It's that time of year, everybody. Summer's just around the corner, and you know what that means: time to start preparing for the one song that'll become so damn near inescapable between the months May and September, you'll wish it never existed in the first place.
The criteria for what makes a Summer Song is varied, but the most common are as such: extremely high sales figures, and at least one full month of being #1 on the Hot 100 chart - usually between June and July, sometimes carrying over into August. The title of The Summer Song has been so sought-after that last year, Billboard even devised its own chart to gauge such a distinction; unsurprisingly, Carly Rae Jepsen ultimately earned the title with her monster hit "Call Me Maybe."
Here's a shortlist of the most widely accepted Summer Songs of years past:
2002: Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
2003: Beyonce, "Crazy in Love"
2004: Usher's ass in general, with "Yeah!", "Burn" and "Confessions Pt. 2"
2005: Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
2006: Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland, "Promiscuous"
2007: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
2008: Katy Perry, "I Kissed a Girl"
2009: The Black Eyed Peas and their one-two punch of "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling"
2010: Katy Perry featuring The Artist Formerly Known as Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls"
2011: LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock, "Party Rock Anthem"
2012: Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
Below, I've compiled a list of likely contenders for this year's Summer Song. Based on their prevalence, sales and chart positions on the Hot 100, any of them have a feasible chance of taking the title - whether or not any of them take it is another question.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us
Currently at #2 on the Hot 100, the follow up to the duo's smash hit "Thrift Shop" is already proving to be a worthy sophomore single release, with a reign at the chart's top spot likely. This could very well be our Song of Summer this year, but is it peaking too early for it to get there?
Emeli Sandé - Next To Me
Emeli's already a major sensation in her native UK - her debut Our Version of Events was the nation's highest seller of 2012 - and despite the album receiving a stateside release last June, she hasn't quite broken through into the mainstream just yet. Will "Next to Me" be the one to get here there? Currently peaking at #46 on the Hot 100, it's very possible that the Scottish singer can achieve a "Rolling in The Deep" Style success with the track - funny, given the fact that her birth name is actually Adele, too.
Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX - I Love It
Perhaps the most infectious track on here, this adrenaline shot of electronic-dance-pop has been steadily growing on the Hot 100, following its appearance on the much-beloved and wank-free HBO series Girls in February. Sitting at its current peak of #13 just outside the top 10, this has a pretty good chance at being this year's inescapable Summer anthem.
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
With his comeback single "Suit & Tie" on its way out, "Mirrors" has already begun to take its place on the chart, so far reaching a peak of #7. If it does reach the top spot for the majority of this summer, "Mirrors" would be the first real R&B-flavored track to do so since being Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" in 2005, and given how bitches love their Justin Timberlake, it's entirely possible.
Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilera - Feel This Moment
Because honestly, people just have low standards. So this has just as much of a chance as any of the others here.
Selena Gomez - Come & Get It
Her first effort since ditching The Scene, "Come & Get It" is rising on the Hot 100, moving 23 spaces from its debut position for a thus-far peak of #22. Selena has come close to really clinching a top 10 hit for herself in the past - her previous single "Love You Like a Love Song" climbed to the same number her latest is sitting at - so it won't come as a total surprise if she manages to pull of a major hit with this one.
Taylor Swift - 22
Coming off of her smash hit album Red, "22" is likely to reach the same heights as previous singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble," steadily rising on the Hot 100 at a current peak of #24. A top 10 placing is inevitable, but will she earn her second #1 at just the right time this Summer?
Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida - Troublemaker
Olly Murs emerged as a star in the UK after placing second on The X Factor, and while his last effort at breaking America with "Heart Skips a Beat" wasn't much of a success, "Troublermaker" has already more than made up for it. The single can currently be found at #31 on Hot 100, and has been on the incline ever since debuting on the chart. The bonus appearance of feature whore Flo Rida can't hurt its success, either.
Little Mix - Wings
Another X Factor success story in the UK, Little Mix was the first group to ever win the show - a feat that even One Direction couldn't accomplish. "Wings" became their second #1 in their home territory upon its August 2012 release, but the girls now have their sights set on the US. Currently in the midst of a grassroots radio campaign in America, "Wings" may prove to be a real sleeper hit here, having already sold an excess of 100,000 singles since hitting on the US iTunes store last February. Its current Hot 100 peak is a bit low at the moment (#91), but will Little Mix be able to lead a new wave of girl group success in the United States? It could happen.
Zedd featuring Foxes - Clarity
Zedd is a rising star in the world of EDM - having booked a producing gig on Lady Gaga's forthcoming ARTPOP - and with his latest single, he could most definitely reach the likes of heavyweights David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia. The track is rising on the Hot 100 at #70, and as the nicer weather starts to roll in, "Clarity" could be this summer's big dance anthem.
Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love
Speaking of Calvin Harris, the Scottish producer (and sometimes singer) is throwing his hat into the Summer Song of 2013 race himself. With he and collaborator Ellie Goulding both coming off of hit singles in the US (his and Florence Welch's "Sweet Nothing" made it to #10 a few months ago, while Ellie's "Lights" reached a peak of #2 last summer), we could be looking at a smash success with this one, having just debuted on the chart at #76.
source: individual youtube links &this weeks Hot 100 chart
thoughts opinions complaints etc? if you're too high and mighty for anything here, what do you think you'll be jamming to this summer?
