You have been counting the days down for months now, and your favorite artist’s album is out! You look on the “Billboard Hot 100” and see your favorite song is number 1.
Don’t you wonder why this specific song is number 1? What are the criteria that make a number-one song? Have people even heard of these songs before?
The “Billboard Hot 100” is a list of songs that are popular that week according to “Inside The Industry:” “The Billboard charts are put together by calculating song sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States.”
Recently a new record was broken on billboard according to “Music Mayhem Magazine.” “Last Night” is now the first song in history to amass 1 billion on-demand audio streams in the United States in a single calendar year, so far.”
Here are my reviews of the top 10 songs on the “Billboard Hot 100” as of September 28th, 2023.
Number 1: “Slime You Out” by Drake Feat SZA
Drake and SZAs, “Slime You Out,” collaboration deserves the top spot. In this song, SZA and Drake talk about how exes wronged them. What I find interesting about this song is that Drake and SZA dated.
According to “Her Campus,” “Two days after Drake and 21 Savage released “Mr. Right Now,” SZA confirmed that she and the “Rich Flex” rapper dated.”
If you have been listening to Drake and SZA’s music over the years, you may have noticed they have been in a “years-long back-and-forth between them” according to “Time.”
In my opinion, the drama overshadowed the actual song. The song has a great beat and has a nice “R&B” mood to it. I think this song will be remembered for a very long time.
A student says “I haven’t heard of this song before”
Number 2: “Paint The Town Red” by Doja Cat
“Paint The Town Red” by Doja Cat is an interesting song. Doja Cat gained fame from her song ¨Say So” in 2019 with the popular TikTok dance.
4 years later another song of hers is on TikTok and it’s very different.
The song has a really fun intro and the lyrics are very catchy. I do think this song is very overplayed but I would still recommend this song.
One student says, “I have heard the song before and I think it’s okay.”
Another student says “I have never heard of this song before”
Number 3: “Snooze” by SZA
I think this song is very interesting. I loved the choice of lyrics. I do think the song is overrated and does not really compare to SZA’s other songs.
I do still think this song is very good and I would recommend this song.
Number 4: “Fast Car” by Luke Combs
“Fast Car” is a song originally written and recorded by Tracy Chapman but Luke Combs a country artist covered it in his latest album “Gettin’ Old”
According to “Billboard,” “The remake reigns after 19 weeks at the survey’s No. 2 spot.” Billboard also says “Chapman’s original hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988 (while Combs’ version has reached No. 2)”
In my opinion, the story of the song is amazing. According to “American Songwriter,” The song is about “a young woman trying to escape the cycle of poverty.”
Some lyrics I found interesting were, “Just across the border and into the city you and I can both get jobs.” I enjoyed how they talked about running away together and starting a future not living in poverty.
The song is catchy and cool because it’s multiple genres when you listen to different artists singing it. I recommend this song.
A student says ¨Meh, not a big country fan.¨
Number 5: “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan feat Kacey Musgraves
I Remember Everything by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves is a song that many people can relate to. It’s about relationships with drinking issues.
Some lyrics I found interesting were, “You’re drinkin’ everything to ease your mind
But when are you gonna ease mine?”; “The sand from your hair is blowin’ in my eyes, blame it on the beach, grown men don’t cry.” He feels a lot of hurt when it comes to all his past relationships which is also shown amazingly in Kacey Musgrave’s part.
In many of these lyrics, he is referring to his ex-wife Elisabeth “Rose” Madden. For example “Do I remind you of your daddy in his ’88 Ford?” Before fame, Zach and Rose recorded songs in the back of his ‘88 Ford.
Another lyric I found interesting was, “You were beggin’ me to stay ’til the sun rose,” which obviously mentions Rose’s name.
Besides the meaning of the song, the song has an amazing beat, and the song also has a relaxing tune. Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves have so much chemistry when singing together and their voices are amazing. I would recommend this song.
Both students I interviewed said they had “never heard of this song before.”
Number 6: “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
“Cruel Summer” is one of my favorite songs on this list. I love the upbeat part of this song, and it’s going to be a song that people remember.
If you have been to the “Eras tour” or have seen the videos on social media from the “Eras tour,” you would know one of the biggest events in the concert is “Cruel Summer.”
On the downside, this song is very overrated. I feel like I have heard this song everywhere and this isn’t even one of Taylor’s best songs like “Our Song”, “All Too Well (10 Minutes)” and “Love Story.”
A student says “It’s good but overplayed,” which I agree with. But even putting this all into consideration, I still would recommend this song.
Number 7: “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo
Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo is a great song. You may know Olivia Rodrigo from the shows “Bizardvark” and “Highschool Musical The Musical The Series” and her songs “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U”
In many Olivia Rodrigo songs, anger is one of the biggest themes shown very well in Vampire.
Some lyrics that really show this theme are “How do you lie without flinching? (How do you lie, how do you lie, how do you lie?)”
Olivia Rodrigo shows large amounts of anger in the song with her voice.
This is a song that many people can relate to and overall it’s an amazing song that I would recommend.
Number 8: “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen´s Last Night not only broke the record for one billion on-demand streams but also the “the longest No. 1 stay on the Hot 100 chart throughout the 2020s” according to Country97.1HANKFM
This surpasses Harry Styles´ As It Was. He also almost broke the record for longest running number one hit.
Besides the records the song broke, it is really good. The opening beat allures you to the song and makes you want to listen to more.
His choice of lyrics makes the song get stuck in your head for weeks.
Both students I have interviewed said “they had never heard of this song before”
I think this is a great song and I recommend it.
Number 9: “Fukumean” by Gunna
The song is okay it’s not my style. If you like rap songs I would recommend it. I hadn’t heard of this song or artist before listening and it was different
Both of the students I interviewed had never heard of this song before.
Number 10: “Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa
If you have seen the movie Barbie you might have heard a myriad of songs including “Barbie World”, “What Was I Made For” and “I’m Just Ken” but one of the songs that most stuck out to me in the “Barbie” movie was “Dance The Night”
The fun upbeat song was great for a movie like “Barbie” and was part of what made the movie as good as it was.
A student said “It’s a good song, know it from the Barbie movie”
I think this song is great and I would recommend it.
There are many great songs on the Billboard Hot 100 some of my favorites were “Cruel Summer” and I Remember Everything.
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain” -Bob Marley
