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.

Cheryl Cole–Fight For This Love

Released October 16, 2009.
Billboard: –
UK Charts: #1.

Personally, I’ve found the quality of Cheryl Cole’s singles to be rather variable – I enjoyed this song and Parachute, while some like the recently released The Flood are decent, but sleepers, and I did not enjoy Promise This at all. Fight For This Love is the 1st single for Ms. Cole (well, outside of her releases under the British girl group Girls Aloud), and is a pretty relaxed song, honestly.

It’s a light dance track; 123 BPM is just a little bit slower than the 130-ish level which I find a good pace. The minor key used is a little bit more interesting than what we normally have. While vocally she’s not too impressive, she isn’t bad either (the song, well, doesn’t have any exceptionally high notes) and I must say her delivery is good. She sounds confident and quite solid on her notes. The reserved, conservative drumlines and occasional piano hits work very well in tandem with her voice on this.

Most of it’s just pretty decent, though I like the instrumentation in the prechorus (Anything that’s worth having/Sure enough worth fighting for…) and especially the bridge (I don’t know where we’re heading….). The breakdown is cleanly executed and seems to work well.

The video is quite amazing – the difficulty of some of those dance moves, or rather synchronising them neatly among such a large number of dancers is considerable. I’m not too much of a fan of the visuals with “Fight For This Love” and what looks like the chorus lyrics in a handwritten font, though. And I don’t get her tiger (or is it leopard) printed hoodie. The uniform looks pretty good, I must say, though!

Lyrically, it’s about a troublesome relationship, though unlike many songs about such relationships which involve spitting in the other party’s face on your way out (Irreplaceable, F**k You!) or breaking things down and either party leaving (I’m Gone by Jay Sean for the troublemaker leaving / Heartless by Kanye West for the victimised) she tries to take positive action to mend the relationship, agreeing to make concessions too, which isn’t a message I often see in pop music. It’s pretty sweet, actually. Not too much to comment on a micro scale, for this song.

OVERALL RATING = 6.5 / 10
Fight For This Love, Cheryl Cole’s first solo single release, is a solid example of decent to good pop music, as far as I’m concerned. The song’s basically about a struggling relationship, though her actions are probably a better reaction than the personas of the singers of >80% of the ‘broken-relationship’ songs out there.

JLS–Beat Again

Released 12 July 2009.
Billboard: NA
UK: #1.

If I review this as a reality-show-winners’ (though they actually got 2nd place) single, this on first glance looks excellent. This song is has a pretty workable R&Bish, danceable sound to it, and is probably quite a bit more memorable than almost every other reality-show-winners’ or second place singles that I can remember (off the top of my head, I can only remember Kelly Clarkson’s A Moment Like This, and… Bleeding Love, though that was actually Leona Lewis’ second single, after she covered A Moment Like This, and also partly because of Eurovision, Tom Dice’s Me And My Guitar which is also his second single after HE covered Bleeding Love!). The blue-red-green-yellow backing theme on the CD cover looks pretty nice too.

In terms of sound, the song’s a pretty harmless piece and actually quite nice to listen to; it’s not bad for casual listening. The little electro effects e.g. tune out at beginning of 2nd verse are decent, and the chorus is pretty catchy too. The bridge sounds pretty good and the ending part is nice too – all in all, it’s a reasonably refined, if standard kind of work.

However, this is not a sing I can sing at all, much like BedRock – though unlike BedRock, which I can’t sing because I would utterly laugh while failing to sing Call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bed rock, this one is more an issue of disgust than humour.

Damn
The doctor’s just finished telling me there’s no time
Losing you could be the end of me, and that I
Should do the things that I wanna do, how could I
Without you without you ooh ooh

In terms of cheese, this one destroys Replay completely, I think – the idea of death should one’s lover leave one is quite a bad one, I think. It seems that the persona in the song shows elements of calculated emotional blackmail too… Let’s look at the chorus.

