2019 Year-End Post #1: The Top 20s of 2019 - The Album 20, The Artist 20, The Hit 20

Each year, I give a general top 20 countdown of the top albums, top songs, and top artists of 2019. I have gathered statistics from as much music platforms as I could to construct these lists...which have included Hits 1 shows, the American Top 40, and Billboard charts. In order to be eligible for these lists, artists had to have released songs and albums that charted before December 14, 2019 and after December 15, 2018. So, let's just get right into this year's first year-end post...because there are more on the way.


The Album 20 of 2019

20. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack)
19. Cardi B, Invasion Of Privacy
18. XXXTENTACION, ? (last year: #16)
17. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
16. Billie Eilish, Don't Smile At Me
15. Jonas Brothers, Happiness Begins
14. A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Hoodie SZN
13. Soundtrack, Into The Spider-Verse
12. Travis Scott, ASTROWORLD (last year: #12)
11. Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman
10. Meek Mill, Championships
9. Khalid, Free Spirit
8. Drake, Scorpion (last year: #5)
7. Post Malone, Hollywood's Bleeding
6. Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys (last year: #6)
5. Luke Combs, This One's For You
4. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born (Soundtrack)
3. Taylor Swift, Lover
2. Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next
1. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

The Hit 20 of 2019

20. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
19. Sam Smith & Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
18. Chris Brown/Drake - No Guidance
17. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care
16. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
15. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - Shallow
14. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes
13. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita
12. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next
11. Travis Scott - Sicko Mode
10. Khalid - Talk
9. Lizzo - Truth Hurts
8. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier
7. Post Malone - Wow.
6. Jonas Brothers - Sucker
5. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
4. Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
3. Halsey - Without Me
2. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy
1. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road 


The Artist 20 of 2019

20. Juice WRLD (last year: #20)
19. Cardi B (last year: #3)
18. Luke Combs
17. BTS (last year: #10)
16. XXXTENTACION
15. Ed Sheeran (last year: #13)
14. Panic! At The Disco
13. DaBaby
12. Travis Scott (last year: #8)
11. Drake (last year: #4)
10. Halsey (lasy year: #9)
9. Shawn Mendes (last year: #6)
8. Lizzo
7. Khalid
6. Lil Nas X
5. Jonas Brothers
4. Taylor Swift (last year: #5)
3. Post Malone (last year: #7)
2. Ariana Grande (last year: #1)
1. Billie Eilish  

Well...thanks for taking a look everyone! More is on the way... Next up, I will discuss the worst songs of 2019 (in my opinion) and review the year in music.

~ jack.

While I Was Out...

Hey, everyone... It is no secret that I have been out of action for a few months now. This is the second time my posts have been on "hiatus", and it looks like the same has happened to many people in this community. The truth is, I was busy. It is my senior year and my fall has been completely filled up with things to do. My intent was never to stop posting, but it just continually got away from me. Every day I had something going on...I'm taking several college-level courses, participate in several extracurricular activities, and work for pay as much as I can. Needless to say at this point, I just haven't had much time.

Each week I still create lists of my top 50 songs on Crownnote, where numerous other bloggers do as well. Crownnote makes it easy for me to do things fairly fast, so that is the main reason that I continued to post on there (so I could still put out some content, while not overdoing it). These posts often consume a couple of hours of my time, which have made them difficult to complete. 

However, considering that I have a little over two weeks off for Christmas break, I wanted to make time for an explanation of my absence and also to give out some year-end posts. Year-end posts are my favorite to make, and now that I finally have a little bit of a break, I actually have some time to make them for you...given that you are willing to read them. I know I have been out of action for a while, but I was around for the majority of this year on this blog. Even after these posts are published, I am still going to make an attempt to post in the new year. However, if I see myself getting away from this more and more...than it may just be time to retire and move on (as much as I hate to say it). I have been here for five years now, and I have thoroughly enjoyed creating content for you all to read, and I hope I can continue for a little while longer.


