But I don't have any paid writing lined up right now, and I have a lot of words in me that I need to let out, so this is a place for doing that (If you know people looking for sports or entertainment writers, let me know! My email is chrisdgibb94@gmail.com). This place will include any writing about things I deem interesting at the time, which will primarily be music and sports, but sometimes movies, television, video games, pro wrestling or personal stuff.
I have an unhealthy interest in both the Billboard pop charts and arbitrarily ranking things, so this column is my way of combining both of those loves. Throughout the year, I'll be checking in with the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 every month. I will rank each individual song that cracks the top 20 on the Hot 100 in a given month, as well as each album that cracks the top 2 albums on the Billboard 200.
Obviously there will be overlap month-to-month. I probably won't go in-depth for most songs/albums that repeat, but I will touch base on them as my opinions on something will probably shift at least slightly from month-to-month, whether that's coming around to a song that I deemed bad initially, my hatred growing for something I loathe, or my interest in a song completely waning.
For what constitutes "January," I'll be going by the date of the chart. So because the top songs of January 26-31 will be included on the "Week of February 1, 2020" chart, they will be covered next month.
Also, the first week of January includes a ton of Christmas songs in the top 20 and Michael Buble's Christmas album as No. 2 of that week. I have decided not to include them, because nobody wants Christmas music takes in late January. Another note is that I only used the versions of the songs that are credited as the hit on Billboard itself, even if remixes may have played a part in getting songs to that position. For example, the "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus was what counted on this list, but the remixes of "Trampoline" and "Highest in the Room" didn't count.
That's enough introduction. Here are the 26 songs that made the top 20 of the Billboard 100 in January, ranked:
26. Justin Bieber - "Yummy" (Peak Position: #2)
Justin Bieber is such an easy target for pop music hatred, and it's boring at this point. A lot of it still stems from Bieber starting his career with a strong fanbase of teenage girls, and we as a society tend to have very strong backlash against things that teen girls like.
Honestly, early Bieber has some solid stuff. I'd be lying if I said my pretentious, Pitchfork-reading high school self didn't sing along with "Baby" during school dances, and that I didn't memorize Ludacris' guest verse. He's got plenty of hits as his career's gone on that I enjoy: "Boyfriend," "Where Are U Now," "What Do You Mean?," etc.
But I think Bieber's oversaturated himself a bit at this point. His last two major hits, "I Don't Care" with Ed Sheeran and "10,000 Hours" with Dan + Shay (which we'll get to soon) aren't so much offensively bad as they are straight up boring. When you're maybe the biggest male pop star in the world, boring is the worst thing you can be.
However, "Yummy" is the worst of both worlds. It's offensively bad and boring. The chorus of "Yeah you got that yummy-yum, that yummy-yum, that yummy-yummy" is the most mind-numbingly stupid pop hook in years. For a song likely written about his wife (Justin Bieber wants you to know that he and wife Hailey Baldwin totally do it, by the way), it's got almost no soul to it. The song is incredibly heatless. It's entirely forgettable until that wretched chorus hits, and then it makes you want to change the channel.
Bieber's going on a decade of being one of the top pop stars in the world. He's been a constant chart presence even though he hasn't released a full album in five years. This is the lead single for a new album, and it lands with a complete thud. It debuted at No. 2 on the charts, but it's already sliding down the charts in a way big Bieber singles don't tend to do. His other lead singles? "One Time," "Baby," "Mistletoe," "Boyfriend," "Heartbreaker," and "Where Are U Now." With the exception of "Heartbreaker," those are all major hits that have defined his career. This is nothing. This is worse than nothing; it's embarrassing.
25. Tones and I - "Dance Monkey" (Peak Position: #7)
If not for Justin Bieber's monstrosity, this would easily rank last on this list. There's a good chance it ranks last on next month's list. It's one of those songs that triggers an uncontrollable loathing in my heart whenever I hear it. "Dance Monkey" is catchy in the worst ways. It makes you want to bang your head against the wall.
