TOP 50 BEST SONGS (and Top 5 albums) of 2019!

Welcome to my 4th annual best songs list!

If there’s anything that motivates me to share my thoughts about music in long form with my keyboard that would be year end list!

Yes there’s a 100% guarantee that at LEAST these A-game lists will continuously live on, no matter what, regardless of whether I decide to give Drop Of Pop Culture any other awesome content.. or not! (but hopefully! And I’m currently sticking with this domain because I had dropofpopreviews.com for a minute because…she expired!)

Time to round up the BANGERS like Lil Nas X rounded up the horses in the back!

Number 50: I’m Fakin –Sabrina Carpenter

Sassy blonde pop bombshell Sabrina Carpenter returned this year with the second act of her Singular album. While I could’ve been satisfied leaving during intermission because the first act was better, it was still worth sticking around for the rest of the show, as this melodic, addictive bop about an on and off relationship proves!! “Shut up, shut up, shut up” and let me hit the replay button!

Number 49: On a Roll – Ashley O

Not only was Miley Cyrus’s episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror super fun to watch, it lead to her being the only artist on Billboard to crack the Hot 100 charts under 3 separate identities! And, “Oh Honey, ” it’s no wonder this empowering jam, which is actually a pop version of the Nine Inch Nails song “Head Like A Hole” managed to achieve that!

As you can see, they’re quite different and the episode is about Miley’s character Ashley O being forced into being a manufactured pop star by her evil aunt instead of being her authentic self, leading her aunt to drug her into a coma, and her true self to end up in the body of one of the robots she sells as merchandise.

That character probably wasn’t too far off from Miley’s real life though…

Wig and all…

And, knowing Miley’s a, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that “Hey ya whoa oh” sounds kind of like “Hey I’m a Hoe” haha.

I’m just giving her what she deserves putting this on the list after all!

Number 48: Crazy AF –In Real Life

Okay, making a guy doesn’t cheat doesn’t exactly qualify as the craziest behavior in the world, but this smooth summer bop definitely gets a pass, especially since I’d let smooth tennored Brady Tutton/Blonde real life Ken Doll mark his territory on me anytime! 😉

Speaking of boybands and chill summer music…

Number 47:  Cool –Jonas Brothers

My O.G boys are back winning like Game Of Thrones with the release of their first group album in 10 years Chasing Happiness. The amount of swagger in both this song and this album can be embodied by this group of Squirtles!

Number 46: Old Town Road (Remix) – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus

Say what you will. The cultural impact is ridiculously strong in this already iconic 17-week long chart topper, that started out as merely a great meme! Never doubt the power of the internet!

Just the premise of this upcoming young hip-hop artist making a catchy comedic rap song using a cowboy character to mock the luxurious lifestyles that other hip-hop artists boast about (debatable making it country? Not on Billboard’s watch https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8530110/inside-the-old-town-road-charts-decision but on the watches of many, considering it is a genre hybrid.) and having it go viral online is interesting enough, but add ridiculous country hit veteran Billy Ray Cyrus and we’re hearing it and singing it until we can’t no more.

I’m quite fine living in an era where a hilarious country/hip-hop/pop hybrid focusing on horses and perseverance can achieve immense success, as long as I can have enough of a break from hearing it.

 

Number 45: Wild Blue -Hunter Hayes

Before this, I haven’t heard as beautiful of a song about taking chances since Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 hit “Breakaway”. Highly underrated, (and adorable!) country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes empowers us to take that risk, be brave and soar through the beautiful sky on the title track of his third studio album Wild Blue, Part 1.

Number 44: God’s Country – Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton decided to make a country song praising the Lord and the simplicity of the land he created….

but he made rock n roll too, making one of the rawest and edgiest sounding singles in his career!

Hail the Lord, the country, and the dogs!

Number 43: Good Thing (with Kehlani) –Zedd

R&B/Pop Queen Kehlani may have released a small little album of love songs to tide us over “While We Wait” for a longer album, but I favor her ode to self love that she released with Zedd the most!

After all, a partner is nice, but you shouldn’t have to rely on having one  because the best things in life can be already yours if you put in the right energy and effort to get them, as Kehlani reminds us in this bop!

Number 42: Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels –Todrick Hall

After the release of two cinematic, Beyonce-esque visual album about his life and societal issues, Internet sensation Todrick Hall unsurprisingly decided to experiment more with Club/House music on his multi-part third album Haus Party. The results were mixed, and considering the genre, a lot less serious than previous projects, but it 100% still brought in some fun bangers. Such as the project’s most iconic song Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels, which is struttable gay club music at its finest!

And the choreography is absolutely sickening! ESPECIALLY the breakdown/dance class at the end! SUPER FUN!

Finally he does get bonus points for incorporating songs that match each word of the title in his live show! I LOVED seeing that!

Number 41: Graveyard – Halsey

Halsey very desperately clings to the hope of saving a failed relationship in her beautiful stripped-down latest single.

I noticed how she’s super effective at portraying that desperation in her tone, and next thing I know…

The song is “following me all the way, no matter how far” by growing on me and sticking around in my brain, allowing me to pleasantly enjoy all of its gentle beauty.

Number 40:  GIRL – Maren Morris

With the piercing strum of an electric guitar, Country/Pop singer Maren Morris not only effectively portrays the harsh feelings of a mental breakdown but then, kindly reminds you that you’re capable of picking up the pieces off of the kitchen floor. An honest, and powerful effort.

Number 39: Falling -Harry Styles

In Falling Harry Styles soulfully showcases the self-doubt a person can face when entering into a new relationship over a glistening piano beat.

I love it for its calming elegance and vulnerability leading it to be a real highlight off of Harry’s second solo album Fine Line.

Number 38: Medicate –Gabbie Hanna

Society gives medicine to people with mental illnesses like depression and anxiety in order to help balance the chemicals in their brains right?

Well, in Medicate, Gabbie Hanna explores this concept, but the illness that needs curing is her heartbreak, making for this fascinating, tragic, beautiful ballad.

It is as a matter of fact, possible to make your tragedies a work of art after all.

Number 37: What’s Going On -Scotty Sire

Emotionally conflicted vlogging rap king Scotty Sire returned to the music scene as he continues to ask and figure out, in terms of his emotions, his life and his music, exactly “What’s Going On?”

The title track in particular is a reflection of when someone feels that there’s something wrong with themselves and/or the world around them, but can’t put their finger on exactly what the problem may be, causing them inner turmoil and anxiety.

I’ll tell you exactly “What’s Going On?” here at least, Scotty, and it’s that this song excellently captures a common feeling that isn’t talked about much. Additionally, the whole album elevated Ruin Your Party to the next wonderful level and there’ll be more to come of it on this list.

Number 36: South Of The Border –Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello & Cardi B

One of the stronger points of Ed Sheeran’s highly mixed “No.6 Collaborations Project”, album Ed and Camila take us on a steamy tropical trip and Cardi distributes the right amount of playful cattiness .

I like Cardi more in collaborations then her own songs anyway. She’s like dessert, great in small doses, but too much will make you sick!

Anyway, Ed made an excellent choice with this, seeing that exotic, sexy pop fun is one of Camila’s strongest suits!

Number 35: Partners In Crime -FINNEAS

There’s no denying that Billie Eilish with her edgy production and stunning whisper-toned vocals was one of the best breakout acts of 2019. But she wouldn’t have had anywhere near the same amount of success, without her brother, singer, songwriter, and producer Finneas.

He produces on Billie’s work, including her grammy-nominated debut album “WHERE WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?”, plays guitar in her band, and managed to release an EP of his own called Blood Harmony.

His music may not be as edgy as some of his sister’s, but that makes for the sweetest acoustic love song!

He proves that he has his ex girlfriend’s back even after she does too much drugs. It’s sweet and not the best premise but the music, his sentiments of support and adoration  and the phrase “Partners in Crime”, are what really sell its excellence, making it my favorite from the EP.

Here’s hoping he breaks from Billie enough to provide a full release. Though, maybe he could be her opening act?!

Number 34: Perfect Day (A True Story) -Gabbie Hanna

From the first second in, it sounds like a cute little love song about a perfect day at the beach Gabbie spends with her boyfriend

But, then Gabbie discovers a message in the mirror from another girl, revealing that her boyfriend had been cheating on her, thus ruining the perfect day and causing the music to shift as Gabbie’s sweet happiness turns into raw anger.

I love the plot twist and it’s super authentic and vulnerable, a great representation and explanation of Gabbie’s amazing EP “2WAYMirror”.

Number 33: Canyon Moon -Harry Styles

Another of my favorites from Harry’s “Fine Line” album, this song just makes me want to happily ride through the mountainside accompanied by Harry’s sweet whistling. It’s a feel-good, enjoy the wonders of nature on a car ride tune.

Number 32: Don’t Let It Break Your Heart -Louis Tomlinson

Honestly, I didn’t expect Louis’s solo music to take such a tender direction! This former boybander has been working on finding his sound through singles covering Pop, EDM, and Rock, but he’s proven to shine the most on uplifting ballads such as this encouraging ode to not letting the struggles of life knock you down.

Number 31: First Man – Camila Cabello

Easily one of the most precious songs released this year, Camila Cabello closes her sophmore solo album “Romance”, with a tender love ballad. Only it’s not to a boyfriend at all… it’s to her own father.

In a musical letter, Camila assures her father of the kindness of her boyfriend (Shawn Mendes in this case, no doubt!) and tells him not to worry because he’s always been the “first man to really love me”.

SOOO CUTE!!!

Number 30: What A Time (feat. Niall Horan) -Julia Michaels

Pop singer-songwriter Julia Michaels returned this year with her two part EP “Inner Monologue” . In the most haunting track of the project, she and Niall play ex-lovers sharing the same memory of meeting up in the park, but everything may not have been as perfect as it appeared to be.

Number 29: Don’t Start Now –Dua Lipa

Dula Peep Dua Lipa, my favorite Cub-Pop powerhouse came back with a bang! Songs break away from being merely basic and turn into bangers when they litterally grow on you, commanding both attention and the movement of your body!

That’s exactly what happened here, with Dua’s first single off an upcoming second album. While Dua continues to work on strengthening her choreography, her bops are already 100% strong enough to pick up your attention and pop-loving soul!

Number 28: Never Really Over –Katy Perry

Katy Perry steps back onto the pop scene with her most infectious and exciting single since 2013’s “Roar” . Getting hung up on her ex (with whom she got matching tattoos with, which is actually portrayed in a cute way in the video) seems to have brought back Katy’s brightest energy and power, and she includes an epic speed singing part that I learned and sung along with all summer! Despite her lackluster follow up singles after this, this song still gives me high hope for Katy’s next album era.

Number 27: BLOW (with Chris Stapleton & Bruno Mars) -Ed Sheeran

Usually-mellow man Ed Sheeran rounded up Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars and turned into a rock superstar, and quite frankly the result did blow my mind!! Shockingly their voices blend well with each other and shoot the roof right off of the venue in this confident, and energetic absolute banger!

Number 26: Watch What Happens Next – Waterparks

In this jam off of Pop/Rock/Electronic band Waterparks’s third album “Fandom” (which isn’t a very fitting name if you ask me) front man Awsten Knight expresses his frustration with pressure from his record label to change his sound to something more mainstream in which he brags about all the luxiourious items he owns. Take that literally-every-soundcloud-rapper ever!

Well guess what Awsten, Waterparks currently has a completly unique sound to any of my other pop faves, and I’m hoping that you continue fighting to keep it that way!

Number 25: Teeth – 5 Seconds of Summer

Australian Pop Rockers 5 Seconds of Summer have been busy lately, touring all over the world, releasing one decent song and one…not as decent song.

But a real highlight for them was this edgy banger, experimenting with edgier industrial rock sounds as Luke Hemming’s vocals go as up and down as the relationship he sings about.

It even included it’s own super-fun fan challenge!

https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/5sos/news/teeth-challenge-viral-video/

If played out better, it could have packed the same amount of punch on the radio as “Youngblood” but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for the group.

Number 24: Nightmare -Halsey

Now we have some female rock edge and it’s freaking BADASS! Halsey isn’t anyone’s “little lady” and she proves that she can stand up for herself and not be manipulated by fame and society, because she doesn’t owe anyone a “goddamn thing”!

I love the message and edge here, this kind of badass empowering female rock isn’t too popular anymore, and perhaps it has a right to be!

Number 23: all the good girls go to hell –Billie Eilish

I’m definitly 100% on board with Billie Eilish and her rapid rise to superstardom, she provides a cool edge that was missing in pop, and her tone is super stunning on ballads. Several tracks off of her album “WHERE WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” could have made my list, but here, I went for her hot take on the dangerously changing climate.

After all, global warming does seem like the devil’s work, and a lot of people, including influential political are letting him win by ignoring it.

Billie has the right idea by spreading awareness with a bass slapping firey banger, not to mention once again another pop queen suggusting God, may in fact be a woman!

Number 22: Slide Away – Miley Cyrus

To me, the most tragic thing that happened in 2019 pop culture was Miley Cyrus’s divorce to Liam Hemsworth. I’d been watching them grow as a couple since seeing their chemistry in Nicholas Sparks Movie “The Last Song” in theaters back in 2009. They’d been together for several years, then broke off, and then back on again including an engagement and marrage. They were even their for each other in November 2018 when  their whole house in Malibu tragically burned down from a wildfire.

Yet, they divorced, and out of it came this ballad where she tells Liam “Won’t you slide away back to the ocean, I’ll go back to the city lights” and that she’d grown past him and his now-public alcohol and drug issues.

It’s mature of Miley to realize she deserves better, and that she should now move on and I’m wishing the best for her in the future.

Number 21: Water Me- Lizzo

So, another properly-rated breakout star of 2019 was the Multitalented R&B self-empowerment Queen, Lizzo.

I totally ate up her witty, positive, and empowering bops, including this feel-amazing favorite!! 🙂

The message is great, regularly nurture and take care of your soul, just like it’s a lil plant that needs to be watered!

‘

Number 20: Words -Scotty Sire

Prepare to have your heart melted!

Because Scotty Sire released a love song about feeling shy and flustered by his crush and it’s really precious! Including cheery whistles and a “Spongebob Squarepants” reference!

Number 19: Nice To Meet Ya -Niall Horan

Niall Horan decided to add a little spice to his normally gentle tunes by taking the rocker route…. and the results are burning me to a crisp!

His charm is impossible to resist, as he invites a girl he meet (and in turn the listener!) on a date, and even speaks a little French! Please add a couple more fun, spicy bops such as this into your catalog Nialler!

Number 18: Sucker -Jonas Brothers

A vast amount of happiness truely does begin when the first band you ever loved with your enitre soul and had a fifth grade pink bedroom poster shrine of (Perhaps I’ve leveled up to a college graduate apartment bedroom shrine!) gets back together!

And boy, can they still make a huge hit! It’s cute, catchy and playful! The only huge difference is that, now the boys are singing about their wives instead of their girlfriends, and I can’t be too sad about crushed dreams when they’re a trio of powerful women themselves, one of which freaking played Sansa Stark!

Baby, I’m a Sucker for a fun comeback!

Number 17: Higher – Ally Brooke & Matoma

Former Fifth Harmony member and slayer of high notes, Ally Brooke gave me my favorite non-Lizzo empowerment bop of 2019 with Higher!

There’s power and energy here that elevate this song above her previous two solo singles Low Key (A store-brand version of Camila Cabello’s Havana) and Lips Don’t Lie (Sexy and cool, but I don’t need to have it playing on a loop or promote it to others.) It’s a friendly reminder of how much you can succeed with love, gratitude, and confidence on your side, and I even got to be blessed enough to witness the first time Ally ever sang it live (before its studio release!) at a radio event in Dallas Texas.

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HIGH-KEY HIGH-KEY @AllyBrooke is a QUEEN!! 🎶💖🎉💋🔥🎶 I LOVED hanging with 1/5 of my all-time favorite girl group ( @fifthharmony ! 💖💜) in our homestate of Texas! 🤠 She’s got MOVES, we were silver glitter #nailtwins ✨✨ and my excitement for her solo music couldn’t be Higher! 😉💖🎶🔥👑💋

A post shared by 💜Dana💜 (@danathefangirl) on Aug 20, 2019 at 5:21pm PDT

Additionally Ally’s an incredible dancer! Girl can put on a show!

Here’s hoping she keeps up the momentum in her solo career and elevates herself into mainstream as Camila and Normani have, because she’s “Worth It”! 😉

Number 16: Never Satisfied -Scotty Sire

I think that one of the biggest problems that humans can give themselves is constantly trying to make their lives go too fast. It’s okay to be aware of what the next task you have to do or problem you have to face is, but it’s hard to enjoy or even focus on something you’re doing in a more present moment when you’re too worried about or preoccupied with something that you haven’t even faced yet. It’s hard to get any satisfaction in your life that way, and I’m quite familiar with this problem and feeling.

Anyway, you have to remember to be grateful for the good things in your life that you do have and attempt to keep your focus on whatever you feel would be best/most helpful thing to do with your life at any given moment and try and give your full attention to that. If overwhealmed by several tasks, start with the most important one and try to ignore the others until it’s finished, and break overwhealming tasks down into more manageable ones, and give yourself enough of a break.

Anyway, it’s good to take a breather and try to find the positive light in the situation around you, and then you won’t feel as unsatisfied. Thank you for giving us this musical reminder and bringing up this subject Scotty.

Number 15: fake smile – Ariana Grande

Ariana girl, how do you manage to sound so luxurious whilst having a mental breakdown in the middle of a party?! The execution is brilliant! And that swagger she has on the bridge?! Ugh, it’s too precious!

We all been knew that Ariana’s continued the same charts and conversation domination in 2019 that she’d aquired in 2018 with the release of a little brilliantly-assembled album masterpiece called “thank u, next”. Only this time around, Ariana didn’t have any new big rough patches as she recorded and released more hits and toured the world as an independant single (dangerous) woman.

But this song was released when she was still struggling and that’s ok too, because we still get this tragic, authentic, semi-relatable bop, which gives us reasons to authentically smile now!

Number 14: Anxiety (with Selena Gomez) -Julia Michaels

Well this one got pretty real! My generalized and social anxiety definitly relate enough to this song to claim the musical hug that Julia and Selena are so kindly sharing with the world. And it’s also kind of cute in a way!? Treat people with kindness, cause you don’t know what they’re going through.

Number 13: Adore You -Harry Styles

Do I need to say anything other than it’s Harry Styles singing a chill, catchy, and sexy love song about giving his undivided adoration to his lover (potentially anyone listening!?)??

Yes I will, and it’s that NO ONE ELSE is out inventing an entire fictional island, creating it’s own website, social media, history, map, and fictional story for their music videos! Harry is truely a genius, I’m booking my next trip to Eroda right now! (And returning on an even numbered day, as not to tempt fate of corse. ;))

Number 12: Exhale -Sabrina Carpenter

Exhale contains basically the same message as breathin by Ariana Grande, but it’s a lot more mellow. breathin is more like the overwhelmed anxious feeling before you’re taking the breath, and Exhale is the calmness and steadyness of the breath itself. It’s a truely soothing listen.

Number 11: If I Can’t Have You -Shawn Mendes

I love when Shawn goes bouncy like this!

I can’t tell if this single is off of an upcoming album or a stand-alone but either way, it’s extremely fun, cheerful, and enjoyable to sing!! He’s got a really powerful falsetto!

Number 10: in my head – Ariana Grande

That moment when you realize that reality isn’t as perfect as you dreamed about in your head….

So if you’re heavenly voiced Ariana Grande in said situation you make an…..almost perfect song about it naturally! (SCREW THAT “SCOOT SCOOT” it’s like a small stain that’s only a tiny bit noticeable and doesn’t ruin the beautiful clothing item that you’re obsessed with, but you’re still annoyed that the stain exists.) But otherwise, I liked the lyrics!

I’m not just imagining the greatness here, it’s totally real!

Number 9: Señorita –Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello

Yeah, you know how I mentioned Camila’s skill with sexy, exotic pop earlier?! This might be the peak so far!

So, in case you didn’t know, Camila and Shawn collaborated on another banger back in 2015 called “I Know What You Did Last Summer”. They claimed to just be friends, “but friends don’t know the way you taste” but the sparks were flying all the way up to pluto.

So, they release the Señorita music video and not only do I get a fun and steamy new (Shawn’s bodddyyyy!!!!! )jam that has been running on a loop in my brain for most of 2019 with my approval, but also I get comfirmation these cuties are finally dating and it feels like a beautiful fan fiction come to life!

If you didn’t groove to this at least once, you’re probably a “Liar”

Number 8: Cuz I Love You –Lizzo

Oh my gosh!!!

! In “Cuz I Love You” , the title track of her debut album Lizzo is completly enamored with love for her boyfriend for the first time ever and boy does she BELT IT OUT!! Yet, the verses are simple, goofy hip-hop. She just goes to show how love is such a serious and powerful emotion, and it can bring ya to tears in both negative and positive ways.

