Billboard Hot 100 Highlights April 8th, 2017

And then there was Drake. And lots of him. By the way, More Life gets a 5/10 from me. HIGHLIGHTS TIME!

Top 20

1. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (1)
2. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (2) (Biggest Airplay Gainer)
3. I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker) by Zayn & Taylor Swift (4)
4. Bad And Boujee by Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert (3)
5. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk (5)
6. Tunnel Vision by Kodak Black (6)
7. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay (8)
8. Passionfruit by Drake (New)
9. Portland by Drake ft. Quavo & Travis Scott (New)
10. Paris by The Chainsmokers (9)
11. Love On The Brain by Rihanna (7)
12. iSpy by KYLE ft. Lil Yachty (10)
13. Rockabye by Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie (12)
14. Bounce Back by Big Sean (11)
15. Fake Love by Drake (31) (Biggest Streaming Gainer)
16. Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt (18)
17. Closer by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey (13)
18. Free Smoke by Drake (New)
19. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley (15)
20. It Ain't Me by Kygo x Selena Gomez (17)

Fell Off Top 20

23. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (20)
24. Mask Off by Future (19)
84. No Frauds by Nicki Minaj, Drake & Lil Wayne (14)
31. Cold by Maroon 5 ft. Future (16)

Big Gain (10+)

15. Fake Love by Drake (31)

Moderate Gain (5 - 9)

21. Stay by Zedd & Alessia Cara (27) (Biggest Digital Sales Gainer)
78. The Fighter by Keith Urban ft. Carrie Underwood (87)

Big Losses (10+)

31. Cold by Maroon 5 ft. Future (16)
39. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello (29)
53. Water Under The Bridge by Adele (43)
56. Party by Chris Brown ft. Usher & Gucci Mane (44)
57. Believer by Imagine Dragons (42)
63. How Far I'll Go by Auli'i Cravalho (46)
65. Green Light by Lorde (39)
71. Redbone by Childish Gambino (56)
72. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran (52)
73. Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus ft. Labrinth (47)
75. Everyday by Ariana Grande ft. Future (55)
77. Play That Song by Train (58)
79. Heavy by Linkin Park ft. Kiiara (69)
80. Deja Vu by J. Cole (57)
81. Think A Little Less by Michael Ray (54)
83. Moves by Big Sean (73)
84. No Frauds by Nicki Minaj, Drake & Lil Wayne (14)
85. Selfish by Future ft. Rihanna (59)
86. Shining by DJ Khaled ft. Beyoncé & Jay-Z (67)
89. Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran (63)
90. Call On Me by Starley (75)
91. Losin Control by Russ (79)
92. Hometown Girl by Josh Turner (81)
94. Perfect by Ed Sheeran (60)
95. Draco by Future (74)
96. Kill A Word by Eric Church ft. Rhiannon Giddens (83)
99. Party Monster by The Weeknd (77)
100. How Far I'll Go by Alessia Cara (76)

Moderate Losses (5 - 9)

24. Mask Off by Future (19)
27. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (22)
28. Down by Marian Hill (23)
33. Can't Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (28)
34. Scars To Your Beautiful (25)
37. Starboy by The Weeknd (30)
41. Swang by Rae Sremmurd (33)
42. Rolex by Ayo & Teo (34)
43. Dirt On My Boots by Jon Pardi (37)
44. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar (36)
46. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (38)
47. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber (41)
55. Slide by Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos (48)
58. Both by Gucci Mane ft. Drake (51)
59. Goosebumps by Travis Scott ft. Kendrick Lamar (50)
69. Fast by Luke Bryan (64)
87. Road less Traveled by Lauren Alaina (80)
93. The Weekend by Brantley Gilbert (84)

Dropouts

• Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd (40, 27 weeks)
• Heathens by twenty one pilots (45, 39 weeks)
• Caroline by Aminé (49, 28 weeks)
• Regret In Your Tears by Nicki Minaj (61, 1 week)
• Better Man by Little Big Town (62, 20 weeks)
• Changed It by Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne (71, 1 week)
• Chanel by Frank Ocean (72, 1 week)
• Liability by Lorde (78, 1 week)
• I Got You by Bebe Rexha (82, 11 weeks)
• Dive by Ed Sheeran (49, 2 weeks)
• Sober Saturday Night by Chris Young ft. Vince Gill (86, 11 weeks)
• Black by Dierks Bentley (88, 7 weeks)
• Today by Brad Paisley (89, 11 weeks)
• Selfish by PnB Rock (90, 19 weeks)
• Yeah Boy by Kelsea Ballerini (91, 5 weeks)
• You're Welcome by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (92, 9 weeks)
• Good Drank by 2 Chainz ft. Gucci Mane & Quavo (93, 2 weeks)
• Happier by Ed Sheeran (94, 2 weeks)
• Prblms by 6LACK (95, 1 week)
• Comin Out Strong by Future ft. The Weeknd (96, 3 weeks)
• Chantaje by Shakira ft. Maluma (97, 18 weeks)
• El Amante by Nicky Jam (98, 5 weeks)
• Slippery by Migos ft. Gucci Mane (99, 6 weeks)
• Scared To Be Lonely by Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa (100, 3 weeks)

