Ed Sheeran(1): Week of February, 19th 2022

Hello everybody what’s up. I hope y’all are having a great weekend so far, I’m sorry my personal top 40 post for this week was delayed for anyone who looks at it on here, but I was kinda busy yesterday and just had other stuff I wanted to do, it’ll be out soon though, but anyways welcome back to another countdown post. This week was pretty solid, but there are  a few things that I still didn’t like, one of which being a countdown debut and the other just being that Hitbound just does not look great right now in general. Anyways more to come on all of that, but for right now here are our exits. 

Exits 

The Walters-I love you so(29) 

Ed Sheeran-Shivers(17) 

Sadie Jean-WYD now?(16) 

 The countdown

#30 Chloe-Have mercy(=)(3 weeks) 

#29 Em Beihold-Numb little bug(Debut)(1 week) 

#28 ACRAZE/Cherish-Do it to it(=)(11 weeks) 

#27 Ed Sheeran/Taylor Swift-The joker and the queen(Debit)(1 week) (You have got to be fucking kidding me) 

#26 Saweetie/H.E.R-Closer(Debut)(1 week) 

#25 Emmy Meli-I am woman(+2)(9 weeks) 

#24 Coi Leray-Anxiety(+2)(2 weeks) 

#23 Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU-Cold heart(-10)(22 weeks) 

#22 Giveon-For tonight(+2)(19 weeks) 

#21 Machine Gun Kelly/Willow-emo girl(+2)(2 weeks) 

#20 Doja cat-Woman(=)(6 weeks) 

#19 Tiesto/Ave Max-The Motto(+6)(2 weeks) 

#18 SZA-I hate you(=)(6 weeks) 

#17 The Chainsmokers-High(+2)(3 weeks) 

#16 Latto-Big energy(+6)(4 weeks) 

#15 Tate McRae-She’s all I wanna be(+6)(2 weeks) 

#14 Benson Boone-Ghost town(-2)(11 weeks) 

#13 NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G-Better days(-7)(17 weeks) 

#12 Lauren Spencer-Smith-Fingers crossed(5 weeks) 

#11 Avril Lavigne/Blackbear-Love it when you hate me(=)(3 weeks) 

#10 Justin Beiber-Ghost(-6)(21 weeks) 

#9 Imagine dragons/JID-Enemy(+6)(4 weeks) 

#8 The Weeknd-Sacrifice(+2)(4 weeks) 

#7 GAYLE-abcdefu(-2)(11 weeks) (once again you have got to be fucking kidding me. This one is a bit painful to see) 

#6 Charlie Puth-Light switch(+3)(4 weeks) 

#5 Post Malone/The Weeknd-One right now(+3)(15 weeks) 

#4 Taylor Swift-Message in a bottle(-1)(13 weeks) 

#3 Adele-Oh my God(+4)(11 weeks) 

#2 Lil Nas X-That’s what I want(3 weeks at #1)(21 weeks) 

#1 Ed Sheeran-Overpass Graffiti(1st week at #1)(+1)(14 weeks) 

Debuts 

Alright so obviously there’s one debut that I’m not liking, and that’s kinda pissing me off honestly, so I think we’ll go over that one last, but first we’ll go with one that’s actually grown on me a lot this past week from some singer/songwriter named Em Beihold(pronounced By Hold) called Numb little bug. This is a really great song, it’s got that feel good vibe combined with some really interesting writing. First let’s talk production, which was the whole reason why I had it in my decent tier while it was(and still is) on Hitbound. I didn’t really like the Production style on this one at first I kinda thought it was a bit weird sounding and overproduced, but after hearing it all week, I’ve cone to really like the beat here, it’s upbeat and it fits the vibe really well with the lyrics used in this song. The writing here is really good to it’s got that sad writing that’s not only catchy, but also brings out the positive energy to. Em Beihold has a really great voice to, she sounds spectacular. Overall not bad. I’m actually gonna consider this one for my own personal chart to. 

Next we have Saweetie and H.E.R with Closer. I’ll make this really brief since I went over it last week, but it’s in my top 10 favorite songs right now. First off it’s very Spring/Summer vibey, which is perfect considering that it’s almost springtime. The production here is just amazing, and it sounds really good with the vocalists here. H.E.R sounds amazing in the chorus, and Saweetie adds the perfect amount of spice to this. She sounds great in the verses, and she has really great flow here to. Lyrically I will say it’s a bit sexual, but it’s nothing I can’t handle, and it’s really catchy. Overall nice debut. 

