This week's Hot 100 is notable for the fact that every one of its top ten songs are in the same positions they were in last week, a rare peaceful period for a chart that's normally defined by its turbulent nature. And after watching these songs rise, fall, and rise again over the course of weeks or months—or shooting straight to the top and holding their position for shockingly long periods of time—this moment of stasis hints at a temporary equilibrium between pop music's competing impulses, and suggests that this week's top ten may be the quintessential snapshot of pop in 2013.…
[ Read more ]