2018 Recap: A Year in Music

Attention!!!

Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for. It’s time to say goodbye to 2018. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, and no tears will be left to cry for the past year. It’s a no brainer that it was a fantastic year for music. According to God’s plan all the stars aligned for Rap & Hip-Hop, as if I’m taken back to 2002. I like it how the Spanglish resurgence incorporated Rap and EDM into its fold. I've told you one, two, three, four, five, six thousand times that the recap is always under seven segments: genres, albums, singles, milestones, shockers, talent and obituaries. While we will never be the same after 2018, we have high hopes for 2019; thank u, next:

1.  Genres

The most conspicuous changes in the mainstream genres were:

• Continuing their reign from last year Rap and Hip-Hop ruled the first half of the year with Cloud Rap being the main subgenre on the charts.
• Pop which took a backseat to the new trends in fusion music resurfaced in the latter half of the year.
• The next phase of the Latin resurgence was the fusion of the genre with EDM and Rap with some hits and a few epic fails.
• Mega collaborations was the order of the day be it any genre.
• K-Pop conquered the world with BTS and BLACKPINK leading the fray.
• The age of Hard Rock and Metal is definitely over with the few hits from the genre being produced only by mainstream artists.
• Country music had a big year with the genre doing well on the charts particularly due to crossover artists.  
• It was a great year for movie musicals with their soundtracks performing extremely well. 

2. Albums

Some of the best albums released in 2018 were:

• Migos – Culture II (3rd studio album)
• Justin Timberlake – Man of the Woods (5th studio album)
• George Ezra – Staying at Tamara’s (2nd studio album)
• Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour (4th studio album)
• CNCO – CNCO (2nd studio album)
• Kylie Minogue – Golden (14th studio album)
• Charlie Puth – Voicenotes (2nd studio album)
• Maluma – F.A.M.E. (3rd studio album)
• Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes (3rd studio album)
• J Balvin – Vibras (5th studio album)
• Marshmello – Joytime II (2nd studio album)
• Panic! At the Disco – Pray for the Wicked (6th studio album)
• Ariana Grande – Sweetener (4th studio album)
• Post Malone – Beerbongs & Bentleys (2nd studio album)
• Lily Allen – No Shame (4th studio album)
• Jess Glynne – Always in Between (2nd studio album)
• Christina Aguilera – Liberation (8th studio album)
• Drake – Scorpion (5th studio album)
• 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood (3rd studio album)
• Eminem – Kamikaze (10th studio album)
• BTS – Love Yourself: Tear (3rd Korean studio album)
• XXXTentacion – ? (2nd studio album)
• Nicki Minaj – Queen (4th studio album)
• Clean Bandit – What is Love? (2nd studio album)
• Rita Ora – Phoenix (2nd studio album)
• Little Mix – LM5 (5th studio album) 

Most of the anticipated albums in 2018 were debut studio albums:

• Camila Cabello – Camila 
• Sigala – Brighter Days
• Bebe Rexha – Expectations
• Alan Walker – Different World
• Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
• Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind
• Calum Scott – Only Human
• Jorja Smith – Lost & Found
• Mike Shinoda – Post Traumatic 

3. Singles

• Drake’s God’s Plan topped the charts in 14 countries and entered the top ten in 9 others and ended the year as the most successful single of the year.
• Camila Cabello who left the girl band Fifth Harmony in 2016 achieved monumental global fame with her summer smash hit Havana featuring Young Thug.
• Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B’s Girls Like You was the most watched music video of 2018 with over 1.5 billion views. Due to this being her third chart topper, Cardi B extended her record in the US for most number ones by a female rapper.
• BTS’ Fake Love became the highest charting K-Pop single by a group in the US while BLACKPINK became the highest charting K-Pop female act with Ddu Du Ddu Du.
• Ariana Grande revisited the noughties in her Thank U, Next video which became her most successful hit to date and broke the record for most-watched video on YouTube within 24 hours by achieving 55.4 million views passing BTS’ Idol.
• With the success of Drake’s In My Feelings boosted by the Kiki Challenge, biggest viral sensation on social media made the artist the rapper with the most number ones in the US.
• Little Mix left Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Music over creative differences particularly their hit Woman Like Me featuring Nicki Minaj.
• Lady Gaga returned to the top of the charts with Shallow a duet with Bradley Cooper from the soundtrack of their box office hit movie musical A Star is Born.
• Lauryn Hill’s 1998-hit Ex-Factor was sampled by Drake and Cardi B in their hits Nice for What and Be Careful respectively. 
• Panic! At the Disco scored their biggest hit to date with High Hopes surpassing the success of I Write Sins Not Tragedies way back in 2006.
• Dad blogger LadBaby claimed the coveted Christmas No.1 with his cover of Starship's We Built This City beating stiff competition from Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next and Ava Max's Sweet But Psycho. 
• Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You became the first Christmas song in 60 years to enter the top 5 in the US reaching a peak of No.3. 
• Pinkfong's Baby Shark became a viral hit with over 2 billion views on YouTube and several artists such as BLACKPINK and Girls Generation covering the song and parodies being done on talk shows such as Ellen Degeneres and James Corden and a performance at the X Factor final. 
• Drake's In My Feelings was the biggest viral sensation of the year with the Kiki Challenge being performed around the world and with its success, Drake became the rapper with the most number one hits in the US. 

