Halsey (4) – Week Of February 2, 2019

Hey guys! Last night, I introduced my new rankdown. You should definitely check that out by going to my previous post or looking at the page linked above. You have plenty of time to submit for it, although you should look at it first to see if you'd be interested in participating. In other news, the Super Bowl is tomorrow night and I'm hoping Maroon 5 do a decent job with the halftime show. I may review it if I have a time. We'll see what ends up happening with my schedule. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Camila Cabello – Consequences (#25)
• Silk City/Dua Lipa – Electricity (#37)
• Lauv/Julia Michaels – There's No Way (#40)
• Steve Aoki/BTS – Waste It On Me (#41)
• Little Mix/Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me (#44)

Last Week's #1 Song: Halsey – Without Me

The Countdown

45. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (#45) [2 Weeks At #1]

44. Jennifer Lopez – Limitless (#42)

43. Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#43)

42. Bebe Rexha – I'm a Mess (#39)

41. George Ezra – Shotgun (#38)

40. Pitbull/Rhea – Ocean To Ocean (DEBUT)

39. Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night) (#36) [4 Weeks At #1]

38. Charli XCX/Troye Sivan – 1999 (DEBUT)

37. Backstreet Boys – Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#34)

36. Dean Lewis – Be Alright (DEBUT)

35. Selena Gomez – Back To You (#33)

34. Maroon 5/Cardi B – Girls Like You (#32)

33. Ariana Grande – Breathin (#27)

32. lovelytheband – Broken (#30)

31. Lauren Jauregui – Expectations (#23)

30. Seeb/Bastille – Grip (DEBUT)

29. Lauren Daigle – You Say (DEBUT)

28. Alessia Cara – Trust My Lonely (#29)

27. James Arthur – Empty Space (#28)

26. Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You (#35)

25. Fall Out Boy – The Last Of The Real Ones (#26) [2 Weeks At #1]

24. Khalid – Better (#22)

23. Imagine Dragons – Machine (#13)

22. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (#31)

21. The Struts/Kesha – Body Talks (#24)

20. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life (#20)

19. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#19)

18. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#16)

17. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone (#18)

16. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#17)

15. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#14)

14. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#21) [1 Week At #1]

13. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#12)

12. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#7)

11. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#15)

10. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#11)

  9. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#10)

  8. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#9)

  7. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#6)

  6. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#5) [5 Weeks At #1]

  5. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#8)

  4. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]

  3. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#3) [4 Weeks At #1]

  2. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#2) [8 Weeks At #1]

  1. Halsey – Without Me (#1) [4^th Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future – End Game (1)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Imagine Dragons – Machine (–10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie Between Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart and Benny Blanco/Calvin Harris – I Found You (+9)

New Entrants
~ First up this week, we have a song that should not have debuted. People have been slamming Weezer for their cover of Africa, which I still think sounds pretty similar to the original. But now we have Pitbull, one of the biggest jokes in music, sampling Africa in his song Ocean To Ocean. I don't know who gave him the green light to do that, but this song just sounds like a joke. It's a poor cover of Africa with Pitbull spouting nonsense in the verses. Even beyond the whole Africa sample, I don't like Rhea's voice and Pitbull is just typical unoriginal Pitbull here. I mean seriously. Why does this exist??? It's from the Aquaman soundtrack, which gives me another reason to not watch the movie. But overall, the song is just embarrassing and Pitbull has officially given the world another reason to laugh at him. This is bad and shouldn't even be here because it's not a hit. If you want to slam an Africa cover, leave Weezer alone and come at this one.

~ Next we have a song named after my birth year. It's 1999 by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan. I haven't exactly cared for Charli XCX in the past. Her music has been pretty forgettable, but I really like Troye Sivan and I think he has a unique voice. I think 1999 is really catchy and upbeat. I really like the chorus and both Charli and Troye sound great. I feel like this is what Anne-Marie was going for when she made 2002 and failed. 1999 does exactly what it needs to do as a pop song and I'm so glad the song named after my birth year turned out good because 1999 was indeed a great year. But yeah. Good song that I hope does well.

