#dan caplen | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aguamarinee · 9 months

Note

hi! I absolutely love your recent Maki post. Your writing style is very distinctive and the little details included in the plot and writing was cherished 🫶🏼. If you don’t mind writing him again, I just had a simple maki fluff request: staying home with him on a rainy day and slowly drifting asleep. No need to rush on this, feel free to take your time :)

THESE DAYS

➪ 𝐀/𝐍.: Honestly I'm so happy that people are finding that long Maki oneshot enjoyable, I was scared it will be too much. But of course I'll write him again, let's go Maki hours! I had a very cute extra idea for this, so thank you anon, this was indeed a fluffy request! <33 Also, I kind of made this into more of a friend-zone fic rather than boyfriend Maki, I hope it's fine lol.

➪ 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Maki × reader

➪ 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff, crack, drabble

➪ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: "Do you know in how many ways can you make music?"

➪ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 0,8k

It was no use... despite the myths, warm milk did nothing to lull you to sleep. If anything, the slight burning of the liquid on your dry tongue woke you up even more.

"It's only 2 am and I'm absolutely not tired. It's weird if think about how sleepy I was at one point of the day." Maki was talking to himself a bit further away from you, standing next to the kitchen counters and looking harshly at a late-night snack.

He'll decide to eat it eventually, you knew it, he's always so reckless in moments like these.

You tore your eyes away from your friend back to the big gallon of milk in your hand and with a sigh you rolled your eyes, putting back the big plastic bottle into the fridge with a thud.

No sleeping tonight, although... it's unnecessary to pretend that sleepovers are organized for catching up on everyone's sleeping schedule. Because they aren't.

You weren't particularly picky, if you were tired then you could catch a nice nap anywhere, anytime, but this time it was different.

For some reason the heavy rainfall outside didn't let you rest comfortably, earlier you kept your head on your pillow for more than 30 minutes, but nothing.

If anything, you were just getting annoyed by each and every new drop of rain you heard from outside.

Most of the windows weren't even open in the living room where you and Maki tried to sleep side by side on separate mattresses, but something didn't let you calm down.

"...So, movie?" You turned to your friend again as you heard him call for your attention.

Before preparing for bed you two swapped hoodies, both big and oversized, however, the difference in design was the twist in the whole thing... And Maki definitely wasn't ready for such a change.

As he stood beside the counter, already eating his unhealthy snack fast, in a way that made his cheeks puff up like a chipmunk's while dressed in your fuchsia sweater that sported a huge bedazzled star detail on it. And he paired this with his grey sweatpants that he already had on.

Needless to say, he looked absolutely dashing. All he needed more was perhaps some weird socks to go with it and his perfect outfit was good to go.

You on the other hand got luckier with his dark green hoodie that had a weird sentence printed on it, which read 'Germans do it better!' — what nonsense though.

"Sure, let's watch something funny." You grinned and followed him back to the living room, speeding up to get to occupy the remote sooner than him.

Selecting the movie wasn't long, the two of you chose something that you already saw at least 2 times so in the end the TV just proved to be background noise... What rather interested you two was the ongoing rain outside.

"I just realized I like it when it rains." Maki spoke up after a bit of silence as he sat beside you cross-legged, his hands put on the sofa before him as he lightly tapped them.

You sat with one leg pulled up under your chin, your hands caging it against your torso to keep balance, and you glanced at him with a skeptical expression.

"So suddenly?" You examined his side profile, waiting for him to explain further on.

"Yeah, just listen to the rhythm of the raindrops—" he tapped on your shoulder to focus your attention on what he said. "—they make a comforting melody in a way. And a recurring one." He smiled in a silly way and kept on lightly drumming his finger on the sofa.

To his suggestion, you listened in more carefully and moments later leaned your head on his shoulder with an intentional thud.

He stirred but didn't move you, and after a minute he scooted closer so the two of you feel more cozy.

Slowly he moved his hands from the sofa to your free shoulder and relaxed leg and started drumming yet again, softer this time.

It seemed Maki was in his own little world creating idealized melodies, small tunes, and rhythmic jingles to raindrops from outside, humming once in a while.

But you couldn't lie, his voice was soothing, pleasing to your worn-out being as you gradually felt lighter and lighter on the sofa, your best friend by your side, embracing you on a rainy night, with the TV on in the background, dressed in each other's silly hoodies all for a bet at your sleepover to see who would give in to the gracious invitation to Dreamland's grand entrance sooner.

