“2015”

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All right, we’ve made it to the last issue of The Charger Bulletin for the semester, so now comes the obligatory “year in review” playlist.

2015 has been a marginally mellow year for music, in my opinion. If one were tempted to inspect and consider the data from the Billboard charts, they would find that few singles have stayed at the top for very long (with one exception, but we’ll get to that later).

One thing that I would like to commend 2015 for is the diversity found on the charts this year. Glancing over the list, there is the usual abundance of rappers and electronic artists, but also a sprinkling of rock acts, alternative bands, and singer-songwriters, which break up the monotony of modern-day pop radio. Some of the songs that I have included in the playlist were not actually released in 2015, but at some point this year, they reached the peak of their popularity.

The song that held the most weeks at the top of the charts for 2015 was one such piece, “Uptown Funk,” by Mark Ronson and featuring Bruno Mars. “Uptown Funk” spent a staggering 31 weeks in the top ten after being released in November of 2014. Despite its stark contrast with any other piece in the Billboard charts, it managed to earn the title of having the second longest run in the top ten ever, after “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes, released in 1997. To me, this says that today’s audiences crave something a little bit different, maybe something more reminiscent of a time gone by, but that is simply conjecture.

Bursting back onto the scene, rather abruptly, is Adele’s first single off of her newest album. “Hello” has been captivating audiences since its release only a matter of weeks ago. While I have always felt as though Adele’s music was too ballad-centric and rather corny, like the kind of thing a “cool mom” would listen to while clinging to her last hope of relevance in her tweenage daughter’s eyes, the production on her records has been incredible thus far, and there is no arguing the fact that she can belt it out with the best of them.

And that’s that. Hopefully you can bump this playlist and reminisce over the year gone by, while pouring over tear-stained study guides in preparation for finals.