Hello!  I’m Charlie, and I’m reviewing the Billboard Top 10 of the week. I’m not giving each of the rankings a number grade because this is my opinion. There is no true fact when it comes to music, and this is all subjective. Feel free to agree, disagree, or whatever you want: it’s your opinion. Don’t listen to an idiot high schooler if you don’t want to. However, these are my thoughts and opinions for the week of November 5th, 2023’s Billboard Top 10.

1) Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift) – It’s not a surprise that this song is on here. Taylor Swift’s impact on 2023 has been pretty large, whether it’s with her largely successful sold-out tours or her personal life; she’s almost never in the news when she actually drops music. And she kind of did, re-releasing a song from her 2019 album, and the song is one of the better ones. I’m biased; I’m not a fan of hers normally; I don’t think I fall under her target audience; and I don’t think I’ve seriously listened to a Taylor Swift song front to back in my life on my own until I had to review this one. And I’d say it’s pretty good. Not great, not defining or jaw-dropping, but it’s a fun listen. It gets a little repetitive, but it’s not atrocious; however, I’m still wondering what she says in some parts. The chorus is pretty catchy and bound to get stuck in your head, and it’s overall a pretty good song. It’s a very commercial song, as is a lot of this list, but a pretty good song.

2) Paint the Town Red (Doja Cat) – I’m not a fan of this song for many reasons other than the music. The music itself isn’t bad; it’s her usual style, but the lead up to the single was atrocious: attacking her fans, saying how this single would be polarizing, and basically trying to rebrand herself as a more satanic influence. However, there’s nothing really different to her music, with nothing satanic other than some of the predictable lyrics, a boring, monotonous beat, and just the same artist we have been getting for 3 years. No polarization; it was a #1 hit, sure, but it’s not what was promised, and that’s what ultimately leaves me scratching my head at this single. It’s neither different nor discernible enough to give her a lot of credit. A lot of the same flow, not really lyrically deep or fun, and it’s just boring.

3) Snooze (SZA) – “Snooze” is one of the better quality songs in this top 10, having great production value, clear words, a great chorus to listen to, and is overall fun. On top of this, it doesn’t feel commercial. It doesn’t feel like this was marketed to be the #1 hit on this album; it feels like something the artist just kind of made because they wanted to make it, which is one of the reasons for a better song. There really isn’t much to criticize, although it feels a little short for a 3-minute song. It kind of lingers around the middle parts a little too long, but that’s a small criticism of an overall great song altogether.       

4)  I Remember Everything (Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves) –  Country is a pretty weird topic. I’m not a fan of modern country music. Modernity is the key. I like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and other songs scattered here and there, but I’m not actively trying to listen to them. However, this isn’t too bad. It’s a nice duet that’s sure to be sung on drunken karaoke nights in southern college bars, and it’s not really appealing to many people north of the Carolinas to listen to this song. It’s enjoyable, but not really my type, and I’m not jumping at the opportunity to listen again.       

5) Fast Car (Luke Combs) – It’s a modern-day, commercial country song. Sad overall song; it talks about dead-end jobs, working vs. partying and getting drunk, but it’s not a complex song. Pretty mediocre as far as country songs go.    

6) Last Night (Morgan Wallen) – The country has made a resurgence with this list. Around 2/3 of this list is country, with 1/3 being from Morgan Wallen, the most household name in country music right now. Everyone knows Morgan Wallen, albeit for many reasons. He’s had controversy, as have any musical artists, but there’s generally a spectrum. When you make good music, you can afford to be a little crazy: look at Michael Jackson. A ground-breaking artist, people were fainting at the sight of seeing him in concert, and he was an arguable nutcase. Morgan is a commercial country singer who is not really groundbreaking, plain and simple. He’s not underground; people know him, and he’s playing in malls and department stores. It’s easy to get. It’s another case of a commercial country, but this time from a slightly more controversial, a little more pleasant-to-the-ears source. He’s more talented than Luke, but it’s hard to ignore who he is. This song is pretty good for a country song, but, yet again, I’m biased.

7) Thinkin’ Bout Me  (Morgan Wallen) – I guarantee you, this song made me think about who in the industry he knows to keep these songs coming out. There’s no reason anyone should have two consecutive charts in the top 10 in today’s age of streaming. A boring song altogether.

8) IDGAF (Drake feat. Yeat) – Celtics Shaq.  Wizards MJ. Titans Moss. This is the point that Drake is at in his career. He’s been on top, and he’s done his fair share. He’s just messing around at this point and is consistently outperformed by newer artists on his own songs. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great song. Intro is fantastic; the feature on this song is great, but I am baffled by Drake’s decision to be outperformed consistently and made to look like a nerd while trying to maintain this “hard” image. Simply put, Drake is not at the top and just has the features and producers do the work for him. Also, his verse is significantly louder than Yeat’s. Step away from the mic. It can hear you.

9) Monaco (Bad Bunny) – Bad Bunny is a pretty polarizing figure in the industry currently. His album last year sat at the top of the charts for awhile, which is an impressive feat in and of itself. This song springboards this fame and actually artistically evolves. It doesn’t sound like his previous work, gets a common sample off of TikTok for the easy streams, and isn’t a boring listen at all, even with the language barrier for non-Spanish speakers. It’s enjoyable and deserves to be a couple spots higher on this list.

10) f**umean (Gunna) –  What can I say that hasn’t already been said at this point? The beat is recognizable; he sounds a little sleepy on the track, but that one vocal sample is both annoying and addicting at the same time. I don’t know how to feel about this song. It’s a very bipolar song to me, in that it could sound pretty good at one time and pretty bad at another. I don’t know what he’s saying half the time, but it sounds cool. I just feel like LeBron is trying to quote a song whenever this comes on, and I don’t know if I like it or not. It’s a very middle-of-the road song for me.