Well, it was you this time, but Maki followed you shortly, leaning his head on yours at last, hugging you closer, and turning off the TV.

But one thing was for sure...

....The next morning the two of you will die of muscle aches after falling asleep in such weird positions on the couch.

➪ 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 【𝐌 𝐀 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐋 𝐈 𝐒 𝐓】 !

#&team #andteam #&team scenarios #&team x reader #&team fanfic #&team maki #&team drabbles #hirota riki #hirota maki #andteam maki #marinewers º•°༚º

29 notes · View notes

deadcactuswalking · 11 months

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 10/06/2023 (Dave & Central Cee, The Weeknd/Madonna/Playboi Carti, Metro Boomin’s ‘Spider-Verse’ OST)

Content warning: Incest?

It’s Dave’s third, and Central Cee’s first: their massive collaboration “Sprinter” debuts at #1 on top of the UK Singles Chart, and with a four-song EP, the two have definitely shaken things up, so welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

We have a bit of a hectic week to cover this episode, so it’s of no surprise that we ended up with tons of notable dropouts, those being songs that exit the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week’s hefty list includes Eurovision hits like “Queen of Kings” by Alessandra, “Cha Cha Cha” by Kaarija and… Ed Sheeran hits like “Life Goes On” and “Curtains”. Otherwise, we say farewell to “Tony Soprano 2” by Nines, “Princess Diana” by Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, “Snow on the Beach” by Taylor Swift featuring Lana Del Rey, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner, “Sure Thing” by Miguel, “Forget Me” by Lewis Capaldi and “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic.

As for what’s filling in the gaps, “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift is our only re-entry at #49, but our notable gains include boosts for “Relax My Eyes” by ANOTR and Abel Balder at #58, “UNHEALTHY” by Anne-Marie featuring Shania Twain at #48, “TMO (Turn Me On)” by Luude and Bru-C featuring Kevin Lyttle at #45 - definitely not complaining about those three - alongside some I’m not as pleased about, like “Area Codes” by Kali at #39, “Talibans” by Byron Messia at #37 and “Side Effects” by Becky Hill and Lewis Thompson at #35, though at least “Little Things” by Jorja Smith is up to #28, and “Good Love” by Hannah Laing and RoRo is big off of the debut up to #22. We also see Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” gain up to #13 and “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue at #12, both just missing the top 10, whilst “Dancing is Healing” by Rudimental, Vibe Chemistry and Charlotte Plank enters the top 10 at #8, becoming the first for Vibe Chemistry or Plank but Rudimental’s fifth; their first in five years since 2018’s “These Days” with Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen. It’s a shame that this new top 10 hit isn’t all that good, but what can you do?

The top five on this week’s UK Singles Chart consists of “Daylight” by David Kushner at #5, “REACT” by Switch Disco and Ella Henderson featuring the late Robert Miles at #4, “Giving Me” by Jazzy at #3, “Miracle” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding at #2 and of course, “Sprinter” at the very top, which we’ll get to later as part of our muddled batch of this week’s new entries, which we’ll start now.

NEW ARRIVALS

#70 - “Give it to Me” - Matt Sassari

Produced by Timbaland, Danja and Matt Sassari

If this week is defined by anything, it’s that we have songs by the duo of Dave and Central Cee, songs produced by Metro Boomin and a bunch of loosies that fall into neither of the categories. This song, more known for its “Full Vocal Mix” that halves its length yet has around 100 more million streams, is by French DJ Matt Sassari, and is essentially a remix of Timbaland’s 2007 hit of the same name with Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado that was a #1 hit in both the UK and US. The original is a fascinatingly bitter takedown from the trio onto… pretty much anyone who they didn’t like, whether that be Janet Jackson, Fergie, Prince or Scott Storch - yeah, they hit some pretty big names here, and it’s one of those diss tracks that feels a bit more petty than it does deserved… though honestly, I don’t find that much of a problem given how the Timbaland solo albums are mostly celebrity showcases anyway so it makes sense to stain them with gossip. With that said, I don’t like the original that much, as whilst it’s got the classic buzzing synth bass and heavily percussive groove of Timbaland tracks, it also has some of Nelly Furtado’s weakest and most awkward performances, especially in her verse, and the vocal melody all three of them go for in the verses is sing-songy and bitter to the point where Nelly sounds completely confused, Justin sounds punchable and Timbaland just sounds funny… which means he at least has the most charming performance. Given the club-based lyrics, it makes sense for a house remix but I do feel it’s a tad awkward, especially with how disjointed the new house beat ends up feeling with the original song’s vocals, which whilst being effectively chopped up, don’t really provide any sensible alternative to this just being an instrumental, and said instrumental would be pretty cheap-sounding and boring with its typical slap house synths that cloud up into a whole lot of nothingness. If not lazy, it’s empty - so it definitely makes sense that they shortened it to not even two minutes, got rid of the instrumental and replaced it with the original verses, excluding Nelly’s, which is a welcome decision but with every Timbaland-produced track, you could tell how involved he was in ensuring everything made perfect sense and worked together. He was a star-producer for a reason, and adding his work onto some distantly made slap house beat does no justice for the original track, even if I’m not a fan.

