)

20. Bazzi – Mine (#28)

19. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#10)

18. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends (#18)

17. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#12)

16. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses (#11)

15. Lauv – I Like Me Better (#13)

14. Bad Wolves – Zombie (#19)

13. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days (#24)

12. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (#14) [5 Weeks At #1]

11. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (#25)

10. Niall Horan – On The Loose (#15)

  9. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me (#9)

  8. Taylor Swift – Delicate (#7)

  7. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I (#3)

  6. Maroon 5 – Wait (#4)

  5. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same (#5)

  4. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes (#6)

  3. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (#1) [7 Weeks At #1]

  2. 5 Seconds of Summer – Want You Back (#8)

  1. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be (#2) [1^st Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: The Chainsmokers – Paris (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton – Say Something (–23)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me (+14)

New Entrants
~ This week we have the return of Post Malone with Psycho featuring Ty Dolla $ign. I'm really not a big fan of this guy. I'll admit that Rockstar has grown on me recently and it has gotten more tolerable, though 21 Savage's verse is still pretty bad. But Psycho just doesn't have very much to it that makes it stand out. It's kind of boring in terms of the production. I'll admit that Post Malone's vocals are not necessarily bad. But the song is just not that interesting in my opinion and I don't really see the appeal. There are so many good songs that get underrated, particularly in the alternative/rock category, because bland and mediocre songs like this for some reason appeal to younger audiences. I'm hoping this rap obsession in the U.S. can end soon. Psycho is not the worst thing ever, but it's not exactly helping the genre.

~ Next we have Halsey with Alone. I've only listened to the rerelease with Big Sean and Stefflon Don. But I'm assuming the original is not that much different. I've been kinda losing respect for Halsey lately, especially after the whole hotel shampoo argument she started on Twitter. But I try not to let that affect my thoughts on the music. I think Alone is pretty good, mainly because I'm tired of hearing Bad At Love. It's kinda catchy and I like her vocals. But I feel like this is not something that will stick with me in the long run. But for now, I think it's pretty good.


Best Debut of the Week: Halsey – Alone


Hit-Bound
~ Here is the Hit-Bound list.

• Dustin Atlas/Erin Bowman – Fake Friends
• Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe
• Kendrick Lamar, SZA – All The Stars
• Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry
• In Real Life – Tattoo (How 'Bout You)
• Maren Morris – Rich
• Why Don't We – Trust Fund Baby
• Foster The People – Sit Next To Me
• The Chainsmokers – Everybody Hates Me
• Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• Sam Smith/Logic – Pray
• HRVY – Personal
• Echosmith – Over My Head
• Hundred Handed – Too Good

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. TIE: Foster The People – Sit Next To Me

1. TIE: Kendrick Lamar/SZA – All The Stars

3. Liam Payne/J Balvin – Familiar

4. Sugarland/Taylor Swift – Babe

5. Sam Smith/Logic – Pray

Meant To Blurb

~ And just like that, we finally have a new #1 song in the form of Meant To Be. I'm sure not many are thrilled by this. But I'm just happy it's not The Middle. That one has spent more than enough time at the top. It's time to let some other songs have a chance. So I'm pleased with this choice.

~ Rising to #2 we have Want You Back. I do like this song and I wouldn't mind it being #1. But it's not actually that big anywhere else, which shows Hits 1's bias towards 5 Seconds Of Summer and I don't really like how they tend to favor some artists over others. But it is a good song and I'd take it at #1 over The Middle any day.

~ So I listened to the remix of Never Be The Same with Kane Brown and it is better than the original, though not by much. Kane Brown has a nice contribution and I like his vocals. But Camila's voice is still hard to listen to. I think the song would be a lot better if Kane Brown took over the whole thing because Camila's vocals is one of the biggest issues with the song.

~ Tell Me You Love Me and These Days made some nice jumps into the Top 15. I'm glad these songs are getting some love. Zombie is also back up at #14, which is really good. Hopefully this can stick around longer.

~ Not very often do I go from disliking a song to liking the song so suddenly. But that's pretty much what happened with God's Plan. I heard it air on the countdown last weekend and I just suddenly started enjoying it. It's actually a pretty good song. It's nothing amazing, but now I can see the appeal and why it spent such a long time at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

~ Not much really happened in the lower end of the countdown. The massive drop from Say Something was rather annoying. This song is a bigger hit than the majority of the songs ranked above it. It truly is an amazing song and it's unfortunate that it's been treated poorly these past few months. Seriously, it spent the majority of its time between #28 and around #35 and only spent one week in the Top 20. I get that it's different from your typical pop song, but that does not mean it's bad.

~ As far as the exits go, Hold Me Tight Or Don't lasted longer than I thought it would. Hopefully this is the last song Hits 1 pulls from MANIA, because that album is just not good. Woman was definitely underrated and deserved better. I'm glad it spent one week in the Top 10, but it left too soon in my opinion.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Camila Cabello – Never Be The Same

1 – Bad:

19. Bazzi – Mine

18. Imagine Dragons – Thunder

17. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle

16. Lauv – I Like Me Better

2 – Mediocre:

NONE

3 – Decent:

15. Meghan Trainor – No Excuses

14. Taylor Swift – Delicate

13. Marshmello/Anne-Marie – Friends

12. Maroon 5 – Wait

4 – Good:

11. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood

5 – Great:

10. Niall Horan – On The Loose

9. G-Eazy/Halsey – Him & I

8. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Want You Back

7. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line – Meant To Be

6. The Weeknd/Kendrick Lamar – Pray For Me

5. Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes

4. Rudimental/Jess Glynne/Macklemore/Dan Caplen – These Days

3. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me

2. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:

1. Bad Wolves – Zombie

Overall Score: 71/100 = 71% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: OneRepublic/Timbaland – Apologize

Most Missed Countdown Song: Alesso/Tove Lo – Heroes (We Could Be)

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Shinedown – The Human Radio

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between The Chainsmokers/Coldplay – Something Just Like This (#18) and The Weeknd/Daft Punk – I Feel It Coming (#39)

My Top 5 Picks

1. TIE: Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton – Say Something

1. TIE: Bad Wolves – Zombie

3. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

4. Walk The Moon – One Foot

5. Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days