Are you having a good summer? (Yes, technically it's not quite summer, but let's not quibble — post-Memorial Day is summer, culturally if not calendrically.) There are a lot of people not having a great summer, so far: the Cleveland Cavaliers, for instance. Also Donald Trump and Kathy Griffin both seem poised to have bummer summers.
But so as to not dwell on the losers, let's look at some who are just crushing the summer and hope a little of their success rubs off on the rest of us.
• Justin Bieber. Now this guy is having a great summer. Being Justin Bieber — young, attractive, rich and popular — already seems like an enviable proposition, but in recent weeks, the pop star has had back-to-back No. 1 singles and he doesn't even have a new album out.
First came "I'm the One," a posse cut from DJ Khaled featuring rappers Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne and Quavo with Bieber handling the hook, immediately followed by the monster remix to Latin pop stars Luis Fonsi's and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," now at No. 1 for four weeks. This makes Bieber only one of few artists to replace himself at the top of the Hot 100.
There's a fair amount of evidence suggesting Bieber is a spoiled, insufferable doofus, but there's no denying the boy's honeyed vocals cement hits. He is no doubt now the most in-demand guest feature in popular music, and he's ruling the summer — submit or resist, as you see fit.
• Faith in humanity. Both "Despacito" and Ariana Grande's star-studded "One Love" concert filled me with a bit of hope.
Grande's tear-filled rendition of "Over the Rainbow," the overarching sentiment of tolerance and respect, the resilience to stage an even-bigger concert only days after a terrorist attack intended to scare people from enjoying such events, and all the killer Oasis songs Liam Gallagher and Coldplay performed — the whole thing felt like the perfect response to terrorism.
And perhaps I'm reading too much into "Despacito" topping the charts, but at a time when we're arguing about who belongs in America and a new white nationalist movement is ascendant, it's kind of cool the most popular song in the country — and the early favorite for song of the summer — is sung almost entirely in Spanish.
I'm going to interpret it as proof that America's demographic shifts are irreversible and that the majority of Americans recognize that a multicultural country is both stronger and a more interesting place to live. Hopefully, we look back years from now and realize this pleasant song featuring two Puerto Ricans and one Canadian jackleg was a cultural signpost signaling that we, culturally, were ready to chill with the weird anti-immigration fervor.
And if not, everyone grooving to a Spanish earworm all summer is still welcome, and certainly preferable to Ed Sheeran.
• Luke Combs. On the flip side of the charts, husky, bearded Luke Combs is having a terrific start to the summer. The 27-year-old country singer self-recorded his music, releasing three EPs before his single "Hurricane" caught fire after he put it on iTunes, bringing him to the attention of Columbia, who signed him up and re-released "Hurricane," sending it rocketing up the country charts and dominating terrestrial radio.
Last week, he released his debut album, "This One's For You," and it's good, full of crunchy, catchy Eric Church-style country rock songs. I've slotted into my personal summer rotation Combs' "When It Rains, It Pours," an album highlight about a guy who discovers that his girlfriend leaving him is the best thing to ever happen to him, kicking off "one hell of a redneck row" that starts when he wins $100 on a scratch-off lottery ticket.
• '00s Indie Rock Fans. There are new songs — and albums on the way — from The National, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes. So if you had a beard — or were friends with people who had beards — between 2001 and 2010, your summer is looking pretty good.
Jeremiah Tucker is a music columnist for the Globe. Contact him at jeremiahtucker@hotmail.com.
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