Penn’s Picks: Art of the Build
In this Penn’s Picks, I’ve selected some of my favorite songs from yesterday and today that use “the art of the build” to great avail across an array of genres, including soul, gospel, hip hop, garage, prog, jazz, and rock.
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Penn’s Picks: Female Punk Trailblazers, Vol. 1
With breakout superstar Olivia Rodrigo currently topping the charts with two punk-inspired songs – good 4 u and brutal – it’s the perfect time to pay homage to some of the female punk trailblazers of the late 1970s.
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Female Duets in the Hot 100 Top 10
With Doja Cat and SZA's duet, Kiss Me More, reaching a new peak in the Hot 100 Top 10, we decided to take a closer look at all-female duets.
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Olivia Rodrigo Hits: Notable Commonalities
Many fans tout the stylistic range of Olivia Rodrigo’s music, noting her impressive flexibility in shifting from heart-wrenching ballads to all-out pop punk to indie folk with ease. But just how diverse is her body of work?
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Women in the Top 10
In honor of International Women’s Day, we took a look at how the number of female songwriters, artists and producers credited on Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits have changed since 2015.
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Max Martin’s New Take on Hook Arrangement
What do the latest Hot 100 Top 10 entries from Lady Gaga (Stupid Love) and The Weeknd (Save Your Tears) have in common? They’re both co-written and co-produced by Max Martin. And while these songs are stylistically quite different from one another, they share some…
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Technique Spotlight: Holy’s “Say It Again” Hook
In this Technique Spotlight, we dive into Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper’s Holy and the hook technique that helped make it an unforgettable global smash.
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Songwriter Spotlight: 2020
Behind 2020’s 75 Top 10 hits were 265 credited songwriters. Fifty-eight songwriters scored more than one Top 10 hit, and 98 scored at least one #1 hit. The top songwriters behind 2020’s Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits include: Ariana…
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Performing Artist Spotlight: 2020
In 2020, seventy artists performed the 75 songs that charted in the Hot 100 Top 10. Of them, 55 were primary artists and 23 featured artists. Eight artists received both primary and were featured artist credits. They are DaBaby, Drake,…
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