It’s just not the same without a ten-paragraph comment about some guy’s first kiss that doesn’t acknowledge the write-up in any way.

The title of this article is very misleading because BTS isn’t the cause, it’s yet another symptom. I’m not sure why Tom doesn’t mention that this week’s chart also sees every single song from Olivia Rodrigo’s album in the top 40. Last week, every single song from J. Cole’s album was also in the top 40, the bulk of which have now plummeted down or off the charts completely this week. And, of course, Drake, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert have similarly charted the bulk of the songs from their recent albums, only to see the majority of them disappear from the charts a week later.

Drake has 121 top 40 singles, the most ever, by any artist (he also has the most top 100 songs as well). Honestly, how many could you name? But statistics like that get mentioned constantly when writers are talking about Drake (including here on Stereogum). I don’t disagree with Tom’s frustration that the singles charts don’t really represent actual popularity any more, although I sometimes try to look at it from the perspective that it does represent popularity on a week by week basis, it’s just made many of the long-term chart statistics ridiculously over-inflated. I can’t fault Billboard for this – people gonna complain no matter how the charts are compiled. Streaming has certainly democratized the charts in a huge way – probably overly so. I would love to see Billboard address this but I’m not sure anyone has offered a very viable solution to all this yet.

Peaking at #3 behind Phil Collins was “What’s On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)” by Information Society.
This one’s a 10 for me.
https://youtu.be/-qPtSENztHg?t=19

what you’re suggesting seems difficult, why not downgrade the idea to something more doable, say, descriptive adjectives next to each of the albums listed in the “other albums out this week” section?

Meanwhile at the TNOCS: I believe we have come to a time where:

“And ‘Back Stabbers’ is a 10/10”
is our version of Rick-Rolling.

It is almost like there should be a “And ‘Back Stabbers’ is a 10/10” made into a gif that we can post at the appropriate time. In lieu of that here is my newest TNOCS BIXmix. These are all songs that have generated a lot of love in our little group. Hopefully it will get some love from the TNOCS crew.

https://www.mixcloud.com/BixMeister/back-stabbers-is-a-1010/
Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls (Disconet Remix) – 00:00
Talking Heads – This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (Maybe Ruthie Mix) – 06:00
Janet Jackson – The Pleasure Principle (Shep Pettibone Long Vocal Mix) – 11:53
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough – 19:12
The Brothers Johnson – Stomp! – 24:41
The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again (A Tom Moulton Mix) – 30:18
Donna Summer – Hot Stuff (12-inch Mix) – 35:46
Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes – The Love I Lost – 42:20
The O’Jays – Back Stabbers – 48:15
Lipps Inc. – Funkytown – 50:52
Prince – Erotic City – 57:32

There are ways to cover a song and bring new life to it. But the less I say about this, the better.

Meanwhile, peaking much further down the charts at #36, one for the ages.

Rob Base and DJ E_Z Rock – “It Takes Two”

I could go into the details of “It Takes Two” but the sample and the feel are all you need to know. First, Lyn Collins recorded “Think (About It)” produced by James Brown and with James Brown’s backing band. It became an R&B hit, peaking at Number 9. Its appearance on an “Ultimate Beats and Breaks” compilation just before the release of a sampler in 1987 resulted in “Think (About It)” being used on many Hip Hop records of the time. The “Woo, Yeah” combo of beats and vocals created a break that soon became inescapable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBvXBNx0lqg

I can’t state that Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock used it the best, I have not heard every sample. However, they made something that soon defined the word HOT. For a song that peaked at #36, “It Takes Two” has had a bigger cultural impact than most songs that charted above it. In 1989, Spin Magazine picked the best singles of all-time, and chose “It Takes Two” and I could not argue against their point. It is exactly what a great single should be, of its time, and timeless. And it was done quickly. They threw together the lyrics the night before the demo was recorded using samples that Rob and E-Z Rock liked, which just happened to be next to each other on volume 16 of the “Ultimate Beats and Breaks” compilation. Even the video was spontaneous, with a guest appearance from Biz Markie who just happened to be in the neighborhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOW-CZJWT0

***Insert a “Just a Friend” is a 10/10 comment from Tom***

Yeah, give me more like this, not that “Groovy” thing.