Number 7: The Man – Taylor Swift

As you should know I’m a Starbucks Taylor Swift “Lover” myself so, when she decided to release an 18 song (it honestly still feels short, clocking in at 1 hr 1 min) album with the most appropriate Swiftian title ever you bet I was on board!

Taylor goes all the way off exploiting male privilege in this incredible ode to feminism! She’s obviously made all kinds of music, business, chart, and activism history throughout her career, but imagine if she had all the privileges some of her male contemporaries (Drake and Ed, I’m looking at you for examples even if it’s the industries fault!)!

What scrutiny would her love life have gotten then?

Would fingers still have been pointed and eyes rolled at her then for “playing the victim”?

PERHAPS NOT!!

And not to point fingers, but if Taylor were a male artist, might she have more impact on being allowed to own the masters SHE wrote on and recorded? Food for thought! She has every right to make these valid points with her music!

It’s not just Taylor either, it’s a whole music industry and societal problem where the women aren’t being respected and paid as much as the men. We’re taking steps to fix this, but remember to educate yourselves and give the problems the attention that they deserve!

Number 6: Mother’s Daughter -Miley Cyrus

Here we have another woman making a stance about being powerful and free, in a more wild way, naturally!

Miley kicked of her SHE IS COMING EP (The first of three in a full album SHE IS MILEY CYRUS)  in SUCH a powerful and exciting way!! Miley returns to some of the same loose and wild energy encaptured in her Bangerz album era with a welcome flare (She “Can’t Be Tamed” after all), despite the uncomfortable video. I’m curious now, what did Mama Tish get up to back in the day?!?!

Anyway, I’m living for her confident independance!!!!

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STAY TUNED: THE TOP 5 SONGS OF 2019 WILL BE REVEALED AFTER THESE MESSAGES!!

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Number 5: Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince -Taylor Swift

“Wait,” you might say, “Hasn’t Taylor gotten too old to still be singing about high school romances? She just turned 30 after all!” *rolls eyes*

But remember how, suddenly in 2018 Taylor Swift finally started to use her platform to openly talk about politics, promoting the democratic nominee for mayor in Nashville and encouraging people to vote?!

By the way, why was there such social pressure on her to share her political views in the first place?! Many people seemed so skeptical of Taylor for not speaking up, and even after she said that she didn’t feel comfortable and informed enough to speak up before the 2018 post, people remain mad at her. Politics is a heavy topic and she never owed anyone the knowledge of her stances. There were still ways for her to be an activist and support social causes, such as donating to cancer charities and speaking out against artists and songwriters not being paid the right amounts for their music on streaming services.

But anyway, here’s your damn political response Taylor song, which is actually pretty cool. She’s dissapointed in the current status of America and she’s using high school metaphors to explain it all! It’s genius! I love the inclusion of her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn too!

Here’s a full explaination of the song if you want to look into its brilliance more, but I love the story, the cleverness, and how fun it is to sing with! I hope someday we do win the fight, and hopefully progress can be made in the next election.

Number 4: Lose You To Love Me –Selena Gomez

Selena released this stunning ballad about moving on from a toxic relationship (*cough* Justin Bieber *cough*) and learning to love and accept yourself again. I’m supprised that a Selena Gomez song made it this high on my list, but this is the most beautiful and mature thing she’s ever released, and I’m rooting for her! (The Julia Michaels co-write doesn’t hurt either though!)

Number 3: when the party’s over -Billie Eilish

I’ve always been obsessed with Billie’s tone on this borderline breakup song, it’s so gentle and gorgeous! Additionally, I took singing lessons for a brief time last summer, and put this on my setlist, and then I fell in love with the soft-to-louder-to-soft dynamics of the track too.

Number 2: imagine -Ariana Grande

This. is. IT! Dream Pop at it’s ABSOLUTE pinnacle!!! Ariana’s vocals provide dreams I never want to wake up from!!

I feel like “imagine” may be slightly underrated even among the Ariana fandom though! It’s my favorite song from her “thank u, next” album, and it’s extremely impressive!

Ariana is imagining a perfect world with her lover (Sadly, this ones about rapper Mac Miller who died of a drug overdose in September 2018.), but the soaring chorus really can be applicable to achieving any positive goals!

AND THEN SHE HITS YOU WITH THE PHENOMINAL WHISTLE NOTES, AT THE END, YOU KNOW, CAUSE THEY’RE EFFORTLESS!!!

AND THE BEST SONG OF 2019 IS………………….

Number 1: You Need To Calm Down –Taylor Swift

I’m a bit shocked too, but LISTEN!

First off, you can’t deny that it’s pop perfection! The climbing oh-ohs in the chorus just take the all the way up to outer space!

Second off, lets not deny the ICONICNESS of the phrase “You Need To Calm Down” itself, especially when it’s said by a woman as powerful as Taylor Swift herself. It’s so applicable to MANY life situations!

Third off, the more important points. To those people confused about the song’s intentions /doubting the authenticity of Taylor’s inclusion and support of the LGBT+ community, understand that Taylor wrote the song in three parts, all tied together by rejecting the notion of hateful comments both online and real life.

Verse 1/Part 1: Is about general hate online that she and others have faced.

Verse 2/Part 2: Is about the hate that the LGBTQ+ community has faced for loving who they want to love. While it may be true that Taylor hasn’t publicly spoken out for this community before, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t support behind the scenes and she wasn’t prepared/didn’t know how to speak out for them before. She has had fans and friends in the industry that are LGBTQ+ including one of her best friends, fellow Singer/Dancer/Youtuber Todrick Hall who stated this,

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I’m always proud of my friend no matter what, but today I am the most proud I have ever been. When you are a super star of epic proportions it can be terrifying to do things that you and I can do on a day to day basis. Voicing your political or religious beliefs is always going to separate people and potentially create bad blood. I have always defended Taylor because I know her heart, I know how her family raised her and how they’ve treated me and welcomed me into their home, life and family with open arms. When I met her I was a bit afraid to be my true self around her because I didn’t know where she stood on LGBTQ+ rights and I didn’t honestly know if I could explain to someone with blue eyes and blonde hair what it feels like to not only walk around our country, but her neighborhood specifically. We have talked for so many hours about these subjects and she has taken the time to actively listen to me, her queer friend who also happens to be a person of color. Today, for the first time, Taylor unapologetically voiced her opinions and stance on the upcoming Tennesee midterm elections. She openly recognized the issues regarding racial discrimination and she has made me the proud beyond my Wildest Dreams! I know that this was a scary step for you T, but my cheeks are hurting from grinning, I got chills reading your status, I feel heard and valued as a person who lives what some consider an “alternative lifestyle” but what YOU see as a beautiful life. I can’t help but to feel like I played even the smallest of parts in helping you get to this point, and I’m just so dang happy that the world gave you time to learn (in your own way and at your own pace) how important it is for you to speak out and speak now. Just because you like the album Red, doesn’t mean you have to vote that way. This is a HUGE step for you and the world will be a better place if everyone votes for the human rights that we all deserve. You, your family and your team continue to amaze me & teach me how to be a better human every day and I will always be in your corner. So proud to call you my Gorgeous friend. xoxo your #1 cheerleader! Toddy

A post shared by TODRICK (@todrick) on Oct 7, 2018 at 6:20pm PDT

Finally, it isn’t 100% confirmed that Taylor isn’t a part of the LGBTQ+ herself, as she’s made subtle hints about possibly being bisexual such as dying her hair the same colors as the bisexual flag in the “You Need To Calm Down” music video

Bridge/Part 3: Is about the constant pressure that both the media and fans put entertainers, particularly female entertainers, to compete with and outvalue each other. This pressure is unnessesary, as there is room in the industry for multiple female entertainers to suceed in their own unique ways and “We (They) all got crowns”

So, no publicity stunt here, just Taylor releasing an incredible, fun, anti-hate anthem, while kind-heartedly supporting and giving a spotlight to the LGBTQ+ community through a  fun, star-studded music video, and endorising the equality act petition to her widespread audience.

Here’s my lovely playlist of all the essentials!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

AAAANDDDDDD the top 5 albums!!

5) Fine Line -Harry Styles

While I wasn’t feeling as much power and raw standout energy as I did with Harry’s debut self-titled album, Fine Line is still a good collection of songs showcasing a new vulnerable side that we haven’t seen Harry display previously.

4) Romance -Camila Cabello

Camila Cabello’s sophmore solo album Romance is a brilliantly executed concept album about many strong emotions a person can feel over the course of a relationship including love and excitement (“Living Proof,),  lust, (“My Oh My”), denial,(“Liar”), distrust, (“Bad Kind Of Butterflies”) anger (“Cry For Me”) self acceptance (“Easy”) fantasy (“Dream of You) and her lover earning familial trust and acceptance (“First Man”) A more sonically experimental and vocally challenging attempt than Cabello’s debut, despite a few less enamoring tracks and tracks that border on sampling too heavily from artist influences, the album is conceptually and sonically a step in the right direction for Camila.

Number 3: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? -Billie Eilish

18 year old Billie Eilish made a huge and unique impact on the 2019 pop landscape with her incredible debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” .

Known for her gentle whisper tone, edgy, jarring production provided by her brother Finneas and a willingness to venture into darker subjects usually only touched upon by rock acts such as murder (“bury a friend”, “you should see me in a crown”), suicide (“bury a friend”, “listen before i go”), and the harsh impact of drugs (“xanny”) , Billie has already landed a significant place among the boundry pushing pop leaders of history. With this debut album, she’ll easily and impactfully grip your attention!!

Number 2: Lover -Taylor Swift

Now that Taylor Swift no longer feels the need to fight and protect her “Reputation”, sheilding herself from sharing any information with public media for the past 2 years, she has now stepped into the “Daylight” to let previous drama (Well, she’s clearly not scot-free yet, even though if she could just get her master recordings back, she’d be both Scott and Scooter free!)  go, returning her focus to cheerful love songs!

And it’s about time too considering she’s been dating her current “Lover”, “London Boy” Joe Alwyn for three years now, which is a record amount of time for her, and judging by the music, he sounds like a sweet and wonderful guy!

Taylor’s clever songwriting and catchy melodies are as sharp as ever as we go from soon-to-be wedding-song staples (“Lover” “Paper Rings”) to increased social issue commentary (“The Man” “Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince”), to beams of hope (“Soon You’ll Get Better” “Daylight).

Number 1: thank u, next – Ariana Grande

And, Ariana Grande’s thank u next, snatches my top spot for the best album of 2019!

I think Ariana Grande has really grown and come into her own element, making sense and making art out of any issues, breakups, and emotional turmoil that threatens to get in her way.

thank u, next is a beautiful, infectious, and cohesive blend of pop, r&b, hip-hop and all-around talent, reflecting a pop diva in her prime reminding us to respect ourselves and lets us have some fun!

BEST OF 2018:

https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2019/02/08/top-50-best-songs-of-2018/

We’re a “Sucker” for a groovy comeback!!! Single/Music Video Review: “Sucker” -Jonas Brothers (!)

Rumors have been drifting across the vast rivers of the internet for a few weeks…

but on Thursday February 28, the Jonas Brother’s finally announced their reunion.

WHICH LEAD ALL OF THE COOLEST 20-something year olds to have a bit of a meltdown!!

“Burnin’ Up” indeed!

2008:

2019:

The Jo Bros (Are people still going to use that term?) haven’t been together as a music group since releasing their singles “Pom Poms” and “First Time” back in 2013. Three days before their planned tour, they announced a split as a group due to creative differences!

I mean here’s a legit theory:

http://

Does the Jonas brothers reunion have anything to do with the fact that nick Jonas somehow has to fund his 9 wedding receptions

— emma (@emma_toney) February 28, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

But, evidently…we’d be “Sucker (s) if we thought the brothers would never make music together again!

Cover art rating: 6/10

So, they’re in London, and they have this sophisticated architecture and fun balloons thing going on in the background, right?? They’re posing serious, they have a industry to make a new mark on, this is looking pretty dop- …Who switched their outfits out with drapes?? Joe’s is ugly, Kevin’s is ugly and confusing to the eyes, if you’re going for a wave pattern make the sections the same length! Nick’s works but just barely! I’m not feeling the yellow collar and I’d sort of like jeans more than the pink pants, even if it’s too simple.

---

Old school London, perfect for old school Disney rock royalty…

Or chaos! Remember who we’re dealing with!! 😉

WHY COULDN’T THEY HAVE JUST WORN THOSE OUFITS FOR THE SINGLE COVER??

NICK’S. ARMS.!!!

He’s a buff boi now!!

That’s not fair!

“Tattoo inside my brain” That sounds painful! I don’t think tattoos work that way!

Oh HEY, the Jonas wives Pryanka Chopra, Sophie Turner ( technically a wive-to-be)  and Danielle.. Delesa? (It’s been a minute since Kevin’s wedding!)  are making their “Video Girl” debut! They’re looking fierce, and fabulous, yet they’re playful and have the same fun energy as the guys!

So… they’re at least essentially everything we’ve expected to be… I mean… expected the guys to have!

Look at Danielle walking all those Corgis like a BOSS!  That’s a queen in my books!

We Stan!

So the Jonas Sistahs do seem a bit overdressed in the video…. but they’re in a castle so I’d supposed it would make sense. Royalty goes with being elaborate like milk goes with cookies basically!

….Uh can someone tell her that the acronym for “Game Of Thrones” is G-O-T not G-O-A-T! Haha!

Baths outside are so extra! But… the question is… would it be more relaxing since, under good weather conditions, being outside is relaxing?!

Honestly, this is a MOOD! Kevin was always kind of the joke member of the group anyway. I wonder if the band had come out a little later, would we be making him more of a meme?

He rode a sheep for god’s sake!! It’s the best/most ridiculous part of the video, yet the internet can’t handle it well enough to make a gif out of it…. for good reason, I’d assume!

Are they mocking our reactions to the Jonas Brother’s comeback or what? Raise your hand if you feel attacked!

We get it Pryanka and Nick, you’re adorable, beautiful-looking newlyweds! Please stop?/continue? to rub it in our faces!

Sansa Stark who?? The only badass queen I know is Sophie Turner!! Joe always did seem like he needed to be put in his place!

What a legendary family portrait!!! Someone call every single ART gallery on the planet!

Song/Single Rating: 8/10 Only ride-or-dies know how truly wondrous of a blessing it is to hear Joe and Nick singing together again! It feeds our souls! It’s really cute though, that their singing about their wives and falling for them! You can’t help but think that they’re trolling the fans a bit with the “sucker” title on their first single release in 6 years, which is brilliant. Nick is a smooth falsetto king, and I’d be down with him getting more recognition for that. The song kind of reminds me of “Feel It Still” by Portugal. the Man, it’s got that old-school and fun rock feel. Additionally, the whistling is awesome! Is Kevin actually doing that, or does it just look like that in the video, because it would be really funny if he actually did that! Anyway, I’m a sucker for a dancy comeback with cool whistling, it’s extremely satisfying!!

Music Video Rating: 8.5/10 The Jonas Brothers have always been about good times and good vibes, and causing chaos in a castle with their wives makes for a gorgeous and entertaining comeback! It was over-the-top in places but overall lets raise a toast to our new royal family!

Watch:

Single Link: https://jonasbrothers.lnk.to/suckerTw

Red Carpet Talk! Grammy’s 2019

Welcome to Red Carpet talk where I discuss all kinds of award show fashion and give them a rating/10!

THE GOOD 🙂 :

Alicia Keys

Classy! Old school. She did a wonderful job hosting the Grammy’s, she seems so chill and nice! She also kept a focus on the themes of music and female empowerment, which there really cannot be enough of! That being said…I don’t care for a button-down dress that much..

Rating: 7.0/10

Alessia Cara

Gothic, yet elegant. Is she a vampire? The lipstick’s on point.

Rating: 7.2/10

Brandi Carlile

We love a shiny shimmery splendid suit jacket! I didn’t know who she was until the Grammy’s but her song the “The Joke” is dang great, no joke! It’s badass when girls rock suits.

Rating: 8.4/10

Dolly Parton

The dress part is great, it’s the gold buckle-like part that’s… interesting. I like the pattern, but it’s an odd structure.

Rating: 7.3/10

Bebe Rexha

Frill-Mania! Even the frills of this dress have their own freaking frills! I’m not a frill fan and the top part is too distance, but she pulls it off!

Rating: 7.4/10

Jennifer Lopez

I get a sophisticated southern, possibly New-Mexican vibe! This could be in a painting.

Rating: 7.6/10

Little Big Town

Alright I guess. I don’t vibe with nude dresses much, it’s kind of weird. Patterned blazers are kind of awesome though.

Rating: 7.1 /10

Pentatonix

Wait… that weird belt dress is famil-

YEP! #StillUglybutDemiWoreItBetterOFC.. #AirplaneBuckles …. Stealing her #1 album on Itunes in 2015 wasn’t enough?

I also need to dock points for the detective coat…wtf?

But I’m down for the plaid!

Rating: 7.3/10

Backstreet Boys

Classy dudes in suits! The shade and bowtie seems to be kind of a suave, yet-still-goofy thing, it somehow seems to balance itself out?

Rating:7.7/10

H.E.R.

Do you see the purple bedazzled royalty realness?? Maybe I’d like to know of H.E.R.! Not to mention the matching shades, like there’s some flare over here!

Rating: 8.6/10

Lady Gaga

The most elegant Chipotle burrito I have ever seen! … That’s not even unusual by Gaga standards.

Rating: 8.5/10

Miley Cyrus

Miley’s been extremely photogenic lately,…. every twitter picture has just been a straight up flawless WIN! Love the hair, love the eyes, the top looks a bit saggy… but C,mon!

Rating: 8.7/10

Tori Kelly

Black dress, nice and fresh.

Rating: 8.8/10

Zedd

I like the minimalist natural coat design, yes! Spice up those suits!

Rating: 8.5/10

Shawn Mendes

My clue, is Shawn’s a handsome man in blue. Why haven’t I seen guys wear blue suits more?

Rating: 9/10 (If it wasn’t A MAN like Shawn, and the Grammy’s, I could imagine knocking points for simplicity.)

Dula Peep (I’m always gonna find that funny for whatever reason..)

Dula Lipa

We love a sparkly stunner!  Shine bright like a Dua!

Rating: 9.6/10

BEST DRESSED:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Camila Cabello!

1

Evidently, the author of this blog is a basic bitch who LOVES pink glitter! Or, for that matter, ANY glitter!! But c,mon, Camila’s a princess and a boss and she KNOWS it! Just look at that pose! She’s SERVING us that sparkly pink heart love!

Rating: 9.8/10

Honorable-Mention/Best Dressed that-almost-showed-up-for-the-Grammy’s….. but-she’s-too-damn-good-for-them….but-Rocked-the-princess-dress-anyway (She got into an argument with a producer)

Ariana Grande

“So.. I canceled getting married and going to the Grammies, but I’m STILL going to ROCK a wedding dress because I love myself and… oh yeah I bought rings for me and 6 friends and made a chart slaying BANGER out of it!” is the kind of energy we all NEED in 2019! How is she so gorgeous and adorable!?!

Additionally,

 

These spot-the-difference games really are getting harder, RIGHT?!

Rating: 10/10 + “7 rings”

THE BAD 😦 :

Meghan Trainor

‘

The chest is too wide, and it looks like a bad disco outfit!  The shine of the silver sleeves looks promising… until you see the rest of the outfit!

Rating: 6.6/10

Maren Morris

“GIRL”, I am not feeling the flower power with those colors! Shoulders may be round, but I don’t think they work as flowerpots either.

Rating: 6.5/10

Katy Perry

Wait…

Didn’t Rhianna already try the Barbie Cake Topper look??

YES, and it was better!! Be more original Katy! And, feel free to add length and better fuzz, and… not make your midsection quite so balloon shaped..

Rating: 6.3/10

Cardi B

Why is she a clam? We get it Cardi, you have “Money” and pearls! Did we have to unwrap a dress? Where did the flowers come from too, you don’t associate flowers and the ocean, unless your watching “Spongebob” or something! I know some people probably wish she’d clam up with her braggy and sexual verses and her “Okrrrrrrrrrrrr” catchphrase, but I don’t think this is what they meant!

Rating: 5.9/10

Charlie Puth

Charlie…poop suit. I’m uneasy with the color, the buttons are odd and half-done, and his hair as of late always looks like he just got out of bed in the morning, which annoys me every time!

Rating: 5.7/10

Kelsea Ballerini

Nude dresses… “thank u, next!” Though, maybe if I think of it as like a horses mane..

Rating: 6/10

Worst Dressed

Kacey Musgraves

The country girlies are really being a letdown in the outfit department huh? ….. Look at me and tell me this outfit doesn’t look like a Kleenex with a hair tie around it. It works for saving food, but in what world does it work for the 2019 Album of the year winner at the Grammys?! Not this one.

