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.

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.

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.

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.