Year In America October 2, 2008
Oct. 2nd, 2008 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotAkon "Right Now (Na Na Na)": Starts emotionally, the synth has a wail in it, similar to Akon's singing. Akon's wail is never flexible, so on an Akon track either you need an extraordinary tune to make the lack of variety not matter or you need elements to compete with him, chipmunks or rappers or something. This tune is only pretty good, the synth doesn't get enough air-time, the cut doesn't pull itself out of its doldrums. NONTICK.
Jennifer Hudson "Spotlight": In the last month I've shifted from borderline to definite on this, but still consider it a missed opportunity. The challenge here is to go from delicate sorrow in the verse to dance sizzle in the chorus while never losing the sorrow. The performance ends up too even, not light enough in the verse's sadness, not fiery enough in the chorus, so she achieves coherence but doesn't take this into amazingness. Interesting track, though. TICK.
Ludacris f. Chris Brown and Sean Garrett "What Them Girls Like": Kinda crowded, claps and Orientalisms and Chris being hooky, and the supposed wisdom about women is the usual bullshit, but Chris's "uh-uh uh-uh uh-ohs" are pretty and Luda being his usual attention-grabbing self pulls this together. Nothing unexpected, but a TICK.
Jennifer Hudson "Spotlight": In the last month I've shifted from borderline to definite on this, but still consider it a missed opportunity. The challenge here is to go from delicate sorrow in the verse to dance sizzle in the chorus while never losing the sorrow. The performance ends up too even, not light enough in the verse's sadness, not fiery enough in the chorus, so she achieves coherence but doesn't take this into amazingness. Interesting track, though. TICK.
Ludacris f. Chris Brown and Sean Garrett "What Them Girls Like": Kinda crowded, claps and Orientalisms and Chris being hooky, and the supposed wisdom about women is the usual bullshit, but Chris's "uh-uh uh-uh uh-ohs" are pretty and Luda being his usual attention-grabbing self pulls this together. Nothing unexpected, but a TICK.