Rating: 4/10

THE..QUIRKY ?? :

Janelle Monae

Frills for days. What’s up with the graduation cap too? Someone put a glittery hole in a piece of paper, and let her try to combine the most prestigious music award show, high school, and an awards assembly? Seems a bit confusing and unnecessary.

Rating: 6.7/10

Tierra Whack

I don’t know who Tierra Whack is.. but her outfit was definitely wacky! In a beautiful, rainbow-coated muppet-like way! I wouldn’t mind running into this very artistic bird!

Ella Mai

She took a rug and got herself “Blue’d Up”! Or a curtain. I’m not sure which, but it looks pretty regal.

Rating: 8.4/10

thank u, next….. Album Era!! Album Review: Ariana Grande: “thank u, next”

“Billboard’s” Woman of the Year 2018 and all around sweet, yet tough pop legend Ariana Grande has been working hard, since on February 8th, she has released her second album within the past 6 months!

And… it’s actually better!? An artist being in such a hurry to get their album out doesn’t sound like it would lead anywhere too promising..

However, when they’ve had a whirlwind year, including calling off an engagement, and the tragic passing of one of their exes, I suppose there’s no shortage of feelings to write about.

And, in terms of production… well, we get to say “thank u, next” to Pharrell Williams, who supplied us with some of “Sweetener”‘s … iffier tracks (“THE LIGHT IS COMING TO GET BACK EVERYTHING THE DARKNESS STOLE!”)

(To his credit…. I’ll willingly claim “get well soon” in a HEARTBEAT!)

In her latest project “thank u, next” ,Ariana continues to enhance her sound, show off her honest and reflective side, BLOW US away with her smooth angelic vocals, and oh yeah… SAVE the unhealthy chart landscape as of lately.

Then, there’s the matter of the latest record she broke….

https://www.billboard.com/video/bbnews021919grande1-8499052

WHAT. A. LEGEND!!!!!!!

No big deal or anything!!!!

Cover Art: 8.8/10

I gave “Sweetener” a 7.4 on my unfinished review. I talked about her “upside down” theme and how I appreciated it, and how it made sense when examined on an emotional level. (She’s also notably had her eyes closed for her 1st two album covers)

Well, she said this about her more recent cover

she still upside-down. but this time she kinda ……… fucks w it lol.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) January 23, 2019

And I feel like.. it’s pretty spot on for what she delivered!

The cover looks so dark and edgy! Look at the tats!

Additionally… can you really go wrong with a stunning shimmering topless silver glitter portrait..?

I. think. NOT!

…….. 🙂

Nuff said..

1) imagine

This is dreamland!!

“Stayin up all night order me pad thai, then we goin sleep till noon.” It’s the little things that matter sometimes!

I LIVEEE for that buildup before the chorus! This whole song is just her distributing her vocal powers wisely!!

“IMAAAAAAGGGGINEEEE”

If you want to turn the dreamy clouds grey, you could think about the theory of this being about Mac Miller and Ariana imagining if things had turned out differently and perfectly… 😦 but…. hey, just because you could think deeper, doesn’t mean you should..

Listening like this is an option

“drift, drift, drift”

That is….. until the

WHISTLE NOTES!!!!

WHAT TYPE OF WONDEROUS MARIAH CAREY SORCERY?!?!?!?

Slow down girl, this is track one! Actually…feel free to “pick it up” you Queen! 😉

2) needy

If you haven’t noticed, Ariana has this same, pulsing and insistent piano beat going on in the background for this entire song, and it illustrates the emotion, and it’s incredible!

I remember that she also posted a teaser snippet of this on twitter, making the whole fandom act thirsty and well… more needy than usual! Ugh, her brilliant mind!!

“passionate but I don’t give no fucks” Hey, this is a great mood when it’s kept in balance!

“I admit that I’m a lil messed up, but I can hide it when I’m all dressed up” Haha! Isn’t that real?

“good at overthinking with my heart” It’s probably more enjoyable than overthinking with your head… at least in the moment! Love is great!

At 1:22 we get our first “yuh” of this album! Personally, I can’t get enough of her adorable new catchphrase/rap ad-lib! It’s one of my favorite things about “Sweetener” and I’m glad it carried over! I’ve also wound up saying “yuh” instead of yeah in everyday conversation quite a bit and…I’m not sorry about it! Just following the queen!

Personally, I’ve gotten needy and clingy if I really care about a person before. I can be pretty all or nothing depending on my motives, so yeah, I know her feeling.

“Tell me how good it feels to be needed”

And the desperation! Because, I hate feeling like I’m not necessary and important.

She’s both way too damn needy and way too damn dreamy! For real, I give her the directors chair for the top selling daydream soundtrack because she’s that soft!

3) NASA

That intro! Get that gender equality!

http://

You can’t convince me that Queen @ArianaGrande DOESN’T OWN the ENTIRE sky at this point!! ☁️💖✨☁️🌙💫✨☀️🌜🖤 pic.twitter.com/89dSaRBc2s

— 💜✨ Dana✨💜 (@Danathefangirl2) February 8, 2019

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As if basically owning the earth and heavens wasn’t good enough, she’s setting her sights on space too!

IT’S SUCH A BOP!!!!

She’s got both spell-it-out-like-elementary-school pop and this bouncy beat that reminds me spirals!

Or something to this effect..

“N-A-S-A” Should fans do hand motions such as with the “YMCA”? I feel like we’re becoming her cheerleaders..

I’m 100% here for this! A lot of shots of outer space are beautiful! Plus, this epic interaction happened!

http://

🖤🖖🏼🌑👩🏼‍🚀 https://t.co/yjZ9TCz7kn

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 8, 2019

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I mean, she does mean physical space in the song, but that’s why it’s clever!

“Keep me in your arm, but than I know you’ll drag me under” Ariana, I should have went over this on the last album in “better off”… but honey, don’t sing the phrase “keep me in your arm” because your annunciation issues make it sound like you’re saying armpit. I simply cannot unhear that!

If this song doesn’t give way to Excellent merch ideas I swear….

4) bloodline

She has her Nona (Italian word for Grandma) saying the beginning, and honest to god, it was about time she was on a track! (Besides being the cutest ever in “Daydreamin’ ” on Ari’s debut album) The Ariana army knows how funny and awesome she is!

She’s got those horns going like on “High Hopes” by Panic! at the Disco! Honestly, we LOVE a brass buildup!

Trumpets = HYPE AMPLIFICATION!

You know what else is great?! The bloodline theme implying royalty! She knows her place and worth!

This also reminds me of “Queen” by Shawn Mendes, it has that same sass to the exes!

“Don’t want you in my bloodline…”

YUHHHH!!

She also believes that she has the right to hide a high note in the background…

Cool make us do a double take like that! Steal our wigs without us even acknowledging we’re bald for the first minute! It’s totally Fine!

5) fake smile

Okay old-school static record sound intro! That’s so cool!

Now we’re getting into hip-hop edgy Ari! She’s had some missteps in figuring out that sound before, but the queen’s got a flow! And this has to be one of the catchiest songs on the album!

Aww she’s really been going through it here! Yeah, it’s okay no need to fake emotions!

That vocal run!! It sounds like a deep breath, but in music form, and I’m in love with it!

That bridge though! That’s one of the sassiest and most badass things ever! Act tough until you feel tough? Sounds like a good plan!

6) bad idea

Ariana acts on her “bad idea”, because we all know she likes to make “Bad Decisions” 😉

OH MY GOSH, THIS BEAT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO MOVE!!!! It’s so bouncy!

 

“I just wanna roll with it”

Want to know what one bit I thought was a “bad idea” on Ari’s part? The unnecessary “yeah” and “uh huh” in the background that sounds like a crowd of children. It’s not really a pleasing sound, so I’m glad the beat is louder!

Oh but, don’t worry, it slows down a bit and there’s a “bow down to my vocals” moment in case you were dancing too hard to remember what extra queen you were listening to!

And it finishes off with a whole orchestra and then the beat comes back and there’s some distortion! I have a feeling this is going to be some EPIC tour transition music! Imagine the background lights and stuff! I remember Ariana did some interesting drumming and production stuff for “Knew Better/Forever Boy” on her last tour, and it made me pay a lot more attention to that song than usual. And here my energy and attention is already up… so this is going to be Good!

7) make up

I don’t think the double meaning of “make up” works as well as it did with space in “NASA“

The production was working Amazingly!  Why’d we have to go and make it sound like an ice cream truck here?

“Highlight of my life just like that Fenty beauty kit” Okay, give Rihanna that promo than! I like it!

“issa mood issa vibe” Leave it to Ariana to blend those terms into the lyrics!

Honestly, I think this track needed better foundation. It’s not really a highlight…. and it’s not really (lip) sticking. But since it’s Ariana, she’ll definitely “make up” for it!

8) ghostin

I missed this gentle emotional ballad sound on “Sweetener”, it reminds me of songs on Ariana’s first two albums. It feels like it fits Ariana really well.. though… OOH, THIS IS SAD!

http://

So the song “ghostin” is about Ariana Grande mourning Mac Miller and apologizing to Pete Davidson for having to see her in that state #ThankUNextAlbum pic.twitter.com/W5RvEzezeZ

— sol is not okay (@lovegood28) February 8, 2019

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“Every tear’s a rain parade from hell”

So… that would mean she’s singing about ghostin’ an actual ghost/dead person? Who would have thought that she could apply a modern slang word in such a deep way??

If anything could make me feel bad for Pete Davidson it would be this song. (He made some… questionable at best.. jokes concerning Ariana). You can really feel how Mac Miller’s death was an everyone loses situation on this track.

One more sad fact… I heard that “ghostin‘” samples the instrumental part of Mac’s song “2009″

It’s really SO beautiful and raw!!

 

….

9) in my head

She put her friend Doug Middlebrook in the intro from a voicemail, that’s nice!

Ah yes, I think we ALL

may know the feeling of having a fantasy vision in our heads of how we think things are, but it turns out to have no correlation with reality.

I dig the distorted beat too! And the lyrics are super visual!!

The first time I heard this album I thought…

“Ariana’s new hip-hop sound is interesting.. sometimes it works and sometimes it dosen’t, but at least it’s a whole lot easier to sing along wi-

*Ariana sings the word head and hits a big note on the head*

NEVER MIND!”

“Look at you, boy I invented you, Gucci tennis shoes running from your issues” I shouldn’t love that second line nearly as much as I do! Blame the wordplay!

“They see Cain and I see Abel” OKAY,  it was about time this godly woman included another bible reference!

…Why did she go and knock the rating down with the cringe-worthy “Scoot Scoot”!? She was doing so well, and the unfortunate lyrics and production were so much lower than “Sweetener” both the song and album!

However, everything else about the song definitely makes up for that little bump!

“I see your potential when I see them credentials.  Maybe that’s the issue. ” Seems like it’s what’s on the inside that counts huh?

Additionally, I feel like this is most likely (I’d wager 90%) about Pete Davidson, and OOH! Like.. sure he’s big on SNL.. but I have seen that he’s made some sketchy comments, so maybe he’s not as good of a person as he may seem on TV. Hence this ART! YAY!

10) 7 rings http://

Only an icon like Ariana Grande would combine the musical theatre masterpiece of “My Favorite Things” with the hooky rap flow of Soulja Boy’s “Pretty Boy Swag” 😂 7 rings is braggy, but its creative!💍👏🏻

— 💜✨ Dana✨💜 (@Danathefangirl2) January 19, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

This track honestly had no such right to grow on me as much as it freaking did!

I feel like it’s a song that’s pretty black and white… either you hate it or you love it….or you pretend to hate it but secretly love it/love it because it’s dumb and fun!

If Ariana had released this in 2014, the flames of those diva rumor fires might have burned her whole career! It’s one of those shallow and pretentious, “Oh look I’m so much richer than you, so therefore I’m better” songs… but there’s a catch and that’s the flare of Ariana’s personality, which…goes a long way for this bop!

I’d say that and the background story give this song major credit with me!

I kind of dig the idea that she bought herself and her friends wedding rings! Sure it’s being EXTRA… but in the most lovable way possible! Sign me up, I want that bling, I want to be part of that squad deal!! From a person as cool as Ariana it’s hard to imagine not accepting that deal!

The samples aren’t original, but only Ariana would blend musical theater and hip-hop in such a matter, and since she’s over-the-top and a pop queen, the result happens to be infectious AF!

“Write my own checks like I write what I sing” OH YES!!

“Been through some bad shit, I should be a sad bitch. Who would have thought it turn me to a savage?” One of my favorite lines on the entire album!!    …If rhyming those terms isn’t enough, it matches up with  Queen Demi Lovato in “Sorry Not Sorry”…”Payback is a bad bitch and baby I’m the baddest! You’re fucking with a savage! Can’t have this, can’t have this!”

“You like my hair… gee thanks just bought it!” This line is too funny to hate, please come for me!

This chorus may be basic and braggy, but hey! We can have fun and there’s no association with Bop It….but never mind, since the majority of us are cash-conscious-to-broke…

And she rubs that fact in our faces…”Who ever said money can’t solve your problems, must not have had enough money to solve em” Ariana this may not be healthy, and it’s definitely not a good message to be sending!

I  lowkey live for the way she sings “Shine” though

And then, there’s the adorable little “I seen it” echo. Okay.. we get it! You’re cute and likable! That doesn’t mean you should endorse that we go out and spend our life savings to solve our sadness!

And next thing you know,

is…trying to brainwash you by not going out of your head for the next 72 hours..

“Stacked up like my ass” Did we NEED that??

Here’s where the flow goes nuts and…it’s not my favorite in the world but okay girl..

“I don’t mean to brag but I’m like, put it in the bag” has no legal right to be that infectious!! Ugh.

So we’re left with a bop that’s iconic in all the wrong… and right places.

She liked it so she put 7 rings on it!

11) thank u, next

From the slang-worthy title, to the music video flavored with favorite films, does anything other than “Iconic!!” need to be said??

Yuh… the fact that the chorus can also be heard as “Bacon, eggs” and I can’t erase that from my mind! Haha!

Seriously though, it’s a gentle, reflectively honest masterpiece that’s bold enough to drop her exs names, but unlike most songs in that vein, kills them with kindness and gets their consent. Cute and classy!

12) break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored

*Cue headline* “SCANDALOUS!!: ARIANA GRANDE ADVOCATES CHEATING?!”

Yuh, don’t take this one too seriously!  Maybe Ariana should be more careful with the messages her songs could send?

She’s really corrupting us by making this one also a slangy catchphrase! Dammit! Plus, it’s kind of funny!

“Break up with your girlfriend…

cause I’m booorred!”

I swear she goes “yuh yuh…. yeah yeah” at some points, and it’s stupidly awesome!

“Prac-tic-ally” Finally! Welcome to annunciation lessons honey! Her saying all three syllables like that issa vibe.

I feel like it’s a more corrupted version of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me”, because at least in that one the girl and the guy had a background as friends and he dated this girl that didn’t know what was best for him (an mean, bitchy cheerleader if we’re going of the music video) but the friend/Taylor did know so that’s why she wanted to date him. Ariana’s just doing it to cause drama because she’s bored, which is a

!

But….

just listen to the flow on the bridge!

I honestly don’t think Ariana’s being that serious though so…

 

Album Rating: 9.2/10 

“thank u, next” is dethroning “Dangerous Woman” (Here are my thoughts on that album! https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/sweet-and-tiny-yet-dangerous-album-review-ariana-grande-dangerous-woman/) as my favorite queen Ariana album?? Yuh! And from her project “Sweetener” 6 months ago which I probably would have given only a 7.6/10 for being so hit and miss, I wouldn’t have guessed it! But, “thank u, next” seems to be Ariana’s most authentic (balancing out the r&b, pop, and new hip-hop stylings) and honest album yet, as she continues to ride out her upside down feelings. On top of that the production is cohesive, and the songs are fun and catchy! It definitely feels much more put together as a whole, and overall more fun than “Sweetener” did, and despite minor missteps and questionable moral messages, it proves how much Ariana has come into her element!

Fave Tracks/Top 5:

1) “imagine”

2) “in my head”

3) “fake smile”

4) “ghostin”

5) “bad idea”

Least Fave Tracks/Bottom 3: …. *already regrets the new ranking system because I’m having myself pick what i feel are the weakest 3 songs even if I love them*

1) “make up” (Such an improvement over the last album, because it’s the only track I’d skip!)

2) “7 rings”

3) “break up with your girlfriend i’m bored”  (Which I was considering for the top 5 so that’s definitely a mixed response!)

Album link:

https://arianagrande.lnk.to/tun-album

TOP 50 BEST SONGS OF 2018

Welcome to my 50 favorite songs of 2018 , a year in which, frankly I let myself forget for the most part that I even blog about music sometimes!

Does that possibly mean I have any bit of responsibility for the insane amount of mindless hip-hop garbage clogging up the streaming numbers and Billboard charts last year? (it’s not ALL bad, but…Drake’s pretty overrated and barely any part of me wants to even try to understand the appeal of Post Malone.)

Perhaps it would be useful to have someone other than the artists themselves try to influence the taste of the general population and save ears from bleeding and brains from melting?

Hey, I’m informed about popular music, and have another list of favorite choices so I’ll give it a shot! Personally I LOVE a year-end roundup list anyway!

Number 50: Rumors – R3hab ft Sofia Carson

Rumor has it that this is a big BOP!! Her character Evie in Disney’s Descendants movies (I recommend that people of ANY age watch these if they’re into Disney fairy tales and splendid soundtracks!) may be “Chillin’ Like a Villain”, but that doesn’t mean society should villainize her relationships in real life. A bouncy snap-filled EDM banger!

Number 49: Love Lies -Khalid ft Normani

Are better vibes even possible from these two new talented r&b newcomers? It’s as chill as a penguin and very fun to sing! And Normani dropped some Beyonce-level choreography at the Billboard award performance, she was actually the literal definition of STAR POWER!

Number 48: Tonight Belongs To You – In Real Life

I LOVE  a cute, chill Boy Band ! (They won the tv show Boy Band ) I also happened to spend a whole day this summer binging their YouTube videos.  Post One Direction, ( 😦 ) Why Don’t We seems to be the latest and greatest boyband, but I’d definitely have room in my heart for these cuties if they made more music (but they’re with Disney-based Hollywood Records…yikes that isn’t too hopeful!)  Anyway, here’s an adorable, inspirational latin-based guitar jam!

Number 47: Familiar – Liam Payne ft J Balvin

Speaking of Latin-influenced music, here’s what I believe to be Liam Payne’s best post-band work! While some of his other work is cute for just a mere minute, I’d go out on a limb and say this probably deserved some of the radio success as Spanglish jams as Justin Bieber and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” or Cardi B, J Balvin and Bad Bunny’s “I Like It”. Despite any radio overkill, I’m all for the cultural music interjection anyway, international success for artists is great, and it helps me brush up on my Spanish!  Liam’s verses are playful and cheeky, Balvin’s Spanish blends well, and the song definitely gets well inside your brain!

Number 46: High – Wethan ft Dua Lipa (Side note: I understand the concept of producers getting credited for songs first, but my brain won’t fully accept it, because I always pay more attention to the singer.)

Once again, lets ignore that the song comes from … Those… *shudder*

From the grit in Dua’s voice, to the wobbly beat, to the build up, the tune’s as elevating as its title! And…. kind of sexy at that! Maybe it’s a high, on life and Love! Don’t do drugs kids!

Number 45: Wanted -Todrick Hall

Todrick’s just amazing at creating musical-visual MASTERPIECES! He released his second visual album “Forbidden”  on March 29 2018 and it gets, honest, political (reversing cultural “norms” of race and romantic rights), thrilling, AND tragic! I chose “Wanted” because it’s a true fighting/ hype up song and it kicks the whole project off super well! However, that hour-long album movie experience of “Forbidden” is 100% worth having in your life!  Put some respect on Todrick, he’s clever, talented, and fabulous!

Number 44: Everything Is Fine -All Time Low

So… All Time Low basically made a song out of this meme…

And it’s honestly fine! Even when nothing else is!

They sure knew people needed an apathetic anthem! Drown problems out with music and pretend not to care! …Yeah, this one got too REAL. Especially considering the state of the world we live in sometimes.

But at least we have this jam! Sometimes you just have to blast music until you’re able to be hopeful again, and everything actually feels fine.

Number 43: Say Something– Justin Timberlake ft Chris Stapleton

Simultaneously acoustic and electronic, Timberlake’s smooth tenor blended with Stapleton’s strong bass, this duet just WORKS! (At least something on Timberlake’s “Man Of The Woods” album did, “Filthy” and “Supplies” sure didn’t! *cringes*) I particularly love the harmony on the second verse. “Sometimes the greatest way to say something, is to say nothing at all” I think talking may be overrated sometimes, there are other ways to communicate. However, getting too stuck in your own head can be bad too. (…)  Honestly, this is chill campfire music at its finest! I can get “caught up in the rhythm of it”.

