20. Sam Smith's "Stay With Me"
Now last time in my top 20 review, I gave my quick thoughts on this song and I said that this song was okay. I also said that I wasn't feeling this song all that much because Sam Smith was trying way too hard to impress me. So by a month later, my opinion still haven't changed a bit on this song. I will admit that Sam Smith does give an excellent performance in this song, providing a sweet but emotional song. Let's not forget about the amazing choir in the backing him up in the chorus, which by the way was a nice touch to this song. But even with the positives that this song have, I'm still not feeling it. Sam Smith still is trying way too hard to impress me and I found the music to be pretty boring & lifeless. But like said early on, this song is okay to me. I don't hate it or like it, it's just an okay song and I give it a C.
19. Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass": D
18. Nick Jonas's "Jealous": F
17. Nicki Minaj's "Truffle Butter" ft. Drake & Lil Wayne
After the embarrassment that was both "Anaconda" and "Only", I wasn't too interested on listening to this track. But since this song was getting some recognition by other music critics, I decided to listen to it. By my surprise, it was actually pretty decent. Nicki sounds like she is more focused in this song and she doesn't deliver any bad lines imo. Drake gave an alright verse in this song, it wasn't great but I enjoyed it. As for Lil
Wayne, he was the weakest part of this whole entire song. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't mind his verse but I just wasn't really feeling it. The music in this song is a mix bag for me because on one hand, I found this music to be enjoyable and dance-able enough for me. On the other hand, I find the music to be simplistic, weird, and pretty bland after repeated listens. Let's not forget that the music sounds like the slow and distorted version of Cassie's "Me & U". Even with all the flaws that this song have, I still find it decent and the song grew on me a lot. So Nicki, you get a C+ for this track and I hope you keep on making decent and good songs like this!
16. Nicki Minaj's "Only" ft. Drake, Chris Brown, & Lil Wayne: F
15. Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off": B
14. Fall Out Boy's "Centuries": A
13. Usher's "I Don't Mind" ft. Juicy J: D-
12. Sam Smith's "I'm Not The Only One": A
11. Pitbull's "Time Of Our Lives" ft. Ne-Yo
I know a whole lot of people will call me crazy for this, but I'm not really feeling this song.
Okay, calm down everybody! It's just my opinion and you don't have to use violence to attack me. Back to what I was saying, I'm just not feeling this song. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I hate this song or think it's bad because in all honesty, it's a pretty good and fun track. But for me personal, I'm just not enjoying this as much like other people are doing. Let me get to positives first! Pitbull and Ne-Yo gave a good and fun performance (especially Ne-yo; He just kills it in this track). Also I really like the message on how to forget about all the pain, stress, and struggles going on in your life right now and just kick back & have a fun time at a party, I don't mind that message at all. Now let's get into the negatives! Some of the lyrics in this song bother me a little bit. Like this line that Ne-Yo said for example: "I knew my rent was gon' be late about a week ago. I work my ass off, but I still can't pay it though. Alright, I understand that Ne-Yo is trying to relate to the people who is in that situation as well and I get it. But I just don't believe that Ne-Yo of all people can't pay off his own rent. Say what you want about him, but the guy is pretty rich and he sold over a million records. But he still can't pay his rent; Maybe, his album sales aren't doing too good for him. Also I hate to nitpick but, when he said "About a week ago", I always feel like he's referencing to Bobby Shmurda's "Hot Nigga".
Ahhhhh........ Get out of my head!!!!!
Pitbull also drop some stupid and cheesy lines in this song. For example: "You know me, I'm off in the cut. Always like a Squirrel, looking for a nut".
Before I forget, this song reminds me a lot of Pitbull's other hit single he had with Ne-Yo "Give Me Everything". I know that both songs are structured differently but lyrically, they're the same. "Give Me Everything" is about partying and trying to have a one night stand. While this song is about not worrying about your problems so that you could go to a party and try to get a one night stand. But even with all the negatives I said about this song, I think the song is okay and fun. Maybe if I listen to it more, it might grow on me. But as for now, I give this song a B.