Hey you, yeah you, reader, were you expecting me to not give this song another bad review, well too bad cuz your getting this lecture on why I hate  this next one twice in a row. Really Hits 1. You know considering the fact that this next one was supposed to be serviced to pop radio, then got pulled, then got adds anyways, and here it almost got no AirPlay all week, I really thought oh yay this won’t be making it onto the countdown, but alas Hits 1 just has to have it their way don’t they. Ok so here we go once again introducing you to The Joker and the Queen by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. Now there’s not many songs that spend one week on the countdown, but I’m really hoping this one does(and funny enough that’s what happened with Ed and Taylor’s last collab a few months ago that was much better than this). Now I’ve really enjoyed both Ed and Taylor’s music lately(except for Shivers) but this right here, yeah no. This is pure laziness put into a song and just released cuz it’s a collab by 2 really popular artists. Yeah now tell me how is the record label gonna invest this with radio, I mean there’s seriously no appeal for this to even be played on radio. Hear me out here, it’s the slowest song I have probably ever heard a single station pick up on, yeah I’d even say it’s slower than Lewis Capaldi’s someone you loved. The piano is wayyyyyyyy too slow here, and the guitar in Taylor’s verse is so lazily used, and it just doesn’t sound good. Now we get to Ed and Taylor themselves, now let me just say I’m not gonna criticize Taylor for her role in this cuz she sounds kinda decent here, and she really helps out at the end parts with her chemistry with Ed, now If we have a problem vocally here it’s him. He just does not sound good here. He sounds a bit too high pitched, and he just doesn’t blend well with the piano here either. Now the writing is confusing as all hell also, like I said in last weeks post this sounds like they just strung together a bunch of verses without any pre-chorus, or hook(which most other ballads have) it’s also not catchy, nor even that memorable to me. It’s also just really weird writing, like I just don’t understand these lyrics at all, I mean i know they’re about love, but what aspect of it? I also just don’t like how they completely switched the lyrics from Ed’s chorus and Taylor’s. The bridge is also boring as all hell. Overall I think I’ve torn this thing apart enough over the last week, I just really hope now that it doesn’t become a huge hit here. 

Best countdown debut: Saweetie/H.E.R-Closer 

Countdown ranking 

Awful 

#30 Ed Sheeran/Taylor Swift-The Joker and the Queen 

#29 ACRAZE/Cherish-Do it to it 

#28 Emmy Meli-I am woman 

#27 Imagine dragons/JID-Enemy 

Decent 

#26 SZA-I hate you 

Good/Solid 

#25 Post Malone/The Weeknd-One right now 

#24 Doja cat-Woman 

Great 

#23 Elton John/Dua lipa/PNAU-Cold heart 

#22 Giveon-For tonight 

#21 NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G-Better days 

#20 Adele-Oh my God 

#19 Chloe-Have mercy 

#18 Taylor Swift-Message in a bottle 

#17 Ed Sheeean-Overpass Graffiti 

#16 Coi Leray-Anxiety 

#15 Em Beihold-Numb little bug 

#14 Latto-Big energy 

#13 Benson Boone-Ghost town 

#12 Justin Beiber-Ghost 

#11 Machine Gun Kelly/Willow-emo girl 

#10 GAYLE-abcdefu 

#9 Lil Nas X-That’s what I want 

#8 The Weeknd-Sacrifice 

#7 Lauren Spencer-Smith-Fingers crossed 

#6 Charlie Puth-Light switch 

#5 Saweetie/H.E.R-Closer 

#4 Avril Lavigne/Blackbear-Love it when you hate me 

#3 Tate McRae-She’s all I wanna be 

#2 Tiesto/Ava Max-The Motto 

Best song on the countdown 

The Chainsmokers-High 

5 oldest songs 

5 Post Malone/The weeknd-One right now(15 weeks) 

4 NEIKED/Mae Muller/Polo G-Better days(17 weeks) 

3 Giveon-For tonight(19 weeks) 

2 Justin Beiber-Ghost, and Lil Nas X-Thags what I want(21 weeks) 

1 Elton John/Dua Lipa/PNAU-Cold heart(22 weeks) 

 Biggest jump of the week: Tiesto/Ava Max-The motto, Latto-Big energy, Tate McRae-She’s all I wanna be & Imagine dragons/JID-Enemy(+6)  I’m really impressed by the first 3 especially The Motto though since it doesn’t really seem like it has a lot of AirPlay, and also since Hits 1s history with Tiestos music over the past year has not been great. Big energy is just cool in general since it’s rap, and she’s all I wanna be is Tate McRae, so of course she got a big jump. The only one I’m not so impressed by is Enemy cuz I just somehow can’t get into it, it’s just not my type of thing, and Imagine dragons can do way better than it. 