4. Milestones

• Bruno Mars took home the big 3 at the Grammy Awards with Record of the Year for 24K Magic, Album of the Year for 24K Magic and Song of the Year for That’s What I Like
• Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for Remember Me from Coco
• US President Donald Trump awarded the late Elvis Presley, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Martin Garrix took the No.1 spot on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for 2018
• Ariana Grande was named Billboard Woman of the Year
• BTS became the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit from the South Korean government.
• Jess Glynne broke Cheryl Cole’s record for most number ones by a British female artist in the UK with 7 chart toppers.
• Billboard Hot 100 celebrated its 60th anniversary in August.
• Jennifer Lopez received the prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards
• Justin Timberlake performed at the Super Bowl LII Halftime Show
• Daddy Yankee was awarded the Icon Award for his contribution to Latin Music and Maluma was awarded the Extraordinary Evolution Award at the Latin American Music Awards
• Janet Jackson received the Icon Awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and Radio Disney Music Awards
• Wolf Alice’s Visions of a Life won the coveted Mercury Prize
• Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was awarded the Member of the Order of Companions of Honour in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours
• Kelly Clarkson was honored with the Icon Award at the Radio Disney Music Awards
• Mary Poppins Returns, the sequel to Walt Disney’s beloved musical-fantasy film was released after a lapse of 54 years starring Emily Blunt in the titular role.
• Cher, Reba McEntire, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter were the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors. 
• Taylor Swift became the most awarded female winner in American Music Awards history with a total of 23 awards, breaking the record held by Whitney Houston.

5. Shockers

• Spice Girls excluding Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) announced their much anticipated return with the Spice World 2019 Tour with 13 shows.
• Boyzone released their seventh and final album Thank You & Goodnight marking their 25th anniversary and a farewell tour with the same name.
• Tulisa won the legal battle against Will.I.Am and Britney Spears for Scream & Shout ensuring a songwriting credit.
• The remaining members of Fifth Harmony declared a hiatus to pursue solo endeavors.
• The final judgment was delivered in favour of the Marvin Gaye estate in the Blurred Lines copyright suit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.
• Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso confirmed that Swedish House Mafia have reunited and will tour and release new music in 2019.
• The rap beef between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly reached a climax with Not Alike released by Eminem with a response by MGK with Rap Devil and the final cannon shot at MGK by Eminem with Killshot.
• In her new memoir, Brutally Honest, Spice Girl Mel B revealed that just before the X Factor UK final in 2014 where she was a judge she had taken 200 aspirin pills in an attempt to end her life due to her difficult marriage to Stephen Belafonte.
• 6ix9ine was arrested by US police for racketeering and conspiracy murder charges and if found guilty, the rapper may face 32 years to life in prison.
• In the Woolsey Fires that burned through California several artists’ homes including that of Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke and Lil Pump were burned to the ground.

6. Talent

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

• 63rd Eurovision Song Contest – Israel with Netta’s Toy
• The X Factor (15th Season) – Dalton Harris mentored by Louis Tomlinson  
• The Voice (14th Season) – Brynn Cartelli coached by Kelly Clarkson
• The Voice UK (7th Season) – Ruti Olajugbagbe coached by Sir Tom Jones
• The Voice (15th Season) – Chevel Shepherd coached by Kelly Clarkson
• The Four: Battle for Stardom (1st Season) – Evvie McKinney
• The Four: Battle for Stardom (2nd Season) – James Graham 

