Jonas Brothers (3) – Week Of April 13, 2019

Hey guys! I quite liked this week's countdown as we get a few great new songs replacing some not-so-good songs. There were also some good drops and some good jumps. So I had a good time with this post. Also just a reminder that my 2010s rankdown is closing at the end of this week. You may have extra time because I don't know when I'll get around to entering the rest of the submissions I have into Excel. So it'll probably be a while until I start doing results. But yeah, the official due date is this Saturday evening. So get on it. Before we get to this week's Fresh 45, here are the songs we're saying goodbye to this week.

• Meghan Trainor – All The Ways (#39)
• LSD/Lil Wayne – Genius (#40)
• Madison Beer/Offset – Hurts Like Hell (#41)
• Charlie Puth – The Way I Am (#44)
• Bebe Rexha – I'm A Mess (#45)

Last Week's #1 Song: Jonas Brothers – Sucker

The Countdown

45. Khalid/Normani – Love Lies (#43)

44. Imagine Dragons – Natural (#42) [1 Week At #1]

43. Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (#20)

42. Maren Morris – GIRL (#37)

41. Cardi B/Bruno Mars – Please Me (#38)

40. FLETCHER – Undrunk (DEBUT)

39. Grandson – Apologize (#31)

38. Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next (#37)

37. 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (#33) [5 Weeks At #1]

36. Anne-Marie – 2002 (#28)

35. Jake Miller – Wait For You (#26)

34. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More (#25)

33. Benny Blanco/Halsey/Khalid – Eastside (#14)

32. Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me (DEBUT)

31. Ciara – Thinkin Bout You (DEBUT)

30. Austin Brown – In Betweenin' (#22)

29. Lil Peep/iLoveMakonnen/Fall Out Boy – I've Been Waiting (#29)

28. Avril Lavigne/Nicki Minaj – Dumb Blonde (DEBUT)

27. Lizzo – Juice (#34)

26. Dan + Shay – Tequila (#12)

25. Ariana Grande – Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored (DEBUT)

24. Yungblud/Halsey/Travis Barker – 11 Minutes (#27)

23. Post Malone – Wow (#36)

22. P!nk – Walk Me Home (#23)

21. Ally Brooke/Tyga – Low Key (#32)

20. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine (#19)

19. Bebe Rexha – Last Hurrah (#30)

18. Dean Lewis – Be Alright (#15)

17. Khalid – Better (#24)

16. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar (#8)

15. Ariana Grande – 7 Rings (#11)

14. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow (#17)

13. Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired (#16)

12. Dan + Shay – Speechless (#21)

11. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (#18)

10. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes (#13) [8 Weeks At #1]

  9. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling (#7) [7 Weeks At #1]

  8. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly (#4)

  7. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me (#9)

  6. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier (#10) [2 Weeks At #1]

  5. Halsey – Without Me (#6) [5 Weeks At #1]

  4. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love (#3)

  3. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho (#2)

  2. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#4) [3 Weeks At #1]

  1. Jonas Brothers – Sucker (#1) [3^rd Week At #1]

#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey – The Middle (6)

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Post Malone/Swae Lee – Sunflower (–23)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Post Malone – Wow (+13)

New Entrants
~ First up this week is FLETCHER with her song Undrunk. I thought this was okay at first, but it definitely grew on me over time. I really like her voice here and I love the production. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's almost calming in a way. I also really like the way she opened herself up with these lyrics. The song is so well-written that I can actually feel something when listening to the words. The chorus is great. I really like this song and I hope this does decent here.

~ Next is Marshmello, who just keeps bringing in the singles. This time it's with pop/alt group CHVRCHES on the song Here With Me. This is basically Happier with a slightly different drop and a different vocalist. Aside from the drop, the production is similar in both songs and the build-up is the same. But Happier is a great song, so this is really good too. I mostly like it for Lauren Mayberry's vocals. I think she sounds excellent here. Marshmello got a little generic as usual, but it's still an enjoyable listen. It's nice to see CHVRCHES actually have a mainstream hit and not be underrated for once. I'm sure this will end up being a hit since it's Marshmello. Overall, I really like this and I'm happy for CHVRCHES.

~ Immediately following that, we have Ciara with Thinkin Bout You. I find it interesting how Hits 1 did a world premiere for this song since they haven't exactly cared much for Ciara's music in the past. As for this song, I think it's fine. It's not bad, but there's really nothing about it that makes it stand out or makes it that memorable. To me, it's kind of just there and that's probably how it's gonna be during its run here. I can't see this having very much success since it's not exactly a hit. But this is Hits 1, so who knows? Hit or not, the song is just okay.

