Forecast: Usher Headed For Major Strides, Top 5 Remain Stable

New Entries & High Climbers
After adding two new entries last week (for a total of 4 since 2012), Usher's latest release, "She Came To Give It To You (feat. Nicki Minaj)" is set to be the top debut on this week's chart. Currently ranked at #14 on the building chart through this week's halfway mark, it's entirely possible that the track barely winds up within the top 20 when the week concludes, but an estimate around #25 to #30 would be a lot more reasonable. It's currently burning up in streaming and voting points, but US radio airplay has been nearly nonexistent at this point. Given that, I'm guessing only a handful of points will be derived from radio plays, which could cause it to open softer than expected. As I said earlier, a final week position between 25-30 would be a solid start and a win for Usher (who has had only one top 10 hit since 2012). It's guaranteed to be Nicki's 20th chart entry, further upping her lead as the artist with the most Hot 50 chart entries. Rihanna ranks in 2nd place with 18.

Usher's other tracks that will hold on the chart from last week (the Disclosure remix of "Good Kisser" and Chris Brown's "New Flame", which features Usher and Rick Ross) should also be able to muster up some decent business. "Good Kisser (Remix)", likely be the stronger of the two, ranks at #26 at the midweek stage. Despite a huge growth (it ranked at #46 when the final numbers came in last week), it has dropped off several positions from the start of the week (it at one point ranked at #20), so it's likely to drop more. It will likely wind up below "She Came To Give It To You (feat. Nicki Minaj)" this week, with a final rank between #35 to #40 being a good estimate.

Chris Brown's "New Flame" has had some trouble ranking up points this week (being snubbed by radio and other platforms), but could muster a several position increase at best. It's currently ranked at #40, but has held that position throughout the entire week so far. That leads me to believe it will hold strong through the week's end, with a final position just above or just below #40 likely.

T.I.'s "No Mediocre (feat. Iggy Azalea)" (which started off at a strong rank of #38 last week) is currently ranked at #11 through the midway stage, which is a huge lift of 27 positions. While it might wind up within the top 20, it's unlikely to reach the top 10... we'll see.

Tinashe's "2 On (feat. SchoolBoy Q)" is ranked at #21 at the midweek stage (it reached as high as #19  earlier this week), so I'm guessing it'll wind up with a 4 to 5 position gain from last week. More news soon.

Tracks Likely To Exit
- "Ultraviolence" by Lana Del Rey
- "Bloodstream" by Ed Sheeran

Top 5 Happenings
Maroon 5 is set to claim a second frame at #1, with Kiesza likely to reach the #2 for a fifth week with "Hideaway". That would put her in the top 2 for 11 weeks, the longest run in the region since OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" commanded the region for 13 straight weeks earlier this year. That song later went on to become the most successful single in my chart's history and is on its way to #1 for the end of 2014. Kiesza's other single ("Giant In My Heart") could snag the #3 position; Sanna Nielsen's former 3 week #1 "Undo" could ease 3-4 and Clean Bandit's "Rather Be" could drop 4-5 after peaking at #4 for 3 frames.

Come back for more news!

CDS Picks: Usher and Nicki Minaj Team Up, Florida Georgia Line Returns

Welcome back to another installment in the wildly popular CDS Picks feature. This time, I'm focusing on new recordings by Usher, Iggy Azalea, Sia, Florida Georgia Line, Nicki Minaj and more. Have more picks for this week? Just tweet me them and I'll give them a spin? Maybe they'll be make next week's rundown.

Florida Georgia Line - "Dirt"
Following a slew of releases that really didn't grab me, Florida Georgia Line (who are most famous for re-releasing decent tracks in overly revamped formats, often featuring Country or Rap artists) finally struck it rich with "Dirt". The new track (which currently sits at #1 on US iTunes at press time) previews the band's 2nd official album (and 3rd overall after the re-release of their debut album under a new title) and is actually one of their most compelling efforts to date. Looking forward to hearing more from them this time around... hopefully they've phased out of the "country-rap" stint that initially made me dislike them so much. We'll see soon enough.

