It’s springtime, finally, and after weeks of stasis the Hot 100 is starting to turn over. While the top ten is still being firmly ruled by Pharrell’s juggernaut-like “Happy”, John Legend’s surprisingly unstoppable “All of Me,” and Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” (hanging tough after 34 weeks on the chart), a pair of Iggy Azalea tracks and the come-from-behind fourth single from the latest Paramore album are giving things a bit of a refresh.
The other notable male-fronted R&B single to come out this week is Jeremih’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em,” which boasts yet another ridiculously catchy DJ Mustard beat and a faintly cheeky reference to Snap!’s “Rhythm Is a Dancer”. It’s supremely accessible and gives off some heavy hands-in-the-air energy that should serve it well if or when it ever gets an official, label-sanctioned released, and watching it compete against “Good Kisser” on the pop charts would be fun, even if “Good Kisser” seems to have the clear advantage. But right now “Don’t Tell ‘Em” is only on SoundCloud, so by Billboard‘s outmoded methodology it may as well not exist. Hopefully somebody at Def Jam is working on changing that.