But worse than the annoyingly catchy hook, it's Tones and I's vocal performance that makes me hate it. I'm a fan of plenty of vocalists you might describe as "divisive": Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, a countless number of punk/emo vocalists or "indie girl" vocalists. Sometimes I hear a song where the vocalist just seems to overdo it to the point of hatred. Adam Levine (owner of the worst singing voice in the world) is my greatest example of this. It tends to come across with artists who are almost over-the-top performative in "look how soulful my voice is" as well. Whereas the vocal power of a Beyonce or Ariana Grande come across as natural, stuff like this grates on me. I don't know if that's what Toni Watson's going for, but it's how I register it.
Everything about her inflections and repetitions of phrases bothers me. I actually quite like the beat during the chorus that Watson and producer Konstantin Kersting lay down, but I can't down with anything else here. The idea of the song is interesting enough as well, somebody who was busking in Australia just a year ago going big with a song about feeling like a carnival act when she performs.
I just can't get through it.
24. Lewis Capaldi - "Someone You Loved' (Peak Position: #4)
Speaking of overwrought vocal performances! Lewis Capaldi seems to be the next big British singer-songwriter with desires to take over American airwaves!
From everything I've read Capaldi seems like a very likable person. He seems pretty genuine and funny from the few interviews I've seen with him. But this song is the blandest breakup ballad I've heard in a minute. The lyrics don't seem strong enough to match the desperation he's going for in his voice. Maybe that's the point, that he's trying to be a macho guy trying to deflect when deep down he's hurting inside. But it doesn't work. The verses of the song just make you doze off until he gets to the massive, heartfelt chorus where he shows his desperation by stretching his vocals to their limits.
It just doesn't hit in the way that a successful Sam Smith or Adele song do in the same vein. Capaldi might be capable of hitting something on the level of a "Stay With Me" or "Someone Like You" but this isn't it. He could have potential as that next Sheeran or Smith, but the first impression leaves me wanting.
23. Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber - "10,000 Hours" (Peak Position: #5)
This just sounds like every pop country song I've heard in the past few years. I know that I'm already not the biggest fan of mainstream country music, but there's nothing you can tell me that will convince me it's not just some amalgamation of "Meant to Be" and "Body Like a Back Road" and a million other songs. It just feels lazy.
22. Maroon 5 - "Memories" (Peak Position: #2)
Maroon 5 is the worst band in the world, and they've gotten so deep into their "whatever lazy garbage we write will automatically hit the top 5" that this is a dull ballad based around Canon in D.
I mean, there's probably clever things you can do with well-known, classic melodies, but there was nothing clever about Maroon 5 even before it went from somewhat legitimate "band" to blatant Adam Levine vanity project.
On this one Levine doesn't even feel bothered to hit the higher reaches of his ungodly yawp, which actually improves it a bit. Maroon 5 at their worst is completely unsubtle, mawkish garbage where Levine shrieks over samey pop rock. This is just blank. You might as well listen to three minutes of silence.
21. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - "Senorita" (Peak Position: #11)
I'm sounding like a broken record, but Shawn Mendes is another singer I never like to hear hit his upper reaches. His performance on past hits like "Treat You Better" and "Stitches" is blood-curdling when he attempts those high notes and add some vocal drama to the mix.
I think Mendes in a collaborative role on something like "Senorita" is a lot more tolerable than as a solo singer, and he and Cabello have nice enough chemistry.
The song is a catchy, pleasant Latin pop duet. Cabello is the star of the show, but Mendes has some nice vocal flourishes and harmonies throughout. I still find him grating at his worst, but I do think he's improved as a performer since his start. This is a perfectly tolerable song. It's nothing I'd go out of my way to hear, but fine background music.
20. Chris Brown (featuring Drake) - "No Guidance" (Peak Position: #15)
Despite many people's best wishes, Chris Brown will not go away, and "No Guidance" is his biggest hit in over half a decade. That's probably partially because Drake can fart and have it crack the top 40, but Brown's portion of the song is actually catchier.