Usher - "She Came To Give It To You (feat. Nicki Minaj)"
While I was overly positive with Florida Georgia Line's newest release ("Dirt"), this new track from Usher really hit it out of the ballpark for me this week. Following up from one of his oddest singles to date ("Good Kisser"; it has officially charted thanks solely to a remix which takes the track from miserable to incredible), the Pharrell produced "She Came To Give It To You (feat. Nicki Minaj)" is a great comeback. While the track clearly feels like a song that's meant to be sung by Pharrell, Usher gives it his own personal twist, and Nicki Minaj delivers a solid (yet lingering) verse that's home to some of her most memorable lines to date. Overall, it's a great single and should eventually wind up being a late summer/early fall smash single. Expect it to be the biggest debut on the Hot 50 chart dated July 17th.

Iggy Azalea - "Black Widow (feat. Rita Ora)"
Hot off the heels of her still wildly popular breakthrough single, "Fancy (feat. Charli XCX)", Iggy Azalea has started promoting The New Classic's next single. "Black Widow (feat. Rita Ora)" was serviced to Pop radio as the album's next promotional single, and is already making large waves in terms of sales and airplay. The track ranks at #49 on the US iTunes Hot 200 and bows at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 as of the most recent chart update.

When I first came across "Black Widow", I instantly knew that it would end up becoming the album's next release. It has yet to chart on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50, but it should be reaching the list within the coming weeks... Stay tuned.

Kiesza - "So Deep"
Marking a major departure from the dance and house oriented sounds of her first two releases through a record label ("Hideaway" and "Giant In My Heart"), Kiesza's "So Deep" should be considered a groovy, sexy R&B/Soul jam with some electronic influences. It doesn't have the instant appeal that her first two tracks did, but it does have its moments and its a bright track with a promising future. It's unlike anything else you've heard (or will hear this year), so be sure to check it out and purchase lead single "Hideaway" on US iTunes today (currently ranked at #2 on Electronic and #113 on Overall; EP at #103 overall and #2 on Electronic).

Sia - "Cellophane"
Despite the fact that it is not a single at the moment, "Cellophane" (taken from Sia's recently released 1000 Forms of Fear album) is one of her most unique tracks that she has recently released. Hopefully it becomes an eventual single. Read my original thoughts on the track from my 1000 Forms of Fear album review:

"While "Cellophane" isn't nearly as strong as some of the other tracks on 1000 Forms of Fear, it's home to some of the most dazzling beats and lyrics. It's set apart from the pack as somewhat of a standout because it feels original, its unlike anything else on the album, and it feels like a ballad with a passionate twist. Unfortunately, it's not an instant favorite because it feels like the components of the track (while being stunning on their own) don't mesh in the same way that the structures of other tracks on the album do.

Still, "Cellophane" has Sia soaring sky high with her impressive vocal chords. It's definitely a grower. It will surely captivate your heart -- literally (you'll see what I mean when you listen to it) -- it just may take a few listens."

Fifth Harmony - "BO$$"
While I did give this track a severely low score upon release, it's worth noting that "BO$$" (while occasionally being annoying and downright stupid) is actually a nice achievement for Fifth Harmony: it's their only track to attract something of a decent sized audience and their only track worth playing or listening to. It also appears to get better with subsequent listens. Read my original thoughts below:

"The beat is undeniably one of the catchiest ones for a pop song this summer, but I (like a handful of others) disapprove of the writing quality (lyrics). One particular set of words comes to mind: complete garbage. "BO$$" feels like a giant quilt made out of individual squares that don't align right. The lyrics are botched and sound childish, and name dropping the First Lady isn't going to help: it'll make more people hate it. Additionally, the lyrics that could pass off as "decent" sound like they were ripped out of the classic Destiny's Child track "Independent Women Part 1" and stapled to a hodgepodge of poorly written lines. To all the publications saying Fifth Harmony "channels" Destiny's Child or TLC or whatever on their new track: no, they're copying them. I don't care who you are, you can't call yourself the new Destiny's Child if you or your staff writes like this.

On the other hand, the beat is actually decently entertaining, but then yet again there are some issues: Fifth Harmony clearly didn't produce the beat so I can't really give them a grade on that, and it does sound really familiar ("Talk Dirty" and "Problem") which makes it a pleasant disappointment overall.

As for the song itself, I'd skip it but its not terrible in a pinch. Still, it's cheesy, and completely stupid sounding at times."

Come back for more posts soon!