Amid the intermittent drizzle, the Power Rankings return bearing ten little nuggets of sunshine. As expected, not much movement at the top: At this point, it’s looking like “Boom Boom Pow” and “Blame It” will have to suffer self-inflicted overexposure wounds to loosen their hold on the 1-2 rankings (considering the play counts they’re racking up, definitely a possibility). Further down the list, however, some interesting candidates have emerged, including a long-shot indie-rock duo, a veteran local-boy emcee, and the most famous Canadian rapper since Snow (sorry, Kardinal Offishall!).
The man in question would be Drake, already beloved around here for his yeoman work on Degrassi: The Next Generation — his “Best I Ever Had” is this week’s Biggest Gainer. Note the rise: Last month we said he’s “maybe gonna be a famous rapper”; this week, he just about already is. Drizzy’s already had to refute Rihanna make-out rumors and, more impressively, got Talib Kweli, Bun B, Lyor Cohen, and Kanye to show up at S.O.B.'s on Tuesday night. “Best I Ever Had” peaked at No. 6 this week on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart — doubly impressive when you consider it’s just a friggin' mix-tape track.
1. Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”: Are they attempting a flanking maneuver? “Boom Boom Pow” stays No. 1 on the Hot 100, while “Imma Be” pops up at No. 50.
2. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It”: Only getting stronger — with every passing week, the nation becomes more willing to accept the idea of a “Song of the Summer” coming from an Oscar winner.
3. Drake, “Best I Ever Had”: Hard to recall more buzz for an artist who hasn’t even begun recording his debut album.
4. Green Day, “Know Your Enemy”: Colbert appearances, GMA shows, Rolling Stone covers — just another week for arguably the biggest American rock band today.
5. Jadakiss, “Who’s Real”: A local smash from Yonkers’ favorite son that’s getting tons of play on Hot 97. Perfectly mindless summer entertainment.
6. Jeremih, “Birthday Sex”: Big stuff — an extremely sexy teaser clip for the video was released, finally clearing up just what the heck this song is about. Also, per his very helpful Twitter, it’s Jeh-ruh-mih.
7. The-Dream feat. Kanye West, “Walking on the Moon”: Radio’s modern-day Midas officially kicks off the “Song of the Summer” bid for his new single, premiering the video and performing on Jimmy Fallon (alas, sans Kanye).
8. Jason Mraz feat. Cobie Caillat, "Lucky" : Slow and steady for Mraz and Caillat — your radio stations might not love them, but the Adult Top 40 totally does.
9. Kelly Clarkson, “I Do Not Hook Up”: Troubling, and disappointing, signs of slippage — “Hook Up” fell from 23 to 32 on the Hot 100 this week.
10. Japandroids, “Young Hearts Spark Fire”: Take it away, walkwithastagger: “It has the all important pitchfork blessing (both best new track and best new music), is riding the lo-fi noise-pop buzz … and the song has the perfect summer jam lyric: ‘i don't wanna worry about dying, i just wanna worry about those sunshine girls.’” Anyone else care to weigh in?
Previously on Vulture...