The song sounds exactly like you'd expect a Brown/Drake collaboration to sound. It's rap/R&B hybrid with a nice atmospheric beat from Vinylz, J-Louis, 40 and Teddy Walton. Drake's first verse and the hook sound a bit sleepy, but Brown admittedly picks things up with a much more energetic verse and pre-chorus.
The problem is that the song keeps going. Drake has another verse where he sounds even more bored than he started, and a song that would've been a perfectly catchy 3 minute track expands another minute and a half. It ends up failing to justify its length, and I feel like even the people who are somehow still on the Chris Brown train would hit "next" once that last verse starts.
19. SHAED - "Trampoline" (Peak Position: #16)
SHAED is one of those artists that I had no idea existed until I looked at what actually happens on the "alternative" and "rock" sides of the airplay charts. Rock and alternative as mainstream entities seem like they're basically dead at this point, and the occasional times I tune into a rock/alternative station they tend to just play old Weezer/Green Day/Red Hot Chili Peppers songs from the past two decades ago while occasionally sprinkling in the newest thing from Twenty One Pilots, Fall Out Boy or Imagine Dragons.
SHAED seems to come from that Imagine Dragons/X Ambassadors grouping of bands that are probably best described as something like "electropop" that have enough "alternative" edge that they end up playing on rock stations as well as pop. Like many bands in that style, SHAED blew up because "Trampoline" is a really catchy song that plays during a MacBook Air commercial.
I don't want to be too unfair to "Trampoline" though. While it occupies a lot of the same spaces as Imagine Dragons, X Ambassadors or (ugh) AWOLNATION, this song is way better than just about any of those bands' hits. Chelsea Lee has a nice voice, and some of the layered harmonies are pretty cool. The whistling is a bit played out at this point, but it's a catchy song. Probably a bit derivative at this point (especially the whistling section), but for "pop song from commercial that becomes a hit" you can do much worse.
18. Lil Nas X - "Panini" (Peak Position: #17)
Speaking of completely inoffensive songs featuring whistling, here's Lil Nas X's follow-up to his mega smash "Old Town Road" (which we'll get to soon).
"Old Town Road" was lightning in a bottle. This magical, silly, genreless thing that took the world by storm. "Panini" as a follow-up doesn't hold a candle to it. There's nothing particularly memorable about it. It lacks the fun energy of "Old Town Road." A weird song bursting with ideas got followed by this relatively standard pop rap song that goes in and out of your head in less than 2 minutes. It's fine, but extremely underwhelming.
Lil Nas X, of course, is still extremely young. "Panini" (like the rest of the non-"Old Town Road" songs from last year's 7 EP) seems like a quick attempt to capitalize off a massive first single. It just seems to lack any of the charm that drew people to Lil Nas X even as the initial gimmick wore off. I think he might have the creativity for another monster, but this isn't it.
17. Travis Scott - "Highest in the Room" (Peak Position: #8)
Travis Scott's JACKBOYS project feels like a standard throwaway mixtape where a huge star uses features to showcase the artists on his label, and Travis Scott is big enough to get the throwaway single from that kind of a project into the top 10 at this point.
Scott isn't my favorite rapper in the world, but at his best he's at least a creative force. This doesn't have any of the creativity or ambition of a "Sicko Mode" or "Antidote." Scott just largely raps in monotone for three minutes, and then it's over. Producer OZ has done better work, and we'll get to some of it.
I trust Travis Scott has more in him when it's time to focus on another full solo album. I've called a lot of these past few songs "nothing," but this really might be it. The blandest song on the charts.
16. Selena Gomez - "Lose You to Love Me" (Peak Position: #5)
Gomez has to be the biggest pop star in recent memory that I've never really "gotten" in the slightest. She's had plenty of major hits and I've undoubtedly heard all of them multiple times, but they hardly leave an impression either way (except maybe "Come & Get It," which is very bad).
