1. Ariana Grande - "No Tears Left To Cry"
Everyone knows that Ariana Grande self-consciously patterns herself over '80s and '90s divas like Mariah and Celine and Whitney. But back then pop stars would release ballads for every 2nd or 3rd single, whereas Grande has had to play the more consistently uptempo game of 2010s pop radio. And "No Tears Left To Cry" is kind of a clever way to get around that, opening like a schmaltzy ballad, then dropping in the dance beat and the chants about turning up, and then combining the flowerly melody with the funky beat. I'm a sucker for records that blur the line between ballads and uptempo songs, so I appreciate the experiment. Here's the 2018 singles playlist I update every month. 

2. Ella Mai - "Boo'd Up" 
I think I got a crush on Ella Mai just from hearing her voice when this started getting played on the radio a few months ago. It's cool how chameleonic and versatile DJ Mustard has become since the heyday of his signature sound, I had no idea he produced this until recently.

3. Jay Rock f/ Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake - "King's Dead" 
I really like Jay Rock and think he had a shot at stardom on the heels of his appearance on "Money Trees." But it feels like everything Top Dawg Entertainment has done in the half decade since then to promote Jay Rock has mostly served to make him seem more like an also-ran on the label he helped launch. The long stretches without any new music, the ridiculous pre-order scam for 90059, and now the song from the Black Panther soundtrack that's ostensibly supposed to launch Jay Rock's next album and is technically now his biggest hit to date. But between Kendrick doing the hook and a showboating outro over a beat switch, and Future's absurdly funny cameo becoming one of the most quoted verse, it's oddly easy to overlook how great Jay Rock is on the song too.

4. Dorothy - "Flawless" 
Roc Nation is a funny label, their roster has a few of the most famous rappers and singers in the world, and then some acts you've probably never heard of, like the L.A.-based hard rock band Dorothy. I don't think I've even heard this on the radio at home, I was driving through Ohio recently checking out all these random rock stations and this was the song I heard that really struck with me. 

5. John Legend f/ BloodPop - "A Good Night" 
I remember when John Legend released "Green Light" and it seemed to really put his voice in this unexpected context of a big uptempo feelgood dance track and I thought it was a great moment that suggested a new lane for his career. But that lane has been left mostly unexplored in the decade since then, so it's nice to hear something that has a little of that vibe again. I only know BloodPop from the 2 songs that actually made me enjoy Justin Bieber, so I knew this was gonna be good when I saw his feature credit. 

6. Ball Greezy f/ Lil Dred - "Nice & Slow" 
A nice filthy sex rap radio sleeper hit for the last few months, from a guy whose name sounds like it means "sweaty nuts," took me a while to figure out if I liked the song or just enjoyed the Freddie Jackson sample. 

7. Chris Stapleton - "Midnight Train To Memphis"  
My local hard rock station only played this a little but it sounded really good in that context, Stapleton promoting one of his rowdier songs to rock radio is a good idea. 

8. The Lemon Twigs - "Tailor Made" 
I've been listening to my alma mater's college station, Towson's WTMD, a lot lately, and this is one of my favorite recent discoveries from the station. Apparently The Lemon Twigs released an album on 4AD a couple years ago, and "Tailor Made" is from a recent 2-song single, so hopefully there's a whole album in this '60s harmony-driven rock style on the way. 

9. Niall Horan - "On The Loose" 
I still feel like a big opportunity is being missed that Niall Horan's song with Maren Morris isn't a single while she's crossing over, but the opening song from Flicker is a solid single too. 

10. Drake - "Nice For What" 
When I enjoy a Drake song these days, I think "but is it 'stomach on flat flat'?" It's nice to hear him just do a solid pop rap song, after the Views era when his biggest hits were on some millennial Lou Bega tip. But "Nice For What" also feels like a good example of how even when Drake puts some different ingredients together in an appealing way, it feels like he's just playing catch-up with everyone else -- the disembodied Big Freedia vocal sample echoes Beyonce's "Formation," the nod to ringtone rap era hero Fabo echoes Young Thug's "Stoner," even the Lauryn Hill vocal loop is something did, or at least tried to do before he was famous enough to get the sample cleared. And then of course, the beat is homage to bounce music, but Drake got a fellow Canadian to produce it even though he's fucking signed to Cash Money and kind of knows a few people from New Orleans.

Worst Single of the Month: Bad Wolves - "Zombie"
Rock radio is full of so many bland bands doing clumsy retreads of overexposed '90s music that it's appropriate that two current hits are Five Finger Death Punch's even more butt rock version of the Offspring's most butt rock song, "Gone Away," and this reworking of The Cranberries' "Zombie." Bad Wolves got Dolores O'Riordan's approval of their version before she died -- she was actually going to appear on the track but never got the chance. But it's really just so awful, particularly because they update the lyrics, dropping "drones" and "2018" into the original lines of the song.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 10:06 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.