Tiesto/Tate McRae(5): Week of April 22nd 2023

What’s up everyone? I hope y’all had a great week. Uh I sure didn’t, it was riveted by an illness, some anxiety and radio fuckery(which we will definitely be discussing in this post). At least though it’s my last full week of school this upcoming week, and then after that I’m free. One announcement though before we get into everything. Expect nexts weeks post to be late because I have some plans with my family next weekend. Other than that let’s just get into it(Yuh). 

Exits 

NF-Happy(30) 

Miley Cyrus-River(25) 

Metro Boomin/The Weeknd/21 Savage-Creepin(18) 

The 1975-I’m in Love with You(15) 

 The Countdown

#30 Toosii-Favorite Song(Debut)(1 week) 

#29 Miley Cyrus-Jaded(Debut)(1 week) 

#28 Lewis Capaldi-Wish You the Best(Debut) 

#27 Meghan Trainer-Mother(+1)(6 weeks) 

#26 Post Malone-Chrmical(Debut)(1 week) 

#25 Jonas Brothers-Waffle House(+4)(2 weeks) 

#24 Miguel-Sure Thing(+3)(3 weeks) 

#23 Taylor Swift-All of the Girls you Loved before(=)(3 weeks) 

#22 PinkPanthress/Ice Spice-Boys a Liar(-1)(10 weeks) 

#21 Lizzy McAlpine-Ceillings(+5)(5 weeks) 

#20 Coi Leray-Players(-4)(14 weeks) 

#19 Gracie Abrams-I Know it Won’t Work(+3)(7 weeks) 

#18 Charlie Puth/Dan + Shay-That’s Not How this Works(+6)(3 weeks) 

#17 Jax-Cinderella Snapped(+3)(7 weeks) 

#16 Kane/Katelynn Brown-Thank God(+3)(10 weeks) 

#15 RAYE/070 Shake-Escapism(-9)(15 weeks) 

#14 Miley Cyrus-Flowers(-6)()6 weeks at #1)(14 weeks) 

#13 SZA-Nobody Gets Me(+1)(18 weeks) 

#12 Ed Sheeran-Eyes Closed(=)(4 weeks) 

#11 Sabrina Carpenter-Nonsense(-4)(21 weeks) 

#10 The Kid Laroi-Love Again(=)(12 weeks) 

#9 Lady Gaga-Bloody Mary(=)(12 weeks) 

#8 Fall Out Boy-Love from the Other Side(+9)(13 weeks) 

#7 Lizzo/SZA-Special(+4)(10 weeks) 

#6 Halsey-Die 4 Me(+7)(8 weeks) 

#5 SZA-Kill Bill(-1)(15 weeks) 

#4 Taylor Swift-Lavender Haze(+1)(19 weeks) 

#3 Latto/Lu Kala-Lottery(-1)(9 weeks) 

#2 Niall Horan-Heaven(+1)(9 weeks) 

#1 Tiesto/Tate McRae-10:35(=)(5th week at #1)(13 weeks)  

Debuts 

Kicking off our 4 debuts is Favorite Song by Toosii, which comes out of the abyss after only 2 weeks(kinda surprised by that honestly). There’s not too much that’s very special about this in my opinion, I mean Toosii has a pretty good voice here for a rapper, but I’m not really feeling the production, it’s a bit too basic. It’s also not the most memorable or catchy lyric wise, although I kinda feel as if I can feel a small connection to it for some reason. Overall, not a lot to say just kinda a decent song at best, I don’t really care if it becomes a hit. 

I’ve never talked about our next debut because I didn’t actually know if this one was for sure being played on Hits 1 up until this week when they started playing it. This is Miley Cyrus’s true follow up to Flowers called Jaded, and I really like this. It’s much better than River, although not as good as Flowers. The production is nice and gives me a little groove and Mikey doesn’t sound bad here at all, this is one of the best songs I’ve heard from her in years honestly(besides Flowers of course). The writing is very good in this one too. Great song, I hope this can be a second hit for her here, although I’m not really sure I see it fully happening. 

