With more than 31 million views on YouTube since its release six days ago, it seems inevitable that Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop,” already infamous for its lyrical drug references and kiiinda racist video, will enter the Billboard Hot 100 at or near its top. Which is fine. The pop charts are supposed to provide teenagers with bad influences, even if Miley may or may not be “the second coming of Pat Boone.” (If you need context for that burn click here.) And more importantly, that kind of chart placement will be a major look for producer Mike Will Made It, who after establishing himself with the rap world after crafting smash hits for Future and Juicy J is making a seamless slide into the pop business, and who is consistently great.
It would be better, though, if we could put Ciara’s “Body Party,” which Mike Will Made It also produced, up there instead. After being released back in March, it’s been hanging around just above the Hot 100’s midpoint, and for as deep as it’s dug itself into the hearts of a certain taxon of sappy hip-hop/R&B fan, the passion it’s inspired has yet to flare up into full-on chart success. Which has some of those sappy hip-hop/R&B fans low-key angry.