Biggest drop of the week: Elton John/Dua lipa/PNAU-Cold heart(-10) this is still here, wow. It’s still getting a decent amount of AirPlay to, so I’m really impressed with its run here. It is getting to be a bit overrated though, so I wouldn’t mind it leaving any day now. 

Countdown extra: Nicky Youre/Dazy-Sunroof 

Last years #1 song: Harry Styles-Golden(4/4 weeks at #1) 

My favorite song from last year: The Kid Laroi-Without you 

My least favorite song from last year: Ritt Mommney-Put your records on 

Hitbound 

Mimi Webb-House on fire(Debut) 

Eddie Benjamin-Weatherman(Debut) 

Encanto cast-We don’t talk about Bruno 

Sabrina Carpenter-Fast times(Debut) 

Dove Cameron-Boyfruend(Debut) 

 Saweetie/H.E.R-Closer 

Doja cat-Celebrity skin 

Tate McRae-She’s all I wanna be 

Nicky Youre/Dazy-Sunroof 

Claire Rosinkranz-I h8 that I still feel bad for U(Debut) 

Benson Boone-Room for 2(Debut) 

Niki-Every Summertime 

Em Beihold-Numb little bug 

Machine Gun Kelly/Willow-emo girl 

Gunna/Future/Young thug-Pushin P 

Caroline Polachek-Still hot your hurting my feelings 

Debuts 

Well there’s a lot less red than last week, which is good. What is not good is that there’s still Sunday bests, and to think they could’ve gotten the new Regard song, and/or the new 24Kgoldn song, but no of course this is Hits 1, where we have to hate on the genres Trey loves the most, like come on now we need more rap that they’re actually gonna push, and we need a new house song, it’s time to move on from Do it to it. 

First up on our debuts list is a new song from Mimi Webb(who has had Hitbound dropouts in the past, but who has shown to me that she clearly has a good enough voice to make it onto radio) this is her new song called House on fire, and it’s really good. Let’s start with production here, it sounds really good, and it fits the whole vibe of the song really well, and it’s very well suited for Mimi Webb’s voice. Mimi sounds really good here. Lyrically it took me a few listens to really decipher everything, but I think this has some really good writing, it’s a bit sad sounding, but very good and a bit on the catchy side indeed. Can we make this Mimi’s first hit? Probably not, but I’m sure hoping so. 

Next we have the latest Hits 1 to watch Eddie Benjamin, with his new song titled Weatherman. Now I looked this guy up and he’s not at all related to Alec Benjamin(and I’m pretty sure some people in the community(especially Waffle) are really happy that he’s not) now that doesn’t mean to say that he doesn’t sound like Alec Benjamin though, cuz I think he does a bit, although he’s got an Australian accent. Yeah he sounds pretty good here, and the production is really nice and groovey, I feel like this would’ve  been played back in the 70s for some reason, it just gives me that older disco vibe somehow. The writing is pretty good here to, and really catchy. Overall nice choice for the next one to watch. 

Next we have the return of Sabrina Carpenter with Fast times. Now I’m gonna be honest about her, she’s not really one of my favorite artists, but I have really liked some of her songs. Almost love was decent enough, Sue me was really good, and Skin was actually really good to, although to this day I am still confused on the writing in that one, and whether or not it pertains to Olivia Rodrigo. This songs pretty good I’d say. Sabrina sounds good here, and the production is awesome, it’s very Groovey, but I feel as if it has a nice dark vibe to it also, so it’s the perfect match honestly. The writing here is really good, and decently catchy to. Overall not bad. 

