The Billboard Blog, 2019
What the hell is pop music anymore, anyway?
The biggest star in pop music in 2019 is an 18 year old girl, performing songs she composed when she was 16, that evokes the soundtrack to Winnie the Pooh’s “Heffalumps and Woozles” scene rather than what fits the trends of modern radio-ready sounds.
Yeah, I’m confused.
2019 was a very large cumulative culling, the removal of a lot of the old guard of the lexicon of pop stars in favor of new ones (…for the most part, and we’ll get to that). On the one hand, that’s kind of refreshing; knowing that an under the radar song that in the past wouldn’t have gotten traction even among the most hipster circles can become a player on the Billboard Year End list is kind of exciting. We live in a time where literally anyone can blow up in the blink of an eye again, and often times, it feels organic.
On the other hand, that also means that anyone can blow up in the blink of an eye. It results in a lot of imitation, and things that bluntly miss the point of what made the very special thing special, being thrown into the ring in and dying slow, painful deaths to your eardrums. It homogenizes things, churning out boring chart-toppers and just, really, “playlist fodder” for those random Spotify playlists you toss on in the background.
That’s certainly no surprise; pretenders have come and gone in the music industry since everyone tried capturing what Chuck Berry did at the dawn of 1950’s. Trend chasing is going to happen until the end of time. The difference with 2019 is, the adaptation to weed those imitators out has not yet happened. It’s also not been able to weed out all those remnants of the past just yet; there have been some major clingers-on to either confusing or awkward results.
Yet, it was a year that Drake didn’t drop a full LP, meaning he didn’t have his finger-prints all over the year-end needlessly! All praise our new overlords, based off the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 for 2019.
Best Billboard Song of 2019: “a lot” — 21 Savage ft. J. Cole (Billboard Ranking: 42)
I think this is the first time I can say I “get” 21 Savage.
Let’s be real here: his entire debut album, Issa Album, is just unfocused, lazy, and really didn’t embrace his own meme. See, 21 thrives off of being lackadaisical to a near detriment. He’s not necessarily a “mumble rapper”, per se, but he’s not going a mile a minute on verses like Busta Rhymes, nor is he providing anything insightful like Kendrick Lamar. He just kind of existed in a space where it was difficult to even determine if his music was actually good, or just borderline unintentionally hilarious (see “Bank Account”). Everything came with a narrow view, and poorly walked the fine line on just ticking the boxes for generic hip-hop. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing transcendent.
Then i am > i was happened, and although 21’s flows still are evolving, trying to find that appropriate middle ground between sounding disengaged and carefree, there’s a clear attempt to not only add some rock-solid features, but also to expand the subject matter. “a lot” starts to touch on that, with a lyric base that sounds, at first, triumphant, but quickly gets really dark, that repetition of the song’s name getting more and more biting and painful as the song goes on.
As improved and focused as 21 is on this, the real star is J. Cole, who unleashes an insightful guest spot that’s essentially a blunt commentary on the the current state of the industry. The combination is a song that feels equal parts timely and timeless, and sneakily deeper than it really is, resulting in a song that slots in perfect to whatever emotion one could imagine.
Top 10 Billboard Year End Hits
With “a lot” taking the top spot, here’s the rest of the list (and peep all 10 in the playlist above:
2. “Dancing With a Stranger” — Sam Smith ft. Normani (Billboard Ranking: 14)
2019 will be remembered as the year that Sam Smith finally did what I’ve said he needed to do forever: abandon the piano hits and just let top-tier producers carry his voice. He grabs British pop producing magnate Stargate to build a smooth electronic R&B beat, and Normani, who continues her run of excellent collaborations, for a mellow and groovy tune that just clicks on all cylinders.
3. “Suge” — DaBaby (Billboard Ranking: 24)
Nobody in hip-hop right now is quite like DaBaby. While the Future/Young Thug clone-factory continues to churn them out daily, DaBaby has carved out an identity all his own; biting, scummy, and evoking a near 90’s throwback. It does get graphic and silly at times (like here, on “Suge”), but there is nothing like this in hip-hop right now. Take heed when the imitators come.