"Lose You Love Me" occupies much of the same space in my head. It's a pretty enough piano ballad about moving on from a breakup and being able to focus on and love yourself in the aftermath. Well-trodden ground for sure, but it doesn't feel insincere despite the cliche.
I've listened to her full album and I ended up liking the follow-up singles "Look at Her Now" and "Rare" more than this. It's still fine.
15. The Weeknd - "Heartless" (Peak Position: #17)
I'm running out of ways to say "This is a fine if not unspectacular piece of pop music." I think The Weeknd's rise to superstardom is one of the more interesting stories in pop in the last decade, but this just feels like treading water. The Weeknd's performance is fine. He, Metro Boomin and Illangelo bring the kind of spacey R&B beat you'd expect from him.
I guess at some point you've gotta run out of different ways to say "A debaucherous lifestyle of drugs and women has left me numb to emotion and incapable of making real human connection" (unless you're Future, who probably has at least 10 more albums worth of material in that regard). Somehow at this point he makes that all sound safe.
I don't think The Weeknd is quite done. His follow-up single to this "Blinding Lights," which is much more upbeat and hopeful, is a much bigger standout with its shiny 80s synthwave sound, but for whatever reason didn't connect on the charts as much as this did.
14. Arizona Zervas - "Roxanne" (Peak Position: #5)
One of the latest entries into the genre of pop rap songs to blow up because of TikTok, this is a perfectly fine pop rap song. The beat sounds like a slightly beefed up "lo-fi chill hip-hop beat to relax/study to" and the main hook is really catchy. The sound is very Post Malone-y, but at least it sounds like one of Malone's better songs. Zervas' lyrics aren't great even by pop rap standards, but it's a nice enough jam. The kind of song that kind of makes you wanna roll down the windows a bit, if the temperatures outside weren't below freezing.
13. Future (featuring Drake) - "Life Is Good" (Peak Position: #2)
If this is the lead single for Future and Drake's next album, wouldn't it be better if they sounded like they were on the same song?
I like the song enough, but it sounds like "a pretty good Drake song" followed immediately like "a pretty good Future song." Even compared to other rap songs where the beat switches and a featured artist starts like (Drake on Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode"), this sounds especially disjointed. The two just don't sound like a cohesive unit here, which doesn't seem like the best sign for a collaborative project.
If it was more cohesive as a singular song it'd be higher up, because it really is two "pretty good" songs from each artist for two minutes each. They wouldn't be either guy's best work by a long shot, but the beats from OZ and D. Hill mesh well with their styles and both halves are pretty catchy.
I like the song enough, but it sounds like "a pretty good Drake song" followed immediately like "a pretty good Future song." Even compared to other rap songs where the beat switches and a featured artist starts like (Drake on Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode"), this sounds especially disjointed. The two just don't sound like a cohesive unit here, which doesn't seem like the best sign for a collaborative project.
If it was more cohesive as a singular song it'd be higher up, because it really is two "pretty good" songs from each artist for two minutes each. They wouldn't be either guy's best work by a long shot, but the beats from OZ and D. Hill mesh well with their styles and both halves are pretty catchy.
12. Post Malone - "Circles" (Peak Position: #1)
I absolutely hate Post Malone, but he has a few singles here and there that draw me in. I think this has a really good vibe. It's constructed very nicely. Post Malone usually sounds at his best when he's dropping any pretense of "rap music" (which he's usually pretty bad at!). This is just a straight-up pop song. It almost sounds more like a rock song than a lot of rock hits recently, actually.
Malone's voice is still a bit grating at times. Something about it sounds croaky on sustained notes and it bothers me. But this is far from his worst vocal performance, and produced well-enough that I don't mind too much. It's easily digestible, generally inoffensive pop music. That's what Post Malone is going for at this point, and this works better than most of his stuff.
11. Lil Baby - "Sum 2 Prove" (Peak Position: #16)
Lil Baby seems like he might be the most divisive rappers out right there. He gets a lot of hate even compared to other guys who get lumped up as "mumble rappers." I think he works better when he's bouncing off colleagues like Young Thug or especially frequent collaborator Gunna than when he's solo, but this is a solid single.
