Future Top 40 Heavyweights: 3 Years Later

3 Years ago I made this post about who could be the next Drake or Ed Sheeran i.e. clock up a ridiculous amount of Top 40 hits that nobody knows. To keep it simple I looked at all acts to debut after Ed Sheeran to have 15 or more Top 40 hits to their name. A year later I looked at how things were progressing and added another 6 acts who now fitted the criteria. Then last year I did another update.

It seems the mythology from last year has done little to cut down the list but I'll stick with it for now. 

Here's how it's looking then:

The Weeknd (41) (LY 38)

I said last year he looks the most likely of these acts to reach 50 Top 40 hits first. He's already the first to make 40. It seems like he's on his way.

Ariana Grande (41) (LY 35)

6 Top 40 hits in the past year which essentially came in 2 batches of 3. The first was due to being in a film and the second was having Max Martin as songwriter. As long as this continues to be the case I suspect the hits will keep coming.

Central Cee (35) (LY 30)

We're now in an era where UK rappers presence in the Top 40 has plummeted. Bucking this trend is Central Cee who has added 5 to his total in the last year. He's clocked up his first 35 Top 40 hits in the same amount of time Elvis Presley did it and nobody has done it quicker.

Dave (34) (LY 30)

Another UK rapper bucking the trend of UK rappers not getting the hits. One of those 4 Top 40 hits in the last year was a collaboration with Central Cee. If they can buck the trend then maybe there's more to come from them.

Little Mix (32) (LY 32)

They're still on hiatus so no further Top 40 hits.

Stormzy (32) (LY 32)

No longer leading the way for British rappers and with no Top 40 hits in the last year have we seen the last of Stormzy in the Top 40?

D-Block Europe (30) (LY 30)

Now 27 Top 40 hits in their first 4 years but just 3 in the last 3 years and none in the last year. They might be back but for now it looks like they're finished

Kendrick Lamar (30) (LY 26)

Kendrick Lamar continued his batches of Top 40 hits in November last year and then added another to his total as a featured artist in February. No doubt another 3 will come all at once in the future, or maybe they won't now I've said that.

Dua Lipa (26) (LY 26)

She seems to be in the news all the time but no Top 40 hits in the last year. Maybe she's enough of a celebrity now that she doesn't bother with music. We can only hope.

Post Malone (25) (LY 25)

Nothing in the last year for Post Malone. Maybe he's just waiting for the new trend before jumping on the bandwagon.

Billie Eilish (23) (LY 23)

Last year I said her number of Top 40 hits exceeds her age just. With no Top 40 hits in the last year she has a month until her age overtakes her number of Top 40 hits.

Rita Ora (22) (LY 22)

If I come up with a new methodology it should be one to take Rita Ora off this list. That said she'll probably have a big comeback if I do.

Sam Smith (22) (LY 22)

13 artists in and 8 of them have had no Top 40 hits in the last year, it's starting to sound more like past Top 40 flash in the pans. With Sam Smith though I get the feeling he's not finished yet.

Charli XCX (21) (LY 20)

In the last year somebody told me about Charli XCX and how she loves her old skool rave music and makes tunes to reflect that. I was however warned she also sings on them in autotune. She's added 1 to her total in the last year with something I've fortunately never heard.

KSI (20) (LY 19)

He's a YouTube person and it seems he was most prolific during Covid when that's all we had to amuse ourselves with. Now he's more occasional, but as long as YouTube is around he'll probably keep going.

Travis Scott (20) (LY 19)

He was a new addition 2 years ago but has had just one further Top 40 hit in the past year. 

Doja Cat (20) (LY 17)

One of the newer Top 40 debutants on this list so more potential to go further. 

Aitch (20) (LY 18)

It only took him 3 years 4 months to clock up 18 Top 40 hits, then over 2 years of nothing before adding 2 to his total in the last year.

Raye (20) (LY 16)

Her average has now gone above 2 a year but again the question is will she have the longevity?

Fredo (19) (LY 19)

Last year I said it's unlikely he's going to add much to his total in the future and that's accurate so far.

One Direction (18) (LY 18)

If they don't reunite and get back in the Top 40 in the next year they'll drop off this list.

Anne-Marie (18) (LY 18)

Nothing in the last year though you feel that David Guetta and co may keep her Top 40 career going in the future.

Becky Hill (18) (LY 18)

Nothing in the last year though you feel that David Guetta and co may keep her Top 40 career going in the future.

AJ Tracey (18) (LY 17)

After more than 3 years away he's added 1 to his total.

Headie One (17) (LY 17)

Nothing in the last year, perhaps one of the victims in the decline of UK rap in the Top 40.

Tion Wayne (16) (LY 16)

Another British rapper who appears to have run out of steam for clocking up Top 40 hits.

J Hus (16) (LY 16)

Another British rapper who appears to have run out of steam for clocking up Top 40 hits.

Jax Jones (16) (LY 16)

I'm sure he'll drop off the list in the future.

Camila Cabello (15) (LY 15)

Ditto.

Cardi B (15) (LY 15)

Ditto.

J Cole (15) (LY 15)

A new addition last year but nothing to add this year.

We have some new additions to the list this year:

SZA (17)

Just outside the criteria last year and helped onto the list this year by her collaborations with Kendrick Lamar.

21 Savage (15)

Just outside the criteria last year and helped onto the list by a collaboration with Central Cee this year.