Just to recap, I have missed every week from September 7, 2019 up until now. That is approximately 15-16 weeks of the countdown, so I will have to look a little more in depth with those weeks when it comes to formulating lists and stuff...because truth be told I haven't listened to the countdown that much since I have been on a little break. However, here is my tentative plan moving forward with the year-end posts, so I can get them out in a reasonable time frame.

• The Top 20s of 2019 (December 25, 2019)
• The Worst Songs of 2019 (December 27, 2019)
• 2019: A Year In Review (December 30, 2019)
• My Top 45 Songs of 2019 (January 2, 2020)
• My Personal Chart: The Hot 100 of 2019 (January 5, 2020) 

With that being said, I'm going to try and get right to it with creating these posts...I hope that you are willing to read them, because I am excited to make them with the little bit of time I have on my hands for these next couple of weeks!

~ jack.

Shawn Mendes (7) + Shawn Mendes (8) - Weeks Of August 24 & 31, 2019

Hey guys! I am sorry that these two posts are late. I have had a busy past couple of weeks with working, college applications, and a camping trip. So, I really haven't had all that much time to get this done. For this post, I will be reviewing two countdowns. For the week of August 24, I will give the countdown and my opinions on the songs and two debuts. For the week of August 31, I will give the entire review, minus blurbs. So, without further adieu, here we go.

August 24, 2019: 

The countdown was hosted by Taylor Swift, and the two songs we said goodbye to were:

• P!nk - Hustle (#37)
• Andy Grammer - Don't Give Up On Me (#40)

The Countdown 
45. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (#45)
44. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier (#44) [2 Weeks At #1]
43. Halsey - Without Me (#41) [5 Weeks At #1]
42. Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar (#42)
41. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#38) [7 Weeks At #1]
40. Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her (DEBUT)
39. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#39) [8 Weeks At #1]
38. Asher Angel - One Thought Away (#36)
37. Marshmello/CHVRCHES - Here With Me (#26)
36. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly (#30)
35. Ava Max - So Am I (#33)
34. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie - ME! (#34)
33. Dan + Shay - Speechless (#34)
32. Zara Larsson - All The Time (DEBUT) 
31. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road (#29)
30. Public - Make You Mine (#19)
29. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again (#23)
28. SHAED - Trampoline (#35)
27. Lizzo - Truth Hurts (#27)
26. Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You (#43)
25. Stephen Puth - Look Away (#32)
24. Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter (#20)
23. OneRepublic - Rescue Me (#24)
22. Blanco Brown - The Git Up (#22)
21. Katy Perry - Small Talk (#28)
20. Post Malone - Goodbyes (#25)
19. AJR - 100 Bad Days (#21)
18. The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha - Call You Mine (#18)
17. MAX/Quinn XCII - Love Me Less (#10)
16. Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other (#16)
15. Halsey - Nightmare (#13)
14. Khalid - Talk (#16)
13. Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime (#15)
12. Katy Perry - Never Really Over (#14)
11. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy (#11)
10. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved (#9)
9. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Easier (#6)
8. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care (#12)
7. Jonas Brothers - Cool (#5)
6. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#3) [3 Weeks At #1]
5. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita (#7)
4. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down (#8)
3. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love (#4) [2 Weeks At #1]
2. Jonas Brothers - Sucker (#2) [13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You (#1) [7 Weeks At #1]

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Tie Between Public - Make You Mine and Marshmello/CHVRCHES - Here With Me (-11)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You (+17)

Spotlight Of The Week: Lizzo - Cuz I Love You


New Entrants

~ First up this week we have Thomas Rhett with Look What God Gave Her. I am pretty glad that Hits 1 picked up on this song, as it is one of the better country songs out there right now (even if it's really more pop). Thomas Rhett sounds good here and I think that the song overall is nice, fun, and catchy. Overall, I don't think its that memorable of a song, but I am enjoying it for what it is at the moment.