Peaking at #36 the week of October 29, 1988…

Wait, #36?

It’s stupid, I mean outrageous, that Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s party-rap behemoth “It Takes Two” barely scraped the top 40 when it came out.

I wasn’t born at the time, so did this song just grow over time in stature, or was it a huge party-starter even back then with its chart position being limited by radio refusing to play rap?

All I know is that “I wanna rock right now” is one of the greatest rapper entry lines ever made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOW-CZJWT0

Hi, Friends,

I’ve been otherwise occupied with things that need taking care of, so I haven’t been able to say “hello” lately.

I hope that you’re all well. I wish a good rest for you if you’re off this weekend, and good days at work if you’re on the clock.

Please be careful, take good care of yourselves and each other,

… and good on you all.

Forehead diamonds aren’t forever.

I think it would greatly benefit Grimes to hang out with just a regular joe for a change. Maybe go to a Home Depot. Or a bowling alley. Or the local library. Anything far removed from Tesla billions, AI, and synth pop.

Well oh well.

You went to ARMY twitter? And you took from it we don’t like Butter and we are forced to stream it? So you were not on army twitter, but nice try.

Secondly Olivia is famous? Maybe on tiktok. Right now she’s making deals with Spotify with some wash cars in background (maybe think aboht this being weird), giving ice creams for streams ect. But yes, she is FAMOUUUUS.

Secondly, in Korea she is promoting her videos as “the competition for BTS” but of course! She is so popular!

Funny how BTS is one of the artist which truly can sold out stadiums, qnd they did it everywhere – starting from USA and ending it at UK, France ect. But their streams and sales are weeeeeird.

1. Maybe firstly look at Dynamite because we had good streams qnd even better sales for longer than two weeks.

2. Bundles? Of what? Not for BTS, they have everythinf organic.

3.If you went to army twitter you would know remix was released at the beginning of week 2 so no, sweetie, it was not included in our nr 1.

4. Suddenly 0,69 is too little? Where were you when Taylor Swift put her music for even less? It was ok then? What a surprise.

Because they are scared of truth.💁‍♀️

THE AMOUNT OF BULLSHIT YOU SPEWED IS APPALLING!!!
1. How do you expect to understand army Twitter if you aren’t a fan yourself ??? Ofc you are biased and NEWSFLASH we LOVE AND ENJOY every song of theirs. They are talented and make good music.
2. Levitating? The song that got accused of massive filtering due to VPN?? Where is your think piece on that ? Both are not that popular so shut it.
3.All your proposals are bullshit as well 🤢 please do proper research to avoid embarrassing yourself like this next time

– BTS NEVER USED BUNDLES.
– BUTTER IS REALLY GOOD SO IT WILL GET THE STREAMS
– THE REMIX DIDN’T COUNT FOR THE FIRST WEEK. CRY ABOIT IT MORE IF YOU WANT.
– SO MANY OTHER SONGS ARE DISCOUNTED TO 0.69. You’re so stupid. Also Taylor discounted hers UP TO 0.39 last year. Where is your proposal on that???.

CONCLUSION:

DO PROPER RESEARCH NEXT TIME TO AVOID LOOKING LIKE A FOOL.YOUR HATE BONER FOR THE BAND IS SHOWING BECAUSE NONE OF THESE POINTS ARE VALID. NOW STREAM BUTTER.

Daily reminder that Communism sucks, everyone. Hopefully you’re all smart enough to already know that.

Is there a difference? They kinda both lead to starvation.

Hello BTS army,

Welcome to the Stereogum comments section, where we still have a downvote button. It’s a cool place!

If you get 5 more downvotes than upvotes on a post, it is “hidden.” This can easily be undone by clicking the “click here to show it” button. Some of our messier bitches who love drama even wear the “hidden” message as a badge of honor!

There are also times when, if the system decides you are posting to quickly, or are using a term picked up by the spam filter, your post will not show up. That’s unfortunately a side effect of this blog being run by a small (but cool) team of music lovers. If you find this happening, i recommend that do something else for a little while and try to post later.

Also, I can’t speak to everyone, but yes stan armies kind of terrify me. Not just for the state of music, but the effects of mob mentality on discourse as a whole.

Thanks!
Padfoot