Billboard Top 10 (1/20/18): Ed Sheeran Ft. Ed Sheeran

Welcome to 2018, the year pop music finally finds a new identity and isn't full of lots of boring artists and copycats of those boring artists. As 2018 gets under way and we near the end of the decade, I ask myself what really set this decade of pop music apart from any other decade of the last 6-7. I guess it's hard to know exactly what the decade will be defined as when you are currently living in it and as time goes by we will see the kind of music people really define as music of the 2010's. As the big pop artists that dominated the last 10-20 years slowly start to become less relevant, what artists will step up and change the game? Will rock music ever get a revival with a new era like it did in the early 90's with Nirvana and grunge? Will rap and hip-hop stop constantly copying the three or four big artists out there and go somewhere new and interesting? Will country music stop trying so hard to be cool and go back to a traditional or new style? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure... none of that will happen this year. The charts are still infected with music from late last year and it probably will be for the next month as we see newer artists and big names start releasing new music. Although if there's one thing we learned last year, it's that even the biggest artists can fail at making hits just from name recognition alone.

1. Ed Sheeran - Perfect (Beyonce needs a number one hit edition)

Ed Sheeran's name was the biggest of 2017 and he became what Justin Bieber was in 2016. Adding Ed Sheeran's name or being in one of his songs pretty much guarantees a top 20 hit for you. Eminem, Taylor Swift and now Beyonce are all riding the Sheeran train to get that big hit. 'Perfect' was one of the weaker tracks from Sheeran's last release, it felt too much like trying to repeat the popularity of 'Thinking Out Loud'. Well if that was indeed the case, it worked like a charm. The duet between Sheeran and Beyonce didn't really make the song any better. Not only does hearing Beyonce and Sheeran sing to each other just feel weird, but it's not really enjoyable to listen to on a musical level either. It all just feels in-genuine, but at least it got Beyonce that hit that she so desperately needed as an up and coming artist. Not to take anything away from both artists' vocal talent, but I don't think a song like this shows off those talents much anyway. I still mildly enjoy the original version despite it's cliche lyrics and the fact that it ends the chorus with the extremely overused and terrible line: "...Tonight".

2. Camila Cabello - Havana (w/ Young Thug)

I think I like the idea of this song more than the actual song itself. It's a cool idea to make a song to tribute the culture of Cuba and show some love there, but instead we get another crappy love song that just happens to take place in Cuba. The intro was interesting at first, it showed promise for something a little different than everything else on the charts, but it just ends up looping the entire song with not much change. Young Thug says some things, what those things are I have no idea, but he's on the song so, yay? This song is just a straight line from beginning to end, it stays on the same level the entire time with no build or break in-between. So far everything I've heard from both artists hasn't been good, but I hope maybe at least Cabello can put out something different and interesting soon.

3. Bruno Mars - Finesse (Cardi B Remix)

Before I talk about the addition of Cardi B, I wanted to say how I feel about the original version. Like the rest of the 24K Magic album, I really liked the original recording of Finesse. Bruno's vocals are great as the rest of the album and the music is fun, upbeat and easy to get into. Cardi B has her own version of the first verse and replaces Bruno's original. She doesn't really make the song any better or worse I guess, it's a decent verse that doesn't elevate the song in any way. I really thought Cardi B was going to be one of those artists that show up at the top and then disappear forever, I never quite got what she brought to the music scene to make her shoot all the way to the top of the charts. I guess it's still too early to tell, maybe her time is going to be short like an Iggy Azalea and she'll be gone by next year, or maybe she will make it past the fifteen minutes of fame and become the next Nicki? I don't know and I don't care either way. I have to say though, working with Bruno Mars was probably a really good choice in the long run though, now she just needs that Ed Sheeran collab and she'll be one of the big names in music for years. 

4. Post Malone - rockstar

This song seems to be sticking around the top 5 here for a long time, at this point it might even be on the best sellers of 2018 and we're only a month in (barely). Look, I liked this song when I first heard it, but it just doesn't have the staying power to really belong this high on the list after months. Lyrically it's a cliche of a song that doesn't provide anything new. The rappers calling themselves rockstar has been done to death the past 15 years or more. I think it's time to let something new take this spot now, maybe the next song on the list will be a good contender....wait...oh. no.

