Xposition - March, 2018

Attention!!!

The curtains closed on the biggest night for music scores and original songs for visual media. At the 2018 Academy Awards Alexandre Desplat received the award for his Original Score on The Shape of Water which went onto win the Best Director and Best Picture as well. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez took home their second prize for Original Song for Remember Me from Coco. Prior to this the Lopez’ received the award for their song Let It Go written for Disney’s box office hit Frozen in 2014.

Ed Sheeran was the top recipient at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards sweeping 4 awards including Male Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for Shape of You. Some great performances of the night were Camila Cabello & Young Thug with their hit Havana, Charlie Puth with How Long and Cardi B who won Best New Artist performed a medley of her hits Bartier Cardi, MotorSport, No Limit (with G-Eazy), Finesse and Bodak Yellow. Bon Jovi who received the Icon Award also played a medley of It’s My Life and Who Gives Love a Bad Name. Taylor Swift who was the recipient of the Female Artist of the Year premiered the music video for her newest single Delicate at the ceremony. Some of the other significant wins were:

• Best Duo/Group of the Year: Maroon 5
• Best Collaboration: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this
• Alternative Rock Song of the Year: Portugal. The Man – Feel it still
• Country Song of the Year: Sam Hunt – Body like a back road
• Dance Song of the Year: Zedd & Alessia Cara – Stay
• Hip-Hop Song of the Year: DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – Wild thoughts
• R&B Song of the Year: Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
• Latin Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee – Despacito
• Best Music Video: Harry Styles – Sign of the times
• Best Tour: U2

Luis Fonsi and Residente were honored with the President’s Award and the Champion’s Award respectively at the BMI Latin Awards for their social work and philanthropy as well as their status as songwriters and artists with immense contributions to the Latin community.

The biggest shock of the month or not something super shocking was when Fifth Harmony (or Fourth after Cabello left in 2016) announced their hiatus to pursue solo endeavours. However, their upcoming shows through to the end of 2018 will go ahead as planned. Fifth Harmony seems to be another casualty of the curse where a group could not survive the departure of a member. Prior to this One Direction went on a hiatus, one year after Zayn Malik left to pursue a solo career.  

On the legal front in the music industry, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict in the District Court wherein damages were awarded against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for infringing the copyrights of Marvin Gaye’s hit Got To Give It Up in their global hit Blurred Lines. The decision was a huge victory for Gaye’s family who was awarded US $ 5.3 million by the jury. Whilst the industry had mixed opinions with some believing this may hinder musical creativity, some believe that artists should be more responsible in their creations so as not to sample existing music without proper authorizations and royalties.

Meanwhile in chart news, in the US, Drake’s God Plan continued its formidable reign in the US with no proper competition except for Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign’s Psycho which debuted at No.2 during the month. During the month Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle, XXXTentacion’s Sad! and Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown’s Freaky Friday all entered the top 10.  

In the UK too, Drake’s God’s Plan remained at the top during the entirety of the month with Rudimental featuring Macklemore, Jess Glynne Dan Caplen’s These Days struggling at No.2 throughout. During the month Marshmello & Anne Marie’s Friends, Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s All the Stars, Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton’s Say Something and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       George Ezra – Paradise

2.       Sigala & Paloma Faith – Lullaby

3.       Troye Sivan – My my my!

4.       Calum Scott & Leona Lewis – You are the reason

5.       Iggy Azalea ft. Quavo – Savior

6.       Niall Horan – On the loose

7.       Pink – Whatever you want

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - August, 2017

Attention!!!

The month of August was all about Taylor Swift. Not about the old Taylor though, cause she’s dead. Not much has changed about the new Taylor, except for maybe a haircut. She is still vindictive and self-obsessed as ever. However, now she has clearly embraced all the mud that was slung at her in the past two years. On the heels of winning her sexual assault case against ex-radio DJ David Mueller for groping her at a 2013 concert, Swift blacked out her social media before teasing her fans with GIFs of a snake, which everyone assumed was Kim Kardashian’s reference to her as a snake in the Kanye-Swift Famous debacle.