#68 - “HEATED” - Beyoncé

Produced by Beyoncé, Sevn Thomas, Neenyo, Jahaan Sweet, Boi-1da, Cadenza, Kelman Duran, Stuart White and Harry Edwards

There are four and a half minutes of runtime on this track, and double the amount of producers… yet you can definitely tell where they’re all coming from. Sure, this is not my favourite track from RENAISSANCE, but there are so many layers to this at any point in time: the liquid-smooth acoustic guitars, the weirdly intense Afrobeats percussion, the distant distorted chanting under several different layers and harmonies of Beyoncé providing great vocals as always. Sure, there’s only one real verse, but this is the “vibiest” song on the album, coasting off personality in an actually endearing way, mostly because Bey is full of charisma and whilst the song is mostly about how only a real man can handle the unique, powerful woman that is Beyoncé, there are some nice nods to how she came up - with her subtly paying tribute to her uncle Jonny in the pre-chorus - and the completely insane outro of liberation and aggression that ends the song with the mantra that had been in the back of the mix the whole time. Like most of RENAISSANCE, it’s just a great, slickly-produced and cleverly-composed track with a lot of attention to detail - why it’s coming back now I have no idea, but it may have something to do with the leaked Drake reference track. I honestly wouldn’t have minded him on the final track, mostly because a song about being uniquely powerful makes a lot of sense for both Bey and Drake, but it’s not like he brings all that much personality to the table, so the solo version works just as fine.

#63 - “bread & butter” - Gunna

Produced by Turbo, Omar Grand and Cam Griffin

I could not care less about if Gunna “snitched” or not - it seems that he took a plea deal, which is normal and common in the legal system, and Gunna’s relationship with his friends is of no interest to me, or any white boy on Twitter who thinks they have an eye on the streets. I did expect a comeback single when he was freed, but I didn’t expect it to honestly go this hard and be so connected to the story at hand. First of all, the R&B synths sound warm and the bass is surprisingly fuzzy and dynamic for a trap beat. More importantly, Gunna maintains his hustle, dissing Lil Baby for his perceived hypocrisy as he apparently still associates with “rats”. It’s a shame to see that duo dissolve, but the melancholy flow Gunna keeps with for most of this song is pretty defiant though it shows a level of sorrow and guilt considering how he becomes so paranoid and arguably allows his flow to become quite wonky in that second verse, mentioning how many have wronged him, his addiction to prescription pills and most interestingly how he feels that he fell for a manipulation of the legal system, which isn’t exactly hard for me to believe. Ultimately, this is not a great song - it runs a little long and Gunna is still not a dynamic vocalist, even if the melody gives his bars an internal sadness that interests me about where he could possibly go next, perhaps for more vulnerable lyrics down the line. I mean, it would be interesting to hear from Gunna of all people, but I don’t think I wanted it to have to come about like this.

#60 - “Closer” - Bou featuring Slay

Produced by Bou

Okay, for once, I think we need to stop thinking about the “Children”. Bou’s recent drum and bass hit is yet another flip of the late Robert Miles’ trance classic that hit #2 in 1996, and it definitely feels overdone, especially since the piano sound here Is particularly cheap, and the build-up is so liquidy it’s practically slime, which isn’t worth it since the drum and bass break is tacky and the bass is straight-up ugly, with the borderline off-key 808 clipping in the mix. Slay is a BTEC Bru-C who just repeats the chorus for half of the song until he actually gets into a verse, which for whatever reason is set to the back of the mix with a bunch of reverb, so it sounds like a completely disjointed song. Slay can barely flow and sounds completely out of it, so everybody here is amateur hour. Next.

