Maroon 5 shows up at #9 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, assisted by SZA on the track ‘What Lovers Do.’
This is the 13th song Maroon 5 has landed in the top ten since 2004, with 10 of those coming in the past seven years (how many numbers can I fit into one sentence?!). This band is a pop juggernaut.
Cardi B makes another appearance in the eighth spot of Billboard’s Hot 100, lending a verse to the track ‘No Limit’ by G-Eazy. A$AP Rocky shows up on the chorus as well.
G-Eazy is the third male rapper in the top ten so far, and the third white guy. I guess I haven’t been paying enough attention to the rap scene, and apparently the days when Eminem was the only legit white rapper are long gone.
Before I knew who Cardi B was, I learned that her surprise hit ‘Bodak Yellow’ (this week’s #7) defied all odds and unseated juggernaut Taylor Swift for the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100.
In doing so, Cardi B became only the second solo female artist to reach the top of the chart with a hip-hop track (the first was Lauryn Hill, with 1998’s ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’). When the song stayed on top for three straight weeks, it became the longest-running #1 single by a solo female rapper in history.
Continuing our march through the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, we arrive at #6 and Sam Smith’s heartbreak ballad ‘Too Good at Goodbyes.’
I haven’t liked a Sam Smith song yet, and this one isn’t an exception. Mostly it’s because I find his voice grating, which I know sounds funny coming from a guy who loves Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright and Morrissey. I also find his songs quite generic, which is where those guys have him beat.
I had forgotten that Lyle Lovett’s song ‘Promises,’ in addition to appearing on The Road to Ensenada, showed up on the soundtrack of Tim Robbins’ film Dead Man Walking.
The film came out about six months before the album, but I’m not sure if the song was written for the movie. The lyrics are certainly appropriate for a film about the redemption of a death row inmate but the feelings described could apply as easily to a relationship as a crime.
Meet Me In Montauk 