Up next is the next single from Lewis Capaldi’s new album called Wish You the Best, and this is alright at best, I actually hear that the music videos is heartbreaking and leaving people in tears, which is quite telling since it’s a slow and kinda sad song. I see this as a less good version of Someone You Loved, it’s very very slow production wise, although the piano does sound quite good, Lewis sounds great vocally here, it’s honestly one of his best performances as he doesn’t tend to scream on high notes as much as in his other songs(Someone You Loved, Bruises). But the writing here is kinda meh if I’m being honest. It’s nice and all, and I can certainly relate to it because it’s about a girlfriend he never got to have, so having been through my own situation like that a few months ago, I can relate, but the problem is that it’s not as catchy or memorable as Someone You Loved, and so that makes it a bit less special. Overall it’s a lovely song and I wouldn’t mind it becoming a hit, but yeah at the same time I kinda don’t care. 

Our highest debut(not surprisingly). Is Post Malones new song called Chemical. I see that this song is right now just flying up the radio charts, and honestly I don’t really mind that, but I don’t understand what’s so special about this song that people are clicking with. Post sounds only decent here, he sounds like he has too many affects on his voice, and the production while nice and poppy, isn’t that memorable sounding to me, like I forget what this sounds like after it ends. The writing is good and catchy, but it doesn’t really save it from being more than just decent, honestly I know this’ll be a hit though, so whatever I guess. 

Best countdown debut: Miley Cyrus-Jaded 

Biggest jump of the week: Fall Out Boy- Love from the Other Side(+9)  Yay, I’m so glad that this finally made the top 10, it’s one of my favorite songs(if not favorite song) of the the year so far. I hope it can make the top 5 next week, and maybe even reach #1 soon. 

Biggest drop of the week: RAYE/070 Shake-Escapism(-9) I love this song and I impressed by its run here, but it’s getting a bit old, so this drop is justified by me. 

Countdown extra: Lauren Spencer-Smith/GAYLE/Em Beihold- Fantasy 

Last years #1 song: Imagine Dragons/JID-Enemeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee( 4th/6 annoying and non-consecutive weeks at #1)  

My favorite song from last year: Tiesto/Ava Max-The Motto 

My least favorite song from last year: Labrinth/Zendaya-I’m Tired 

Let’s talk before we get into Hitbound. 

I’ve had a really bad week personally, I fell a bit ill on Wednesday and was sick and couldn’t leave my house for 3 days, about a week ago when I posted my last post I stated at the end that we’ll either be getting a big grand review this week or a rant, and well unfortunately it just has to be option #2. This honestly sucks, but let’s just talk. My boys The Chainsmokers released the lead single off their 5th album on Friday and of course I hyped it up and fell in love with it and it made me feel a lot better physically and mentally(since I’m going through a lot of anxiety with the end of the semester right now, and coupled with the illness my anxiety was worse). So I hyped up this song it’s called Up & Down and it features this TikTok punk-rock rapper named 347Aiden, I’d describe this kids voice as a cross between Machine Gun Kelly and The Kid Laroi if you wanna think about that, anyways they’re trying to break through TikTok and indie artists with this next album, which I personally think is awesome. Rumors are that some of the songs off this album have features such as Carlie Hanson, Jodi Gold, Powfu etc, and I’m alright with that, but ya know of course Up & Down is a lead single and so I kinda thought that it’d be sent to radio and they’d be all over it like they were with High, but when I woke up on Friday morning there was just nothing going on with it, I mean nothing at all, and I just kept waiting and waiting and waiting and checking all day, but sad to say there’s nothing, and then it didn’t end up debuting Hitbound because of course why would it, and honestly I’m just disappointed because I created a thread for the song on Pulse Music Boards and some people actually said that it sounded like an actual hit compared to High, but at the same time I kinda came to the realization that this isn’t gonna make the cut for radio, and that well unfortunately it also came to my realization that The Chainsmokers are irrelevant now. It’s disappointing, but it’s kinda the truth. I initially thought that after reading what people said about High on Pulse, that they’d give this song really negative comments, but to my surprise they didn’t exactly take my side on the issue of them, but one person said,” it’s shameful that the sound of this song isn’t popular anywhere except in the U.K, it sounds like a legit hit.” And to add onto that,” Unless your David Guetta or Bebe Rexha than this song really isn’t gonna be a thing.’ I think that in Guetta’s case he’s only getting hits by sampling famous songs, I mean he’s put out 3 of them in the last year(one more this week). Honestly I love that he’s remaking stuff out of samples, but for an EDM song or artist, I think we need more, and that’s my honest opinion, we need more than 90s remakes, don’t get me wrong I love I’m Good and Baby Don’t Hurt Me, but there’s more creative things in EDM that sound trendy and similar enough to Guetta’s style that need to be pushed more, and one of those songs would actually be Up & Down, it’s really nice sounding and it’s house and it’s very similar to Guetta’s style, if people actually listened to it, they’d probably realize that it’s better than any of Guetta’s remakes actually, in the sense that it’s original and not sampled. I love Guetta, but if we’re gonna make EDM a thing nowadays it needs to be The Chainsmokers or Tiesto, Martin Garrix Regard, or other DJs that I know and that’s my honest opinion. No rant included, I am utterly disappointed, but I hope you consider listening to Up & Down after reading this, even if you end up not liking it. As long as The Chainsmokers keep releasing their music for I’m always gonna be a fan of them, and I’m very proud of them for how far they’ve come the past 9 years, and they’re absolute legends, and I’m always gonna support them until they stop making music, and so in the words of Ed Sheeran now(who’s new song was also ignored by radio this week) “ The waves won’t break my boat.” And so I guess for me, I feel very disappointed that my favorite band is pretty much irrelevant now, but ya know the waves will never break this guys boat and I’m never gonna give up on them. That’s all I’m gonna say 💜🧡. 

Alright with that out of the way. 

Hitbound 

Melanie Martinez-Void 

The Weeknd/Future-Double Fantasy(Debut) 

Lauren Spencer-Smith/GAYLE/Em Beihold- Fantasy 

Kim Petras/Nicki Minaj-Alone(Debut) 

RAYE/Coi Leray-Flip a Switch(Remix)(Debut) 

Bazzi-Eyes 

Fifty Fifty-Cupid, Twin Version(Debut) 

Rita Ora/Fatboy Slim-Praising You(Debut) 

Drake-Search and Rescue 

AJR-The Dumb Song(Debut) 

XG-Left Right(Debut) 

JP Saxe-I Don’t Miss You 

Dominic Fike-Dancing in the Courthouse(Debut) 

Labrinth/Billie Eilish-Never Felt so Alone 

 Maisie Peters-Lost the breakup 

Nicki Minaj-Red Ruby da Sleeze 

Debuts 

Alright the first new song on Hitbound this week is The Weeknd’s new song with Future called Double Fantasy. I had a lot of doubt going into this song because I read the lyrics beforehand on Genius, and saw that they were a bit sexual, but after repeatedly listening to this multiple times, I can say I love it. The production on this song is so cool, I love the use of the synths, so it sounds very 80s inspired, plus the trap that comes in during the second verse and lasts the rest of the song, it’s great sounding when it’s mixed altogether, and it compliments both of our vocalists voices very well. The Weeknd sounds great here, but I especially love Futures verse, he adds a lot to this mix with a nice and long verse that is both catchy and interesting sounding. I mentioned writing wise that this is sexual, but for my standards I don’t really mind it because it’s not too bad actually, it’s very catchy and groovy, and it’s honestly what I’d expect from this collaboration. Overall, I can see this smashing here, and I hope it does even more so than Creepin did because it’s better than that song. Next. 

Speaking of songs that you know are going to be sexual that I wasn’t at all looking forward to hearing, we have the new song from Kim Petras and Nicki Minaj called Alone. Like I said if you haven’t heard this yet, it’s sexual, and you know it’s going to blow up because it has Nicki Minaj in it, so I’ll just state that before getting into this. It actually surprised me quite a bit though because it’s not horrible. Kim sounds pretty good here, but that chorus is where she shines the most on this. The verses could be better, but that’s mainly due to the production. This samples the song Better Off Alone, and it sounds very disco-ish in the chorus, but it turns into trap during the verses, and that’s 1 thing that holds this back from being good, it’s because Kim Petras doesn’t sound good over trap, although she sounds better on this than she did in Unholy. What I am not alright with in this song either is Nicki Minaj, if you don’t know me by now, then you don’t know, but I do not like Nicki Minaj’s voice, and this song is no exception, she just doesn’t sound good, and her verse in particular has some really sexual writing in it, so of course couple that together and you get a not so great guest verse. Overall the writing I mean what can I say, yeah it could be better and way less sexual, but that sample plus the catchiness kinda brings it up a bit. Overall decent song I guess, would I mind it becoming a hit? I don’t know yet, ask me that once it gets overplayed to death. Moving on now. 

RAYE released a remix of a track off her debut album My 21st Century Blues on Thursday and Hits 1 has decided to pick it up. It’s called Flip a Switch and it has Coi Leray on the remix. It’s funny cuz I actually remember Hits 1 playing this during her Hits 1 verified episode and it’s quite good. RAYE sounds good over the trap production, it’s different for her and a unique sound for her to be on. The writing is nice and somewhat catchy too, but my problem with this specific version is Coi Leray. When I listened to this for the first time, I couldn’t differentiate between her and RAYE’s voices because of their heavy accents, and so it made it sound like it’s only RAYE singing here, and that’s what pretty much holds this back from being great, but when I listen to it more, I’m gonna try and listen for Coi Leray more closely on it. Other than that one issue, this is a great song, and I’m wondering if it’ll do anything here. 

This next song caught me by complete surprise. I’m not at all a fan of female K-Pop groups as y’all may know, but I can say that I pleasantly enjoyed this next one. The group is called Fifty Fifty and the song is called Cupid, and wow, this is really good. All these girls sound good and blend in real well, plus I can actually barely tell they’re Korean, they it accents blend in that well with the production. This is another song that sounds like a 90s disco song, and I’m not sure exactly why this sound is trending everywhere right now, but I love it on this song. It’s catchy too. Overall this is a cool song, I wouldn’t mind it becoming a hit here, unlike anything BlackPink releases. 

Speaking of more 90s samples Rita Ora recently released a new version of Fatboy Slin’s hit Praise You, and the new song is called Praising You. I don’t remember ever hearing this song as a kid, although I probably have, but I like this quite a bit. Rita Ora sounds great here, except for in the first chorus where there’s this big long, uh how can I describe this? I guess loopy or repetitive affect on her voice where she goes,” I have to praise you like I shooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllllllllld! That is one pet peeve I have with EDM music, those effects should effectively be banned because they’re annoying as hell, lol. Outside of that miner issue though Rita sounds great on this disco beat, and the lyrics are catchy and fun. The production is very groovy and good too. I’ll have to listen to the original for more context, but this is a great song. I hope it smashes here. 

I was really looking forward to this next song, but it came up a bit short. It’s the return of AJR for the first time in 4 months with The Dumb Song. I quite liked both of their songs from last year called I Won’t and The DJ is Crying for Help, but this one isn’t as good. I think Jack Met sounds good here, and the production is cool, but kinda like uh the case of the new Lewis Capaldi song, it just feels kinda empty and forgettable. It’s not very catchy either. Overall, I can’t say I really care for this too much, but it’s not horrible. 

Switching back to genres and artists I really don’t like, but once again was pleasantly surprised by, next we have J-Pop group XG with Left Right, and I question why it took them so long to get this one because it’s been trending for a while now, but to my surprise I really enjoyed it. The lyrics are catchy and very groovy and these girls sound very great vocally on this. I really like the production here it’s trappy and has a disco vibe to it at the same time, so it’s a bop. Overall, I hope this can become a hit here also, although I have serious doubts about whether it’ll happen. 

Last but most certainly least we have a new song from Dominic Fike, who had a song called 3 Nights on the countdown in 2019. I don’t remember liking that song, and nor do I really like this new song called Dancing in the Courthouse. I don’t think he sounds good here, and the production is very basic and boring, it also has very boring writing. We can get rid of this anyway now Hits 1. Please and Thank You. 

As for our exits we lost Same Friends, Where Do You Go?, Me, What a Time to be Alive and Baby Don’t Hurt Me. Ir sucks to see Same Friends, What a Time to be Alive and Baby Don’t Hurt Me go. They’re all great songs and they will be missed by me, yes even the song that I might’ve just been complaining about because it’s a 90s remake and it’s by David Guetta(I mean it’s still a great song, we just don’t need all songs to be like it). I’m very sad that it’s gone. As for the other 2, I couldn’t care less that they’re gone, escpecially Where Do You Go? I find it very funny though how 6 years ago Kelly Clarkson could chart a song on this countdown(or any chart for that matter). And now she’s irrelevant af. Guess we sent her to Chainsmoker land, LMFAO. 

Best Hitbound debut: The Weeknd/Future-Double Fantasy 

The abyss 

 Rema/Selena Gomez-Calm Down

Morgan Wallen-Last Night 

Zara Larson-Can’t Tame Her 

Bebe Rexha-Heart Wants What it Wants

Macklemore/Collett-No Bad Days 

Havana Winter-Death Wish 

Avery Anna-Self Love 

Crash Adams-Give Me a Kiss 

NF-Happy 

Very interesting situation that happened this week that I’ll talk about in the blurbs. 

Blurbs 

Waffle House moved up 4 spots to #25. I am right now loving this one so much that it could potentially become my favorite countdown song soon. 

Sure thing continues to climb up the countdown, and I am still asking why this is any good? I still can’t get behind it, 

Ceilings lost pretty much all of its AirPlay this week, yet jumped 5 spots. Thanks for sparing it Hits 1. 

Why did Players have to drop, as soon as it reached a new peak. That was unnecessary. I know this song is kinda old, but it’s still great, and I think they should be treating it better. 

I know it won’t work also jumped 3 spots and into the top 20,  it’s coming off of rumors that it may get an actual push, which leaves me wondering why this instead of Where Do We Go Now? I’m happy that Gracie is at least getting some attention though, 

That’s not how this works jumped another 6 spots because of course it’s Charlie Puth. Still not finding this song to be too special, in fact I may start denoting it soon. 

Well Cinderella definitely snapped and came out of her bottom 10 shell because it jumped 3 spots to #17. This song doesn’t sound as bad as when I first heard it, but it still sucks, I hope it starts plummeting here soon, Although I doubt it will cuz Hits 1 loves Jax. 

Thank God also jumped another 3 spots. Is this ever gonna end up going top 10, or is it just gonna keep on having this up, down run the whole time it’s here? 

Flowers took a big hit, as it moved down 6 spots and out of the top 10 to #14. I still love this song, but this move is coming at the right time cuz it is starting to get kinda old, 

Speaking of old songs why the hell is Nobody Gets Me still here? 

Also, Nonsense moved out of the top 10 as it dropped 4 spots. Thank God because it’s the oldest song on this countdown at 24 weeks. 

Why are Special and Die 4 Me in the top 10? They’re both dying out elsewhere, I swat for the latter one that they’re just trying to make Halsey have a top 10 peak, like they did with So Good. I’d expect both of these to plummet as soon as next week. 

As for the #1 song. I’m very impressed by 10:35 holding on for a 5th week and it is far exceeding my expectations. It’ll be out tonight on the Mediabase published chart, as it has dropped below #40 ok it, so having a #1 at that magnitude is great for this countdown. This is amazing. I can see Heaven or Lottery taking over for it next week though, although I’d prefer Lottery to be its successor. 

As for our exits we lost Happy, River, Creepin and I’m in Love with You. Creepin had a great run here, but I’m sad it never hit the top 5. Oh well. I’m in Love with You excesses my expectations for a song that wasn’t gaining traction outside of Hits 1, but in a bit disappointed it never made it to the top 10, but then again Oh well. River was replaced by a more superior Miley song, so I don’t mind that and last but not least, let’s talk about our special exit of the week, which is Happy by NF. I’m disappointed that it’s gone, but at the same time it was the first song to leave both the countdown and Hitbound in the same week, and fall into the abyss. That has never happened before, and was a rare sighting, but alas it happened. Why? I have no clue, but I hope it can re-enter very soon, as it’s a great song, 

I think you already know my #1 recommendation for Hits 1, but there’s also a few more I’ll take. 

ILLENIUM/American Teeth-Insanity 

NURKO/Cruel Youth-Too Long 

Thanks for reading, I hope y’all enjoyed and I’ll see y’all in the next one.