She next revealed that her newest album would be titled Reputation with its lead single Look What You Made Me Do released soon after. The lyric video itself gained more than 19 million views on YouTube within 24 hours breaking the record of Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s Something Just Like This. The official video premiered at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards where she went on a rampage with her contemptuous references to Calvin Harris, Kanye West, Kim Kardashia, DJ David Mueller, Katy Perry, the mainstream media and concluding the video with scathing remarks at her old self. The official video became the most watched music video within 24 hours with over 43 million views and breaking the record of Psy’s Gentleman which had only 38 million views. (The chart performance of the song will only be available for September).

As said earlier the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards was held this year with less drama than usual. Pink was bestowed with the prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award which she accepted after a medley of her hits and concluding with an emotional driven performance of her newest single What About Us. Other great performances of the night included Julia Michael’s Issues, Kendrick Lamar’s medley of DNA and Humble, Logic, Khalid and Alessia Cara’s 1-800-273-8255 and Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back. Kendrick Lamar who led the nominations with 8 also won the most awards with 6 including Video of the Year and Best Hip Hop Video for Humble. Ed Sheeran won Artist of the Year while Khalid won Best New Artist. The other significant wins of the night included:

·         Best Collaboration: Taylor Swift & Zayn – I don’t wanna live forever

·         Best Pop Video: Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane – Down

·         Best Dance Video: Zedd ft. Alessia Cara – Stay

·         Best Rock Video: Twenty One Pilots – Heavydirtysoul

·         Song of the Summer: Lil Uzi Vert – XO tour llif3

The Teen Choice Awards 2017 were also held in August where Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber received the most nods. Great performances of the night included Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson on a medley of their hits Rockabye and Symphony and French Montana, Swae Lee and Rae Sremmurd on a medley of Unforgettable and Black Beatles. Harry Styles and Ariana Grande won Choice Male and Female Artist respectively while Fifth Harmony won for Choice Music Group. Some other important award recipients were:

·         Choice Country Artist: Carrie Underwood

·         Choice Electronic/Dance Artist: Calvin Harris

·         Choice Latin Artist: CNCO

·         Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Artist: Beyonce

·         Choice Rock Artist: Harry Styles

·         Choice Song Female: Camila Cabello – Crying in the club

·         Choice Song Male: Niall Horan – Slow hands

·         Choice Song Group: Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane – Down

·         Choice Collaboration: Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson – Just hold on

·         Choice Breakout Artist: Chance the Rapper

During the month of August the video of Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber’s Despacito passed Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth’s See You Again as the most watched music video in the world and also passed 3-billion views. It is considered the most viral video of all time reaching this mark within a span of only 8 months. It is also the most liked video on YouTube.  

In terms of musical talent, the biggest music content is coming to Asia. The first ever Asia Pacific Eurovision Song Contest was announced as Eurovision Asia was formally launched with 20 countries coming together to compete in an annual grand finale. Another music show called Your Song was announced by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment to be hosted by Big Brother and The Voice host Emma Willis. The show is for the public to nominate people who think they deserve the performance of a lifetime from their musical hero.

In August, Country music bid farewell to another legend as Glen Campbell passed away at the age of 81, following his long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Campbell will be remembered as one of those rare breeds that brought Country music to the mainstream with a Pop infusion and influenced the artists of today such as Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett and even Taylor Swift. 

Moving onto chart news, in the US, Despacito ruled the roost accumulating a whopping 14 weeks at the top. Meanwhile, Charlie Puth’s Attention and Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) all entered the top 10. In the UK, Despacito regained its top position which it lost to DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller’s Wild Thoughts but after two weeks was dethroned by the all-star collaboration Feels by Calvin Harris featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean. The final week saw Dua Lipa’s addictive New Rules reach the pole position. During the month Pink’s What About Us, CNCO & Little Mix’s Reggaeton Lento, J Balvin and Willy William’s Mi Gente and Justin Bieber & Bloodpop’s Friends all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       James Hype ft. Kelli-Leigh – More than friends

2.       Louis Tomlinson ft. Bebe Rexha & Digital Farm Animals – Back to you

3.       Echosmith – Goodbye

4.       Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid – 1-800-273-8255

5.       Portugal. The Man – Feel it still

6.       Kesha – Learn to let go

7.       Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey – Glorious 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Most Inspirational Songs of 2016

Attention!!!