~ For our second and final entrant of the week, we get All The Time from Zara Larsson. I enjoy this one as well, but its not really memorable either (like most of Zara Larsson's songs). All The Time harnesses decent vocals from Zara and the production here is good for what it is. It's a fun song and I even found myself dancing to it the other night. This is another example of a song that I am just enjoying for what it is right now. I'm glad it is here.

Entrant Rankings:

1. Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her
2. Zara Larsson - All The Time 

August 31, 2019:

The countdown was hosted by Lil Nas X, and there were no exits. It was a pretty boring week, and nothing really moved anywhere.

#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones
Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You

The Coundown
45. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (#45)
44. Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar (#42)
43. Halsey - Without Me (#43) [5 Weeks At #1]
42. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier (#44) [2 Weeks At #1]
41. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#41) [7 Weeks At #1]
40. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#39) [8 Weeks At #1]
39. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again (#29)
38. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly (#36)
37. Ava Max - So Am I (#35)
36. Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her (#40)
35. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie - ME! (#34)
34. Marshmello/CHVRCHES - Here With Me (#37)
33. Asher Angel - One Thought Away (#38)
32. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road (#31)
31. Dan + Shay - Speechless (#33)
30. Zara Larsson - All The Time (#32)
29. Public - Make You Mine (#30)
28. Lizzo - Truth Hurts (#27)
27. SHAED - Trampoline (#28)
26. Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You (#26)
25. OneRepublic - Rescue Me (#23)
24. Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter (#24)
23. Blanco Brown - The Git Up (#22)
22. Stephen Puth - Look Away (#25)
21. Katy Perry - Small Talk (#21)
20. AJR - 100 Bad Days (#19)
19. The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha - Call You Mine (#18)
18. MAX/Quinn XCII - Love Me Less (#17)
17. Post Malone - Goodbyes (#20)
16. Halsey - Nightmare (#15)
15. Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other (#16)
14. Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime (#13)
13. Khalid - Talk (#14)
12. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy (#11)
11. Katy Perry - Never Really Over (#12)
10. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Easier (#9)
9. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved (#10)
8. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care (#8)
7. Jonas Brothers - Cool (#7)
6. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita (#5)
5. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#6) [3 Weeks At #1]
4. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love (#3) [2 Weeks At #1]
3. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down (#4)
2. Jonas Brothers - Sucker (#2) [13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You (#1) [8 Weeks At #1]

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again (-10)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Asher Angel - One Thought Away (+5)

Spotlight Of The Week: Normani - Motivation

Hit-Bound

• Sam Smith - How Do You Sleep?
• 5 Seconds Of Summer - Teeth
• Lizzo - Good As Hell
• Charlie Puth - I Warned Myself
• Twenty One Pilots - The Hype
• Ellie Goulding & Juice WRLD - Hate Me
• Ariana Grande & Social House - Boyfriend 
• Dream Boy - Waterparks
• Jonas Brothers - Only Human
• Dominic Fike - 3 Nights
• Panic! At The Disco - Roaring 20s
• Taylor Swift - Lover
• Jax Jonas/Bebe Rexha - Harder
• Alec Benjamin - Jesus In LA
• Ed Sheeran/Khalid - Beautiful People
• Kygo & Whitney Houston - Higher Love (DEBUT)

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Taylor Swift - Lover
2. Ed Sheeran/Khalid - Beautiful People
3. Jonas Brothers - Only Human
4. Sam Smith - How Do You Sleep?
5. Dominic Fike - 3 Nights

Personal Chart (8/31/2019): http://crownnote.com/charts/jack-farrell/jacks-top-50-8


Let's Do A Top 20 Review!