5. G-Eazy - No Limit (A$AP Rocky and Cardi B)

hm...maybe I was wrong, maybe Cardy B has more power on the music charts than I thought. G-Eazy on the other hand is about as interesting as the DMV, but less useful. He proves this by rhyming cop it with poppin' on the first verse and then adding hoppin' and dropping to that same rhyme. Cardi B is actually the only decent part of this song, even though she basically says the same crap she says in all her songs, but it's still way better than anything else here. There's also some outdated references in this song like Cardi B making a Subway's Jared joke and Eazy making a "Damn Daniel " meme reference from 100 internet years ago. Overall this song feels like an eternity and the beat just drags the song painfully along with the bad verses by G-Eazy not helping. 

6. Imagine Dragons - Thunder

This song needs to go away ASAP. This is why I desperately crave a revival in rock music on the charts, I can't stand listening to this anymore. This song just feels soul-less and robotic with no passion or meaning behind it. It's like the template for making a hit song with as little effort as possible, just using a catchy chorus.

7. Halsey - Bad at Love

Halsey, of 'Closer' fame, now has a single of her own in the top 10. In this song, Halsey reminisces on past relationships that ended badly and she exclaims that she just doesn't know how to pick a good partner. The problem with this format is that she really only gives about two lines per each ex, not really enough for anyone to really understand why she was in love with them or why it actually didn't work out. This might have worked better if she focused on one person and explained in a little more personal detail why it was a bad choice to be with him/her. Instead we get a throwaway line about how her ex didn't want her to follow her dreams or how she didn't like his friends that makes it seem a lot less personal and emotional. This leads to a pre-chorus where she says she believed they were meant to be, but jealousy got in the way. That doesn't really make sense when listening to the verses and she gives different reasons as to why it didn't work out. Put the lyrics aside and you still got a pretty standard modern pop song. It doesn't do anything out of the ordinary or try anything new, which doesn't always make a bad song, but in this case it's just kind of boring. The lyrics had a chance to make a difference, but don't really do a good job at elevating the song either.

8. Sam Smith - Too Good at Goodbyes

Showing emotion through your vocals is an important part of getting the message of a song across, and Sam Smith has always done a good job at this. While this isn't the kind of song I can blast at any time, it's a good song for those quiet nights or more thoughtful moments. Sometimes an artist can become known for doing one thing very well, and Sam Smith could really be one of those artists. Being emotional on a song is that thing that Sam Smith can do very well. I'd like to see Smith try something a little different sometime soon, maybe a little more fun or upbeat or funky maybe? For now, he's using what he's good at to make good music and it's still interesting at this point. There might be a danger of this getting old, but for now it's still good.

9. Justin Timberlake - Filthy

Uhhhhhh, what did I just listen to? I don't really know how to feel about this right now. I kind of like this and I also kind of hate this, so I'm not even sure. Part of me thinks this is exactly what Justin wants me to feel, the other part of me thinks that he's not that clever and this is just a really bad song. The music ranges from annoying to interesting, with the unique bass lines and the cool guitar interludes. This combined with the annoying electronic sounds in the background really confuse me. The vocals make me feel the exact same way. I think I actually like this song, it's so strange and unique it's hard not to like. I don't like this song because it's good necessarily, but because it's just so strange and weird. I'll keep an eye on this one for sure, with some time i'll be able to tell if this is actually good or not. What the hell Justin...what is this mess?

Migos - Motorsport (Cardi B and Nicki)

Yet again Cardi B outshines the bigger artists on the song and Nicki is not so bad herself, but Migos are as boring as I usually find them, throwing out the generic rapper talk about how much money and sex they have. The women on the track though actually have some clever lines here and there and seem like they actually put effort into it, so it really makes the song pretty decent. Still, I just don't really get Migos and it really puts me off to the rest of the song.