4. “breathin” — Ariana Grande (Billboard Ranking: 72)
This would have made it onto last year’s list if it qualified, really. Ariana’s always at her best when she just goes straight up dance pop, but the end of this decade has shown she can also be effective when addressing her problems head-on. Plus, what’s a more fitting anthem for the end of the 2010’s than an anthem about dealing with anxiety?
5. “Circles” — Post Malone (Billboard Ranking: 62)
I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that Post Malone has continued to do what he does. On a single album, this dude, face tats and all, has lyrics about taking a dump while looking at his accolades, but also makes one of the best alternative rock songs of the decade in “Circles”. We’re never escaping this guy, are we?
6. “Truth Hurts” — Lizzo (Billboard Ranking: 13)
The year didn’t end as well for Lizzo as it started, but man, her rise in 2019 was just flat out refreshing on all fronts. Charisma out the wazoo, and a full two albums to explore of knock-out, radio-ready hip-hop and R&B. The entire Cuz I Love You album is quite the experience all its own (“Juice”, “Water Me”, and/or “Cuz I Love You” would have made this list too, had they qualified.)
7. “Panini” — Lil Nas X (Billboard Ranking: 40)
The biggest name in rap in 2019 was openly gay and basically wrote a country song. Yeah. Lil Nas X, unlike a lot of others in his position, embraced his own meme on “Old Town Road”, but didn’t let it define him. This dude doesn’t even have a full LP out but for my money, the acclaim and anticipation needs to go to “Panini”, which shows there might be some long-term chops here.
8. “Eastside” — benny blanco ft. Halsey & Khalid (Billboard Ranking: 17)
“Eastside” is the actualization of the themes the Chainsmokers so desperately tried to accomplish with “Closer”. Heck, it even grabs Halsey and it actually works better, and this is one of the best tracks I think Khalid has been on, period. Yes, I know benny here is responsible for a lot of the Maroon 5 dreck that plagued this decade, but I’m not holding it against him.
9. “Clout” — Offset ft. Cardi B (Billboard Ranking: 87)
Considering how much good-will Cardi B seemed to waste after her meteoric 2018, and with how awkward that whole “staring at Cardi on stage” incident was at the Grammys, it’s stunning this song came out as solid as it did. Offset actually finally gets into a flow that maximizes his strengths, and this is, without question, Cardi’s best output this year.
10. “Sucker” — Jonas Brothers (Billboard Ranking: 10)
Okay, so not all the old remnants of pop’s past died this year. The Jonas Brothers’ comeback tour may not have always been pretty, and yes, a lot of it relied on blunt nostalgia, but “Sucker” worked stupidly well. Does it take many cues from “Feel It Still”? Probably, but even with that considered, I think “Sucker” works better for what it’s going for than Portugal. The Man’s entry.
Billboard Honorable Mention (read: SNUB) of the Year: “Earfquake” — Tyler, the Creator
OH COME ON.
Most metrics showed Tyler, the Creator being on track to make the year end by the skin of his teeth. People flat-out freaked out over this track upon the drop, the song (heck, the entire IGOR album itself) was met with critical acclaim and plenty of spins on radio, and he ends up on the outside looking in. Does the Billboard Year-End really matter that much in the legacy of an artist? Probably not, but man, this was an obvious of a year-end entry as ever there was one. There’s nothing even nefarious at play here, Tyler just flat out got robbed and deserves to get more acclaim, especially after this track.
I will have more to say about this on the year-end albums and tracks (spoiler alert I suppose), but this just aggravates me for no reason.
Let’s Talk About Billie Eilish
What do we do with Billie here?
Nearly her entire discography, let alone her popular music, sounds like a tour in “how to not get on the Billboard Year End”. Her subject matters are based in depravity and horror. Her music videos are art-house in the wrong direction and borderline terrifying. Her sense of fashion can best be described if a goth kid was told what Supreme was and had to remake it in their image.
