8.LIPS OF AN ANGEL
HINDER
This single is really interesting. On the surface it's the song about two people who used to be together, and still want to be together, but are both in other relationships. What's interest me the most is that the song plays a trick on you. It's not about a man who wants to cheat but about a man who is fighting the temptation from his old flame. The feelings are still there, and yet he keeps saying to himself "Girl you make it hard to be faithful." Will he leave his new love and return to his old flame? My hope is no, but that's just because the girl on the other end of the phone has called in an emotional state. Would she have call him when there weren't tears in eye? Probably not. Hinder's Rock song ballad has enough dimension to make it listen able.
7. SAY IT RIGHT
NELLY FURTADO (featuring TIMBALAND)
I love the story as to how this song was crafted. The team used four microphones in the live room and moved them around during recording, about which Furtado said "...when you listen to it — there's a lot of dimension. It kind of sounds like [Timbaland]'s in another country". Afterwards they picked the best vocals and "perfected" them, before inserting "reverbs and weird alien sounds" onto them. "[W]e experimented a lot with depth and different sounds", Furtado said of the making of the song. "[It] affected my vocals a whole lot." From Wikipedia And you can hear the difference, I love how the backing vocals and Timbaland's parts swell up and down. If anything this song is all about production and nuance, I listen to all the music through headphones and this one was an aural treat. To top it off the lyrics are fascinating. I believe the song is about a women giving herself over to a man and all the conflicts that go around in her head. Yes the song is about sexuality, but it's more about a women who wants to give in, not about the outcome. The lyrics are a fascinating read.
6.I WANNA LOVE YOU
AKON (FEAT. SNOOP DOGG) VERY VERY EXPLICIT
Alright this song is a great example of why radio edits are ridiculous. This song's original title replaces the word Love with well it begins with an F and rhymes with ----I think you can't figure it out. Anybody who buys the Akon song hoping for loved will get a horrible surprise. Anyway as far as a song goes its another example of the guest artist stealing the show from the main artist. In this case Snoop Dog talks about loving a stripper's feline, while Akon is reduced to repeating the same horrible chorus over and over again. Do me a favor don't listen to this song, its utterly disgusting and was written by boys who may get lots of ladies, but I wouldn't want to hang out with those girls anyway. I want my 5 minutes back on this crappy piece of excrement.
5. SMACK THAT
AKON (Featuring EMINEM) (EXPLICIT)
If you can't guess what Smack That is about from the title of the song well it's about giving a lady a spanking. This time Akon gets to rap through the whole song only giving EMINEM one verse to rock the mic. But this is essentially the same song as I Wanna Love You except Akon not hitting on a stripper, just a lady at a club. Who likes these songs? Not since Rockwell's "Sombody's Watching Me" became at hit by glomming onto Michael Jackson, have I seen two singles that are hits simply because Snoop Dogg and Eminem are on them. That the earlier tune isn't cridited to Snoop Dogg (featuring Akon) remains a mystery too me. Again don't feed this man's ego, with all the talented Rappers out there don't give Akon the time of day.
4. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
THE FRAY
After sitting through Akon thankfully I have a song that's worth listening too. The Fray have over the past year or so really impressed me. Some write them off a merely a Coldplay clone, but they are much more. This single is a fascinating look into the mind of someone who is trying to get through to a friend in trouble. When that fails the song laments, Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life This chorus is a great reflection on how difficult it is to reach out. The song is a dark look into how difficult it is to stare at someone who's killing themselves and finally about dealing with the pain of not getting through. The Fray have crafted a brilliant song about the human condition.
3. FERGALICIOUS
FERGIE (explicit)
Remember when I referred to Diddy as a narcist? Well Fergie offers the antidote to that by providing a tongue-in-cheek and downright fun look into what I feels like to be Stacy Ferguson. I especially love that will I am's rap is conceited enough to misspell Tasty as "T-A-S-T-E-Y. In full disclosure the song is a little raunchy and raw, but you can almost hear Fergie winking back at you to get the joke. I applaud a Star who can create a song where she is the butt of the joke and yet we're all laugh with her. Diddy could learn a lot from Fergie.
2. MY LOVE
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (featuring T.I.)
Justin Timberlake has figured out the best way to hide horrible lyrics is behind a driving bass beat and dance music. His voice disappears into this mess of sounds until all you can really make out is Justin's band Michael Jackson impression. How this guy has the number two song in the country while singing in an obnoxious falsetto voice that sounds to me like his straining his vocal chords is beyond me.
1. IRREPLACEABLE
BEYONCE
Beyonce is a tough chick who's not to be messed with. Because she's got a bunch of men to replace your sorry butt. Irreplaceable is another is a long line of female empowerment tunes and while this one is a little to wordy for it own good, Beyonce has the pipes to pull the song off. Does this song deserve to be the number one song in the country? My answer is as long as it's not AKON I'm happy. _____________________________________________________________________________ There you go, that was the list of the Top 40/CHR Songs in America and what surprises me the most is that even though some of the songs we're real dogs, other songs really shined, and proved that all popular music isn't that bland and repetitive. Join me next week when I embark on music I know very little about when we tackle the Top 40 Rhythmic Songs in the country. Along the way we'll take a ride with Danity Kane, go Ape with some guy named Jibbs, and discover just what The Yummy Song is.