Not sure why Charli would be “obvious”, but I can see “Good Luck Babe” making the top 10. Maybe he’ll also try to include “Hot To Go”, though I’m not a fan of it.
He's barely touched on Brat since it released despite it being one of the biggest events in pop music this year (& a pretty good record to boot). I believe Todd was in touch with the hyperpop scene back when that was a Thing; if that's the case, I can't imagine he would pass up the chance to score some hipster cred by talking about AG Cook. There's the off chance that he just didn't care for the album or its singles that much, but my gut tells me he's saving it for the Best list.
Those are some VERY specific predictions in regards to Sabrina Carpenter. Why so on the nose? You don’t get bonus points for placement outside the #1 spot.
I'm getting strong #6 vibes. Go big or go home mfer.
I’m not sure of anyone who thinks “Not Like Us” blows chunks. The most scathing I can think of is what I’ve always said: it’s about a decade too late for this beef winner to be as amazing and impressive as Todd makes it out to be.
Not like Us isn't fun, nor is it particularly smart. It's just four-and-a-half minutes of Kendrick weakly riffing on Drake for being a poser and a kid diddler (who knew!!) and yet people are creaming themselves over it as if K-God is the Lord's messenger delivering divine revelation to the benighted masses. So, basically, I agree with you.
The real issue lies a little deeper, though. It's not just that Kendrick was ten years late to the beef; that alone would make it weird, but not necessarily worthy of hate. The part that really doesn't sit well with me is that he chose to release Not Like Us at a time when accusations of pedophilia have never been more trendy. This leads me to SERIOUSLY doubt his intent. I
really want to believe that Kendrick is a virtuous man with a strong sense of justice who put this song together out of righteous anger towards Drake and his behaviour... but, come ON. He's a rap insider. There's no way he didn't know about this stuff
well before all of us.
What my cynical side tells me is that Kendrick was sitting on all this for a long, long time, with no desire to address it -- until he saw these scandals popping up left and right with people throwing around the word "pedo" like they were throwing around "Nazi" ten years ago, and figured he could generate some easy buzz by taking a potshot at one of the most well-known creeps in pop culture. And when you're dealing with a topic this heavy -- let alone one that's already been diluted to the extent that it has -- I can't interpret that as anything less than a deplorable act.
I don't like the song itself, but I hate what it represents much more. I think that in twenty years we'll look back on Not Like Us as the nadir of 20s outrage culture.