#59 - “Annihilate” (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) - Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Lil Wayne and Offset

Produced by Metro Boomin, MIKE DEAN and Prince 85

I’ve heard really great things about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and I do feel it is one of those superhero films you can enjoy without any prior knowledge of superhero films, and whilst I’m a fan of animation, so it’s probably necessary to watch it at some point, I don’t really have any interest in it, especially not after listening to the soundtrack, which feels as watered down as it could possibly be before it isn’t even recognisable as Metro Boomin production. What’s much more prominent are the flamboyant MIKE DEAN synths which make complete sense amidst all of the pop-music melodrama Swae Lee brings to the table, and honestly even Lil Wayne’s pretty great verse wherein he gives all the spider lines he must have been saving up for this groove-less trap beat. Offset on the other hand is embarrassingly basic, and Swae Lee has a verse for whatever reason that just makes the song drag on for no reason, especially since it’s a motivational song so if you’re not feeling it in the first hook, you won’t feel anything else. I get the appeal, but I’m not a fan… yet we have more Metro Boomin-Swae Lee Spider-Man tracks next week, except replacing the guests that are actually talented with, well…

#56 - “Calling” (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) - Metro Boomin, Swae Lee and NAV featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie

Produced by Metro Boomin, Chris Townsend and johan lenox

NAV. He replaced them with NAV. To be fair, A Boogie is here too, but this is mostly the Swae Lee affair once again, with a liquid guitar line and an incredibly basic trap beat relying on pianos and occasional sound effects to make it sound in any way unique to Metro or the soundtrack. NAV is dour, also saying he isn’t materialistic, because anybody is believing that, and the rest of this is a love song. Great. Naturally, most of them sell it through the idea of giving them a bunch of luxury items, as well as generic platitudes that don’t paint an actual picture, with Swae Lee relying on superhero tropes again. I quite like A Boogie here, with a particularly dynamic, ever-changing flow and particularly honest, kind of cute delivery that has slightly more reciprocal lyrics as well as a great moment where the strings come in at the end of his verse, and he sounds great over them. That verse doesn’t save the song entirely though, especially due to the overlong instrumental outro that just fades out... and without any Spider-Man vore, unfortunately. We’ll be back to your feature film presentation after these brief messages.

#52 - “Sittin’ on Top of the World” - Burna Boy

Produced by Skread

So, in 1998, Brandy Norwood released “Top of the World”, featuring the laidback, effortless rap of Ma$e and the hit-making grooves of Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. It’s fine. The production actually feels very underwhelming, and the conceit of the song isn’t exactly fascinating, especially with a just-okay Brandy performance, two tacked-on Ma$e verses and a post-chorus that hasn’t aged particularly well - not because it’s problematic or anything but because it sounds very jerky and missing the fine tuning that probably would exist with that kind of vocal stutter and refrain nowadays. To be fair, the strings in the bridge are great, but the song isn’t overall, and it stalled at #2 behind B*Witched… okay, so the song was at least better than that song, and I’ll admit that it’s funny to hear Brandy ask Ma$e to slow down because he’s “killin’ ‘em” considering Ma$e is one of the most - purposefully - boring rappers of all time. Is Burna Boy’s remake an improvement? Well, I say yes, actually, with a fatter bass groove than the original, and a clever interaction with the sample, which is pitch-shifted and both interrupts and completes Burna Boy’s self-liberating chorus. Sure, that vocal stutter still doesn’t sound great, but it’s more well-integrated with the blended production here, and Burna Boy’s rich voice definitely helps further how catchy and honestly just kind of cute this song is, with the wormy synth by the end sealing the deal. Mediocre sample ends up producing pretty good song. Who knew?

