Iyaz–Pretty Girls (ft. Travie McCoy)

Released two days ago! 16/5/2011
US Billboard: –
UK: –
(of course, we’ll see if this charts. It’s interesting to see how this’ll turn out.)

This song’s premise is stupid, it’s even sillier than Replay; there are strange lines (I need a chick that’s gonna hold me tight like vice grips?!) not to mention there is a spelling error in the music video. (It’s spelled INDECISIVE. Not “INDECICIVE”.)

But is that necessarily a bad thing? I’m not so sure.

I recall Tinie Tempah’s Frisky and during my review of Invincible I mentioned that on a musical basis Invincible is probably his best song. Since then, I’m not so sure about that. The Yes Remix of Simply Unstoppable is one energy-loaded song which I do like, but really, Frisky has grown on me because of its sheer ridiculous. With chorus lines like

Oh la la la la, la la la la la
Oh la la la la, la la la (frisky)

Not to mention Tempah’s relaxed and light-hearted delivery over the whole song, I must admit Frisky has really grown on me a lot; perhaps willing of an upgrade of originally a 3.5/10 to now around 6.5/10. It’s a positively happy ball of silliness.

Replay was charming and worked well in juxtaposition to the other ‘love’/’lust’ songs that were out then. It certainly didn’t excel in terms of intellectual appeal, and neither does Pretty Girls. In my opinion, the strength in both of the songs is their horrible catchiness. Musically, I do like the pre-chorus section too (See I done been around the world before to places you would not believe…). The melody there is pretty good. Iyaz might want to work a bit on his singing though – the autotune effects are really blatant here, it’d be nicer if he could use less of it.

(That said, there are clear lyrical weaknesses in the song. Lots of strange rhymes or out-of-place lyrics (one of the worst offenders: And I know ain’t nothing like those London girls, cause they know how to party – OH!; the line is not even supposed to rhyme with anything, so what was the “OH” for?!), and excessive repetition.)

It’s a pop confection clearly designed for summer. It’s just so… bouncy, really.

Not to mention Travie McCoy. Didn’t like the guy on his hit Billionaire (though I’d blame Bruno Mars mainly for that) but his flow seems to work really well on light-hearted tracks. I found his collaboration with Taio Cruz on Higher easily the best version of the song… and I can say I really like Higher in general. (8.0/10). His rapping isn’t intellectual material, and even comes off as weird and random at times, but the general sense of relaxation and a carefree spirit is there.

OVERALL SCORE = 6.0 / 10
Pretty Girls does have many lyrical deficiencies and honestly, the concept as a whole is an overused (and, in my opinion, silly) one. However, the sheer bounciness and catchiness of the track, combined with Travie McCoy’s light, relaxed rap do make for a very serviceable summer song. Personally, I think Iyaz’s singing could use a bit of work. JR Rotem’s production is definitely on point here.

Chris Brown–Up To You

Not a single, but F.A.M.E. was released on 18th March 2011.
Billboard: –
UK: –

After a bunch of singles that ranged from weak (No BS, Deuces) to well, okay (Look At Me Now, Yeah 3X I guess, Beautiful People) and perhaps decent (Next 2 You) I decided to check out a few of the other tracks on Chris Brown’s new album. Up To You was a standout for me.

This is more my kind of thing, really. In terms of instrumentation and production, for some reason I was really reminded of Usher’s U Got It Bad. The slow, more traditional approach works here as it did on Usher’s song (they’re not about the same thing, but the idea of relative passivity is maintained across both songs). As a piece to listen to, Up To You is a pretty decent one (I do have an objection though: the awkward use of the swear-word to open the verses is unnecessary; while justifiable it doesn’t ring so well in the ears). The bridge and choruses are done well, I’d think. I like the (I’ve made so many tears, I don’t wanna make no, make no more) part.

Like most 2011 pop songs, there ARE lyrical deficiencies, unfortunately;

(Verse 2)
What the hell babe
Make me wanna jump out an airplane

Eh? It doesn’t help that I’m made to recall B.o.B’s Airplanes and Tyler The Creator’s Yonkers when presented with this kind of lyric. Perhaps the wtf-ness of this is attempted to be justified in the next line (The way it feels, I just can’t explain) so I can semi-buy this, but it’s a very strange idea for love, I find. It’s introduced out of nowhere, really.

(Bridge)
I’ve made so many tears I don’t wanna make no, make no more
So give me your list, yes I’m checking things off
Ready to go to work, baby you can be boss

Comparing love to what would presumably be a to-do list isn’t my idea of a romantic gesture. Yes, Acts of Service is a love language, but I still find such a comparison awkward. Given that work is frequently associated with the notion of a daily grind and being separate from play or pleasure (though they CAN be found together, for many people they’re not), I’m not so sure comparing devotion to work is the best idea as well.

Not to mention the grammatical error – ‘baby you can be the boss’ would be better.

Nevertheless, the general approach behind the song works for me. Perhaps I’m a little idealistic, but I do often enjoy songs where the singer/persona takes on a lower-key approach, learns, develops and grows, and Up To You definitely does have such elements. (It could also be because the Billboard charts are so frequently filled with either hostile a la F**k You, Rolling in the Deep, vapid e.g. Just Can’t Get Enough or Down on Me, deceptive like Born this Way or bad such as Tonight, The Lazy Song material – not that the former two categories are bad, but it can be tiring to listen to such songs too frequently.) As far as I’m concerned, it’s a clear pass and a decent song – though it doesn’t quite match up to Usher’s U Got It Bad which for me seems to be, in terms of sound, pretty similar. Probably Brown’s best off F.A.M.E., though also a far cry from his best (for me, that would have to go to Say Goodbye). It’s very, very solid though.

OVERALL SCORE = 7.5 / 10
Up To You eschews Brown’s recent shifts towards rap and high-energy dance tracks, going with a more traditional R&B approach. For me, it works well. While there are a few small lyrical deficiencies, the message is a nice, positive one and the instrumentation works well to support the message, as does Brown’s singing. Please don’t remind me of the airplane, though.

Adele–Rolling In The Deep

Released 29th November 2010
Billboard: #13
UK: #2

“Do you let your heart lead the way, or do you usually let your head make the decisions for you? Have you encountered situations whereby your mind told you one thing but your heart said otherwise?”
(extracted from http://www.great-inspirational-quotes.com/heart-quotes.html)

For me, I find that my brain and heart will both respond to a song. If they both approve of it, such as B.o.B’s Airplanes or Kanye’s All of the Lights – or if they both disapprove of it (there are way too many examples to list here), then it’s pretty straightforward; the former case will score well while the latter, poorly. However, there are situations where the head says one thing and the heart another. In most ‘dispute’ cases, the head says it’s bad or unimpressive while the heart loves it – Bruno Mars’ Grenade and Drake’s Forever are two I can think of – and these usually end up quite decent, too. Today’s song, however, is a special case. I, honestly, don’t really like this song.

In terms of vocal ability, Adele is certainly by no means lacking as she powerfully knocks through the notes of the chorus along with that backing choir – though sometimes I’m not sure I like my songs with that much power slammed into each syllable. My head can appreciate this – my heart is turned off. I’m made to recall Cee-Lo’s Fuck You but as far as I’m concerned, this is controlled power which on a head level works very, very neatly for me; I found the latter song clunky and essentially, a mess (and much worse than Rolling in the Deep). (Notice ‘neat’ is something I’d be more likely to think about cognitively than feel emotively?) It’s good but gets grating quickly.

It probably is appropriate in conveying the rage one might experience at the (opportunity as well as emotional) costs of a breakup, but I’ve got to ask myself whether this is the kind of thing I can possibly enjoy listening to frequently.  Maybe I’m more of a passive person, but breakup songs of quiet resolve and tempered anger (Heartless), or those of sadness (Jay Sean Lights Off) seem to work better.

