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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Dreamgirls

  • If Beyonce Were A Boy, She Wouldn’t Sell Any Records

    Money Mike also wrote about Beyonce’s new album, I Am…Sasha Fierce a couple of days ago. You can read his take here. Here’s mine.

    Oh,
    the time has come
    for my dreams to be heard
    They will not be pushed aside and turned
    Into your own
    all cause you won’t
    Listen….

    Those are the lyrics to Beyonce’s Listen, a fictional song based on her fictional character Deena Jones from the movie Dreamgirls. Even though some people didn’t like the song, what you couldn’t deny was that it was the most emotional performance of her career. One of my best friends in the entire world who isn’t even really a Top 40 pop music fan felt the emotion and was able to identify with the lyrics. It might’ve been a song for a movie, but you felt like Beyonce was also singing for herself a little bit. For a few minutes, Beyonce channeled everything inside her and put herself and Deena Jones together and made them one. It was pure artist growth.

    Coming from Destiny’s Child, an all girl group that was chopped up and changed many times with the end decisions made by her dad/manager Mathew, you got the sense that she was this fabricated artist. You didn’t really feel like you had a true sense of who Beyonce was. I’ve always felt that these next few albums of Beyonce’s career would give us an idea of a great artist to come. Man, was I wrong.

    I Am…Sasha Fierce is her newest release and I bought the album with much trepidation. Beyonce decided to release a double album even though there were only 12 songs on the regular release and 16 songs on the deluxe edition release (18 songs if you bought the iTunes version like me). A double album is unnecessary and simply a waste of plastic. And another reason to go all digital. Her reasoning was that she wanted to split the songs to show off her split personalities. You have the traditional radio records on one disc and the more sassy songs, with her Sasha Fierce stage personality influence, on the other disc. Was I Am…Foxy Cleopatra taken?

    According to her father, this wasn’t forced on Beyonce. It was something she desperately wanted to do. Maybe the artist was growing, but just in the wrong way.

    She released a double single with If I Were A Boy from the more traditional pop side and Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) as the Sasha Fierce single. I became deflated. If I Were A Boy is an interesting take on relationships and shows some of the inequality in them. But at the same time, it’s more of a 17 year old girl’s take than a 27 year old woman’s take. Thankfully she didn’t write it. Because if she did, I’d really wonder about some of the male influences in her life. But the video is even worse. It shows Beyonce as a cop, doing her husband dirty by flirting with a man, not returning hubby’s calls, staying out late, and when she gets called on it, her excuse is, “It’s not like I’m sleeping with him.” It generalizes male/female relationships to the most simplest degree and as someone who has never cheated on their wife/girlfriend before, I was offended. I think that’s what it was for, but it also left a bad taste in my mouth about the song. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) is a frenetic mess that sounds like the frenetic messes on her last album B’Day, and if you don’t listen to the lyrics, it’s a fine display of who Sasha Fierce is. If you listen to the lyrics, you might thing Sasha Fierce is an idiot. The song is about females in relationships being able to cut it up on the dance floor with anyone they choose to if they’re boyfriend hasn’t claimed them via an engagement ring. If you’re in a trusting relationship, the idea that your significant other is dancing at a club is probably not that big of a deal. But for Beyonce, it’s like a line drawn in the sand. Put a ring on my finger, I’m with you. Don’t, and I’m bumping and grinding with someone else. You know, she’s pretty and all, but …who am I kidding, I’d put a ring on her in a second. And dammit if the video isn’t just the hottest thing of all time.

    The pop side is very slow. I actually think splitting the songs up is a mistake because everything on the first disc starts to sound the same. Halo by itself is a very nice song, but with Disappear and Broken-Hearted Girl immediately following, the songs just mesh into each other and don’t stand out. It’s a pity too because she sings so beautifully on Disappear and if it can find its own identity, it has a chance to be a single later down the line. Her singing is actually the highlight of the first disc. Ave Maria, while a bit of an odd remake choice, is brilliantly sung for a Beyonce song. Smash Into You is simply the best song on either disc, but it sounds awfully familiar. It’s also a song that’s completely about love rather than heartbreak or vulnerability which also helps it stand out. Beyonce’s songs tend to stray into the vulnerable territory so often and it’s actually more powerful in my eyes when she actually takes control of her relationships in her songs.

