A View From The Top #4

Another Sunday Chart show, another Number 1 for Justin Bieber…. Or not! Finally, the omnipresent JB track What Do You Mean? has been knocked off the top spot by comparative underdog KDA. The track was originally released under the title Rumble on Ministry of Sound, and was a six-and-a-half-minute lyric-less house track. To gain its position as Number 1 this week, it has transformed the way one does when leaving Magic Hatstand and heading to Unit 1 on a Friday. In other words, it’s been made radio-friendly by having its length cut, and adding vocals/ a rap from chart favourites Katy B and Tinie Tempah, creating what’s now called Turn The Music Louder (Rumble).

The song itself is what I’d expect from two such well-established artists as Tinie and Katy; a reasonably funky, club- friendly beat, solid vocals and the sparse, dulcet tones of Tempah. There’s a decidedly vintage vibe throughout the track which I think works really well, and as much as the lyrics may leave something to be desired, the overall production and presentation is perfectly fine. Of course most of the credit must go to KDA who created all of this in his original. While I don’t think this track is anywhere near as good as either featured artists’ more successful songs, I’ll probably still dance along tragically if I hear it on a night out.

Two thousand combined chart sales behind, One Direction hold the Number 2 spot with the second single from their fifth (!!!) album Made in the AM: Perfect. This song, supposedly about 1D member Harry Styles’ short-lived relationship with Taylor Swift (thanks to the cattiest of all their lyrics ever: “If you’re looking for someone to write your break-up songs about, baby I’m perfect”) was tough competition for KDA et al. With a very catchy chorus, which sounds remarkably similar to Taylor Swift’s supposed Harry Styles-inspired track Style (come on guys, play nicely), and huge support from the very proud Directioners, I personally thought they’d make the Number 1 spot. Perhaps this week’s charts shows the beginning of the end for the man-child band, whose fans even launched a “Project Perfect” campaign to get it to Number 1. With that kind of girl power behind it, Rumble has triumphed in this David-versus-Goliath-style battle, Perfect missing out on the top spot. I may be misremembering, but it seems to me that dance tracks only really became incredibly mainstream in the last few years or so. I remember the rise of acts like Gorgon City or Storm Queen who completely took over the charts, and it seems we, as the listeners, haven’t looked back. Maybe to keep up, One Direction need to do a Bieber and add some dance beats to their singles to stay down with the kids.

Elsewhere in the charts, Diplo’s new track Be Right There made a huge leap of 83 places to land at Number 8. It also seems about the time when the X Factor contestants from last year crawl out of Simon Cowell’s Den of Diamond Disks while he whispers, “Go children; go forth and prosper or I’ll lock you up with Matt Cardle and Steve Brookstein.” Current X Factor champion Ben Haenow has teamed up with the adorable Kelly Clarkson for an up-tempo and somehow unbelievable love duet, Second Hand Heart. Hot on his heels, runner up Fleur East is starting the press circuit for her new track Sax, released later this week.

It seems, then, that congratulations are in order for KDA and gang for beating Cowellites to the top. However, it seems all of these artists are merely the warm up for the headline act: Adele. With her first single in three years, Hello, released this week, I’m willing to bet KDA will struggle to keep his title. That being said, she has competition from the king of comebacks, Bieber, whose new single Sorry is also flagged for success. Either way, I hope KDA enjoyed it while he could.