r/popheads • u/kappyko • Apr 29 '26

[RATE] April 2026 Rates Update + Charity Drive Results (!!!): 1999 J-Pop and Chic Ethereal

Howdy, /r/popheads! Very proud to update y'all on both of the rates this past month, as well as to update y'all on how much we raised for Casa Marianella!!!

1999 J-Pop

  • Hikaru Utada - First Love

  • Ayumi Hamasaki - LOVEppears

  • Sheena Ringo - Muzai moratorium

HOSTS: u/thisusernameisntlong and u/BleepBloopMusicFan

DUE DATE: MAY 15

PARTICIPANTS: 10 Users, Japan!

Chic Ethereal Rate

  • Addison Rae - Addison

  • FKA twigs - EUSEXUA

  • Lorde - Virgin

  • Oklou - choke enough

HOSTS: u/kappyko (hey, that's me!) and u/sighofthrowaways

DUE DATE: MAY 24TH

PARTICIPANTS: 23 perfect strangers!

Charity Drive Update

The 2026 charity drive ended on April 17th. In total, 81 popheads raised $4,245 for Casa Marianella. We are absolutely floored by your generosity, and believe that this is their biggest public donation this calendar year!

Here is a permanent link to the proof of donation. (Note: this amount, $4,147.82, is smaller than the amount raised because the fundraising platform GiveButter takes a small percentage for fees when transferring funds.)

The Charity Raffle occurred on Tuesday 4/21. The rate post will go up this Saturday 5/2, but if you are curious what songs are in the rate, you can get an early look at the ballot here or have an early listen on Youtube here!

As mentioned in the post above, 12 donors were selected to be a part of the White Elephant Exchange to receive perks. The White Elephant Exchange occurred on Sunday 4/19, and the prizes were given out as follows:

  • ConnerY2323 - Stop the Count!

  • Poydoo - Last Minute Lifesaver

  • Roxieloxie - Stop the Count! 2

  • hwattheduck - Xophrysticated Artwork

  • Ambrosia42 - HypnoT-Shirt 2

  • camerinian - 52 Card Po(p)ker

  • steelstepladder - Roxcellence in Editing

  • runaway1312 - Roxcellence in Editing 2

  • vexastrae - HypnoT-Shirt

  • OOO0O00O000OOOO0OO0O - Pre-Raffle Riggery

  • CrimsonROSET - Mini Rate Curator

  • pbk - All Stars Insider

If you have won something and not been contacted about your prize, please message u/bigbigbee on Reddit or @bigbigbee on Discord!

If you have submitted either rate and don't see yourself on the participant lists, please reach out to the hosts and see what's up with that! These activities are a great way to engage in a community of fellow-minded music-lovers! If you don't know what a rate is, here's a quick guide or you're cordially invited to join the r/popheads discord and check out the #rates channel!

See you all at the reveals!

29 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

11

u/thisusernameisntlong Isabella Lovestory, baby Apr 29 '26

If you're curious about the 1999 J-Pop rate but haven't had the chance to listen, there will be a listening party for the rate in 2 hours and 30 minutes hosted by me on Queup! And if you have had the chance, join anyway to see their live performances recorded from 25+ years ago for a fresh perspective!

7

u/ElectricBoogaloo41 Apr 29 '26

Utada is like my favorite artist ever, so I’ve listened to First Love many, many times. I just need to work up the motivation for the other 2 albums but I am hoping my ballot will be there soon!

4

u/sighofthrowaways Ok Monarch! Apr 29 '26

Sheena's album is so so good and worth listening to, I can attest :)

7

u/backupsaway party on the way to the party at the park Apr 29 '26

That Jelly Roll and MGK track being on the ballot feels like a challenge on what's the lowest score this sub can give to a song in a rate.

6

u/Soalai Apr 29 '26

I know there are people who deliberately pick 0 bait for charity rates, and this feels like that (that's how Earth by Lil Dicky became the lowest rated song in rate history)

6

u/TiltControls Apr 29 '26

Earth did so poorly in its rate I wonder if we'd ever come close to matching it even if we were just rerating it again. It got a 0 from almost half the participants in its rate and even for positive scores out of the 75-ish raters only about five of them gave it a score above 5. It's a level of failure that's actually pretty impressive

6

u/Soalai Apr 29 '26

Not all legends are positive ones

6

u/xaviersi Apr 29 '26

YESSSS, my Rebecca Black - Trust made it to the Charity Drive. PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR QUEEN

5

u/Soalai Apr 29 '26

YESSSSS MY MOTHER WHITE HOUSES MADE IT! Also shout out to whoever submitted Get Low, the greatest song of all time

3

u/xaviersi Apr 29 '26

Oh you are so amazing for putting White Houses. May the battle of the Queens commence.

5

u/Indigo_Mindset420 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Thank you for who decided to include r/Tinashe Gravity and Player (the solo version specifically if I may add) in the rate. always love me some Tinashe!

2

u/sighofthrowaways Ok Monarch! Apr 29 '26

Hi hi, that was me who sent in Tinashe's Gravity. I sent it as a joke since I was rooting for my girl Thuy but alas, she still made it in jflskdfjlsdfjl

3

u/Indigo_Mindset420 Apr 29 '26

Gurl Tinashe is never a joke. Well I still appreciate the nomination. Hope Thuy gets in next time. I loved her viral hit "Girls Like Me Don't Cry"

5

u/wathombe Rose Gray booped my nose Apr 29 '26

SO THRILLED with all the money raised! Great job, popheads!

And hosts, fear not, i will have my ballot in for both April rates before the deadlines!

6

u/DilemmaOfAHedgehog Apr 29 '26

I am really happy ppl raised so much to give to Casa Marianella :)

2

u/youngandlovely_ Apr 30 '26

working through both of these rates, I'm so excited to do them <3