0-Garbage
20. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It
19. AJR - 100 Bad Days
18. Jonas Brothers - Cool
17. Khalid - Talk
16. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care 

1-Bad
15. Halsey - Nightmare
14. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It
13. Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other 

2-Mediocre
12. MAX/Quinn XCII - Love Me Less
11. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy
10. Jonas Brothers - Sucker 

3-Decent
9. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love
8. Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You 

4-Good
7. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
6. The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha - Call You Mine
5. Katy Perry - Never Really Over
4. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Easier 

5-Great
3. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down
2. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita
1. Post Malone - Goodbyes

Score: 46% (F)


My Bottom 5 Countdown Picks
1. Blanco Brown - The Git Up
2. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road
3. Dan + Shay - Speechless
4. Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You
5. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It

My Top 5 Countdown Picks
1. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again
2. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie - ME!
3. Post Malone - Goodbyes
4. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita
5. Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic week!

~ Jack :) 

Album Review #2: Lizzo - Cuz I Love You

TITLE          Cuz I Love You

ARTIST        Lizzo

RELEASE DATE       April 19, 2019

LABEL                    Atlantic Records

NO. OF TRACKS      11



When deciding who to pick for my next album review, I simply went onto iTunes and looked upon the biggest albums of the moment...and low and behold I find Cuz I Love You from Lizzo. So, I thought...why not? I have been wanting to see what Lizzo is all about for a while now and this album seems to be well liked by the general public. So, I sat down and took a quick listen (it is only 33 minutes)...and some things certainly surprised me. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts after hearing Lizzo's Cuz I Love You. Enjoy!


Track #1: Cuz I Love You
Grade: A

A great album opener in and of itself. Lizzo boasts an energetic and lively sound while showcasing her soulful voice. I really can't see a reason not to find this as anything but a great pull in to this body of work. Not to mention, the instrumentals and overall rock vibe here are super cool and fit in rather nicely with the other dynamics of the song. This is definitely one of the high points of this album, and it is just barely getting started.


Track #2: Like A Girl
Grade: A-

While a small step down from the album's opener, Lizzo definitely does not disappoint with Like A Girl. It is certainly a song with a message of female empowerment, if you look at the lyrics closely enough. With that set aside though, she is able to acceptably showcase her versatility in terms of vocal ability. She raps rather nicely on the verses and sings with confidence through the chorus. While the signing isn't top notch, there seems to be no other flaws here. Like A Girl is an acceptable second album track in my book.


Track #3: Juice
Grade: B

I'm pretty sure most of us have all heard this one by now. It is the general consensus (as it seems to me) that most people find this song okay. And that is what I feel with this song. Juice is a very flashy song with a message of self-appreciation and having fun. Lizzo continues to show her vocal versatility here, as she sing-raps throughout the length of this track. This song levels at a similar place as Like A Girl. I don't find the rapping the most appealing with this track, which lowers its grade a little bit. However, it does present an enjoyable listen every now and then.


Track #4: Soulmate
Grade: D+

Certainly not one of the album's high points. Soulmate stays true to the message about self-appreciation, which is about the only thing I like in this song. You can certainly feel the energy of this song. However, it is very diminished by the below-the-mark offerings from Lizzo here. Her rapping and vocals here sound very clunky and are not cohesive with the overall production of the track. It feels as if Soulmate was sloppily put together and just simply added to the album for filler.


Track #5: Jerome
Grade: A


After the less-than-impressive Soulmate, Lizzo brings things back on top with the soulful Jerome. In this song, she spectacularly belts out a tune about a romantic connection that had some sort of falling out. This is quite easily a high point of the album. With its simplicity and emotional feel along with its simple yet meaningful track production--it is hard to find something not to like about Jerome (the song, of course).


Track #6: Cry Baby
Grade: B

Next up is another okay song. However, it is nothing special. This song has a nice pop rock vibe, and is pretty reminiscent of some older tracks of that genre. I feel as if her versatility is shown pretty well here. Cry Baby shows Lizzo noticeably transitioning from vocals to rap pretty effortlessly, which is the track's high point. In terms of vocal quality, it's not top notch here, but it is certainly acceptable.


Track #7: Tempo (ft. Missy Elliott)
Grade: C

This song is kind of weak lyric wise, but the production is pretty good here. Lizzo doesn't reach full potential here, and neither does Missy Elliott. Both kind of fall flat at some points in this song. I will give Lizzo points here because this song has a pretty sick vibe beat-wise, and the energy here is pretty noticeable. The rest of the song could use some work.


