I’ve gone 5,753 songs of the day and nearly 16 years without featuring an R. Kelly song, but that streak ends today. Long before the R&B singer was convicted of child sexual abuse, racketeering, and sex trafficking, he had a #2 hit the week of April 2, 1994.
‘Bump N’ Grind,’ in hindsight, reads a bit like a confession. “My mind is telling me no, but my body’s telling me yes,” he says in the song’s intro. “Baby, I don’t want to hurt nobody.”
Jack Harlow occupies the fifth spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘Lovin On You,’ a non-album single the rapper released in November. It reached #1 last year, giving him his second solo chart topper and third overall, and has hung around in the top five ever since.
This is a catchy tune that makes good use of a sample of ‘Whatever (Bass Soliloquy)’ by Detroit R&B performer Cadillac Dale. Dale, now a grandfather who hadn’t made a splash since the 90s, was surprised to find himself as a credited songwriter on a #1 hit.
At #3 this week is the second single from Ariana Grande’s album Eternal Sunshine. I wrote briefly about the album a couple of weeks ago after listening to it once. Since then I’ve played it multiple times and liked it more each time through. This may well be her finest work yet.
‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’ is a splendid song, and already her second #1 hit from this album. The song debuted in the top spot, giving her the most number one debuts by any woman in history (with seven). Only Drake (nine) has more.
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone is on the rise, hitting #2 with his song ‘Beautiful Things’ a little more than two months after it entered the chart.
The name Benson Boone sounds so much like a country singer that I just assumed he was one, and this song’s opening verse supports that assumption. Then the chorus hits, and you realize this is something else entirely.
I haven’t done a ‘What the Kid are Listening To’ series since last August (not counting January’s year-end installment), so I figured it’s high time to dive into the current Billboard Hot 100. This week and next, I’ll look at nine songs topping the chart the last week of March.
At #1 is the song ‘Lose Control’ by Teddy Swims, a Georgia-based singer-songwriter whose blend of country and soul earned him a fanbase through YouTube. This song is the second single from his debut album, I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1).
Meet Me In Montauk 