New Entries

8. Passionfruit by Drake
9. Portland by Drake ft. Quavo & Travis Scott
18. Free Smoke by Drake
29. Gyalchester by Drake
35. Teenage Fever by Drake
36. Sacrifices by Drake ft. 2 Chainz & Young Thug
38. Blem by Drake
40. No Long Talk by Drake ft. Giggs
45. Get It Together by Drake ft. Jorja Smith & Black Coffee
48. KMT by Drake ft. Giggs
49. Jorja Interlude by Drake
50. 4422 by Drake ft. Sampha
51. Madiba Riddim by Drake
54. Glow by Drake ft. Kanye West
60. Do Not Disturb by Drake
61. Nothings Into Somethings by Drake
62. Ice Melts by Drake ft. Young Thug
64. Lose You by Drake
70. Since Way Back by Drake ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR
76. Skepta Interlude by Drake
82. Can't Have Everything by Drake
88. At My Best by Machine Gun Kelly ft. Hailee Steinfeld
97. Trap Trap Trap by Rick Ross ft. Young Thug & Wale
98. Swalla by Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign

New Entries Ranked

1. Passionfruit

The highest charting song from More Life, and deservedly slow. My only complaint about this song is the pointless intro, but other than that, this is nearly perfection. Production is fleshed out compared to the rest of the project. The drums are beautiful, Drake sounds soulful and engaged, everything just has a sweet aurora around it. Easily Drake's best song since Back To Back. Perfect choice for the project's second single, and I hope this sticks around to be a hit for year end.

2. Swalla

Jason Derulo be back, and I fully support it. I'm actually surprised this took so long to chart, but a music video always helps. Anyway, the bassline and synths are fun and distorted. Derulo sounds like he's having a lot of fun. Ty's verse is okay. And Nicki's is pretty good too. Also includes a shot at Remy Ma, but this came out before ShEther. Weird beef. Still, great song. Jason Derulo, you've been missed.

3. Get It Together

This song takes the Jamaican influences up to 11. Outside the bass sounding a bit off, this is really beautiful. Jorja Smith's parts are incredible. It does a lot with only a little, and leaves me feeling pretty good. Yeah, this is great. Kinda wish more of Drake's dancehall stuff had this level of grace and energy. It is weird how the s-word is censored here though. At least on Spotify.

4. Skepta Interlude

So I guess this is Jamaican rap? Skepta definitely gives out that vibe. And yeah, I dig his intensity, as well as the low-key banging synths. Can't believe I forgot about this one. One of the playlist's best songs and Drake didn't contribute to it in any way. Telling, ain't it?

5. Madiba Riddim

Drake's gonna keep trying to remake One Dance for the rest of his career, isn't he? Eh. I won't complain. Especially when this is actually an improvement. The dancehall vibes are more fleshed out and pleasant. Drake sounds appropriately soulful. It's nice, you know?

6. At My Best

I was dreading this. Thankfully that was for nothing, this is pretty good. The guitars are tense and the hook is soaring. Hailee sounds great and gives it her all. Plus it's got admirable intentions; supporting those going through struggles. MGK himself is the weakest part of this song, though. His lyrics feel too general to actually be uplifting. Though I do like his intensity in the second verse. But overall, I dig this. Way better than Bad Things. 

7. Ice Melts

Better than I originally gave it credit for. Young Thug works for me when he's working with reggae influences. In fact, he kinda steals the show from Drake here. The reggae influences themselves are pretty minimalist, because of course, but they have a certain energy and charm. Yeah, great song.

8. Glow

Production-wise this kinda resembles Marvins Room for the most part, but the lyrics are about Kanye and Drake's struggles before fame. Kanye has a few humorous lines. Pleasant enough. Not bad. I'm confused by the gospel sample at the end though. It doesn't fit in that well with the rest of the song.