Let’s just get back together, we should’ve never broke up
They’re telling me that my heart wont beat again
We should have stayed together, cause when you left me it stopped
They’re telling me that my heart wont beat again
Won’t beat again
Its killing me…

This is where the problem of mixing the idea of the heart as a muscle supporting the body’s functions, and as a centre of emotions and feelings comes in. If your heart stopped when she left you, she couldn’t have left you for very long, and besides it’d be nigh impossible to sing a 3:21 (or so) song. I wouldn’t really complain about this normally – the idea of having one’s heart stop can figuratively mean a shock of some sort, but the use of the doctor at the beginning of verse 1 makes it a problem, the mention of “love CPR” in the bridge, and most scarily, the sheer spookiness of verse 2:

If I died, yeah would you come to my funeral?
Would you cry?
Would you feel some regret that we didn’t try?
Or would you fall apart the same as I
And would it always haunt you baby that you missed your chance to save me?
Cos you know its not too late
(Hey hey heeeeeey)

Ouch. It’s downright disturbing.

OVERALL SCORE = 5.5 / 10
For a reality-talent-show group, I cannot deny that JLS has put forth a musically strong first effort with Beat Again. I find the song reasonably well constructed and catchy; it’s pleasing as a casual listen, but the incredibly questionable lyrics knock this one down a point or two.

Young Money ft. Lloyd–BedRock

Released November 14, 2009 (US), March 22, 2010 (UK)
Billboard: Peaked at #2.
UK Charts: Peaked at #9.

Well, this one’s a collaboration from Young Money Entertainment, which I believe was initiated by Lil Wayne and is basically a label for hip-hop artists, mostly rappers. Other than Lil Wayne, I do know that Drake and Nicki Minaj are signed to this, as well as Tyga (one of the guys featured on Chris Brown’s Deuces). All four of them are featured in this song, along with Lloyd, and two other rappers on the label – Jae Millz and, um, Gudda Gudda. I do enjoy quite a bit of Drake’s work, Lil Wayne is okay, and Nicki Minaj’s work is all over the place; so it’ll be interesting to see how this massive collaboration turns out.

As I suspected, it’s basically a collection of rap verses by each artist, with Lloyd handling the chorus. The beat is… there, I guess, and it’s reasonably catchy, so no marks penalised there. Lloyd’s hook as well as the background instrumentals are pretty decent in terms of melody, and though his voice does seem a little shaky at times, it’s nothing too bad. However, the problem with this hook is the lyrics –

Oh Baby, I be stuck to you, like glue, baby
Wanna spend it all on you, baby
My room is the G-spot,
Call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bed rock
I-I-I-I can make your bed rock (x4)

I still wonder how he can sing this without exploding into laughter. The glue metaphor in the first line or the idea of using money to buy love in the second line are a little bit over-the-top, but nothing too ridiculous. Third line… G as in gangsta, but also G-spot refers to a theorised erogeneous zone in the vaginal area, which sounds a bit… disturbing, to say the least. The last two lines are the clincher here though – seriously? Call me Mr. Flintstone… I can make your bed rock… How do you NOT laugh while singing these lines?!? The corniness is pretty extreme. The I-I-I-I reminds me of a certain other song that used this little vocal pattern as well, too…

Anyway, enough about Lloyd, he’s basically pretty generic on this, not especially bad, but not especially good either. The six rappers on the song:

#1 LIL WAYNE
She got that good good, she Michael Jackson bad,
I’m attracted to her, for her attractive ass.
Right… That’s, well, … explicit? Argh!

And now we murderers, because we kill time;
I knock her lights out, and she still shine.
This is cliched, but not as bad as above…

I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave,
But I keep her running back and forth – Soccer Team
Um, okay. This reminds me of Katy Perry’s Hot n Cold… a case of love bipolar….

Cold as a winter’s day, hot as a summer’s eve
I figured.

Young Money thieves, steal your love and leave
Ah well, this opener is pretty much of a sleeper, really. He’s not too bad, other than the second line. Still, I was expecting more… I was left with very little impression, whether for good or for bad (other than THAT second line). 4/10

#2 GUDDA GUDDA
I like the way you walk and if you walking my way
I’m that Red Bull, now let’s fly away
Okay, Red Bull gives you wings, and all that. Pass.

Let’s buy a place with all kind of space
I let you be the judge and-and-and I’m the case
Not really making much sense here to me…

I’m Gudda Gudda, I put her under
I see me with her, no Stevie Wonder
Okay, so I did some research and “no Stevie Wonder” has similar meaning to “no wonder”. I guess it sort of makes sense once you remove it. That said, care to explain the choice of Gudda Gudda?