Perhaps a comparison to Bruno Mars’ Grenade may be appropriate – these songs are both about questionable ways of dealing with break-ups. Grenade is certainly ludicrous; Rolling in the Deep’s method is questionable, but not as nonsensical – it’s left ambiguous (I’ll lay your ship bare…). It’s okay.

I think it’s the production that kills things for me though – the backing chorus is too extensive. Someone once described Willow Smith’s Whip My Hair as a “noisy” song – and it was much worse than this, but unfortunately I’d find Rolling in the Deep having a bit too much unnecessary noise in the chorus.

I don’t know. This is a hard song for me to like – I find it gets grating quickly. I can appreciate the power in her voice, BUT I cannot listen to this without getting annoyed.

OVERALL RATING = 5.5 / 10
I can see that there is power in Adele’s voice, but somehow I find the production a bit of a letdown here, and it seems to mess things up. Technically she is strong, the concept of the song is fine, but… the execution of the song somehow pisses me off.

Chris Brown ft. Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne–Look At Me Now

Released February 01, 2011.
Billboard: #11
UK Charts: –

Posse raps can be interesting, as you get to hear a little slice of each individual’s style. For example, on the remix of Brown’s Deuces, from hearing their voice I could pick out Drake, TI, Kanye and Andre3000 easily without needing to see the list of featured artists. When I first saw the concept on paper – Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, I figured it’d be an R&B track, possibly with some extended rap features. I was wrong.

However, I had heard him do a rap section (feature, actually) on Chipmunk’s Champion, in addition to his semi-shouting part on Yeah 3X; now I think about it actually quite a number of R&B singers are doing semi-crossovers (Trey Songz put his own take on Look At Me Now, and Ne-Yo opens One In A Million with some rapping). So I wasn’t too surprised…

Unlike Forever where all four of them had their strengths going for them, the aforementioned Deuces remix where all could be contenders, or perhaps even the depressingly weak yet somewhat egalitarian (bad) nature of Bedrock, this is one of the most one-sided ones I have ever seen, to put it bluntly.

#1 CHRIS BROWN

I don’t see how you can hate from outside of the club
You can’t even get in
Hahaha, leggo

Heh, the lyrics are obnoxious, as is the laugh. Anyway, that was just some random intro bit, so we should get down to the real content of his verse. I

Yellow model chick, yellow bottle sippin’
Yellow Lamborghini, yellow top missin’

Okay… This reminds me of Wiz Khalifa’s song about a car as well (Black And Yellow). Though my critical mind thinks Black And Yellow is bad as a song, I find it pretty catchy as harmless entertainment. The sheer ridiculousness of some parts of the song made it more humorous than anything – which may be a good thing.

That shit look like a toupee
I get what you get in 10 years, in two days

If I earned $10000 a month, I would get approximately $1.2 million in 10 years, not including bonuses. Let’s take the bonus as 1 month so that’s $1,320,000 in 10 years. In 2 days would mean that you earn… $241 million a year. True, that’s not impossible, but I believe that kind of level was surpassed only by Oprah for 2010. Even the top earning popstar, Beyonce clocked in at $87M, a little over one third of that. Pretty ambitious there, eh?

Ladies love me; I’m on my Cool J
If you get what I get, what would you say?
She wax it all off, Mr. Miyagi

No issues, no comments here.

And them suicide doors, hari-kari

LAZY rhyming. The term for suicide is hari kiri… Well, I guess it isn’t too bad that he gets his words on timing most of the time. 3.0 / 10

HOOK – CHRIS BROWN

Look at me now, look at me now
Oh, I’m getting paper
Look at me now, oh, look at me now
Yeah, fresher than a muff(??)

I can’t seem to hear the dirty word that this is supposed to end with. Anyway, could you sing something? At least I sort of liked his oversinging on Champion… He’s a singer first, a dancer up there as well, and a rapper maybe 20th. 4.0 / 10

#2 CHRIS BROWN

Lil nigga, bigger than gorilla
Cause I’m killing every nigga that can try to be on my shit
Better cuff your chick if you with her, I can get her
And she accidentally slip and fall on my dick

Heh, how incredulous (accidentally? It shouldn’t be exposed at all!). He’s trying a bunch of 16th note syllables here, and it’s at least kinda nice to listen to.

Oops, I said on my dick
I ain’t really mean to say on my dick
But since we talking about my dick
All of you haters say hi to it

Suck it, huh? As again, I somehow feel he’s not really trying at least in terms of lyric-writing here.

I’m done.

Well, I hope that was some fun experimentation, but please return to a main singing role in your songs. It wasn’t really terrible, but you can do much better. 4.0 / 10

#3 BUSTA RHYMES

Ayo Breezy, let me show you how to keep the dice rolling when you’re doing that thing over there homie

Yeah. He only did it for around four bars or so. Let’s do this!

Let’s GO!

I’m pumped. That sounds somewhat like Tinie Tempah’s signature before he starts his songs, though…

Cause I feel like I’m running
And I’m feeling like I gotta get away, get away, get away…

This is what I mean by fast. I remember in Forever that Eminem one-upped the others in terms of speed, rapping:

He’s wondering if he should spit this slow
Fuck no! Go for broke,
His cup just runneth over, oh no

You sure about this…? Forever was 158 BPM with a small bunch of 16th triplets. For the most part he’s just doing 8th notes at 158 BPM which a simple calculation would show to be 158 x 2 / 60,or around 5.27 syllables per second. Look At Me Now is only 146, but Busta goes mainly on the sixteenths. In other words, that is (146 x 4 / 60) or 9.73 syllables per second. Following the rappers on Forever would make for a somewhat hard song on DDR; but, Look At Me Now could easily be a boss song that would make Forever look like peanuts.

I’m not going to bother going through the lyrics. It’s fairly standard fare about pushing for the top in spite of haters, rebutting them, etc. Normally, songs that succeed for me do so on the intellectual level a la All of the Lights which I just wrote about; yet this is an example of serious technical proficiency. Good job. It’s the main part of the song which I can put on repeat. Heh looks like it’d be worth it for me to check out more of the guy’s work. This could be pop-slanted though relative to the rest of his work – somehow, like Raekwon’s verse on Runaway Love with Kanye West and Justin Bieber I get this feeling. Nevertheless, he’s very good. 8.0 / 10

Sheesh. This means the expectations are going to be VERY, VERY high for the next person up…

#4 LIL WAYNE

Man, fuck these bitch ass niggas, how y’all doin’?
I’m Lil Tunechi, I’m a nuisance, I go stupid, I go dumb like the Three Stooges
I don’t eat sushi, I’m the shit, no, I’m pollution, no substitution
Got a bitch that play in movies in my jacuzzi, pussy juicy

A porn star. I get it.

Seriously, most of this is also just standard fare about rising to the top and rebutting haters, so I don’t see much point in going through the lines. I’ll just point out the more interesting or uncertain bits.

You niggas ain’t eatin’, fuck it, tell a waiter
Marley said shoot ‘em, and I said okay
If you wanted bullshit then I’m like olé

Don’t quite get this bit. Who is Marley? I’ve heard it’s Wayne’s bodyguard, but still… isn’t this inappropriate especially given that he was just incarcerated for weapon possession?!

I don’t care what you say, so don’t even speak
Your girlfriend a freak like Cirque du Soleil

Ah ha! Like this. She must be a mad contortionist, probably. Nice one there.

Ciroc and Sprite on a private flight, bitch I been tight since Guiding Light

I learned that it (Guiding Light)’s apparently the longest running television drama (from 1975), and someone on rapgenius also commented that it could be a double entendre for God and Light. Nevertheless, going by this idea I don’t see a need for such reading anyway, since Guiding Light in and of itself, without changing the words, could also be an allusion to God, who was around since the beginning of time.

He isn’t bad. However, it’s hard to clear the bar that Busta set in his verse, and from what I see, Wayne doesn’t do it. Nevertheless, this is credibly okay. 5.5 / 10

And of course, the winner for me is Busta, hands down. Lil Wayne is good, but I think it’d be better if he throws in more of those interesting, witty couplets, or at least those that would make me smile amusedly. Brown should stick to singing, really.

