"Run the world (Girls)" - "Pon de floor" or the wonders of recycling
So you might have heard Beyoncé's new single, Run The World (Girls), where she's back to easy girl power messages. You know, boys are so bad and they make us girls cry, but we girls we are strong and powerful and we can hold them by the balls if we want to.
The funny thing is, she samples, well, she practically just puts her vocals over a track called Pon De Floor by dancehall artist Major Lazer, and that video doesn't look all that feminist to me... I warn you, this is some viewer-discretion-advised kind of thing, NSFW, and not suitable for homosexuals allergic to raunchy displays of heterosexuality.
Major Lazer "Pon De Floor" ft. Vybz Kartel and... par DowntownMusic
I just wonder, will Beyoncé copy some of the moves for her video? Now I can't shake off the image of her and Jay-Z recreating the jumping-off-the-ladder trick at 3:14 and I don't know if I'll sleep tonight.
The funny thing is, she samples, well, she practically just puts her vocals over a track called Pon De Floor by dancehall artist Major Lazer, and that video doesn't look all that feminist to me... I warn you, this is some viewer-discretion-advised kind of thing, NSFW, and not suitable for homosexuals allergic to raunchy displays of heterosexuality.
Major Lazer "Pon De Floor" ft. Vybz Kartel and... par DowntownMusic
I just wonder, will Beyoncé copy some of the moves for her video? Now I can't shake off the image of her and Jay-Z recreating the jumping-off-the-ladder trick at 3:14 and I don't know if I'll sleep tonight.
Videos like this make me really think Anderson Cooper should not only be the US President but also Earth's President
My two cents on "Judas" (the song, not God's tool for great storytelling)
Disclaimer: I'm sort of a Gaga fan, but I also happen to be prone to awkward displays of admiration, like when I said to a female friend in high school: "I love your earrings, they look like toilet flush chains". Actually, that music monster and, above all, media monster called Lady Gaga makes it very easy for everyone to walk that line between snickering praise and amused disapproval.
I'm aware of all the "borrowing" going on with her, musically and aesthetically, but I don't care. I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to originality. Just name one artist, any field, that doesn't make you think of someone else or a mix of references. What's important is that the artist achieves his/her own, recognizable blend, and nobody can deny the Upper East Side crazy girl that accomplishment. If when Born This Way was released everybody was pointing at the resemblance with Madonna's Express Yourself (which I'm sure most people wouldn't have spotted if they hadn't read or heard about it first), now for her next single, Judas, Lady Gaga has borrowed from someone she really loves: herself. Let's say this song's about her Bad Romance with a biblical figure. RedOne's aggressive, overwhelming boom-thump-boom-thump production is back. And, for everybody's fun, Gaga's antics as a lyricist are back in good shape.
Let's face it, there's no song in The Fame/ The Fame Monster in which she gets to make sense from start to end and stick to the subject. Maybe one, Brown eyes, which stands out for its simplistic beauty. If it wasn't for that song and her lucidity while interviewed, I would tend to regard the Gaga phenomenon as post-modern horror vacui, an overload of whatever she can come up with to hide the void, without filling it with purpose or depth. That's why I was happy to hear Born This Way, her first song with a real message, even if it was a message we've heard before: express-yourself-because-you-are-beautiful-no-matter-what-they-say-McDonalds-come-as-you-are.
Well, for those who found that was almost too explicit for her, there goes Judas.
Lady Gaga - JUDAS by igapromotion
Oh Gaga, you falling in love with the wrong guy again, and he gets you splitting syllables again. OK, I got it, you're all yin yang now, and this album's about that conflictual but complementary duality. "How can I protect something so perfect without evil?", you were wondering not so long ago. And now you're in love with Judas but something's putting you away from him, basically your virtue, Jesus. Yeah, you say "Jesus is my virtue", three lines after uttering the words "ear condom". Girl, that's bad-ass, as you promised this song would be. I'm actually surprised you didn't say anything along the lines: "Judas, I could be yours, but Jesus is cock-blocking you".
And Gaga, just admit your singing in the track is not Caribbean-inspired as some are saying, but just your way of hiding the prevalent lack of rhyme in the verses. You get to rhyme "fool" and "cruel", though. Wow.