Track #8: Exactly How I Feel (ft. Gucci Mane)
Grade: D-

Exactly How I Feel is the worst off of this album. This song was very poorly put together, and is pretty lacking in quality vocal, production, and lyric wise. Gucci Mane was a completely unnecessary person to bring into this album, as he offered nothing. Lizzo doesn't sound good here, and her constant repetition of the phrase "that's exactly how I feel" made this song ten times harder to sit through. Production here is messy and clashes too much throughout the short length of this song. Lyrics sound as if they were just made up on the spot. All in all, not impressed.


Track #9: Better In Color
Grade: A- 

After that mess, we have Better In Color, which is a pretty stand-out track. Her vocals here are showcased very well, and I enjoy the message that this song's lyrics have to convey. This song has kind of a soulful pop vibe, and I totally enjoy it. Lizzo is able to successfully blend several genres of music in this one song, and is yet another example of her versatile talent.


Track #10: Heaven Help Me
Grade: B+

Heaven Help Me is probably the deepest cut on this album, and I am glad that she was able to give us a more reflective and emotional track here. Her vocals are good here and the lyrics are carefully and nicely constructed. Production here is good, too. What may be my favorite part though, is Lizzo's flute feature on this track. That just increases the likeability of Heaven Help Me tenfold. She is very talented with the flute, and I am glad that we got to hear a bit of that instrumental crossover with this track. It was the perfect fit.


Track #11: Lingerie
Grade: A-

Finally, we have reached the album closer. Lingerie was the best choice to end off this album. I just felt a sense of satisfaction with this body of work after hearing this closing track. Lizzo showcases beautiful soulful vocals on this track. My only issue with it is that I wish she could have shown off more lyrical variety here. But, overall, this one is pretty top notch and certainly not something you want to overlook. 


The Verdict: With this being her first high-profile and label-backed album, Lizzo definitely did a fine job. It has a few flaws, but overall, she is able to plead her case and show that she undeniably has some talent. This album is certainly listenable, with the exception of a couple of tracks. Cuz I Love You as a whole delivers an undeniable energy of an artist who is trying to make a name for herself.


High Points:

• Cuz I Love You
• Like A Girl
• Jerome
• Better In Color
• Lingerie

Acceptable Work:

• Juice
• Cry Baby
• Heaven Help Me

Needs Improvement:

• Tempo (ft. Missy Elliott)

Low Points:

• Soulmate
• Exactly How I Feel (ft. Gucci Mane)

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave any album or EP suggestions down below. I will review anything that was released within the last year, so please let me know in the comments below what you would like to see next! I hope that you are enjoying this content, and check back soon for more posts!

~ Jack :)          

Shawn Mendes (6) - Week Of August 17, 2019

Another week, another countdown. Welcome back everyone! I hope that you all had a good week. I can't believe summer is almost over, and soon it will be back to school. :( There is only a couple more weeks until I start my senior year of high school. I'm nervous and excited at t=he same time, but I know I will have a great year. Anyways, we're here for the countdown, so that's what we will now be focusing on. Before we get to this week's fresh 45, here's what we are saying goodbye to this week.

• P!nk - Walk Me Home (#45)

#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes
Last Week's #1 Song: Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You

