My Favorite Hits of 2017

Attention!!!

2017 was indeed an interesting year. While the greatest hits of the year failed to find a place on this list with the exception of Despacito, I found the average hits more to my liking. In terms of my taste, EDM, Rap and Pop clearly ruled the global charts and also this compilation. Genre wise it is a smorgasbord of sub-genres with a few entries from Latin Pop and Hip-Hop. Several artists have numerous entries, the highest of which is Nicki Minaj with 4 entries as a featured artist followed by Charlie Puth, Taylor Swift, Julia Michaels, Jason Derulo, Niall Horan, Cardi B, Maroon 5, SZA, The Weeknd, Demi Lovato, David Guetta and Bruno Mars each with 2 entries .   

However, my most favorite from all of last year’s releases was Kygo’s EDM smash hit It Ain’t Me containing Selena Gomez’ haunting vocals followed by G-Eazy’s pump anthem No Limit and Rita Ora’s Anywhere. So here are my top 50 favorite hits of 2017 in descending order:  

1. Kygo & Selena Gomez – It ain’t me
2. G-Eazy ft. Cardi B & A$AP Rocky – No limit
3. Rita Ora – Anywhere
4. French Montana ft. Swae Lee – Unforgettable
5. DNCE ft. Nicki Minaj – Kissing strangers
6. Maroon 5 ft. SZA – What lovers do
7. Charlie Puth – How long
8. Julia Michaels – Issues
9. Taylor Swift – Call it what you want
10. Portugal. The Man – Feel it still
11. Imagine Dragons – Thunder
12. Lana Del Rey ft. The Weeknd – Lust for life
13. Martin Jenson – Solo dance
14. Jason Derulo – Tip toe
15. Nick Jonas – Find you
16. Echosmith – Goodbye
17. Liam Payne ft. Quavo – Strip that down
18. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito
19. Demi Lovato ft. Iggy Azalea – Kingdom come
20. Harry Styles – Sign of the times
21. Cardi B – Bodak yellow (money moves)
22. Drake – Passionfruit
23. Maroon 5 ft. Future – Cold
24. Pixie Lott ft. Stylo G – Won’t forget you
25. Taylor Swift – Look what you made me do
26. Niall Horan – Too much to ask
27. Lorde ft. Post Malone, SZA & Khalid – Homemade dynamite
28. Shawn Mendes – There’s nothing holdin’ me back
29. David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne – Light my body up
30. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – I feel it coming
31. Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign – Swalla
32. Jax Jones ft. Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don – Instruction
33. Dua Lipa – Be the one
34. Ariana Grande – Everyday
35. Halsey ft. Lauren Jauregui – Strangers
36. Stargate ft. Pink & Sia – Waterfall
37. Alesso – Falling
38. Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
39. CNCO ft. Little Mix – Reggaetón lento
40. Olly Murs & Louisa Johnson – Unpredictable
41. Julia Michaels – Uh huh
42. Gabrielle Aplin – Love so slow
43. Zara Larsson – I would like 
44. Charlie Puth – Attention
45. Bruno Mars vs. David Guetta – Versace on the floor
46. Anne Marie – Ciao adios
47. Ed Sheeran – Perfect
48. Rag N’ Bone Man – Human
49. Calvin Harris ft. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean – Feels
50. Niall Horan – Slow hands

Till the next favs...

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 - July, 2017

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While award ceremonies took a break in July we see Tomorrowland the largest dance music festival in full swing. Held during the final two weekends in July Tomorrowland 2017 was under the theme “Amicorum Spectaculum” with a massive crowd of 400,000. Headlining the festival this time were 8 top notch DJ acts – Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Alesso, Paul Van Dyk, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, Paul Kalkbrenner. Afrojack played a record breaking eight sets and so wherever in Tomorrowland a participant, you can be sure they saw Afrojack. In a small set back, Tomorrowland’s Barcelona stage went up in flames resulting in the evacuation of more than 22,000 fans. The fire had erupted hours before Steve Aoki was to perform, but the organizers have ruled it was only a technical malfunction.

BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend will be retitled as BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend as Glastonbury takes a sabbatical in 2018. Glastonbury which is one of the biggest music festivals in the world will take a year’s break after pulling in a record peak audience of 4.1 million viewers for Ed Sheeran’s headline slot. The Biggest Weekend will take place from 25 – 28 May 2018 in four cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While the acts will be announced later it was confirmed that 175,000 tickets will be sold for the event.

Spandau Ballet’s lead singer Tony Hadley has formally announced his departure from the 80s group. Whilst the band first split up in 1990s, after a disagreement over loyalties they reformed in 2009 for a string of sold out shows. Whilst the reason for Hadley’s departure is uncertain he only revealed on Twitter that they were circumstances beyond his control.

It is with extreme sadness that the music industry had to bid farewell to Alternative Rock icon and lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington. His death came as a massive shock to the music industry when his housekeeper found his body on July 20. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. The band’s seventh studio album One More Light was released earlier this year. While the band cancelled their North American leg of their One More Light World Tour following his death, it is clear what will happen to the band as a result of Bennington’s death. Bennington’s death was on what would have been his close friend and lead singer of Soundgarden, Chris Cornell’s 53^rd birthday, who had also committed suicide by hanging two months prior.

Moving onto chart news, in the US, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber’s Despacito maintained its reign over the charts throughout the month accumulating 10 weeks at the top. DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller’s Wild Thoughts debuted in the top 10 but could not dethrone Despacito as it struggled at No.2. Meanwhile, French Montana featuring Swae Lee’s Unforgettable, Imagine Dragons’ Believer and Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back all entered the top 10.

In the UK, Despacito started at the top but was dethroned by Wild Thoughts in the final week. During the month Calvin Harris featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams & Big Sean’s Feels, Maggie Lindemann’s Pretty Girls and Sigala & Ella Eyre’s Came Here For Love all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       CNCO – Reggaetón Lento

2.       Dua Lipa – New rules

3.       Rudimental ft. James Arthur – Sun comes up

4.       Jax Jones ft. Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don – Instruction

5.       J Balvin & Willy William – Mi gente

6.       Demi Lovato – Sorry not sorry

7.       Zedd ft. Liam Payne – Get low

8.    Axwell & Ingrosso – More than you know

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!