OVERALL SCORE = 6.0 / 10
This is a rather unusual case where some elements of the song are excellent and others seem inherently flawed. I settled on a 6, as the hook while not good isn’t terrible, and the featured artists do their job more than satisfactorily (Lil Wayne), if not excellently (Busta). It’s pretty catchy, but probably could have been more cohesive if Brown used a more traditional pattern (e.g. Brown sings or raps v1, and sings the hook rather than just goes Look at me now, Look at me now. Wayne fires v2 and Busta does the bridge or vice versa). Nevertheless, I do respect Busta’s technical proficiency. I’d listen to the song for that part, really.

Kanye West ft. Rihanna et al–All of the Lights

Billboard: #31 (and charting)
UK: #46
Released January 18, 2011.

‘Lights’. This word reminds me of a lot of other fairly recent releases – of course, Jay Sean’s Hit the Lights and Lights Off, Ellie Goulding’s Bright Lights, Katy B’s Lights On, which was a pretty decent but nothing-special dance affair for me, Coldplay’s Christmas Lights, and (older) West has done Flashing Lights too…

The music video is terrible, in my opinion. The black and white intro, probably of the daughter mentioned in Kanye’s verses looks vaguely compelling, and then we are treated… or tortured… with an explosive light-show of Rihanna singing some lyrics rendered in bright lights. (The visual above is also from the song. The CD cover isn’t out yet.) We have a few scenes that some have commented are reminiscent of Enter the Void, Kanye standing on a few police cars during the chorus, an overexposed Rihanna and Kid Cudi singing away from the camera.

It’s an all-star cast, supposedly, so long that I can’t even remember who exactly features on it, but basically only Rihanna, Kid Cudi, and Fergie get noticeable parts (and Elton John has the piano playing bridge). I don’t really like Fergie (Big Girls Don’t Cry = decent, but some stuff was terrible… My Humps and The Time with the BEP, for two), but I do like Kanye, Rihanna, and Cudi so this looks like a strong combination on paper.

The chorus is very addictive for some reason. The drums follow a non-standard but interesting rhythm, and it’s actually quite uplifting, I must say. We have a set of several kinds of lights – cop lights, flash lights, spotlights, strobe lights, street lights and several kinds of lives which are frequent stereotypes taken on by popstars.

It’s rather creepy that Rihanna is supplying the hook, and the verses of the song discuss domestic violence. That infamous incident happened in the past, and we shouldn’t be dwelling on it, I think, but unfortunately and perhaps even inevitably such associations are difficult to banish. Not to mention Love the Way You Lie. Interpretations of Kanye’s daughter as music do exist and are somewhat justifiable, but I find that pushing it a little far, mainly because of the lines about the ghetto university in the second verse.

(Verse 1): To my surprise, a nigga replacing me
I had to take him to that ghetto university

Bump him off, basically. In terms of music, to outperform the others that might have replaced him after a hiatus (especially in the case of rap – 808s & Heartbreak while in my opinion an excellent album doesn’t count). Verse 1 goes well with this interpretation – almost too well, in fact. However, I can’t quite grasp the following pair of lines with the interpretation of the daughter as music.

(Verse 2): She need a daddy, baby please
Can’t let her grow up in that ghetto university

Kanye’s character has been somewhat precocious at times, but still. Seriously, is it reasonable to believe that the music industry depends on one individual, and furthermore will not advance without that one individual? True, it may not have advanced in a certain way without an individual, but to say that it would continue to grow up in that ghetto university is a very, very daring statement. So I’ll take the more literal interpretation, that he’s taking on the character of a (celebrity) child abuser.

From verse 1 to verse 2, there’s a break. The way I see how going up the stairs suddenly led to the restraining order, and the line Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order may have been a second case of domestic violence? The daughter doesn’t seem to have a daddy now as suggested by the ending lines of verse 2, so what exactly happened then? But anyway, his intentions are good now; he wants to make life better for his daughter. That’s nice to know.

It’s more straightforward and simple this way, but the overall message is still uplifting. With regard to the hook, there’s a certain tinge of anger with which he lists cop lights etc. which could suggest that he isn’t a fan of his past and what he saw. Perhaps he was a popstar indeed, but lost control of his family life – the fact that he raps Fast life, drug life, thug life, rock life, every night (no family quality time!) could be an explanation for this. Despite the lights and lives looking appealing, he may want to escape from them.

Considered on another level, he may be highlighting some of the lights that people seek – cop lights, flash lights, spotlights, strobe lights, street lights. Some of these (spotlights, strobe lights, flash lights from paparazzi) are commonly associated with pop stardom, perhaps even a part of it. But are these lights really what we should be going for? Consider he had Flashing Lights, which was a comment about a lady going too far with a flamboyant, partying lifestyle while he picked something quieter (order the hors d’oeuvres, view of the water/Straight from a page of your favourite author). Not to mention Lost in the World where he goes Run from the lights, run from the night, run for your life. Furthermore when featured on Forever, he had They pull their cameras out, and god damn they snap. It seems lights are a negative image – or even motif – in West’s lyrics for the drawbacks of stardom.

Kid Cudi comes on…

Getting mine, baby, got to let these niggas know
Getting right, eh, you should go and get your own (x2)

What is he trying to get? Clearly, it’s something with a sense of right – a frame of mind for right living, perhaps? Not the lights, in any case, and he’s trying to express perhaps that people should go and get their own forms of lights or lives that are right, and not just chase after the popular lights and lives because they have drawbacks that may not be immediately apparent.

I don’t really like the timbre of Fergie’s rapping voice. The repetition of mind, line and time got very annoying quickly. It’s clearly about a drug issue, yes, and repetition may be used to place emphasis on the number of times, but I think it sounds terrible. She’s probably better off singing songs where she doesn’t belt (or worse, scream as in Boom Boom Pow) too much, as far as I’m concerned.

Anyway, I think from the verses we’ve pieced together more than enough to unravel the hook in the song. It’s important to see all of the lights, not just the lights that may be more apparent to us, and it’s up to us to chase for the right lights (which would be different for different people) as we live our lives. Go after the right lights, push hard, and do your best. Bring others up with you if you can.

I would actually compare this song with Lupe Fiasco’s The Show Goes On and Tinie Tempah’s Invincible (review). All three recently-released songs are uplifting pieces about pushing through difficult circumstances for success. Invincible in my opinion is the weakest of the three; while it’s certainly technically competent, I think all of the 3 songs are technically good and thus its (seemingly, hopefully) largely straightforward and even saccharine approach limits its effectiveness. The Show Goes On also takes a more straightforward approach, though I think it has a good hook and I find it flows together very well – it’d be an example of getting most of the basics nailed down well for a pop-rap song. All of the Lights in my opinion doesn’t flow as smoothly as The Show Goes On, but the lyrics are well constructed and it’s intellectually solid. The Show Goes On is more appealing in a simple way, Invincible is a very comfortable song, but All of the Lights has greater depth to it. Nevertheless, I think all three are actually quite good songs (at least for the most part), but All of the Lights is the winner.

(Invincible: 6, actually 6.5, after listening a few more times since the review – it’s lyrically plain but definitely more than technically competent and the breakdown is good stuff. The Show Goes On is around a 7 to 7.5, it’s a solid song that I find very catchy and uplifting, with good use of sampling, but not too much more. For this:)

MUSIC VIDEO SCORE = 1.0 / 10, but
OVERALL SCORE = 8.0 / 10
I am more than satisfied. The cold Runaway went down very well with me, as he was able to convey convincingly the supposed depth of pain that his character was supposed to carry. All of the Lights seems to be somewhat on the other side. Kanye expresses the stresses of celebrity life, but also conveys a desire to improve oneself and break through said stresses, for oneself and for others. It’s a slightly more subtle yet uplifting, positive and powerful song. I’m not so much of a fan of Fergie’s part, though, and while the lyrics are insightful I find the instrumentation and melody merely ‘eh’ to decent, which keeps the song at around an 8 for me. Still, apart from Through the Wire and Heartless I think this is one of the best among his releases.

