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Billboard Country Airplay and Country albums Chart (July 11th)

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Billboard Country Airplay

  • 1. Blake Shelton–“Sangria” (up 1)
  • 2. Carrie Underwood–Little Toy Guns” (up 1)
  • 3. Tim McGraw and Catherine Dunn–“Diamond Rings and Old Barstools” (up 2)
  • 4. Jason Aldean–“Tonight Looks Good on You” (up 2)
  • 5. Easton Corbin–“Baby, Be my Love Song” (down 1)
  • 6. Kelsea Ballerini–“Love Me Like You Mean It” (down 5) [biggest loser]
  • 7. Canaan Smith–“Love You Like That”
  • 8. Little Big Town–“Girl Crush” (up 1)
  • 9. Brantly Gilbert–“One Hell of an Amen” (up 1)
  • 10. Michael Ray–“Kiss You in the Morning” (up 2)
  • 11. Luke Bryan–“Kick the Dust Up” (up 2)
  • 12. Brad Paisley–“Crushin’ It” (down 1)
  • 13. Zac Brown Band–“Loving You Easy” (up 2)
  • 14. Frankie Ballard–“Young and Crazy”
  • 15. Dustin Lynch–“Hell of a Night” (up 1)
  • 16. Sam Hunt–“House Party” (up 2)
  • 17. Eric Church–“Like a Wrecking Ball”
  • 18. Thomas Rhett–“Crash and Burn” (up 1)
  • 19. Chris Janson–“Buy me a Boat” (up 1)
  • 20. Brett Eldredge–“Lose my Mind” (up 1)
  • 21. Maddie & Tae–“Fly” (up 1)
  • 22. Keith Urban–“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 (up 7) [biggest gainer]
  • 23. Chase Rice–“Gonna Wanna Tonight”
  • 24. Kip Moore–“I’m to Blame”
  • 25. Jake Owen–“Real Life
  • 26. Cole Swindell–“Let me See ya Girl” (up 1)
  • 27. Lady Antebellum–“Long Stretch of Love” (entering top 30)
  • 28. Old Dominion–“Break up With Him” (up 2)
  • 29. Dan + Shay–“Nothin’ Like You” (down 3)
  • 30. Reba–“Going out Like That” (down 2)
    • New NO. 1: “Sangria”
    • Next week’s No. 1: “Sangria” or “Tonight Looks Good on You” (Carrie has no chance)
    • biggest gainer: “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”
    • Biggest Loser: “Love me Like You Mean It”
    • Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter’s “Wild Child” fell out of the top 30

    Billboard Top Country Albums

  • 1. Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material(debut)
  • 2. Sam Hunt–Montevallo
  • 3. Zac Brown Band–Jekyll + Hyde
  • 4. Canaan Smith–Bronco (debut)
  • 5. Various Artists–Now That’s What I Call Country, Voulume 8
  • 6. Little Big Town–Painkiller
  • 7. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard–Django and Jimmie
  • 8. Eric Church–The Outsiders
  • 9. Brantley Gilbert–Just as I Am
  • 10. Jason Aldean–Old Boots, New Dirt
  • 11. Florida Georgia Line–Anything Goes
  • 12. Luke Bryan–Crash my Party
  • 13. Luke Bryan–Spring Break, Checkin’ Out
  • 14. Tim McGraw–35 Biggest Hits
  • 15. A Thousand Horses–Southernality
  • 16. Carrie Underwood–Greatest Hits, Decade #1
  • 17. Darius Rucker–Southern Style
  • 18. The Lax–Outlaw in Me
  • 19. Kelsea Ballerini–The First Time
  • 20. Billy Currington–Summer Forever
  • 21. Blake Shelton–Bringing Back the Sunshine
  • 22. Chase Rice–Ignite the Night
  • 23. Corey Smith–While the Gettin’ is Good
  • 24. Kenny Chesney–The Big Revival
  • 25. Cole Swindell–Cole Swindell
    • Kacey Musgraves’s excellent Pageant Material debuts at No. 1, replacing Jekyll + Hyde
    • Canaan Smith’s Bronco debuts at no. 4
    • Kelsea Ballerini’s The First Time moved up 6 spots from no. 25 to No. 19
    • after debuting at No. 12 last week, Big Smo’s EP Bringin’ it Home fell out of the top 25
    • Hank Williams Jr.’s 35 Biggest Hits album fell out of the top 25 after last week’s debut at No. 16

    Have a great Independence Day weekend!