This segment of the year-end compilation is here to stay. This is mostly because unlike other decades, each year there are enough and more inspirational songs that are released. Even most movies and animated films include many inspirational songs, which is clearly reflected on this list. While inspirational songs did not chart high worldwide in 2016 like the preceding year, there were some really good songs. Particularly Andra Day's Rise Up is an exceptional song which has now been covered by hundreds of artists. It is also a favorite at auditions in reality contests. At second place is Sia with her Never Give Up from the film Lion and at third is Sucker for Pain by Lil Wayne and a number of artists from the film Suicide Squad. 

Sia is the only artist with two entries while Fergie has two entries as she is also a part of the Black Eyed Peas. The film Trolls also has two songs on the list. Other films include Zootopia, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Star Trek Beyond. Some other interesting facts are that Fifth Harmony's last single as a quintet is on the list as well as the Black Eyed Peas' final song before Fergie's departure; the official song for the UEFA Euro 2016 by David Guetta and the official English song for the Olympics 2016 by Katy Perry are also on the list. So here are the top 25 most inspirational songs of 2016:

1. Andra Day – Rise up
2. Sia – Never give up 
3. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons ft. Logic, Ty Dolla $ign & X Ambassadors – Sucker for pain 
4. Katy Perry – Rise 
5. Shakira – Try everything 
6. Rihanna – Sledgehammer 
7. Charlie Puth – One call away 
8. Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!
9. G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha – Me, myself & I 
10. Selena Gomez – Kill ‘em with kindness 
11. Iggy Azalea – Team 
12. Alan Walker – Alone 
13. Fifth Harmony – That’s my girl
14. Pink – Just like fire 
15. David Guetta ft. Zara Larsson – This one’s for you 
16. Tim McGraw – Humble and kind 
17. Sia ft. Kendrick Lamar – The greatest 
18. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber & MØ –  Cold water 
19. Anna Kendrick – Get back up again 
20. Fergie – Life goes on
21. Zedd ft. Kesha – True colors 
22. Dami Im – Fighting for love 
23. Black Eyed Peas ft. The World – #WHEREISTHELOVE 
24. Robbie Williams – Love my life 
25. Beyonce – Formation 

Till the next chord...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April, 2017

Attention!!!

The 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards 2017 was held in March where Fifth Harmony and Kelsea Ballerini were the big winners. Song of the Year however went to Shawn Mendes’ Treat You Better while Britney Spears was honored with the first Icon Award for her contribution to music. Some of the best performances of the night included Hailee Steinfeld’s medley of Most Girls and Starving, Train’s Play That Song, Julia Michaels’ Issues and of course the Spears’ tribute where a medley of Oops!... I Did It Again, Circus, …Baby One More Time and Till The World Ends were sung by Kelsea Ballerini, Sofia Carson, Hailee Steinfeld and Jamie Lynn Spears. The other significant winners of the night were:

·         Best Female Artist: Ariana Grande

·         Best Male Artist: Niall Horan

·         Best Group: Fifth Harmony

·         Best Band: DNCE

·         Breakout Artist of the Year: Alessia Cara

·         Best New Artist: Grace VanderWaal

·         Best Collaboration: Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello – Bad things

·         Fiercest Fans: Harmonizers

·         Country Favorite Artist: Kelsea Ballerini

·         Country Favorite Song: Kelsea Ballerini – Peter Pan

Next up we have the 2017 Billboard Latin Music Awards where Nicky Jam made a massive comeback winning 6 awards where his song Hasta El Amanecer won the Hot Latin Song of the Year as well as Digital, Streaming and Latin Rhythm Song of the year. Artist of the Year was won by Late Juan Gabriel who also won the Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year – Male, Latin Pop Albums Artist of the Year – Solo and his album Los Duo 2 won Top Latin and Latin Pop Album of the Year. Enrique Iglesias took away 4 awards including Latin Pop Songs Artist of the Year – Solo and Latin Pop Song of the Year for his collaboration with Wisin on Duele El Corazon. Other winners of the night include:

·         Artist of the Year: New – CNCO

·         Tour of the Year: Marc Anthony

·         Social Artist of the Year: Jennifer Lopez

·         Hot Latin Song Artist of the Year: Female – Shakira

·         Hot Latin Songs Label of the Year: Sony Music Latin

2017 Academy of Country Music Awards was also held in April where Jason Aldean was awarded Entertainer of the Year. Meanwhile, ACM Song of the Year went to Thomas Rhett’s Die A Happy Man and Album of the Year was awarded to Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of these Wings. The other winners of the night were:

·         Male Vocalist of the Year: Thomas Rhett

·         Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert

·         Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town

·         Songwriter of the Year: Lori McKenna

·         Single Record of the Year: Florida Georgia Line – H.O.L.Y

·         Video of the Year: Artists of Then, Now & Forever – Forever country

The world’s apparent greatest songwriter, Ed Sheeran has privately settled a case against him which was lodged last year. In 2016, Sheeran was sued by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, writers of Matt Cardle's 2011 single Amazing, for USD 20 million for copyright infringement. US judge James Selna confirmed Ed’s case had been dismissed last month after the Suffolk born star reached an agreement with the writers, with no admission of guilt. Details of the settlement have not been made public. Following this saga, his titanic global hit Shape of You also came under fire as critiques alleged plagiarism from TLC’s legendary 90’s smash hit No Scrubs. Since then Sheeran has added both Kandi Burruss and Tameka Cottle who penned the R&B track as co-writers alongside the song's producer Kevin Briggs.

Glastonbury Festival 2017 has announced its full line-up where along with its headlining acts – Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters and Radiohead, a number of other high profile artists such as Lorde, Shaggy, Katy Perry, Clean Bandit, Birdy and Stormzy are to perform. Glastonbury will take place at Worthy Farm, Somerset from June 23-25.

Good news for N-Dubz fans as the Hip-Hop trio have indicated that they will reunite in the near future. Fazer confirmed that the group was anyway only on a hiatus and that he along with Dappy and Tulisa will return to the studio to produce new music. When that will exactly be God only knows.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You remained unmoved at the top during the entire month accumulating 12 non-consecutive weeks at No.1. Meanwhile, Drake’s Passionfruit, Kendrick Lamar’s Humble and Harry Style’s debut single Sign of the Times all debuted in the top 10. Future’s Mask Off and Sam Hunt’s Body Like a Back Road also entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Sheeran’s reign with Shape of You was only interrupted when Harry Styles debuted atop the charts with his Sign of the Times.  During the month Julia Michaels’ Issues, Zedd & Alessia Cara’s Stay and Kendrick Lamar’s Humble all entered the top 10.  

Other songs which became popular during the month were: 

1.       Drake ft. Travis Scott & Quavo – Portland

2.       Future ft. Rihanna – Selfish

3.       Kyle ft. Lil Yachty – iSpy

4.       Zayn ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR – Still got time

5.       Stargate ft. Pink & Sia – Waterfall

6.       Lana Del Rey ft. The Weeknd – Lust for life 

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!!!

Most Underrated Songs of 2016

Attention!!!

Underrated means undervaluing something or not giving something the recognition it deserves. In the music industry it is particularly difficult for new artists to make headway in the mainstream as they have to compete with the already established and popular artists. So when highly overrated artists spew album after album and single after single backed by their record labels the smaller and lesser known artists or the new ones find it almost impossible to gain ground in the music scene. Pop culture is such however, that sometimes even the best of songs do not necessarily get chart success. Some of these songs which do get radio airplay, counts for almost nothing compared to physical and digital sales as well as streaming.

The following songs are the inverse of overrated as I believe they should have performed much better than they did on the global charts. Dua Lipa’s Hotter Than Hell tops the list as although it was a minor hit, the song deserves much more when taking the production as a whole.  She has two songs on the list as her follow-up single also failed to make any mark on the charts although now she is a worldwide phenomenon and is one of the most sought after artists to be featured. So here are the 20 most underrated songs of 2016:

1. Dua Lipa – Hotter than hell
2. Pitbull ft. Enrique Iglesias – Messin’ around
3. Flo Rida – Zillionaire
4. Tim McGraw – Humble and kind
5. Thomas Rhett – Die a happy man
6. Dua Lipa – Blow your mind (mwah)
7. RedOne ft. Enrique Iglesias, R.City, Shaggy & Serayah – Don’t you need somebody
8. Zedd ft. Kesha – True colors
9. Hailee Steinfeld ft. DNCE – Rock bottom
10. Bebe Rexha ft. Nicki Minaj – No broken hearts
11. Years & Years – Worship
12. Anne Marie – Alarm
13. Troye Sivan – Youth
14. OneRepublic – Kids 
15. Fifth Harmony – That’s my girl
16. Selena Gomez – Kill em with kindness
17. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – I know what you did last summer
18. Alan Walker – Sing me to sleep
19. Zara Larsson – Ain't my fault 
20. Alessia Cara – Wild things

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!!!