    Now, onto Sasha Fierce. The worst is yet to come.

    Radio is an take on an old LL Cool J song. There’s a really weird verse where she compares taking her radio into her bedroom with secretly taking a boyfriend into her bedroom.

    The only one that papa allowed to hang out in my room with the door closed
    We’d be alone
    And mama never freaked out when she heard it go boom
    ‘Cause she knew we were in the zone

    She can’t not take credit for those lyrics.

    If you took Snoop Dog’s Drop It Like It’s Hot and Fergie’s London Bridge and put them together, you get Diva, which might be on a short list for the worst songs of the years. Beyonce is such a poser on this song it’s silly. She doesn’t need to pretend she’s something that she’s not when she has such a strong vocal instrument. Video Phone battles Diva for the worst song on the album.

    Ego and Hello are interesting because they’re about Jay-Z. Both of them are about her attraction to him which have a lot to do with being attracted to his swagger. See guys, it’s easy. You just have to be the most famous rapper in the world, run a few companies, set trends, and you can get girls like Beyonce too. The iTunes bonus track for the Sasha Fierce disc, Why Don’t You Love Me, is actually the best song on the disc. It would’ve fit on Dreamgirls during the disco era of the movie. You can see Beyonce wearing an afro and rockin’ with a disco ball.

    To say that I’m disappointed in this album is an understatement, but then again, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I just figured that after her work on Dreamgirls, she would’ve been able to come a bit stronger. But there are just some artists who will stay at a certain level and never move from there. And who can blame her? She sells a ton of records and has a legion of fans. Even if she is…Sasha Fierce?

  • J. Hud & The Twins Stand Under The “Spotlight”

    Jennifer Hudson’s trip from “American Idol”-also ran to Oscar-winning actress began with the release of “Dreamgirls” nearly two years ago. Since then, talk about a transition back to singer in the form of an album has run rampant, with a scheduled release date of late 2007 having come and gone.

    Finally, with the release of the single “Spotlight”, an album release date appears to be on the horizon, and the video officially premiered this past Tuesday. While the song (co-written by Ne-Yo, natch) doesn’t exactly have “huge pop single” written all over it, it’s a pleasant enough ditty that calls to mind early-Eighties soul/dance heavyweights like Cheryl Lynn and Evelyn “Champagne” King. It’s one of the few Ne-Yo songs that I can’t identify as his within 10 seconds, and Jennifer (and that ginormous rack) are going full force.

    What do you folks think?

  • What Kind Of Fu**ery Is This? Best Of Music 2007

    I hate putting these lists together. Ok, I lied. I love doing it. But it’s so hard. Putting all of the songs and albums together that I heard in 2007 into one conclusive list is tough. There are even things that came out in 2007 that I know are good, but that I haven’t even listened to enough to make a solid decision on.

    Vital Idol

    But let’s start with the American Idol stuff. I guarantee that I’m the only one thinks about Idol albums on “best of” lists like this. In 2007, a bunch of Idol albums came out with the best being Elliot Yamin’s self titled debut. Carrie Underwood followed up her big hitter rookie album with another strong album titled Carnival Ride. I’m certain more than one song on the album is about Tony Romo. Kelly Clarkson argued with Clive and released an album that’s emotional and all her own, but yikes, does that mean I have to listen to her downpour of depression? Even Katharine McPhee dropped an album that was actually decent. It bricked (and caused her to get dropped from her record deal), but it was much better than it had any right to be. In late 2006 (but they count here for me for being so late in the year), Fantasia and Taylor Hicks put out good albums, though both didn’t sell. And Hicks’ debut got him dropped from his deal. So much for the idea that all Idol winners are stars. Also, Ruben Studdard’s third album dropped and it was a mess and a half. Not surprisingly he was also dropped from his deal as well. There were others that I didn’t get a chance to listen to like Kellie Pickler and Bucky (that dude should just drop his last name).

