The songs listed in this post were found using the Top 40 charts of the following music organizations: CHUM-FM, CFNY-FM, KEXP-FM, Billboard Magazine, Spotify and BBC Radio 1. All songs listed below occupied position #35 on their respective music lists from this past week. So, let’s take a quick look at today’s songs, and then a bit of a longer look at the song in today’s spotlight: Ojitos Lindos by Bad Bunny.
Woman by Doja Cat (Spotify)
My two daughters really like Doja Cat. My youngest daughter, Sophie, particularly so. When I asked Sophie about why she liked Doja Cat so much, she responded that it was a combination of Doja Cat being a good singer with a pleasing voice, the songs having a good beat, and that the songs and videos she puts out all seem to have a theme of female empowerment woven into them. Sophie is also drawn to Doja Cat because she is a tiny woman and resembles her other favourite singer Ariana Grande quite a bit in body type. Seeing a successful female role model being sexy and self-assured means a lot to girls like Sophie. For me, having viewed several of her videos, I think they are all kind of the same. If you like your heroes to be pixie like, scantily clad and bringing the men in their world to heel, then Doja Cat is for you. For what it is worth, the video for the song “Woman” is fairly indicative of who Doja Cat is. If you like watching and listening to it, then you will like her other songs, too. Doja Cat has won a Grammy and many Billboard and MTV video awards for her songs and is definitely one of the rising female Soul and Hip Hop stars out there today.
Don’t Forget My Love by Diplo and Miguel (BBC Radio 1)
Diplo made his name in the genre of electronic dance music as a DJ. He is known mostly because of the various collaborations he has engaged in over the years. In no particular order, he has put out music with Beyoncé, Shakira, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ellie Goulding, No Doubt and today’s featured star, Bad Bunny. This particular collaboration is with a singer named Miguel. The song “Don’t Forget My Love” is actually a groove-filled song that is pleasant to listen to. It will get your toes a-tapping and hands a-clapping. The videos for this song are another matter altogether. There are two “official” videos. The first one involves Diplo trying to warn Miguel that there is something amiss with Miguel’s new girlfriend. The video is bizarre at times, and the big reveal at the end might come off as disturbing to some viewers. The second video shows Diplo and Miguel engaging in one of the newest marketing strategies for artists these days, and that is attempting to stage a surprise, unannounced pop-up concert in various spots in NYC. This video reminds me a little of how the police broke up The Beatles rooftop concert at Abbey Road Studios, as well as when U2 put out their video for “The Streets Have No Name”. It may just be me, but I think I would like the song better without watching the videos. But, check it out and decide for yourself.
Ctrl + Alt + Del by Rêve (CHUM-FM).
“Ctrl + Alt + Del” is a song that has been playing on the radio in my hometown for quite awhile now. It is sung by a Canadian girl named Briannah Donolo who goes by the stage name, Rêve. I have to be honest and admit that I always thought this song was from a band when I heard it on the radio. But, it is from this one girl who got her big break by singing the Canadian national anthem at Montreal Canadiens hockey games. Donolo sang the US anthem with a bit of a dance-oriented flair, that combined with her raven-haired good looks, helped make her a viral internet sensation. Donolo parlayed that internet fame into a recording contract and now has a Top 40 hit in Canada on her hands. “Ctrl + Alt + Del” are computer keyboard keys, for those who may not have known. If you press all three at the same time, it will act as an alternative way to shut your computer down. This song is certainly a catchy one that, if the US market becomes involved, will make Rêve one of the rising stars of 2022/23 for sure.