Xposition - December, 2016

Attention!!!

December kicked-off with the highly anticipated 2017 Grammy nominations with Beyonce leading the bill with 9 nods including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video. Drake is close behind with 8 nominations. The nominations for the four big awards are:

1.      Record of the Year

Adele – Hello

Beyonce – Formation

Lukas Graham – 7 Years

Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

Twenty One Pilots – Stressed out

2.      Album of the Year

Adele – 25

Beyonce – Lemonade

Justin Bieber – Purpose

Drake – Views

Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth

3.      Song of the Year

Formation (Beyonce)

Hello (Adele)

I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Mike Posner)

Love Yourself (Justin Bieber)

7 Years (Lukas Graham)

4.      Best New Artist

Kelsea Ballerini

The Chainsmokers

Chance the Rapper

Maren Morris

Anderson .Paak

The BBC Music Awards had its second edition this year with the top honours going to Adele. The winners are:

• Song of the Year: Adele – Hello
• BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year: 1975 – What Makes You Beautiful (One Direction Cover)
• Introducing Artist of the Year: Izzy Bizu
• British Artist of the Year: Coldplay
• BBC Radio 2 Album of the Year: Adele – 25

Meanwhile, Rag N’ Bone Man fended off competition from Dua Lipa and Anne Marie to grab the coveted BRIT’s Critics’ Choice Award for 2017. He is the tenth recipient of this award which includes past winners such as Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Emeli Sande.

December is also the time when the much anticipated year-end charts are revealed. This year Justin Bieber leads the 2016 Billboard Year-End Hot 100 with his mega hit Love Yourself. Adele however rules the Billboard Top Artist as well as the Billboard Year-End 200 with her album 25.  The top 10 are:

1.       Justin Bieber – Love yourself

2.       Justin Bieber – Sorry

3.       Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla – One dance

4.       Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

5.       Twenty One Pilots – Stressed out

6.       Desiigner – Panda

7.       Adele – Hello

8.       The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don’t let me down

9.       Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!

10.   The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer

The UK also released their year-end list the Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2016 with Drake’s One Dance which broke multiple chart records during the year including staying at the top for 15 weeks and tying for the second longest consecutive stay at No.1. The top 10 are:

1.       Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla – One dance

2.       Lukas Graham – 7 Years

3.       Sia – Cheap thrills

4.       Mike Posner – I took a pill in Ibiza

5.       Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – This is what you came for

6.       Zara Larsson – Lush life

7.       The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer

8.       Justin Bieber – Love yourself

9.       Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

10.   Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!

The biggest shock of the month was when Camila Cabello from Fifth Harmony left the group to pursue her solo career. In an alleged pre-emptive strike Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane Hansen and Lauren Jauregui informed on twitter that they had been informed by Camila’s representatives that she had decided to leave the group but that they would continue as a foursome. Camila via her twitter account announced that she never meant to leave this way and was unaware of her former bandmates was going to release the statement. As the saga unfolded it was clear that all the signs pointed to Camila’s departure as the pleas of the other four fell on deaf ears as well as her two collaborations as a solo artist with Shawn Mendes and Machine Gun Kelly both becoming big hits.

The X-Factor 2016 crowned Matt Terry as its winner in its 13^th edition mentored by Nicole Scherzinger. This year the competition was stiff where Terry beat runner-up Finnish Saara Alto in an explosive finale. However, the winner’s single When Christmas Comes Around was released after the results were announced and was not performed during the competition. The single penned by Ed Sheeran however, failed to grab the top spot in the UK and only managed to peak at No.3.