~ Next is a rather polarizing single, at least for this artist. It's Dumb Blonde by Avril Lavigne featuring Nicki Minaj. I really like this song and I know there are people who will disagree with me. It's definitely not the best song from Head Above Water as I prefer songs like the title track and Birdie. But Dumb Blonde is a jam and I respect it for that. It's a good empowerment anthem and it's really catchy. Avril is one of those artists who can pull off slower ballads like I'm With You and Let Me Go, while still being able to make bops like this. I can see why people would dislike this and how it can be annoying. But I just really like it personally and it would be nice to see it become a hit.

~ Last and definitely least, we have Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored by Ariana Grande. It's no surprise why she decided to push this as her next single. Is it better than 7 Rings? Yes, but that is a low bar. It's still very generic with a lame trap beat and not very impressive vocals. The lyrics are probably supposed to be a joke, but Ariana Grande is the kind of artist who I tend to take seriously. I listened to Thank U, Next in full when it was released and I thought this was a very weak album closer as it really didn't do what album closers should do, which is to provide some kind of closure. If this album's closer is supposed to be a joke, is the rest of the album supposed to be taken that way as well because that's kind of what I get when an album is concluded in this way. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but at the end of the day, it's still a generic, poorly-written song.


Best Debut of the Week: Marshmello/CHVRCHES – Here With Me


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

• Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (DEBUT)
• Billie Eilish – Bury A Friend
• NOTD/Felix Jaehn/Captain Cuts/Georgia Ku – So Close
• BTS/Halsey – Boy With Luv (DEBUT)
• lovelytheband – Maybe, I'm Afraid
• MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less
• Ava Max – So Am I
• Jonas Brothers – Cool
• Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
• Alec Benjamin – If We Have Each Other (DEBUT)
• Kygo/Valerie Broussard – Think About You
• Jordan McGraw – Flexible
• Jennifer Lopez/French Montana – Medicine (DEBUT)
• Louis Tomlinson – Two Of Us
• The Chainsmokers – Kills You Slowly (DEBUT)

~ I would go in order, but this first one I'll actually save for last. So first up is the overpromoted Boy With Luv by BTS featuring Halsey. It's times like these where I wonder why I follow Hits 1 on Instagram because on Friday, my feed was full of their posts with clips of their discussions with BTS on the Morning Mash Up. I wasn't expecting this song to be very good and I was right. This feels a little overproduced, but it's not so much the production that I have problems with. It's BTS themselves. I don't like their voices and their rapper is obnoxious. I'm probably going to get murdered by the BTS stans, but I'm just saying it as it is. And Halsey is such a non-presence here that you can't even tell she's featured on the track. So yeah. I don't like this and I would prefer if this didn't become a hit.

~ Next is Alec Benjamin because these people at Hits 1 have apparently become fans of this guy. He also hosted Hit-Bound this week, so it would only make sense that he plays his own song. In comparison to Let You Down Slowly, this is okay. It's not as boring and it's kind of interesting instrumentally. I still don't like this voice because he sounds much younger than he is. But this is improvement, so I'll take it.

~ Next is the only good debut that I'm really glad Hits 1 picked up on as quickly as they did. It's Medicine by Jennifer Lopez and French Montana. This song is a bop. I was really impressed when I first listened to it. And it's clear proof that JLo is a really good singer. I think her voice sounds really good here. The production is solid and the chorus is great. Even French Montana's verse is solid and I quite like his contribution here. All in all, great song and I would love to see this on the countdown in the near future.

~ Next is The Chainsmokers with Kills You Slowly. If you had played this song for me without me knowing what it was, I would've never guessed it was The Chainsmokers because this sounds nothing like their style. Drew Taggart doesn't sound like himself and the song is just so generic. They were doing fine with songs like Side Effects, This Feeling, Beach House, and Who Do You Love. But this new song is as generic as the earlier Sick Boy singles. I'd prefer if this didn't become a hit.

~ Alright, now we can go back to the worst entrant this week. It's Old Town Road by Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus. So this guy put out a solo version of this song a while ago claiming it is a country song, which it is not. Sure, it has a couple country elements. But this is a straight up trap song and that's not really up for debate. So Billboard realizes this and takes the song off the country charts, which then leads to people calling Billboard racist even though Darius Rucker and Kane Brown were/are big country stars. So then Lil Nas X decides to rerelease the song with country legend Billy Ray Cyrus. Why he would ever agree to this, I have no idea. But it shows that this guy is desperate to get this trap song to be seen as country when it's not. Now, on to my opinion. This song is shit. It's beyond generic, has no real substance, and Lil Nas X is not a good singer. The trap beat is terrible and the song is just nonsense. There's nothing unique about this. It's a stupid song that shouldn't be as popular as it is. I will say that Billy Ray somewhat helped the song, but it's still not country and it's still very generic. I don't know why Hits 1 decided to pick up on this and I hope it doesn't become a hit here. It's a terrible song and one of the biggest jokes in music right now.


Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Jennifer Lopez/French Montana – Medicine
2. Kygo/Valerie Broussard – Think About You
3. Panic! At The Disco – Dancing's Not A Crime
4. Louis Tomlinson – Two Of Us
5. MAX/Quinn XCII – Love Me Less


Dumb Blurbe
~ As a result of Tequila dropping this week, Dan + Shay – Speechless made a jump up to #12. I feel like this song debuted a little early because it feels like it's been here for a long time already. But I do like the song, so no complaints here. I'm glad it's having a chance at being successful after Tequila stuck around much longer than I thought it would.

~ You know it's a good week when the best song on the countdown rises over the worst song on the countdown. Even though there's only a one-spot difference, Shallow deserves to be above 7 Rings as it is a million times superior in terms of quality. 7 Rings is shit and Shallow is amazing.

~ I'm also happy to see Better by Khalid rising back (?) into the Top 20. I've liked this song quite a bit since I first heard it. It's just very vibey and I love his vocals. I hope this sticks around here for a while because this should definitely be a hit on Hits 1.

~ All of last weeks debuts seem to have jumped a reasonable amount this week with Last Hurrah hitting the Top 20 already. But for some reason, Low Key by Ally Brooke is already up to #21. We don't need generic, poorly sung tunes about nothing but sex being hits just because they're from a member of a popular girl group. This is probably the second worst single from a Fifth Harmony member (behind Camila's Never Be The Same).

~ Wow by Post Malone made a jump this week, which I'm cool with. The song is okay and it has grown on me quite a bit since first listen. I'm okay with it sticking around for a little while as long as it doesn't become a massive hit.

~ We had quite a few drops this week, some good and some bad. I already mentioned Tequila. While I do still really like the song, it's been around for quite a while now and should be dropping frankly. Eastside and Sunflower took some big drops this week. The former is good, but has been around for a while and should be dropping. And the latter is old at this point and I was never fully on board with this song because while it has good vocals, it has nothing else unique about it. The production is basic.

~ Continuing with the drops, Jake Miller – Wait For You and Anne-Marie – 2002 fell out of the Top 30, and Please Me by Cardi B/Bruno Mars fell into the Bottom 5. None of these are good and I'm glad Please Me didn't end up being a big hit because this is just not good at all. We also saw drops from two country girls with their pop singles: Miss Me More by Kelsea Ballerini and Girl by Maren Morris. I was never able to get into Girl unfortunately because it's so bland and I'm happy that it seems to be flopping. But Miss Me More definitely deserved better for being a well-written and well-produced track with great vocals. After the success of This Feeling, I do think Kelsea Ballerini deserved to have this as a hit because frankly, Miss Me More is the much better song.

~ As far as the exits go, three of these were 3-weekers and the other two overstayed. All The Ways and Hurts Like Hell are very bland and generic, especially the latter which is much worse in my opinion, so it's nice to see them drop out quickly. Neither of these were deserving of being hits. The Way I Am was always the weakest Voicenotes single and stayed way too long for a song that wasn't actually a hit. I did like I'm A Mess for a while, but it stayed too long and should've left a while ago. And finally, we have Genius, which definitely deserved better as it's one of the few good LSD songs. I didn't even mind the fact that they played the Lil Wayne version. It was still good and shouldn't have left so soon. It should've at least been a bigger hit than Thunderclouds because that song is pretty bad. But we don't always get what we want.


Top 20 Review
0 – Crap:
20. Ariana Grande – 7 Rings
19. Halsey – Without Me
18. Lauv/Troye Sivan – I'm So Tired

1 – Bad:
17. Alec Benjamin – Let Me Down Slowly
16. Twenty One Pilots – Chlorine

2 – Mediocre:
NONE

3 – Decent:
15. Ellie Goulding/Diplo – Close To Me
14. Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho

4 – Good:
NONE

5 – Great:
13. Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
12. Jonas Brothers – Sucker
11. Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It
10. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini – This Feeling
9. Dan + Shay – Speechless
8. Marshmello/Bastille – Happier
7. Bebe Rexha – Last Hurrah
6. The Chainsmokers/5 Seconds Of Summer – Who Do You Love
5. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar
4. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger
3. Khalid – Better
2. Dean Lewis – Be Alright

BONUS: 6 – Best Song On The Countdown:
1. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow

Overall Score: 74/100 = 74% (B)


Throwback Pick Of The Week: Lady Antebellum – I Run To You

Most Missed Countdown Song: One Direction – Where Do Broken Hearts Go

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Avicii/Aloe Blacc – SOS

Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Walk The Moon – One Foot (#6)


My Top 5 Picks
1. Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – Shallow
2. Dean Lewis – Be Alright
3. Kelsea Ballerini – Miss Me More
4. Khalid – Better
5. Sam Smith/Normani – Dancing With A Stranger