The Countdown
45. Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho (#44)
44. Marshmello & Bastille - Happier (#43) [2 Weeks At #1]
43. Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You (#41)
42. Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar (#40)
41. Halsey - Without Me (#33) [5 Weeks At #1]
40. Andy Grammer - Don't Give Up On Me (#22)
39. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#37) [8 Weeks At #1]
38. The Chainsmokers/Kelsea Ballerini - This Feeling (#38) [7 Weeks At #1]
37. P!nk - Hustle (#26)
36. Asher Angel - One Thought Away (#42)
35. SHAED - Trampoline (#36)
34. Dan + Shay - Speechless (#28)
33. Ava Max - So Am I (#23)
32. Stephen Puth - Look Away (#34)
31. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie - ME! (#31)
30. Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly (#30)
29. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road (#17)
28. Katy Perry - Small Talk (DEBUT)
27. Lizzo - Truth Hurts (#7)
26. Marshmello/CHVRCHES - Here With Me (#27)
25. Post Malone - Goodbyes (#29)
24. OneRepublic - Rescue Me (#32)
23. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again (#35)
22. Blanco Brown - The Git Up (#25)
21. AJR - 100 Bad Days (#20)
20. Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter (#39)
19. Public - Make You Mine (#24)
18. The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha - Call You Mine (#19)
17. Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other (#3)
16. Khalid - Talk (#10)
15. Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime (#18)
14. Katy Perry - Never Really Over (#21)
13. Halsey - Nightmare (#4)
12. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care (#13)
11. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy (#16)
10. MAX/Quinn XCII - Love Me Less (#12)
9. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved (#9)
8. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down (#15)
7. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita (#8)
6. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Easier (#5)
5. Jonas Brothers - Cool (#14)
4. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love (#2) [2 Weeks At #1]
3. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It (#11) [8 Weeks At #1]
2. Jonas Brothers - Sucker (#6) [13 Weeks At #1]
1. Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You (#1) [6 Weeks At #1]

Biggest DROP!!!... Of The Week: Lizzo - Truth Hurts (-20)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter (+19)

Spotlight Of The Week: Ryland James - In My Head


New Entrants

~ Our lone entrant this week comes from Katy Perry with Small Talk. I elaborated on my thoughts with this one last week when it debuted on Hit-Bound, so I'm not going to go on and on about it. I find this song very forgettable and fairly bland. Katy brings it back a step after releasing Never Really Over. Her vocals here are okay, I guess. But everything else is just boring. The production is not good and the lyrical content misses the mark and is heavily reminiscent of songs off of her worst album, Witness. The only thing really holding it together right now (for me, at least) is the vocals. Other than that, this song would already be in red. However, that time will likely come soon enough.


Hit-Bound

• Ed Sheeran/Khalid - Beautiful People
• Waterparks - Dream Boy (DEBUT)
• Dominic Fike - 3 Nights
• Zara Larsson - What A Time
• Panic! At The Disco - Roaring 20s
• Lizzo - Good As Hell
• Jax Jones & Bebe Rexha - Harder
• Twenty One Pilots - The Hype
• Jonas Brothers - Only Human
• Ellie Goulding & Juice WRLD - Hate Me
• Alec Benjamin - Jesus In LA
• Taylor Swift - Lover (DEBUT)
• Ariana Grande & Social House - Boyfriend
• Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her
• Sam Smith - How Do You Sleep?

~ Two Hit-Bound debuts this week. One of which Hits 1 is hyping way too much when it is incredibly irrelevant and pretty annoying (in my opinion). That would be Dream Boy from Waterparks. I think pretty much everything about this song is generic. The electronic influence here is very noticed and needs to be toned down, because it makes the song ten times worse. I could do without the annoying ass robotic laser beam sound effects. The vocals here are not that good either and the lyrics are tasteless and unoriginal. I hope Hits 1 doesn't try to make this song a big thing (AKA giving it a long countdown tenure), when it is completely irrelevant to hit music and is far from listenable. 

~ Thankfully, we got a breath of fresh air, as Taylor Swift released the title track from her new album, Lover, which surfaces on Friday. I'm kind of disappointed that they had to get rid of The Archer, but I get it. That one was just a promotional single, this one is not. Lover showcases sweet lyrics and top-notch vocals from Taylor as she endearingly and effortlessly sings about being in love. I am hopeful that this track will debut on the countdown. It is a total win for Taylor. It may just be my new favorite song released ahead from the album. I'll have to listen to it a few more times first, though. :)

My Top 5 Hit-Bound Picks
1. Taylor Swift - Lover
2. Jonas Brothers - Only Human
3. Sam Smith - How Do You Sleep?
4. Ed Sheeran/Khalid - Beautiful People
5. Thomas Rhett - Look What God Gave Her