Number 42: My Blood -Twenty One Pilots

This one’s so sweet! It’s most likely about one of Tyler Joseph’s relatives (hence My Blood, at least that’s how I interpret it) facing some kind of a rough struggle, and he’s basically saying he’ll support them and go with them through the metaphoric dark cave and help and defend them! PS: The bass is also DOPE!! PPS: I need to get more into TOP SOON and check out a full album. Everything I’ve heard about them has seemed to live up to the hype online.

Number 41: I’m A Mess -Bebe Rexha

I love how proud Bebe is of having a messy life! The intention is to love yourself even at your craziest and messiest, yeah that was needed in a pop hit! The chorus also kind of reminds me of Bitch by Meredith Brooks in a good way! Sound the alarms and crank up Bebe’s best song yet! PS: I like the video! Ever seen a pop girly showcase in a psch ward? Not until now!

Number 40: Without Me -Halsey

Did Halsey’s breakup with G-Easy turn into a heartache banger OR WHAT?! She protecc but he ignore… (better than if he attacc but still painful!) The “Cry Me a River” sample in the bridge is also a nice touch!

Number 39: Trust Fund Baby -Why Don’t We

Boyband newcomers Why Don’t We step on the scene with this bold and brassy banger co-written by none other than Ed Sheeran. They don’t want to date some rich bitch, they just want someone humble and down and dirty! (No! Literally! “Dirt on her jeans”) Corbyn’s voice squeaks on the second verse are also the best!

Number 38: Curious -Hayley Kiyoko

Yay 20gayteen! Hayley Kiyoko’s (Disney channel alum, music video directing icon, and fan-christened “Lesbian Jesus”) first single of her debut album Expectations is a sassy bass-driven banger!  This song also contains one of the best/most fun rap flows that I’ve EVER heard, right before the playful “I’m just curious is it serious?” line!

Number 37: Heart To Break -Kim Petras

R&B singer Ella Mai may have had a cute, successful (mildly overrated?) heart-related 2018  hit with her single “Boo’d Up” but honestly this one seems more powerful to me! The beat is super effective at mimicking a heartbeat in a dancy way and it’s a builder too as Petra’s range goes up and down. She shows promise, and this song was definitely hit worthy!

Number 36: Heaven –  Julia Michaels

… This is downright hypnotic!

Honestly I just lose myself in that xylophone…. and hey, if someone crushes on a bad boy, than so be it! Just proceed with caution! Not to mention, I saw a Julia Michaels show last summer and this happened! 🙂 YAY!

Number 35: There You Are -ZAYN

My favorite song on Zayn’s new sophomore album “Icarus Falls” (Dope! Though sometimes his production loses me and my attentive ears..) Wow this MAN does great romance songs! (Let Me also gives SUCH an aura of chocolates, flowers, hearts, and candles, but this is slightly sweeter!) It’s strong, solid and cute!

Number 34:  Wasabi – Little Mix

I can’t say I was expecting this one! It changes sounds like 4 different times! That’s NUTS! It definitely grew on me when I was listening to Little Mix’s/the most criminally underrated and under-promoted girl group in the whole world right now ‘s new album (Literally called LM5… that’s TOO FAR! Fans call albums that when we DON’T know the title, combining initials and numbers for the literal title is lazy !) Jesy’s big lip mumbling drove me a little nuts but then they hit you with the harmonies and the Gwen Stefani esque rock bit! I also won’t knock the silverware clanging like who would have though you can make a catchy! bop with your breakfast spoon! Plus this goes IN on the media! “Bet they gonna break up, but what the hell do you know?” They’re savages, and they actually have SUCH a strong friendship. It reminds me of “Always Be Together” off their first album… maybe that was cupcakey to say, but it’s evolution!

Number 33: Summer On You – PRETTYMUCH

More sweet boyband serenades! While PRETTYMUCH haven’t captivated me as much as some of their contemporary competition, they did land a spot on my list again for a smooth, romantic song! I love snaps in songs too! I think they’re right to have love be a priority over money!

Number 32: Crazy – New Hope Club

OK, OK, OK, but….1) They’re British! 2) They post song covers on Youtube on the regular! 3) …I’ll be damned if I don’t love a cutie with an acoustic guitar. (a la Bieber and Mendes)… or 3!!  As far as the song goes, give it on back to her, banter is fun! Side note … I kind of feel like going to have fun at the beach 😉

Number 31: Monster – Gabbie Hanna

Okay, All awesome memes aside…. (Genius had microphone issues while interviewing Gabbie, causing the sound to not sync up while she sang, hence, …well…3:17)

(Skip to 0:53)

IT’S ACTUALLY A GREAT SONG!! Don’t make assumptions off the meme incident! There’s a lot of raw power to those notes and her voice and there are great videos of her singing other stuff live online. I dig it really, the track itself sounds great! It’s kind of an extreme take on “It’s not you… it’s me”. Additionally, I kind of wonder if there’s more to the story behind it, especially considering “Monster (Reborn)” and the shocking turn at the end of the music video!

Number 30: All We Know –Alessia Cara

What do humans know about life or anything anyway? How much are we just pretending to know? Finally some relatable musical tea on existential crises yay! If young Taylor Swift was the kind girl-next-door neighbor who welcomed you with a smile and freshly baked cookies, Alessia Cara would be the neighbor sitting in the corner with headphones, a poetry book, her signature beanie (“Here”), and a lot of unspoken thoughts. This is honestly a good thing to listen to when you don’t feel in control, and we LOVE the Beatles reference!  

Number 29: FRIENDS– Marshmellow & Anne-Marie

I love when a song just radiates sass and being tired of another person’s shit! “Here we go again,” you can literally hear the eye-roll! This one’s so fun! Also where did elementary school spelling lessons go in pop music? Can we do that more? Fergie and Gwen Stefani did it in the 2000s and it was iconic, and it continues to be here! I mean if you’re going to use the language anyway, you may as well make it that much more enjoyable by getting a song stuck in your head whenever you use it!

Number 28: Bad Time -Sabrina Carpenter

Speaking of radiating sass, if you don’t know about playful, young, pop bop princess Sabrina Carpenter, you better keep up! There’s never a bad time to have a good time to this, there’s no need to apologize! This song is AWESOME and “I’m just gonna say it one more time, for fun!” this song is AWESOME!

Number 27: Cry -Anne-Marie

Why is warped carnival music so cool?!? It’s like pairing the dreamy innocence of childhood with darker realities of growing older, and it makes for some fascinating pop songs! Combine that with Anne-Marie’s self-assured snark and we do have a winner as well as a stand-out from Anne-Marie the cross-over pop queen to-be ‘s debut album Speak Your Mind. “2% my lover, 98% was wasted time” She’s got 100% swagger and seemingly more honest stories and witty lines to give then previous British imports with bops such as Cher Lloyd, so let’s give her a shot…up some charts!

Number 26: Let It Be – Hayley Kiyoko

This is the calmest, most soothing song I have heard in 2018! Even more than “Love Lies”! While Kiyoko’s album Expectations underwhelmed my expectations, it’s largely because the singles, such as “Feelings” “Curious”, and THIS were so captivating! It revolves more around a breakup, but the vibes and message ARE pretty similar to the Beatles anthem of the same title (not to mention that she’s even accompanied by a sitar at the end and it sounds DOPE!)! I haven’t seen the video, but if I were in Hayley’s director’s shoes (so, basically her own!), I’d put her in a church because it’s soulful, and then have the rain be washing away the relationship and past!

Number 25: Twice -Christina Aguilera

Did anyone call for a elegant piano driven masterpiece?!?! WHAT A SONGG!!! I may have gotten a little more woke about Xtina’s music recently (Which of my Favorite artists may have/definitively influenced that?…maybe you’ll find out later if you can’t figure it out..) and this is a commanding no-regrets heavenly anthem!

Number 24: Beautiful – Bazzi feat. Camila Cabello

Freaking hypnotic! Bazzi is the master of love-struck meme songs, between this and Mine you’ll be dazedly singing about your crush for HOURS while looking like this

Or…just singing it to yourself, because it’s JAMMED tight into your three brain cells. Why does she have to be wearing Gucci tho, you can tell it’s written in 2018 wh- fuck it, I still feel like I’m listening to a dream! And then Camila is a freaking princess and honey drips from her voice and… suddenly the replay button is magnetic and heart shaped!

Number 23: Lucky People – Waterparks

Ayye more soft, sugary love! But hey, it’s emo sugary love this time! Because ofc you need a purple haired cutie writing you love notes and helping to keep you safe from the word. Waterparks have some clever, hardcore bops, but this song’s so precious!

Number 22: 

Ahem,

Moving Along – 5 Seconds Of Summer

Oh my this one GOES OFFFFFFF!!!! Not just 6/8 of the way off either ALL THE WAY!! 1) Luke’s sexy deep voice 2) I end up singing/yelling this probably more than anything else on the “Youngblood” album 3) Ashton is having some kind of a wobbly wild-time back there on drums and I live for it! As long as he doesn’t accidentally injure himself falling over the thing.

Number 21: Diamonds Are Forever – Sabrina Carpenter

Oh lord, THIS IS THE EPITOME OF SHINY POP CLASS and ELEGANCE! This queen knows her damn worth! First off, she looks like a damn barbie and she’s going to prove herself very sassy, cultured (Name dropping Monet and Rockefeller, CLASSY!) and captivating! What a showstopping album closer! Come quickly, because I think we just struck down a Monsterous pop stalagmite!! Sabrina forever!

Number 20: Look What I Found – Lady Gaga

A music movie with a wonderful love story and some of the best music Gaga’s done in YEARS?! I think a BLESSING was born here, the soundtrack of this movie is absolute Perfection and the movie isn’t far from it itself! I found an adorable old-school powerful piano banger here and I’m super pleased! (Ps: I could have easily put “Always Remember Us That Way” around here too, but I went with the more fun choice. The soundtrack is seriously so beautiful and well written!)

Number 19: no tears left to cry -Ariana Grande

Ariana REALLY did not have to own this year as hard as she did! Billboard magazine knew what they were doing naming her “Woman of the Year” for real! Way to turn feeling lost, anxious, and upside-down (after the Manchester bombing, ex and friend Mac Miller’s death, and her split with Pete Davidson) into absolute art! The upside-down thing honestly issa damn Concept (and..maybe a general life mood..)! But we’re picking it up and escalating to a HEAVENLY spirit-raising chorus just radiating good and danceworthy vibes. My only issue is… this angelic bitch right here extends the intro…but only if you see the video, you don’t get beautiful ear light from the studio track… like…fine your immense ear-blessing talent is worth moving the mouse over the video track a few more times I GUESS!

Number 18: Consequences -orchestra -Camila Cabello

A Quality breakup ballad! It just sounds like something out of a movie or storybook! It’s such a raw tale of a love story that was beautiful, but had the emotional consequence of heartbreak. I also love the idea of comparing the love to seasons, it has the kind of detail and realness that’s found in a lot of work from artists like Taylor Swift, The orchestra addition just enhances the overall tone of the song. It also accompanies her voice really well at the bridge. I cried a bit when I saw Camila do this at an awards show  not because I’ve actually been through a breakup or anything… but because it was so beautiful sounding and I was proud of her.

Number 17: thank u, next -Ariana Grande

On to a breakup tune with a bit of a different tone! 😉  Ariana Grande here is proving you can be reflective and appreciative towards previous relationships yet still give some subtle sass at the same time! (Yours 😛 )Truly an ICON! And she has the courage to name drop them (but respectfully, she had them approve of the song first, because Queen Ari is of course, classy like that!, like that honestly does not get done much? Who else in the industry is doing that? …..

Exactly.

She’s also this dreamy,

this adorable,

this meme worthy,

https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/ariana-grande/news/one-taught-me-love-meme/

AND on top of she recreate 4 Classic 2000s teen movies Including Mean Girls?!?!

Honest to God, I’m glad SOMEONE’S out here trying to save the mainstream pop industry! We NEED a powerful force and blessing like Ariana, the charts are looking a bit sore!

Number 16: Trust My Lonely – Alessia Cara

If you feel literally stuck by yourself  95% of the time, than you’re naturally inclined towards songs focusing on independance right?

Respect yo self! Alessia’s right, it’s wrong to feel like you need to rely on anyone who “[does] a number on your health” I also get jungle vibes a bit? A lone Tarzan escaping a toxic man? Haha, it’s probably from the chanting and the rope swaying.

Number 15: Honestly -Gabbie Hanna

It’s “Honestly” such a Banger! Gabbie turned a recent manipulative relationship into her most car radio worthy pop bop yet! (And a story time video! Did you expect otherwise? It’s her YouTube specialty!) Everything from the snaps and clicks to the explosive chorus, to the high frequency switches (which I hear is psychologically proven to be addictive , especially to younger people. I’ll be a willing victim to that! What does it take to get more? Hopefully the price is just patience!) is just pure fun! And the Encore is so raw and I love how it builds up…and goes back down and showcases her range and emotion! I’ve never seen an artist have a song and then release a different, shorter song as a sort of continuation! I like that a lot! Her 2019 album’s going to tell quite the beautiful story, I can already tell!

Number 14: Youngblood -5 Seconds Of Summer

Speaking of Explosive! If you’re going to put the energy of young guys in a song, you can’t really do much better than making this sexy, energetic, tune with a pulsing bass, that couldn’t be more catchy if it tried! This was such an excellent choice for a single and a radio hit, if there’s not going to be a lot of songs representing rock on the charts, at least this gem was seen! Another plus is, it’s more hardcore than four of young teenagers singing about “American Apparel underwear”!

Number 13: Mr. Glassman -Scotty Sire

So… there’s this really cool…rapper…. that’s actually introverted and sings in an honest way about emotional conflicts a lot? Scotty Sire has a lot more to him than being “sad guy” in David Dobrik’s vlogs. As “Mr. Glassman“proves, even if a person may be quiet on the outside, there’s often a lot of thoughts on the inside. They may be valuable, but it may take bravery to show them, hence our glass walls we build around ourselves breaking. Scotty proves his voice and metaphors are worth hearing even if it takes him courage to show them, but his story has a happy ending and a hopeful, encouraging message to all glass people. I’ve heard you can’t be fearless without fear, so you have to ride out the fear in order to get what you want sometimes, just like in this story. Oh and the chorus is theatrical *insert kickline here*! It’s never a bad time for some musical theater flare! His album Ruin My Party (This comes from a fellow introverted, thoughtful, emotional, party ruiner) is also little outside my regular music taste, but it’s worth a listen to get Scotty’s perspective’s alone, and it includes some fun anthems!

Number 12: Head Above Water -Avril Lavigne

There’s such magnificent beauty and strength in this kind of comeback single! (As previously proved with Demi Lovato and Kesha!) Avril wrote Head Above Water while at the brink of death battling Lyme disease, and out of it, comes an empowering piano-driven… Christian Pop song?! It works extremely well though! Unfortunately, this beauty seems to have sank too far down under the social radar, which is definitely a shame!

Number 11: The Cure -Little Mix

If you’ve heard Little Me off their “Salute” album I think this is basically a close sibling! It’s possibly the best track on “LM5”, out with the bad feelings and in with the good! Feel free to let their stunning vocal harmonies lift you even further skyward! (Especially in the stripped version!)

N number 10: get well soon -Ariana Grande

I appear to be on a bit of an encouragement anthem kick! Get Well Soon is a masterpiece and…Hands Down the best thing Pharell Williams produced for the “Sweetener” album! Ariana wrote this ode to healing and self improvement in  the midst of dealing with mental health problems after the attack on Manchester, and it’s probably one of the kindest, and most universally relatable songs in her whole discography. I freaking love the elevator chime, I feel like it symbolizes riding to success!

“Unfollow fear and just say you are blocked” Haha that’s a cute, modern, way of putting it! …I’m trying Queen Ari!

“I’m with ya, just call me” This is one of the most effective sections of a song I’ve heard in making a person feel like they aren’t alone! For the “Sweetener” album, Ariana made a visual experience pop up store that illustrated each song, and she literally had phones that listed common problems people face such as “rough day at school” or “family drama, continuing to prove her kind, beautiful, understanding soul!

One final beautiful thing about this song (that I teared up at, upon learning) is it’s length. The bombing at her concert in Manchester New England, happened on May 22nd, aka 5/22 and the track is 5 minutes, 22 seconds long, including a 40 second silence at the very end to pay respect! Awwww!!

Number 9: Nothing Breaks Like A Heart –Mark Ronson feat Miley Cyrus

Twangy acoustic country, with a hint of synth pop. Sounds like an ideal lane for Miss Miley Cyrus (or for that matter, Mrs Miley Hemsworth, they’ve always been pretty damn cute!) Hearts are fragile, and Miley found an excellent new sound, that sounds promising enough to be more captivating than the “Younger Now” album  it’s as simple as that! Now, perhaps we should put the Miley song in the background and pay some attention to some of the political and societal issues that Miley drives past in the video! Keep your news balanced.

DANCE VIBESSSS!!! Camila’s here to command control of the dance-floor, all the handsome men, AND your own elusive sense of self-confidence with this banger! Sometimes you just want to feel like you’re in control of life, and groove it out!

Number 8: 8 Letters –Why Don’t We

An Adorable dreamy pop serenade at its finest! I mean, look no further than Daniel’s eyes in the thumbnail! Those 8 letters may have had a rough time finding their way out of the WDW boy’s mouth’s but, falling into this track couldn’t be S M O O T H E R!

Number 7: She Loves Control -Camila Cabello

DANCE VIBESSSS!!! Camila’s here to command control of the dance-floor, all the handsome men, AND your own elusive sense of self-confidence with this banger! Sometimes you just want to feel like you’re in control of life, and groove it out!

Number 6: god is a woman – Ariana Grande

As hypnotic as it is empowering! Who is to say God actually wasn’t a woman, I mean we simply can’t know for sure. God’s in everything, and he created women, although it is a LITTLE odd to apply that metaphor to sex in such a way! But hey, I think we can forgive Ariana for that, due to 1) THOSE ANGELIC VOCALS (while still coming of very smooth as a rapper!) 2) THIS ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE OF A MUSIC VIDEO! It practically belongs in the Lourve! It’s extremely aesthetically pleasing, it references greek culture, Madonna passes the pop queen tourch down through the use of her almighty voice, and ….. Why not let someone as cool as Ariana finger the whole globe? We could have way worse! (lets just ignore the unpleasant screaming gopher part!)

As for 3), well, leaving THIS here isn’t a bad idea! ❤ (Nor is letting Ari continue to Own the pop industry!

Number 5: Sue Me –Sabrina Carpenter

I believe I need to hype Sabrina up more, have I mentioned that she has Fun, Sassy, Powerful BOPS?! Sabrina feeling herself and Serving definitely isn’t illegal, in fact it should be the top law in the book! Call Harvard, I believe we have a new “Legally Blonde” in place of Elle Mills! Oh and evidently Ariana Grande isn’t the only pop princess using “Yuh” as a hype line, I can’t get enough of it here!

Number 4: Expectations – Lauren Jauregui

This former one fifth of Fifth Harmony DID not come to play around in her debut solo single! It may be alright to have “Expectations” when your faves or anyone else you love exceed them! So, her man Ty made her get upset and question his loyalty which is sketchy, but they communicated and worked it out, and we got a soulful, honest jam with an Epic guitar solo towards the bridge a la Ariana Grande “Dangerous Woman” (song). We all win! Real talk, out of the four girls on 5h’s self-titled album, I stan Lauren most. She’s very smart, seems like she has the most musical depth to offer, not to mention she’s DROP DEAD GORGEOUS/LOOKS LIKE A GODDESS!

Number 3: Shallow – Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

It’s “A Star Is Born”‘s Grammy-nominated signature song FOR A REASON! It’s TRANSFIXING, especially if you’ve seen the two perform it together in the movie. Alright, Bradley Cooper can sing, which I didn’t know before. Gaga on the other hand can SANG, and… somehow, that’s slipped right under the radar?? You can’t knock the beauty and power!

The song also happens to be crucial to the love story between these two characters, so see the film if you haven’t and bring tissues!

Number 2: breathin- Ariana Grande

The “Sweetener” album as a whole….is far from Ariana’s best music. Some songs taught me love, some taught me patience and some taught me..pain (I’m sorry that you didn’t see my rant on “The Light Is Coming” because I waited too late to finish that review!) . (But, we’re going thank, u next! with her music….. ONLY 6 months later! 😀 ) However, I also know what it’s like to have my head way up in the clouds. I also know what it’s like to have it stuck up there, in the middle of a nasty thunderstorm. Where the lightning hits your lungs.

