ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart: 15th June. The one where Taylor's number one the week before Olivia blows everything up

 So this week feels irrelevant especially with Olivia Rodrigo likely netting one of the biggest album bombs since Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" last year next week so anything here but we do have a week here and a busy one at that so let's dive into the top where for a second week we do have a new number one with "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift and it was a dominant number one on sales, streaming and even Youtube but with Olivia Rodrigo coming next week, I'm not certain it's going to keep up the momentum.

Of course, Olivia's arrival next week makes life difficult for former chart topper "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley which dipped backed to number two, it's still got strength on streaming and sales but will it have enough strength to go back to the top when the Olivia Rodrigo album bomb recedes.

Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me" dipped back one to number three...heck it was pretty much the same for the next six songs, they all stumbled back one with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number four, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at number five, "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo at number six, "Janice STFU" by Drake at number seven, "Dracula" by Tame Impala at number eight and "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay at number nine.

Finally like a bad venereal disease, "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd remains at number ten, hopefully Olivia Rodrigo wipes this skidmark of a song out of the top ten. 

Losers

So a good chunk of these losers are probably going form part of the drop outs next week starting with "American Girls" by Harry Styles down seven to forty two. "National Treasures" by Drake slipped eight to thirty five.

"Noble" by F3mii lost its gains from last week down seven to thirty while the virality has disappeared for "Go" by The Chemical Brothers down ten to twenty five. 

Drop Outs

We basically lost two more Drake album tracks like "2 Hard for the Radio", "Ran to Atlanta" feat. Molly Santana and Future and  "Whisper My Name". 

The rest of these are just songs that keep bouncing on and off the charts eg: "Risk It All" and "I Just Might" both by Bruno Mars, "Yukon" by Justin Bieber and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez.

Gains

Not too many major gains this week. Maybe "Bed on Fire" by G Flip which rose five slots to twenty eight and "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae which rebounded seven slots to twenty one which is wild. 

Re-Entries

So we did get a bunch of returns with "APT" by Roxe and Bruno Mars back at fifty, "Girls" by The Kid Laroi at forty six (that got a remix with Kehlani for some wild inexplicable reason) and finally "The One that Got Away" by Katy Perry as it's going viral back at fotty one.

New Entries

Four new entries beginning with...

48. "Edge of the Earth" by The Beaches

I am shocked and impressed a The Beaches song from Canadian band The Beaches 2023 album "Blame My Ex" entered the ARIA singles chart but it's here thanks to being used as a pivotal soundtrack moment on Amazon show "Off Campus" and yeah, this is actually a song from the album that I liked a lot back in 2023, with that drum patter that I absolutely have a soft spot for alongside that guitar rollick. As for the content, it's a relationship song where things are pushing and pulling apart yet she seems to always find a way back to them which honestly doesn't feel that healthy but still it's a good song, check it out.

39. "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace

Talk about a surprise, this one was a surprise when it turned up on the Australian top 50 chart on Spotify, shame the song is not that good, it's this piano dirge where Alyssa Grace sounds like she's sing crying and god damn it's uncomfortable to listen to. I don't really have much else to say about this song other than it really being quite the miserable listen. Nect!

23. "Cinderella" by Mac Miller feat. Ty Dolla $ign

I feel a bit weird talking about music that charts from an artist that is dead but it seems like those connected with the late Mac Miller are handling the release of his music respectfully and aren't looking to farm his fragments for money unlike those connected with JuiceWRLD and this song is fine enough, it's not perfect, I think it could have done without the Ty Dolla $ign feature but overall it's fine...enough said.

1. "I Knew It. I Knew It" by Taylor Swift

So the discourse around this song has been weird especially for a song for the new Toy Story 5 movie that it's a return to form after a bad album except I'd argue that a return to form for Taylor would be a good to great album but anyway we get this song which was apparently around in some form before "The Tortured Poets Department" and yeah, it's fine even if the production does make it feel like a weaker cut on say "Fearless" or "Speak Now" but I'm just glad we didn't get another "Actually Romantic" or "Cancelled" from Taylor.

That's our week and best of the week is going to "Edge of the Eatth" by The Beaches. Worst of the week for "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace.

Next week, Olivia Rodrigo album bomb!