    Source: Billboard

    Commentary

    What Kelsea Ballerini’s No. 1 Single has to Say About Women in Country Music

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    Kelsea Ballerini’s debut single, “Love me Like You Mean It,” made history this week when it became the first debut single by a female to hit No. 1 on the billboard country charts since Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2006. Kelsea hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Country Airplay and mediabase country charts. I wonder what Keith Hill is saying about women in country now. (For those of you who don’t know, radio executive Keith Hill made himself a household name and a chauvinistic douchebag all in one day about a month ago when he compared women in country to tomatoes and said they should be taken out of radio completely.)

    So what does this say about country? Well, it proves that country radio is not sexist, even if Keith Hill is. However, Kelsea sounds like a pop artist or at best a Taylor Swift, and what this does say is that women have to sound like pop singers to get on the radio. Also, there are plenty of women out there making great country albums who are being snubbed by country radio–Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, and Sunny Sweeney, just to name a few. Just proves that women are making more quality country music and therefore getting less airplay. So while it is a great day for the “tomatoes,” it is a sad day for country in general. Give Kacey or Ashley a NO. 1 instead. All the same, congratulations to Kelsea Ballerini for breaking this ridiculous nine-year drought.

    Reviews

    Album Review: Kacey Musgraves–Pageant Material

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    Rating: 9/10

    Kacey Musgraves took the country world by storm in 2013 with her debut album Same Trailer, Different Park. Fans fell in love with singles like “Merry Go Round,” a painfully accurate portrayal of life in rural towns, and “Follow Your Arrow,” which was much celebrated for embracing liberal values. In light of the success of Same Trailer, Different Park, her sophomore album has been highly anticipated by many–and here’s where I’ll be honest, not by me. I only bought two songs from Kacey’s debut album and considered it to be highly overrated (I have since changed my mind.) But since I first heard the lead single from Kacey’s second album, I have been looking forward to this release, and I was not disappointed.

    Pageant Material opens with “High Time,” a lighthearted track about getting back to the simple things in life. It suits Kacey’s voice, and I am glad to hear her higher register. Next is “Dime Store Cowgirl,” which will be the second single from the album. Kacey sings about how even though she left Golden, Texas, she will always be just a “dime store cowgirl.” This will be a great choice for a single, not that radio will do her any favors.

    “Late to the Party” is a weak point on the album, and is basically just about Kacey wanting to be seen coming late to a party with her man. The album’s title track is my favorite and is about growing up in the South and not being “pageant material.” Kacey sings: “I ain’t pageant material. I’m always higher than my hair, and It ain’t that I don’t care about world peace, but I don’t see how I can fix it in a swimsuit on a stage.” Next is “This Town,” a song about the secrets in small towns that just felt like a worse version of “Merry Go Round.” “Biscuits,” the lead single, advises us to “mind your own biscuits, and life will be gravy.” I think this is a great hook, and again, if radio would do her any favors, it would be doing better on the charts.

    “Somebody to Love” is a beautiful song about how we are all struggling for acceptance and love. I can’t say anything about this, just listen to it. “In “Miserable,” Kacey complains about people who are only happy miserable. It’s a decent song, but it’s not one that stood out. “Die Fun” is a pop country song that would make a great single–“Let’s love hard, live fast, die fun.” “Family is Family” is (sadly) a picture of everyone’s dysfunctional family.

    Next, Kacey protests the “Good Old Boys Club” and says she doesn’t want to be “another gear in a big machine.” Enough said. “Cup of Tea” is a copy of “Follow Your Arrow” but it is just as good. “Fine” is a love song about telling people you’re “fine” when obviously you aren’t. There is a “hidden” track with Willie Nelson to end the album called “Are you Sure.” This was a great choice from Kacey, again enough said.

    This album has made me a Kacey Musgraves fan, and I hope radio will actually play her next single. But even if it doesn’t, she obviously doesn’t care, and that’s what I love about her. Oh and one more thing I love: in a world of hip-hop and rap and pop and rock disguised as country, Kacey Musgraves is just country–and Pageant Material is a great country album. I highly recommend it.

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