Official Singles Chart Top 40 on 12/10/2018

It's good to see a debut act entering straight in at number one. When did that last happen?

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- ‘Funky Friday’ becomes both Dave’s & Fredo’s first #1 on the singles chart, having had 6.7 million streams in its first week.

- It’s only the third song in 2018 to debut straight in at the top spot (the other two were by Drake, with ‘God’s Plan’ in January & ‘Nice For What’ in April). The last time it was done by a Brit was 'Too Good At Goodbyes' by Sam Smith in September 2017.

- It’s also the second “Friday” song to dominate the charts this year, following ‘Freaky Friday’ by Lil Dicky ft Chris Brown back in April.

- 'Funky Friday's dominance additionally marks big moment for grime music, as it’s the first #1 for the genre since ‘Heatwave’ by Wiley went to the chart summit in 2012.

- ‘Promises’ by Calvin Harris ft Sam Smith does, however, remain at #1 on the airplay chart for a sixth consecutive week!

- ‘Girls Like You’ by Maroon 5 ft Cardi B goes back to #1 on the YouTube chart, with a weekly viewing figure of 2.55 million, up 17 percent from last week. I’d expect ‘Funky Friday’ to be at the top of this chart when it next refreshes.

- DAVE FT FREDO - FUNKY FRIDAY (#1)
This song might've surprised everyone commercially, but it also amazed me how much it grew on me during the week! The darker, shadier production (which Dave himself is responsible for) is a perfect match for his signature grime delivery & while Dave has been getting better with every release for a while, Fredo stepped up his game here too & the two rappers bounce off each other really well, both complement each other charismatically. The only issue is that the lyrics are rather generic, but if this is the British rap hit that goes to the top of the charts, then I'm happy for it. It's getting a light 7/10 from me!

- EMINEM – VENOM (#16)
It looks like ‘A Star Is Born’ wasn’t the only movie to impact the charts today, as the title track from ‘Venom’ somehow became the second highest debut (most of my friends say the film isn’t that good though). In terms of the song itself, it’s not bad I guess. His humming-like delivery in the chorus was certainly a surprise, but one that I’m not really a massive fan of, but his signature wordplay & rap skills in the verses mostly make up for that. The production has this dark feel to it which gives it even more of a boost, but while most tracks from ‘Kamikaze’ ended up growing on me, I don’t see this doing the same, so I’m going with a solid 6/10.

- HALSEY – WITHOUT ME (#24)
Not only did this grow on me a lot throughout the week, I think it might even be Halsey’s best solo single! I might have my mixed opinions on Halsey as a singer, but I still feel bad for her that she got dragged into this G-Eazy & MGK beef. As for this song though, it’s got a really nice mid-tempo, bubbly beat with a few snares & cadences that I found worked really well here despite being nothing exactly revolutionary! Halsey is still far from the pop females on the chart that stand out to me, but if she continues to show her emotions in this way & not be overdramatic, then she might even up getting there. For me, this is a light 7/10.

- LIL BABY & GUNNA – DRIP TOO HARD (#28)
If you’ve been following American trap music, this collaboration shouldn’t surprise anybody. Unfortunately, while both artists step up their flows compared to what I’ve heard from them before, they’re still not very good due to their mumble rapping & the scattered beat doesn’t add anything of interest to this anyway. Also, when the content is bragging about cars & jewellery (where there are many flubbed rhymes), other than the mildly catchy hook, what’s there to care about here? No, I’m not feeling this, it’s mediocre at best, 4/10.

- 6IX9INE FT BOBBY SHMURDA – STOOPID (#34)
I think the only positive thing I can say about this is that they kept it as short as two & a half minutes… seriously, I thought ‘Fefe’ was a disappointment, but this sinks to a much deeper low. I don’t even think 6ix9ine’s flows are that bad, but his nasal & aggressive screaming continues to be absolutely dreadful & somehow gets worse with every song he attempts it in. Also, if the production is trying to be malicious, it actually ended up being incredibly annoying. Lyrically, 6ix9ine is going off topic so much that I can’t really follow what he’s trying to say, but then Bobby Shmurda shows up with some disgusting $ex references & to his own dance. As a whole, this song is very stupid indeed & it gets one of the lowest ratings I’ve ever given when doing these Official Charts reviews, 2/10!

- LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER – I’LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN (#35)
It seems like ‘A Star Is Born’ is getting off a bigger start both commercially & critically than I would’ve expected, but honestly, if the soundtrack has more songs like this on it, then it’s probably very much deserved! While the lyrics are devastatingly beautiful, Lady Gaga shows those feelings off in the best way possible, being consistently solid through a range of dynamics & pitch, she sounds almost angelic. The entire song is built on piano, which might have a scattered arrangement to this that can be hard to follow, but it just fits perfectly in the context of the film. I might not like it as much as I did ‘Shallow’, although it’s not that far off. For me, it’s a very light 8/10!

- LADY GAGA – ALWAYS REMEMBER US THIS WAY (#39)
So I’m interested to see ‘A Star Is Born’ not only for Lady Gaga’s acting, but the fact that she sounds consistently amazing across the soundtrack! The biggest reason for that is the power & passion she puts into her vocals here, especially at the end of the song, even though I’ll admit her upper range is a bit weaker & more strained than usual here. That said, I also loved a lot of the instrumentation, especially the gentle drum beat & the piano chords which are shortly followed by acoustic guitar strums despite those latter two features being rather predictable. I also appreciate how the lyrics remember a couple for their good times despite having to part ways. Overall, I’m not sure if this’ll have too much longevity, but you know, for me it’s a solid 7/10!

- On the albums chart, ‘A Star Is Born’ becomes Lady Gaga’s fourth & Bradley Cooper’s first #1! It’s also the third soundtrack to top the albums chart this year, following ‘The Greatest Showman’ & ‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again’.

- The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘Trench’ by Twenty One Pilots (debuts at #2; 2,000 combined sales from #1), ‘Blood Red Roses’ by Rod Steward (1-3), ‘The Greatest Showman’ soundtrack (3-4) & ‘Kamikaze’ by Eminem (4-5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could enter the Top 40 for the first time: ‘Woman Like Me’ by Little Mix ft Nicki Minaj, ‘MIA’ by Bad Bunny ft Drake, ‘Out Of Our Heads’ by Take That, ‘Moves’ by Olly Murs ft Snoop Dogg, 'Advice' by Cadet & Deno Driz, ‘Thursday’ by Jess Glynne & maybe even more.

- Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you all have a good weekend. :)

- My latest Crown Note chart: http://crownnote.com/charts/piran-delves/pirans-top-40-97
(I’ll post my next one later today)