Another month comes and goes without a whole lot of action, so much so that people have turned back to 2019 to find the biggest rising hit of the month. With a new Olivia Rodrigo single and incoming album bombs from Lil Uzi Vert and Taylor Swift, July is already guaranteed to be more interesting but until then, here’s our latest top 40 debutants.
“Stand By Me” by Lil Durk ft. Morgan Wallen
Peak #22, Current #41
Lil Durk dropped his new album at the end of May to a lukewarm reception. Perhaps that’s not surprising given that the biggest hit from it, aside from All My Life, is another collab with Morgan Wallen, marking round two of music’s oddest friendship. Given that I never really hated Broadway Girls I was ready to give this a spin, and it’s biggest crime is honestly just being generic.
It’s nowhere near as sour as there previous duet with a more relaxing melody and lyrics that reflect both artists need for loyalty and support. It’s kind of adorable to think that they’re singing to one another, what a cute little bromance. Unfortunately musically the song is dry as hell. The beat is a terribly flat trap clunker that would’ve sounded naff on Dangerous two and a half years ago and certainly doesn’t sound fresh now. Structurally the song is pretty limp as well with a weak “wooaahhh” hook and forgettable verses that can’t match an admittedly decent chorus.
As with Broadway Girls there’s a disappointing lack of interaction as well as this is more like a Morgan song with a weak Durk verse attached to it. Not great considering this is from Durk’s album. I understand why this exists, Morgan is just about the biggest hitmaker there is right now so it’s a cheap way for Durk to score a hit on radio. But this doesn’t show any of his potential as an artist in his own right and it’s generally not that memorable.
4.5/10
“Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa
Peak #32, Current #34
So there’s some new Barbie movie coming out and this is the first of at least two songs from the soundtrack that will break the top 40. Recruiting Dua Lipa for another flashy nu-disco single was probably the most obvious thing they could have done and the resulting song is just kind of whatever.
It makes sense for Dua to release this not as part of an album so she can test the waters and see if the general public will continue to eat up her releasing songs that sound like this. Given her unreal streaming and radio promotion I’m sure this will be a “hit” regardless, but as somebody who was never totally bowled over by Future Nostalgia in the first place, this song isn’t doing much for me. The strings and claps do bring a little more sophistication but it doesn’t disguise the fact that the melodies feel recycled, the lyrics are an actual vacuum, and Dua’s performance gives nothing.
It’s fine, it’s well produced, there’s no flaws to it, but it’s one of those songs you listen to once and know that it doesn’t require a second listen, so I’m not looking forward to its 40-week chart run.
6/10
“BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 55” by Bizarrap & Peso Pluma
Peak #31, Current #44
It seems as though these Bzrp music sessions have become a rite of passage for popular Spanish-language artists, akin to how pop vocalists in 2013 were all forced to put out a shitty EDM song with Calvin Harris. This time it’s the turn of 2023’s top newcomer Peso Pluma. Given how Bizarrap usually fuses the guest artist’s style with his own electronic sounds I was curious to hear how that would play out with Peso’s regional Mexico sound.
Unfortunately the answer is not very interesting. I don’t really know what Bizarrap was doing here because aside from some stutters and a mini trap breakdown in the last thirty seconds, this just sounds like another Mexican song with the relentless Mariachi horns and Peso’s grating vocals. It’s really incredible how quickly this Mexican explosion has gone from “what an exciting cultural breakthrough” to “fuck not another song that sounds like this”. It’s really the new reggaeton and not in a good way.
4/10
“Put It on Da Floor Again” by Latto ft. Cardi B
Peak #13, Current #39
Will there ever be a new Cardi B album? Or is she content with drip-drop features like this every few months? Anyway, she’d doing a favor for Latto here who gets a chance to demonstrate some actual rapping ability after whatever Big Energy was supposed to be, which got her a hit but not a lot of praise.
This is a fine enough song, if totally predictable. The obvious comparison is to Tomorrow 2, and I do like this slightly more for a nastier beat and brighter energy. Latto holds her own fairly well against Cardi and her little “yeeaahhhh, it’s giving cunt” outro makes me smile. But beyond that, there’s no real hook and the lyrical content is beyond recycled with fairly few standout lines, so yeah it does the job but I won’t remember this in a few months.
