My daily series Verse Chorus Verse has been rebooted and I’ve been incorporating some playlists into the series in addition to proclaiming one song my “Song Of The Day.” As I skim the list of songs, artists, and albums on the iTunes Chart this week, I am depressed as hell to say I see nothing here likely to make an appearance on VCV.
Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” continues to be the anthem of Summer 2010 against my will and Eminem’s “grownup album” continues to lead the albums chart. My understanding of hip hop is limited but it will be interesting to see if Eminem’s “maturation” is something that will be embraced by hip hop audiences long term. Hip hop has become the music of youth. Very few artists in that genre enjoy massive sales in their advancing years. Rock artists don’t all continue to sell as they get old but there seems to be more tolerance for aging rockers than rappers. Can Eminem buck that trend or is he going to have to join Ice-T, Ice Cube, and LL Cool J as a cop on TV or a sitcom dad?
Elsewhere, the Twi-hards are making their presence felt at the box office and at the digital music store, buying up anything that bears the logo of their beloved franchise. My wife and I were fans of the Harry Potter franchise so I’m not going to rag on Twilight other than just to say this one just did nothing for me. My wife loved the first book. She liked each book that followed just a little less. Actually, she didn’t like the fourth one much at all. What does that have to do with anything? Nothing, which makes all the sense in the world because that’s what I’m seeing on this week’s chart. This is what the people are buying, though; yours if you want them.
I’d rather walk.
iTunes' top 10 selling singles of the week ending July 5, 2010:
- "California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)" – Katy Perry
- "Love the Way You Lie" – Eminem
- "Dynamite" – Taio Cruz
- "Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore)" – B.o.B.
- "Billionaire (feat. Bruno Mars)" – Travie McCoy
- "Cooler Than Me" – Mike Posner
- "Ridin' Solo" – Jason Derulo
- "Not Afraid" – Eminem
- "OMG (feat. will.i.am)" – Usher
- "Find Your Love" – Drake
iTunes' top 10 selling albums of the week ending July 5, 2010:
- Recovery – Eminem
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Various Artists
- Thank Me Later – Drake
- Streets of Gold – 3OH!3
- Love King – The-Dream
- To the Sea – Jack Johnson
- Night Work – Scissor Sisters
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Howard Shore
- A Beautiful Exchange (Live) – Hillsong Live
- How I Got Over – The Roots