This week, I listened to the top ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (as of September 4th, 2019) and reviewed them. I established three criteria on which I reviewed the songs: lyrical content, catchiness, and rhythmic or melodic originality. I then combined these scores into one composite score for the song’s final rating.

Truth Hurts – Lizzo
Lyrical Content: 7/10
Catchiness: 8/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 2/10
Composite: 5.6/10
–Overall, the song is very catchy and the lyrics could help just about anybody with self-love and coping with a breakup. Unfortunately, the melody of Lizzo’s hit is nearly identical to the 2016 song “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd, so I had to score the song low for melodic originality.–

Señorita – Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes

Lyrical Content: 3/10
Catchiness: 9/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 8/10
Composite: 6.6/10
–“Señorita” is that song that, when it comes on the radio, you can’t get it out of your head until the next week when you inevitably hear it on the radio again. The Latin beat makes the song very catchy, and the melody, as far as I could tell, is fairly unique. The lyrics are seemingly just like any other love/lust song, though.–

Bad Guy – Billie Eilish
Lyrical Content: 8/10
Catchiness: 9/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 8/10
Composite: 8.3/10
–The synth riff in this song is extremely catchy, and some of the things Billie does throughout the song (disrupting the high point of the chorus with a line sounding like it was spoken through a fan, slowing down the end of a pop song, etc.) are pretty original. I took off points for lyrical content because, although the lyrics are unlike anything I’ve heard in pop music before, you have to keep in mind that Billie is 17.–

You Need To Calm Down – Taylor Swift
Lyrical Content: 8/10
Catchiness: 6/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 7/10
Composite: 7/10
–Taylor uses this song to express the idea that equality is key, and everyone needs to chill when it comes to hating others. There are really only two big chords that the song repeats, D and G, and most songs cycle through four chords. I could have this song stuck in my head for an hour maybe, but it’s not unforgettable.–

Old Town Road – Lil Nas X
Lyrical Content: 4/10
Catchiness: 7/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 8/10
Composite: 6.3/10
–Ah, yes, the song that nobody stopped singing for months. Really, this review was inevitable. Is the song worth the hype it received? Well, the song’s intro is pretty catchy, but the rest of it is easy to forget. The melody is pretty original, and the song itself does not fit into the mold of its mother genre, country music, at all. The lyrics are, like most popular songs, repetitive, save two short verses.–

Ransom – Lil Tecca
Lyrical Content: 2/10
Catchiness: 3/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 3/10
Composite: 2.6/10
–The song is really one big brag. The only real steady melody or rhythm is in the background of the music, and it’s extremely minimal.–

No Guidance – Chris Brown Feat. Drake
Lyrical Content: 3/10
Catchiness: 6/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 4/10
Composite: 4.3/10
–“No Guidance” sounds like a song that would be played over and over on a hit radio station. That’s not necessarily a good thing. The lyrics fall short of excellence, and the song as a whole just doesn’t sound very original.–

Talk – Khalid
Lyrical Content: 7/10
Catchiness: 8/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 8/10
Composite: 7.6/10
–Khalid’s song about the importance of communication in a relationship is great. The chorus and the refrain repeat multiple times throughout the song, but the verses themselves carry pretty good lyrics. The missing beat on beat two of every measure makes the song pretty catchy because it’s different from other pop songs.–

I Don’t Care – Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber
Lyrical Content: 4/10
Catchiness: 7/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 8/10
Composite: 6.3/10
–The rhythm backing “I Don’t Care” is fairly original, and it makes the song easy to get stuck in your head. The lyrics, however, are generic and remind me of every other pop song about being in love.–

Lover – Taylor Swift
Lyrical Content: 7/10
Catchiness: 5/10
Rhythmic/Melodic Originality: 7/10
Composite: 7/10
–Swift takes the best small things about being in love and puts them in “Lover.” The chords used in the song (G, C, and D for the chorus) are not super uncommon in pop music, but the time signature of 12/8 is. The chorus is fairly catchy, but the rest of the song carries pretty empty rhythmic variation.–