Pixie Lott ft. Jason Derulo–Coming Home

Was then wasn’t a single. Quite messy. It’s from Turn It Up Louder (which was released 18th October 2010).

This is a rather interesting case. I’m generally not a fan of silly, overly light-hearted songs (California Gurls, OMG, LOL :-), even Just The Way You Are). However, I did like Nothin’ on You and perhaps this song may be well compared to Nothin’ on You. Two reasonably young and up-and-coming artists (actually Lott and Derulo are probably more established than B.o.B and Bruno Mars were, prior to their release) releasing a silly love song, with just the right amount of sugar to make me go ‘awww :-)’ instead of ‘meh’ (Make You Feel My Love, the Adele 2008 song that’s still on the UK charts somehow), ‘eek’ (Just The Way You Are) or ‘yuck!’ (can’t think of examples offhand). I know B.o.B’s primarily a rapper but he has some (won’t say much, but some) singing ability too… It’s actually quite like Nothin’ on You (review), I find.

There’s another song entitled Coming Home on the charts too, and I liked the other for some of its references to older ‘classic’ soul songs (Tears of a Clown, A House Is Not A Home and Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now if I recall correctly) and Skylar Grey’s chorus. The other song brought with it some degree of lyricism and intelligence to it, and also seems to have the appropriate level of sugar. This Coming Home that I’ll be covering today is quite different from the other Coming Home. In my opinion though, both are reasonably good songs though for different reasons.

I like Derulo off-single but not so much on-single. In my opinion the standout track from his debut Jason Derulo was the more downtempo piece Blind (review – it’s grown on me, more appropriate would be 7.5 actually); now I think I prefer it to ALL the five singles he has released – the Imogen Heap structured Whatcha Say (liked at first but got annoying quickly), the lyrically terrible yet somewhat enjoyable In My Head, the scary-falsetto Ridin Solo, the annoying-chorus What If and finally the fun yet, ironically, limited The Sky’s The Limit. I kinda like The Sky’s The Limit but still his non-singles (not just Blind; I actually enjoyed Fallen, another moderate-sugar midtempo piece on love, too) work better for me. I haven’t heard much of Lott’s music up to this point; from what I can recall it’s okay though I’ve never been impressed by her songs – based on past releases, Derulo was more memorable, I find…

Anyway so let’s get down to today’s song. It’s a non-single though it went on the iTunes charts, I think, and it’s a very relaxed song. The instrumentation sounds like the kind of thing that would piss me off for being overly boring, but yet the mild guitar elements in it work well. Plain guitars and plain R&B seem to blend quite well, actually. I guess partly because of the simple, optimistic message, the guitars and production are appropriate for the song. It’s the kind of piece that gets you in a light mood.

Their voices are individually capable to say the least, and, more importantly, work well together in the chorus. The harmonies are good, and in general I think it’s a more slick, cohesive-sounding song than even Nothin’ on You (though it’s easier for singers to blend into each other than rap-singing, I’d think, ceteris paribus). This sounds more like the song that Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks should have done in place of No Air – the two have individually strong voices that worked well together on a technical level, but I personally found my enjoyment of No Air limited for a variety of reasons, such as the painfully overdramatised nature of the song, giving me echoes of JLS’s musically-good but lyrically-terrible Beat Again (review), the slightly awkward chorus (I liked the verses) and some excessive, inappropriate bass notes. I found the song got quite draggy after a while, more so than other ‘slow’ pieces (maybe Ne-Yo’s Mad, FEM Rocketeer, Mario’s Let Me Love You etc). That said No Air was pretty decent (I’d probably have given it around a 5.5 or 6) but they could have gone much further, I think.

I think another reason the song works well is because the lyrics are quite easy for a more reserved guy like me to handle. Looking at the Billboard charts, many of the songs have lyrics that distance me (Born This Way, as discussed in my unfortunately negative review of it, or Rihanna’s S&M – seriously…), about breakups that seem overdramatic (Grenade), or hyper-steamy club songs (Tonight) or weird pickup line attempts (Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) which I seem to think should be Hey Baby (La La La La), or the ridiculous yet funny Britney Spears song Hold It Against Me) or are too splashed with needless profanity to make the song unlistenable (Pink’s F—in Perfect and of course Cee Lo Green’s F—k You). Looking at the top 20 perhaps we’re left with Rocketeer, Firework, the semi-innocent club song Hit The Lights and I’m not sure what else. The song touches on love issues that would probably be more relevant to a non-superstar non-extrovert guy. Being too busy with work? Yup. Or, to put it the way they do,

I’m out for the whole day
Trying to do it my way
Monday to Friday
Gotta make my baby understand, I do this for ya girl, cause you deserve the time.

<3. Though Derulo goes now that I’m famous… in his verse, most of the song still applies. You don’t really need to be famous to create a situation where it’s hard making time for the one that means most to me, really!

(Interestingly, going down to the next 10 for me yields the ambition-laden but believable #21 More (though for Usher, that’s another story…), the not too mad Yeah 3X at 22, Colbie Caillat’s light and breezy I Do at 23, Taylor Swift’s powerful Back To December, Bieber’s inspirational attempt of Never Say Never, the aforementioned intelligent Coming Home, the slightly resistance-laced Jar of Hearts… and #28… No Hands? Okay. No. But still that was seven in a row…)

Let’s have a rundown of the lyrics.

[PL] Jason Deruloooo
[JD] Pixieee

Heh.

[PL]
Oh-oh, usually I’m always late, tonight I’m gonna be on time

I’m coming home straight after work, so you can have me all to yourself
We’ll be alone just me and you so no one interrupts what we do

Eh so it has a bit of a sex-ish tone to it, huh? Or am I just over-reading things? Nevertheless this sounds promising. It’s certainly a more romantic and for me preferable way to spend the night rather than in another song where I can think of work being mentioned and even focused on – the Roll Deep and Jodie Connor hit Good Times (which was #1 for 3 weeks in the UK, kind of a rarity nowadays, actually, and I enjoyed the song. It’s a good party song, I think, actually!).

[PL]
You say, “where are you going?”
In the night, on the way cause my body’s not to close to you
But you don’t call me, out of respect you can bet that you’ll be waiting home for me, yeah
I’m out for the whole day, trying to do it my way, Monday to Friday
Gotta make my baby understand, I do this for you boy, cause you deserve the time

Like the lyrics here. Simple but sweet. The instrumental as I’ve said is well complemented by lyrics like these.

[PL – Chorus]
I’m coming home straight after work, so you can have me all to yourself
We’ll be alone just me and you, so no one interrupts what we do
I’m coming home straight after work, so you can have me under your spell
All night, all day
So you can have me all to yourself

What exactly is she doing when she sings All night, all day? I’d like to know. I’m working on trying to sing this song, and it’s probably one of those that I can tackle quite well, but I’ll need to figure out what she’s doing. The best I can do now is to roughly try and approximate her melisma here. It’s good, though.

[JD]
You’re always complaining, in the morning when I wake from my sleep,
Brush my teeth and leave
And now that I’m famous, it’s kinda hard making time for the one that means most to me
Yeah, I’m out for the whole day, trying to do it my way, Monday to Friday
Gotta make my baby understand, I do it for you girl, cause you deserve the time

I prefer Jason Derulo’s voice not so overproduced as it often is in his singles. This part works very well for me. He seems to switch from chest to a more mixed voice as he hits the I do it for you girl part; works nicely. The chorus rolls round again, this time with Derulo’s harmony going into the picture, and then we have the bridge…

[JD] When I’m away I miss my baby
[PL] Yeah, I’m gone with half my heart
[JD] God knows, I must be crazy
[PL] For loving from afar
[JD] But tonight is gonna be different
[Together] Cause I’m coming ho—ooo—ooo—ome

YES. It’s a simple pattern, but I find their voices sound well together. This wasn’t a collaboration that I’d think would work on paper, but it does. Not to mention that if trying to sing this solo, this part requires some rather fun control, because (expectedly) Lott sings a lot higher than Derulo does. The long note they sing together is a fun one to follow too… Anyway, they close up by repeating two more times, and then the song sadly draws to a close, though with a nice little instrumental riff at the end.