Pretty Fly (For 1999): 13th June. Hey Canned Narcotic Boy Heat

So no preamble this week, lets jump straight into the top ten where to my surprise "No Scrubs" by TLC remains at number one but it's absolutely a margins game because right behind it at number two is "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer, it's definitely in the right spot to make a play for top spot. 

This saw the Backstreet Boys pushed back one spot to number three with "I Want It That Way", the margins were just too big for this song unfortunately. 

Rising one spot to number four is "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin. Not surprising, the hook on this song is an absolute monster, it's living the crazy life in the top ten.

"We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by The Vengaboys recovered one spot to number six while "Honey to the Bee" by Billie Piper climbed two to number six. 

People appear to have stopped looking at Geri Halliwell because "Look At Me" slipped three slots to number seven.

Then we have The Offspring realizing their call for the lazy bum in their lives to get a job  with "Why Don't You Get A Job" is slowly not being heard down one to number eight.

The ABBA tribute posse cut "Thank ABBA for the Music" from Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie Piper remains at number nine. Finally we do have an arrival to the top ten with ATB's "9 PM (Til I Come)" rising one slot to number ten.

Losers

Boyzone's "No Matter What" plummeted from twenty nine to forty eight this week and is on the cusp of leaving the top fifty...good. I still cannot stand that song. 

Another former top ten hit taking a giant tumble is "Anthem for the Year 2000" by Silverchair which got dunked from thirty one to forty six. 

Human Nature's "Last to Know" is on it's last legs sliding from thirty five to forty one likewise for "Until the Time is Through" by Five which tumbled ten to forty. "You Don't Know Me" by Armand Van Helden and Duane Harden got cut down seven to thirty two.

"Right Here, Right Now" by Fatboy Slim dipped six to thirty four.

Gains

So biggest gain of the week belongs to "Millennium" by Robbie Williams which climbed from forty one to twenty four this week which kind of surprises me. The song is good but I guess I shouldn't underestimate Robbie Williams fans. 

A good gain for Everlast's "What It's Like" up from thirty three to twenty six while Ilanda's "It's Our Time" rose eight to thirty one. 

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Every Me, Every You" by Placebo back at number fotty seven and "Westside" by TQ at number forty two.

New Entries

 Three new entries beginning with...

49. "Narcotic" by Liquido

Starting the week with a German four piece rock band with this being their first song to hit the ARIA singles chart and the band have made no bones about saying they wanted this song to sound very Weezer-esque and yeah it gets there with that chip tune keyboard that probably shouldn't be forming the main melody and the guitars that have plenty of sizzle and a front man who reminds me more of Spandau Ballet rather than Weezer vocally.

This really isn't doing much for me so I think we best be moving on to...

25. "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" by The Chemical Brothers.

Brand new single from British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers with this song sampling "The Rood is on Fire" by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three. I love the production on this with it's menacing trance groove and then building into this absolute stomper of a dance jam that likely sets night club floors alight already since it's release however that goofy shout of "Here we go!" takes me right out of the song, it just sounds hilarious even as the rest of the song sounds great, It's not bad and definitely worth checking out. 

20. "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai

Ending the week with British funk group Jamiroquai with this song being the lead single for their fourth album "Synkronized" (Yes, spelled that way) and while I don't think this hits as hard as "Cosmic Girl", this is still straight up groovy and feels like an ode to 70s funk  The song is about finding the insatiable inability to not dance thanks to the canned heat substance on shoes. Good song check it out.

Yeah, it's also best of the week. Worst of the week is going to "Narcotic" by Liquido

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 8th June. The one where Ariana Hates She Can't Stop "Choosin' Texas" Return

 So this week is pretty quiet which I am grateful for given the impending Olivia Rodrigo album bomb in a few weeks but before all that let's dive into this week's top ten where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley retook the number one spot this week thanks to strength on streaming but it will face a challenge for a fourth week at number one courtesy of Taylor Swift. 

"Choosin' Texas" faced down a challenge from new entry "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande entering at number two thanks to good streaming even if sales haven't gotten on board yet. 

This left both "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender which both held their positions at three and four respectively. 

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped off the number one down four to number five, that's mostly because this song lost sales and it's streaming wavered hard. 

"Janice STFU" by Drake slipped back one to number six, frankly the sooner this song is gone from the top ten the better, its an awful awful song.

