Bright bubbling mess

[koganbot]

Over on the poptimists weekly roundup I talked about party pop getting reinvented as a bright bubbling dance mess, Tinie Tempeh being the latest example but this also relating to what Dave and Tal were saying yesterday in regard to Missy and Ke$ha playing footsie with the centering/de-centering thing. Here's how I said it on poptimists (and you should click the link up top 'cause my other write-ups included a PUN; also, there's a discussion of whether the weekly poll is worth saving):

Tinie Tempeh ft. Labrinth "Frisky": "Rap going pop" doesn't capture what's happening with this any more than it captures what's happening w/ Ke$ha, DeRulo, GaGa, BEP, et al. in the States: party pop is being reinvented as a bright bubbling dance mess, and it's pretty damn interesting (though I wish competing messes like hyphy and jerk also got chart representation*). "Frisky" doesn't capture late-night haze and aggression as well as "Pass Out" did, but it does a fine job of making blips and burbles and slow screws and fast pat-downs sound like party favors. A barely distinct soul voice arrives near the end - "it wanna feelin' yeah" is what I get - providing a sudden ache while a comfortable voice in the lower register cheerfully assures us that we're frisky. TICK.

*Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How To Dougie" is rising through the lower reaches in the U.S., stretching all the way up to 81 in the Hot 100 (26 in hip-hop/r&b). Not that its sound is a mess (is even sparer than most jerk**, actually), just that its bass and brattiness deserve their place in the general social cacophony.

**I suppose the dance is the Dougie (originating in Dallas), but I assume that this band, from SoCal, is part of the overall jerk scene; not that I'd know.

"Tinie Tempah - Frisky ft. Labrinth" (Watch on YouTube)

"Cali Swag District - Teach Me How To Dougie (Official Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[talrose.livejournal.com]

I would agree that the music is pretty interesting, but I haven't heard a voice besides Ke$ha's, auto-tuned or not, that's been able to fit comfortably within the mess. Even though Gaga's certainly a part of it, the minor key melodies and big, brambly buzzsaw keyboards make her domineering voice/persona a clear standout. ("Alejandro" being the one exception, with the little pan flute, and even that has a whole lot of drama and desperation that BEP and even Ke$ha do not have.)

Another trend I'm noticing is that hardcore rap is going back to its early roots of being hardcore, but it's making some concessions towards this party pop mess. For example: T.I.'s "I'm Back"'s expansiveness and variation, Rick Ross' Kool G Rap-style battle raps lightened up by Barry White bass and Ne-Yo, Gucci's "Lemonade"'s children's chorus and bubbly keyboards, etc.

To go back somewhat to the convo from yesterday, the trend seems to be pop still hewn to the center, but tenuously, like it's desperately trying to break off of it. This would explain the recombinant vision of the music where sounds are floating off, though minimally, in a way of trying to throw off the music (though not to quite the same extremes that dub did/does).

[talrose.livejournal.com]

To clarify, "early roots of hardcore" being straight battle raps and description a la EPMD, Juice Crew, not the frenzied yelling and switchups of DMX, Redman, Busta, Ghostface, and so on. Rap radio seems focused on rapping in the same linear motion as the beat.

Swedish-American Parties and California Gurlz

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Dr. Luke's last (c. 2007) stage as cheerleader stomp throat-crammer has started to (I think similarly) evolve into a stranger, looser party around given artists -- not just Ke$ha but also Miley, Katy Perry, Alison Iraheta, maybe even P!nk, though not so much. Aside from the obvious "Party in the USA," which took a mash-up (the Biggie one) for me to understand just how immersive the production was, I think that "Summer Gurls" is doing something interesting: as discussed over at the Jukebox, it's hearkening back to 90's hip-pop parties and sort of awkwardly tossing a nu-central Katy Perry into the mass. She barely survives it, I think, but the resulting song is a summer jam, even if it feels like it's eking out a win on points. I'm not really feeling it, but it works.

Re: Swedish-American Parties and California Gurlz

[koganbot]

Miranda Cosgrove, on the other hand... (right now I've got "Kissin' U" as a 5 on my Jukebox writeup; would be lower except for the standard good quality tune from Luke and/or Claude, though at least Miranda is trying for a Skye-Demi spark, even if the spark is copied). What do you think of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," which I blurbed this morning on Yet Another Year In America? There's a rolling around messiness in the relation between Taio and the beat, but I'm not sure how intended the mess is. In any event, the sound doesn't feel clean (nor does the sound on this week's T.I., which I also blurbed; hip-hop is usually not set on cleanliness anyway, but this one is off in a way that I'm not clear about, and again I'm wondering if this was intended or is a result of low fidelity in the online rips I was listening to).