Small Blurbs

~ We have a continuation of the #1 song this week, so I'm not really going to talk about that. What I am going to talk about is the unnecessary jumps into the top 5 from Sucker, Hey Look Ma, I Made It, and Cool. Especially the latter of the two. I'm not completely sick of Sucker yet, so I guess I don't care as much as the other two. I have had enough of Hits 1's over-hyping of Panic! At The Disco at this point. It is becoming quite ridiculous. This song was barely even a hit, so I don't understand why this radio station is glorifying it so much. It was right having it out of the top 10 last week. As for Cool, I'm more just annoyed that it had to make an unnecessary leap after weeks of doing nothing. This song has gained a bit more traction recently, so I can't complain too much about its validity "hit-wise". However, all I know is that it is generic pop and is one of the pieces of clutter holding this countdown back. So, I would prefer if it were lower. 

~ What I am happy about is the jump of You Need To Calm Down back into the top 10. It is probably the best song in the top 20 right now, so I would prefer that it continue to receive this attention.

~ I knew that jump from If We Have Each Other wouldn't last. Alec Benjamin's music hasn't garnered enough attention this past year for him to hold the #3 title on this countdown (especially with his least successful song).

~ I am very pleased to see Mother's Daughter already in the top 20. This will surely up the top 20 score a few points after we hit a record low last week.

~ The worst song on the countdown and the best song on the countdown one after another doesn't happen all that often. I thought that was interesting to point out. While I'm speaking on it, I'm super happy that Find U Again made a decent second week jump. However, I'm super mad that The Git Up is slowly rising in the ranks. Let's change that. I don't get what people find so great about this song. I heard this song what felt like one hundred times on the radio while I was driving this week, and I wanted to tear my ears from my head a little more every time.

~ Well, I saw that massive drop from Truth Hurts coming. I knew Hits 1 wouldn't glorify it too much. Even though it is the #4 song in the country right now. I'm not complaining, I'm just once again commenting on how flawed this radio stattion's logic can be sometimes.

~ Hits 1 gave Old Town Road a little more attention, considering that it has been the #1 song in America for almost nineteen weeks now (how unrightfully so). However, they finally decided to allow it to drop and I couldn't be happier. Let's get this song out of here.

~ I don't really care all that much that Walk Me Home left this week. It has become a pretty "middle-of-the-road" song for me. I was kind of starting to get sick of it anyways.

~ Personal Chart (8/17/2019): http://crownnote.com/charts/jack-farrell/jacks-top-50-6


Let's Do A Top 20 Review! 

0-Garbage
20. Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime
19. Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It
18. Public - Make You Mine
17. Jonas Brothers - Cool 

1-Bad
16. Khalid - Talk
15. Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other
14. Halsey - Nightmare 

2-Mediocre
13. MAX/Quinn XCII - Love Me Less
12. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care
11. The Chainsmokers & 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love 

3-Decent
10. Jonas Brothers - Sucker
9. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy 

4-Good
8. Shawn Mendes - If I Can't Have You
7. 5 Seconds Of Summer - Easier 

5-Great
6. Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
5. Katy Perry - Never Really Over
4. The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha - Call You Mine
3. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Señorita
2. Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter
1. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down

Score: 53% (F)

Compared To A Total Countdown Approval Rating: 121/225: 54% (F)


My Bottom 5 Countdown Picks
1. Blanco Brown - The Git Up
2. Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road
3. Dan + Shay - Speechless
4. Kaskade & Meghan Trainor - With You
5. Panic! At The Disco - Dancing's Not A Crime

My Top 5 Countdown Picks
1. Mark Ronson/Camila Cabello - Find U Again
2. Taylor Swift/Brendon Urie - ME!
3. Post Malone - Goodbyes
4. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down
5. Miley Cyrus - Mother's Daughter

Thanks for reading! Share your thoughts down below!

~ Jack :)