It may be easy to breathe, but sometimes you can get overwhelmed by life and problems that you exaggerate in your head, and that anxiety is what the song is actually about! (Though, my personal trainer told me she’s put this on at the end of a workout class.. which is hilarious!)  It’s a friendly reminder to take deep breaths, and it’s gonna be okay, and…. Queen Ariana is a brave badass,

but I think we ALL been knew!

PS: Ohhhhh WOW her heavenly vocal runs!!  “Honest to God, Knock Me Out!”

Number 1: Fall In Line– Christina Aguilera & Demi Lovato

…………….

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe these two POWERHOUSE LEGENDS joined forces?!?!?! Because honestly, this was almost as big of a dream to me, as it must have been to Demi herself who grew up idolizing Christina and constantly singing her songs (Oh… I can imagine!! 😉 ) everywhere and doing a whole speech about performing in the American Airlines Center in Texas where she once saw Christina while sitting in the very back.

They honestly have such a cute friendship! Lovatics have called Christina Demi’s mom because she’s like a mother figure…. and I’m Very here for it!

Honestly…. I’m pretty damn sure Demi really NEEDED that friendship at this time.. “Fall In Line” came out in May of 2018.. and then things went WAY TOO FAR downhill….

I would have put Demi’s song “Sober” on this list.. but I’m gonna let this mention of it stand on its own because of the impact both the song and the following incident (one month later) have on my heart..

1) Our fanbase deserves some kind of medal of honor… (Fuck it though, Demi HERSELF, is MORE THAN enough! There’s no such thing as calling her a Blessing too many times!) 2) Now we keep waiting…… when she does more than post photos.. we’re going to need to WATCH OUT for her wonderful impact!!!

“Fall In Line” includes such a powerful message to females and dreamers in general!! Break the chains!! Be original!!! (They low-key shade Disney though…  especially in the video *sips hot tea*)

Naturally, I can’t get enough, and…. not that the Grammies matter Too much, but… it would be super beautiful and meaningful if this were to win its nomination for Best Pop Duo!

……….

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally, here’s the playlist and list of my top 5 2018 albums! YAY!!!

I really plan on trying to post this on New Years again, next time! Let’s see how well things go… 😉

5) Youngblood – 5 Seconds of Summer
4) 8 Letters -Why Don’t We

3) Camila -Camila Cabello

2) A Star Is Born Soundtrack -Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

1) Singular Act 1 –Sabrina Carpenter

Best of 2016: https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/the-top-40-best-songs-of-2016/

Best of 2017: https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/top-50-best-songs-of-2017/

Youngblood, Fresh Sounds! Album Review: 5 Seconds of Summer “Youngblood”

Nearly a 3 year gap between albums for evolution and development?! Where the hell do I get my new loud guitar pop-punk to rock out to? (I mean I’m only what I’d like to call “Starter pack/essentials only” emo, but I love and need at least a sizable dose of the stuff!) Finding new bands such as Waterparks (PluggityPlugPLUG) can only go so far..!

With the same fun personalities, in addition to new looks (Luke’s longer hair looks more disney prince esque than ever! ), colorful aesthethics and modern pop sounds, the third album Youngblood (released definitely has it’s own revealing vibe.

Cover Art: 9.5/10: Okay 5 seconds of Tumblr mood board, I see you! And why not confuse people by adding two extra bar code areas lol! From the bold font, to Luke’s “natural” pose, to the psychedelic sunset it’s pretty cool!

1) Youngblood:

Um Luke sounds THE SEXIEST here, who gave him the rights!?!?!?!?!?

I’m marrying that rasp, and if you’re reading this, you’re invited!

BLAST THIS SHIT, Calum is also flat out MURDERING that bass!! What A BANGING BOP!!

Dead man walking…. sooo a zombie?! Okay!

This goes HARD, it’s highkey one of my favorites, it’s sexy, it’s boppy, and there’s SOO much replay value!

2) Want You Back:

“Is it tears or just the fucking (pouring) rain”

“I’M ALWAYS GONNA WANT YOU BACK”

Falsetto bhappppp!!!

3)  Lie To Me:

Awww 😦 Cheating is the worst! *inserts standard WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER comment*

“I aint so happy” Aw, no shit sherlock.

Those Cake harmonies!! NICEEEEE!

They sang this one live before the album was released, and it seemed like a fan fave. It’s vulnerable and chill and I appriciate it, but it’s kind of laggy to me, and I think there’s better songs they could have chosen to play early for their promotional tour. Out of the live videos of the new songs on tour I played this one least.

4) Valentine:

This one on the other hand, I was very interested in! (even if I couldn’t understand anything but the chorus in the live version #Stanproblems)

Out of all the love songs, this is one of the few I’ve heard that specifically uses the term “Valentine”. I know what I’m playing next February 14th!

I love how gothic it is, that’s not too common!  Better make that chocolate eclair dark chocolate!

Why do we gotta throw the chocolate away though, WHAT A WASTE! What do you have against it 5sos?? I want both THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

“We’re classic together like Egyptian Gold”

OOOHH!

That bridge, WHOA THERE! 😉 I love how the ending cuts off!! 😉 😉

That one riff is so cool though!

5)Talk Fast:

My dad said 5sos sound a lot like One Direction on this album and, yeah I definitly see it. They used 1D cowriters (Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub) on this and the next track specificlly). It’s definitly not a bad thing, they just have a poppier sound, even though it’s been a dang minute (a couple years actually) since 5sos got their start opening up for 1D on tour.

Dance vibes! It might not be a standout song, but it’s fun!

The end also kind of sounds like Daft Punk.

6) Moving Along:

That intro! Wow I feel attacked!

“Is it weird that I’m naked on my sofa”

“Have you been eating breakfast alone like me” That’s so specific! Hey Ashton, Luke, Calum, and Michael, I’m down to go get some coffee and bagels…. okay fine, coffee and donuts!

That squeaky noise is really odd but it works!

Once again, the vocals on this are realllyyyyy hot! Take me AWAY BOYS!!!

Ashton are you good bro?? Sounds kind of like you’re tripping over your drumset!

7) If Walls Could Talk:

I like the wall whisper-babble sound, it’s interesting!

The notion of walls talking may seem childish…but when you think about it, is it really? The concept’s really up to imagination and interpretation.

Damn that falsetto though!! I HEAR ASHTON!!!! Hey boys, during the hiatus, did you freaking forget that the whole fanbase has been begging for more Ashton solos because HE’S SUPER UNDERAPPRICIATED, AND HE CAN ALSO SING REALLY WELL, AND, SO WHAT, HE CAN STILL SING BEHIND THE FLIPPING DRUMSET!!

“All these bodies are hoping to get addicted to sound” Interesting phrasing. Is this a Ed Sheeran like phrasing wayto mean dancing?

If we’re gonna talk about songs with simelar titles, I think Halsey’s Walls Could Talk is just a little cooler in my opinion. (Though, are we gonna just forget about the OG?! Miley Cyrus Fly On The Wall anyone!?)

8) Better Man:

SO CHILL!! I kind of get tropical vibes a bit!

It’s so cute! I like the notion of a S.O helping you be a better person (Though you shouldn’t have to rely on anyone else! Love yourself too Luke + bandmates!). The guitar is also really soothing!

9) More:

MOST ROCK N ROLL TRACK ON THE ALBUM!!! GO ALL THE WAY OFF!!!

“Our house is full of everything we wanted, but it’s an empty home” Yeah, physical items can’t always provide emotional fufillment. People can be rich and famous and own mansions full of fancy items and still feel sad and depressed. I took a class about the Beatles for college last semester, and I read a book for it that mentioned this interview with John Lennon and the reporter is going through his house and he has all these items, but he kind of just sits and reads and watches TV and does drugs. This line reminded me of that.

“Lately we’ve been living in different nations, and I mean, lines are drawn.” I really like this metaphor for a breaking relationship, two nations at war and all.

Nice ending Ash!! 😀

10) Why Won’t You Love Me:

Whyy ay ay ay ay ay ay… is it so whiney?? 😦 The shit’s tolerable, but it lowkey still drives me kind of nuts!

I like how Mikey and Calum both split the second verse! The fact that all 3 string players in the band have parts of verses is probably the highlight of this one.

And then there’s the harmony bit!

Idk if the desparation really works tho…

11) Woke Up In Japan:

I’m actually kind of noticing a bit of a relationship/personal life (financial stuggles) storyline going from If Walls Could Talk to, probably Ghost Of You. Though it does mean the couple breaks up after Better Man, that’s not okay!!

Anyway, in Why Won’t You Love Me, the guy gets on the airplane feeling sad, lonely, and desperate, and I’m guessing now that flight was to Japan. And he’s trying to trick himself into pretending the split never happened. Anyway you’re in Japan! Go find some cute anime animals or something to make yourself feel better, I’ve seen pictures of some awesome shit there!

PLUS THERE’S ALSO POKEMON!!

Hang on, intermission from serious comments…… GO 100% THE FUCK OFF, LUKE AND ASHTON!!!!

Jap aaaaayyyynnnnn… paaiiinn…… though I do like how the guitar copies the vocals!

12) Empty Wallets:

Not that I’ve heard to much of the discography, but I get some Panic! vibes here.

“Get too high when I’m high”… No, shit Sherlock!  I do kind of like the next line though!

Love the piano!

5sos while writing this song probably: Dancing and spending are simelar enough verbs right?

How exactly does one dance on a wallet? Wouldn’t you ruin it? At least, give it some wear and tear if it’s a leather one. Were they tired??

And then they sing about sugar. (Hey, I can understand spending money on sugar, but it’s a relationship metaphor…) Seems a bit random….

YES Michael sounds amazing on that bridge!!

And then they do THAT FAIRLY-SCARY DOPE GUN-LOADING SOUND THAT TWENTY-ONE PILOTS DOES IN HEATHENS!! Oh my god, I want more of that!!

Moral: Don’t date a needy, greedy bitch. Good to know.

I kind of liked this song better before reviewing it. Lyric dissection can mess you up kids, but please do it anyway, because the knowledge is important and it’s better if your favorite music is meaningful. There’s this guy online who has a youtube channel and a podcast, and he calls himself the Pop Song Professor, and he takes top 40 hits and looks at their meaning (or lack thereof) in the way you would look into the meaning of a book in English class. Look him up, he’s interesting to listen to!

13) Ghost Of You:

Sad! Another song about missing someone and alway wishing they were there. I like the term ghost of you because it’s visual.

It sounds beautiful. Kind of reminds me of Too Much To Ask by Niall Horan in message and way it sounds.

“Found that old Zepplin shirt” I love how 5sos sing about band shirt, just those kind of details are great!

I love the piano, kind of want to learn that!

14) Monster Among Men:

I love how Michael is doing the intro! We really don’t get enough of him on this album either, like on Sounds Good Feels Good he at least had strong parts in Jet Black Heart and Airplanes! I love his voice too, it’s like Luke’s but more raw.

I did not expect that clap-along, jungle vibes chorus! Ok! Intresting!

Why hasn’t anyone isolated the clip of them saying oh no yet and turned it into a meme??

I don’t wanna hear you call yourself an asshole Luke! The worst you’ve done is one night stands right, RIGHTTTT???

Maybe I’m being fooled by fan-goggles and sucessful branding, but in my heart I don’t see these guys as even a tiny bit monsterous. I mean there was that problematic 2015 Rolling Stone interview, but, 1) Bands have always had groupies, I don’t really have a problem with that notion as long as the behavior is consentual. 2) I don’t think the group’s comments were intentionally sexist. 3) I think the writer may have framed them as worse then they actually were. Twisted some words, made them seem edgier. I was pretty suspicious about it when it came out.

If you’re gonna make your bridge be instrumental, better make it this damn good righttt???

15) Meet You There:

We love intense instrumentals and…… assorted odd monkey noises.

And making tounge and throat noises like they’re in the club of the magic conch shell with Spongebob and Patrick!

Call them,5 seconds of (Jungle) Safari!

Oh my god, THAT DROP IS SO HECTIC, AND I’M PRETTY MUCH LIVING FOR IT!!

They’re calling the tour for this album the Meet You There Tour and it’s just like….. I fucking WISH!! I tried to win a radio contest where they did an acoustic set and m&g for they’re tiny ass arena tour before this album… but I couldn’t get in. I wanna meet them here, there, or wherever. I’m writing this! I wish I could meet 5sos because they’re special to me. I said it out loud too! I believe you should always put your wishes and deep desires out into the universe, and then there’s a better chance of figuring out ways you can achieve them.

This would probably be a pretty SAVAGE song for the gym!! You know I’m right!

I like the bit of gentle guitar sprinkled in, that’s funny!

Luke’s raspy scream of YOOOOOOOOOO(U) (“That’s what I like about YOOOOOOOO”) is back and it’s a damn VIBE!

It’s so hard to stay still during that breakdown though, like YAASSS!!!

There’s weird sonic wave, plane crash, static sounds at the end, it’s kind of weird!

16) Babylon:

I like how it’s all hectic, until the acoustic guitar comes in. The beginning is kind of like an action movie scene.

This is quite possibly the coolest Calum Hood lead song in existance! On twitter I saw a comment saying he made this song his bitch, and I can’t get the comment out of my head.

For someone who’s a pretty huge member of the 5sosfam, I’ve always been fairly critical of Calum’s vocals in particular. He gets too nasal sometimes, and that’s put me off before (and autotune doesn’t help). I kind of had to get adjusted to 5sos music at first anyway, when they opened for 1D and I checked them out, I couldn’t see much appeal since the vocals were iffy and the music didn’t stick out. I downloaded the Somewhere New ep, (Beside You and Gotta Get Out being standouts) and gave it a few listens, but it took me until She Looks So Perfect to really be on board.

Anyway, Calum’s got a bit of a lane to make cool stuff in. He’s an amazing writer, I liked him in the begining more once I learned that he wrote Gotta Get Out by himself.

I VIBE with tower visuals and fire references! This has both and it’s awesome!

And the way he says Babylon is also super cool!

Why hasn’t Calum ever spit verses like this before? He’s got a solid rap flow if he wanted to try it even further, I believe it’d work out for him!

This one’s honestly just epic sounding!

Album Rating: 8.2/ 10: Feels good, sounds……cohisive??? As in, most cohesive yet. I’m really liking the modern production for the most part, they are going even more poppy then previously, but as far as pop goes, I think it’s an amazing thing if there’s a bit of an edge or darkness to it. I will say the lyrics have been a bit more playful and emotionally captivating in the past, some of the record seemed a little too watered down, in the persuit of persistantly catchy pop, and I feel like I do prefer the edgier tracks.  Another issue they should also work on in the future is the lack of solo distribution. I feel like everyone except Luke got less parts than in any other body of work by 5 seconds of Summer, and it’s not okay! I feel very much like Michael and Ashton are getting charged a bit short, which is unfair to both them and the fans! I feel like Youngblood does have some great personal stories and truths for the band though, from cheating, to dealing with issues like loneliness, the pressure of fame and financial struggle. Including some loud, fun, interesting, summer bops doesn’t hurt either, I’m quite fond of those! I’m proud they got #1 on the Billboard charts for this, hell yeah! They beat Beyonce, and that’s really impressive!

Fave Tracks: Youngblood, Moving Along, More, Ghost Of You, Meet You There

Least Fave Track: Why Don’t You Love Me

Album Link: https://5sos.lnk.to/Youngblood

SIMPLY SHAWN MENDES!!! Album Review: Shawn Mendes “Shawn Mendes” (Written by Shawn Mendes, Sung by Shawn Mendes, I’m followed on twitter by and want to date Shawn Mendes, and did I mention, Shawn Mendes?)

WE *clap* LOVE *clap* our *clap* acoustic *clap* guitar *clap* prince charming *clap* !!!!!

While Shawn Mendes’s sweet-but-strong tunes make me want to chill by the fire (while I’m eating fondue, wait, wrong Canadian singer!), more than shake my butt by the pool, (Get me a grande upside-down iced carmel macchiato from Starbucks while I listen, I can count it then!) we’re off to a pretty lit start this summer with his self-titled (GIVE. ME. A. BREAK.) junior album released on May 25. Anyway, He seems to play around more and take himself less seriously than with his previous album Illuminate (A Masterpiece tho!) and hey, summer’s all about that!!

Cover Art: 7.3/10: Art can be pretty odd, sometimes, but hey, isn’t oddity part of the appeal? Anyway, there are FLOWERS GROWING OUT OF HIS FACE! Are we supposed to call the hospital or the gardening store? It’s pretty, but also WTF!??! I liked his minimalistic, flowery single covers, but this is pretty bizarre. And not to mention, Shawn decided to reveal this album cover during a tedious, painful (*5sos fandom war flashbacks*) 9 hour l livestream while it was being created. Artists NEED to make these announcements more entertaining or el-*snores loudly*.  It’s still a great aesthetic though, so that deserves some credit!

1) In My Blood: OH, HEY, IWannaHugHim!!!!!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ONE THOUGH! The message, the way that he sounds vulnerable in the verses and powerful and strong as it builds up in the chous! DAMN, it’s beautiful! I almost cried the first time I heard it, I did feel it, like we all feel nervous and weak sometimes and it also shows that it’s okay to need and get help from someone else! It’s so real, and I believe that it’s Shawn’s most powerful single yet!! It’s so beautiful when a song contains an even sadness to hope ratio, like, if I’m gonna cry, I can at least kind of feel good about it too! I like how “In My Blood” means inside you, that’s a unique way of phrasing. Humans usually hear about emotions and power coming from the heart or the soul, so blood seems to be interesting and memorable in that way.

PS: Did you think that I WASN’T going to mention the sexy rasp at the end? Shawn went OFF, He did THAT!!

2) Nervous: The begining gives me Bad Liar -Selena Gomez vibes a lil! (+ similar lyrics with Begin Again-Taylor Swift “On a Wenesday, in a cafe…”) But it’s supposed to sound like a heartbeat and it does! (Taylor Swift still one-ups Shawn, I recently learned she uses HER ACTUAL heartbeat throughout Wildest Dreams, but I digress..)

Please get me a one-way ticket to falsetto land!! YEAH SHAWNN!!!

That Bridge tho! He’s DAMN SMOOTH!! ❤

ISSA BOP!!

3) Lost In Japan:

OOH, We LOVE a gorgeous piano intro!

“Looking though your timeline, seeing all the rainbows” As in colorful aesthetic instagram photos or gay ships? (tons of that on the interwebs! #20gayteen) Better make sure this persuit is even attainable before you get that ticket Shawn hehe!

SHAWN. TIMBERLAKE. I sure as hell can’t be the only one hearing this resemblance. No need to “Cry Me A River” Shawn, this execution was funky, slick, and sexy!

Traveling for someone though, what a romantic adventure, what goals! *Massive sigh because single af*!

0:58 of this song! You are welcome! At least, I am ;)!

“Get lost in your paradise” OOOOHHHH!! 🙂 (“Take me down into your paradise…”)

Keeping it like that sounds good but…. so would “lost in your pants” like one of the reaction videos I watched mentioned! (Reaction vids are the best!!! #RelatableAF #MaybeI’llTryItOut? Reaction channel faves/Look it up on youtube: Ashley Ippolito, Dante D,Angelo, ARTV, Dylan Will Not Participate)

ANYWAY!

4) Where Were You In The Morning?: Who the hell does a hit-and-run on THIS?

I mean, we need to talk, like I need to have a serious discussion about what she was thinking!

CHILL VIBES!! *sips coffee in chair* *but doesn’t get an excited coffee high* …… ok, change that

*sips hot chocolate in chair* (I thought about saying tea, but “sips tea” has a specific meaning on the internet)

I think I’ll just get some roller blades and glide on the smoothness of the falsetto and beat, thank you very much.

It kind of sounds like elevator music, but elevator music while it’s raining, because there’s little drop sounds.

5) Like To Be You ft Julia Michaels:

Probably the most infectious song on the album.

If you aren’t woke enough about music to   don’t know who Julia Michaels is, I can tell you there’s a high chance she’s written a song for your fave (or, if your fave is Selena Gomez, in which case, maybe you should try some new Spotify or Apple Music playlists? Julia’s written on pretty much her whole discography #funfacts) And, she now has a solo career! And she seems like a dope as fuck person generally!

I’m here for that delicate guitar plucking, okaayy!

They sound awesome together!! We LOVE a great harmony! His voice is deep and hers is gental! It WORKS! (I love how Shawn sounds amazing singing deep and low or up in his falsetto! His might possibly be my favorite male voice in music, like IT’S DEFINITLY UP THERE AND IT’S A SEXY VOICE NO MATTER WHAT!! I love his rasp sometimes too! And even when it cracks during live performances it’s so easily forgivable!)

“If I could put myself in your shoes. Than I’d know what it’s like to be you.” No shit, sherlock! Shawn and Julia have proven they’re capable of way more as songwriters, and this is what they come up with together!? This lyric bothers me.