Speaking of girl bands, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice is to be made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honour’s List. Even in its final days 2016 managed to take away another pop star from music and this time its George Michael who passed away from heart failure at the age of 53.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane’s Black Beatles remained at the top during the whole month fueled by the Mannequin Challenge videos that continued to flood social media. Other songs which entered the top 10 include Zayn & Taylor Swift’s I Don’t Wanna Live Forever taken from the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack and J.Cole’s De Javu.

In the UK, Clean Bandit featuring Anne Marie and Sean Paul’s Rockabye reigned supreme during the month and earned the coveted Christmas No.1. Meanwhile, Little Mix’s Touch peaked at No.4, Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson’s Just Hold On and Rag N’ Bone Man’s Human peaked at No.2 during the month.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Sean Paul ft. Dua Lipa – No lie

2.       Little Mix ft. Charlie Puth – Oops

3.       David Guetta & Cedric Gervais ft. Chris Willis – Would I lie to you 

4.       The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – I feel it coming

5.       Robin Schulz & David Guetta ft. Cheat Codes - Shed a light 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

2016 Recap: A Year in Music

Attention!!!

For the first time in this blog I’m going to do a recap of the past year. Music is a peculiar industry, you have the ups and the downs as well as the breakups and the reunions. Some overdose and some fall off bridges while others are knighted and break chart records. Whatever said and done the industry survives and thrives because musicians commit to produce that we love and some we love to hate. I have recapped the year in seven segments: genres, albums, singles, milestones, shockers, talent and obituaries. 

1. Genres

Some of the most evident changes in the mainstream genres were:

• Dancehall resurfaced from the late 2000s surging up the charts with significant force and reigniting Reggae which has now become a fusion genre.
• Mainstream Pop became heavily tropical with the infusion of Reggae beats.
• EDM mellowed down significantly with Synthpop seeping into the genre while Progressive House took a backseat.
• Alternative Rock made rapid gains on the charts combined with Rap and Funk.
• Rap and R&B also fared very well as the two genres were heavily influenced by the newly emerged Dancehall and Reggae as well as Trap which took the charts by storm back in 2015
• Country put on a rather poor performance compared to the awesome hits of 2015.

2. Albums

Some of the most anticipated albums were released in 2016:

• Gwen Stefani – This is What It Feels Like (first solo album in 10 years)
• David Bowie – Black Star (final album released two days before his death)
• Rihanna – Anti (8^th studio album released 4 years after Unapologetic)
• JoJo – Mad Love (first album in 10 years)  
• Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman (3^rd studio album)
• Beyonce – Lemonade (6^th studio album)
• Kanye West – The Life of Pablo (7^th studio album)
• The Weeknd – Starboy (3^rd studio album)
• Lady Gaga – Joanne (5^th studio album)
• Britney Spears – Glory (9^th studio album)
• Blink-182 – California (7^th studio album)
• Green Day – Revolution Radio (12^th studio album)
• Bruno Mars – 24K Magic (3^rd studio album)
• Shawn Mendes – Illuminate (2^nd studio album)
• Zayn – Mind of Mine (debut studio album)
• All Saints – Red Flag (first album in 10 years)
• Alexandra Stan – Alesta (3^rd studio album)
• Meghan Trainor – Thank You (2^nd studio album)
• Fifth Harmony – 7/27(2^nd studio album)
• James Arthur – Back from the Edge (2^nd studio album)
• DNCE – DNCE (debut studio album)
• Little Mix – Glory Days (4^th studio album)

3. Singles

Here are some interesting facts about the global hits this year:

