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31 August 2020

Summer Jam 2020 Week 17: ThE eNd! jk

 This is a bizarre feeling. We generally count Summer Jams in 17-week intervals. It's a nice, round number and it's the way this has always been done! For ten stupid years! But Summer 2020 is a different beast all together. Labour Day is late and we have 18 glorious weeks. What could this mean? Will one of these late breaking jams have the chance to usurp the presumptive favourites?! Stay tuned, loyal believers!

Hot Jam of the Week: "Out of Sight" by Run the Jewels ft. 2 Chainz


This vid had a lot of hype this week and it's a pretty solid track. I dig IV quite a bit, similar to II when I didn't think III was as great. Anyway, it's hard to tell if this was a COVID video. El-P and Killer Mike don't appear in person (sort of), but there's certainly people here. We are in a weird age. I dig this, though. I don't expect it to break into total mainstream, as no RTJ has really done that besides "Legend Has It" (RIP Chadwick).

"Smile" by Katy Perry

This song is neither good nor popular, but I feel like I heard it a lot this week, so here we are. I have enjoyed Katy Perry less over time. Like each song seems thirstier than the last. She crossed the stream into irrelevance so slowly it was surprising the day we all woke up and no longer cared about her. I dunno, this is sort of catchy. I literally also heard "California Gurls" on the radio today and thought of ghosts of Summer Jams past. Very different times!

"Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus

We're having a bit of a diva week this week. This was another track that I just heard a lot this week, and our stated goal is capturing the zeitgeist week to week. It feels pretty fresh and certainly very Week 17 of Summer 2020. It's not all that memorable or significant and far from her best efforts (this is all a familiar refrain) but again, it's not totally offensive to the ears. This and more ringing endorsements to come.

"F2020" by Avenue Beat

Are they a band? I dunno. I still dig this and it is assuredly the most 2020 song ever. An ode to holy crap this year sucks so much. Seriously, we have another black man shot in Kenosha, Black Panther is dead, we have no hope for anything. I do need to stop listening to this. It makes me hella more depressed.

"Rain on Me" by GaGa and Ariana

You know, "Rain on Me" keeps sneaking up this summer. I always feel like it's something that's on the fringe, but then I cave and throw it in the mix. It's outpaced songs like "Toosie Slide" and "Intentions" at this point, which I think of as being here each and every week. When all is said and done this may very well make an impact. I still don't think it's particularly good. Summer Jams always elude GaGa. Is it "I'd rather be drunk but at least I'm alive"? That is pretty 2020.

"Mood" by 24kGoldn ft. Iann Dior

I dig this track the more I listen to it. It's maybe not that big of a deal or anything but again, it's very much a Week 17 song. Shut up, I know "Rockstar" is still popular. This is fun, though, even if the beat doesn't quite match the lyrics. I can get behind it. We don't all need to be depressed all the time. I'm looking at you, "Wishing Well"!

"cardigan" by Taylor Swift

Fart Again! At this point Taylor and WAP are so far ahead of everyone else. This is the kind of classic summer battle we should have gotten weeks ago! They're so polar opposite, too. I'm very excited to see a run like this at the crown, their weeks aren't that significant but damn the potency. Honestly, this summer was really craving that singular dominant song and we finally got it spilling into Autumn. It'll be a Washington Football Team Summer for sure.

"WAP" by Megan and Cardi

Okay, I don't know which remix to put here! We did Dire Dire Docks right? This Nickelback is so clunky, it's kind of awesome. I clearly love it. "WAP" is everywhere, it's the kind of bonkers song, video, concept, and stars that elevate it beyond anything else in the zeitgeist. This is a good run at things and we'll see where it is at the end of the Summer and if it did enough to surge to the top. Do kids listen to this? Is it allowed on the radio? What do people do?

Next week...

Oh, who knows. It'll be a showdown - "Blinding Lights", "Watermelon Sugar", or "Rockstar" could all win it, while "cardigan" and "WAP" will make some significant dents if they continue their dominance. If any track gets in it'll make significant waves. I just need to be completely unbiased. Totally. We'll see if any other wacky songs show up to ruin everyone's day.

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