Songs that are hits on both sides of the border.
131 songs, albums, videos submitted for review this week
Today’s picks are songs that are on the charts on both sides of the border, but started in the USA
Hate That I Made You Love Me by Ariana Grande. A real crossover champ, this is on the US Hot 100 and is No. 10 on Mexico’s Airplay chart . In it, Grande goes full electronic and special effects, with birds chirping and echo in a mid‑tempo synth‑pop framing, instead of her more flashy style. The final product is very relaxed and pleasant to listen to. Stream everywhere.
Drop Dead, single/video by Olivia Rodrigo. With lines like One night I was bored in bed/So I stalked you on the internet and Clothes off fall to the ground/Let’s go steady, she is having a great time in this song. Instead of revenge breakup music, it’s dreamy, retro‑tinged confessional pop: melodically lush, lyrically poetic, and emotionally fizzy. Top 10 on the US Hot 100 and No. 12 on Mexico’s Airplay chart, so it crossed the border with a bang. Stream everywhere.
I Just Might, single by Bruno Mars. Classic Bruno Mars: a feel‑good, disco‑soul jam with tight, 70s‑inspired grooves, brass and funk guitars, radio‑ready hooks, and dance‑floor flirtation rather than real emotion. It follows his familiar groove, and people like it. Top 10 on the US Hot 100 and No. 13 on Mexico’s Airplay chart, what can I say, except stream everywhere.
Man I Need, single by Olivia Dean. Light, fun, romantic. All around a great song that appeals everywhere in every language. From her album The Art of Loving, it blends pop, R&B, gospel and jazz and bossa nova into a concoction that has landed at No. 5 on the US Hot 100 and No. 39 on Mexico’s Airplay chart. Stream everywhere.
“I Knew It, I Knew You” – Taylor Swift. An upbeat country-pop (but not country) ballad that is more complex than it seems. Swift built it on 14 instruments — acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, saxophone, piano, strings, celesta, Hammond organ, Mellotron, etc., with folk-rock touches – whew!. It is from Toy Story 5 and sung from cowgirl Jessie’s perspective. The movie role may be part of why it is No. 2 on the US Hot 100 and No. 29 on Mexico’s Airplay chart. Mexicans love movies for kids, and they love Taylor Swift. Stream everywhere or see the movie.
Choosin’ Texas, single by Ella Langley. Good, solid country, but with a clever twist by framing a love-triangle breakup as a competition between two states (Tennessee vs. Texas). Co-written by Miranda Lambert (a Texas native) after she told Langley a story about her home state, which sparked the line “She’s from Texas, I can tell.” It was No. 1 on the Hot 100 for over 11 weeks and has charted with English-language Expat audiences in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Nicaragua, but has no following in Mexico, a country that used to include Texas. Stream on all major platforms.
Patrick O’Heffernan