"Dracula" by Tame Impala slipped back one to number seven while "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay dropped one to number eight, "Ordnary" by Alex Warren continues to refuse to go away even as it's down one to number nine.

Sadly the worst song to hit the top ten in sometime sits at number ten..."Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which jumped two slots this week. Gross gross gross.

Losers

Drake album tracks falling away continue to be the story in our losers beginning with "2 Hard 4 for the Radio" down thirteen to number forty nine, "Run to Atlanta" featuring Future and Molly Santana is running out of the chart like hot a hot curry through intestines, its down twelve to forty seven. "Whisper My Name" slumped sixteen to thirty seven, "Shabang" got dumped nine to thirty six and is probably going to be out with a whimper rather than a shabang either next week or the week after. Finally "National Treasures" slipped seventeen to twenty seven.

Drop Outs

Drake saw both "Plot Twist" and "Dust" leave alongside "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars for the eightieth time and "Doors" by Noah Kahan. 

Gains

So we did get some nice chunky gains this week beginning with "Bed on Fire" by G Flip which rose fifteen slots to number thirty three while "Noble" by F3mii climbed fourteen to number twenty three. 

Re Entries

Two re entries this week with "Risk It All" by Bruno Mars back at fifty and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez making another return at number forty eight.

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

45. "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan

Okay, instead of making any song from The Great Divide a hit proper, we get a song that was basically added to a deluxe version of the album and you can tell instantly why the song was cut from the original album, its this weird song that sounds like Kahan is playing a guitar with a string broken, it's a distracting noise that really does take away from the song and it's incredibly unflattering...next.

2. "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande.

Look, I am not going to dive into Ariana Grande's private life, it's none of my business unless it starts creeping into her music and so here we have the lead single for her upcoming 8th album "Petal" and I guess it's not really good sign thar the song feels like a merger of  "7 Rings" and "We Can't Be Friends" (the former made my worst list, the latter I am mostly ambivalent on) with that watery bubbling noise and tinkling keys as Ariana vocally sings about dealing with people idolising her or worse..engaging in parasocial relationships with her which where my frustration with the song is...the lack of actual punch in Ariana's vocals or in the production, something to give note to the frustration of it all. 

But it is good so I'll give it best of the week. Worst of the weeks goes to "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan. Next week, Taylor Swift's song for Toy Story 5. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999). June 6th. Can't Get Enough Scar Tissue to Shimmer.

So we have an interesting week in prospect here especially as it seems the challengers are coming for our number one which of course remains "No Sctubs" by TLC but those sales margins are starting to look shaky against the competition.

Believe it or not, I don't think that competition is coming from "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys which climb ed one slot to number two, it's solid enough on sales but doesn't look to be in a place to challenge for number one.

What may well be in a place to surpass TLC and the Backstreet Boys lies with "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer which climbed from fourteen to number three this week and has an incredible amount of momentum to make a move for number one next week.

All this leaves "Look At Me" by Geri Halliwell in a weird spot as it remains stalled at number four, it doesn't have the numbers to make a play for number one but it could face challengers for its spot soon if sales don't improve. 

That challenge could be coming from "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin up one to number five although that jump could be because "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by Vengaboys just crashed off the chart cliff slumping four slots to number six.

"Why Don't You Get a Job?" by The Offspring slipped two spots to number seven while Billie's "Honey to the Bee" remains steady at number eight.

The 'We Worship ABBA' crew of Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and BIllie Piper climbed one spot to number nine with "Thank ABBA for the Music". 

Savage Garden round out the top ten with "The Animal Song" down one to number ten but goodness knows with this song. 

Losers.

 So we do have a few big losers down the bottom end of the chart with "Enjoy Yourself" by A+ down six to forty eight while Pandora's "Rise 'n' Shine" isn't shining so much down nine to forty seven. 

"That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain continues it's graceful descent out of the chart down nine to thirty three. 

If you were wondering where "Baby, One More Time" by Britney Spears is...well it fell ten spots to seventeen this week.

Gains

There's not much to tell in the way of gains outside of our top ten, really, the biggest gain appears to be for "Say It Once" by Ultra up sev en slots to twenty six.

Re-Entries

Our returns are two songs that I mostly like with "Unforgivable Sinner" by Lene Marlin back at fifty and "Shimmer" by Fuel back at forty three. 