Alright, so Descendants star Dove Cameron released a new song that’s here called Boyfriend. Now let’s be honest I think she’s a really great actress, and she has a great voice in the films, but she’s not someone who’s  music I actively seek out. And this here is an example of just what I wouldn’t listen to. It’s way to R&B-ish which is not a genre I prefer to listen to cuz it’s really boring if I’m being honest, and this just has too much of it in here. The production is R&B-ish, and even Dove Cameron is a bit too much on the boring side here with her voice, although she does sound somewhat good. The writing here is decent though. It’s just not something I’d seek out though. Next. 

Well talk about artists I would not wanna seek out, but now I have a legit reason, and good song to. Next we have another new Claire Rosinkranz song, this one called I h8 that I still feel bad for U, and holy crap where did she go with the direction of her music because this is actually quite good. It gives me Good 4 U vibes. The production is upbeat and in that alternative style that’s a bit overproduced, but not too much, and she sounds very much like Olivia Rodrigo here, but with less of an angry and bitter voice. The writing here is very catchy, and well written to. Overall I’m  very pleased with this. 

Ah yes another one from Benson Boone. This ones called Room for 2, and it’s actually quite good. It sounds nothing like Ghost town, it’s much more upbeat sounding, which is great. The production here is cool, and Benson Boone sounds really good here actually, he fits in surprisingly well. The writing is catchy here to. Overall not bad. 

As for the Hitbound exits, we lost Infinity, The weekend, Don’t text me when you’re drunk, To all the boys I’ve loved before and Beg for you. Infinity was just not my type of thing, so I’m alright with that one. Uh The weekend spent way too much time here and should’ve charted a along time ago, so it kinda sucks to see that it spent like 4 months in Hitbound without a chance to debut. Don’t text me when you’re drunk is irrelevant as all hell and sucked anyways, so I don’t care at all that it’s gone. To all the boys I’ve loved before? Really Hits 1. I just started to kinda grow into that. Oh well we’ll see if it survives my chart in the upcoming weeks, same with Beg for you, although that’s not on my chart yet. 

Best Hitbound debut: Benson Boone-Room for 2 

Hitbound ranking(not including countdown songs) 

Awful 

#12 Caroline Polacheck-So hot you’re hurting my feelings 

#11 Gunna/Future/Young thug-Pushin P 

#10 Dove Cameran-Boyfriend 

#9 Niki-Every Summertime 

#8 Encanto cast-We don’t talk about Bruno 

Decent 

None 

Good/solid 

None 

Great 

#7 Eddie Benjamin-Weatherman 

#6 Claire Rosinkranz-I h8 that I still feel bad for U 

#5 Sabrina Carpenter-Fast times 

#4 Nicky Youre/Dazy-Sunroof 

#3 Mimi Webb-House on fire 

#1 Benson Boone-Room for 2 

Beat song on Hitbound 

#1 Doja cat-Celebrity skin 

The abyss 

Alesso/Katy Perry-When I’m gone 

Anitta-Boys don’t cry 

CKay-Love nwantiti(ah ah ah) 

Daisy the great/AJR-Record player 

Fireboy DML/Ed Sheeran-Peru 

Juice wrld/Justin Beiber-Wandered to LA 

The Walters-I love you so 

We replace one orange song on the countdown with another and put the other in the abyss. How lovely. 

Hitbound songs that make sense being here 

Encanto cast-We don’t talk about Bruno 

Niki-Every Summertime 

 

Wow that’s not that good. There’s not any other real songs that are moving up mediabase though or that are being released to radio at the moment, which kinda sucks but whatever. Literally nothing needs to debut to make sense either, no wonder why they have some really good but irrelevant songs on Hitbound this week. I will give some recommendations at the bottom though after the blurbs.

Blurbs 

Have mercy is just a really good version of Sad girlz luv money at this point. It’s held the bottom spot on the countdown now for 3 weeks, and quite frankly I don’t see it moving. Big time flop incoming. 

Do it to it holds at #28 also. Is there really a point in having this here anymore when we’ve got 2 other dance songs that are actually way better, and from actually popular artists on this countdown, and may I also stress how high up they are compared to this, I mean come on this isn’t even top 20 worthy how nice. At this point they just need to give up on this and get the new song from Regard, which is much better than this laziness. The good thing though is that I didn’t have to hear the creepy ass Squid game intro before this was played this morning, so that’s always a small upside, but seriously this need to be gone. 

