Monthly Report: September Singles
1. Omarion f/ Lil Wayne - "I Get It In"
Back in January I thought a hyper R&B song with Lil Wayne, Jamie Foxx's "Number One," might be my favorite hit of the year, until it got steamrolled by the behemoth that "Blame It" turned out to be. Now, the same thing is kinda happening again, this time because Omarion apparently leaked the song early and pissed off Young Money enough to get dropped right after signing to the label. The song is now getting a second shot at life with a new version featuring Gucci Mane, and his verse is good, but it really can't compare to Wayne's "Ego" riff on the original. The fact that Omarion sounds absolutely ridiculous saying things like "hella toit" basically doesn't matter because it fits the weird vibe of the beat, which is like one of the first good post-"A Milli" beats I've heard to date.
2. Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
I gave this a 6 on the Singles Jukebox a few weeks ago, but it has just grown and grown on me since then. In principle I'm a lifelong Weezer hater, but they have become a pretty decent singles band over the years, with the help of pop hired gun Butch Walker they've got one of their biggest hooks to date. I hope people don't sleep on this just because it doesn't have a stupid internet meme video (yet).
3. Kristinia DeBarge - "Sabotage"
I always thought her big debut hit, "Goodbye," would be a pretty decent pop R&B song if you just edited out that big obnoxious Steam interpolation that was basically the reason that it was a hit. So her kind of awesome second single is confirmation that she can do pretty good stuff and that essentially noone cares if she isn't jacking an obvious old song. This is kinda cheesy '90s techno pop, it's practically a Republica song. Also, goddamn she's hot.
4. All-American Rejects - "I Wanna"
I hated "Gives You Hell" at first, but it eventually became probably my favorite single of the year that I never put in one of these monthly things. This is really good, too, just a huge chorus, but for some reason it never took off.
5. Wale f/ Gucci Mane - "Pretty Girls"
So far Wale's released two official singles for his perpetually delayed major label debut, one appallingly shitty Lady Gaga feature, and one Jazmine Sullivan feature that is blander but not really actually any better as a song. In between, he released an incredibly fun Backyard Band jack that sums up the 2 things that Wale's got going for him that his skinny jeans peers don't: a regional sound like Go-Go that he can expose and put his own twist on, and the ability to do tracks with mainstream Southern rappers and actually sound more or less in his element. It's a shame it already appears to be getting lost in the shuffle when it sure as hell sounds like it could be the breakthrough radio hit he keeps trying for and failing to get. My apartment is a half hour from Wale's hood, Largo, but I'll always feel a little removed from the D.C. rap scene, but I still jam the good old Go-Go shit and a throwback like this beats the hell out of what WPGC and WKYS are playing these days.
Back in January I thought a hyper R&B song with Lil Wayne, Jamie Foxx's "Number One," might be my favorite hit of the year, until it got steamrolled by the behemoth that "Blame It" turned out to be. Now, the same thing is kinda happening again, this time because Omarion apparently leaked the song early and pissed off Young Money enough to get dropped right after signing to the label. The song is now getting a second shot at life with a new version featuring Gucci Mane, and his verse is good, but it really can't compare to Wayne's "Ego" riff on the original. The fact that Omarion sounds absolutely ridiculous saying things like "hella toit" basically doesn't matter because it fits the weird vibe of the beat, which is like one of the first good post-"A Milli" beats I've heard to date.
2. Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
I gave this a 6 on the Singles Jukebox a few weeks ago, but it has just grown and grown on me since then. In principle I'm a lifelong Weezer hater, but they have become a pretty decent singles band over the years, with the help of pop hired gun Butch Walker they've got one of their biggest hooks to date. I hope people don't sleep on this just because it doesn't have a stupid internet meme video (yet).
3. Kristinia DeBarge - "Sabotage"
I always thought her big debut hit, "Goodbye," would be a pretty decent pop R&B song if you just edited out that big obnoxious Steam interpolation that was basically the reason that it was a hit. So her kind of awesome second single is confirmation that she can do pretty good stuff and that essentially noone cares if she isn't jacking an obvious old song. This is kinda cheesy '90s techno pop, it's practically a Republica song. Also, goddamn she's hot.
4. All-American Rejects - "I Wanna"
I hated "Gives You Hell" at first, but it eventually became probably my favorite single of the year that I never put in one of these monthly things. This is really good, too, just a huge chorus, but for some reason it never took off.
5. Wale f/ Gucci Mane - "Pretty Girls"
So far Wale's released two official singles for his perpetually delayed major label debut, one appallingly shitty Lady Gaga feature, and one Jazmine Sullivan feature that is blander but not really actually any better as a song. In between, he released an incredibly fun Backyard Band jack that sums up the 2 things that Wale's got going for him that his skinny jeans peers don't: a regional sound like Go-Go that he can expose and put his own twist on, and the ability to do tracks with mainstream Southern rappers and actually sound more or less in his element. It's a shame it already appears to be getting lost in the shuffle when it sure as hell sounds like it could be the breakthrough radio hit he keeps trying for and failing to get. My apartment is a half hour from Wale's hood, Largo, but I'll always feel a little removed from the D.C. rap scene, but I still jam the good old Go-Go shit and a throwback like this beats the hell out of what WPGC and WKYS are playing these days.
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