Billboard Overview - Ella Mai, Kodak Black, & more (Week of 10/27/18)

Hi everyone. Sorry for this post being late. I had quite a few tests this week, and also had a really bad cold. Let's not waste any more time and get right into the Hot 100:

Hot 100
Out of the top 20:
35. Lil Baby & Gunna/Drake - Never Recover (#15) [-20]
26. Kanye West & Lil Pump/Adele Givens - I Love It (#17) [-9]
23. Halsey - Without Me (#18) [-5]
22. benny blanco/Halsey/Khalid - Eastside (#20) [-2]

20. Drake - Nonstop (#19) [-1]
19. Ariana Grande - God is a woman (#22) [+3]
18. 6ix9ine/Nicki Minaj/Murda Beatz - FEFE (#10) [-8]
17. Tyga/Offset - Taste (#14) [-3]
16. DJ Snake/Selena Gomez/Ozuna/Cardi B - Taki Taki (#31) [+15]
15. Drake - In My Feelings (#11) [-4] {10 Weeks At #1}
14. Khalid/Normani - Love Lies (#12) [-2]
13. Imagine Dragons - Natural (#13) [=]
12. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin - I Like It (#9) [-3] {1 Week At #1}
11. Ella Mai - Trip (#16) [+5]
10. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - Shallow (#5) [-5]
9. 5 Seconds of Summer - Youngblood (#7) [-2]
8. Lil Baby & Gunna - Drip Too Hard (#4) [-4]
7. Travis Scott/Drake - SICKO MODE (#6) [-1]
6. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier (#8) [+2]
5. Bad Bunny/Drake - MIA (DEBUT)
4. Post Malone - Better Now (#3) [-1]
3. Juice WRLD - Lucid Dreams (#2) [-1]
2. Kodak Black/Travis Scott/Offset - ZEZE (DEBUT)
1. Maroon 5/Cardi B - Girls Like You (#1) [=] {5th Week At #1}

~In terms of our dropouts, Never Recover was never gonna last. I Love It is just hilarious now, so I wouldn't mind it sticking around longer. Without Me is awful and needs to not be a hit. Lastly, I doubt this is the last we've seen of Eastside.

~Just as I start to get sick of it, God is a woman re-enters the top 20. I find this song to be extremely overrated in the blogging community, and I've never really understood the love for it.

~Via the music video, Taki Taki takes a massive jump. I do enjoy this song quite a bit. The production isn't amazing, but the drop is pretty catchy. I honestly think that Ozuna sounds pretty good here. His auto-tune mixes well with Snake's production. I also love Selena on here (I think I may becoming a low-key Selena fan). Cardi does her whole thing, but frankly I'm getting kinda sick of her, so I would prefer this song without her. That said, I would like to see this hang around.

~I don't hate ZEZE. Offset and Travis are decent here, and the production is pretty good. But oh my god Kodak is just the worst. I won't get into why I despise him as a person, but I will talk about why I hate him as a rapper. His nasal, high-pitched, awkward delivery never did much for me. In fact, I can barely tolerate having to hear his voice. I hope this crashes hard next week.

~I can only think of one reason for MIA's top 5 debut: Bad Bunny's overwhelming influence in 2018. I mean, he's had one of the biggest albums of the whole year in "Lobster", and his three #1 singles "Devil's Plot", "Bad For What", and "In My Emotions" were all huge. But jokes aside, Bunny is easily the worst part of this song. I really like Drake's parts and the production is solid also. I wouldn't mind this being *another* hit for Drake.

Billboard 200
Out of the top 10:
64. for KING & COUNTRY - Burn The Ships (#7) [-57]
30. Steve Perry - Traces (#6) [-24]
16. Eric Church - Desperate Man (#5) [-11]

10. Eminem - Kamikaze (#11) [+1] {1 Week At #1}
9. Post Malone - beerbongs & bentleys (#10) [+1] {3 Weeks At #1}
8. Travis Scott - ASTROWORLD (#9) [+1] {2 Weeks At #1}
7. Twenty One Pilots - Trench (#2) [-5]
6. Drake - Scorpion (#8) [+2] {5 Weeks At #1}
5. Ella Mai - Ella Mai (DEBUT)
4. Lil Baby & Gunna - Drip Harder (#4) [=]
3. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V (#3) [=] {1 Week At #1}
2. Quavo - QUAVO HUNCHO (#66) [+64]
1. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born Soundtrack (#1) [=] {2nd Week At #1}

~None of our three exits were going to last, even if Desperate Man deserved better.

~The one word I would use to describe Ella Mai's self titled full length debut album is boring. And honestly, I don't Mai for that. There is only one man to blame for this: DJ Mustard. I thought we had left this guy in the past, but alas here he is to torment us again. This kinda applies to both new albums this week, but the entire thing is the same beat. To make matters worse, the beat here isn't even good. Also, Mai's range is so limited that her voice becomes grating after only a couple tracks. To make matters even worse, there are only two features on this whole thing. And they come from the personality void that is H.E.R., and Chris. Motherfucking. Brown. I thought we all decided "collaborating with Chris Brown" = "very very bad". But alas, Mai brings him on for a song about how "it's not cheating, it's a Whatchamacallit". Charming. This better crash next week.