Road Runner by Turnstile (CFNY-FM)
John Lydon, former lead singer of The Sex Pistols, as well as his second band, Public Image Limited, once sang a song that contained the line, “Anger is an energy”. The line meant that there was something potentially dangerous and lethal about the emotional anger possessed by many young people in society as it existed in the UK in the early 1980s. When channeled properly, anger as an energy can be used as a weapon against the powers that be. Well, every generation seems to have reason to gripe about their circumstances and leading today’s cry against conformity and politicians and greedy billionaires is a group called Turnstile. Their latest song, “Roadrunner”, is three minutes of pure anger and energy. It is loud and fast and performed with reckless abandon. These guys remind me of some of the early hardcore US punk bands such as Black Flag and Bad Brains. I am sure that this won’t appeal to very many of you, but the overarching importance of knowing about it is that there are segments of the teenage/20-something population who feel as though they have been dealt a bad hand because of COVID and lockdowns and rising house prices and so on…and they are ticked off! “Road Runner” by Turnstile is that anger unleashed in song.
Blood Money by The Lounge Council (KEXP-FM)
The Lounge Council are a UK band who mine much of the same ground as does Turnstile. However, they do so in a more melodic manner. This is not to say that their music isn’t loud at times, but it does appear to contain less pure rage and more pure musical skill than what you get from Turnstile. Their videos are kinda interesting in a quirky sort of way that you have to see for yourself to completely appreciate. I am not sure that this song will end up on anyone’s personal playlist but it is worth checking out. “Blood Money” is anger expressed subtly.
Ojitos Lindos by Bad Bunny (ft. Bomba Estéreo) (Billboard)
Bad Bunny is the stage name of a Puerto Rican rapper named Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio. I knew something was up with Bad Bunny a few weeks ago when I was researching for a previous “Today’s Top 40” post and went to check the Spotify chart and found every song from Bad Bunny’s latest album in the Top 20! As it turns out, Bad Bunny has arguably had the most successful run of any performer during the time of the pandemic. In the past two years, Bad Bunny…who only sings in Spanish…is the most streamed artist in any genre in the entire world. His latest video was streamed 111 million times during the first two weeks it was out. Ocasio is a social media phenomenon who has made a name for himself as a rapper, a professional wrestler in the WWE, as a style icon, and will soon be joining the Marvel family in a 2024 movie called El Muerto where he will play a starring role as an anti-hero. Neither my wife nor I had ever heard of him, and yet it seems like everyone else on the planet has heard of him and are singing his praises. I am flabbergasted that someone who sings in Spanish has taken the English-speaking world by storm. But, truly he has. If you want instant street cred with your grandchildren, mention Bad Bunny.
Bad Bunny, like a lot of modern day artists, likes to perform with other artists. So, many of his songs are collaborations. He has worked with Drake before, and now, for this video, he is working with a duo named Bomba Estéreo from Colombia. Bad Bunny has stated that he wants to improve the reach of Latin music and musicians throughout the Americas, and he has no plans to deviate from releasing Spanish-speaking albums and using his platform to showcase other Latin American artists. So far, mission accomplished. In case you don’t know who Bad Bunny is either, in the video, he will be the one with the stylish sunglasses. Just so ya know.
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I am old. I cannot understand hardly a word of any of the songs you suggested. Certainly I cannot follow a line from start to finish. Is there any need to listen to a whole line, or are the voices just another instrument, another series of sounds.
The good thing I can say about Bad Bunny, at least there was a reason I could not understand him–I know no Spanish. At least he showed me the words he was singing. The other video artists could learn from him. Or maybe I am just irrelevent.
I tried…
Each week of “Today’s Top 40” is a Gumpian box of chocolates. Because these songs are all songs that are currently popular and trending, I try to stick with the “official” videos that the artists have released. Perhaps, some “lyric-only” videos are in order. I do thank you for reading this post and for showing the artists respect by checking out their work. We don’t all have to like these songs but, I feel it is important to know what is current so that we can have informed conversations with the younger people in our lives. I have two teenage daughters. I find that I am now more aware of what their cultural references are. So, in that respect, these posts are important for me. Thanks for your comment. Have a great day, my friend.
No teenagers in my life, except four-footed ones. Not even any 20-or 30-somethings. (To be honest, there is no one in my life but my partner, and my on-line friends. An atheist hippie in a Christian red-neck town. The perfect camoflage!)