7. Obituaries

• Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues (29 December 1941 – 04 January 2018)
• Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries (06 September 1971 – 15 January 2018)
• Mark Salling of former Glee Cast (17 August 1982 – 30 January 2018)
• Dennis Edwards of The Temptations (03 February 1943 – 01 February 2018)
• Barbara Alston of The Crystals (29 December 1943 – 16 February 2018)
• Yvonne Staples of The Staple Singers (23 October 1937 – 10 April 2018)
• Avicii (08 September 1989 – 20 April 2018)
• XXXTentacion (23 January 1998 – 18 June 2018)
• Vinnie Paul of Pantera (11 March 1964 – 22 June 2018)
• Aretha Franklin (25 March 1942 – 16 August 2018)
• Ed King of Lynrd Skynyrd(14 September 1949 – 22 August 2018)
• Mac Miller (19 January 1992 – 07 September 2018)
• Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane/Starship (30 January 1942 – 27 September 2018)
• Freddie Hart (21 December 1926 – 27 October 2018)
• Roy Clark (15 April 1933 – 15 November 2018)
• Devin Lima of LFO (18 March 18 1977 – 21 November 2018)

Till next year...

At Ease!!!

2017 Recap: A Year in Music

Attention!!!

Ciao Adios 2017! We were all in love with the shape of 2017 as it gave us some of the best music the industry had to offer. The greatest moments in music were overshadowed by the horrific tragedies which was clearly a sign of the times. But the world moves on another day, another drama and more music. We have a million reasons to love the year but that doesn’t mean we don’t have issues with it, cause you’ve got them too. While we said we won’t let go of 2017, we had to bid farewell. I don't have new rules, so similar to 2016 I will strip 2017 down under seven segments: genres, albums, singles, milestones, shockers, talent and obituaries, and it goes something just like this: 

1. Genres
The most conspicuous changes in some of the mainstream genres included:

• Latin music resurfaced with force in the form of Spanglish remixes and dominated the charts  throughout the year.
• Mainstream Pop gradually reverted to its original form during the year after facing a tropical take over the year before.
• Hip Hop and Rap were forces to be reckoned with new artists introducing their own flavours.
• Dancepop and Electropop were reignited as they seeped through several EDM as well as Pop albums
• Rock and Country once more took a backseat, with the genres becoming almost irrelevant on the charts.  

2. Albums

Some of the most awaited albums were released in 2017:

• Shania Twain – Now (5th studio album – first album in 15 years)
• Fergie – Double Dutchess (2nd studio album – first album in 11 years)
• Steps – Tears on the Dancefloor (5th studio album – first proper album in 17 years)
• Linkin Park – One More Light (7th studio album – Bennington's final album)
• Zara Larsson – So Good (2nd studio album – first to be internationally released)
• Kesha – Rainbow (3rd studio album – first since her legal battle with Dr. Luke)
• Pink – Beautiful Trauma (7th studio album – first album in 5 years)
• Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. (4th studio album – Year-End No.1 in the US)
• Ed Sheeran – ÷ (3rd studio album – Year-End No.1 in the UK)
• Taylor Swift – Reputation (6th studio album)
• Lorde – Melodrama (2nd studio album)
• Jay-Z – 4:44 (13th studio album)
• Shakira – El Dorado (11th studio album)
• Imagine Dragons – Evolve (3rd studio album)
• Lana Del Rey – Lust for Life (5th studio album)
• Sam Smith – The Thrill of It All (2nd studio album)
• Eminem – Revival (9th studio album)

Most of the anticipated albums in 2018 were debut studio albums:
• Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa
• Harry Styles – Harry Styles
• SZA – Ctrl
• The Chainsmokers – Memories…Do Not Open
• Khalid – American Teen
• Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – Human
• Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer
• Niall Horan – Flicker
• Liam Gallagher – As You Were

3. Singles

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the global hits of 2017:

• Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You topped the charts in 44 countries and was conspicuously the most successful song of 2017.
• The music video for Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do broke the record for most-watched video on YouTube within 24 hours by achieving 43.2 million views passing Adele’s Hello.
• Logic ft. Khalid & Alessia Cara’s 1-800-273-8255 is the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US which witnessed a surge of more than 50% of calls to the hotline following its release and eventual popularity.
• Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber’s Despacito tied a 20-year old record held by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day for the longest-reigning number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with 16 weeks.
• Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) is the second solo Hip-Hop No.1 single by a female in US chart’s history after Lauryn Hill’s Doo Wop (That Thing) in 1998 .
• With the release of Liam Payne ft. Quavo’s Strip That Down all of One Direction’s members had made their solo debuts each one having at least one hit entering the Top 10 in the UK during the year, and Harry Styles even topping the chart with Sign of the Times. 
• With Nicki Minaj’s debut of three songs in April on the Billboard Hot 100 (No Frauds, Regrets in Your Tears and Changed It) she passed Aretha Franklin for the most total appearances among women on the chart.
• With Rihanna’s Love on the Brain entering the Hot 100 Top 10, she passed Elvis Presley becoming the artist with the third most top-ten singles in Hot 100 history behind only Madonna and The Beatles.  
• Mariah Carey’s Christmas classic All I Want for Christmas is You achieved a chart peak in the US after 23 years of its release when it peaked at No.9.
• Ed Sheeran’s Perfect grabbed the coveted Christmas No.1 in the UK with its sales being propelled due to duet versions with Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli.  