10. Meghan Trainor's "Lips Are Movin": C
9. The Weeknd's "Earned It"
Alright, I'm not going to mention anything about either the book and the movie of "50 Shades of Grey" because 1, I haven't read the book or seen the movie for it and 2, I wasn't really too interested on reading or seeing the movie of it in the first place. Also I saw many reviews for both the book and movie and it mostly got negative reviews, so that proves that "50 Shades of Grey" is a big waste of a time and you should avoid it of all time. But enough about "50 Shades of Grey", let's talk about the song that is associated with the movie. Now the last time, I talked about The Weeknd was when I gave my thoughts on his performance on Ariana Grande's "Love Me Harder" and I said that he did a pretty good job in this song. So I decided to listen to this song to see if did a good job as well and he definitely did an excellence in this song. The Weeknd gave some pretty great vocals in this song, the music is so dark, suave and relaxed, and the song plus video is really sexy (Heck, this song sexier than the actual movie that it's in). I don't really have that many problems with this song other than The Weeknd's vocals can be annoying to me at some parts.But other than that, it's just a really good song and I hope it stays in the top 10 for a while. I give this song an B+
8. Taylor Swift's "Style"
This is Taylor Swift's 3rd single she released from her "1989" album and I got to say, it's her better single that she released. Don't get wrong, I like "Shake It Off" and I thoroughly enjoy "Blank Space". But with this song, I liked it the first time I heard it. I like the chill vibe that this song have; the nice guitar work and good electropop, makes this song stand out for me. I also like Taylor's vocals in this song and it definitely mix well with the instrumentation. Not only that. but I like how mature she gotten over the years and this is definitely one of her mature songs. I don't really have any problems with this song at all, I think it's great and I hope Taylor can keep up the good work. I give this song an A.
7. Taylor Swift's "Blank Space": B
6. Rihanna's "FourFiveSeconds" ft. Kanye West & Paul McCartney
You know, I'm in a mix bag with Rihanna's new single; Part of me likes it and part of me can't stand it. Let's go through the positives first! Both Rihanna and Kanye gave an excellent performance in this song, providing good vocals and a lot of emotion in their singing. The instrumentation provided by the great Paul McCartney did a good job as well. Even though he used an acoustic guitar in this song, he still did a good job with the music. Also this song have the 2nd catchiest hook I heard this year so far (the first is Olympic Ayres's "Magic". Also check that song out, it's really great). Now time to deal with the negative! I know that everybody already noticed this, but Rihanna's opening notes are not that great (heck, it sacred me the first time I heard this song). During Kanye's verse, there is this weird background vocals playing. I don't know if Paul McCartney added that or some extra woman just barged in the studio booth and decided to sing over Kanye, but either way, it was just weird. Now my main problem I have with the song is the message. Now this song is about both Rihanna and Kanye having a struggling relationship and they keep on arguing with each other. So they decide to party and fun on the weekends, so that they can't arguing with each other. But when both of them get drunk, all their emotions build up and they start going ape shit on each other. Can you guys see the main problem with this song now? If not, then I'll just say that this song is about a abusive relationship and we all know that Rihanna was already in a real life abusive relationship with Chris Brown. Not only that I hate that this song is about an abusive relationship, but I hate how both of them act with each other. Now I understand if a couple get into arguments and all that stuff, but there comes to a time where both of them have to solve the situation. But with this song, both Rihanna & Kanye don't really handle the situation in a good way. They just keep on arguing with each other and causing each other pain, that they can't even have a good time at a party. Also I hate how their drinking so that they could cause more aggressive with each other. I understand if people drink or take drugs to relieve their stress and pain. But doing it to hurt others is not acceptable at all. Man, I spend long time talking about this song. Overall, this song is alright for me. Even though that I hate the message, I don't really hate the song. I give this song a C.
5. Hozier's "Take Me To Church": A
4. Maroon 5's "Sugar": C-
3. Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do"
Here's another song from the 50 Shades of Shit I mean Grey movie and guess what, it comes from one of the least interesting artist out there, Ellie Goulding. I never really got the appeal of her. I mean, she does have a great voice but her music is so bland and uninteresting to me. The only time I enjoyed an Ellie Goulding song is when she worked with Calvin Harris the 2nd time with their song "Outside", which by the way is a good song. But with songs like "Burn" and "Lights", those songs just put me to sleep every time I try to listen to them. So overall, Ellie Goulding's music is not for me and when I heard that she got a new single out, I was definitely wasn't interested (especially that it was part of the "50 Shades of Grey" soundtrack). So after listening to it, I was definitely interested in it but I wasn't really feeling it all that much. Excluding the fact that Ellie Goulding sounds great as usually, the production is the best part in this whole song. It's starts off slow with this atmospheric vibe to it, then it builds up with this epic and satisfying beat drop. But do you want to know what's not satisfying, the message and writing in this song. Now in this song Ellie is telling her boyfriend or whatever to not change and keep on loving her like he already does. I understand that she's basically him, "Don't fix, what's not broken" and I respect her for loving his good sex tactics and not complaining one bit about it. But the phrase "Love me like you do" just feel weird and make yourself question her on why she needs to tell that to him. Also when she said "Touch me like you do", it just makes the song really un-sexy for me. But overall, I'm pretty ambivalent with this song. I want to like it more than I already do, but the message and that one other lyric just makes me want to not listen to the song. But hey, at least it's better than her other songs she released. So I give this song a C.
2. Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud": A
1. Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" ft. Bruno Mars: A+
Now that I got that over with here is my thoughts on the worst to best songs in the top 20 of February!
Thank you guys for checking this out and I'll see you in March 6 with my new review. So this is James Kaloko and everybody in this world, just stay loco. Peace!!!!