The criteria for what makes a Summer Song is varied, but the most common are as such: extremely high sales figures, and at least one full month of being #1 on the Hot 100 chart - usually between June and July, sometimes carrying over into August. The title of The Summer Song has been so sought-after that last year, Billboard even devised its own chart to gauge such a distinction; unsurprisingly, Carly Rae Jepsen ultimately earned the title with her monster hit "Call Me Maybe."
Here's a shortlist of the most widely accepted Summer Songs of years past:
2002: Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
2003: Beyonce, "Crazy in Love"
2004: Usher's ass in general, with "Yeah!", "Burn" and "Confessions Pt. 2"
2005: Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
2006: Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland, "Promiscuous"
2007: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
2008: Katy Perry, "I Kissed a Girl"
2009: The Black Eyed Peas and their one-two punch of "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling"
2010: Katy Perry featuring The Artist Formerly Known as Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls"
2011: LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock, "Party Rock Anthem"
2012: Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
Below, I've compiled a list of likely contenders for this year's Summer Song. Based on their prevalence, sales and chart positions on the Hot 100, any of them have a feasible chance of taking the title - whether or not any of them take it is another question.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us
Currently at #2 on the Hot 100, the follow up to the duo's smash hit "Thrift Shop" is already proving to be a worthy sophomore single release, with a reign at the chart's top spot likely. This could very well be our Song of Summer this year, but is it peaking too early for it to get there?
Emeli Sandé - Next To Me
Emeli's already a major sensation in her native UK - her debut Our Version of Events was the nation's highest seller of 2012 - and despite the album receiving a stateside release last June, she hasn't quite broken through into the mainstream just yet. Will "Next to Me" be the one to get here there? Currently peaking at #46 on the Hot 100, it's very possible that the Scottish singer can achieve a "Rolling in The Deep" Style success with the track - funny, given the fact that her birth name is actually Adele, too.
Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX - I Love It
Perhaps the most infectious track on here, this adrenaline shot of electronic-dance-pop has been steadily growing on the Hot 100, following its appearance on the much-beloved and wank-free HBO series Girls in February. Sitting at its current peak of #13 just outside the top 10, this has a pretty good chance at being this year's inescapable Summer anthem.
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
With his comeback single "Suit & Tie" on its way out, "Mirrors" has already begun to take its place on the chart, so far reaching a peak of #7. If it does reach the top spot for the majority of this summer, "Mirrors" would be the first real R&B-flavored track to do so since being Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" in 2005, and given how bitches love their Justin Timberlake, it's entirely possible.
Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilera - Feel This Moment
Because honestly, people just have low standards. So this has just as much of a chance as any of the others here.
Selena Gomez - Come & Get It
Her first effort since ditching The Scene, "Come & Get It" is rising on the Hot 100, moving 23 spaces from its debut position for a thus-far peak of #22. Selena has come close to really clinching a top 10 hit for herself in the past - her previous single "Love You Like a Love Song" climbed to the same number her latest is sitting at - so it won't come as a total surprise if she manages to pull of a major hit with this one.
Taylor Swift - 22
Coming off of her smash hit album Red, "22" is likely to reach the same heights as previous singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble," steadily rising on the Hot 100 at a current peak of #24. A top 10 placing is inevitable, but will she earn her second #1 at just the right time this Summer?
Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida - Troublemaker
Olly Murs emerged as a star in the UK after placing second on The X Factor, and while his last effort at breaking America with "Heart Skips a Beat" wasn't much of a success, "Troublermaker" has already more than made up for it. The single can currently be found at #31 on Hot 100, and has been on the incline ever since debuting on the chart. The bonus appearance of feature whore Flo Rida can't hurt its success, either.
Little Mix - Wings
Another X Factor success story in the UK, Little Mix was the first group to ever win the show - a feat that even One Direction couldn't accomplish. "Wings" became their second #1 in their home territory upon its August 2012 release, but the girls now have their sights set on the US. Currently in the midst of a grassroots radio campaign in America, "Wings" may prove to be a real sleeper hit here, having already sold an excess of 100,000 singles since hitting on the US iTunes store last February. Its current Hot 100 peak is a bit low at the moment (#91), but will Little Mix be able to lead a new wave of girl group success in the United States? It could happen.
Zedd featuring Foxes - Clarity
Zedd is a rising star in the world of EDM - having booked a producing gig on Lady Gaga's forthcoming ARTPOP - and with his latest single, he could most definitely reach the likes of heavyweights David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia. The track is rising on the Hot 100 at #70, and as the nicer weather starts to roll in, "Clarity" could be this summer's big dance anthem.
Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love
Speaking of Calvin Harris, the Scottish producer (and sometimes singer) is throwing his hat into the Summer Song of 2013 race himself. With he and collaborator Ellie Goulding both coming off of hit singles in the US (his and Florence Welch's "Sweet Nothing" made it to #10 a few months ago, while Ellie's "Lights" reached a peak of #2 last summer), we could be looking at a smash success with this one, having just debuted on the chart at #76.
source: individual youtube links &this weeks Hot 100 chart
thoughts opinions complaints etc? if you're too high and mighty for anything here, what do you think you'll be jamming to this summer?