OVERALL SCORE = 8.5 / 10
I thoroughly enjoyed Coming Home. It’s sugary and optimistic, for sure, but it remains quite a bit more relatable than many love songs out there nowadays are. The instrumentals, Pixie Lott’s and Jason Derulo’s voices, the songwriters behind this song, the lyrics that they came up with… it adds up to a very solid package. It’s simple, but the song has an endearing simplicity that works brilliantly. Normally, songs of this kind make an impact and fade quickly, but for me at least it hasn’t – it’s been one of my top tracks since November or so when it was released.

Lady Gaga–Born This Way

Billboard: #1
UK: #3
Released: 11th February 2011

My Economics teacher once told me in school, Under-promise, Over-deliver. It’s a strategy that can be effective in that it’d make you exceed expectations, though it has dangers in creating a conflict of expectancies (if the other party expects more…). I’ve used the strategy a lot, actually. Admittedly, it is in this light that I was rather critical of Hit the Lights (review) because I had rather high expectations for Jay Sean especially after an album delay. That said, Hit the Lights has grown a bit on me; it serves its purpose well, even if I may not like the shift that seems to be going on in his work. Artists do develop over time, after all.

This brings me to today’s song. Lady GaGa’s Born This Way had received a LOT of pre-promotion and this would have raised expectations by quite a bit. Considering her previous body of work, I enjoyed some of them quite well (Just Dance, Poker Face and Eh Eh), found some okay though they weren’t my thing (Bad Romance and Paparazzi) and found some just bad (LoveGame and Alejandro). It’s normal for most artists to have songs which I thoroughly enjoy (Just Dance, for one) as well as songs I cannot stand (Alejandro); exceptions I can think off off-hand might be… Ne-Yo perhaps (I find consistently passable, if not good) and probably some of the artists whom I may only know 1 song.

The beat of this song, for me, is comparable to that of Hot (Inna) in that I find it incredibly annoying, perhaps even headache-inducing. And at least Hot was enjoyable – I can see it as a dance song, and it’s a good DDR song (funny 16th rhythms make things nice); I’m not enjoying Born This Way’s beat. She seems to be drawing on the likes of David Guetta (hit or miss; enjoyable: Memories, bad: Sexy B—h), Eurovision, – or even worse, a group of electro-trance-like Dance Dance Revolution songs.

Singing is fine, well sounds like some autotuning was used but… that’s not a deal at all nowadays anyway – oh dear, it seems I’m giving credit for skillful singing, and accepting autotuned stuff as acceptable! Her vocal tones are fine. I’m not so keen on GaGa as a rapper though, that said. I’m aware that similarities have been drawn between the melody of this song and Madonna’s Express Yourself; I’m not very familiar with the latter song so I guess it isn’t so much of an issue for me. Those of an older generation will probably catch it though.

Anyway, when the beat is wrong, I find a dance-based song like this one is derailed. Nevertheless, let’s get down to the message, shall we?

Sheesh. This one looks messy.

It doesn’t matter if you love him, or capital H I M
Just put your paws up ’cause you were born this way, baby

Let’s address the second line first, it’s a lot simpler I think. What’s with comparing the person you’re addressing to a 4-footed animal? “Paws” is terrible diction. Okay, I know it can have the meaning of a human hand, and that’s clearly what she intended to go for, but I seem to find it as a rather insulting word. Why not just “hands”? She may be going for a message like embracing one’s inner animal, perhaps, but still the comparison turns me off.

Okay. Back to the first line. It may not be very clear here, but I think as established clearly in the later part of the lyrics, it’s not an issue of him and HIM, but it’s an issue of him and Him – which is the normal way Christians refer to God if they are using an objective pronoun. This does not look like a good premise to start a song with.

My mama told me when I was young, we are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on in the glass of her boudoir
“There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are”, she said,
“Cause he/He (??) made you perfect, babe”

Well, this looks like a Firework-esque message, pretty much what I would expect for a song with a title of Born This Way. In this context I find it quite clear that she’s going for the second He (that is, God) – if you were young it’s not likely that it’d be a male person. At this stage I don’t think there’s anything wrong yet. It looks fine, and even viewed within my lens of scepticism (towards the song, that is) seems acceptable.

So hold your head up girl and you’ll go far, listen to me when I say
I’m beautiful in my way cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track baby, I was born this way

The second line is okay (going by the logic that God made man in His image), but logically it seems this is where the song begins to break down. Is she advocating predestination (by claiming she’s on the right track)? Even worse, is she claiming foreknowledge (to the point where she can predict you’ll go far)?

I got a bit ahead of myself there. Line 3 however still has a gaping hole in it’s logic. True, we can agree that God makes no mistakes – however, what about you? So how does being made in the right way mean that you’re on the right track? I believe God gives us free will because He wants us to have it (the decision to follow Him must be one made by the individual), and it is in this free will combined with man’s inherently sinful nature that the potential for error is introduced.

Don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you’re set
I’m on the right track baby, I was born this way

Seems like an oversimplification of things to me. I don’t have too many comments for this.

Ooh there ain’t no other way, baby I was born this way
Baby I was born this way, ooh there ain’t no other way
Baby I was born- I’m on the right track baby, I was born this way

Repetition.

Don’t be a drag – Just be a queen (x3)

She’s begun making references to transgender behaviours here (drag queen, combining the words there; but she seemed to be addressing a female persona in verse 1. some disconnect?)

Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice your truth

No issues with this, though perhaps I am failing to grasp the subliminal messages she might be trying to send?

In the religion of the insecure I must be myself, respect my youth

Hmm. I’m lost…

A different lover is not a sin, believe capital H-I-M (Hey hey hey)
I love my life I love this record and Mi amore vole fe yah (Love needs faith)

To begin with it would be good if you provide evidence. The reference capital H-I-M seems to be implying that you are referring to the Judeo-Christian God, and while I’m aware there is much controversy on the issue, I’d stay away from it as my conscience tells me so (though I won’t prejudice against those that choose as such). To believe in something is one thing, but to ascribe words to God? With regards to my conscience, I’m being reminded of the possible social conditioning that Mark Twain writes about in Huck Finn but even if so, the degree of controversy indicates that it’s probably not extremely clear-cut so isn’t taking such a risk unnecessarily dangerous?

The second line is okay; I’d agree with the idea that true love needs faith. However, one problem is that the word love is actually quite a general term… It’s a rather confusing one.

[Chorus]

Rap:
Don’t be a drag, just be a queen whether you’re broke or evergreen
You’re Black, White, Beige, Chola descent, you’re Lebanese, you’re Orient
Whether life’s disabilities left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today cause baby you were born this way
No matter Gay, Straight, or Bi, Lesbian, Transgendered life
I’m on the right track baby, I was born to survive
No matter Black, White or Beige, Chola or Orient made
I’m on the right track baby, I was born to be brave

I’m… just going to leave this alone. The first half is reasonable, yes, and the second half actually isn’t anything wrong if I just extract this passage from the context… But considered in context it doesn’t rub me the right way.

Is the song bad? A little, perhaps. Is the song terrible? No. However, by promoting so much the bar has been set high. Too high, probably. Lyrically it leaves quite a few holes and questions but I shouldn’t be surprised; that’s normal and typical of many songs today.

But of this week’s chart debuts, I’d take Hit the Lights any day, unfortunately.