Plus, there are moments where it seems you're talking as if you were Jesus. You're calling yourself "just a holy fool". You present yourself as the one who washes feet, as the receiver of Judas's kiss and the victim of Judas's betrayal, "even after three times"... By the way, you have some confused memories of your Bible readings as a child: the "king with no crown" was Jesus, Judas wasn't a demon, he didn't kiss Jesus because he felt offended but in order to let the baddies know which one they had to arrest, and the three times in the Passion don't have to do with Judas but with Peter (AKA San Pedro, the one Madonna fell in love with), who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.
*Sigh*
Mess.
The only words of wisdom in the song: "I’ve learned love is like a brick, you can build a house or sink a dead body". Amen, Gaga. Happy Easter!
PS: sorry for getting pedantic on the Scriptures. I spent twelve years of my life in a Catholic school and I learned how to keep the right distance between mouth and mic reading at church. That's my excuse.
I'm aware of all the "borrowing" going on with her, musically and aesthetically, but I don't care. I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to originality. Just name one artist, any field, that doesn't make you think of someone else or a mix of references. What's important is that the artist achieves his/her own, recognizable blend, and nobody can deny the Upper East Side crazy girl that accomplishment. If when Born This Way was released everybody was pointing at the resemblance with Madonna's Express Yourself (which I'm sure most people wouldn't have spotted if they hadn't read or heard about it first), now for her next single, Judas, Lady Gaga has borrowed from someone she really loves: herself. Let's say this song's about her Bad Romance with a biblical figure. RedOne's aggressive, overwhelming boom-thump-boom-thump production is back. And, for everybody's fun, Gaga's antics as a lyricist are back in good shape.Let's face it, there's no song in The Fame/ The Fame Monster in which she gets to make sense from start to end and stick to the subject. Maybe one, Brown eyes, which stands out for its simplistic beauty. If it wasn't for that song and her lucidity while interviewed, I would tend to regard the Gaga phenomenon as post-modern horror vacui, an overload of whatever she can come up with to hide the void, without filling it with purpose or depth. That's why I was happy to hear Born This Way, her first song with a real message, even if it was a message we've heard before: express-yourself-because-you-are-beautiful-no-matter-what-they-say-McDonalds-come-as-you-are.
Well, for those who found that was almost too explicit for her, there goes Judas.
Lady Gaga - JUDAS by igapromotion
Oh Gaga, you falling in love with the wrong guy again, and he gets you splitting syllables again. OK, I got it, you're all yin yang now, and this album's about that conflictual but complementary duality. "How can I protect something so perfect without evil?", you were wondering not so long ago. And now you're in love with Judas but something's putting you away from him, basically your virtue, Jesus. Yeah, you say "Jesus is my virtue", three lines after uttering the words "ear condom". Girl, that's bad-ass, as you promised this song would be. I'm actually surprised you didn't say anything along the lines: "Judas, I could be yours, but Jesus is cock-blocking you".
And Gaga, just admit your singing in the track is not Caribbean-inspired as some are saying, but just your way of hiding the prevalent lack of rhyme in the verses. You get to rhyme "fool" and "cruel", though. Wow.
Plus, there are moments where it seems you're talking as if you were Jesus. You're calling yourself "just a holy fool". You present yourself as the one who washes feet, as the receiver of Judas's kiss and the victim of Judas's betrayal, "even after three times"... By the way, you have some confused memories of your Bible readings as a child: the "king with no crown" was Jesus, Judas wasn't a demon, he didn't kiss Jesus because he felt offended but in order to let the baddies know which one they had to arrest, and the three times in the Passion don't have to do with Judas but with Peter (AKA San Pedro, the one Madonna fell in love with), who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.
*Sigh*
Mess.
The only words of wisdom in the song: "I’ve learned love is like a brick, you can build a house or sink a dead body". Amen, Gaga. Happy Easter!
PS: sorry for getting pedantic on the Scriptures. I spent twelve years of my life in a Catholic school and I learned how to keep the right distance between mouth and mic reading at church. That's my excuse.
Discovering: Theophilus London, "Flying Overseas" and "Why Even Try"
I'm in love with the wacky shirt. The video art effects are nice, the music's nice, but he got me with that shirt. I'd Fly Overseas with anyone capable of wearing that shirt and that hat and not looking like a fool. For a more serious introduction of the artist, check Zion'ology, thanks to whom I just heard about this Brooklyn rapper with such a theatrical name.