Meanwhile on the subject of dance songs that are good(and yes I must blab about this briefly cuz it’s interesting) High aka my favorite countdown song now for the past 3 weeks, and overall, just my favorite song in general only jumped 2 spots this week, now why the hell is that so interesting,? well every time I’ve seen an AirPlay update this week it’s been in the top 5, so you’d think that if it was in the top 5 that it would be much higher, but nope. Now here’s what’s so interesting though is that despite being in top 5 of AirPlay it’s lagged behind in AirPlay according to XMplaylist, although it’s getting played every 2 hours at the most maybe(which is really good) so I’m not sure if it’s that XMplaylist hasn’t caught up with actual AirPlay yet since it missed a lot of spins when it was on Hitbound, or if it’s just the 5th most played song on the station, but it’s right where it needs to be according to XMplaylist. It’s kinda interesting though I thought. Now here’s what’s even more interesting(that is at least If your like me and you like this song) since it’s top 5 in AirPlay and so new still it’s so random as to what songs are played right before and right after it, but if you maybe listen sometime and your in the right place at the right time like I was yesterday chances are that before or after this song you might hear Wandered to LA, which is my former #1 song that spent 4 weeks on top of my chart. Next week High will be going for it’s 4th week at #1. Is 4 times a charm for The Chainsmokers? You’ll just have to wait and find out. Alright there’s your big fat blurb on High for this week, let’s get this into the top 10 next week. 

Ghost town dropped 2 spots this week. That doesn’t really make sense when it’s been going up in AirPlay now does it. 

Better days got a big drop. I don’t really mind too much though, cuz it’s getting a bit old and really overrated at this point. It’s still a very good song though, and I’m glad it hit the top 5. 

Ghost also dropped all the way from #4 to #10. Yeah honestly this ones starting to fade on me very slightly, so I don’t mind. Plus it’s been here long enough. 

Now ladies and gentlemen there’s the painful one of the week. abcdefu dropped to #7 despite having the most AirPlay. Now how the hell could that happen. Come on now Hits 1 that was really disappointing, let’s make it back into the top 5 next week please. 

One right now is now in the top 5. Really? We had to replace abcdefu with this. Come on this ones getting really annoying with overplay. Do better next time Hits 1. 

Oh my God is also at #3, can this hit #1 sometime soon? We’ll just have to hang on to find out. 

Now if it’s something I will actually praise Ed Sheeran for this week, it’s that Overpass Graffiti hit #1. Now before we talk about the song itself let’s talk about some interesting statistics that Spyder Harrison brought up before he played this song today. Ed Sheeran is currently the most streamed artist in the world, 22 million people worldwide listen to his music currently, and 24,000 radio stations around the world play his music everyday. Off his album (=) Equals there’s 3 singles( if we’re not counting The Joker and the Queen) all 3 have now been #1 here. This one amazingly has virtually no traction anywhere else on U.S radio though, it was supposed to be serviced, but it unfortunately flopped and is now being replaced by The Joker and The Queen, and Peru. Now with that all being said imma say one thing. Nice job Hits 1, and congratulations to Mr Sheeran, cuz if I’m being completely honest this songs one of his best, even though Shivers became really annoying with overplay and numerous weeks at #1, I don’t see that happening with this one, and you know even though this isn’t on my chart right now it really probably should be cuz it’s a great song. Amazing writing, good production and overall just really chill song. Now that doesn’t mean it’s my favorite song right now cuz of all the overplay, but you know I really don’t care for once. Nas had 3 weeks at #1. Let’s see what we can do with this one. Nice job Hits 1. 

Ok so I’ve seen a few people have seen this since I’ve published it, and I know at least 1 person had to have noticed and I’m so sorry, but I forgot to review the countdown exits. Uh well I love you so sucks, and is in the abyss, Shivers had a historic run at #1 here, but was getting really old(although I would’ve liked to see it stick around instead of having The Joker and the Queen debut, and lastly WYD now? was just a one to watch, so I expected it to leave anyways. Sorry I forgot to review the exits the first time. 

#1 recommendation for Hits 1:(I’ll put a few in here this week) Regard/Years & Years-Hallucination(come on please debut), Clean Bandit/A7S-Everything but you and Internet Money/24Kgokdn-Options 

Thanks for reading and I’ll see y’all in the next post.