• Rihanna ft. Drake’s Work became the first Dancehall song to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Sean Paul’s Temperature 10 years ago
• Sia became the first female artist over 40 years to top the Billboard Hot 100 with Cheap Thrills a feat which was achieved after 16 years since Madonna’s Music in 2000  
• Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself spent 23 consecutive weeks in the Billboard Hot 100's top 10, breaking the record for the most consecutive weeks logged in the top 10 from a song's debut therein
• Drake ft. WizKid & Kyla’s One Dance topped the UK Singles Chart for 15 consecutive weeks making it the second longest reign at the top alongside Wet Wet Wet’s Love is All Around. Additionally it was also crowned the song of the summer worldwide
• The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey’s Closer was the longest reigning No.1 in the US with 12 consecutive weeks
• Zayn’s Pillowtalk made him the first UK artist to debut at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a debut single
• With Dangerous Woman debuting at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, Ariana Grande became the first artist to debut within the top 10 with every lead single of all of her studio albums
• Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign’s Work From Home became the first top 5 single by a girl group in 10 years since Pussycat Doll ft. Snoop Dogg’s Buttons
• Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne Marie’s Rockabye claimed the coveted UK Christmas No.1 and was the first song in history to do so after already logging 6 weeks at the top
• Luke Graham’s 7 Years became the first No.1 single by a Danish act in the UK since Aqua’s Turn Back Time and with 5 weeks at the top it became the longest reigning No.1 by a Danish act
• Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling! from Trolls is the first No.1 song from an animated movie since Pharrell Williams’ Happy from Despicable Me 2  
• Pikotaro’s Pen Pineapple Apple Song (PPAP Song) became the shortest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 with a length of only 45 seconds

4. Milestones

Some musicians need to be given due recognition for their achievements during the year.

• Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year for the second time for her album 1989 at the 58^th Grammy Awards becoming the first woman to do so
• BRITS Icon Award bestowed posthumously on David Bowie at the 36^th Brit Awards
• Britney Spears is honoured with the Millennium Award at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
• Rod Stewart is knighted in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2016 Birthday Honours
• Rihanna is bestowed with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards
• Madonna is named as the 2016 Billboard Woman of the Year
• Dolly Parton received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Country Muisc Association Awards 
• Bob Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature
• Victoria Beckham is bestowed with the Office of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honour’s List
• Marc Anthony is honoured with the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year at the 17^th Annual Latin Grammy Awards
• Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign’s Work From Home became the most watched music video of 2016 with over 1 billion views.
• The videos of Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth’s See You Again, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Justin Bieber’s Sorry all passed 2 billion views

5. Shockers

There were many jaw dropping moments in 2016 and here are some of them:

• ABBA reunites and reveals an upcoming digital entertainment experience
• Camila Cabello leaves Fifth Harmony to pursue her solo career 
• Avicii retires from music citing health reasons
• Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown reunite as Spice Girls – GEM
• One Direction announces indefinite hiatus
• Bill Medley reforms The Righteous Brothers with singer Bucky Heard
• The Eagles dissolves following the death of Glenn Frey, their founding member
• All four members of Viola Beach die in a tragic car crash
• Kesha denied an injunction by Supreme Court of New York to allow her to record outside Dr.Luke’s label
• Neil Amin Smith leaves Clean Bandit and the band continues as a trio
• Minzy leaves 2NE1 and the group disbands
• Founding member Pete Burns of Dead or Alive died effectively ending the band
• Christina Grimmie, former contestant on The Voice shot dead by a fan
• G.R.L. reformed as a trio with new member Jazzy Mejia
• 4Minute disbands over different opinions of members

6. Talent

Here are the winners of those talent/reality contests which produce some of the best artists:

• 61^st Eurovision Song Contest – Ukraine wins with Jamala’s 1944
• The X Factor (13^th Season) – Matt Terry wins mentored by Nicole Scherzinger
• The Voice (10^th Season) – Alison Porter wins coached by Christina Aguilera
• The Voice (11^th Season) – Sundance Head wins coached by Blake Shelton
• The Voice UK (05^th Season) – Former Liberty X member Kevin Simm wins coached by Ricky Wilson
• America’s Got Talent – Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal wins
• American Idol ends after 15 seasons crowing Trent Harmon as the final idol

7. Obituaries

Last but not least let us remember those legends to whom we bade farewell in 2016.

• David Bowie (08 January 1947 – 10 January 2016)
• René Angélil (16 January 1942 – 14 January 2016)
• Glenn Frey (06 November 1948 – 18 January 2016)
• Signe Toly Anderson (15 September 1941 – 28 January 2016)
• Maurice White (19 December 1941 – 04 February 2016)
• George Martin (03 January 1926 – 08 March 2016)
• Prince (07 June 1958 – 21 April 2016)
• Pete Burns (05 August 1959 – 23 October 2016)
• W.D. Amaradeva (05 December 1927 – 03 November 2016)
• Leonard Cohen (21 September 1934 – 07 November 2016)
• George Michael (25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016)

Till next year...

At Ease!!!