If we combine the age-old adages of, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” and “beauty is in the eye of the holder.” They best describe the inherent subjectivity of popular music. Due to the set-up of the music industry in the USA and its influence on the rest of the world, the Billboard Chart has become a beacon for gauging top charting musicians/artists. With its first music popularity chart in July 1940, and subsequent song charts a consolidated Hot 100 was formed in 1958. Today the Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry’s preferred standard record chart for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine.
Although it is American-centric it does give an indication of popular music globally if we take into consideration the populous of music lovers and how easily music can be accessed. It is based on sales(physical and digital) radio play and online streaming in the USA. With that in mind, I would like to take some time in talking about the genres close to home and see how the music compares in the US.
Billboard Hot 100 Top 5
1. Bad Habit – Steve Lacey
2. Unholy – Sam Smith, Kim Petras
3. As it Was – Harry Styles*
4. I like You – Post Malone, Doja Cat
5. You Proof – Morgan Wallen
* Harry Styles seems to be the top charting artist with 3 entries from his Harry’s House album released May 2022;
3. As it Was
18. Late Night Talking
59. Music For A Sushi Restaurant
Unfortunately, there is no representation on the Caribbean front as there are no tracks of huge significance in the US apparently. However, there are a few entries from Afro-beats. Burna Boy has a single track at 48Â with Last Last. Tems features on Future’s WAIT FOR YOU with Drake at 13 and has her own track, Free Mind, at 50. Following the Naija theme, Rema is the last African artist who features on the charts with Calm Down at 74 alongside Selena Gomez.
I’ll be following very closely on a weekly basis how dancehall, reggae, and afro-beats fare on the charts and then track how well these genres are growing or not growing.
