Xposition - December, 2017

Attention!!!

While the awards season officially came to a close we had other accolades to be given. These were the year-end coronations. Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You was a no-shocker there as it crowned almost all the major year-end charts worldwide from US and UK to Canada and Australia. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber’s Despacito was a close second as it was released later in the year as a Spanglish remix. In the US, it was a clearly male dominated chart with Halsey being the lone female within the top 10, even that only as a featured role in The Chainsmokers’ Closer. In the UK too it was not too different as there were only two females featured in the top 10: Zara Larsson featured on Clean Bandit’s Symphony and Raye featured on Jax Jones’ You Don’t Know Me. The top 10 for the major markets are as follows:

#	United States	United Kingdom	Australia	Canada
1	Ed Sheeran – Shape of you	Ed Sheeran – Shape of you	Ed Sheeran – Shape of you	Ed Sheeran – Shape of you
2	Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito	Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito	Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito	Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito
3	Bruno Mars – That’s what I like	Ed Sheeran – Castle on the hill	Ed Sheeran – Castle on the hill	The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer
4	Kendrick Lamar – Humble.	French Montana ft. Swae Lee – Unforgettable	Ed Sheeran – Perfect	The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this
5	The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this	Ed Sheeran – Galway girl	The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this	French Montana ft. Swae Lee – Unforgettable
6	Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – Bad and boujee	Ed Sheeran – Perfect	Imagine Dragons – Thunder	The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy
7	The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer	Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson – Symphony	Ed Sheeran – Galway girl	Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
8	Sam Hunt – Body like a bad road	Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – Human	Kendrick Lamar – Humble.	Kygo & Selena Gomez – It ain’t me
9	Imagine Dragons – Believer	The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this	Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey – Glorious	Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie - Rockabye
10	Post Malone ft. Quavo – Congratulations	Jax Jones ft. Raye – You don’t know me	Shawn Mendes – There’s nothing holdin’ me back	DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne – I’m the one

Although the BRIT Awards 2018 are to be held in February, as per the norm the winner of the BRITs Critics Choice was announced. Beating competition from Mabel and Stefflon Don, Jorja Smith was announced as the winner of the coveted award. She follows in the footsteps of Adele, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding and most recently Rag ‘n’ Bone Man who proved he indeed has what it takes to be a superstar.

In reality TV news, the X Factor had its grand finale in December where Rak-Su emerged victorious over Grace Davies after an intense last battle. Rak-Su won with their own original song Dimelo which features Wyclef Jean and Naughty Boy. Another significance of this victory is that they are only the second group to have won the show after Little Mix and the only boy band to win it. Mentored by Simon Cowell, the foursome managed to win the audience and was a much easier win being the clear favorites unlike the year before.

It was also revealed at the end of the month that The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Bee Gees founder member Barry Gibb had been awarded knighthoods in the Queen’s New Year Honours. Other honorees include grime star Wiley, real name Richard Cowie, who is awarded an MBE for his services to music.

On the other side of the world, the lead singer of K-Pop band SHINee Kim Jong-hyun was found unconscious at his home and dead upon admission to hospital at the age of 27. His death is considered to be ruled as an apparent suicide.   

In the US, Post Malone ft. 21 Savage’s Rockstar continued its reign till the third week until Ed Sheeran’s Perfect took the crown fueled by a duet version with Beyonce and continued at the top for the rest of the month. During the month Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B entered the top 10 with MotorSport and Mariah Carey entered the top 10 with her Christmas classic All I Want For Christmas Is You, which achieved its chart peak 23 years since it was originally released.   

In the UK, Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug’s Havana began the month at the top but was dethroned again by Ed Sheeran’s Perfect. Perfect remained at the top throughout even grabbing the coveted Christmas No.1. During the month Clean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels' I Miss You, MK’s 17 and Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran’s River all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       NF – Let you down

2.       Dua Lipa – IDGAF

3.       Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran & Future – End game

4.       Inna – Nirvana

5.       Camila Cabello – Never be the same

6.       Halsey & G-Eazy – Him & I

7.       Jason Derulo ft. French Montana – Tip toe 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Greatest Hits of 2017

Attention!!!

2017 was the year of Ed. With monumental sales for his third studio album Divide (÷) as well as its titanic lead single, Shape of You, Sheeran reignited traditional Pop as a mainstream genre worldwide. The magnitude of this influence was far reaching, as his singles and album redefined pop culture during the year making a massive impact on various global charts and paving the way for other Pop artists to achieve chart success. However, Sheeran was not the only influence in 2017. 