Sabrina Carpenter (15)

After making her Top 40 debut in Jan 2021 she had her 2nd in Jan 2023 and 3rd in Jan 2024. Then from Apr 24 she clocked up 12 in 18 months.

Forever Sanctuary 2025

I'll start with the obligatory anti-Milton Keynes rant. V7 Saxon St may have cemented it's place in rave history but what a horrible road to walk down. 10-15 minutes after getting off the train I could still see the platform I'd just come from. Then every sign you walk past says Stadium MK 1 1/4 miles. Finally seeing the Marshall Arena where this event took place ahead you still have to walk half a mile across a car park to get there.

All in all it was 45 minutes between getting off the train and getting inside the venue. Given the last train was at 23:12 it meant no Scott Brown or Mark EG & M-Zone but I'm not overly concerned about the former and I saw the latter last year with MC Ribbz who I prefer to Squidgy B who was MCing for them this time.

The latest set I could see was the Force & Styles experience which is Force without Styles accompanied by MC Charlie B who would MC for them when MC Junior was in prison and vocalist Jenna. However I would of missed the last 15 minutes of a 40 minute set to catch the train, would this be worth sticking around for?

I bought an early doors ticket meaning I'd have to arrive in the first hour. With Ellis Dee in the 2nd room at 14:30 I was more than happy to do this. However at 14:30 there was no activity in the 2nd room. The technodrome wasn't due to open until 15:30 so my only choice was DJ Rap in the main room.

Some jungle classics such as "Renegade Snares" and "The Lighter" were played and lifted my spirits following that horrible walk to the venue. With no activity in the 2nd room still at 15:15 it seemed like Ellis Dee hadn't turned up so I saw out the DJ Rap set and stayed in the main arena for Ramos & Supreme.

The question was would it be the mid-90s happy hardcore or late 90s trancecore version that turned up. In the beginning it was just Supreme that turned up and he started with they Force & Styles remix of "Gotta Believe" which set the tone. Ramos did eventually turn up and was a good set which included "All Systems Go" by Force & Styles. I felt following this there was no need to stick around for half a set from half of Force & Styles.

Next up was Nicky Blackmarket & Brockie which I stuck around for. Again it was an enjoyable set and good to have some drum & bass following a hardcore set like it used to be.

Then we had Hixxy where the question was would it be a 90s Hixxy or a 21st century Raverbaby Hixxy. The start of his set suggested the latter so it was off to room 2 where Simon Bassline Smith was playing. Whoever I was seeing next I was only seeing 30 minutes of but with the main arena running behind schedule it was more 20 minutes. As I walked in I was hearing "Renegade Snares" for at least the 2nd time.

At 17:30 in the 2nd room came the moment I'd been waiting for, Jimmy J. He was my favourite DJ back in the day but by the time I started raving he was winding down before retiring to Spain. He's recently come back and at 60 years old now you don't know if this opportunity would come around again.

The only downside is that we didn't have the late great MC Ruff with him for obvious reasons and when "99 Red Balloons" dropped I was muttering some MC Ruff lines I'd heard him do to that tune on a tape I've listened to countless times. We got plenty of classics from both Jimmy J & Cru-L-T and Triple J and ended with "Follow The Sun". It was worth the 30 year wait.

Back out in the main arena tributes were being made to the rave scene figures who are no longer with us and that list of people seems far too long.

It was then Fabio & Grooverider who are still big names in drum & bass to this very day and I've heard they don't do requests. When they started the set with "Lock Up" by Zero B I could tell it was going to be a good set and it was. A mixture of breakbeat hardcore and early jungle made the set spot on.

Slipmatt & Dougal were on next and again it was a solid set with some 90s classics. The problem from my own perspective was the repetition of tunes we were now getting. Inevitable when everyone was doing an upfront set back in the day but with 13 years of the Sanctuary to cover hearing the same tune 3 or 4 times was a bit overkill.

With this in mind the question was how much longer do I stay? I knew Vibes & Live Lee would mix it up but their end of set time didn't align with the trains very well plus I'd seen them last year plus it was only a 40 minute set that may be even shorter given we were running behind schedule.

On next in the main arena was Breeze. It seemed almost inevitable he'd play the 21st century tunes as this was when he went from opening set DJ to headliner. Into the 2nd room I went to see DJ SS, again decent enough but playing some tunes I'd already heard multiple times that day.

Then the choice prior to Vibes & Live Lee was stay in the 2nd room to see Kenny Ken who I heard played modern rubbish including Becky Hill last year or go into the main arena to see the remainder of the Breeze set.

After 6 hours of being there I felt I'd got my moneys worth and thought sod it I'll go home.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 44

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

30. Tal Bachman - She's So High

This was the only Top 40 hit for Tal Bachman who is the son of Randy Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive. I'm surprised this record only got to number 30 in the charts as it seemed a pretty big record at the time. Not my cup of tea.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Barbra Streisand And Vince Gill - If You Ever Leave Me

This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Barbra Streisand which came 33 years after her Top 40 debut. It was also the only Top 40 hit for Vince Gill. The songwriter of this was Richard Marx long after his UK Top 40 career was over. It's pretty bland.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly

I have to say I do like the video to this record. It's a funny video and when it appeared on the music channels which it did a lot I would keep it on and watch it. Unfortunately the song itself isn't really up to much, just a bit of backing music for the video really.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 6.5/30, or 22%. A sign we're heading to the 21st century.