OVERALL SCORE = 3.0 / 10
Born This Way isn’t terrible but seems terribly underwhelming in the light of the hype that was developed around it. I find the beat rather annoying and the lyrics do have some holes in them; I personally think GaGa has done much better.

Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne–Hit The Lights

To be released: February 8 2011.

When I heard this song, I was reminded of many bad songs that I’d listened to, most notably of Usher’s “OMG” – nevertheless, this isn’t actually that bad, as it seems like it followed up on quite a lot of the lessons I’ve learnt from the bad songs I’ve been reminded of. I’ve kinda liked Jay Sean’s voice on some of his earlier releases, like the acoustic version of “I’m Gone“, and though it wasn’t groundbreaking or anything (very generic, in fact), I actually really liked his earlier collaboration with Lil Wayne on “Down”. I’m not really into rap-focused songs, but nevertheless Lil Wayne has had good spots on many songs, including one that I recently reviewed (“Forever” with Drake, Kanye West and Eminem – I think he pulled the best one on that set). My expectations going into this are quite high, and the song didn’t completely fail, but it didn’t fare that well either.

Lesson 1: Repetitive choruses/lyrics, though not always bad, often are.
Offenders: ‘Imma Be’ – Black Eyed Peas, ‘Eenie Meenie’ – Justin Bieber/Sean Kingston
Good Examples: ‘Ridin’ Solo’ – Jason Derulo, ‘Lover, Lover’ – Jerrod Niemann
This is bad. Hit The Lights repeats the titular phrase all over the place. Probably not as bad as the 106 times in Imma Be, but still, I find the phrase is over-spammed. Doesn’t automatically make it bad (it worked for me in Ridin’ Solo), especially if the repetition is done with some variation (as in Lover, Lover) but I find this one lacking. And what does it mean to hit the lights anyway? Which brings me to…

Lesson 2: Ambiguity or referencing in lyrics is usually nice, but not when taken too far.
Offenders: ‘Bedrock’ – Young Money ft. Lloyd, ‘All The Right Moves’ – OneRepublic
Good Examples: ‘Airplanes’ – B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams, ‘If I Die Young’ – The Band Perry
Most of the song is okay, although the lyrics are very cliched – standard fare on being in a club and all. Not much referencing per se except ‘YMCMB’ in Lil Wayne’s verse that I can see, but the problem still lies in the repeated phrase. Hit the lights. Does it have anything to do with the lighters in the air that he opens the chorus with? Or perhaps, we can have a look at another song’s discussion of some… types… of lights:

All of the lights –
Cop lights, flash lights, spot lights, strobe lights, street lights
(All of the lights, all of the lights)
(All of the Lights, Kanye West ft. Rihanna, Elton John, Kid Cudi et al.)

Probably the strobe lights in a club, so hitting the lights would probably refer to going to a club. Which leads to another question. If he’s singing this in a club environment, presumably, then what’s the point of the song? Or maybe more specifically it’s about dancing? This would be possible given that he says ‘come out of the dark and let the DJ lead the way (the way, the way)’. Still, I’m not really convinced. I know the lyrics aren’t critical to a song’s success at all, but when they’re bad it can really undermine the song. This one isn’t as distractingly bad as what I found All The Right Moves to be, and it isn’t stupidly bad (like Blah Blah Blah) but still the titular phrase seems to come off as rather vague to me.

Lesson 3: Low, background voices speaking/shouting are generally best avoided.
Offenders: ‘OMG’ – Usher ft will.i.am, ‘Boom Boom Pow’ – Black Eyed Peas
Good Examples: Can’t see any…
A bit annoying in the introduction, but generally not too bad. Forgivable, I guess. But I wonder what’s with this trend. For me, it’s just annoying and often detracts from the song.

Lesson 4: ‘OH’, ‘HEY’ and ‘AYO’ are often bad, bad words.
Offenders: ‘OMG’ – Usher ft will.i.am, ‘Just A Dream’ – Nelly
Good Examples: ‘Dynamite’ – Taio Cruz
Probably the section before Lil Wayne comes in would have made me compare this song to OMG which was much more egregious (this one’s only a very short section, not brutally repeated for most of the song). Nevertheless, this is one area where I find the song is incredibly annoying as well. It’s sad when we consider that these 2 guys released Down around 2 years back. That said I enjoyed the high AYO in Dynamite for some reason – perhaps because it wasn’t repeated so much, and its use made sense in context.

Lesson 5: Be careful with featured artists.
Offenders: ‘Do You Remember’ – Jay Sean ft. Sean Paul and Lil Jon, ‘California Gurls’ – Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
Good Examples: ‘Nothin’ on You’ – B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars, ‘Love The Way You Lie’ – Eminem ft. Rihanna, ‘Little Freak’ – Usher ft. Nicki Minaj
Pop rap collaborations are extremely common nowadays, whether it’s a rapper with a singer supplying the hook (and possibly the bridge or one verse) or a singer with a rapper tackling a verse or bridge (which is the case in this song) – B.o.B is a special case who can tackle both (though better at rapping). The inclusion of Lil Jon in Do You Remember made the song almost unlistenable for me, and Snoop Dogg sounded honestly rather ridiculous in California Gurls. The three good examples for me were very, very solid pop-rap collaborations that had both elements (singer and rapper) nailed well. Weezy’s spot here is good, though perhaps not really that impressive (compared to Bruno Mars’ vocal feature on Nothin’ on You, for example).

Lesson 6: Sometimes going for a raunchier/more daring image is a bad idea if not well executed.
Offenders: ‘Can’t Be Tamed’ – Miley Cyrus, ‘Alejandro’ – Lady Gaga
Good Examples(?): ‘Bad Romance’ – Lady Gaga, ‘Forever’ – Drake ft. Kanye et al
I don’t really like the direction Jay Sean’s been going with the recent singles he’s released. Down was pleasurable, and I enjoyed some of his earlier singles like Stay. Do You Remember left me somewhat underwhelmed, but now he’s becoming somewhat more daring. It’s so hot there’s girls just taking all their clothes off doesn’t sound like a very nice message to send, honestly. Such a song might work by Sean Kingston (humorous), or Usher (appropriate, perhaps), or Trey Songz. It doesn’t seem very convincing to me delivered by Jay Sean.

Lesson 7: Product placement can bring in money, and sometimes it works, but at times it seems out of place.
Offenders: ‘Leavin’’ – Jesse McCartney, “Like A G6” – Far East Movement
Non-offensive Examples: “Replay” – Iyaz, “Like A G6” – Far East Movement
Good (??) Examples: “Hard” – Rihanna ft. Young Jeezy (the Louis Man joke is hilarious.)
The iPhone is featured in this one. It’s not too bad and with his accent it kind of rhymes with off but even then it’s quite a stretch. I’d consider it non-offensive, really. I listed G6 twice because the champagne name uses (Moet and Cristal) are okay, but the titular G6 just looks like leaving loads of questions to be asked.

Lesson 8: Don’t waste your singers’ potential.
Offenders: ‘OMG’ – Usher ft. will.i.am, ‘Sexy Chick’ – David Guetta ft. Akon
Good Examples: ‘There Goes My Baby’ or ‘Burn’ or ‘Moving Mountains’ or ‘You Make Me Wanna…” – Usher, ‘King of Anything’ – Sara Bareilles
I was fearful of this when I heard the first part of the verse, it’s low and doesn’t show off his vocal range. Fortunately (though the song may be autotuned) it takes off a bit, giving it a more interesting character than the ‘bad’ songs. This is decent, and his note at the end of the bridge section was at least reasonably nice… I’d say this is addressed somewhat, though I wouldn’t say it uses the full potential of his voice. His voice is smooth, which works well in those contemporary R&B or light dance songs, but its potential is wasted on dance tracks like this. Not as terrible as OMG or Sexy Chick – he does get to use it, but I feel it’s overshadowed by the production.