4. Milestones

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

• Adele became the first artist in history to win the triple crowns at the ceremony twice with Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Hello and Album of the Year for 25 at the 59th Grammy Awards a feat which she previously achieved in 2012. 
• The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Bee Gees lead vocalist Barry Gibb were knighted in the Queen’s 2017 New Year Honours
• Sir Paul McCartney, Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran receive the prestigious MBE in the Queen’s 2017 Birthday Honours List 
• Taylor Swift wins sexual assault case against DJ David Mueller for groping her at a 2013 concert 
• Diana Ross was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 American Music Awards
• Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year was bestowed on Alejandro Sanz at the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards
• Pink received the prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards 
• Robbie Williams received the Icon Award at the BRIT Awards 2017 
• Pitbull was awarded the inaugural Dick Clark Achievement Award for his contribution to Latin Music at the 2017 Latin American Music Awards 
• Jay-Z was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and became the first rapper in history to be bestowed with such an honour.
• Selena Gomez was named 2017’s Billboard Woman of the Year 
• U2 received the Global Icon Award at the 2017 MTV European Music Awards 
• Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber’s Despacito became the most watched YouTube video of all time with over 4.7 billion views.
• Lady Gaga’s performance at the 2017 Super Bowl LI Halftime Show was the second most-watched in history and is also among the most critically acclaimed of all time
• Sampha’s Process won the coveted 2017 Mercury Prize
• Afrojack played a record breaking eight sets at Tomorrowland 2017 
• Vera Lynn made history when her album, 100, charted at Number 3 in the UK, making her the first living centenarian to have a Top 10 album
• Cher was bestowed with the Icon Award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards 
• Britney Spears honoured with the Icon Award at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards

5. Shockers

There were amazing moments in 2017 as well as the tragic ones that made up this memorable year.

• 58 people were shot dead and around 851 were injured in a shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival during Jason Aldean’s performance, making this the second deadliest concert shootings in history.  
• Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park hangs himself soon after the release of the band’s 7th studio album 
• A suicide bomb attack after an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena resulted in 22 deaths and left 250 injured.
• Glastonbury to take a year’s break after pulling in a record peak audience of 4.1 million viewers for Ed Sheeran’s headline slot and be replaced with BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend
• Ed Sheeran privately settles a case of copyright infringement for his single Photograph and  the similarity between Matt Cardle’s Amazing 
• Fergie takes an indefinite break from the Black Eyed Peas 
• Tony Hadley, lead singer of Spandau Ballet formally announces his departure from the band
• Russia withdraws from Eurovision as Ukraine bans their representative Yulia Samoylova  from entering the host country by virtue of having traveled directly from Russia to Crimea in 2015
• Hip-Hop trio Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer indicates a N-Dubz reunion 
• 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.

6. Talent

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

• 62nd Eurovision Song Contest – Portugal with Salvador Sobral’s Amar Pelos Dois
• The X Factor (14th Season) – Rak-Su mentored by Simon Cowell
• The Voice (12th Season) – Chris Blue coached by Alicia Keys
• The Voice (13th Season – Chloe Kohanski coached by Blake Shelton
• The Voice UK (6th Season) – Mo Adeniran coached by Jennifer Hudson
• Britain’s Got Talent (11th Season) – Tokio Myers

7. Obituaries

Finally we remember those who left us in 2017.

• Al Jarreau (12 February 1940 – 12 February 2017)
• Joni Sledge (13 September 1956 – 10 March 2017)
• Chuck Berry (18 October 1926 – 18 March 2017)
• J. Geils (20 February 1946 – 11 April 2017)
• Chris Cornell (20 July 1964 – 18 May 2017)
• Gregg Allman (08 December 1947 – 27 May 2017)
• Chester Bennington (20 March 1976 – 20 July 2017)
• Tom Petty (20 October 1950 – 02 October 2017)
• David Cassidy (12 April 1950 – 21 November 2017)
• Wayne Cochran (10 May 1939 – 21 November 2017)
• Kim Jong-hyun (08 April 1990 – 18 December 2017)

Till next year...

At Ease!!!