She don’t even wonder ’cause she know she bad
And I got her n—–,
Hmm…

GROCERY BAG
Research shows this to mean “it’s in the bag”, which makes sense considering the context of this lyric. Nevertheless, said “research” is a little page on Urban Dictionary, and it came out on Jun 9, 2010, after two posts above (and before) it that puts forth definitions that basically imply “this line is nonsense”, unfortunately. Thus it’s possible that the definition came about because someone figured out that Grocery Bag implied “it’s in the bag”. Speaking of this, I’d best have a look at when the definition on Urban Dictionary came out for “no Stevie Wonder”… Dec 15, 2009, and it’s tagged with “lil wayne”, “bedrock” and “young money”. Hmm, there’s little data outside that to corroborate, so it’s probably another nonsense phrase or name-dropping usage. 1.5/10

#3 NICKI MINAJ
Okay, I get it, let me think, I guess it’s my turn
Maybe it’s time to put this p—- on your sideburns
Rrrrrright. Okay… This is ten times worse than Lil Wayne’s “attractive ass” line…

He say I’m bad, he probably right
He pressing me like button downs on a Friday night
Nothing special here, a bit of a sleeper.

I’m so pretty like, me on my pedal bike
Be on my low starch, be on my egg-a whites
How to lose weight! Ah well, points for referencing the Atkins Diet, I guess. I wonder why the change of inflection for “low starch”, though. Is there something that special about it?

He say, “Nikki, don’t stop, you the bestest”
And I just be coming off the top, asbestos
Asbestos? Isn’t that some volcanic material? This definitely needs research.

From wikipedia, “Asbestos (from Greek ἄσβεστος meaning “unquenchable” or “inextinguishable”) is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals exploited commercially for their desirable physical properties.”

Apparently, it used to be used a lot in construction, with applications such as gaskets, stage curtains, and (probably what we’re concerned with here), ceilings. However modern regulations have placed limits on the use of asbestos for health reasons. So… I still don’t get it. What’s coming off the top? Surely you don’t want yourself removed, for public health (noise) reasons, so…?

A little bit of research suggests a double entendre – improvisation (coming off the top of one’s head), and well, orgasm (off… a different kind of top, to say the least). Hmm… Not enjoyable, at all. 3/10

#4 DRAKE
Ah this should be interesting, some of his songs are pretty decent to good, and his spot on What’s My Name with Rihanna was decent.

I love your sushi roll, hotter than wasabi
I race for your love, “Shake ‘n’ Bake” Ricky Bobby
Okay. This is fine, but nothing special…

I’m at the W but I can’t meet you in the lobby
Girl, I gotta watch my back ’cause I’m not just anybody
I like those slightly faster bits here – his diction’s pretty enjoyable, honestly.

I seen ’em stand in line just to get beside her
I let her see the Aston and let the rest surprise her
That’s when we disappear, you need GPS to find her
Oh, that was your girl? I thought I recognized her
Ironically, the last song I reviewed was Run It!, and I mentioned these lyrics in it too. Ah well, though he’s being a bad guy, this verse is still done pretty well and is definitely a breath of fresh air after one disappointing and two pretty bad verses. 6/10

#5 TYGA
She like tanning, I like staying in
She like romancing, I like rolling with friends
She said I’m caged in, I think her conscience is
She watching that Oxygen, I’m watching ESPN
List of seeming antonyms (that aren’t necessarily antonyms), zzz. It’s decent; I sort of like his rap voice, but it’s still very much a sleeper.

But when that show end, she all on my skin
Lotion, slow motion, roller coasting like back forth, hold it (hold it – hold it – …)
She pose like it’s for posters and I poke like I’m supposed to
Take this photo if you for me, she said, “Don’t you ever show this”
There’s really not much I have to say about Tyga’s section. It’s neither really good nor really bad, but actually that still makes it one of the better ones in this song. Depiction of basically, sex.

I’m too loyal and too focused
To be losing and be hopeless, when I spoke this, she rejoiced it
Said your words get me open, so I closed it
This doesn’t sound too good… I mean, do you seriously expect someone like, well, anyone on the Young Money crew to settle down so easily? Heh…

Where your clothes is? I’m only loving for the moment
Ah yup. Predictable, and explainable. 4.5/10

#6 JAE MILLZ
Uh, she ain’t got a man but she’s not alone
Miss Independent, yeah, she got her own
Ne-Yo references there? Ah well, I like Ne-Yo, so you can have a few points from me.