~ Following that, we have Dean Lewis with Be Alright, which is probably one of the best songs of the year so far in my opinion. I personally have a thing for pop songs that are more stripped back and acoustic. Be Alright is a great example of that because it has great instrumentation showing that actual instruments were used while also still being interesting because it's not entirely acoustic. I think the song is very well-written and I like the storyline behind it as it's about a relationship that's falling apart. I can feel the emotion in the lyrics and the pain in his voice, which is not something I can say for a lot of songs except Tequila by Dan + Shay. I think Dean Lewis is very talented and he shows it here and on his newer single 7 Minutes, which I also love. But Be Alright is a really great song and I'm so glad it's here. This is something I can see sticking with me in the long run. Hopefully it does well.

~ Next we have the producer who helped make my #2 favorite song of 2016. It's Seeb with Bastille in the song Grip. I don't really care for this song at all and I keep forgetting what it sounds like because it's just not that interesting. Dan Smith sounds pretty good as usual. But the production is pretty generic and I don't like the drop. I think Bastille should keep making alternative music instead of collaborating on EDM tracks. Happier worked out pretty well even though I still don't know why the whole band is credited. But Grip is just incredibly forgettable and I'm going to forget that the song is here every week. Hopefully it doesn't get big.

~ Finally, we have a song that has been around for ages. It's You Say by Lauren Daigle. I know my fellow bloggers will be slamming this song, but I'm gonna be the positive one here. I like most if not all adult contemporary music because I like hearing more mellow pop music from artists who aren't big in the world of mainstream music. But here we have a Christian song, which is pretty uncommon. But I really like this song. I have a soft spot for ballads. You Say is a really nice song in my opinion and I think Lauren Daigle is a great singer even if she does sound a lot like Adele. The piano is really nice and I really like the lyrics. I know I have the unpopular opinion here, but I love a good ballad and You Say is that. I'm very happy that it's here even if it is pretty late. I still hope it does well.


Best Debut of the Week: Dean Lewis – Be Alright


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

• Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (DEBUT)
• Rita Ora – Let You Love Me (DEBUT)
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• Gesaffelstein/The Weeknd – Lost In The Fire
• Sabrina Carpenter – Sue Me
• Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime (DEBUT)
• Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
• Stephen Puth – Sexual Vibe
• Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (DEBUT)
• Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
• Post Malone – Wow
• Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired (DEBUT)
• Jake Miller – Wait For You
• Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over
• Travis Scott/Drake – Sicko Mode

~ Despite me not liking these guys' latest album, Origins, there was one gem in that album and that was Bad Liar. This is one of two good songs from the album (the other being Natural) and it's kinda hard to believe this is Imagine Dragons because it's a very great song, which doesn't happen very often these days for these guys. The production is kind of weird, but it's interesting. I really like Dan Reynolds' voice here, particularly in the pre-chorus and the chorus. The ending is really cool. This song is like a mix between Demons and Walking The Wire, two of their best songs, and I love how it turned out. It's emotional and I can feel that in his voice. Even though I don't like the album, Bad Liar is probably Top 10 for best Imagine Dragons songs.

~ Next is a song that I'm glad is finally here! It's Let You Love Me by Rita Ora, which has been around for a while but is finally here. I've listened to this a lot within the past several months, so it's not as great as it used to be. But I still enjoy it quite a bit. I really like Rita Ora's voice and the production is really good. I love the chorus, especially the last one. Is it Rita Ora's best? I don't really know since I'm not familiar with a lot of her songs. I just know she has a great voice and it shows nicely on Let You Love Me. So yeah. Despite how old this is, I would love to see it become a hit.

~ Due to Hits 1's stannage of Panic! At The Disco, Dancing's Not A Crime is here. I like Pray For The Wicked for the most part, but this is one of the worst songs on the album in my opinion. I don't dislike it, but it's kind of overproduced and I don't know if I should say this, but the chorus sounds like something AJR would make. That being said, Brendon is a great singer and the lyrics are fine, which is why this isn't a bad song. It's just one of the album's weakest moments and I would've preferred The Overpass or King Of The Clouds, which are two highlights. However, since I'm most likely going to hear this when I see Panic! in concert, it could grow on me. No promises though.

~ Soon after, we have one of the worst songs of 2019 so far. It's 7 Rings by Ariana Grande. The quality of her music has been on a serious decline ever since she put out Thank U, Next, which I'm still mad at for killing Breathin too early. That song is pretty overrated and boring for the most part. Then we got Imagine, which is even more boring. Now we have 7 Rings and the song is just an absolute mess. The trap beat sounds really bad and it's very uninteresting. Ariana barely sings and I think her rapping sounds awful. I can't stand the song's chorus and the lyrics here are absolute shit. I feel like Ariana was on something when she put this song together because this feels very unlike her, especially compared to her best work like Into You and Love Me Harder. But now we have this mess leading into the new album, which I don't have very high hopes for. I hate this song with a burning passion and unlike Thank U, Next where I understood the appeal despite not liking the song, I don't get the appeal to 7 Rings at all. It is an objectively bad song and for me, it is Ariana Grande's worst song in her entire career as of right now. I really hope this doesn't get big because if it does, the chances of Without Me being the worst song of 2019 will most likely decrease. Seriously. This song is that god awful.