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

49. "Can't Get Enough" by Soulsearcher

So we're starting this week off with an English Studio project that was created by a record producer named Marc Pomeroy that has roots in alternnative. dance and R&B with this song being the lead single and yeah, this is a lot of fun! The vocals are infectious and the production gives the vocals room to breath and swell, it sounds great! Now given this is more of a dance cut, the content really isn't anything more than dancefloor filler about how they can't get enough of this significant other's love. Good song, definitely check this out. 

46. "Shimmer" by Shawn Mullins

Oh here we have the follow up to "Lullaby" and Shawn Mullins isn't doing the talk singing he did on that song here, the vocal performance is definitely better here than it was on "Lullaby" and overall I think this song is actually a step up, there's more to the guitars and drum work here, more of a flourish if that makes sense and the content doesn't feel as creepy as it did on "Lullaby" and the content of the song does work for what it is.

It points out that we try to keep children innocent and then as they grow teach them to hate and given the way the world is right now, it's a sentiment that has only grown more true with time although this sentiment for Mullins seems to be born out of a moment when he was visiting a friend in hospital, got lost and wound up in the maternity ward where he saw a newborn baby with their eyes wide open and was struck by how innocent the baby is. Check out the song if you are curious. 

16. "Scar Tissue" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

The lead single for the album "Californication" and given the Peppers have made some of the best rock music of the 90s I was hoping for more of that stadium rock vibe that RHCP had going at least in the early nineties, I had hope which is why the minute I went into this song and heard the down tuned guitars and Anthony Kiedis droning, the disappointment felt insurmountable...this song is just BORING...sure there's some good harmonies on the hook but god, otherwise this is just a flat song with no punch or life to it at all. Ugh. 

Yeah, it's the worst of the week. Best is going to "Can't Get Enough" by Soulsearcher because hey at least that song has some good groove and energy to it. 

ARIA SIngles Top 50 Chart Review: 1st June The One Where Olivia's The Cure Brings Greatness to The Charts

This week felt...weird...the fall out of the Drake album bomb was always going to be a thing but we also got two new entries, one of which I am very excited to talk about because folks, we might have one of the best songs of the year on or off the charts at hand here but anyway let's jump into the top ten where we have a new number one "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo which got to number one purely on some early sales, excellent streaming and a little Youtube. 

However it is a margins game with "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley right behind it down one to number two, this song is still doing EXTREMELY well on sales and streaming and is in a good position to retake the number one should "The Cure" wobble. 

Not so much the case for our next two songs with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean pushed down one to number three and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean which both just do not have the sales or streaming to match the top two. 

Sadly holding steady at number five is "Janice STFU" by Drake, it's holding steady on streaming sadly. more is the pity given the song sucks. 

Rebounding one spot to number six is "Dracula" by Tame Impala while "ILoveItILoveItILoveIt" by Bella Kay also rebounded one to number seven.  The receding of the Drake album bomb meant the return of "Ordinary" by Alex Warremat  number eight...dang it...come on...it's time for this song to free fall.

Rebounding a massive fourteen spots to number nine (I think the new number one had something to do with this) is "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Finally the second Drake song to remain in the top ten is "National Treasures" but it is down six slots to number ten.

Losers

All of our big losers were Drake album tracks with "Dust" down thirty three to forty three. "Plot Twist" down twenty three to forty one, "2 Hard 4 THe Radio" lost it's tuning down twenty one to thirty six,, "Shabang" down seventeen to twenty seven and "Whisper My Name" down fifteen to twenty one.

The only non Drake faller was "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams down nine to thirty one.

Drop Outs

The drop outs are mostly Drake album tracks so gone and won't be back are "Make Them Cry", "What Did I Miss?", "Make Them Pay", "B's On the Table" feat. 21 Savage, "Burning Bridges", "Make Them Know" and "Make Them Remember".

However we also saw one big exit with "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish finally leaving the chart to join the On Replay chart.

Gains

Everything that's not Drake rebounded hard this week so I am going to go through the double digit gains only beginning with "Self Aqare" by Temper City which somehow climbed sixteen to twenty five...people really care about that song? Really?

Ravyn Lenae dropped a new single "Handle" on Friday but her big smash "Love Me Not" continues to hang onto the chart up eleven to twenty four.