You know my other problem with the song? The trailoff at the end. “I don’t know what it’s like…” The incomplete feeling doesn’t work for me here, I feel like I want them to finish the sentance while singing lower.

It’s really a cute song though. Cute notion, and I still love the harmonies and the fact this collaboration happened. Have you ever been thankful for the existance of certain collaborations? With the best ones I find the feeling to be either 1) “I didn’t know I needed this in my life but I DEFINITLY DID, WOW!” or 2) “FINALLYY!! THIS IS EVERYTHING, MY LIFE IS THIS ENTIRELY NOW, I’M BALD!! 100% SCALPED!! (Yes, at this moment, this feeling is absolutely reffering to Fall In Line- Christina Aguilera ft Demi Lovato! BUY IT ON ITUNES! STREAM IT ON SPOTIFY!! )

6) Fallin’ All In You:

I’ve been a fan of rhymes and wordplay for pretty much my whole life, so I definitly love the title!!

We love a cute love song!

“Be Mine, Anytime” 🙂

The chorus sounds like he’s harmonizing with himself, like with different parts of his voice, so it’s basically just pure perfection! ❤

7) Particular Taste:

STRAIGHT. UP. FIRE!!!!!

“Only. Dances. When. It’s. Kanye.” Yeahhh particular tastes alright, particularly cringy…

The mercy part! WOOOOOOH I’m begging Shawn for mercy on me! 😉 😉

The squeaking totally sounds like sneakers on top of a basketball court, but yo, it totally works!

He’s singing like every word is a sentance and I’m kind of living for it!

“She’d always time our conversations” Less talking more action? Shawn likes that? OKAAYYY!

8) Why:

“I know a girl, she’s like a curse, we want each other, no one will break first” Hmmm, I wonder who this could possibly be about. Maybe there’s a friend and  former duet partner he clearly has a ton of chemistry with… Maybe….

#JustSpeculating….#IfTheSongFits…#MaybeYouSHOULD”Just get over (your)selves”

She sings too? HMM!

Ooh the production is cool at the end!

Beautiful song, I’ve shipped Shamila since I Know What You Did Last Summer and I literally can’t think of anyone else it’d be about.  It’s pretty no matter what, so..

9) Because I Had You:

I have trouble paying attention to this one honestly. It’s easy to push acoustic music into the background when nothing in particular grabs you about a song. There actually is a couple of songs in Shawn’s discography that I probably don’t know lyrics to as well because of this and he’s in my top 5 favorite artists.

I saw a tweet saying it was kind of a lesser version of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself and I agree. The instrumental is kind of simelar.

I still love the harmonizing with himself. It’s good, it just isn’t a standout.

10) Queen:

This on the other hand, IS A DAMN STANDOUT!!

Referring back to Love Yourself, Queen is also a tricky song because, when you first glance at the song’s title you think it’s going to be a song praising the girl, when, while listening to the lyrics, you realize it in fact insults her.

I love that guitar riff! I’m bouncin!

This whole concept is awesome, self-centered jerks shouldn’t (But unfortunatly do in some cases…. #YIKES!) rule any countries, but they always freaking act like they do. TAKE. A. DAMN. STEP. DOWN. “You ain’t the ruler of my country” That’s right Shawn, put yourself first! She don’t own you!

I really need more of Sassy Shawn now tbh, I scarffed down the free sample and I’d like to buy the whole pack!

11) Youth ft Khalid: 

I believe the intention of this song is to sound chill, but have a message against all the distruction and chaos going on, specifically with all of the gun violence. (SO horrible! And.. so preventable!)

It does this effectively enough, but I think the dreamy sound and repetitive nature of the song decrease the power of the message by at least a bit.

The main meaning is beautiful though, not letting these tragic events impact your spirit too much. About not taking the youthful nature away and making you feel sad, old and jaded instead.

Not that the events shouldn’t make you feel sad, but they shouldn’t cloud hope for the future.

I loved their Billboard Music awards performance with the Stoneman Doglas choir, that was pretty beautiful, and the matching hoodies definitly did no harm!

I’m pretty neutral on Khalid and his music so far, I like two or three of his solo songs, and he’s great in this and in Love Lies with Normani (formerly?) from Fifth Harmony, but he doesn’t quite have a stand out moment for me yet.

12) Mutual:

Big strong bop #3, though perhaps it’s smaller than the other two!

“No I don’t want to have to leave, but, half of you’s not enough for me” I highkey love when lyrics flow well, it makes them really fun to sing!

The drum sample is so cool! Just a dash of drums on my Shmendes track please, let me just reach for the shaker across the table.

13) Perfectly Wrong:

Awww! We love a tragically beautiful breakup ballad, but we’re probably also crying somewhere in the corner, so there’s that.

“All the stars in the sky can see, that you’re perfectly wrong for me” Damn 😦

Then you get to the rasp… like.. .double damn…

Art.

14) When You’re Ready:

Again, he’s bordering on the line of sad and hopeful. It’s  a calmer and lighter version of Only Forever by Demi Lovato because its the same message of telling a lover you’ll wait for them forever, but Shawn’s not begging to much, just making sure she gets the message.

“Every single night, my arms are not around you, my mind is wrapped around you” AWW! ❤

“Waaaaaa-tin”

“It’s like I’m 3 hours back, seems like you’re always 6 ahead” Haha Timezones. Cute.

Album Rating: 8.4/10: Another solid album by the acoustic prince charming! The kid (I’m still a little shook at the fact he’s only 19, and he was 16 when his debut album Handwritten was released so #TALENT!)) already had Ed Sheeran’s influence in his musical dna, and now we’re cross breeding that with pop icon and production innovator Justin Timberlake? Sounds delightful to me! The bops are also catchier and more infectous on this then on Illuminate I feel like that album was lacking (There’s Nothing Holding Me Back did come out later than all the rest of the tracks.) in that department. It’s a little laggy at parts but I think it might be the least laggy of Shawn’s 3 albums. The powerful tracks In My Blood and Youth carry particularly strong messages and I feel like these are more universally relatable than his stronger more personal messages on the last album. There’s definitly room for both, and I hope he continues it.

Fave Tracks: In My Blood, Nervous, Like To Be You ft Julia Michaels, Particular Taste, Queen

Least Fave Track:  Because I Had You

Buy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shawn-mendes/1376115721?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6AjREacSERvnQTe6GFTx3c

HEY-O! IT’S SOLO CAMILA CABELLO!! Album Review: Camila Cabello “Camila”

And she’s out to SLAY THOUGH!

From bow-headed baby,

to confident, attention-COMMANDING, infectious hit-making queen

Camila has always shown some dang star power!

Back in 2012, when I saw Fifth Harmony back on the X factor Camila stuck out to me not only for being super relateable (enthusiastic, hilarious tweets about One Direction, animals, food and the internet: CHECK!) but she had a unique airy vocal tone that at times, overpower the whole sound of Fifth Harmony, for both better and worse.

From a fan’s view I want to say that personally I still kind of love Fifth Harmony and Camila pretty equally I mean, WHAT A SOURCE OF INSPIRATIONAL BOPS!! DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN SISTERS/QUEENS! It’s clearer with One Direction because I definitely like them as a group better than Zayn as a solo artist but that’s more of a choice based off their sound of music so *shrugs*

While she’s made a few minor questionable decisions on her own (such as an unnecessary rapper, a single that wasn’t doing it for me, and open, unanswered curiosity based on previous statements about the album) I really think she’s coming into her own and coming for those charts as her singles (HAVANA OH NA NAAA) have proven, and her evenly-distibuted, smooth solo debut album seals the deal!

Cover Art: 5.8/10 For a self-titled debut album, Camila doesn’t look very much like herself in it, I got a weird vibe when I first saw it. It looks like Zendaya a bit in the face. The dress is gorgeous, the background is basic. It’s boring, not enough like her, and could be better I think.

1) Never Be The Same: A. BOP! I love the beginning, the build up and the drums and the little alarm, SO FUN! She’s love drunk, so the verses are slurring in the best way possible and then that chorus starts coming on to be just as addictive as the drugs she mentions, it flows so well, and it’s just EVERYTHING! I’d see how someone could be bothered by the fluttery high part, but luckily I’m all for it! And for trying to sing it, but either intentionally or not, sounding completely ridiculous! I high-key ALMOST put it on my top 50 songs list of last year, (Please educate yourself, it won’t bite! https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/top-50-best-songs-of-2017/) t but it came out late and the album wasn’t out yet!

2) All These Years: I didn’t necessarily expect her to go acoustic, NICE! And it tells a story too! Who is this guy she’s still into…not important. I’m surprised we don’t here more about this specific love situation in music, at least I don’t. I love the part when her vocals sort of are layered, it’s SO COOL!!

3) She Loves Control: Here, we see more of Camila’s Spanish roots with the instrumentation, the bit with the drums and the beat drop is dope! This is freaking dance floor FIRE, and the clear choice for her third single off this album!

#SoDANCEY!

That moment when Queen Camila is LITERALLY the human embodiment of the dancer emoji in the red dress! I mean SPOT ON! And if you hashtag #Camila for the album, you get another dancing emoji with her wearing the same dress as on the cover, TOTALLY MEANT TO BE!

A summary of this VIBE?:  Let me just snag and dance with all the handsome men, because I’m a freaking boss! Additionally, it reminds me of some old school Rhianna (like Pon De Replay) especially when she says “unless you give it up/she don’t wanna give it up”.

“CONTROL, CONTROL HEY!” And THIS is called leaving with a BANG!

4) Havana ft Young Thug:

I feel like this song’s already fairly ICONIC. Infectious, MegaDancible , full of upbeat horns (I MESS with jams including horns!) and an important relation to its artist, it’s fun pop at it’s finest! In case you haven’t seen her do it live she freaking OWNS IT, she shines enough\ to light up the stage and the moods of every single person watching!

But, as happens all too often in pop, there’s a rap feature that detracts from the song. Young Thug’s whispery voice both takes away from the fun vibe, and frankly the lyrics become incomprehensible. The radio version is the only one that matters, it gives Camila an extra verse that should have been there in the first place, but NO, she doesn’t even make that version available for purchase and streaming, even though it’s the one she PERFORMS LIVE! She sticks a radio/child friendly version of Never Be The Same on the end of the album unnecessarily, yet nothing was done with this one! That’s just a sloppy move by her and her team, but an Iconic BOP *insert trademark symbol* is an Iconic BOP! *insert trademark symbol*

5) Inside Out: That wonderful piano riff alone though! This is just one of those adorable upbeat songs that just makes people happy no matter what! I feel so good that I’m overlooking my confusion at the main lyrics….but not entirely. Do I even wanna know what loving someone inside out means, it does not sound right! Loving in AND out could be worse… ANYWAYS…! The Spanish breakdown in the bridge is great! It’s cool when artists try incorporating other languages!

6) Consequences: So emotional, WOW! I love a BEAUTIFUL, solid breakup ballad over here, this works so well! Ballads like this work best when they carry the emotion without just sounding dull and unengaging and this did the trick!

Was this how the album was like in the earlier stages, back when she called it The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving? and focused it on breakup and her emotions there? I kind of resent that she told us that and released songs that made me curious on her approach there like the intriguing, dark I Have Questions and Sia/Christina Agulera hybrid (but TOTAL BANGER!) Crying In The Club. Heck yes, I’m glad she’s happy, I stan her and wish for her all of the happiness!  But now I will always wonder about the album that almost was, that had a concept/focus, and a creative literary-sounding title! Self titles make sense, and work the best for debut albums, but can you see what a devolution going from The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving to simply Camila is in terms of album titles?! Anyway, Consequences is a well-written (I know someone who knows some people who wrote on it, HEY!) emotional ballad masterpiece!

7) Real Friends: Interesting contrast! A genuine/authentic song about fake acting people! “This paper town has let me down too many times” Did she get the paper town thing from the John Green novel/movie or is it more common of a phrase than I’m aware of?

I hope with my every fiber that she doesn’t mean any/all of her ex Fifth Harmony groupmates in this song, though I’m fully aware that it’s possible. When being asked about her exit from Fifth Harmony and why she won’t go into more details, Camila said in Rolling Stone “A lot of my fans were, or are, fans of the group, I don’t like to ruin the dream. They believed in something that’s beautiful. I’m sure with One Direction, too, nobody really saw behind the scenes. You just see the dream” … Fans THINK they want to know what really happened. In most cases, with an artist I believe that I DO want to know the truth about them and any important situations they are in, both pleasant and painful, I don’t think they should keep important secrets from fans, if it’s something like a health situation I feel like fans  definitely want to help and be encouraging! However in this particular case.. those 5 girls we got to know on the X Factor.. the dream… seeming so sweet and friendly…I’m worried.. Would I stop loving anyone (at least as much) if I knew more of the actual truth?  This is a sensitive, and inconclusive subject but I have to wonder about it because I don’t want to be COMPLETELY ignorant, but I also want the best for my faves and… it’s complicated.

This sticks in my head more than some of the other songs of the album. I blame the part after the chorus- what instrument is that anyway? It’s an excellent hum along/attempt-to whistle along part. I also blame that bridge with the words that SeepIntoEachOther but WithoutHavingItBeQuiteRappingYet and the lyrics are amazing!

I haven’t had anyone fake around me since middle school (that I’m aware of) but personally, I’m looking for A friend that IS a real friend. #Lonely #Lacking #NotEvenAllowedToHaveADamnCat

8) Something’s Gotta Give: Oh God, the instrumentals on this album are really simple but they just work so well! “No reason to stay is a good reason to go”..That makes sense! The flow and the lyrics on this track are great, I know another person who was friends with one of the people who wrote on this song! #BenefitsOfGoingToCollegeInNashville #ThisMeansCamilaAndIAreCloserConnected..Right? #DegreesOfSeperation

9) In The Dark: It starts with… like.. elevator music lol!

“You can strip down without showing skin” As in emotionally, CLEVER!

Camila told Zane Lowe in an interview that this song’s about a famous guy she had a flirty relationship with,who can’t turn off his public image and show who he truly is, VERY interesting!

It’s like that Kelly Clarkson song Dark Side only instead of wanting him to listen to and support her when she reveals her dark secrets, she wants him to reveal his. This kind of goes back to what I was talking about with Fifth Harmony and Camila earlier, what is a planned out image? and what is real?

I also particularly like her vocals on this, maybe it’s just me, but they feel extra welcoming here . The sound is just COOL!!!

10) Into It:

I’m glad for the pickup on this song! Phew, that could have gone worse! AWWW-OOOOOOHHHHHH, you sound like a wolf, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing!

“I’m into it, whatever trouble that your thinking I could get into it, I see a king size bed in the corner we should get into it.” I’m a sucker for wordplay! BRILLIANT!! FUNN!!! You better be Into It! She doesn’t need her group anymore to make the BEST fun dance jams, she can do it HERSELF!

Album Rating: 8.8/10 I’m SO pleased with this! Except, one thing, it’s too damn short! But, shorter albums are more cohesive and… blah, I just want more music!!! That’s supposed to be why deluxe and bonus editions exist!! This album is so chill, fun, yet emotional,personal and unique enough in all the right spots! Oh and the SKY-HIGH REPLAY VALUE is worth mentioning, her airy, smooth, distinctive vocals and CATCHY choruses will hook you quicker tha-“IT’S YOOOUUU BAABEE AND I’M A SUCKER FOR THE WAY THAT YOU MOOOOOVEEE BABEEE, AND I COULD TRY TO RUN BUT IT WOULD BE USELESSSS”

Something really aught to be done about giving artists more creative freedom to at least write their OWN damn music if they feel like it, because Zayn claimed for that to have been a factor in his departure from his group and the same can now be said for Camila. She co-wrote on all of the songs for this record (WHERE THE HELL IS THE ONE SHE SAID ED SHEERAN WROTE ON?!?! We are owed a real explaination as to why this wasn’t included, THIS IS NOT OKAY!!!) and I’m hearing a lot of messages that I haven’t heard a lot of! Additionally, no one should discredit the simple production, because, newsflash IT WORKS AS WELL! Old music had it, it’s not as if that wasn’t successful!

Summary: Hang out with Camila on repeat and there’s a 100% you won’t regret it, and you might even find a new queen to watch SLAY the music industry game all on her own!

Fave Tracks: Never Be The Same, She Loves Control, In The Dark, Into It

Least Fave Track: All These Years

Buy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/camila/1321216767?app=itunes

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2vD3zSQr8hNlg0obNel4TE

 

TOP 50 BEST SONGS OF 2017!

Welcome to my annual end of the year music countdown!

I’ve searched high, low, and across the radio to bring in this Li(t)st of the best (at least should be!) hits to you! So what may be at the pinnacle of pop bops?? What are the expert recommendations of a pop music nerd and mainstream queen like myself? (Hey self, Sit down and be Humble! You’re no Demi, Taylor, or Kesha here!)

STAY TUNED!

Additionally: I have added 10 more songs than last year (https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/the-top-40-best-songs-of-2016/)  since THE MORE MUSIC THE BETTER!

And I was indecisive! Get more variety! Include ALL OF THE BOPS!

 

 

Number 50: Killing Me – Jacob Whitesides

In Jacob’s latest single, the music takes a darker turn from it’s usual sugary, acoustic, not-all-that-much-different-from-contemporaries-like-Shawn-Mendes vibes. Seeing someone’s darker side can be thrilling. Add in some edgy epic production and it’s a winner! (It’s all serious, but then their’s that crazy tossing noise! Lol!)  I was lucky enough to be at a tiny show of his and he played the recording of this (in addition to other new songs) and I’ll say that the production and sound of the new songs is the best it has EVER been! Watch out for Whitesides, 2018!

Number 49: Uh Huh – Julia Michaels

Julia Micheals is without a doubt one of the best artists I’ve learned about this year! She’s COOL, her voice is neat, she’s talented and, oh yeah, she’s probably written one or more hit songs for your favorite artist, such as Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, and Justin Bieber. This year, Michaels finally stepped out independently with her “Mini Album” (7 songs) Nervous System. While her single Issues proved to be the radio and chart topper, Uh Huh is a bit more interesting. From the acoustic to rock transition, to the bouncy melody, to the surprise of the vocal cracks that actually work in the song’s favor, Michaels delivers a fun, semi-addictive musical treat not to be ignored!

Number 48: Anything’s Possible –Lea Michele

In my 2014 post-Glee haze I was super obsessed with Lea Michele’s debut album Louder! Talk about an under-credited freaking powerhouse! While I’m unsure that the follow up album Places was really worthy of a three year wait, (Is three years a long wait for me more because of society and the easy availability of streaming platforms or more because I’m a fan who gets eager about her favorite artists?) it did include much beauty and a couple of gems! Such as this soaring, inspirational tune! (If you want to bless your ears more, another favorite of mine on Places is Tornado WOW! She did THAT!)

Number 47: These Girls -Why Don’t We

Here at DOPC productions, we are extremely DOWN for some boyband magic! And if you’ve payed attention boy ( 😉 ) was 2017 GREAT for that! Enter five cuties who can rock both killer electronic sounds AND heavenly acoustic mashup and we’re SET! (Dibs on Jonah and Daniel!) Just try this addictive, tropical-infused bop! I can’t get enough of these boys and, evidently they can’t get enough of us either! 😉

Number 46: Rabbit Hole –Forever In Your Mind

Rabbit Hole marks the first time I’ve ever been really impressed by these Disney Channel based newcomers. It’s easy to see them as too heavy on sugar, not heavy enough on lyrics and talent. While their aptly named double-sided single, Smooth contained attempted Justin Timberlake-esque production, I prefer getting lost in this tunnel of melody and brilliantly-executed falsetto! If this is a great indication of evolution in their upcoming EP, and onward, maybe they can get out of Wonderland and on to mainstream success!

Number 45:  Perfect Places– Lorde

An excellent highlight off of the Melodrama album! I think this would be a great track to play while traveling! It makes me want to go exploring! Because, your more likely to find “Perfect Places” that way than getting drunk! FYOPP -Find Your Own Perfect Places!

Number 44: Heart Full Of Scars -Rebecca Black

Singer and Youtuber Rebecca Black proves to be a wonderful example of why we shouldn’t judge others from a mistake they’ve made in the past. Such as a certain comically-bad viral song about a certain day of the week that was, actually pretty great in it’s own right! (The fun kind of stupid!) But no, Rebecca Black actually has musical talent and her debut EP Re/Bl contained this beautiful, empowering jem! C,mon now, it’s got the line “Life’s a bitch, but I’ll make it mine”! PS: The video makes me want to splatter paint too-IT’S SO FUN!

Number 43: Feel It Still -Portugal. The Man

As far as top 40 radio goes this song was pretty much “Coming out of left field”. Which is part of what makes it so great, it’s sound is as classic, vintage, and timeless as the song is infectious!  Pop, EDM, and Hip-hop driven mainstream radio adopting an indie jam such as this proves to be rare, but the random success of Feel It Still proves that it isn’t impossible! Is a “Rebel just for kicks” the exact opposite of a rebel with a cause? Haha. And speaking of dope falsetto power..YEAH! And THAT BASS tho!