~ Usually after a rant like that, I like being able to talk about something good. But no. Instead, I have to talk about Lauv and what an untalented individual he is. I'm So Tired is still better than I Like Me Better, but that's not saying much since I Like Me Better is pure garbage. The production here is not awful, but it's not good, and I actually kind of like Troye Sivan's verse, mostly because I like him and his voice. But Lauv sounds terrible because of how auto tuned his voice is and it's very painful to hear him attempt to sing in this song. Troye Sivan should've known better because he is too talented to be working with Lauv. I'm hoping this doesn't become a hit.

Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks

1. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar

2. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More

3. Rita Ora – Let You Love Me

4. Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It's Over

5. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger

Blurb Alright

~ I'm really hoping Halsey – Without Me doesn't become 2019's The Middle because I don't know how much longer I can handle this song being #1. The worst part is that I don't see any other song in the Top 10 dethroning it except for maybe Thank U, Next, which I don't want at #1 either. Hopefully something new comes in fast because this is just not okay.

~ Somehow, 2002 by Anne-Marie is still in the Top 10 despite flopping everywhere else a long time ago. This is probably gonna pull a Kelly Clarkson – Love So Soft and stick around long enough to barely make the 2019 Year-End list despite not being a hit and being a pretty bad song.

~ The small recovery from Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart definitely makes me happy. I doubt it'll get as big as I want it to, but it's still a great song and I hope it can stick around as long as possible.

~ While I'm happy Bad Liar is on Hit-Bound, Machine by Imagine Dragons is still here and will hopefully be exiting soon, which will make it the third Imagine Dragons song to not hit #1 and the first since I Bet My Life. Thankfully, it dropped a little bit this week, so it might be on its way out soon.

~ I'd appreciate if Lauren Jauregui – Expectations dropped out soon because we don't need Fifth Harmony members who can't sing on the countdown. It's still a shame though because the guitar sounds really good. But Lauren's voice just had to ruin the song.

~ Jennifer Lopez – Limitless clearly is not going to last much longer, which I'm okay with frankly because the song is not very interesting for the most part.

~ As far as the exits go, no one cares about Waste It On Me except for the insane BTS stans whose opinions don't matter. There's No Way should've never been here and I'm glad it's gone because Lauv is bad and it's further proof that Julia Michaels is not a good singer. I'm still indifferent on Electricity because I like the production, but I don't like Dua Lipa on it. Consequences dropped out sooner than I thought it would. I like the song, but I'm okay with it being gone. It's not that amazing because I don't really like Camila's voice. Woman Like Me definitely deserved better and I'm tired being underrated. Sure, the song is not as good as their past work like Black Magic, which fortunately did do well on Hits 1. But it's really catchy and I like Nicki Minaj's verse. The song will be somewhat missed by me.

Top 20 Review

0 – Crap:

20. Halsey – Without Me

19. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly

1 – Bad:

18. Anne-Marie – 2002

17. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next

16. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Mediocre:

NONE

3 – Decent:

15. Zara Larsson – Ruin My Life

14. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me

13. David Guetta/Anne-Marie – Don't Leave Me Alone

12. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower

4 – Good:

11. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

5 – Great:

10. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling

9. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies

8. Imagine Dragons – Natural

7. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It

6. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood

5. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

4. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside

3. Dan + Shay – Speechless

2. Dan + Shay – Tequila

1. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

Overall Score: 69/100 = 69% (B)

Throwback Pick Of The Week: Maroon 5 – Sunday Morning

Most Missed Countdown Song: Imagine Dragons – Demons

Most Missed Hit-Bound Dropout: Little Mix – Touch

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Backstreet Boys – No Place

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Tie Between Walk The Moon – One Foot (#6) and Macklemore/Kesha – Good Old Days (#7)

My Top 5 Picks

1. Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

2. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier

3. Dean Lewis – Be Alright

4. Lauren Daigle – You Say

5. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood