Billboard Top 20 Ranked: Fall 2019

BILLBOARD TOP 20 RANKED OCTOBER 19TH, 2019
So, I’m finally doing it, a Top 20 Ranking for the Billboard Hot 100. I’ve been thinking about doing one of these for months now, and I figured that now is about time. I’ve been watching music reviewers on Youtube and reading various chart review lists and blogs for a good year and a half now, and I always wanted to make my own content, and now I’ve finally gotten the motivation to throw my two cents into the game with my own content. I was originally going to do this in video form, but I don’t want to take the risk of getting in trouble for breaking piracy and/or copyright laws, so I’m gonna do a blog instead, or at least for the time being.

So, how is this Top 20? Well, I think we’re doing pretty good here. There isn’t a single song in the Top 20 that I would consider truly terrible, and only one songs that I even dislike. While there is a large swath of mediocrity in here, it’s balanced out by the fact that there are 9 songs that I would consider at least good. 2019 has been a much stronger year for Pop Music than I came in expecting after the underwhelming 2018, and I don’t think that there’s a better way to cover it than just diving in and beginning our countdown, starting right from the bottom and working our way up, so let’s go!

TERRIBLE TIER

Nope, there’s nothing here, let’s move on.

BAD TIER

20. No Guidance by Chris Brown ft. Drake (Current Position: #7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOni4BMeMp0
Now, this does have redeeming qualities, I’m not gonna lie (that’s why it’s not in the Terrible Tier). The beat is quite catchy and bouncy, and I can appreciate that. However, than you have the performers themselves, and… that’s less appreciable. While Drake doesn’t sound checked out for once, he’s still not my cup of tea, and oh boy, let’s talk about Chris Brown. Ignoring his… troubled history, he’s just doesn’t sound good on here. His voice is so processed and autotuned that it loses any effect that it may have, and it slurs together to the extent that I can’t understand a good half of the lyrics, which isn’t really such a bad thing, considering that the lyrics are generic “I wanna f**k you” fare (I will give it this, it’s better than that song, but that’s not very hard to do). It’s a painfully mediocre Trap-R&B song that, while not terrible, is not something that I really care for.

MEH TIER

19. Playing Games by Summer Walker (Current Position: #16)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpTHDawddsE
The song opens up with a nice Latin-sounding guitar (which is what keeps it from the Bad Tier), but good lord, Summer Walker is everything wrong with Modern R&B singers (whininess and lack of enunciation), but without any of the personality that people like Khalid (who I’ll be talking about later) and Ella Mai have. Fortunately, the song is only a little over two minutes long, which means it wraps up rather quickly, which means that I can move on from this lame nothing of a song.

18. Bandit by Juice WRLD and Youngboy Never Broke Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw5fNI400E4
Once again, the instrumentation saves this from the Bad Tier (or worse), the beat is quite catchy and I like the sort of creepy feel to it. However, that is where the positives end, as we have to talk about some of these lyrics, such as “Once I get a bitch, I own her”, and several occasions in which Juice WRLD pronounces the N-word with a hard R (yes, he’s Black, he can do that, but that doesn’t make it not awkward), and the general themes of Juice WRLD and Youngboy stealing YOUR girl, hence the title of “Bandit”. With all that said, the beat saves it from being in the bad tier.

17. Memories by Maroon 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlPhMPnQ58k
“Man, this Maroon 5 song sure does exist, doesn’t it?”

16. I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y83x7MgzWOA
The title says it all.

15. Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABLecsR5UE
This is a song that has gotten a ton of shit in the chart review community, primarily due to Lewis Capaldi’s voice. Let me say that, while I agree that his voice is quite overwrought (especially on that bridge), I honestly appreciate it on some level because he’s trying to show some genuine passion and emotion, which I think has been severely lacking in a pop scene that has been dominated by checked out Lorde ripoffs for the past few years. With all that said, you can go too far in the other direction, and that’s exactly what Lewis Capaldi’s doing here. When it comes to the instrumentation and lyrics, they’re about as standard a break-up themed piano ballad as you can get. Let’s move on now.

14. Highest In The Room by Travis Scott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfSS1e3kYeo
Well, Travis must’ve had some degree of self-awareness, because he certainly sounds like he’s the highest in the room. While I can barely understand Travis Scott’s mumbling, I really like the Halloween-ish feeling this song gives off, and I’m not gonna lie, that outro is beautiful. With that being said, Travis was probably at least one toke over the line when he recorded this, hence the title of the song. This may grow on me as time goes on, but for now it is in the high end of the Meh Tier.

13. Ransom by Lil Tecca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLofd-v_Bas
This could’ve possibly hit #1 had the charts not counted radio, and I can definitely understand why. The beat is one of the funnest I’ve ever heard in a Trap song, and Lil Tecca is a funny performer (much of it due to his absurd voice. However, I can’t take his posturing seriously (nor do I think he meant it to be taken seriously), and it’s just sort of “in one ear and out the other” for me, moving on...

12. Talk by Khalid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE2Ira-Cwxo
Now we get to one of Gen Z’s biggest superstars, Khalid. He has absolutely blown up in the Late 2010s as a sort of chill R&B singer. While I definitely understand his appeal (I was born in 2000, so I fit right into his age group), I’ve not been the biggest fan of him (aside from this hidden gem). That’s not to say that I dislike him, quite the contrary, I think he’s an interesting artist with a lot of potential, but I’ve always found his voice a wee bit whiny, and that is the main reason why this is only in the Meh Tier, albeit right on the border of the Decent Tier. The instrumental has an upbeat and bouncy feel to it, and the lyrics are relatable to teenagers (I.E. me), but his voice isn’t really my cup of tea, or at least yet (I’ll get back to him later on in this list). Still, as with Highest In The Room, this does have room to grow.

DECENT TIER

11. Sucker by The Jonas Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAmeh0-E-U
So, a Disney Channel Boy Band from a decade ago is back, huh? Interesting, my sister was a big Joe Bros fan back in the Late 2000s, and yet it looks like this is their biggest hit, and you know what, it’s not half bad. It’s a fun, upbeat pop song that brought some much needed life to the charts after the dour misery of 2018. However, I am getting a bit tired of it, considering that it came out at the beginning of March and has been in the Top 20 ever since, and it’s exactly what I’d expect a radio hit to sound like. While it may have overstayed its welcome, it’s not like it wasn’t welcomed at all.

10. Truth Hurts by Lizzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P00HMxdsVZI
So, this is now one of the biggest female rap hits of all time, huh? Surprising considering that it was released in 2017 and only became famous off of a TikTok meme, later gaining enough traction to reach #1 on the Hot 100, where it has been for a total of 7 Weeks (as of the following chart week from what I’m ranking). Well, I’m glad that it’ll probably break the record that was set by Iggy “The Female Vanilla Ice” Azalea five years ago, it deserves it far more than Fancy. Lizzo is bubbling with personality and charisma, she’s basically the lady from those Strong Independent Black Woman Who Don’t Need No Man memes. However, I can’t really resonate with this song (no shit, straight white guys aren’t the target audience), and I’m fine with that, I can recognize the artistic merit in songs that don’t click for me on a personal level. Solid tune, glad that it became a hit.

GOOD TIER

9. Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApXoWvfEYVU
Behold, the most overplay resistant song of all time. You know how I mentioned that Sucker has been around since March and that I’m getting sick of it? Well, this came out in October OF LAST YEAR and has been in the Top 20 ever since. It is now one of the 100 biggest hits OF ALL TIME, and I STILL haven’t gotten sick of it. That speaks more to what I think of this song than anything else I can say. While it does have its flaws (the lyrics are total nonsense), it has more than enough positives to get a spot in the Good Tier.

8. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDfgMOUjCI
This didn’t click for me for the longest time, it was in the Meh Tier up until I was making this list. However, I came back with fresh ears, and came out with a completely different view of the song than when I came in. The instrumentation sounds kinda like We Are Number One, the meme song from a few years ago (heck, there’s a mashup of the two songs that has hundreds of thousands of views), and Billie’s delivery has changed from sounding half asleep to being seriously funny to me. While it does have the “Might Seduce Your Dad Type” line, it’s still a good song… DUH!

7. 10,000 Hours by Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2E71oe0aSM
Wait, a schmaltzy love song is in the Good Tier? Yes, it is, I like this song, sappiness and all. It’s basically a Late 90s Boy Band love song, particularly God Must’ve Spent A Little More On You by NSYNC (a song that somehow manages to be even cheesier than this song), but you know what, it’s perfect for weddings, and I can appreciate it for that. Heck, it’ll probably be played at my wedding once that day comes. Dan and Shay have great voices and harmonies, and Justin Bieber certainly isn’t the Shawty Is An Eenie Meenie Miney Mo Lover kid anymore (oh gosh, that song has aged so badly). Maybe it’s just because I have a soft spot for cheesy love songs (inherited from my very white parents), but I can’t help but find this song really charming, sappy as it may be.

6. Circles by Post Malone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXhTHyIgQ_U
Hmm, maybe Rock can make a comeback. While Take What You Want (one of the best songs I’ve heard in years) has gotten most of the hype for being a crossover rock hit, Circles is the bigger Rock crossover hit from Hollywood’s Bleeding (sure, it’s more Pop Rock than anything, but I’d still count that under the rock umbrella). It’s also a really well written song about a relationship that is falling apart, despite their attempts to keep it going. The reason that it’s only in the Good Tier and not the Great Tier is because Posty sounds like he’s half asleep, although it does still have growing potential, and could very easily end up in the Great Tier sooner rather than later.

5. Old Town Road by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ysFgElQtjI
So,imagine a little known rapper releases a Country-influenced Trap novelty song, becomes famous off of a popular social media platform, charts on the Hot 100 and gets tangled up in a genre controversy. He then brings along an old country singer who hasn’t seen any success in a quarter of a century and is more known for his family connections to release a remix that then shoots straight up to #1 and stays there for almost FIVE MONTHS, becoming one of the biggest hits of all time in the process. Well, not only did that happen, but it is this very song. Really, there’s nothing that I can say about this once-in-a-generation smash that hasn’t already been said by everyone else before me, so I might as well get my horses in the back and ride on to the…

GREAT TIER

4. Goodbyes by Post Malone ft. Young Thug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU173WjEoQA
Well, I’m back to talking about Posty, and it’s another song about a crumbling relationship. This is basically Better Now… but better (Better Now is a pretty good song in the first place). Posty is part ranting and part reflecting on his collapsing relationship with his girlfriend (with quite a few expletives thrown in there as well). The instrumentation perfectly fits the bitter and yet calm mood of the song, or at least until Young Thug comes in and starts squawking like a parrot, but somehow he fits in pretty dang well. This has grown on me immensely, to where it now stands in the Great Tier.

3. Panini by Lil Nas X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXcSLI58-h8
Now we return to 2019’s biggest breakout superstar, Lil Nas X. He released his debut EP this summer after the aforementioned Old Town Road blew the F up, and Lil Nas X went from an underground soundcloud rapper to one of the big dogs overnight, and that’s what his follow-up single Panini is about. Stealing the title from a Chowder character and interpolating Nirvana’s In Bloom in the hook, it’s basically a message to the fans that he got while he was underground, but who turned their backs on him when he blew up, with Panini being a stand-in name for them. As with Old Town Road, his delivery is a mixture of silly and serious, and the beat is infectiously catchy.

2. Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkh8UtuejGw
Here we have Pop Music’s newest couple, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, and who would’ve guessed that the “NICOTINE HEROINE MORPHINE” girl and the “BETTA DAN HE CAN” guy would’ve created one of the sultriest songs to have touched the charts this decade. Now, it’s not without its flaws, don’t get me wrong. Camila is still a middle of the road (at best) singer and Shawn Mendes, while possessing more objective talent than Camila, is no Latin lover (in spite of his Iberian heritage). With that being said, Shawn and Camila have always worked really well together, and while the instrumentation is not perfect (snaptracks are overused), it definitely does its job. The main reason that this is in the Great Tier, though, is just how adorable this song is. The lyrics depict a budding romance between two lovers who, while aware that it could blow right up in their face, are willing to take the shot. TBH, I really don’t have an objective explanation for why I love this song so much, but you know what song I do have that for?

Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj0XInqZMHY
Aside from Castle On The Hill, this is my favorite Ed Sheeran song. The instrumentation has an 80s throwback sound, yet manages to keep a modern feel to it. Ed Sheeran delivers a solid vocal performance, and while Khalid does seem out of place here, he does his job well enough. However, where this song really stands out is in the lyrical department, where Ed Sheeran both expresses how he doesn’t fit in among other celebrities (no s**t, he looks like a life sized cabbage patch doll), and his concern that he will fall into the celebrity lifestyle and lose his personality, just becoming another one of those “beautiful people”, whose lives may look wonderful on camera, but can be miserable behind the scenes, reflected in probably the best single lyric I’ve heard all year, “surrounded, but still alone”. Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid, the best song in the Top 20 as of October 19th, 2019, and my second favorite song with the word “Beautiful” in the title (yeah, nothing’s beating this song anytime soon).

Overall, this Top 20 gets a 62/100, which is well above a theoretical average score of 50/100 and a pretty solid week overall. As mentioned in my intro, 2019 has been a far stronger year for pop music than I would’ve expected, so let’s keep this up into the new decade right around the corner. I’ll see you guys next time!