Well, another month and another month of total hip-hop domination. It's beginning to sound like a broken record, really- the charts have essentially been the same ever since "Hot In Herre" blew up inexplicably two summers ago. Billboard's top eight- after OutKast's inescapable "Hey Ya!" and Ruben Studdard's escapable "Sorry 2004" fell out- are all "urban" songs, and none show any signs of vulnerability. Evanescence's "My Immortal" and Britney Spears' "Toxic" are the lone non-urban songs there. Elsewhere, Usher has already released a follow-up ("Burn"), even though the video for "Yeah" has just come out, and Maroon 5's excellent "This Love" is now a Top 20 hit.
What to make of this? Well, it does show that other record labels seem to finally be able to break Universal's hold on the charts- only two singles, Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and Ludacris' "Splash Waterfalls", are distributed by Universal- but, unless the other genres develop some charismatic characters, it may be a while before hip-hop loosens it's grip on the chart. You see, however good some of these artists are (and many are), the only genres producing anyone even remotely captivating is the urban field, and it has been this way for quite a while now. Like them or not, the rappers' personalities are very charismatic, especially in their music, the kind of personalities that can draw a lot of people to them very quickly. You just don't see that in the likes of John Mayer or Default, as good as they may be in person or musically. Does this mean that "normal" people cannot sell? Well, look at 3 Doors Down, owners of two top 5 hits- they're probably some of the most normal people you'd ever expect to see on the charts. It's just that the biggest stars also tend to be the most enigmatic, and unless the other genres can find enigmas (like The Darkness), the charts will stay the way they are.
-DG