Number 42: S.L.U.T -Bea Miller

Bea over here SERVING brass and SASS! Bea has delivered some clever bite-sized primary color and emotions themed delights this year and S.L.U.T is one of the best!

Go off on the self positivity! Bonus points for the acronym and the chorus! YES QUEEN!

Number 41: Almost Famous -Noah Cyrus

Another interesting pop music newcomer! Miley Junior, (Perhaps she can distinguish from her sister more on her upcoming debut album NC-17) I mean Noah proves to be the latest from the Cyrus family to try their hand at music. My favorite so far is this acoustic one comparing a failed romance with fame. It’s very enjoyable! (Also, on an unrelated note, have you seen the movie Almost Famous? It’s about a young reporter who goes on tour with a band and some of their behind the scenes shenanigans. 8.5/10 would recommend!)

Number 40::  Bad Liar –Selena Gomez

Without a doubt, Bad Liar has to be one of the coolest-sounding most vocally-fitting songs Selena has ever put out! (If only I could say the same about the floppy follow up singles..) It totally communicates the feelings of being nervous about a crush well..AND includes funny little lyrical quips in addition to a cool bass sample from the Talking Head’s 1970s punk rock song Psycho Killer. (Hate the song, but love the sound! And Selena used it well!)

Number 39: There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back -Shawn Mendes

Did our acoustic prince (and savior…jk..) Shawn Mendes actually need to release anything else this year? Unless you’re sick of hearing the radio play it 1000 times an hour, (aka you’re annoyed as hell but it’s still great enough to where a part of yourself that’s out of your control is still bopping away!) this is energetic acoustic CRACK  FIRE! Shawn also says he wrote it based off a fictional character…and hey I think most of us can relate to wanting a fictional character that much (Currently Archie on the TV show Riverdale personally!)…. rightt???

Number 38: Used To Be– AJ Mitchell

NEW TALENT ALERT! It starts off pretty typical for a young male artist, but THEN THE RAPPING COMES IN AND THEN YOU GET HIT BY VOCALLLSS!!! Things look very promising for this only 16 year old internet star if his music continues to be this big and grand! Deliver me at least an EP!

Number 37:  Move You -Kelly Clarkson

SOUL and IMAGERY!! A standout from Kelly’s powerful, magnificent, grammy-worthy (at least she GOT a nomination! Not even going to talk about the snubs..besides mentioning that I’m more angry at the Recording Academy than ever!) and not talked about damn well enough newest album Meaning Of Life due to the perfectly painted lyrical pictures of event which are moving! It’s just a masterpiece of a song!

Number 36: Worth It (Perfect) -Superfruit

Need FUN dance BOPS? Look no further than the album Future Friends the side project of Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying (aka Superfruit!) of Pentatonix. Worth It (Perfect) is both perfect and worth checking out because it’s so happy and dancable AND has an adorable music video that defies gender roles!

Number 35: I Have Questions -Camila Cabello

How many pop songs use string instruments? NOT MANY, THAT’S COOL!! It’s Camila’s most interesting and vulnerable singles yet, and was on her upcoming debut album back when it was called The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving and was actually about a rough post-breakup period she had been through and survived. Now what? Self titled (lazy) and more pop fluff, with this bit of artwork left out? We’ll find out January 12th. Criticism aside, I’m very eager for Camila’s solo career, especially since she’s released more addictive pop gold (more on that later, for now enjoy this post-breakup excellence!) It’s so ominous, I love the echoing and OOH can’t forget where that BEAT kicks in! I believe that this is a song that grows on you after multiple listens so don’t be afraid to replay!

Number 34: Goodbye From Lonely –Superfruit

Another SuperBeaut from Superfruit!

THE HARMONIES AND THE BEAUTIFUL CONRTAST OF THEIR VOCALS!!!

THIS. IS. TALENT!!!

It’s got snapping and is so pretty and easy to listen to! Oh and Future Friends is a visual album with a music video to each song a la Beyonce so it’s healthy to go treat yo’self (after you finish reading this ofc! 😉 )

Number 33: Week Without You -Miley Cyrus

High-key the most fun song off Miley’s newest album Younger Now. It’s fine with me that she took a break from making Bangerz and went back to her natural country and guitar-based roots with her new LP. She’s happy and, though calmer at this moment in time, this is the girl that Can’t Be Tamed after all, and who can tell what she’ll be up to next! Not touring!! How unfair and boring! COME ON MILEY, YOU SOUND THE BEST LIVE THAT YOU EVER, EVER HAVE, (Look up her 2017 BBC Live Lounge, GAHHHH TALENT!! GAAHHH VOCALS!! Do you see why I think her not touring is a freaking sin?!) FIND YOUR DOGS AND PIGS A SITTER! Anyway, Week Without You, I love a good “I’m way too good for you, dirtbag” bop, and YES PLEASE western movie melody!

Number 32:  Lay Your Head Down -R5

Silently drift away to this adorable tune and the deep vocals of R5’s Rocky Lynch sprinkled with twinkling nibs of piano! Does R5 have Ross Lynch sing lead on most of their songs because if Rocky were the lead singer it’d be too damn smooth and peaceful?! It’s just so dreamy and simple! PS: FUN TO SING WITH!

Number 31: Miss You -Louis Tomlinson

Why give Harry and Niall all the Ex/ (ONLY-TAKING-A-BREAK)-One Direction credit?! There’s just not enough love around for Louis and Liam tbh! Punk Rock fits Louis so well! I think that’s the kind of music he did in his high school band the Rouge anyway. (Dana, your level of Directioner is showing!) His accent is so prevalent though! “Everything is fooking great” hahaha?!  PARTY JAM..until the lights go up that is!

Number 30: O.D.D. -Hey Violet

A quirky, super chill jam/outcast anthem! It makes being odd sound like a sort of disease, which some may view it as, but it’s not! Being O.D.D. isn’t necessarily a bad thing! It’s pretty dope!

Number 29: Just Like You –Louis Tomlinson

Louis’s solo music is so charming! It’s got lighter vibes, even when the subject manner is more serious like in Miss You trying to handle heartbreak, and here dealing with the pressures of fame. Famous people are human beings too and sometimes the media even fans forget that and try and make them something bigger and it can be harmful. I’m always curious about what goes on that no one talks about, it can be kind of scary cause I just want the artist to be well and happy. But, we “only get half of the story”. I just love how self reflective it is and that’s probably why it’s my favorite of Louis’s solo singles. I’m very excited to see what he has in store for the album!

Number 28: Lonely Night – Fifth Harmony

This right here is how you tell a guy off!! YAAS!! Dinah in particular kills that chorus and “Getcha Getcha Gecha shit together” is pretty freaking iconic!!

Number 27: Kiwi –Harry Styles

DOES THE MUSIC HAVE TO MAKE ANY SENSE WHEN IT’S THIS DAMN EXCITING AND LIT?! Harry has a knack for brilliantly pulling off the bizarre, and does so in the most charming way you have ever seen! This is crazy rock energy at it’s finest and weirdest (title-wise, lyric-wise, and video-wise, ..could Einstein even make sense of it?) how could anyone not have a fun time with it?

Number 26: Strangers -Halsey ft Lauren Jauregui

1) This is catchy AS HELL! 2) It’s pro-gay and society needs that more in our pop music. It’s just as real as any other love song after all! 3) HALSEY AND LAUREN’S VOICES GO SO WELL TOGETHER! Yes my queens!!! 4) How frciken sick is that lab computer beat?! Come on! PS: WHERE THE HELL IS THE MUSIC VIDEO @HALSEY?! You teased it as some kind of boxing match and not blessing the world with it is a cruel thing to do, and why force us to accept that fate?!

Number 25: On The Loose –Niall Horan

I actually only included this because of the mega-electric guitar jolt…

JK! It’s also for the emphasis Nialler puts on the word LOVES! This JAM is fun and super dancey, Niall should get wilder more often, or at least find another girl who is! (Before finding me, obviously! 😉 )

Number 24: Unholy-Hey Violet

I got very addicted to this sexy little thirst bop this summer! Is it the DOPE piano riff (Yes, I’ve tried to play it!)? Is it because I’m majorly single? (Thirst bop #2 coming later on this list… #DeepTease) I also happen to love where music isn’t quite rapping but when lyrics suddenly run together “IKnowThatYouLikeItYouDon’tEvenHaveToHideIt”

Number 23: Medicine -Kelly Clarkson

Leave it to Queen Kelly to deliver those FIRE breakup jams!! Don’t dare ignore that she’s still got it!! TELL HIM OFF, THAT BOY SEEMS MORE LIKE POISON!! And..Oh.My.God the rap bit!! SLAYED!! #KellyNeedsATour2018

Number 22: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things -Taylor Swift

Is this being “Extra” or “Petty”? WELL, WHAT? Did you expect her to take the blows silently?? (For the billionth time, she did only approve of PART of Kanye’s lyric) Staying quiet would be “playing the victim” words are Taylor’s best defense, it just takes time to create ART! The facts are and have always been that: a) She is a (clever, brilliant) songwriter b) She writes songs about events that have happened to her in her life (Imagine that!) and c) releases them every FEW YEARS.

That being said, HEYY KANYE!

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things by Taylor Swift, aka How To Hilariously Take Control of a Narrative That Tried To Make You Look like a Villain

Throw in a Gatsby reference too because culture!

Finally, THE BRIDGE!! Need I say more?!

Number 21: Inspired -Miley Cyrus

Very… well, inspiring. A gorgeous song about wanting to make a difference in the world and she sounds so amazing here, particularly at the end! I first heard this when Ariana Grande did her One Love Manchester benefit concert (One of the best, most wonderful and sweet concert live-streams I’ve EVER seen and most likely will ever see!)   and it was so beautiful and fitting! ❤

Number 20:  What Do I Know? -Ed Sheeran

It’s a simple song but it makes me so happy! I think ourworld would be better off with more music and love! ❤ Ed actually does know A WHOLE LOT!

Number 19: Slow Hands -Niall Horan

Might I have put this higher on here if it weren’t for the offputting line about sweat?! HECK YES! But it’s still sexy and fun as heck! I didn’t expect him to have a song with this sound and it’s super appealing! EDGY, SEXY, ROCKER NIALL FOR THE WIN, ALL THE WAY!

Number 18: Open Arms –PRETTYMUCH

“Boybands…another one, another one, and another one” !!

I did find another one! Savan Kotcha (One Direction songwriter extraordinaire!) backed PRETTYMUCH !

They have a couple of bops but Open Arms is so far my favorite! Straight-up melt-worthy acapella boyband heaven! (Fine, not completly, they include a sick beat too ..I guess, if that’s alright with you!)

Number 17: Woman –Kesha ft The Dap-Kings Horns

(In my opinion) The strongest and most empowering feminist anthem of 2017! (which was birthed out of anger at our current president!) Kesha’s return to music after personal and legal hell packs a damn punch! Strong, but also a total blast!

Speaking of POWER…!

Number 16: Love So Soft-Kelly Clarkson

It builds and it SLAYS! This was a freaking SINGLE! Radio stations what are you doing?! The chorus curving upward like that on the words “Ya” and “Up” is just FUN! Kelly’s out there doing THE DAMN THING, now we’re getting into the extremely replay-worthy territory!!

Number 15: Sexy Dirty Love -Demi Lovato

What are you looking at me like that for? I have absolutely no idea how this got he- …;)

A. JAM. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Who’s That Boy had a GLO-UP!! Or A COUPLE OF THEM!)

A Christina Agulera inspired (thirst!) jam that SERVES VOCALS and is HOT! Hot enough to burn entire houses.. NO WAIT! MANSIONS! DOWN!!! Wait… we’re talking DEMI here so… probably the entire block!

Oh and, MAN IS THE SCENE IN HER FREE YOUTUBE DOCUMENTARY Simply Complicated (One of the most honest, beautiful, amazing documentaries ever, #Try-not-to-fall-in-love-with-her!) WHERE THIS SONG PLAYS HOLY?! Tbh it definitely needed a visual! 😉

Number 14: Rainbow -Kesha

How GORGEOUS  light, pure and magical! A stunning survival ballad worthy of it’s namesake! I loved seeing Kesha really show us what she was capable of this year, I became way more of a fan, and seeing her live was A BIG FUN PARTY!!

Number 13: Don’t Blame Me -Taylor Swift

Things that are highly addictive: 1)Coffee 2)Excellent Tv Shows 3) Drugs 4) Love 5) THIS vibey song! Sing us that brilliant gospel Tay Slay! It may be church-like, but it sure isn’t very holy! “Don’t Blame me, love made me crazy, if it doesn’t you ain’t doin it right” I LOVE THAT! PS: To those who say Taylor can’t sing, there’s a little something special in here 😉

Number 12: Havana -Camila Cabello

This has without a doubt, been the catchiest, most likely to get extremely stuck in your head, song I have heard all year, and quite possibly over the last couple of years! BUT WE DON’T MIND, CAUSE WE BOPPING EVERY TIME!! This authentic little wonderfully saxifone-infused hit did wonder’s for Camila’s new solo career for A REASON! Watch the music video too, it’s a fun little cinematic treat! My only complaint with this song is that the Young Thug rap takes away from the music, and has a very mumbled sound. It’s unnecessary and I much prefer the radio version where Camila has a second verse! (Oddly, it lacks a bridge, but that’s okay.)

Number 11: Bad at Love –Halsey

My personal favorite song off of Halsey’s second album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom . I was so happy she chose it as a single and mainstream radio seems to be loving it. It does Halsey’s talent more justice than Closer or previous HFK single Now Or Never. The rap just flows super well as it tells two tales of failed romance and then she GOES OFF on that chorus! It’s fitting that she’s on a road trip in the video, this is super fun to blast in the car!

Number 10: New Rules -Dua Lipa

British pop newcomer Dua Lipa had some firey, infectious tunes on her debut album this year (Blow Your Mind (Mwah) left me shook and jamming in an Uber, what an introduction!)  but it’s hard to beat the brass, meme-worthy, warning calls of New Rules. “If you’re under him, you ain’t getting over him” I mean, way to come right out of the gate a true pop icon!

Number 9: Cry Baby –Demi Lovato

Is emotional soul-rock a thing!? JESUS!!!

It’s raw, it’s powerful, it’s great to even TRY to sing along with (Sounding as EPIC as Demi is damn near impossible), AND THAT ENDING HAS ME ON THE FLOOR! Lower than the floor, I think I found a magic underground tunnel! And I landed on top of a unicorn! Surrounded by gold and holographic crystals!

*Has never had her heart broken over a relationship, thankfully* *Is still drawn to this like a magnet*

It kills me not to put Demi’s entire  Tell Me You Love Me album on here, I made myself have a four song per artist limit on this thing but I MUST recommend her BEST, most-cohesive, and most soulful, album because it’s actually EVERYTHING/probably literally a part of myself.

Number 8: Sweet Creature -Harry Styles

This is (next to Ed Sheeran) THE MOST ADORABLE SONG RELEASED IN 2017! JUST TRY ME! “Creature” is a bit of an odd thing to call a significant other, but c,mon Harry can get away with it! It doesn’t need to be about love interest either I think it can probably apply to any relationship you have, just to love in general. Even about pets, creature actually works in that sense. I think we all needed a calming, gentle, adorable Harry Styles lullaby in our lives tbh. Additionally… *adds to my mental list of songs a guy could sing to me and I’d melt in his arms (HINT, HINT!)*

Number 7: …Ready For It -Taylor Swift

THIS GETS ME SO HYPEDD!!! Leave it to Taylor Swift to craft a genius song that’s 2/3 EXPLOSIVE, and 1/3 FAIRYTALE!! I’ve missed her so much! I’ve blasted this LIT MAGIC so much!! She can throw some damn rap lines down too, like who even knew?! Who expected?! As for that bass…just wash my ears, brain, “heart, body, and soul” with it already!

Number 6: Satellite -Gabbie Hanna

I know… A song from a Youtuber all the way up at number 6? NO, BUT SHE’S ACTUALLY SO, SO, SO AWESOME! Ever since I heard her mess around with covering songs in her videos, I urgently craved and wished for Gabbie to have her own music, because GOD, HER SINGING VOICE IS SO COOL AND EDGY, and SHE finally released some this year! Her first single Out Loud blew me away, and I didn’t know that Satellite could top it until my second or third listen where it struck that personal chord with me for being such a raw, vulnerable, loner anthem! …ooh! The way it builds on itself and goes up to the satellites and above to the stars, and then comes crashing back down to just the rasp of her voice and the piano is just pure beauty as well.

Number 5: You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore -Demi Lovato

…I don’t need to say much more than EAR HEAVEN! This kind of POWER is rarer than a platinum pegicorn! My queen did THAT!

PS: FUCK. THE. GRAMMYS.

They basically shoved Demi’s face in the dirt, and pushed it down to the earths core, not only did she get no damn nomination as usual, but they lead her on in every way possible and I’m thirsty for freaking justice! I don’t get furious often… BUT, BUT, BUT!!

Number 4: Getaway Car –Taylor Swift

Lights… Camera… ACTION!!

As a songwriter, Taylor Swift’s always had quite the knack for storytelling, but she traded in Romeo and Juliet for freaking Baby Driver in this thrilling masterpiece! (The first lines actually references Charles Dickens which isn’t exactly action-packed but..anyway,) Nothing good may start in a getaway car but of course that doesn’t stop Taylor from having the adventure anyway involving two dudes, an edgy beat, and a plot-twisting betrayal on her part!

Number 3: Perfect – Ed Sheeran ft Beyonce

ACTUAL SWEETEST SONG OF THE YEAR, OF MULTIPLE YEARS, HOLY HECK, IT’S TAKING A SHOWER IN LOVE AND SUGAR! Ed Sheeran may as well be some kind of lyrical king cupid with his mastery of writing romance songs. In the renaissance we had poets, and now we have songsmiths such as Sheeran! And THEN, as if the treasure trove located in heaven, wasn’t enough, you go and MULTIPLY IT BY 20, AND EXPAND ALL OF THEM BY SEVERAL MILES, BY ADDING IN “FLAWLESS”/Worshiped -Worldwide, like-literally-every-square-inch-of-it QUEEN B!! It’s called Perfect for a DAMN Reason… OR EIGHTY!

Number 2: Praying –Kesha

Just…WOW! This is the RIGHT way to make a comeback, this is the RIGHT way to show the world your power after you win the fight and gain control over your own career and music! Clearly this song comes straight from Kesha’s soul!

It just builds and builds until it reaches… well…. THAT NOTE! THAT OTHERWORLDLY NOTE THAT WASN’T EVEN HIT INTENTIONALLY BUT JUST CAME STRAIGHT DOWN INTO THE STUDIO AS A MUCH-DESERVED MIRACLE!!

No one could have ever really predicted she’d ever release something this STRONG and RAW and POWERFUL and OF COURSE it should have us rooting for her harder than ever before!

Number 1: Sorry Not Sorry -Demi Lovato

Okay… I couldn’t resist but hey, Sorry Not Sorry.  It’s sassy, it’s a bop, it has the hypest, most lit-pre-chorus (More so the explicit version! #Spice) , it’s got Vocals for YEARS, I may have enemies and frienemies of the past to apply it to, it’s actually Queen Demi’s BIGGEST EVER HIT, playing it never gets boring, and hearing it makes me very happy! Here’s to “Feelin like a ten, best I’ve ever been” !!

And finally, THE PLAYLIST!! It’s so LIT!!! I make playlists of my favorite new bops on my Spotify @DanaTheFangirl EVERY SINGLE MONTH!

——————————————————————————————————————————

And, as a late Christmas present to anyone who spent the time to read this far, here are my top 5 albums that were released in 2017

1) Tell Me You Love Me -Demi Lovato

2) Harry Styles -Harry Styles 

3) Rainbow -Kesha

4) Reputation -Taylor Swift

5) ÷ (Divide) -Ed Sheeran

REPUTATION EDGIER THAN EXPECTATION?! Album Review: Taylor Swift “reputation”

TAYLOR SWIFT FINALLY HAS A SIXTH ALBUM!

“Baby, let the games begin,

are you ready for it..?”

After a three year album drought (which was, indeed, the very worst!) Taylor Swift has returned!

But, the old Taylor is dead, and has been hardened into an edgier, risk-taking version, one that raps, uses modern production techniques, and includes multiple references to alcohol in her lyrics.

So… she’s gotten badass…

WAIT, Let’s try that again..

COME ON, ANOTHER BUTTON TO THE RIGHT…

NO…

There we go! Badass!  Or…

so it might seem! It depends whether you’re seeing or hearing

This version…

This version…

or possibly, this version

However you see it, she’s written the bops and has taken 100% control of her own narrative back, since she’s too clever to fall for anyone’s traps.

