Kanye West–Love Lockdown

Released September 18, 2008.
Billboard: #3
UK Singles Chart: #8

I haven’t listened to much of Kanye West’s first three albums – perhaps, from what I’ve read from critics, it might be time I should go and give them a listen. I have listened to some of 808s and Heartbreak, as well as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and I’ve found both ranging from serviceable to very, very well constructed. It’s quite impressive for an artist to be able to handle the rather differing sound on the two albums. This is a pretty good song, I find – some people have described the song’s production as “minimalistic”, and I think I’d agree.

The nice, slightly haunting bassline, combined with the almost relentless, menacing sound of the taiko drums works very well in creating an atmosphere of tension which seems reasonably appropriate for a song about a breakup.

A song like this definitely seems like a good candidate to put on the operating table in terms of its lyrics, though, or rather send it under the microscope. To begin with, what does it mean to keep one’s love locked down? The obvious implication is restrained, which works reasonably well, given he sings So I keep it low, keep a secret code/So everybody else don’t have to know. He keeps the girl’s love restrained… or does he mean his love for the girl? It might be because he feels pain or awkwardness at expressing his love – he can’t keep his cool dealing with her.

He ends off the chorus with You lose, though, which seems to be an insinuation that the girl is missing out from not choosing him. Now if we recall that he’s not loving you, the way (he) wanted to, it may suggest there’s a one-sided crush, but more likely a platonic relationship which he wants to add in a romantic element.

Interestingly in the second verse he comments I can’t keep myself, and still keep you too. He needs a romantic partner; however the all-or-nothing thing he’s suggesting here, though an effective reflection of desperation, is a little disturbing too…

The theme of heartbreak is, naturally, covered in many of the songs in 808s and Heartbreak, and it works well for me; it seems that I can identify with him, though I can’t really say I’ve been in such a situation before, personally.

OVERALL RATING = 7.0 / 10
Love Lockdown may be seen as a minimalistic pop song that incorporates a dark, angsty sound. The theme of struggling with love is similar to much of what we see in pop music; however, the excellent, haunting production brings this one quite a cut above most of the normal stuff that I hear.

Rihanna ft. Drake–What’s My Name?

Released October 29, 2010.
Billboard: #1.
UK Charts: #18, but will probably go up further.

I must admit that I normally prefer the UK charts to the Billboard ones, at least in the way of #1s. With OMG, California Gurls, Like a G6 and We R Who We R all hitting #1, and the former two doing so a lot of weeks, I think it’s not hard to see why I generally prefer the UK charts. While UK-side they too have their weaker ones like Gettin’ Over You, F— You and Promise This, and the earlier two of the aforementioned songs also having their spot on #1, the fact that it’s a lot more dynamic and all generally makes the UK charts much more interesting to listen to. (OMG isn’t THAT bad, still, I think, just annoying. The other three are bad, though, as far as I’m concerned.)

This one’s an exception though to that idea of “Billboard #1s tend to be bad”, and a pretty good song, especially because of Drake. I guess the hook is annoying sometimes, due to its incessant repetition, but in terms of meaning it passes (she’s too engaged in sex that she forgot her name). However, Rihanna’s verses are pretty solid, and like quite a few other songs, this is one where I sort of like the bridge. The beat’s pretty decent, though…

Drake only does the opening verse here, but it’s incredibly well done and adds some little intellectual bits into this song, which is basically about sex. It’s mostly just good, except for this little pair of lines:

The square root of 69 is 8-something, right?
Cause I’ve been tryna work it out

Score points for correct mathematical reference (64 < 69 < 81), and pretty intelligently, those numbers look like they have some significance. Why 69? Well, pretty obviously, especially considering the context of this song about sex, 69 refers to the sexual position, and 8 could be a homonym for “ate”, which makes sense with reference to 69. I’m still not sure exactly what he’s trying to get at here, but it’s pretty interesting. Other than that remarkably nice gem, Drake’s work on this one’s pretty solid, if unimpressive. It’s a very interesting release that I may not always want to listen to due to the pretty overt sexual themes, but nevertheless I think it’s a good song.

OVERALL SCORE = SQRT(69) 7.0 / 10
What’s My Name? features a rather repetitive and at times annoying hook. However, the rest of the song is solid (Rihanna’s verses and bridge, and most of Drake’s verse). Drake unleashes a little mathematical gem here too.

N-Dubz ft. Bodyrox–We Dance On

‘We Dance On’, featured on the StreetDance movie.

Released 23rd May 2010.
Billboard: —
UK Chart: Peaked at #6 on May 30th 2010.

Most clearly, the introduction of this song should remind you of an incredibly popular classical piece, the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel. For me at least, it’s an incredibly impressive composition – and it does seem to have garnered much popular appeal as well, being performed in many diverse arrangements. This was an incredibly interesting sample – the last use of a sample that surprised me as much as this one was the choice of the Dragostea Din Tei sample used in T.I. and Rihanna’s Live Your Life. The selection of such an ambitious sample, especially given the greatness of the original piece definitely pushed my expectations for this song upward. Would the song bastardize the Canon, or would it use it in an effective manner?

Musically, the song is pretty decent; I prefer the classical renditions of Canon in D, but the song’s pretty upbeat (165 BPM) and enjoyable. It’s a warm, fuzzy song and while unimpressive in this respect, I have little complaints too. As a dance tune, it is pretty danceable; I was even convinced to make a DDR step-file of this.

Lyrically, the song is rather interesting too – it strikes me at first as a huge lump of cheese (well, the chorus opens with Cause I know everything’s gonna be alright/Now you’re standing here right by my side). And I guess I cannot deny that the song lyrics are pretty cheesy, using dancing as a rather offbeat metaphor for a universal panacea – honestly, it reminds me a little of the sheer overblownness of Jason Derulo’s dancing in Whatcha Say, where he twirls around and dances off into the sunset when still trying to win his girl back. To be fair to the song, though, many inspirational songs as well as love songs honestly don’t do much better.

The song also does touch on a few other themes – one of extended neighbourliness that perhaps I find a little disturbing (My sisters, brothers from other mothers). As a Christian, the expression “brothers and sisters in Christ” isn’t too far removed from me at all; but for some reason, put in this way I find it a little disconcerting. Perhaps, the juxtaposition of that phrase with this one IS disconcerting in and of itself. I’m not sure about this, really. Also, the work ethic and incredible resilience that is discussed in the song also reminds me of B.o.B, Hayley Williams and Eminem on Airplanes Part II, and it’s a standard message (and also why I would mark Airplanes Part II lower than its predecessor). Considering this, I would say that Canon in D was a well-chosen sample; it supports and enhances the uplifting messages that the song seems to aim to provide.

All in all, as far as I’m concerned, We Dance On is a pretty enjoyable song, and though I have not heard much of N-Dubz’s work (is that even the right way to put it?), other than their single I Need You which struck me as decent, good even, perhaps, but nothing impressive. This was definitely an eye-opener for me though; it was a very solid release.

OVERALL RATING = 7.0 / 10
We Dance On makes good use of a sample of Pachelbel’s Canon in D to put forth an uplifting message, delivered through an upbeat dance track. It’s a solid release.