I think Baby sounds a bit monotonous at times as the song goes on, but when he gets a bit more melodic with his delivery on the hook and sounds a bit more urgent it works. The minimal beat from Twysted Genius works for it. It's just a decent trap single. Nothing really boundary-pushing but it does its job.
10. Dua Lipa - "Don't Start Now" (Peak Position: #14)
Dua Lipa has been one of the biggest "pop stars to watch" since she blew up with "New Rules" a couple years ago, and returns since have been very promising. "Don't Start Now" is the latest of very strong singles.
What stops it from really being great is the pre-chorus. The entire vibe of the song is entirely thrown off because of it. I get that producer Ian Kirkpatrick is looking for a something a little more spacey and loose so he can drop right back into that disco groove of the rest of the song. But that disco groove just sounds so much better than the pre-chorus that it feels like a different song. They really have something there with that bass and the percussion, and cutting from it just feels wrong.
9. Lizzo - "Good as Hell" (Peak Position: #6)
Songs that take years to become hits are always fascinating stories. "Good as Hell" came out in 2016 but never did damage on the charts until late last year, because a Netflix romantic comedy used a different Lizzo song (which we'll get to shortly) that became a huge hit and launched her into superstardom while she was promoting her critically-acclaimed major label debut album. Lizzo's one of the biggest pop stars in the country now, but neither of her truly massive hits so far were initially included on that album.
While I think the singles on that album should have been the ones that actually went supernova (how "Juice" hasn't become one of the biggest songs in the world after Lizzo blew up is beyond me), "Good as Hell" is still, well, it's in the title. It's just a very nice, positive anthem when the production sound of the pop monogenre that dominates the airwaves often sounds bleak. I'm also a sucker for piano and marching band instrumentation.
8. Billie Eilish - "Everything I Wanted" (Peak Position: #19)
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is one of last year's biggest albums both commercially and critically, and Billie Eilish now feels like the biggest pop star in the world. Following up a behemoth like that is difficult, but "Everything I Wanted" is a really good "follow-up after the fame" single.
It's a dreamy ballad, and it feels like one of her most subdued tracks yet. Finneas' production is nice and sparse, and while the lyrics are pretty standard "reflecting on fame after becoming famous" fare, it works with Eilish's style.
7. Mustard (featuring Roddy Ricch) - "Ballin'" (Peak Position: #11)
Roddy Ricch's rise so perfectly lined up with the New Year that the moment the calendar turned to 2020 he was almost immediately heralded as the first new rap star of the 2020s. Ricch is 21, released his first mixtape in 2017 and only dropped his debut album two months ago, but he feels like a star already. He's dominating the radio right now.
Ricch sounds largely like another in the long line of melodic rappers from the line of Young Thug and Future, but he already seems a bit more immediately polished than some of the guys who've come before him. Roddy's melodies stick, and combined with a breezy Mustard beat really make me wish it was warmer.
6. Roddy Ricch - "The Box" (Peak Position: #1)
Which takes us to Roddy Ricch's big breakthrough single, which wasn't even released as a single. But releasing songs individually as singles doesn't matter when TikTok and streaming can create songs overnight.
This song is just hook after hook. The "ee-uhr" sound Ricch makes throughout the song is a hook of its own, and then he starts effortlessly switching up his voice between rapping and singing. When he gets to that "Pour up the whole damn seal, I'ma get laaaaaazy" line, it's over. That's the sound of the Next Big Thing.
30 Roc, Datboisqueeze and Zentachi's beat is good, but the "ee-uhr" sound effect puts it over the edge. This is going to be one of the most unavoidable songs of the year. It's already firmly fending off competitors to the #1 spot. I feel like I hear it at least twice a day even if I don't leave my house, and I'm still not sick of it. That's a monster hit.
5. Lizzo - "Truth Hurts" (Peak Position: #18)
While the fact that it wasn't one of Cuz I Love You singles that helped Lizzo blow up is curious, I guess I shouldn't be surprised when this track is really undeniable.