That said, I have to admit the song works as a party song. The harder sound he’s been going with isn’t something I quite like, and while it can work in some of his songs (I listened to Break Ya Back which seems to work better while also going with a slightly edgier image) I’m not so sure it’s going well with this one. Nevertheless, it’ll probably chart well, it looks like one of those calculated songs… Somehow his singing in I Made It that:

See I don’t live for glamour, and I don’t care for fame
I’m in this for the love of the game

Seems to be less believable now. He did well in I Made It, I thought. Unless he really enjoys such party tracks? And I’m getting underwhelmed by Cash Money’s release choices too. They sorta-wanted yet decided not to release War, which I felt was the best track on All or Nothing, and now this over Break Ya Back or the title track Freeze Time? I’m disappointed. Probably marginally better than 2012 (I’d rate 4.5), and definitely better than Do You Remember (I’d rate 3.0) but this seems to lack the appeal of Down (which I’d rate 7.5 or so). Not unlistenable, but it gets grating after a few plays.

Then again, I do find myself wanting to listen to the song. It’s probably catchy. A well crafted, yet terrible hook.

OVERALL SCORE = 5.0 / 10
While I was expecting much more from Jay Sean, Hit The Lights is serviceable as a dance/club song. His voice is smooth as usual and used decently, and Weezy’s verse is alright, but the material that is presented here isn’t impressive at all; I’d even say disappointing. The song isn’t terrible; I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but it feels like a letdown.

Drake ft. Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem–Forever

Released September 15 2009.
Billboard: #8 peak, #88 (2009 chart) and #71 (2010 chart)
UK: #42

Jay-Z described this song as the best posse cut of the year, and honestly I can’t really comment not having heard many good posse cuts before. I don’t know if Run This Town (Jay-Z and Kanye West) counts, though that was decent; Bedrock and Finale by the Young Money crew were both quite disastrous, and though it’s not bad I couldn’t really enjoy Monster (Kanye West featuring many many people!). Nevertheless, as a rap song it’s quite enjoyable, and as a song in general it’s decent. The production is VERY good. Boi-1-Da was onto a winner here, it seems.

Anyway the last time I did Bedrock I analysed the hook and then each rapper’s shot at it. Unlike the last time though, the competition here is much more dangerous. Drake himself probably emerged among the winners in Bedrock, even if that’s not much, and I did like his work on Best I Ever Had, and though it’s not a rap song Find Your Love worked very well for me. Kanye of course has had many hits, from the rather old and still brilliant (to me, well) Through The Wire to the more recent Runaway and All of the Lights (review for that one should be done too). And I also found his pop endeavours of Love Lockdown and Heartless (basically 808s & Heartbreak) good. Lil Wayne I’m not so much into, but his ubiquitous presence on the pop charts should stand for something, and I still remember that Down like the economy line in, well, Down. In a good light. Finally Eminem has been around for a while too and has had his successes, and amazingly when I was much younger I enjoyed The Real Slim Shady, and then he’s had Stan, and… His rapping isn’t really my kind of thing, but I know in terms of technical ability, he’s to be taken seriously.

HOOK (Drake)

It may not mean nothing to y’all
But understand nothing was done for me
So I don’t plan on stopping at all
I want this shit forever mane

Oh-kay… Something about this looks not right. Nothing was done for (you)??? Lyrically this is just plain wrong. The singing is okay, the melody is nice, but the lyrics here are a litle obnoxious. I know (especially considering his 1st verse) that the idea behind this is that he wasn’t signed by a record label that early on. Some research shows, though, that while this is true, his uncle was in a band and helped secure Drake a management team. So this line is a pretty dangerous generalisation that, well, is inaccurate after all.

I’m shutting shit down in the mall
And telling every girl she the one for me
And I ain’t even planning to call
I want this shit forever mane

Okay. He references his time on Degrassi, presumably with the first two lines. And honestly by now I’ve had enough of these songs that not just smash the ideals of monogamous love, but furthermore explicitly take pride in doing it. It’s quite a tired message, and probably why I found Nothin’ on You (review) so refreshing.

This isn’t a very good hook. Well, let’s have a look at the verses. 3.5 / 10

VERSE 1 – DRAKE

Last name “Ever”, first name “Greatest”
Like a sprained ankle, boy, I ain’t nothing to play with
Started off local but thanks to all the haters
I know G-IV pilots on a first name basis

Are haters and basis a proper rhyme? Anyway it’s okay, though we’ve moved on to the G5 with Jesse McCartney’s Leavin’ and of course the G6 in the Far East Movement hit Like A G6 (review). On a side note, Like A G6 has grown on me a bit. It’s still bad, but probably not as much as I wrote against it in the review.

Second line is suspect, though believable and makes sense with a little look at the fact that this song is inspired by the movie More Than A Game (basketball documentary).

In your city faded off the brown, Nino
She insist she got more class…we know

Good… We know (him and the listener? Or is it using the royal ‘we’ as some have said?) – that he’ll find some way to get her clothes off…

Swimming in the money, come and find me, Nemo

Disney references?!?! Would there be a better way to convey that idea? It’s making it a little hard to take you seriously here…

If I was at the club you know I balled, chemo

Okay, again the basketball thing, and ‘balling’ as rich, with the homonym ‘bald’ which happens often to people undergoing chemotherapy. Okay.

Dropped the mixtape, that shit sounded like an album
Who’d have thought a country wide tour be the outcome
Labels want my name beside a X like Malcolm
Everybody got a deal, I did it without one

Okay. The Malcolm X reference I understand (it’s somewhere in my history knowledge; he was a civil rights leader for the blacks) and he is referring to his mixtape So Far Gone which, yes, did make him quite successful. But can he really say he did it without a contract? The mixtape, yes, but doing it as a career? I’m not so sure. Nevertheless the stimulus for his contracts was done by his own talent…

Yeah, nigga I’m about my business
Killing all these rappers, you would swear I had a hit list
Everyone who doubted me is asking for forgiveness
If you ain’t been a part of it, at least you got to witness

Okay, pretty decent way to finish off verse 1. But it’s not a very good start to the song, is it? Who knows – maybe he’s better as a singer of heartbreak songs. Find Your Love, as I’d say again, was excellent; his voice when used well has a certain timbre that seems appropriate for conveying some kind of vulnerability and desperation. 4.0 / 10

Let’s hope things get better.

Ever, ever, Mr West is in the building
Ain’t no question about who’s gonna kill’em

VERSE 2 – KANYE WEST

I used to have hood dreams, big fame, big chains
I stuck my dick inside this life until that bitch came

Okay, this is descriptive and though nothing special, it’s a pass. The metaphor of life as a bitch is there too… It’s not unsound, to say the least.

And went hard, all fall like the ball teams
Just so I can make it rain all spring

This probably involves the basketball league seasons. Making it rain has a double meaning here, of throwing $$$ in the air, and also of shooting well (many many baskets) in basketball. It, well, makes some kind of sense.

Y’all seen my story, my glory
I had raped the game young, you can call it statutory

Yay for vocabulary. And anyway, Through the Wire remains one of my favourites among his songs, and he produced many more songs that were successful, so yup I can see how these lines work.

When a nigga blow up they gonna build statues for me
Old money, Benjamin Button (what?) nothin’

This needs research. He’s right. I’d ask what? indeed. Except I’m not gonna be satisfied with that answer. Apparently it’s about age confusion – Benjamin Button looking old but actually being young. Kanye is young but often perceived as old. Hmm…. I guess I can accept such an explanation. At least this is lyrically more interesting than verse 1.

Now super bad chicks givin’ me McLovin’

This deserves the what? from me more than the previous line. But apparently it shouldn’t, it seems that Superbad was quite a popular movie. Perhaps being an Asian and not staying in the US I wasn’t exposed to it so much. I don’t watch movies that frequently, anyway. I don’t really grasp this line.

You would think I ran the world like Michelle’s husband

Okay. Can it be said that Obama runs the world? Ah well, I’m no politics expert.