    The two albums that dropped late in the year were from Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks and runner up Blake Lewis. While Lewis is going to get shredded because he doesn’t have a great singing voice, his album is the better of the two. It’s creative and in a style you’d expect from him. Sparks’ isn’t creative, and that’s the downfall. She’s at a weird age in which she’s too old to be Hannah Montana and too young to be a sexy songstress. I’d expect much better from her in the years to come. As for Blake, he’s probably not going to last long in this game, but he gets an E for effort. At least Break Anotha was hot.

    One Shot

    I still haven’t been able to give enough time to Lupe Fiasco’s second album, The Cool. I love the single, but in order to put it on a list like this, I have to give it more than just the random listen that I did. I apologize to Lupe. Next time, release your album a little earlier bruh.

    Big Ups

    There are a bunch of albums that I really liked, but didn’t love, or simply haven’t listened to enough to know if I love or not. Unless it’s something I know I’ll love immediately, music and me aren’t necessarily always love at first sight. Joni Mitchell’s Shine is impressive considering I wasn’t raised on Mitchell and thus haven’t heard a lot of her classic work. But when two of my closest friends both told me to give it a shot, I did. And when one of them decided to send me all the songs in e-mail, I really couldn’t say no. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I was also impressed with Bruce Springsteen’s Magic. It’s really the first album of his that I’ve given a hard listen to since The Rising. The single Radio Nowhere was genius. Chrisette Michele is an artist that didn’t get much love, and one can understand why. It’s not a pop album at all. Her I Am is an album that I had to listen to more than once in order to get it, and I don’t even think I’ve fully gotten it yet. It’s very much an R&B/soul/jazz clash that’s void of bubble gum. Joss Stone’s Introducing … is a fun album that takes advantage of her voice and gives her good material to work with. She does good stuff with not only Common, but Lauryn Hill, and no one did anything with Lauryn Hill except for her own ego.

    Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long came strong out of the blocks with the funky Makes Me Wonder and stayed strong throughout. Talib Kweli and Common also hit with albums this year. Kweli’s Eardrum was consistent throughout and for rap fans, is right up there with the best hip hop releases of the year. But I thought there was definitely something missing. It might just be Kweli. I love his rhymes, but he lacks charisma, and that’s why I think I’d rather listen to a lesser rapper like Kanye, but also one who makes complete songs, even though toe to toe, he can’t flow with Kweli. Common’s Finding Forever wasn’t as good as Be, but it found many spins in my iPod. Spins? To me, The People was one of the bangers of the year. Timbaland took the “featuring …” to another level with Shock Value. It was chock full of radio ear candy. One of the things I love about Timbaland is that he simply enjoys getting people to go crazy in the clubs, but he is not afraid of experimenting with different types of artists. He’s not going to go completely left, but he’ll rock with One Republic and The Hives and then on the same album throw a bone to his old buddy Magoo. He still can’t rap though.

    Ne-Yo and Rihanna converged with Hate That I Love You and at that point, I pretty much considered them one and the same. I found Ne-Yo’s Because Of You superior to his first album. Maybe it was the title track that I loved so much. But I just found more reasons to listen all the way through. Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad was the one album that you could’ve thrown on at a party and not had to worry about changing the music for an hour. She had the biggest single in the world and seemingly grew up right before our eyes. Have you seen the video to Hate That I Love You? If not, go now. You can always come back here. I won’t mind.