The year also witnessed the resurgence of Latin music which seeped into the mainstream in the form of Spanglish remixes. The foundation of the Latin dance mega hit Bailando, which Enrique Iglesias laid in 2014 was exponentially heightened by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee this year with a Spanglish reworking of their song Despacito with Justin Bieber. This proved to be extremely successful, commercially and critically, breaking many records all over including tying with the 22-year old record held by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day for the longest streak at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and also becoming the most-watched music video in the world.

The year was also marred by death and destruction, tragedy and commotion throughout the industry. As a result several charity songs also achieved chart success although none of which managed to enter here. Apart from Ed Sheeran, several artists who have been in the industry managed to release their biggest hits i.e. Kygo, French Montana, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled and Demi Lovato and some of the newer artists such as Post Malone, Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello achieved immense success. Moreover, another point to note is that all the former One Direction members (excluding Zayn who already proved that he had potential for a solo career in 2016) released hit singles out of which only Louis Tomlinson failed to achieve enough success to be included in this list.

In terms of genres, Rap and R&B took over the mainstream initially as Reggae Fusion and Dancehall which was popular in 2016 disappeared from the mainstream. Later on Pop and Latin music took over the charts globally and their stronghold could not be swayed as Rock, EDM and Country took the backseat this year. However, mainstream music in general seemed to be influenced with a very tropical flavor, possibly a remnant from the Dancehall of yesteryear as genres ranging from Pop, House and Rap seemed to inculcate the new sultry beats.  

Ed Sheeran, Taylors Swift and Alessia Cara have the highest number of entries with 3 followed by Zayn, The Chainsmokers, DJ Khaled, Quavo, Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Beyonce, Lil Uzi Vert, Katy Perry, Clean Bandit, Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd and Daft Punk with 2 each. The list this year was compiled based on worldwide charts alone mainly considering the US and UK charts but also giving weight to the success achieved in the European markets as well as Canada and Oceania. So here are the best 50 songs of 2017:

1. Ed Sheeran – Shape of you 
2. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito 
3. Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
4. DJ Khaled ft. Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo – I’m the one 
5. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – Havana 
6. French Montana ft. Swae Lee – Unforgettable 
7. The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this 
8. Taylor Swift – Look what you made me do 
9. Kendrick Lamar – Humble. 
10. Dua Lipa – New rules
11. Kygo & Selena Gomez – It ain’t me 
12. Shawn Mendes – There’s nothing holdin’ me back
13. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – Bad and boujee 
14. Calvin Harris ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams & Big Sean – Feels 
15. Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – Rockstar 
16. Clean Bandit ft. Anne Marie & Sean Paul – Rockabye 
17. J Balvin & Willy William ft. Beyoncé – Mi gente 
18. DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – Wild thoughts 
19. Sam Smith – Too good at goodbyes
20. Pink – What about us 
21. Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé – Perfect 
22. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – I feel it coming 
23. Zayn & Taylor Swift – I don’t wanna live forever 
24. The Chainsmokers – Paris
25. Charlie Puth – Attention 
26. Liam Payne ft. Quavo – Strip  that down
27. Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid – 1-800-273-8255 
28. Imagine Dragons – Believer 
29. Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson – Symphony
30. Ed Sheeran – Castle on the hill  
31. Zayn ft. Sia – Dusk till dawn 
32. Zedd & Alessia Cara – Stay 
33. Future – Mask off 
34. Harry Styles – Sign of the times 
35. Julia Michaels – Issues 
36. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy 
37. Imagine Dragons – Thunder 
38. James Arthur – Say you won’t let go
39. Niall Horan – Slow hands 
40. Cardi B – Bodak yellow (money moves)
41. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer 
42. Lil Uzi Vert – XO Tour Llif3 
43. Drake – Passionfruit 
44. Demi Lovato – Sorry not sorry 
45. Rag n’ Bone Man – Human 
46. Portugal. The Man – Feel it still 
47. Alessia Cara – Scars to your beautiful 
48. Taylor Swift - …Ready for it? 
49. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley – Chained to the rhythm
50. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – Black Beatles 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - May, 2017

Attention!!!

