Xposition - January, 2016

Attention!!!

As we enter 2016, I cannot help but be thrilled that being a Belieber of Purpose, Sorry is at the helm on most charts around the world. Anyway more on that later. Firstly our prayers are with the horde of artists who suddenly passed away at the beginning of 2016.

• The most unexpected death thus far was without a doubt the passing of David Bowie. The British legend passed away on January 10 at the age of 69 after suffering through an unpublicized battle with cancer. 
• Rene Angelil also lost his decades-long battle to cancer on January 14. The music manager who discovered Celine Dion and who later married the singer passed away in Las Vegas surrounded by his loved ones at the age of 73. Celine even suspended her Las Vegas residency to take care of her ailing husband. 
• The Eagles’s founding member Glenn Frey passed away at the age of 67 on January 16. from complications due to ongoing intestinal issues and pneumonia.
• Jefferson Airplane founding members Signe Toly Anderson and Paul Kantner both died on January 28 from unrelated causes. Anderson died at her home in Oregon at the age of 74 on from the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Kantner died in San Francisco at the age of 74 from multiple organ failure and septic shock after he suffered a heart attack days earlier. 

This time the UK decided to release their Biggest Hits of 2015 in January 2016 instead of December 2015. Here are the top 10:

1. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - Uptown funk 
2. OMI - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
3. Hozier - Take me to church
4. Ellie Goulding - Love me like you do 
5. Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See you again
6. Adele - Hello
7. Major Lazer ft. DJ Snake & MO - Lean on 
8. James Bay - Hold back the river
9. Justin Bieber - What do you mean
10. Justin Bieber - Sorry 

Along with the biggest hits of 2015, we have the Biggest Albums of 2015 and here are the top 10:

1. Adele - 25
2. Ed Sheeran - X
3. Sam Smith - In the lonely hour 
4. Elvis Presley - If I can dream
5. Justin Bieber - Purpose
6. Taylor Swift - 1989
7. Jess Glynne - I cry when I laugh 
8. James Bay - Chaos and the calm 
9. Coldplay - A head full of dreams
10. George Ezra - Wanted on voyage 

Winning the Brits Critics' Choice for 2016 was not enough for Jack Garratt as he has now won BBC Sound of 2016 beating stiff competition from Canadian Alessia Cara. The artist-producer finished ahead of the 14 other nominated acts in the BBC's annual list, which polls 140 influential industry experts including critics, bloggers and DJs.

Tis' the season for awards and everyone anxiously awaits as to who will grab the Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards. Among the nominations we have the fan fav Lady Gaga and the critics' fav Sam Smith who already won at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. The full details of the nominations are as follows:

• The Weeknd - Earned it (Fifty Shades of Grey)
• Sam Smith - Writing's on the wall (Spectre)
• Lady Gaga - Til it happens to you (The Hunting Ground)
• J. Ralph - Manta ray (Racing Extinction)
• Sumi Jo - Simple song #3 (Youth)

The BRIT Awards will take place at the O2 Arena in London on February 24. This year's line-up is one of the awards' strongest yet, with Adele, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, The Weeknd, Little Mix, Jess Glynne and James Bay all on the bill.There will also be a tribute to David Bowie rumoured to be a performance by a supergroup made up of iconic acts including Noel Gallagher, U2's Bono and Blur's Damon Albarn. Adele, James Bay and Years & Years lead the way in nominations each picking four followed by Jess Glynne and Calvin Harris picking up 3 nominations. All the heavyweights go head to head for the British Single of the Year which are:

• Adele - Hello
• Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love
• Ed Sheeran & Rudimental - Bloodstream
• Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
• James Bay - Hold Back The River
• Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
• Little Mix - Black Magic
• Olly Murs ft. Demi Lovato - Up
• Philip George - Wish You Were Mine
• Years & Years - King

And for British Album of the Year we have the following nominees:

• Adele - 25
• Coldplay - Head Full of Dreams
• Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
• James Bay - Chaos and the Calm
• Jamie XX - In Colour

All Saints announced details of their first release in nine years on January 27. The quartet will release their fourth album Red Flag on April 8, preceded by single One Strike on February 26. Their last hit was Rock Steady when the group reunited for a short stint in 2006. 

Now moving on to chart news, Adele's Hello continued to rule the US Billboard Hot 100 during the first 3 weeks of January accumulating altogether 10 weeks atop the charts since her debut. However, her reign ended when Justin Bieber's Sorry which was struggling at second position throughout Adele's rule finally managed to overthrow Hello and remained there for the rest of the month. Meanwhile, Selena Gomez's Same Old Love peaked at No.5 during the month while Twenty One Pilots' Stressed Out soared into the Top 10. 