#51 - “Am I Dreaming” - Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky and Roisee

Produced by Metro Boomin, MIKE DEAN, Peter Lee Johnson and Scriptplugg

Our third and final track from the soundtrack is the only good one here, and yes, I’m saying that because A$AP Rocky is on it. Let’s just say I’m a fan. Seriously though, there are other factors here, mostly the whole early-2010s pop vibe it has going on, though a bit less compressed than those tracks were. The strings sound excellent and actually make this feel like a superhero anthem, especially when Roisee’s hook lines up perfectly with it, amidst the buzzing bass synths, and whilst I think that hook may be repeated a bit too much, she actually sells the motivational angle, partly because of how distorted her vocals end up sounding, indicating a filter that’s actually an obstacle between her and her dreams, whilst the rest of these tracks are complete fantasies. Similarly, Rocky mentions waking up feeling thankful for everything that’s been granted to him, and remembering how far he’s come from his impoverished childhood, even mentioning that because of the disparity he saw, he ends up ensuring his poorer friends hang out with his wealthier friends… which is not how that should work but I don’t care when he’s flowing this effortlessly, and the drums are so busy during his verse, it’s impossible not to have at least a little fun with it. I do wish Rocky was on the rest of this, but Roisee’s vocals are great, even if she doesn’t really go for an alternate melody at any point, meaning it feels a bit exhausting to try and split the chorus and verses from each other. Even if Rocky’s a non-presence for the rest of the track, MIKE DEAN is definitely here decorating the track with all his favourite synth patterns. Speaking of, even if it’s our last from him as a lead artist, Metro - and MIKE DEAN for that matter - still have yet another track debuting this week, that being…

#21 - “Popular” - The Weeknd, Playboi Carti and Madonna

Produced by Metro Boomin, MIKE DEAN and The Weeknd

Yes, this sounds bizarre on principle. The Weeknd and Madonna makes some sense considering the over-the-top pop icon status they both display, as well as both singers’ obsession with modal eras, but Playboi Carti? Well, it makes more sense when you consider Madonna was intended to be on the song firstly, and secondly, Carti’s only contributions are baby-voiced ad-libs in the post-chorus. In fact, let’s get him out of the way - he’s mixed horribly, doesn’t need to be here, sounds like he’s been sped-up and awkwardly placed in and his parts feel double the length of any actually decent elements the song brings to the table, which is a shame because this is actually a fantastic song, perfectly fit for soundtrack of The Weeknd’s HBO series The Idol not only due to its lyrics about being desperate for stardom but also with the campness of it, not pretending to be cool like any of the Spider-Verse cuts. Instead, we get Madonna’s silly spoken-word monologue over thematic synths and Metro’s drums doing their best Timbaland impression in this very 2000s funky dance-pop production. I’m pretty sure the song is about the series’ characters in some way, but I care very little about that so I’m just interested in the constant hooks exploding from everywhere, whether it be the sneaky keys, Abel’s constant grunting in the verses, the infectious “oh-oh” refrain in the pre-chorus, and of course, that impeccable chorus, whether it be the synths jabbing in and out or the catchy refrain Abel croons out. Madonna, unsurprisingly, gives not a fantastic performance but one very much within the realm of what she needed to do, as keeping it a tad more subtle was probably for the best to avoid this becoming a completely incoherent track. The cute laughs added in the bridge is a nice touch too, it does sound like this could have very well been a prime Madonna track… except you know, with The Weeknd replaced by Prince and Playboi Carti a complete non-presence. Please make a version without him, Abel, it’s the only thing that’s preventing this from being an excellent song - and you know, maybe add a bridge or synth solo in his place. Please?

#17 - “UK Rap” - Dave and Central Cee

Produced by Kyle Evans

Okay, so one thing I’ve noticed is a trend across all of our new arrivals this week: the lyrics are not interesting. If you run through them, they’re mostly either generic for no reason and as a result just uninteresting or generic because they’re soundtrack singles, with “Give it to Me” being a remix so the lyrics can’t really be totalled up there even if they are a bit more interesting. Apart from “bread & butter” and maybe “HEATED”, these three songs from Dave and Cench, all from their four-song EP Split Decision will be our only chance for some depth or at least comedy this week, since Dave is a conscious rapper and well, let’s just say Central Cee is never afraid to elaborate. Apart from the only track on the EP that didn’t chart, it’s pretty low-stakes for Dave and a comeback to making actually good music for Cench, so I’ll try and make these last three pretty quick and light-hearted. “UK Rap” is a slightly condescending nod to how British hip hop is under-represented, with Cench knowing a girl who only listens to the two most famous British rappers - guess who - and otherwise only bumps Americans in the car. Kyle Evans provides a decent enough drill beat, even if I’d want it to be a bit more fluid with the 808s and it seems a tad too intimidating for a song that’s mostly comical in its lyrical content about this… underwhelming relationship. Cench actually goes for some wordplay as well as having a pretty confident delivery, and mostly does alright. Dave… well, his verse is just as comical, and I had to stop and replay the song after I laughed over the bars that followed him randomly dropping in his pontification about asking for feet pics. The verse honestly continues to be pretty great, as Dave has an attention to detail in his bars, with a great conversational flow, slick wordplay about Rudimental and a great fluid flow that runs all over the beat and makes it sound so much better than it actually is. Oh, and we get a Nelly Furtado mention here, which would be a book-end if this were the single.