The 2017 Billboard Music Awards were held in May with Drake sweeping 13 awards from a whopping 22 nominations for which he was tied with the Chainsmokers. Among his awards were Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist and Top Rap Artist. The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey’s Closer also received top accolades which were Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration and Top Dance/Electronic Song. Cher who was bestowed with the Icon Award performed a medley of her hits Believe and If I Could Turn Back Time. Other memorable performances of the night were Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, Imagine Dragons’ Believer, Bruno Mars’ Versace on the Floor, Julia Michaels’ Issues and Camila Cabello’s medley of I Have Questions and Crying In the Club. Miley Cyrus also debuted her newest single Malibu, which sees her going back to her roots. Other significant wins of the night include:

·         Top New Artist: Zayn

·         Top Billboard 200 Album: Drake – Views

·         Top Female Artist: Beyonce

·         Top Duo/Group: Twenty One Pilots

·         Top Latin Artist: Juan Gabriel

·         Top Country Song: Florida Georgia Line – H.O.L.Y.

·         Top Rap Song: Desiigner – Panda

·         Top Rock Song: Twenty One Pilots – Heathens

·         Top Touring Artist: Beyonce

Now let’s take a look at the biggest singing competition in the world. The curtains came down on the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with Portugal as the winner for Salvador Sobral’s Amar Pelos Dois. The contest took place in Ukraine after the remarkable victory by Ukraine’s underdog Jamala stole the show with her breathtaking performance of the song 1944. Russia had originally planned to participate, but announced their withdrawal in April 2017, after their representative, Yulia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of having traveled directly from Russia to Crimea in 2015, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.

This was Portugal's first win and first top five placing in 53 years of participation. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since Serbia's Molitva in 2007. The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – all achieved the highest position in their Eurovision history, while host country Ukraine received its worst placing to date in a Eurovision final. The song written by Salvador’s sister Luísa Sobral amassed 758 points, setting the record for the most points achieved by a song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, and topped both the televoting and the jury voting for the first time since Austria's Rise Like a Phoenix in 2014.

Tragedy struck the pop music industry when a bomb was detonated after an Ariana Grande concert. British Muslim Salman Ramadan Abedi made a suicide bomb attack after the show at the Manchester Arena of Grande’s 2017 Dangerous Woman Tour resulting in 22 deaths and 250 injured. The concert was sold out, and 14,200 people attended. Many exiting concert-goers and waiting parents were in the foyer at the time of the explosion. Greater Manchester Police declared the incident a terrorist attack and is the deadliest attack in the UK since July 2005 London bombings. Grande subsequently suspended her tour and flew to her mother's home in Boca Raton, Florida. She later announced that she would host a benefit concert in Manchester for the victims of the attack.

In more sad news, lead vocalist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave Chris Cornell has also died which has been ruled as a suicide. Cornell was found dead in his Detroit hotel room early on the morning of May 18, shortly after performing at a Soundgarden concert the night before. He suffered from depression and substance abuse problems. Gregg Allman, singer-songwriter and rock n’ blues pioneer who founded The Allman Brothers Band has passed away at the age of 69 from complications of liver cancer on May 27.

Moving onto chart news, in the US, the tyrannical reign of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You came to an end with Kendrick Lamar’s Humble taking the rapper to his first number one. Bruno Mars however took the pole position from Lamar in the second week with his That’s What I Like. In the third week DJ Khaled debuted atop the charts with his star studded collaboration I’m the One with Quavo, Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper. This reign only lasted one week, as Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s Despacito soared to the peak as a result of a new remix which features Justin Bieber. With Despacito claiming the throne it becomes the first mostly Spanish language No.1 in more than 20 years since Los Del Rio’s Macarena. This sort of No.1 turnover is the quickest since 1990. Meanwhile, Kendrik Lamar’s DNA debuted at No.4 and Zedd & Alessia Cara’s Stay and Kygo & Selena Gomez’s It Ain’t Me entered the top 10.

In the UK, Sheeran’s Shape of You was toppled by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson’s Symphony. This again proved short lived as DJ Khaled’s I’m The One debuted atop the charts in the UK as well before being replaced by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s Despacito which continued at the top during the remainder of the month. During the month French Montana featuring Swae Lee’s Unforgettable, Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj and Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Kygo & Ellie Goulding – First time

2.       DNCE ft. Nicki Minaj – Kissing strangers

3.       David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne – Light my body up

4.       Katy Perry ft. Migos – Bon Apetit  

5.       Charlie Puth – Attention

6.       J Hus – Did you see

7.       Disciples – On my mind

8.       Cheat Codes ft. Demi Lovato – No promises

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - March, 2017

Attention!!!

