FRIDAY CHART PREVIEW

Hey, Buddy! Ready for a glimpse of the future? No, not the near future, when you're drinking scotch in the mountains somewhere and humming along to Burl Ives, but the very near future, also known as the week you spend a few token hours looking busy when you're really packing for the mountains. Now dig down deep and let's see if we can maintain the illusion of working for just a little longer.

TOP 40
It’s "clean up what you’re missing" week ahead. It’s "freeze the playlist if you’re already too bored" week. It’s "stop talking to your promotion/radio contacts" time. It’s the last roundup for 2013. Look for the biggest songs to close out, just like we will be closing out and emptying out our cesspool for 2013. Bet on Black Magnetic/Epic’s A Great Big World, Atlantic’s Bruno Mars, Lorde (Lava/Republic) and John Newman (Republic) to continue their charge. And bet on us to care less and less as each day passes next week. We’ll crank this up and start anew in January, at which point we'll care. But for now…

RHYTHMIC
Kid Ink’s "Show Me" (RCA) crashes the Top 10 party this week, as Pitbull f/Kesha "Timber" (also RCA) and Drake (YM/CM/Republic) have great weeks and lock themselves into the Top 20. J. Cole’s "She Knows" (Roc Nation/Columbia) and YG f/Young Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan "My Hitta" (CTE/Def Jam/IDJ) are also entrenched in the top 25. Katy Perry’s "Dark Horse" (Capitol) debuts this week, and Columbia’s Beyonce surprises everyone with a brand new Album and videos to boot.

ALTERNATIVE
Who can catch RCA’s Cage the Elephant for #1? No one this year, as "Come a Little Closer" is still comfortably in front of Virgin’s Bastille and future #1 contenders Arctic Monkeys (Domino) and Lava/Republic’s Lorde.　XL’s Vampire Weekend should hit top 10 status sometime next week with their hit "Unbelievers."On Monday we will see Arcade Fire (Merge) have a big debut at #32 with their new single, "Afterlife."　 Republic strikes again with Phantogram; "Falling In Love" will debut right around #33.

Whew. We've fully gone to Carolina in our minds.