6/10
“Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
Peak #18, Current #18
Well hello there! I called it last month and its momentum has snowballed since, here we go. And yes for those wondering, this 100% counts for review. This isn’t a one week wonder it’s a full belated chart run, and as I started this column in October 2019 it just missed being reviewed at the time of Lover’s release as the highest charting album track.
Maybe this is the bias talking since I operate in very Taylor-focused circles but it does feel like in the short time since its release Cruel Summer has already become an iconic pop song of the late 2010s. What’s remarkable is that other than the gargantuan Eras Tour, there’s no real reason for its resurgence. No meme, no TikTok, no nothing, just a collective realization that this song fucking rules and is ten times better than whatever pop radio is trying to force upon us as the song of the summer.
You look up “pop perfection” in the dictionary and this song jumps out and punches you in the face. The production is some of Jack Antonoff’s best with the fizzing, industrial synthesizers and rattling percussion, plus some of Taylor’s best produced vocals giving the song an anthemic yet dreamlike quality. Every second is pure electricity with the energy through the roof from the very start and it never lets up, perfectly encapsulating the dizzying mayhem of this summer romance.
What I’ve always like most about Cruel Summer is that it isn’t some robotic (cough Dua Lipa cough) pop song either, it has a certain wildness to it; the epic bridge that sees Taylor in full rant mode; her yelled vocals leading back into the final chorus; the way the synths skitter all over the outro as the bridge melody and backing vocals come back in; the way she rhymes “cruel summer” with “Oooooh woooahhh” for the hook and somehow makes it work amazingly!
I know I’ve said that I think this whole thing of making old songs hits is a bit stupid and I still feel that way, but come on if ever there was a song it makes sense for it’s this one! Possibly the best ever pop song of the defining pop star of our times, and at long last redemption for Lover and its panned singles. Would it be better if we had shiny, new pop songs to light up the year? Yes. But it’s pretty much the height of summer already and nothing’s turned up so fuck it, Cruel Summer is where it’s at. Phenomenal song, and I’m sorry to give out yet another Taylor perfect score but these last couple of years all her best songs are becoming hits.
10/10
“Memory Lane” by Old Dominion
Peak #36, Current #38
This is a third career top 40 entry for Old Dominion and marks the lead single for their new album, if anyone cares about that. I’ve been ambivalent to positive on most of the group’s material and this track skews towards the upper end of that. I’ve always really liked lead singer Mathew Ramsey’s voice which effortlessly conveys wistful emotion.
I like how this song doesn’t have an obvious hook to it, instead building up in the verses and then dropping down when the title line is delivered. Speaking of which the idea of portraying memory lane as a real place is pretty smartly done and makes for an overall nostalgic and understated song. I really dig it, definitely one of the better country hits of 2023 so far.
7.5/10
“Attention” by Doja Cat
Peak #31, Current #31
It feels as though Doja Cat has put a lot of unnecessary pressure on herself for this release. For anyone out of the loop, she recently trashed her breakout records Hot Pink and Planet Her, calling them “cash grabs” and “mediocre pop” that her fans “fell for”. Throwing your own work under the bus is always a bad look, especially when you insult your own fans in the process and even if she was being “ironic” or whatever, it doesn’t make her come across any less insufferable. Anyway, this track marks the start of the next phase of her career which is promised to be more rap-focused, and in her opinion obviously better.
Now if this isn’t good then it would clearly make her look like a bit of a twat, but to be fair she actually followed through pretty well here. This has got a cool kind of boom bap beat and Doja spits over it with great authority. She cusses on people talking shit about her online and you have to say that she’s justified in doing so. Unfortunately the hook is kind of garbage with Doja doing her creepy, alien voice thing with quite an annoying melody which rather ruins the song from a replayability point of view. Still, as an advert for Doja as a rapper this was a success, maybe that new album will deliver.
6/10
“Fukumean” by Gunna
Peak #16, Current #16
We end with an album bomb from Gunna, who is somehow still a thing despite having zero memorable solo career songs. This track’s alright. Barely two minutes of a muted flute line and bassy trap knock. Gunna’s rapping will send you to sleep but the chanted group vocals add a lot, and frankly it ends too quickly for you to have time to get bored. Passable I guess.
5/10
June average: 6.1/10
Worth listening to: “Cruel Summer”, “Memory Lane”
🙂
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