Although we may be just recovering from the hangover of the Grammys, award season is still not over. March kicked off with the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards where Justin Timberlake won the coveted Song of the Year for Can’t Stop The Feeling! The Innovator Award was bestowed on Bruno Mars while the Male and Female Artists of the Year were won by Drake and Adele respectively. Katy Perry and Skip Marley performed their newest hit Chained to the Rhythm for the third award show in a row. Ed Sheeran performed a medley of Castle on the Hill and Shape of You and Bruno Mars performed a medley of Treasure and That’s What I Like. Other big winners of the night include:

·         Best New Artist: The Chainsmokers

·         Best Duo/Group of the Year: Twenty One Pilots

·         Rock Song of the Year: Green Day – Bang bang

·         Country Song of the Year: Dierks Bentley – Somewhere on a beach

·         Dance Song of the Year: The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer

·         Hip-Hop Song of the Year: Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla – One dance

·         R&B Song of the Year: Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

·         Latin Song of the Year: Enrique Iglesias ft. Wisin – Duele el corazón

·         Best Lyrics: Justin Bieber – Love yourself

·         Best Producer: Benny Blanco

·         Best Tour: Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams Tour

·         Best Video: Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – Work from home

Next up we have the 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards. There were only two performances during the show – Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello with Bad Things and a medley of Touch and Shout Out To My Ex by the Little Mix. Favorite Song was won by Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Favorite Group went to Fifth Harmony while Favorite Male and Female Artists went to Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez respectively. The other winners of the night for music were:

·         Favorite New Artist: Twenty One Pilots

·         Favorite Music Video: Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall – Juju On The Beat

·         Favorite DJ/EDM Artist: Calvin Harris

·         Favorite Soundtrack: Suicide Squad

·         Favorite Global Music Star: Little Mix

Rock n’ roll legend Chuck Berry died at the age of 90 from cardiac arrest. On March 18, 2017, police in St. Charles County, Missouri, were called to Berry's house, where he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. Berry was set to release “Chuck”, his first studio album in more than 35 years. More on musician deaths, the remaining members of Sister Sledge confirmed that their sister Joni passed away at the age of 60 from natural causes which arose from complications from a preexisting condition. They also vowed to continue touring as a duo.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You reigned supreme throughout the month accumulating 7 non-consecutive weeks at the top. Meanwhile, Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm debuted at No.4 and The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk’s I Feel It Coming, Rihanna’s Love On The Brain, The Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s Something Just Like This and Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne Marie’s Rockabye entered the top 10.

In the UK too Shape of You continued the apparent global dominance alongside the debut of Sheeran’s latest album ÷ which topped album charts worldwide and the singles therein peaking within the singles charts. During the week of the debut nine of the top 10 were by Ed Sheeran. The most notable out of these singles are Galway Girl, Perfect and How Would You Feel (Paean). Other than this Martin Jenson’s Solo Dance, Kygo & Selena Gomez’s It Ain’t Me, Drake’s Passionfruit and Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson’s Symphony all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign – Swalla

2.       Kodak Black – Tunnel vision

3.       Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos – Slide

4.       Anne Marie – Ciao Adios

5.       Ed Sheeran – New man

6.    Lana Del Rey – Love

7.       Inna – Gimme gimme

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

My Favorite Hits of 2016

Attention!!!

2016 was a year which definitely catered to my taste. From EDM and Reggae Fusion to Pop and Alternative Rock there were awesome hits galore. One thing is for sure the songs of 2016 were much better than 2014 and were on an equal level with 2015. Although there was only a lone floorfiller last year in the form of Sia’s Cheap Thrills there were a few mind-blowing EDM hits. Alan Walker rules this list with his global hit Faded. The slow and relaxing beats of the tune are accompanied by the uncredited soothing vocals of Iselin Solheim. At second place is Stressed Out the Alternative Rock hit for the duo Twenty One Pilots followed by Swedish newcomer Zara Larsson's Lush Life at third place. 