There's a lot to like. That basic piano riff that just makes it sound like Lizzo's unloading all this off the top of her head while she's messing around. The "100% that bitch" line, or well, most of her lines. That chorus. It's just a very simple, relatable song based on a tried-and-true message (that men are generally garbage).
I've been to a lot of weddings in the past few years because I'm 25, and 25 seems to be the age where every single person you know gets married. So I've come to learn which recent hits really make people lose their minds and get on the dance floor. I went to a wedding right as "Truth Hurts" started inching towards the top of the charts. I'm pretty sure every single woman in that building got on the floor as soon as they heard the piano and started singing along. I'm convinced half of them didn't even knew the words beforehand, but immediately picked up on it as the song went on.
4. Lil Nas X (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) - "Old Town Road (Remix)" (Peak Position: #15)
"Old Town Road' is maybe the most successful pop song of all time. It shattered "One Sweet Day's" long-running record for most weeks spent on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It launched a million memes, thinkpieces and remixes. It's the fastest song in history to be certified Diamond by the RIAA. It gave Trent Reznor a #1 hit.
How am I not sick of a song that's basically a riff on country music over a trap beat yet? How is "Old Town Road" this good? Part of it is that Billy Ray Cyrus feature, who is probably the only country artist that could have worked on the remix. Any other country artist in his position wouldn't be able to pull off a verse on this song because he knows a thing or two about both the country music industry and goofy novelty songs. Lil Nas X is still the star of the show (the "riding on a horse-AH" delivery so he can rhyme it with "Porsche" still rules), but Cyrus is the icing on the cake. I don't think it would've had the lasting power without him.
3. Billie Eilish - "Bad Guy" (Peak Position: #14)
Teens are the worst people on the planet. It's not their fault, but it's true. They are absolute monsters that can destroy your day with a look. As a washed-up 25 year-old, it takes time and effort for me to come up with anything remotely witty to say in response to something. A teen can deliver a devastating insult in seconds without thinking about it. They are angsty, mean, often-depressed individuals with massive amounts of energy, but they do not have the independence to act on their own. So they lash out, oftentimes in very stupid ways. This is not an insult to them. This is simply their way.
This is the appeal of Billie Eilish. She has honed in on that feeling of being an apathetic teenage monster better than maybe any pop star before her, and it has made her the biggest pop star in the world. Yes, she comes from an industry background and because of that she has had the resources to hone that energy more than other teen musicians, but she's mastered that "I don't care" energy better than any other "industry plant" types could ever do.
"Bad Guy" is about being a teenage monster, and it perfectly captures that feeling. The verses of softly-spoken nastiness, the subdued production until the sinister-sounding finish, the "duh." It works so well together. So many teen pop stars are marketed to be the most glamorous, oftentimes squeaky-clean versions of themselves. Eilish and her team has focused on the exact opposite and it's paid off incredibly.
2. DaBaby - "Bop" (Peak Position: #12)
DaBaby was the biggest breakout rapper of 2019 with two hit albums, three Top 20 hits, countless guest features and a tireless grind.
He deserves it. He's put in tons of work but everything he does comes across effortlessly. DaBaby's criticized as his music sounding the same, and there certainly is a formula to his music. But it works. DaBaby is hugely charismatic. He has a nice, easy flow and clever lines. Get him on a trap beat with some infectious flute like on "Bop," and it's a guaranteed hit.
On Kirk, the album "Bop" is from, DaBaby starts to get out of his comfort zone a little more, getting a bit more personal with his lyrics. But "Bop" is a perfection of the formula that's made him a star. He's released an obscene amount of music in the last calendar year, but I'm excited to see how he can follow all of this up.
1. Mac Miller - "Good News" (Peak Position: #17)
The best top 20 hit of January is the song that least resembles a traditional pop hit. It's a six-minute, ruminative hip-hop track. I doubt it got a whole lot of radio play.
