Breaking Down the Hits Analyzes “Rich Men of North Richmond” – Billboard
With just the guitar and vocals, and lyrics that caught the attention of both the political right and the left, Anthony Oliver Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated August 29). .
How do the song’s characteristics compare to those of the other songs that topped the Hot 100 this year?
Here’s a comparison of the nine songs that held the number one spot in their first weeks on the Hot 100 for 2023, including “Richmond,” noting the key commonalities – and even more so – the differences between the first eight songs and more recent ones. leader.
Most of the similarities and differences apply to all of the Hot 100’s top ten, not just this year’s first either.
First, here’s a list of the year’s 100 best songs, arranged chronologically, for all of their first weeks atop the chart:
- “Flowers” Miley Cyrus
- “Dying for You” by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande
- “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen
- Like crazy, Jimin
- “Kill Bill” SZA
- The Vampire Olivia Rodrigo
- Song “Seven” by Jungkook. lato
- “Try It in a Small Town” Jason Aldean
- “Rich Men North Richmond” by Oliver Anthony Music
Commonalities between “North Richmond Richmen” and other top 100 celebrities in 2023:
- “Richmond” at 118bpm, aligns with the average tempo of the #1 song on the Hot 100 of 2023: 106bpm. Among this year’s leaderboards, 67% have more than 100 bpm.
- Its short running time—3:05—matches that of other pole positions this year. It is just four seconds short of the average of 3:09 among the leaders.
- The song has a familiar, easy-to-follow song structure: verse – pre-chorus – chorus – transition – verse – pre-chorus – chorus – outro.
- The first chorus on “Richmond” reaches 32 seconds into the song, just eight seconds ahead of the #1 song average.
- The song title appears in the chorus, where the listener would normally expect to find it. The titles of all but two of this year’s No. 1 songs – Jimin and SZA don’t sing the lyrics to “Like Crazy” or “Kill Bill” respectively, are heard in those songs at all.
Differences between Rich Men of North Richmond and the other Top 100 in 2023:
- “Richmond” is the only Hot 100 No. 1 movie of 2023 credited to a single writer, Oliver Anthony (real name Christopher Anthony Lunsford). Over the past decade, such leaders have been rare, though two reigned supreme last year: the Glass Animals’ “Heatwaves” (written by lead singer Dave Bailey) and encanto The band’s hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
- “Richmond” is a crude, old-fashioned, demo-like sports production, including cuts and background noises. While this contrasts markedly with the more polished production of the other first singles, it provides an organic quality that enhances the song’s emotional connection, along with Anthony’s soulful and emotional vocal performance.
- It’s the only No. 1 song this year that has folk, singer-songwriter, and Americana influences.
- Controversial, political and lifestyle lyrics are central to the song “Richmond”. “Try It in a Small Town” is the only other 2023 No. 1 movie that’s similar in this sense. Most other leaders feature the tried and true love/relationship theme.
- “Richmond” contradicts the titles of the short songs. Over the past decade, only 6% of the titles that ranked first included five or more words in their titles. However, this is a clever title, as its rhyming feature like “Rich Men” and “Richmond” helps it communicate easily and be remembered.
- It’s the only No. 1 song this year to have only one instrumental in the mix. Although acoustic guitar appears on nearly half of the leading songs in 2023, including the top three country songs (“Richmond”, “Last Night” and “Small Town”), it is the only song that uses a resonant guitar. (Determined by its large size). metal plate), which increases its organic attractiveness.
- “Richmond” is the only No. 1 song of 2023 that begins with a verse instead of an introduction. The catch, however, is that it instantly grabs listeners’ attention and draws them in with its stunning opening lyrics (“I’ve been selling my soul, working all day…”) Plus, over the past decade, it’s only topped 5% of the top hits. Dozens opened with a verse; In 2023, there’s only one more song: PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2.”
- In addition, Richmond is the only No. 1 this year that does not have a “D” (departure) section in its frame, such as a bridge or bridge alternate section. A common basic format for hit songs is: verse – chorus – verse – chorus – D section – chorus, with the bridge being the common “D” section type.
David and Yael Benn are the co-founders of The hit songs were dismantled. In 2022, Hit Songs and fellow song analytics platform MyPart are dismantled launch partner ChartCipher, a new platform for analyzing hits, as defined by paintingcharts.
Source link