~This may be unpopular, but I liked the solo release from Quavo, titled QUAVO HUNCHO. While I did mention earlier that this whole album has virtually the same beat, it's a pretty solid so I'm not complaining. Also, Quavo's flows are solid, even if they get a little annoying by the end. However, the guest features really redeem this project. He was able to get everyone from Drake to Lil Baby to Madonna and Cardi B on the same song. Most of the features are pretty solid, and they at least add a little variety. The lyrics suck but that was to be expected from a Quavo album. I wouldn't have minded this album going to #1.

~Ugh why did Kamikaze have to come back?

Artist 100
Out of the top 10:
46. Steve Perry (#10) [-36]
31. Eric Church (#4) [-27]

10. Lil Wayne (#5) [-5] {1 Week At #1}
9. Twenty One Pilots (#2) [-7] {4 Weeks At #1}
8. Eminem (#11) [+3] {3 Weeks At #1}
7. Imagine Dragons (#9) [+2] {1 Week At #1}
6. Ella Mai (#26) [+20]
5. Post Malone (#8) [+3] {2 Weeks At #1}
4. Drake (#6) [+2] {31 Weeks At #1}
3. Bradley Cooper (#3) [=]
2. BTS (#7) [+6] {2 Weeks At #1}
1. Lady Gaga (#1) [=] {4th Week At #1}

~Can BTS not?

~Best week this week goes to uh...... Ella Mai I guess. This was her breakout year, so I guess it's impressive that she got a top 5 album. Worst week goes to Quavo for failing to get any traction with his solo album and BTS because I can.

Genre Charts
Mainstream Top 40:
Out of the top 5:
6. Selena Gomez - Back To You (#5) [-1]

5. Post Malone - Better Now (#3) [-2] {2 Weeks At #1}
4. Maroon 5/Cardi B - Girls Like You (#4) [=] {5 Weeks At #1}
3. Khalid/Normani - Love Lies (#2) [-1] {2 Weeks At #1}
2. Ariana Grande - God is a woman (#6) [+4]
1. 5 Seconds of Summer - Youngblood (#1) [=] {4th Week At #1}

~Looks like God is a woman will be our next pop radio #1. Can't say I'm too pleased about this.

Hot Rock Songs:
5. Weezer - Africa (#5) [=]
4. Imagine Dragons - Thunder (#4) [=]
3. lovelytheband - broken (#3) [=]
2. Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes (#2) [=]
1. Imagine Dragons - Natural (#1) [=] {10th Week At #1}

~How does one write blurbs when literally nothing happened?

Hot Latin Songs:
Out of the top 5:
7. 6ix9ine/Anuel AA - BEBE (#5) [-2] {1 Week At #1}

5. Ozuna/Manuel Turizo - Vania Loca (#4) [-1]
4. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber - Despacito (#3) [-1] {53 Weeks At #1}
3. A/B/C/D/E/F/G - Te Bote (#3) [=] {14 Weeks At #1}
2. DJ Snake/Selena Gomez/Ozuna/Cardi B - Taki Taki (#1) [-1] {2 Weeks At #1}
1. Bad Bunny/Drake - MIA (#9) [+8] {1st Week At #1}

~This is the lowest Despacito has been maybe ever. Could this song go recurrent before it hits 100 weeks on chart?

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs:
Out of the top 5:
7. Cardi B/Bad Bunny/J Balvin - I Like It (#5) [-2] {1 Week At #1}

5. Lil Baby & Gunna - Drip Too Hard (#3) [-2]
4. Travis Scott/Drake - SICKO MODE (#4) [=]
3. Post Malone - Better Now (#2) [-1]
2. Juice WRLD - Lucid Dreams (#1) [-1] {2 Weeks At #1}
1. Kodak Black/Travis Scott/Offset - ZEZE (DEBUT) {1st Week At #1}

~Losing I Like It for ZEZE really isn't a fair trade in the slightest.

Hot Dance/Electronic Songs:
5. Calvin Harris/Sam Smith - Promises (#5) [=]
4. Tiësto & Dzeko/Preme/Post Malone - Jackie Chan (#4) [=]
3. Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey - The Middle (#3) [=] {33 Weeks At #1}
2. DJ Snake/Selena Gomez/Ozuna/Caredi B - Taki Taki (#2) [=]
1. Marshmello/Bastille - Happier (#1) [=] {5th Week At #1}

~For the second week in a row, nothing happened on this chart.

Hot Country Songs:
Out of the top 5:
7. Russell Dickerson - Blue Tacoma (#5) [-2]

5. Florida Georgia Line - Simple (#2) [-3]
4. Cole Swindell - Break Up In The End (#7) [+3]
3. Dan + Shay - Tequila (#3) [=]
2. Luke Combs - She Got The Best of Me (#4) [+2]
1. Bebe Rexha/Florida Georgia Line - Meant To Be (#1) [=] {47th Week At #1}

~*insert complaint about Meant To Be here*

~Break Up In The End is boring, badly sung, whiny, and pretentious. I'm just gonna put it in red and then never think about it again.

~A part of me really wants to see Jimmie Allen - Best Shot (Currently: #9) make it up here as it's a good song, and it'd also be really cool to have a song by an African-American artist be a hit on country radio.