Sombr's "12 to 12" rebounded ten to twenty, 

Re-Entries

Our returns are where we saw the most activity other than Drake songs losing or dropping out so what filled the slots left?

I am not sure why "Yukon" by Justin Bieber or "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars are back but they returned at fifty and forty nine respectively. 

"I Just Might" by Bruno Mars is back at forty seven while Taylor Swift's "Opalite" is back at forty six  (Taylor has a new single for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack coming on Friday).

Olivia Dean's excellent "A Couple Minutes" is also making its return at forty four and Sombr's "Undressed" climbed back in at forty.

New Entries

Two new entries this week, we're beginning with...

48. "Bed on Fire" by G Flip

So we finally got a second Australian song to chart in the singles top 50 behind "Dracula" by Tame Impala albeit it's from G Flip's album last year however the reason it's here is because the song was used in a sex scene on Netflix drama "Off Campus" so how is the song?

It's good? Feels very reminiscent of a Florence and the Machine cut except Florence Welch could absolutely go hell for leather on the vocals which is not really in G Flip's wheel house vocally and they do a fine enough  job here with a song all about exploring a prohibited attraction and embracing it anyway despite those around them saying "No, don't think about it, don't go there".

Good but just short of great song, check it out. 

1. "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo 

The second single from Olivia Rodrigo's third album "You Seem Pretty Sad for A Girl So In Love" and and I was curious what we would get with this song...well, I am happy to say that we got something that is absolutely without qualification GREAT, there's something so incredibly transcendent about this song and I think it lies in Dan Nigro's production where finally a song is allowed to have a build and this incredibly satisfying cresecendo that's built up with the vocals and the guitar and just the song taking on layers to reach that point where Olivia just yells "I'm unravelled"

The content is just as good with Olivia using the metaphor of love as a drug but only it's not working, the love her lover is giving is not enough to assuage Olivia's own self doubt and negative self talk that could see her push this lover away because she knows that it does matter how good the love is or how much love he gives that it'll never fix the raging insecurities that Olivia has and she needs to put in the work on herself to fix all that. 

"The Cure" is already oen of my favourite songs of 2026 even just outside the charts alone and I am so glad that Australia has given this a week at number one, damn great song and is absolutely worth your time, check this song out!

Pretty Fly (For 1999): 30th May Get Set and Swear to Kiss Me Again

 Let's dive straight into the week because really there isn't that much to talk about before hand, it's a pretty standard week here especially because remaining at number one is "No Sctubs" by TLC, this song has sales on lock at the moment and doesn't look to be under any threat.

That threat is not going to come from "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by The Vengaboys which held steady at number two this week but it is coming under pressure from "I Want it That Way" by Backstreet Boys which rose four places to number three. 

Geri Halliwell's "Look At Me" fell one slot to number four and "Why Don't You Get a Job" by The Offspring slipped one to number five.

New into the top ten this week is "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin which jumped five slots to number six and looks good to go even higher in the weeks ahead.

All this saw "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears fall two places back to number seven, it's on its way out, we're due a second single from Britney in the next few weeks or so. 

Billie Piper's "Honey to the Bee" added no new bees by staying at number eight while Savage Garden's "The Animal Song" stumbled three spots to to number nine.

Finally "Thank Abba for the Music" by Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie Piper remained at number ten.

Losers

So let's take a gander at what happened outside the top ten. "Put Your Hands Up" by The Black White Brothers is having a put your hands down nine to forty five this week. 

"This Kiss" by Faith Hill is on it's way out down from thirty five to forty one while N*Sync's "Tearin' Up My Heart" is being torn down six to thirty seven. 

:"That Din't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain also took a sharp fall sliding eleven places to twenty three while Silverchair's "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" unfortunately fell seven places off it's debut to twenty one. 

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week with ATB continuing to move up with "9 PM (Til I Come)" up nine to being on the cusp of the top ten at number eleven. 

"Right Here, Right Now" by Fatboy Slim did climb from thirty four to twenty eight while 4 The Cause's cover of "Stand by Me" continues to hang around like a bad bacterial infection climbing from forty two to thirty six this week. 

Re-Entries

Three songs re-entered this week with "Westside" by TQ at forty eight, "Every Me, Every You" by Placebo at forty nine and "All Torn Down" by The Living End at fifty.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, beginning with...