Genre wise EDM has numerous entries followed by Pop, Reggae and Rap. Alan Walker, Dua Lipa, Sean Paul and Zara Larsson lead the list with three entries each followed by Twenty One Pilots, Clean Bandit, Anne Marie, Zedd, Hailee Steinfeld, DNCE, Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Rihanna, Jonas Blue, Ariana Grande and Louisa Johnson all have two entries each, either as a lead or featured artist. So here are my 50 favorites hits of 2016:  

1. Alan Walker – Faded
2. Twenty One Pilots – Stressed out
3. Zara Larsson – Lush life
4. RedOne ft. Enrique Iglesias, R.City, Shaggy & Serayah – Don’t you need somebody
5. Dua Lipa – Hotter than hell
6. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy
7. Rihanna – Love on the brain
8. Tinie Tempah ft. Zara Larsson – Girls like
9. Twenty One Pilots – Heathens
10. David Guetta ft. Zara Larsson – This one’s for you
11. Pitbull ft. Enrique Iglesias – Messin’ around
12. Halsey – Castle
13. Sia ft. Sean Paul – Cheap thrills
14. Dua Lipa – Blow your mind (mwah)
15. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber & MØ – Cold water
16. Sean Paul ft. Dua Lipa – No lie
17. Olly Murs – You don’t know love
18. Zedd ft. Kesha – True colors
19. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – This is what you came for
20. The Veronicas – In my blood
21. Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This girl
22. Hailee Steinfeld ft. DNCE – Rock bottom
23. Clean Bandit ft. Anne Marie & Sean Paul – Rockabye
24. Thomas Rhett – Die a happy man
25. Troye Sivan – Youth
26. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don’t let me down
27. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – Let me love you
28. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons ft. Logic, Ty Dolla $ign & X Ambassadors – Sucker for pain
29. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – I know what you did last summer
30. Ariana Grande – Into you
31. Years & Years – Worship
32. Alan Walker – Alone
33. Anne Marie – Alarm
34. Flo Rida – My house
35. Ellie Goulding – Something in the way you move
36. Clean Bandit ft. Louisa Johnson – Tears
37. Mike Posner – I took a pill in Ibiza (SeeB Remix)
38. G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha – Me, myself & I
39. Jonas Blue ft. JB Cooper – Perfect strangers
40. James Arthur – Say you won’t let go
41. Pitbull – Freedom
42. Alan Walker – Sing me to sleep
43. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – Side to side
44. Selena Gomez – Kill ‘em with kindness
45. Pink – Just like fire
46. Coldplay – Hymn for the weekend
47. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd – Starving
48. Jonas Blue ft. Dakota – Fast car
49. Louisa Johnson – So good
50. DNCE – Body moves 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - February, 2017

Attention!!!

It was all about the Grammys in February as the most esteemed awards ceremony in music took place at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. The 59^th Annual Grammy Awards kicked off with Beyonce leading the fray with 9 nominations. However, Adele was the biggest winner of the night grabbing 5 awards including the coveted triple crowns for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for Hello and the Album of the Year for 25. Adele also became the first artist in history to win all three general field awards in the same ceremony twice, previously winning all three categories in 2012. She was followed by David Bowie and Greg Kurstin with four trophies.

The ceremony kicked off with a stellar performance of Hello by Adele followed by other great performances by Ed Sheeran with his global hit Shape of You and Bruno Mars’s That’s What I Like. The ceremony had three tributes wherein Adele sang George Michael’s Fastlove, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Little Big Town and Andra Day collaborating for a Bee Gees tribute medley, and Bruno Mars and The Time collaborating for a Prince medley. The other significant wins of the night include:

·         Best New Artist: Chance the Rapper

·         Best Music Video: Beyonce – Formation

·         Best Dance Recording: The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don’t let me down

·         Best Dance/Electronic Album: Flume – Skin

·         Best Rock Song: David Bowie – Blackstar

·         Best Urban Contemporary Album: Beyonce – Lemonade

·         Best Rap Song: Drake – Hotline bling

·         Best Country Song: Tim McGraw – Humble and kind

·         Best Country Album: Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth

·         Best Song Written for Visual Media: Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!

Next up we have the 37^th BRIT Awards. Little Mix opened the show with their hit Shout Out To My Ex which went on to win the British Single of Year. Other great performances included Emeli Sande’s Hurt, an extremely politically controversial yet good performance of Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm and also Ed Sheeran with a medley of Castle on the Hill and Shape of You featuring a guest appearance by Stormzy. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay collaborated on stage to deliver their surprise new single Something Just Like This. David Bowie was posthumously awarded both the British Male Solo Artist as well as the British Album of the Year for Blackstar. The Icon Award was bestowed on Robbie Williams while the Global Success went to Adele. The other award winners were:

·         British Female Artist: Emeli Sande

·         British Group: The 1975

·         International Group: A Tribe Called Quest

·         British Breakthrough Act: Rag ‘n’ Bone Man

·         International Male Solo Artist: Drake

·         International Female Solo Artist: Beyonce

·         British Video: One Direction – History

La La Land was the winner of all the music related awards at the 89^th Annual Academy Awards where Justin Hurwitz won for Best Original Score for the film and Best Original Song for City of Stars which was performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film.