You would think these niggas know me when they really doesn’t
Like they was down with the old me, no you fuckin’ wasn’t

Phenomenon of claiming knowledge or connections once someone becomes successful. Been discussed before. Nevertheless, it’s okay given the context.

Um, you’re such a fuckin’ loser
He ain’t even go to class, Bueller

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off reference, obviously, and perhaps College Dropout as well. No complaints here.

Trade the Grammy plaques, just to have my granny back
Remember she had that bad hip like a fanny pack

Not really appropriate for a boast track, but I guess a moment of sobriety here doesn’t strike me as too bad here either. It’s not bad, just out of place. Which makes it bad, actually.

Chasing the stardom will turn you to a maniac
All the way in Hollywood and I can’t even act
They pull the cameras out, and God damn, he snap
I used to want this thing forever, you can have it back

A good finish, thematically something like B.o.B’s Airplanes and though I enjoyed Airplanes’ lyricism more this is more straightforward, but works well too.

This was decent, and made a couple of references that I could recognise and appreciate. Not Kanye’s best, but it’s still pretty solid. 6.0 / 10

VERSE 3 – LIL WAYNE

Okay
Hello it’s the Martian, Space Jam Jordans
I want this shit forever, wake up and smell the garden

His relaxed tone kind of works, as though he’s in control. Wake up and smell the garden is pretty intelligent – combining wake up and smell the coffee and smell the roses… the moral here is that being attentive is critical to success, it seems.

Fresher than the harvest, step up to the target

Okay. Nothing special, but this will do.

If I had one guess then I guess I’m just New Orleans

One guess at WHAT? New Orleans is his hometown, yes, but there seems to be a gap in the logic here.

And I will never stop like I’m runnin’ from the cops
Hop up in my car and told my chauffeur “to the top”

Filling space? It’s not bad, really. But somehow I get this feeling that it could, and should have been done better.

Life is such a fucking roller coaster then it drops
But what should I scream for? This is my theme park

Yes. This works.

My mind shine even when my thoughts seem dark
Pistol on my side, you don’t wanna hear that thing talk

And this does too.

Let the king talk, check the price and pay attention
Lil Wayne, that’s what they gotta say or mention

Indeed. (To be fair to them, Eminem, Jay Sean and Chris Brown have had songs which I’ve appreciated too. Eminem was discussed above. For Jay Sean, it’s mainly his non-single songs War and I’m Gone that worked really well for me – but his smooth tonal quality in general works well and in my opinion shined through when featured on I Made It. For Chris Brown, I did considerably like With You and his recent song Yeah 3X grew on me after quite a few listens.)

I’m like Nevada in the middle of the summer

Hot.

I’m resting in the lead, I need a pillow and a cover
My foot’s sleeping on the gas
No brake pads, no such thing as last, uh

The car imagery reminds me of Ne-Yo driving the car in the video for Plies’ Bust it Baby Pt2. No brake pads, but you better hope you wake up before the next turn catches you off guard.

Pretty good verse, actually. I don’t really like some parts but for the most part this is actually quite good. 6.0 / 10

Finally we have

VERSE 4 – EMINEM

There they go, packing stadiums as Shady spits his flow
Nuts they go, macadamia, they go so ballistic, whoa

The macadamia nuts idea is bad. Not as bad as the window-pane line from Love The Way You Lie though.

He can make them look like bozos
He’s wondering if he should spit this slow;
Fuck no! Go for broke
His cup just runneth over, oh no

I do not appreciate the Psalms reference, it’s poorly taken out of context. Minus points for that. Nevertheless this is sound, and as you can probably tell he’s going to go faster after this, which sounds… pretty interesting, really! And the use of the f word here actually seems somewhat appropriate, unlike this song which I find abused it brutally.

He ain’t had him a real buzz like this since the last time that he overdosed
They been waiting patiently for Pinocchio to poke his nose

References to his drug period, okay, and the Pinocchio part apparently has to do with Gucci Mane’s attack on him in Mariah Carey’s Obsessed remix.

Back into the game and they know rap will never be same as before
Bashing in the brains of these hoes and establishing the name as he goes

You’re successful, yes. but that’s a pretty ambitious claim to make…

The passion in the flame is ignited, you can’t put it out once we light it
This shit is exactly what the fuck that I’m talking about when we riot

The passion line is fine, but WAIT. Riot? You’re reminding me of Ke$ha’s TiK ToK:

Don’t stop, make it pop, DJ blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight till we see the sunlight

Still more plausible here than there. But anyway.

You dealing with a few true villains
Who stand inside of a booth, truth spilling
And spit true feelings until our tooth fillings
Come flying outta our mouths, now rewind it

Makes sense, though not very believable given the public image some of them have built up (their real beliefs? I don’t know, especially in Kanye’s case). Rewind it is clever, though.

Pay back motherfucker for the way that you doubted me, how’s it taste?
When I slap the taste outta your mouth
With the bass so loud that it shakes the place
I’m Hannibal Lecter, so just in case you’re thinking of saving face
You ain’t gonna have no face to save by the time I’m through with this place

Deuces. Seriously.
(I’m referencing the keep it drama free part of the Chris Brown song)

Is it really so useful to fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for a love gone so wrong?

I’m not feeling Eminem’s verse. He does have technical ability and demonstrates this very clearly. But technical ability does not make a song alone (otherwise if Mariah Carey sang a five octave arpeggio up and down it would sell well – and it probably won’t!). Beyond his technical skill, the lyrics and meaning of it are just okay, and a bit sensitive as well (the Psalms reference, and the whole Nick Cannon/Mariah Carey controversy). Sigh… 4.5 / 10

Overall I think Lil Wayne’s verse was the best, and of course Boi-1-Da (seriously, the production was VERY, VERY appropriate and good). Kanye was good but needed some research to figure out what he was trying to get at at some points; he shouldn’t be faulted for this – but his message goes against the grain of most of the song. Eminem has technical skill, but I didn’t appreciate the content, and as for Drake, I’m not sure what he was trying to do with his part on the song. Nevertheless,

OVERALL SCORE = 6.5 / 10
Forever has sleeper-standard to moderately good rapping on it, but nevertheless with very strong production succeeds as a song, in my opinion. It’s one of the better (if not the best) of the (very few) posse cuts that I’ve heard.

And yes, I gave the song as a whole a higher score than I gave any of the rappers. It sums up to a solid song despite individual weaknesses.

Bruno Mars–Today My Life Begins

Not a single, and this is from his 2nd album (yet to be released).

Ah, finally this is more like it, I think! I haven’t been too turned on by Bruno Mars’ music, despite his strong voice, at least in the way of much of the content off his debut album Doo-Wops and Hooligans; Just the Way You Are is a large pile of sugar that, for me, is unbearably saccharine (though I can understand why people may like it), and Grenade, though technically sound is still somewhat overdramatic. Quite a number of people have made Marry You chart, but I personally find that song completely unlistenable as in terms of sugar it is even worse than Just the Way You Are. Nevertheless, I did enjoy Grenade, and The Other Side which featured Cee-Lo Green and B.o.B went down pretty well with me. Of course, not forgetting the successful, saccharine and yet good Nothin’ on You with B.o.B. I like this song, despite its sweet, generic message; it’s much in the vein of Firework. The sugar level is pleasurable without being overbearing.

Could this be a continuation of a storyline? Together with B.o.B, they fell in love with girls on Nothin’ on You and Bruno took a step further, going Just The Way You Are. He then angsted over it with Grenade and broke out of the withdrawal phase with Today My Life Begins! Heh.

Vocally, he’s good as always, the production is simple, very generic, but sound. It’s an empowering song, and excellent for me to practice singing to too. I’m quite pleased with this output. As far as I’m concerned, probably his best song yet.

OVERALL SCORE = 6.5 / 10
Today My Life Begins is a pretty solid offering from Bruno Mars. It’s quite a generic song, but a good one nonetheless.