Morgan Wallen holds both the seventh and eighth slots in this week’s Billboard Hot 100. And spoiler alert: this isn’t the last time you’ll hear from him this week.
‘I Ain’t Comin’ Back’ is a promotional single from Wallen’s upcoming album, not to be confused with the four proper singles he has released. If you think five singles dropping in advance of a new album is too many, consider that the album has 37 tracks.
In the #2 slot of this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is ‘I Had Some Help,’ a duet by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen. This song spent six weeks at #1 before being dethroned by Shaboozey, making it the year’s longest-running chart-topper so far.
Country music is really hitting its stride on the charts when one country song replaces another. The influx of more contemporary artists and sounds into the genre has been a recipe for crossover success.
The 30th top-charting song of 2022 comes courtesy of Post Malone, who also showed up at #26. That single found him paired up with Doja Cat, while this one partners him with The Weeknd.
This is a catchy synth-pop song about a truly toxic relationship, fueled by infidelity and sexual revenge. Kudos to Post Malone and The Weeknd for making such icky subject matter go down so easy, thanks to the 80s production influence The Weeknd has mined so well on recent releases.
Post Malone has become quite the hitmaker since dropping his debut album six years ago. The rapper/singer has had four #1 hits in that time, and another seven in the top ten.
His latest is ‘I Like You (A Happier Song),’ the third single from his Twelve Carat Toothache album. This breezy track, a duet with Doja Cat, peaked at #9 and this week sits at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The last Album of the Year nominee I’ll mention is Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding. This is Malone’s second straight nod in this category, after 2019’s Beerbongs & Bentleys. I guess the Recording Academy has a soft spot for auto-tuned hip-hop inflected pop songs.
I like Malone well enough based on his media appearances, and a few of his songs have worked for me (specifically, ‘Rockstar‘ and ‘Circles‘). But a quick dive into this album didn’t impress me. It’s a lot of the same mid-tempo, moody pop you find in ‘Circles,’ but with less success.
Meet Me In Montauk 