47. "Swear It Again" by Westlife

We starting in Ireland this week courtesy of brand new boy band Westlife and their debut single from their self titled debut album. This song did debut at number one in the UK so I was curious as to what this new five piece boy band could deliver and it turns out that this is a modest little piano based pop ballad with a really big hook that works for what it is and not really much more than that. 

The content of the song is actually interesting where the narrator is addressing rumours being put around that he is getting ready to up and leave his girlfriend/wife and is seeking to reassure her that he will stay with her and swear his love over and over again if that is what is takes. It's a cute song but probably not one that I am going to seek out.

39. "Get Set" by Taxiride

Heading back to a local acts and another band debuting on the charts this week, Taxiride are a four piece band that formed in Melbourne with this song from their debut album "Imaginate" so I was curious as to what could have made this song chart and yeah I think I get it because "Get Set" is one of the most vocal harmony infused pop rock songs to date where they are truly one of the best features of this song along with that driving groove and lyrics that are all about creating your own path, go getting and creating own hope for the future. Terrific song, definitely check this one out. 

14. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer

Ending of the week with American Christian alt rock courtesy of Sixpence None the Richer and like both Westlife and Taxiride before them this week, "Kiss Me" Sixpence None the Richer's first single to hit the Australian charts. Now thuis is a bit of a breezy pop/rock song with those acoustic guitars and a keyboard playing fairly close to a sound like an accordion or concertina which is kind of impressive to me!. The content dives love song territory where the narrator just wants the person they are with to kiss them for the first time no matter where they are. It's a bit cloying for me but it's not a bad song just one I could get sick of  if it sticks around.

That wraps up the week and I am not going to give out a worst of thr week this week mostly because none of the new songs are that bad however I am going to give best of the week to "Get Set" by Taxirude because that song is absolutely awesome, 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 25th May, The one where the Drakenami hits.

 We got the Drake album bomb for "Iceman" this week and I am grumpier than even a cat at the vet who is about to have a thermometer shoved up it's anal cavity by the vet, anyway let's get into the top ten because it's not Drake at number one, it's Ella Langley at number one for another week with "Choosing Texas", it was a dominant week on sales, streaming and even on Youtube for this song but the challenge might well come next week from Olivia Rodrigo, we'll have to see. 

It held up comfortably over "Man I Need" by Olivia which held firm at number two, I don't see this going back to number one despite it still being decently strong on streaming but the sales have fallen off a cliff. 

"Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean also held at number three despite it doing better on sales than "Man I Need" but it lost it's advantage on streaming. 

Then we run into a cluster of Drake songs with "National Treasures" at four, "Janice STFU" at five and "Whisper My Name" at six.

The Drake songs pushed "Dracula" by Tame Impala back three spots to number seven and "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella back three to number eight.

Then we have two more Drake songs from "Iceman" to round out the top ten with "Make Them Cry" at number nine and "Dust" at number ten. 

Losers

A good half of the chart lost ground massively so I am going to focus on the songs outside of the top ten that only lost ground in the single figures this week with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren down six to number twelve, "Daisies" by Justin Bieber down nine to sixteen and "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean down seven to seventeen. 

"Homewrecker" by Sombr slipped nine to twenty and maybe in a truly bad sign, our least bad loser was "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd down four to twenty one. 

Then there's "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters down nine to thirteen.

Drop Outs

So this week did see two songs have their time on the chart ended permanently and are off to the on replay singles chart, those being "Stargazing" by Myles Smith and "I Had Some Help" by Morgan Wallen.

As for the rest of these, I am going to group these up:

2025 hits that should have left awhiile ago: "Undressed" by Sombr, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift, "Yukon" by Justin Bieber, 

2026 songs that will likely make the year end: "A Couple Minutes" and "Baby Steps" for Olivia Dean, "I Just Might" and "Risk it All" both by Bruno Mars, 

2026 songs that might return (although in a couple of cases I hope they don't): 'The Great Divide" by Noah Kahan, "Pop Dat Thang" by Dababy, "Pinky Up" by Katseye

Finally...the what the fuck were these songs still doing on the chart: "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars, "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez, 

Gains

There were no gains this week. 

Re-Entries

The one return was for Drake's "What Did I Miss?" at twenty four.