PS: I love the Target edition SO MUCH!! Gorgeous photos/posters and handwritten lyrics, OH HECKK YEAHH!!!! She hilariously makes fun of tabloid magazines on the back covers, my favorite false headline is “Who is Olivia’s (her cat’s) real father?”

Anyway, reputation.. with some further explanation.. 😉

Album Art: EXTRA EXTRA, Breaking news, it’s a 10/10. It’s beautiful, it’s edgy, and this is news that people should pay attention to!  Of course they already are. Because it’s freaking Taylor Swift, and people LOVEE talking about her!

1) …Ready For It:

BASSLINE!!

ALL. OF. THE. BASSLINE,! I DON’T EVEN CARE, I NEED THIS ONE TURNED UP SO LOUD!!

THIS EPICNESS IS GOING TO SHAKE ARENAS LIKE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF EARTHQUAKES!! YESSS!!!!!!

Reputation tour 2018! BRING. IT. ON.!!!!

GOD, WHAT A LEGENDARY STARTER SONG!!

She premiered a teaser for it before a football game, then the song came out, and it totally went well with that, “Baby let the games begin”

Taylor freaking cleared her throat like HERE’S A WARNING I AM GOING TO FREAKING OWN IT!!

Question: Where has Taylor been hiding this ability to spit mad rap bars all these years?!

Thug Story might have been an (ICONIC!) skit, but years later T-Swizzle is proving to be an actual thing! THAT REALLY WORKS!

The stuttering freaking works with the rap too! UNEXPECTED! AWESOME!!

This song is SOOO LITT!!!! I get freaking hyped up!!!!

She may rap the verses, but bring in the verse and it’s classic dreamy Tay! The old Taylor rose from the dead for the new one to collaborate with her!

“In the middle of the night in my dreams, you should see the things we do, baby” It’s totally up to the listeners interpretation how innocent or dirty to make this lyric seem… NICEEEE!

2) End Game (ft Future and Ed Sheeran):

This one’s odd, it threw me the heck off the first time I heard it.

“BIG REPUTATION, BIG REPUTATION, OOOH YOU AND ME WOULD BE A BIG CONVERSATION,”

Me during my first listen: Oh, god that’s actually kind of annoying…

Me during the third listen:

“BIG REPUTATION!”

THAT DOESN’T MEAN I’M THRILLED ABOUT FUTURES PART THOUGH! #MehRappers #SoManyMehExtraRapperVerses

Or for that matter the autotune?! Why start that up Taylor?!

http://swiftify.tumblr.com/post/167333765772/big-reputation-big-reputation-ooh-you-and-me-we

THANK YOU TUMBLR, I’ll won’t ever get that gif out of my head when I hear this now, and now you won’t either. 😉

EVERYONE needed Ed Rapping in a Taylor song! We all did! Long Live the Sweeran Friendship!

Stranger Things + Sweeran ❤

http://stumbleon-hometomycats.tumblr.com/post/167345215438/tenerifeseas-everything-has-changed-end-game

Taylor: “I wanna be your A Team” Ed: “Be your A Team now”  Sweeran heart: *Happy, melty* My brain: I SEE WHAT YOU GUYS DID THERE! 🙂 😉

“I buried hatchets but I keep maps of where I put them” BRILLIANT

“I swear I don’t love the drama, IT LOVES ME. ;)” ….. OKAY Taylor Potter! “I don’t go looking for trouble..” Drama DOES tend to follow Tay though!

3) I Did Something Bad:

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

Agressive, violin plucking. Unique/When will YOUR fave!?!

“If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing”

PREACH!! SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!

Hmm… what was the original lyric of Famous by Kanye?! “I feel like Taylor might owe me sex”

…….

“If a man talks shit, then I owe him NOTHING

I don’t regret it one bit cause he had it coming”

STUFF. IS. GOING. DOWN!

I know better than to do this but…. THEORY: Verse one = about Kanye,Verse two = about Calvin “I’m bitter that you admitted to writing a song I produced under a pseudonym” Harris

That’s Taylor’s “something bad”. The worst thing she’s capable of doing is burning you
SCORCHING deserving people down with clever lyrics!

But it doesn’t mean the songs aren’t SAVAGE, LIKE THIS!!!

T Tea-Swift!

http://put-my-name-on-the-topofyourlist.tumblr.com/post/167380862333/taylorthebaelor-me-when-taylors-screeching

I don’t know about you but I like those parts, and I’m also probably not proud of liking those parts!

It’s kind of like…. Lyrical gunshots though?! DOPPPPPEEEEE!!!

It’s more hilarious though, if you hear the version she did without production, because she said she woke up with the part in her head and had to make the pitch lower on the record, since no instrument made those noises.

So it’s her singing that part! Hahahaha!

http://stumbleon-hometomycats.tumblr.com/post/167380166803/itsmurjana-sassyswiftie12-taylors-aussie

4) Don’t Blame Me

WELL, DANG, IF THAT CHORUS ISN’T FREAKING IMMEDIATELY ADDICTIVE!

Taylor Swift mentioning drugs in a song?! TAYLOR SWIFT??? Did we enter another demention?! Is this the upside-down? Mandela effect?!

Oh hey, I love the new Taylor song!

Comparing love to drugs in a song, may be a cliche, but it’s not one I mind!

MMMMMMMMMMMM <—See class, here’s a visual of the sound she’s making.

“My name is whatever you decide, I’m just gonna call you mine, I’m insane, but I’m your baby” I wonder whether this was written from a character’s perspective, like Blank Space.  

Is it an exaggeration? Is it written based off of her reputation? (*Cue ding sound in Gorgeous and a 😉 )

“I once was poison ivy, but now I’m your daisyyyyyyy” So…. the reverse of “Darling I’m a nightmare, dressed like a daydream”?!?

THE WAY SHE SINGS DAISYY THOUGH! We all need to take a moment for this blessing!!

http://g3t4w4y-c4r.tumblr.com/post/167383830326/taylorthebaelor-the-way-she-sings-daaiiiiisy-is

“Don’t blame me, love made me crazy” = My new slogan when talking about my faves. Seriously though what a useful line!

THAT. NOTE. THOUGH.!!

You know, the one!??!

I love when Taylor subtly GOES off on those background parts at the end of her songs! YAASS!! (See Blank Space and Out Of The Woods)

Does anyone know why this gives me church vibes? IT’S NOT VERY HOLY AT ALL!

Only attending churches where Taylor Swift is singing 'Don't Blame Me'. #reputation

— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) November 10, 2017

5) Delicate: To me, echo machines (In the audio from her reputation secret sessions, Taylor says she used this machine called a Vocoder.) don’t seem too much different than autotune! My acceptance policy with that is low!

…It works.. I just had to have a internal battle with myself on whether the sound was cool or not…

“My reputation’s never been worse so, he must like me for me” AWWW!

Cute little song (I realize that if I call a song little, it usually means I like it, but aren’t in love with it.) on falling for someone and how Delicate it can be, most of this album reflects Taylor being in love with her current British Actor Bae Joe Alwyn.

6) Look What You Made Me Do:

STILL GOES SOOOOOO HARD!!!! Still makes me want to slay things with lazers! I can’t name another pop bop like it!

https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/the-old-taylor-swift-is-dead-single-review-look-what-you-made-me-do-taylor-swift/

I didn’t mention the video though because it wasn’t out yet! IT’S SO BRILLIANT!! There are so many hidden clever references to events that have happened to her and it’s just so over the top!

“The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now.”

7) So It Goes… Ooh, …semi sexy?! But most of those vibes are killed robotically!

We’ll just ignore the fact that I cried out the first time I heard it because I WAS PISSED OFF, DUE TO TAYLOR BEING TOO GOOD TO USE THIS AMOUNT OF AUTOTUNE!!

I like the edgy, corner of the allyway, beat on the chorus, that + Taylor lyrics (this is pretty low on that front though, she’s got songs with way better) + infectiousness (I’m not mad with it stuck in my head) are probably what saved this song for me.

As in… I’ve heard this album on repeat, and still barely skip it?

The counting thing part is kind of dope!

“Scratches down your back now” OH WOW! NOT EXPECTING THAT!

8) Gorgeous

Fun Fact: The baby voice in the beginning is Taylor’s friends Blake and Ryan’s (straight couple) daughter, and she is credited in the album booklet and magazines.

SO sarcastic and fun and relatable?! Oh my god?! It has a spot in my heart just for comedy and relatability!

“You should think about the consequence of your magnetic field being a little to strong”

It’s HIS fault your falling for him, I mean of course it is right?! Blame his mere existence in the world! Lol!

I used to love TV shows with characters in a playfully teasing “love/hate” relationships back when I was in middle school. I understand these ideas Taylor!

“You’ve ruined my life, why not be in mine?”

THE *Ding* is the new *Pen click noise* for sure! It’s so good!!  It sounds like the exact noise the winky face 😉 would make if expressions made sounds. (Someone should play with this idea and show the world!)  Can PLEASE this be a trend!? Little sounds like this in music that are real life sounds that are fitting!

“I’m so furious, at you for making me feel this way, but what can I say? You’re Gorgeous!” Like, when you’re crushing on someone and it’s SOOOO unrealistic and unlikely to happen that you get frustrated.

We’ve all been there, and I kind of live there, and… I crush on too many freaking unattainable/celebrity crushes, and when will I ever get a boyfriend? AND TAYLOR GETS THE GUY ANYWAY AT THE END OF THE SONG, BECAUSE THIS IS (Most Likely) ALSO ABOUT HER CURRENT BF JOE ALWYN!

Anyway,

“Ocean blue eyes, lookin in mine, I feel like I might, sink and drown and die”

HAHA YESS!!

This one sounds so cool! It just flows very very WELL! THE PRODUCTION OF THIS ALBUM DESERVES A GOLD METAL! (but, I get to throw it on the curb once BECAUSE AUTOTUNE HEAVY :/)

And the Grammy award for bridge of the year goes to…

“I guess I’ll just stumble on home to my cats….

Alone… *implied eye roll*….

Unless you want to come along 😉 ”

LMAO! It’s the best! Taylor referencing her cats in a song is basically all I could ever want from her! Haha!

It’s SUPER relatable until you get to the someone coming along part…..

ANYWAY!

9) Getaway Car

Can I bring up my first reaction again? I went from pissed at autotune to BOPPING in like.. 0.2 seconds!

“Shades of grey and candlelight” Is this a subtle reference to a certain trashy movie that Taylor happened to do a beautiful duet for with Zayn Malik?!!?

Why does she sing the word “first” like that? LMAO!

This one’s supposedly about her dating Tom Hiddleston to get away from her relationship with Calvin Harris OOOHH!  But, psh, there are more important things to focus on!

“I was screaming GO GO GO, but with three of us honey it’s a side show, and a circus ain’t a love story and we’re both sorry”  THREE OF US?!….Whattttt??

Plot twist: She betrays him, OH GOD, THIS IS THE STUFF, THIS IS THRILLING!

Song production 10/10 again! IT FITS SO WELL! Listen to that dull siren beat!

PS: Coincidentally (at least timing-wise) this happened

I watched Baby Driver last night and I think it’s somewhat amplifying this already BRILLIANT song for me 😂 pic.twitter.com/DPGYag8vk5

— 💜Dana💜 (@Danathefangirl) November 11, 2017

and enhanced my experience, so that was AWESOME?!

10) King Of My Heart

THE. LIT. FREAKING. RAPPING. !!!!!!! She goes OFF!!!!!

“AND ALL AT ONCE!”

What an excellent way to describe love!!! The “King (or Queen) of (your) heart, body and soul” LIKE WOW! POETIC!! ❤

That drum breakdown! SHIT THIS WILL BE AN AMAZING TOURRRRR!! This better be a Holy Ground 2.0!! In case you didn’t know Taylor Swift is an artist that really goes all out on her tours (Sets, outfits, multiple instruments, choreography, theatricality, pure magic, chests full of it! )

“And we rule the kingdom inside my room” BEAUTIFUL!!/;)

THE LYRICS ON THIS ARE GOLDENNN!!!!!!!

We accept the king of our heart, body and soul we think we deserve AND I'M SO HAPPY TAYLOR SWIFT FOUND HERS BECAUSE SHE DESERVES IT BYE IM CHOKING ON TEARS. #reputation

— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) November 10, 2017

Joe! ❤  ❤ 🙂

Their couple name HAS to be Toe lmao because it was Jaylor when she was with Joe Jonas, and….

ALWYN DON’T BREAK UP WITH HER OVER THE PHONE IN 27 SECONDS AND WE’RE BEYOND GOOD! 🙂 #09Throwback

This song even comes with it’s own doodle/emoji

 

And in Taylor’s handwriting, (because she’s cool and gives us this kind of behind-the-scenes access! It’s from one of the rep magazines!)

and that’s one of my favorite things ever!! (I’ve started saying that whenever I fall in love with something new! FUN!)

I mean, NOT MANY OTHER SONGS IN HISTORY COME WITH THEIR OWN EMOTICONS! ❤

The reputation magazines also contain a poster of Taylor’s watercolor art with the lyric “Is this the end of all the endings?” and that’s from the bridge on this song, which is definitely on the top 4 best bridges on this album!

11) Dancing With Our Hands Tied

BEAAATTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

WHAT A BEAAATTTTTTT!!!

It’s like a speedy 80s disco thing!

Or is it?

“So baby can we dance, oh through an avalanche?”

Cold! Hope you guys make it okay!

“I’m a mess, but I’m the mess that you wanted”

LOVE THIS!

I want to hear this playing in an action movie!! With the couple literally trying to escape natural disaster, or a burning building, I mean, MAKE IT HAPPEN!! (I think the Bad Blood and Look What You Made Me Do music videos qualify as mini-action movies anyway!)

11) Dress

Lol, remember 3 years ago when “His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room.” was the edgiest Taylor Swift lyric?? HAHAHAHAHA

Wildest Dreams, WHO?! Honey, she can’t come to the phone…

http://dontlikeyourlittlegames.tumblr.com/post/167331177470/who-are-you-im-you-but-stronger

TAYLOR’S RAP FLOW HERE!!! ITSOSMOOOOOTHHHHHH!!! UGHH!!! ❤

Tay Slay pulls of that breathy beauty though! YASSS!!

ALL 5 OF HER OTHER ALBUMS WERE JUST LEADING UP TO THIS RIGHTTT?! Here’s the Grow up, glo up, slay me with this newfound T-Swizzle rap flow up!

She doesn’t pronounce the word “bleached” too well on the bridge.. I thought she was saying “Your buzz cut (Not sexy for me, I need my potential bf to have hair!) and my hair bleeds”.

I got concerned…

“Say my name and everything just stops”

Thank god you finally stopped the music with it at the end! That would have been a missed opportunity if she didn’t have the lyrics and music go together, because it’s just one of those SATISFYING THINGS! At least for me!

HOT!

13 😉 )

ACTUAL BLARING ALARMS! OHHHHHHHHHH SHHITTTTTTTTT!!!!

(I will sing along with that siren noise effect, don’t @ me!)

My intitial reaction on this one?!: 1) BOPPING 2) Literally cracking the heck up! LMAO SHE’S BRILLIANT!

And to think I loved the phrase “This is why we can’t have nice things” BEFORE!

Hahahaha..

Well, well, well…. #TeaSwift

“It was so nice being friends again. There I was giving you a second chance, but you stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand”

“And therein lies the issue. Friends don’t try to trick you

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/heres-the-full-transcript-of-that-taylor-swift-kanye-phone-call-w429579/ (Not to promote this by any means…)

get you on the phone and mind twist you.”

“So I took an ax to a mended fence”

NOT. VERY. SUBTLE! #SwiftlySAVAGE #SheAlwaysGetsTheLastWord (Better Than Revenge, …TM)

“But I’m not the only friend you’ve lost lately, if only you weren’t..

so SHADYYYY”

OH GOD! THE BRIDGEE!!!

I. LIVEEE!!!!

http://itsjustinyourwildestdreams.tumblr.com/post/167328972532/and-heres-to-my-mama-had-to-listen-to-all-this

https://jessicaswiftie1989.tumblr.com/post/167329130620/and-heres-to-you-cause-forgiveness-is-a-nice

THE. FREAKING. CACKLE. SHE. DOES!!!!

I LOVE IT!!

I knew we’d get some MASTERPIECES from freaking nasty Kimyegate! I Did Something Bad, Look What You Made Me Do, and This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things have definitely pleased me! WOW!! (Maybe I love them a little too much, but it’s SO FUN!!)

11) Call It What You Want

The previous song was level 100 and this is level 3 like lol “I’m chilling and in love over here, move along, say what you’d like.”

“I’m doing better than I ever was.”

Taylor seems so happy this era!! IT’S ALL I COULD EVER ASK!! ❤ ❤ 🙂

This. is. so. chill. and. adorable. !!!!!!

“He built a fire just to keep me warm” AWWWWW!!!

“I did one thing right”

Well, this is awkward if the Toe ever breaks….

But, at least it would be right in this moment. ❤ Live and learn.

“I want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck, chain round my neck. Not because he owns me

But ’cause he really knows me”

GOAALSS!! I love that lineee!! ❤ ❤

Taylor also came through for us and made a dance!

See 2:23 of this for the “Dolphin Body Roll” and more!!! 🙂

LMAO! What a dork! She’s so cute! 🙂

15) New Year’s Day

Flawless-Piano-Ballad Taylor is back! This is the least amount of those we’ve EVER had on an album and I’d really like to take this as a sign of her being happy!

She sings about the not as glamorous and romanticized side of New Years, the aftermath of the party, and contains within it some of her best lyrics EVER!!

Particularly:

“Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you” Whether good or bad or in between, your memory stays with you through time so you have to try to make it the best you can. That’s the meaning I get out of this line. So powerful!

and

“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I can recognize anywhere”

AWW 😦

More SUPER SWEET couple stuff! GAAHHH!

“I’ll be there if you’re the toast of the town, babe

…Or if you strike out and you’re crawling home”

This song reminds me a lot of Taylor’s old music. I hope she always keeps this kind of vibe in there somewhere.

It’s so simple and BEAUTIFUL!! ❤

The piano fade out though!!

http://hebadelmosa.tumblr.com/post/167406457704/blank-space-baby13-there-is-no-better-ending-to

Album Rating: 9.13/10 (9.4 but Taylor’s lucky number has always been 13)

Taylor, I’m for the badassery, not so much the autotune, AND THE RAPPING IS THE FREAKING BEST!!!!! 😄❤️🎶👸🏼🐍 #reputation

— 💜Dana💜 (@Danathefangirl) November 10, 2017

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite artists EVER, my second-in-command QUEEN to only Demi and I feel like I don’t talk about her quite enough!! She’s a genius, her lyrical storytelling in her music is EVERYTHING!

Oh and to put it into the universe: GOD, WOULD I LOVE TO MEET HER!!! I’ve been wishing for that since Middle School!

I love that many of my favorite artists this year went for the route of making the sounds of their music more sonically cohesive (SATISFYING AF! Eardrums = happy!) and reputation is no exception!

Despite playing around with certain vocal effects (knocked most of the points from this) she shouldn’t have in places, this album is straight up snake venom

FIRE!

Wait, maybe I don’t want to call it that!!

 

Anyway, Rep is an addictive, sassy, fun, clever, edgy, magical, BLAST of an album!!

I expected more of her writing from a character/the media portrayal of her’s perspective a la Blank Space and Look What You Made Me Do, but I guess she does do that on some of the revenge songs and Don’t Blame Me a bit, I just think she might have been able to play with it more.

Taylor’s rapping is EPIC, and I can’t believe we’re just now being blessed with it!

I’m all for edgy Taylor, bring it on. It’s her Miley Cyrus Can’t Be Tamed era, but luckily Taylor’s too soft and reliable to go all Bangerz,  I’d hate that!

reputation is the album where Taylor primarily feels two emotions

ANGER (twords certain backstabbers)

and

HAPPY LOVE

In fact, Taylor seems to prove the best revenge is happy love (with a couple of lyric jabs in there, but “If you don’t want (her) to write a song about you, then you shouldn’t do bad things”) and those that know her best (family, bf, friends, swifties) will know which sides of her are real. ❤

Fave Tracks: …Ready For It, I Did Something Bad, Don’t Blame Me,  (the entire second half, lowkey!) Getaway Car, King Of My Heart, Dancing With Our Hands Tied, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Least Faves: End Game (ft Future and Ed Sheeran),  So It Goes…

Buy: It is your only option, ( but an EXCELLENT one!) since Queen is waiting on the Spotify game over here (Fine, my playlists are just sad because they can’t be blessed by Rep yet!!) Curse her need to actually break records and sell physical albums! It’s unheard of right?!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reputation/id1274999981?app=itunes