9. 4422

Another song where Drake doesn't contribute at all. It's all Sampha. This one's more chilled and relaxed. It's okay over all. Sampha's voice is pretty good. Among the slower songs on this playlist, this ain't that bad.

10. Do Not Disturb

The closer to More Life, full of the introspection we've come to expect from Drake. This one kinda sticks out thanks to that background vocal sample from Snoh Aalegra. And Drake's bars are okay, I guess. One part that sticks out to me is when he said he was in a bad place when making Views, which I kinda believe. Eh. Nothing special, but I don't mind this.


11. Sacrifices

The beat has some promise. It has a nice exotic melody. But it sounds underdeveloped. It should pop more. But then I guess Drake wouldn't be able to drone about the "sacrifices" he's made for his fame. Bleh. 2 Chainz and Young Thug feel like they don't really fit here; they belong on more upbeat stuff. They don't really have the same effect imitating Drake's monotone mantra here.

12. Trap Trap Trap

Bless Rick Ross, he's trying...I think. He's doing something. Okay that's not fair, this isn't exactly bad, it's just not that special. Minimalist bombastic beat, verses about selling drugs. That describes a lot of Rick Ross' discography. I guess Young Thug and Wale's verses are decent. I wouldn't call this bad, but I wouldn't call it memorable either.

13. Free Smoke

A promising sample as an intro immediately followed by pretty much the same second of a synth chord playing throughout the rest. And maybe a piano underlaying it. Lyrics about the struggle that I feel like I've heard many times before. Yeah, it's not compelling. Though I guess Drake does address ghostwriting rumors at the end?

14. No Long Talk

Eh. I wanna like the more menacing beat in theory, but the drums and bass aren't good enough to back it up. Giggs isn't that memorable, but what is is Drake saying "ting" a few times. So there's that. Kinda middle of the road here.

15. Can't Have Everything

Well it certainly feels like you have everything at times, Drake. The production to this is pretty cheap. The synths and drums pop, and it's not really compelling. And Drake drones on and on about his struggle and I find myself not really caring. I guess the cheesesteak line was okay?

16. Portland

Really? This hit the Top 10? It's really not that memorable compared to a lot of the rest of this playlist. Or even on its own. I'm guessing it's mostly because it has Quavo. I thought Migos hype was dying. Only real issue I have with this is the recorder melody sounds like crap. Otherwise it's just boring.

17. Lose You

Drake defaults into his least interesting lane: monotone droning over a beat with nothing going for it. Except maybe one synth line. Otherwise it feels cheap and a little too distorted. More lyrics about the hustle and a reminder that he's not freaking going away any time soon. And a shoutout to The Weeknd. Boring.

18. KMT

The song Drake previewed at that one show that lead to allegations that he was ripping off XXXTENTACION. So that's already one mark against this song. The beat tries to be menacing but I'm left ambivalent. It doesn't build to anything. Not a fan of Drake's part here, but Giggs might be worse. His thoughts feel incomplete, and he literally ends his verse imitating the Batman theme. Bleh.

19. Gyalchester

Cheap bass, kinda pretentious lyrics about how Drake's number 1 or something like that. Par for the course for this guy at this point. Yawn.

20. Blem

Ugly. The beat feels aimless and sometimes doesn't seem to match up with the drums. Drake spends his time here concern trolling an ex while high, which is not something I'm particularly interested in hearing. One of the more infamous songs from this playlist and with good reason.

21. Jorja Interlude

It's a nothing of a song. And considering how short it is, it really doesn't need to exist. Pretty much just a lead-in to Get It Together. Has no point outside of that. But I guess it's labeled an interlude already.

22. Nothings Into Somethings

Got the nothing part right. When the beat is made up of sustained notes on a synth and badly produced percussion, it doesn't reflect well on you to let literally half of a 2 and a half minute track have no vocals. Not that it's good when the vocals are there; Drake has nothing to say. Boring, absolutely boring. But at least it's short.

23. Since Way Back

The longest song on More Life. Also coincidentally one of the worst, mainly due to PARTYNEXTDOOR. His voice is just so mediocre and it's thanks to him that this song goes at a snail's pace. It's trying to be sensual, but boy does it miss the mark.

24. Teenage Fever

Okay, nevermind, this is the worst song on More Life. Droning synths, slow as tar pace, and that stupid Jennifer Lopez sample. And the bass synths that play occasionally sound awful. Cheap production is a running theme on this project, but this took it an extra mile.