New Entries

So because we do have an album bomb for 'Iceman" I am going to only cover the five songs from the album that make the top ten so outside of that we have "Ran to Atlanta" with Future and Molly Santana (Future is absolutely useless here) at eleven, "Shabang" at thirteen, "2 Hard 4 The Radio" at fifteen, "Plot Twist" at eighteen, "Make Them Pay" at thirty one, "B's on the Table" feat. 21 Savage (Another useless feature), "Burning Bridges" at thirty eight, " Make Them Know" at forty two and "Make Them Remember" at fotty four.

That leaves us with seven new entries to cover but we aren't going to be starting with Drake because we have...

22. "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams

Alright the lead single from Gracie Abrams new album "Daughter from Hell" out in the middle of July and dear god, this is just a bland nothing of a song that just builds and builds but does nothing with that crescendo or anything imaginative with the words 'hit the wall' and Gracie conveys all the emotion of a fucking Psyduck...Next!

14. "Go" by The Chemical Brothers

My last hope for anyting of good quality before we hit the run of Drake songs is a 2015 song from The Chemical Brothers album "Born in the Echoes", it went viral thanks to a chaotic dance scene in Netflix film "Apex" starring Taron Edgerton and Charlize Theron, TikTok users recreated the dance scene and boom, the latest viral older song is born so how is "Go"? Its actually really damn good, the instrumental sticks in your head and I like the vocals havr some bite and menace about them. Check this out if you are curious.

10. "Dust" by Drake

We begin our laborious exploration of the five pack of Drake songs from Iceman with the second song from the album being first up and it's where Drake is focussed on his longevity in the rap game and taking potshots at Kendrick Lamar and Joe Budden although I do think the shots at Kendrick are really kind of lame, has Drake forgotten that "Not Like Us" was THE song of the summer of 2024 that everyone including the women Drake concern trolls and claims if they are from Atlanta they call him Santa were dancing to "Not Like Us"

Yeah, that production and constant beat switches, this song is not going to stick in my memory much, its forgettable at best. Move on.

9. "Make Them Cry" by Drake

So I actually don't ,mind the album opener, Drake sounds intense and actually sounds reflective when talking about his family members and for once the beat switch sounds better infused or mixed into the song for a change although the usual pot shots at Kendrick Lamar included annd a dig at J Cole for running away from the rap beef in 2024 which is weird coming from Drake of al people for some obvious reasons...

6. "Whisper My Name" by Drake

The protruding theme of ICEMAN comes through so much on this song because this is another track where Drake airs out his grievances with people who sided with Kendrick Lamar during the beef and throwing around threats against people who speak his name too loudly or else they might cop a violent revenge and throwing subliminal shots at J Cole over his failure to participate in the beef and bragging about money being spent on those who presumably stood by him during the beef with Kendrick.

He just will not let shit that happened in 2024 die even though the world has moved on from the beef. The other problem with this song is that considering that Drake is laying out the threats of retribution where's the damn menace in the production? Percussion also sounds way too low here. Not good. 

5. "Janice STFU" by Drake

We get to the song that looks like it might be the song from "Iceman" to stick around long term on the charts and again like the other songs that I have already talked about where Drake is getting aggressive and slamming not only his haters but the industry like the industry has actually failed him when it's been the industry that's helped him be as big as he has been through the 2010s into the 2020s even with the Kendrick Lamar beef and the other times he seems to shoot himself in the foot and just maybe clipping the indistry machine that has helped you to the top isn't the way to do it, Drake!

It also wouldn't be a Drake song where he isn't concern trolling women over a skin crawling repulsive beat with gang vocals that sound straight out of the 2010s. I hope this doesn't stick around...it sucks!

4. "National Treasures" by Drake

Sigh. Another song, anorther round of Drake taking potshots at Kendrick Lamar like the beef hasn't been over for awhile however I do like the basketball references and how cleverly they are woven into the bars and I do like production here with the sample blended well for a change until the beat switch up that dives head first into being incredibly irritating That said...Drake bragging about being untouchable in Toronto sure is interesting...

That's our week and worst of the week is a tie between "Janice STFU" by Drake and "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams. As for the best...The Chemical Brothers run away with that one for "Go". Mext week...the second single from Olivia Rodrigo so get ready for that and the fall out of all of this.