And he has just released a new video, Why Even Try, which I like a little bit less because of the "I'm still in the sample-borrowing mixtape phase but I pretend to be already big and chased by paparazzi" attitude. But hey, if more famous artists are doing mixtapes (PayPal-record-breaking though they might be, Lil Kim, cue snickering) or borrowing-slash-stealing samples and pretending they're hot shit (you hear that, Will.I.Am?), why not.
And he has just released a new video, Why Even Try, which I like a little bit less because of the "I'm still in the sample-borrowing mixtape phase but I pretend to be already big and chased by paparazzi" attitude. But hey, if more famous artists are doing mixtapes (PayPal-record-breaking though they might be, Lil Kim, cue snickering) or borrowing-slash-stealing samples and pretending they're hot shit (you hear that, Will.I.Am?), why not.
Admitting I like: Random Singer AKA Britney Spears, "Selfish"
For many of us, Britney is like that old acquaintance from high school who we sort of grew up with and who, we all know, has had 99 problems and the bitches are more than one (it's Britney bitch), so we go easy on her, we don't slam her performances even if they're incredibly disappointing (VMA 2007, GMA 2011...), and we pat her back for the slightest sign of improvement (hey, she doesn't do drugs anymore, hooray girl!).
But listen, I have a confession to make: I do like this bonus track from her Femme Fatale effort (sic). Obviously, it's Stargate's merit, because with any other random singer the track would be just as good. But hey *patting her back* hooray girl!
And I also must admit some of the lyrics of this song got me tempted of making this another "Say it for me" post...
Say it for me, Madge
The only line I don't relate to is the very first one, "Your heart is not open", because it was mine that shut down. And he "was my fortress", as well...
I was in my early teens when this video was released. It was back in the days when I would use music to improve my English, checking the lyrics on the album booklets or on websites (which took much longer to load but had far fewer ads back then), thoroughly looking up every word I didn't understand. often translating the whole thing into my mother tongue, Spanish. If my memory's right, this song was pretty easy to translate, and I only learned two new words: yearn and bruise.
But the dictionary could only help me understand this and other songs to a certain extent. In order to fully apprehend the meaning, I yet had to live.
Madonna - The Power of Good-Bye par foxysoul
PS: never did Madonna appear as beautiful as in this video.
Liking: Cazwell, "Get my money back"
Gay rapper Cazwell has just released a new video, "Get my money back", changing the sticky and sweet melody of "Ice Cream Truck" for a more aggressive, club banger sound -but keeping some of the dancers, if my visual memory is right. If he describes the video as "Fight Club versus National Geographic", I guess I'm not the only one to see the shadow of that Bloodhound Gang "Discovery Channel" video...
[via ACDG]
[via ACDG]
Liking: Rohff & Zaho, "Fais doucement"
My favorite Arabic girl in French-speaking urban music treats us with this collaboration while we wait for her upcoming sophomore album. Don't let the car ride fool you, Rohff and Zaho want you to slow down, do things slowly but surely in life, and avoid any kind of excess. I'm not such a big fan of French hip hop but it sounds like a good break from designer-brand-naming American rap.
Rohff (Featuring Zaho) - "Fais Doucement" par rohff
Liking: Tinie Tempah, "Wonderman"' ft. Ellie Goulding
OK, I'm really late for this one as the video is two months old now, which means really old considering the pace of today's music industry ("OMG, that's so January!"), so sorry, especially UK-based readers. I discovered Tinie Tempah not so long ago when his successful song Pass out started playing at an HMV store in Ashford, just in time to prevent me from, well, passing out out of boredom while waiting for my co-workers to decide if they were buying anything or not and what -by the way, one of them, officially straight, was about to buy Madonna's Celebration album if you can believe that.
Talking about believing, Tinie's gym demeanor is rather doubtful but I love that he doesn't take himself too seriously in this The Six Million Dollar Man homage. Ellie's voice distortion doesn't do justice to her singing abilities but oh well. And yeah, rap purists are rolling their eyes at Tinie's diversion from grime to a more mainstream sound -hey, look, even gay guys are blogging about him, anathema!
Talking about believing, Tinie's gym demeanor is rather doubtful but I love that he doesn't take himself too seriously in this The Six Million Dollar Man homage. Ellie's voice distortion doesn't do justice to her singing abilities but oh well. And yeah, rap purists are rolling their eyes at Tinie's diversion from grime to a more mainstream sound -hey, look, even gay guys are blogging about him, anathema!
