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20 July 2015

Summer Jam Week 11: Naughty Hemoglobin Takes Its Birthright

Amazingly, it's already Week 11 of our Long Sunny Summer! We're rounding out July now, and getting in all those last minute vacations in one of the hottest weeks of the year! The kids are at camp, the adults are fucking away, everyone is rolling in the good life! But we have to have some cherry tunes to jam to if we're to maximize our fun in the sun. Here's your Hottest Jams for the Week:

Hot Jam of the Week: "R.I.C.O." by Meek Mill ft. Drake



Meek Mill is as rising of a rap star as they come, and it's weird to think of Drake as an experienced mentor appearing on a track like this, but the softest man in the game is filling that role somehow. "R.I.C.O." is an adequate if not an extremely catchy or interesting track. Fine, I'm not going to pretend I'm proud of selecting this jam. Let's move on.

Throwin' Back Ones: "Cool for the Summer" by Demi Lovato

Speaking of bland summer jams...but Demi's latest is probably one of her best, and you know she's pushing hard for a late run at the Summer Jam Throne. It's a tall order at this point, but in actually, the timing isn't terribly off, considering all those early forerunners are starting to fall away. This actually grew on me a little hearing it again and it might got a chance.

Holding Up the Wall: "Lean On" by Major Lazer

I guess I didn't quite realise how popular this smash has been the past few months. It does have 290 million and counting YouTube views...I guess I was more of the conviction that Diplo's Reggae Electronica project was more niche than it is, with this jam exploding over the past few weeks. I'm all for it, even if I got into "Lean On" months ago, and I try to say that with minimal hipster conviction.

Welcome to Adulthood: "Good for You" by Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky

I feel like this jam is finishing the job that Spring Breakers (2013) started years ago, even if Selena was really the "innocent" one. Anyway, this is actually an enjoyable, chilled out, good song, which is something I never really thought I'd be writing about bubblegum Gome's. It's almost Miley-esque, although her departure from Disney Channel music was more hypersexualised than it was moody and melodic. And by the way, just like with "Wrecking Ball," you need to listen to the song without the video because it's way too distracting, in this case it's the fact that Selena still looks like a 12-year old.

Winning One for the Home Crowd: "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten

This jam has really quietly been around forever by now, and I ought to recognize it more than I have. It's just not totally recognizable or distinctive, rather something that just dibbles in the background for months until you realise it's a palpable soundtrack to your life. Damn you, Rachel Platten. She's totally a modern day Colbie Caillat or Christina Perri or something. Not like that's a bad thing, but do you really remember either of their big jams from way back when? You know, like 2011?

Haha, holy shit, all three of those women are actually on tour right now - I swear I didn't know that before I started making jokes that they all sound exactly the same. That's brilliant. I hope they mix up each others' songs and you get Platten singing "Jar of Hearts" and Caillat belting out "Fight Song."

Pumping Up the Home Crowd: "Cheerleader" by OMI

Such a chill song and really perfect in every way for some lazy summer nights, "Cheerleader" is coming on strong, and finally broke out to be the #1 Track on the Hot 100 this week. "C U Again" may yet dethrone it, because it's been obnoxious this summer, but other than that, I bet it could contend for a while. It's tearing up airplay in every way and could have a nice little run here, especially considering how far ahead it its of Demi Lovato.

Silence: "Watch Me" by Silentó

So, Silentó was born in 1998, which I just found out. Let that sink in a bit. Silentó isn't just younger than Jurassic Park (1993), he's younger than the damn Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Does that matter to anyone? Who reads this? My audience might actually all be girls who were born after Jurassic Park III (2001). Such a thing would not surprise me. This song is popular.

Struttin' Fab: "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar

That's right. Finally, finally, this jam is having its day. At least this week. "Bad Blood" has been weirdly rocky - it's certainly infected every part of our lives, and the video was instantly iconic, for one reason or another, but it's not totally beloved and dominating like I expected it to. It was definitely our theme song this week, though. Let's see if it holds on.

Next week...

I'm digging quite a few jams right now, but most of them are really archaic. We're at an odd juncture in the Summer Season right now, with "Shut Up and Dance" falling off, "C U Again" still potent but with a slight bump in the road, and the possibility of "Bad Blood" charging ahead, even though I'm the only one who actually likes the song. Stay tuned, people!

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