In the UK, after the Christmas No.1 was claimed by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir's A Bridge Over You beating Bieber, along with his support, Bieber returned to the top spot with  a force with Love Yourself which remained there for 3 more weeks, the tally of which reached 6 non-consecutive weeks. Bieber's reign in the UK was ended by fellow Canadian Shawn Mendes with his global sleeper hit Stitches. During the month One Direction's History, 99 Souls ft. Destiny Child & Brandy's The Girl Is Mine and Snakehips ft. Chance The Rapper & Tinashe 's All My Friends all entered the top 10 during the month. 

Some hits that became popular during the month were:

• G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha - Me, myself & I 
• Fall Out Boy - Irresistible 
• Major Lazer ft. Nyla & Fuse ODG - Light it up (remix)
• Flo Rida - My house
• Charlie Puth - One call away
• David Guetta ft. Fetty Wap & Sia - Bang my head

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - November, 2015

Attention!!!

Yes, one more month till the year ends and what a year it has been. While we eagerly await the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 of 2015 and the Biggest Songs of 2015 in the UK let's look at what happened in November.

First, we have the coronation of Like Mike & Dmitri Vegas as the world's No.1 DJ. Ending the reign of Hardwell after two years at the helm, the not-so-mainstream duo take over as the EDM world has elected its leader. The winner is chosen after a year long poll on the DJ Mag Top 100. The Top 10 are as follows:

1. Like Mike & Dmitri Vegas
2. Hardwell
3. Martin Garrix
4. Armin Van Buuren
5. Tiesto
6. Davig Guetta
7. Avicci
8. Afrojack
9. Skrillex
10. Steve Aoki

Next up, we have the 2015 Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards) which was held on November, 04 2015 at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville. It was Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town's big night as he won three awards including New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Traveller and Male Vocalist of the Year and Little Big Town won Single of the Year and Song of the Year for Girl Crush and Vocal Group of the Year. Luke Bryan took away the coveted Entertainer of the Year for the second consecutive time. Other significant wins include:

• Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert 
• Best Music Video of the Year: Madde & Tae - Girl in s country song
• Musical Event of the Year: Keith Urban & Eric Church - Raise 'em up
• Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line 

More recently, we had the 2015 American Music Awards hosted by Jennifer Lopez. To start the night with a big bang there was a less than mediocre attempt by Jennifer Lopez with a messy medley of the best songs of the year. However, there were awesome performances by The Weekend with The Hills, Selena Gomez with Same Old Love, Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth with a medley of Like I'm Gonna Lose You and Marvin Gaye and Justin Bieber with a medley of What Do You Mean?, Where Are U Now and Sorry. Taylor Swift was unsurprisingly the big winner of the night with three wins including Song of the Year for Blank Space, Favorite Pop/Rock Album for 1989 and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist. One Direction took away the Artist of the Year while Sam Hunt won the New Artist of the Year. Other winners include:

• Collaboration of the Year: Diplo & Skrillex ft. Justin Bieber - Where are u now
• Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist - Ed Sheeran
• Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist - Ariana Grande
• Favorite Pop/Rock Duo or Group - One Direction 
• Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist - Nicki Minaj
• Favorite Alternative Rock Artist - Fall Out Boy
• Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist - Calvin Harris
• Top Soundtrack - Pitch Perfect 2  

The BRIT Critics have spoken. Jack Garratt was chosen after he along with Izzy Bisu and Frances were shortlisted from 100 artists for the prestigious award.This award is now one of the surest predictors of commercial success as it has proven time and again with past winners such as Adele, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Jessie J and James Bay. 

Welcome back Adele is all that we can say for the charts around the world as the British singer's comeback hit which is also the lead single off her new studio album 25 reached the top in 28 countries. Hello's video also achieved several milestones as it broke the Vevo record for most views within 24-hours by accumulating 27.7 million views surpassing the 20.1 million views held by Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.

Whilst The Weeknd's The Hills managed to stay at the helm for the first week of November, Adele ruled the roost for the remainder of the month with Hello. Along with Hello, Justin Bieber's new single Sorry also entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No.2. The following week we see Ariana Grande's new single Focus debuting at No.7. With her newest hit, Grande becomes the first artist to have her debut single from her first three albums to chart within the Top 10. Meanwhile, Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend's Like I'm Gonna Lose You and Elle King's Ex's and Oh's also entered the Top 10.

In the UK, Adele's Hello debuted at the top in the first week and remained there for the first three weeks with record breaking sales. Her comeback became the biggest UK chart-topper in three years, as well as setting a new one-week streaming record, racking up over 7.32 million listens in its first week available. It is also the fastest selling song of the year. Meanwhile, Bieber's Sorry struggled at No.2 for three weeks after which it overthrew Hello in the final week to claim the top spot. Meanwhile, MNEK & Zara Larsson's Never Forget You peaked at No.5 and Fleur East's Sax peaked at No.3 during the month.

Other songs which became popular during the month are:

• Jess Glynne - Take me home
• Justin Bieber - I'll show you
• WSTRN - In2
• Demi Lovato - Confident
• Alessia Cara - Here
• Rudimental ft. Ed Sheeran - Lay it all on me
• Thomas Rhett - Die a happy man  

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!