But because of Mac Miller's big following and streaming numbers being more key to chart success than radio play in recent years, Miller's first posthumous single is his biggest hit as a solo artist.
A lot of posthumous releases from musicians can feel like cash-ins on uncompleted work, but Circles feels like it was creative with love. When Miller started working with producer Jon Brion, it was meant to be a companion piece to 2018's fantastic album Swimming. And the album really works in that context, including "Good News."
The song is beautiful, as Miller reflects on how difficult it is to go through negative emotions and struggles while everybody around him wants to just hear the positive. His laid-back delivery and soft backing instrumentation mesh together so well with his poignant lyrics. It's bittersweet hearing him ruminate on his struggles in this life and talk about death. Miller was an extremely gifted artist who seemed to just be hitting the prime of his career, but he saw his demons and knew his time with us might be short. It's a difficult listen, but a beautiful reminder of the legacy he's left as an artist.
Album Time!
For the Billboard 200 section, I'll be ranking everything at the top and just giving short thoughts on each album, because posting full thoughts each album in full would probably quadruple the length of an already-lengthy piece.
1. Roddy Ricch - Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial (Atlantic)
2. Harry Styles - Fine Line (Columbia)
3. Moneybagg Yo - Time Served (Roc Nation)
4. Selena Gomez - Rare (Interscope)
5. JACKBOYS - JACKBOYS (Epic)
6. Post Malone - Hollywood's Bleeding (Republic)
Roddy Ricch was a big winner on the singles charts, and he's dominated the album charts as well. The album was in the top 3 albums each week of January, spending the week of the 18th on top. I think his Feed Tha Streets mixtapes are stronger efforts overall, but it's still a fine showcase of his ever-shifting flow and gift for melody. I think a lot of the features here feel a little phoned-in, but Roddy is mostly on-point. "The Box" is probably head-and-shoulders above everything else on the album, but it's an easy listen and unlike a lot of major label rap debuts doesn't overstay its welcome and push a long listen.
Harry Styles has made the best music of all the One Direction members since they've broken up, but I think Fine Line is a slight step back from his eponymous 2017 album. It's still a nice collection of pop rock rooted in 70s radio rock hits, but nothing here is as immediate as something like "Sign of the Times."
Moneybagg Yo is a replacement level rapper. He sounds nice on a beat and usually has access to good producers and guest features, but there's not much about him that comes across as particularly clever or memorable. I've reviewed his albums before and they always peak at "fine." This one's fine too, but possibly even more forgettable than some of his past projects.
I think Rare has some really solid pop songs other than the merely "okay" "Lose You to Love Me." I think any of the first three tracks would've been better singles, but I don't know anything about creating hits. I think after "Lose You," the album kinda falls off a cliff and sounds a bit samey. If you're into Gomez this seems like it might be one of her better efforts, but it's not for me.
JACKBOYS feels like a pretty standard "let's release a mixtape showcasing the artists on my label" from Travis Scott. Five years ago this probably would've dropped on Datpiff and LiveMixtapes, gotten attention for a day or two and then been quickly forgotten about. Now those kinds of projects can translate to chart success because of streaming services. That's good for the artists since there's a good chance they make more from the fractions-of-pennies-per-stream on Spotify than they did on mixtape sites. But this is just bland. The remix of "Highest in the Room" with Rosalia and Lil Baby that's on here is better than the solo single version, though.
Post Malone sucks, and Hollywood's Bleeding mostly sucks. "Sunflower" is pretty great and "Circles" is nice. There are a few other okay songs, but this project is 17 tracks long so some above-mediocre tracks here and there aren't enough. "Take What You Want" with Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott is one of the worst songs in recent memory.
Overall January was a pretty weak month as far as big albums go. Roddy Ricch's album is really the only one I'd go out of my way to listen to, though the Styles, Moneybagg Yo, and Gomez albums are fine enough listens that I wouldn't call it a waste of time to listen to them. JACKBOYS and Post Malone's albums are entirely inessential.
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