Monthly Report: November 2020 Singles
1. Royal Blood - "Trouble's Coming"
The British duo Royal Blood have had a nice run of singles so far, but the lead single from their forthcoming album really just jumped out of the radio at me from the first time I heard it with the 'disco AC/DC' approach they're going for now. It's not their biggest hit yet but it feels inevitable that it will be. Here's the 2020 singles playlist I add 10 songs to every month.
2. Young Dolph f/ Megan Thee Stallion - "RNB"
Young Dolph has built a pretty impressive career without a really significant solo hit, and at this point I didn't think he'd ever have a song in the rap radio top 10 after O.T. Genasis's "Cut It," but I'm glad this was the song that got him there. Back when Juicy J had a run as a solo artist using mostly beats from other producers, I thought maybe he was not that into making beats anymore, so his resurgence as a producer has been fun to see, especially with him using that hilarious sample of Logic's voice as his producer tag.
3. Joel Corry f/ MNEK - "Head & Heart"
I liked MNEK's album, I'm glad this '90s house-sounding track with British DJ Joel Corry has him back on the American charts for the first time since "Never Forget You" with Zara Larsson.
4. The Backseat Lovers - "Kilby Girl"
This Utah band's first song on the alternative charts really blew me away, really feels like the kind of overstuffed ambitious song that you don't get much on rock radio these days. Can't believe they're American, though, they sound so British.
5. Of Monsters And Men - "Visitor"
I'm glad Of Monsters And Men are continuing in the loud electric sound of Fever Dream, I was hoping it wasn't a one-off, and "Visitor" has such a dark haunted vibe that it still feels like kind of a 180 from "Alligator."
6. Sada Baby - "Whole Lotta Choppas"
I'm not surprised that eventually a Sada Baby song went viral and got him on the charts, but I was kinda hoping it would be "Slide." The Nicki Minaj remix really doesn't add anything to the song, though, I hope eventually people just go back to playing the original.
7. Foo Fighters - "Shame Shame"
Concrete And Gold mostly didn't live up to the potential of a Foo Fighters album produced by Greg Kurstin, but I'm glad he did the new album too, I think there's still something interesting there to explore. I love the percussion sound on this track, I'm not sure if it's just a drum set and handclaps but the way it's put together with a lot of reverb and room sound is pretty cool.
8. Blu DeTiger - "Figure It Out"
Blu DeTiger sounds like an over-the-top stage name, but her drummer is her brother Rex DeTiger so I guess that is her name. This is really catchy, it's nice to see a singer/bassist putting their instrument front and center in the mix.
9. Doja Cat f/ Gucci Mane - "Like That"
As a follow-up to "Say So" this didn't feel quite like the right pick, didn't really extend her pop radio breakthrough. But it's slowly grown on me, good Gucci verse.
10. Trey Songz f/ Summer Walker - "Back Home"
This song is good but I find it funny that it's not even the best song where Trey Songz sings New Edition's "If It Isn't Love," shout out to Trick Daddy's "Ain't A Thug."
The Worst Single of the Month: Internet Money f/ Gunna, Don Toliver, and NAV - "Lemonade"
The whole Internet Money thing is interesting -- they're less a group or even a collective than a union and network of producers, members of which had over 30 singles on the Hot 100 last year. Still, based on the first big blockbuster song credited to Internet Money as the primary artist, I have to wonder if this is a business model built to construct the most generic songs that sound like a thousand other songs that already exist. This feels like the definition of Rap Caviar playlist filler and I'm not even sure why it blew up like it has.