Hey gorgeous, I mean flawless, well, that’s what you are
How I see it is how I call it, yeah
Look it how she walk, she know she bad
Do, do your thing, baby, I ain’t even mad
Okay, this one is not taken in context. He’s… not bad, which is actually pretty good for this song. At least, his lyrics flow pretty okay, and though simple, make sense and are tinged with a bit of sweetness.

And I ain’t even fast, I’ma stay a while
Hold yo’ head Chris, I’ma take her down
A Chris Brown reference, probably… but it’s left undeveloped. Are you gunning for Rihanna? Which shouldn’t make sense – I don’t see a reason why you’d want to do that. More likely, it’s a reference to Take You Down, which has little to do with violence and is more about, to put it bluntly, getting a girl on the bed. Honestly, I’ve never heard of Jae Millz prior to this song, but he actually seems somewhat better than most of the others who had their shots on this. He’s decent. 6.5/10

I’ve just realised how much I’ve been able to write over such a simple song, and it’s not one that I like very much! Hmm… well, when I do get round to writing the review for B.o.B’s Airplanes (ft. Hayley Williams), we’ll see.

That said, the video is pretty awesome for this one. “Young Money World” is hilarious, to say the least.

OVERALL RATING = 4.5 / 10
BedRock fires along for 4:55 or so, and is loaded with mixed moments – for me, at least, the quality seems to improve somewhat towards the end of the song. It’s really a mixed bag, with decent and terrible elements. Nevertheless, the background melody is pretty catchy and thus I’d give it a pretty average-ish score.

Justin Bieber–Love Me

Released: 26 October 2009
Billboard: #37
UK Charts: #71

The 16-year old Canadian teen-pop sensation, also the target of many haters online, has released a variety of singles; some of which I find bad (like One Time), but not all of them are that bad – honestly, though I wouldn’t really choose to listen to them, Baby featuring Ludacris and Somebody To Love featuring Usher are really not that bad – not really good, but not unlistenable to me either.

This one falls somewhat in between though. Bieber’s singing is… okay, really. Yes, his singing is somewhat higher than what I would expect of any 16-year old; then again, cause I know he’s the one behind this song, that is somewhat excusable. Of course, with auto-tuning I don’t see significant pitch problems at all… In terms of sound, it’s pretty much average and forgettable, but inoffensive.

That said, the lyrics in this song are pretty twisted, so bad until even just casually listening to it causes me to pick up the sheer incredulity behind it all. The song is supposed to be sweet, probably reflecting the songwriters’ ideas of the emotions one experiences with ‘puppy’ or first loves. However, if we look at what exactly he is singing…

My friends say I’m a fool to think that you’re the one for me
I guess I’m just a sucker for love
‘Cuz honestly the truth is that you know I’m never leavin’
‘Cuz you’re my angel sent from above

Okay, nothing too bad so far. I tend to dislike the metaphor of angels that some songwriters use – however, the idea of being a protector, a guardian of some sort is acceptable. It only runs downhill from here, though…

Baby you can do no wrong, my money is yours
Give you a little more because I love ya, love ya
With me, girl, is where you belong
Just stay right here, I promise my dear I’ll put nothin above ya, above ya

Sigh. He sets her up on a pedestal it seems, elevating her to the level of an idol by claiming she is infallible (can do no wrong), and even seems to want to use cash to get at her. Pretty surprising for a then 15 year old, I think.

Love me, love me, say that you love me
Fool me, fool me, oh how you do me

!!!

Kiss me, kiss me, say that you miss me
Tell me what I wanna hear, tell me you (love me) (repeat chorus)

Meh. The chorus is a minor variation on that of the Cardigans’ LoveFool; no wonder it sounds pretty familiar, and is actually not too problematic, except given the singer! Seriously, the chorus is not appropriate for Mr. Bieber to sing… at such a tender age, at least.

I won’t really go into the second verse, but that just puts on the sugar even more (A minute without you is worth more than/A thousand days without your love) and very unfortunately reminds me of a certain Praise and Worship song… All in all, the song is catchy, and musically isn’t bad, but is a complete failure in the lyrics, I find. The depiction of love given is overblown and extreme to the point of being somewhat unbelievable and incredulous.

OVERALL RATING = 3.5 / 10
Love Me isn’t really a bad song in purely musical terms; however, its lyrics bear numerous defects that can sometimes make the song difficult to listen to.