#14 - “Trojan Horse” - Dave and Central Cee

Produced by Dave

This sample is incredible. The strings from the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra are beautiful, and they’re chopped up in a pretty awkward way on first listen but as soon as the trickling drill hi-hats come in, it all makes sense, and the bass also sounds weird first listen… but the juicy tone of it makes it sound a lot bouncier, which works for them trading bars and creates a really unique version of a drill beat. As for the bars here, Dave and Cench talk about gang violence and paranoia, that even gives him trauma when his girl puts him in cuffs, as well as a lot of flexing and girl talk as you’d expect. Apart from wanting to have sex with his step-sister, it’s a nice touch that instead of cutting out the beat when Cench says he doesn’t need a beat (because he’s “too vocal”), Dave instead gets rid of the strings sample, so that when he comes back for his verse, he can lead another one in that’s a bit more interesting and screechier than the last, keeping the beat a lot more interesting, as well as allowing the main strings loop to feel like a refrain, that fits due to the nostalgic feel of it. Dave’s rhyme schemes are satisfying and whilst I’d appreciate a bit more interplay, they have enough chemistry in that they’ll share similar rhyme schemes or content themes between verses. Dave definitely shows up Cench - as expected - in terms of pure bars, but as a result it almost feels relaxing whenever Cench comes back In, which is actually the opposite for the third and final track from the two debuting today:

#1 - “Sprinter” - Dave and Central Cee

Produced by Jo Caleb, Jonny Leslie, Dave, Jim Legxacy, Kyle Evans and TR the Producer

The big hit from the EP is actually pretty much a Central Cee showcase, as the one track on this EP where he really shines ends up getting the single and video push. I’m glad, too, since first of all, I haven’t heard Cench’s vocals in this high of a fidelity so Dave gave him more of a budget than usual, and he also put him on much more interesting production, with the six producers curating an incredibly energetic, tropical beat bringing highly percussive elements to the drill rhythm, whilst tonally, the song uses acoustic guitars and almost Pharrell-sounding vocal soundbites as well as an incredible use of bass. It’s a lot of flexing and girl talk once again, but there’s actual interplay between the two and Cench is the most infused he’s been in years, whilst Dave is effortless rapping quickly but still with this new conversational cadence I hadn’t heard from Dave until now and it really works a lot better, since his blunter delivery was what prevented me from enjoying some of his music prior. Cench’s second verse is genuinely incredible, as he goes on for way longer than I expected as the beat shifts around him into this beautiful vocal warbling that has enough attention to detail to add the “Maybach Music” tag when it’s referenced. I could probably do without Dave’s second verse, honestly, I feel like the song is kind of out of steam - and breath - by the end of the second chorus, and it ruins the catharsis the song makes me feel from having a return to the hook after Cench’s exhaustingly good verse, but as a misogynist epilogue, I suppose it works, and whilst I do prefer “Miracle”, I’m not mad this is at #1.

Conclusion

It’s getting the Best of the Week too, though you could honestly tie it with “Trojan Horse”, and as for the Honourable Mention, it only feels right to give Beyoncé a nod for “HEATED”, though Gunna was absurdly close. As much as I want to spare Metro Boomin, he did make NAV chart so “Calling” with Swae Lee featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie ends up as the Dishonourable Mention, with the Worst of the Week easily going to “Closer” by Bou featuring Slay, which I can only hope doesn’t last. As for what’s on the horizon, well, it seems like it may be the true start of Summer on the charts and it seems like the quality for this Summer’s hits are going to stay pretty high, even if the older tracks are a bit too slow in their exits, so I’m excited to see what else is coming. As for now, thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!

1 note · View note