Who would have thought this was the same person who back in 2015 put out “Ocean Eyes” as a minimal blip on the radar? Does anyone actually remember “Ocean Eyes”? Those who raised their hands are lying. It was kind of intriguing, but at the time, Eilish was essentially just doing her best to imitate Lana Del Ray and little else. Heck, people had no idea what her actual age was at the time; this girl put out Ocean Eyes at 13 years old.
Yet, here we are. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go is the biggest album of the year. It has created this odd iconography all its own, with much darker and deeper themes, much more musicality. Three year end songs on the year end, including “bad guy” (Billboard Ranking: 4) and likely more singles and success rolling into 2020 and beyond. She’s 18 and has the world before her.
What might have been the funniest part of Billie’s random ascendance to the top of the pop world was the blunt and rampant accusations of her being an “industry plant”. Yes, the ascent was confusing and came out of nowhere, yes, her parents are successful in Hollywood (a little, or a lot if you’re a Mass Effect fan), and yes, there was probably a lot of latent sexism at play in the midst of all this. Obviously, any way you dice it, it’s pretty false.
Here’s a real question: why her? Why would she be the horse the industry wanted to hitch a wagon to? Eilish’s style and sound is not that of the radio-ready, but rather the wet dream of the likes of Pitchfork and music hipsters. Certainly she has gone out of her way to not present herself in the way many more female stars are presented and has stunning control over her own image and art, particularly for her age. It’s not like others who some could consider to be in this vein (such as FKA twigs) are suddenly busting onto the airwaves. Her success hasn’t led to a ton of alternative acts having similar jumps; it’s been a pure, organic, inexplicable anomaly, and the industry is struggling to not only understand, but to keep up.
Am I a huge fan of Eilish? I wouldn’t say so, as much as I can respect some of the tracks that have been out this year. That said, it’s astonishing that this happened from pure groundswell. There is still a lot of divisiveness over if Eilish is actually good, or if she deserves acclaim at all, but I don’t think that matters; it’s just astonishing that something like this album was able to get popular at all, and it gives me hope that we can get a bit more weird in pop in the new decade.
Taylor Swift’s Very Bad No Good Year
Coming off of Reputation, Taylor Swift was put into a very weird position. When you make an album that embraces your own image in the eyes of the music public as a “bad guy”, true or not, you have to be careful to not fall into that image for too long, lest you risk becoming off-putting. The problem was, that for as sloppy as Reputation was at times (“Look What You Made Me Do” still stands as one of the worst singles of the entire decade), it’s not as though Taylor was bluntly incapable of making good music, let alone incapable of being intriguing in her new role. Embracing the dark side made Taylor interesting, if not a bit of a hot-mess in the process.
Then 2018 came and went, and pop music essentially moved on without her. “Delicate” was a blip on the radar and “End Game” got a little single play, but that was it. Her entire output fell off a cliff. There were still tours and success, but you got the feeling whatever the next album cycle brought, it was going to be much more positive towards her image.
And then “ME!” came out.
“ME!” (Billboard Rank: 43) got quite a bit of play but the song and video were just…odd. The entire internet has already ragged on the “Counting is fun!” lyric, but how about the fact that it was all packaged as Taylor using Brendan Urie as a “new gay best friend”. It was really odd, felt exploitative and dumb, and gave you the feeling that Taylor didn’t really learn all that much from the public fall-out of the Kanye West feud and the Reputation backlash.
That was just the warm up for “You Need To Calm Down” (Billboard Ranking: 39), which was, for about the umpteenth time, a song about the haters. On the surface, nothing too nefarious. The first verse is just typical Taylor Swift fare, until we get to this lyric:
Why are you mad?
When you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD)
Oh no…oh Taylor…are you about to…she did, didn’t she? She used the first half to talk about her haters, then used the second half to compare the hate she got to the plight of the LGBTQ community. Maybe that wasn’t the intent, and I’m sure a lot of people see this as a net positive, but…oh man, even if the lyrics were intended to be genuine and supportive, this came off as extremely tone deaf and shallow.
