Summer is almost unofficially actually here (it’s hot outside!), so while no big shake-ups took place on Vulture’s Song of the Summer Power Rankings this week, the competition from here on in will surely only get fiercer. Quickly, a reminder on the ground rules: These mark the current mood rather than an attempt at predicting future contenders; brand-new or already overplayed, a song will be ranked based on its proximity to the white-hot center of summer-jam ubiquity. On with it.
This week’s Biggest Gainer is Jeremih’s “Birthday Sex.” (Congratulations, sir! The celebratory fruit basket is on its way). The song barely missed our original cut, and we’ve got a feeling that now that it’s here it’ll stick around for a while: Cribbing The-Dream’s trademark vocal hiccups (“Girl, you know I-I-I-I … ”) for an uncharacteristically sweet song (“We grinding for hours / I know you thirsty”) about wanting to have a lot of sex, the Def Jam rookie has people singing his tune even if they don’t quite know how to pronounce his name. It also peaked at No. 9 this week on Billboard’s Hot 100, which is another chart that exists for ranking contemporary music. So will it be the “best day of the year, girl” all summer long?
1. Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”: Not something we need to point out if you have ears, but this track has utterly dominated the radio and singles charts. Is it breaking away from the pack?
2. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It”: Hanging tough with a big week: The song starred in top Obama impersonator Alphacat’s latest parody video, which quickly made it to the View and racked up over 500,000 YouTube plays. Plus, we keep seeing “blame it on the goose” in Facebook status updates.
3. Green Day, “Know Your Enemy”: In a short week, Green Day lands the No. 1 album in the country. Also, thank God for strict corporate policies — Wal-Mart censorship drama has Green Day’s “eternal rebel” thing actually ringing true.
5. Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo, “Knock You Down”: Weird Kanye blog rant about the paparazzi does what weird Kanye blog rants do best — promote stuff that Kanye does. Plus, his collabo with The-Dream (see below) just keeps reinforcing the brand.
5. Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo, “Knock You Down”: Weird Kanye blog rant about the paparazzi does what weird Kanye blog rants do best — promote stuff that Kanye does. Plus, his collabo with The-Dream (see below) just keeps reinforcing the brand.
6. The-Dream feat. Kanye West, “Walking on the Moon”: Def Jam premiered the video for The-Dream’s new single at a party on Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning the bootleg version was all over the Internet — and then just as quickly removed. Expect this to really blow up when the official version is released.
7. Passion Pit, “The Reeling”: The Boston band’s first full-length came out this week — with the major-label backing of Columbia and the instant indie approval of French Kiss — to an impressive 81 metacritic score. But will “The Reeling” really crack mass consciousness?
8. Fabolous feat. The-Dream, “Throw It in the Bag”: An, ahem, quiet week was perhaps to be expected after last week’s big jump.
9. Kelly Clarkson, “I Do Not Hook Up”: Everyone we know loves it, and it enjoyed a big jump on the charts. Are its best days ahead?
10. Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”: Popping up at the American Idol Finale — never a bad look for promoting oneself.