Apart from the awards, we have the jaw-dropping halftime performance by Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl LI. She started off with a mash up of God Bless America and Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land before teasing the audience with the first line of the chorus of her hit Edge of Glory. This leads to a medley of her greatest hits starting off with her biggest hit Poker Face and going on to sing Born This Way, Telephone and Just Dance. She then mellows it down with her latest single Million Reasons for which there was pin drop silence in the stadium. Then she finishes it off with her second biggest hit Bad Romance. With an intense and astutely choreographed production, her performance is now ranked among the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. 

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has released the biggest music acts in the world for 2016 and Drake tops the list. Drake achieves this position for the huge success of his fourth album, Views and the multiplatinum hit One Dance featuring WizKid and Kyla. At second place is David Bowie who posthumously witnessed monumental success for his final album Blackstar. The full top 10 are:

1.       Drake

2.       David Bowie

3.       Coldplay

4.       Adele

5.       Justin Bieber

6.       Twenty One Pilots

7.       Beyonce

8.       Rihanna

9.       Prince

10.   The Weeknd

In festival news, Lady Gaga has officially replaced Beyonce as a headliner of Coachella 2017 where the latter was advised by doctors to stay away from the stage due to her pregnancy. It was a no brainer for the organizers of this massive concert to invite Gaga after her acclaimed performance at the Super Bowl. Eminem has been announced as the third headliner for the Reading and Leeds Festival 2017 alongside Muse and Kasabian.

Jay-Z has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and became the first rapper in history to be bestowed with such an honour. Alongside Jay-Z will see Max Martin and the duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also inducted. Madonna and George Michael were both nominated but did not make the cut.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert’s Bad and Boujee was replaced in the second week by Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You returning to the top backed by his Grammy performance. Meanwhile, The Chainsmokers’ Paris debuted within the Top 10 and Lady Gaga’s Million Reasons soared to No.4 propelled by her performance at the Super Bowl and Alessia Cara’s Scars To Your Beautiful also entered the top 10.

In the UK, Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You remained at the top aided by performances at both the Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards accumulating six consecutive weeks at the top. Also during the month Sean Paul featuring Dua Lipa’s No Lie, Dua Lipa’s Be The One, Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm and Taylor Swift & Zayn’s I Don’t Wanna Live Forever entered the top 10.   

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Big Sean – Bounce back

2.       Julia Michaels – Issues

3.       Train – Play that song

4.       Major Lazer ft. Nicki Minaj & PARTYNEXTDOOR – Run up

5.       Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa – Scared to be lonely

6.       Stormzy – Big for your boots 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Most Overrated Hits of 2016

Attention!!!

Overrated means giving something more value than it deserves. In the music industry this is usually the case, if the songs are by popular artists. Sometimes artists such as Adele, Beyonce and Bruno Mars can never get it wrong. While it may just be myself, but the past year there were certain songs that reached hit status when they should not have. EDM took a drastic wrong turn somewhere as now with the Chainsmokers mainstream influence on the genre, it has merged with Pop. The same goes for Dancehall, Reggae and Rock. Purity is lost on the Millennials as one can wonder whether the kids these days actually have any taste in music or whether the music should only cater to “tripping”.

The Most Overrated Hits will become a staple addition to the year-end compilations henceforth as well as the Most Underrated Songs that will follow this post. Lukas Graham’s 7 Years tops this list as I have absolutely no idea whatsoever why this song became a hit. This is followed by The Chainsmokers and Halsey collaboration Closer and Beyonce’s Formation. Rihanna and Drake have two entries each on this list. So here are the 20 most overrated hits of the past year:

1. Lukas Graham – 7 years
2. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer
3. Beyonce – Formation
4. Fifth Harmony ft. Fetty Wap – All in my head (flex)
5. Rihanna – Needed me
6. Kent Jones – Don’t mind
7. Flume ft. Kai – Never be like you
8. Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla – One dance
9. Coldplay – Adventure of a lifetime
10. Shawn Mendes – Treat you better
11. Adele – Send my love (to your new lover)
12. Desiigner – Panda
13. Meghan Trainor – No
14. Future ft. The Weeknd – Low life
15. Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo – Close
16. Little Mix – Shout out to my ex
17. Bruno Mars – 24K magic
18. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – Black Beatles
19. Drake – Controlla
20. Rihanna ft. Drake – Work 

Till the next chord...

At Ease!!!