The rest of Lover came and went, even if the title track was…fine. And “Cruel Summer” was darn good. Yet besides the inadvertent ickiness of the two first singles, most of the album was just background noise, and Taylor struggled to get out of second gear most of the rest of 2019. That, coupled with her being tied to the absolute disaster that was the Cats movie, has left her no longer feeling like a matriarch of pop heading into a new decade; she’s just blended into the crowd, which isn’t a good sign for someone that’s really only thrived being front and center.
Rap’s Weird Crossroads
Last year, hip-hop and R&B cleaned up most of the pop acclaim, and much of that continued into 2019, but in some very…weird ways.
Drake essentially took the year off to get drunk and celebrate a Raptors NBA Championship, and in his absence, the biggest “legacy” name in that lane is Post Malone…who released an alternative hit, and continued to buzz off a soundtrack tune with Swae Lee. Lizzo has some hip-hop chops, but seemed to be thrown between pop, R&B, dance, and every other genre possible. City Girls may have had the most important song of 2019, but “Act Up” (Billboard Rank: 68) never felt like it broke through that upper echelon.
Everything else is kind of in the ether, and it feels like there’s a major void. So much hip-hop this year felt corny, forced, and box-ticking, from Lil Baby, to NLE Choppa, to Lil Tecca, to the confusing continued success of YNW Melly. Blueface…exists. Juice WRLD managed to get his worst song, “Robbery” (Billboard rank: 100) to a confusing amount of success.
And then there’s Chris Brown. It’s always Chris Brown, isn’t it?
Beyond being incapable of just going away, for good, Chris managed to put out his second album of nearly 3 hours of music IN TWO YEARS but also got a number one album out of it, and nearly let Drake pop in for a hot minute and drag him to a top 20 year end hit in “No Guidance” (Billboard Rank: 21). How? By just making an entire album that copies everything popular and leans entirely on the features rather than Brown himself. The entire Indigo album, which will likely spawn at least one year-end single for 2020, is an amalgam of bad trend chasing, and its inexcusable that Chris Brown is one of the highest charting artists in pop in the year 2019, let alone 2020.
This decade has had plenty of “problematic” artists find success, but to be this stuck to someone who has no one to give, and watch a number of other individuals kind of just exist in the background with nothing to offer, I have no idea where the genre is heading into the next decade. We’ve already seen someone who was considered to be one-note in 21 Savage start to grow as a performer, and we do have intriguing personalities like DaBaby, but if the “Kendrick Lamar Rock Album” rumors are to be believed, is rap about to break itself in two?
Worst Billboard Song of 2019: “Someone You Loved” — Lewis Capaldi (Billboard Rank: 27)
Upon the first listen, this song was just kind of lame but harmless. With repeated listens, it was bordering on funny with Capaldi’s painful wailing, strange slurring, and raspy delivery of the major lines.
And somewhere about the tenth or so time, I realized this song is an un-salvageable mess. Who is this for? Who? Sad people? People going through a breakup? People who are wallowing in self-pity? I’m someone who basically thrives off of sad-boy music as it is, but this whole song just sounds pathetic, and is, as too many songs in this genre wind up, just a point of the finger at the partner, only now added with weaker lyrics than could even be fathomed. Ed Sheeran and many of his his WIGWAG contemporaries ate a lot of crap this decade, deservedly so in some instances, but never did Sheeran, or Passenger, or Christina Perri, or any of those soft ballads sound this impetuously whiny.
Any other year, this would be buried behind the likes of Chris Brown, or Ed Sheeran’s own messy collaborations, or Kane Brown’s sad attempt at EDM, or even the knock-offs for “Old Town Road”. This is not any other year. Even a dance remix couldn’t save it. It’s not quiet or introspective, it’s not earnestly emotional, it’s just a lame, lame, lame, lame, lame downer in every sense.
I do want this to be constructive, Lewis, so I did have your dad offer up some advice for you:
Here’s to another decade of this drivel.