     

    One Love

    The list of albums that I loved is much shorter. Though Alicia Keys hasn’t yet made that one near perfect album, she came closer to that goal with As I Am. It’s a much stronger album from a song writing perspective and as with any Alicia Keys song, you know you’ll get your goodie bag of awesome love songs. Like You’ll Never See Me Again was a brilliant second single. Jay-Z’s American Gangster and Kanye West’s Graduation were the two hip hop albums that I played most this year. With Jay-Z releases, I usually get a copy at least a week and a half before it comes out because someone had a bootleg and burns me one. Don’t worry y’all, I then go buy a copy when it’s finally released. With this one, I didn’t hear it until it dropped. I was slightly worried that it would be rushed, but after it was all said and done, it’s one of the best albums of his career. It’s on the soulful tip like The Blueprint, but is even more retro. And it also features the party jam of the year, Roc Boys (And The Winner Is …). We in the house, house, house. West’s Graduation came out of the gate with two singles that weren’t the type of radio song that you were used to. There was no Golddigger to be found. But he sampled Daft Punk and found his black Kate Moss. Stronger might’ve been my single of the year if I had a vote.

    The release date on Elliot Yamin’s debut album wasn’t circled on everyone’s calendar. But when Wait For You dropped, I knew I’d love probably everything on this album. He waits for his girl in Wait For You, sees warning signs in their relationship in Train Wreck, and then kicks her to the curb and wants to date her friend in Movin’ On. But he makes it all better with the iTunes only In Love With You Forever. Dreamgirls was probably my second favorite movie of 2006 (why Rocky Balboa of course) and even if the acting sucked (which it didn’t, and Eddie Murphy was robbed), I would’ve still loved it because of the awesome soundtrack. Even though technically the soundtrack was released in late 2006, I listened to it more than any other album in the first half of 2007. From Jennifer Hudson’s roaring rendition of Jennifer Holiday’s And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going to the bad a** Steppin’ To The Bad Side, it’s the shortest hour car ride ever. And I’ve probably listened to it no less than 35 times.

    My favorite album of the year isn’t a surprise. It’s not an original choice, but oh well. Amy Winehouse may be locked up at a looney bin with Britney Spears pretty soon, but at least someone in the looney bin will be able to sing. Ok, that was mean. I enjoyed Brit’s Blackout more than I probably should’ve and still think Break The Ice should be sent to the clubs immediately. Winehouse and producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi created soul music that simply isn’t created these days unless your name is Anthony Hamilton. Though Rehab was the hot single, Love Is A Losing Game and Tears Dry On Their Own are the real head turners. Back To Black is one of the few anythings I gave 5 stars to this year.

    Favorite Song Of The Year

    It’s true that I live in a whole different house
    But that doesn’t mean I won’t come around
    I’m still best friends with your mom have no doubt
    We’ll still make time to hang out
    I promise I won’t let you down

    I will admit to liking things that others won’t even dare listen to. One of my favorite songs of the year was the Carrie Underwood song I’ll Stand By You, which was only found on iTunes I believe. My favorite sing isn’t earth shattering and it’s not going to hit the charts anytime soon, but it was the most meaningful to me. Not simply Babyface anymore, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds penned a song that could’ve been written for me. Not Going Nowhere is a love letter to his son about why he and his ex-wife Tracy Edmonds (Edmonds-Murphy?) decided to be best friends. It really touched home with me because my ex-wife and I made a promise to each other that we would put away any hard feelings we have for each other and work to keep our family together. Our two sons are too important for pettiness and so far, we’ve done that. I live 2 minutes away from my boys, have them whenever I want, and life isn’t really all that different. The boys will have to deal with us having new significant others (and they’ve really done great in that area), but having a family with divorced parents is much better than having a divorced family. Thanks ‘Face.

    I know you feel a little scared
    I know you think it’s not fair
    And you think it’s all your fault
    But it’s not I swear
    If it wasn’t for you things could never be so cool
    So I thank you
    For being the one in our life
    That showed both of us we did something right

    (forgive the ads in the beginning)