These are the top hits of this fall. Art by Mercy Calvo-Cruz

By Mercy Calvo-Cruz, Social Media/Perspective Editor

2022 has been quite a year for music. According to Billboard’s Songs of the Summer list, summer gave us hot hits like ‘As It Was’ by Harry Styles, ‘About Damn Time’ by Lizzo and ‘First Class’ by Jack Harlow. 

These songs fell on several people’s playlists as they overtook Billboard’s top 10 for the summer. As we move into a new season, more artists are dropping albums providing us new tunes to add to our collections.

Currently we have Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” sitting at the top of the chart, which was released Oct 2. Swift announced her album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Swift, the album consisted of thoughts that kept the 32-year-old singer up at night throughout several parts of her life. Within the album we are met with themes of anxiety, insomnia, self criticism and the singer’s insecurities coupled with tones of electronic and bedroom pop beats. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1 but was recently dethroned by the Nov. 4 release of Drake and 21 Savage’s collaborative album “Her Loss.”

As of Nov. 19, the album is currently debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 Albums Chart. The album made it the biggest week of the year for an R&B/ Hip-Hop set, but what is even more insane is that it’s been the biggest set to tally this much since Drake’s own “Certified Lover Boy,” which debuted almost a year ago. 

This was not surprising as most feel that “Her Loss” was Drake’s attempt to solidify himself as a top dog again, and that he definitely did. With this album included, Drake is officially at a dozen No. 1 albums, leaving him just under Jay-Z at 14 No. 1’s, and the Beatles at 19 No. 1’s.

Still, this did come as a surprise to some considering the backlash received after fans took to Twitter to address Drizzy’s (Drake) lyrics, and pointed out he may have taken jabs at celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, Ice Spice, Ye, Dram and Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian. Despite the backlash, the album has evidently been climbing its way to the top of the charts. 

With “Midnights” now at No. 2 after Drake’s release, Lil Baby’s former No.1 “It’s Only Me” dipped into the 2-3 spots, and Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,” also slipped out of the top three for the first time in 27 weeks. Another recent release topping charts is Joji’s “Smithereens,” which also dropped Nov. 4. The artist achieved his third top 10 charted effort on the Billboard 200, as his newest album opened at No. 5.

Other albums to be on the lookout for are Phoenix’s album “Alpha Zulu,” Spice Girls’ “Spice World 25,” and The Pretty Reckless’ “Other Worlds.” 

In September, the following artists also released albums. The rock band Weezer dropped their album titled “Autumn” on Sept. 22 to kick off the fall season. 5 Seconds of Summer also launched their “5SOS5” album and followed it with a deluxe version. 

We also received the album, “Entergalactic,” by Kid Cudi on Sept. 30, which was released alongside an adult animated special of the same name, exclusively on Netflix. The release gave us the same kind of dreamy sensation as his 2020 release, “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen.” However, instead of the usual sad tone Cudi’s work tends to portray, we were able to listen to lyrics about love and what it’s like to experience it after having been disappointed for so long.

As 2022 comes to an end, we look back on the music that filled our ears and made our year memorable. Artists like Metro Boomin and A Boogie wit da Hoodie are also in the works to provide us with even more music to end the year off. Their fans can look forward to Metro Boomin’s “HEROES & VILLAINS” on Dec. 2. and A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s “Me vs. Myself” album on Dec. 9.