Well folks, we're in the midst of July and just rounding the 10th Week of Summer, it's fairly unbelievable. The Summer Jam Week 10 Champions will be seen tomorrow, but for now we have 8 New Super Fresh Jams to unload for your mid-season pleasure. These tracks are on fire, baby, and ironically enough, they can chill you out during these blistering Sunny Days. Let's get jammin:
Ghost Tracks: "How We Do (Party) Remix" by Rita Ora ft. Notorious B.I.G.
This track may be blasphemous to some and well it should be - as far as pop starlets go, Rita Ora is fairly talentless and she took over this Biggie classic a few months ago before someone came up with the bright idea to mix the original B.I.G. back into it. The best part of the track by far is Biggie's first couple of voices, the rest is fairly garbage. But it's hot! Party and Bullshit!
One Hot Shit: "One Thing" by One Direction
This Jam has already done well in the UK, but it's just now making its rounds in the states. It's interesting how that market for squeaky clean boy bands is back again, although *NSYNC and Backstreet were always quite a bit harder than this. Somehow that's true. One Direction is a bit too manufactured to ever really hit it huge authentically, but for now this is a steady follow-up hit to "What Makes You Beautiful."
Cardiograph Jamming: "Heart Skips a Beat" by Olly Murs ft. Chiddy Bang
This has the potential to be a pretty big jam if it can gain a little traction. It's a fairly fresh sound, even if it reaches that status by sounding a lot like an 80s song. I think it's the amount of synth and the rhythm of the bridge that sounds like just about every 80s melody ever. Still, it's a new artist (in America) with more original clout and crossover appeal than the Carly Raes and One Directions of the world. Jam on!
The Queen Wants Her Throne: "Princess DIE" by Lady GaGa
We should hand it to GaGa, she doesn't even have to actually release a single, just perform a track like this in Melbourne and start generating some buzz. Both her lyrics and image have certainly grown in sophistication since her "Just Dance" days (tho I may argue differently), and if she does give this track a proper release there's no reason the heartfelt ballad can't get huge.
Disinterested Pop Goddess: "National Anthem" by Lana Del Rey
For all of GaGa or Katy Perry's claims to "weirdness," none of them hold a candle to how batshit crazy Lana Del Rey actually is. It's hard to believe she ever gets real mainstream acceptance, but she makes pop music her plaything in refreshing ways and maintains a level of ambivalence towards her own fame and success that's both frustrating and liberating. Nevertheless, this is a cool and engrossing track that's worthwhile for a Summer Chill-Out Session.
The Ass-Kicked: "One More Night" by Maroon 5
Apparently one terrible single wasn't enough for Maroon 5 this summer. "One More Night" is surreal - it's like that dude who was passionately belting out "She Will Be Loved" eight years ago is doing the same thing but underneath a sell-out veil of cheesy pop instead. Oh wait, that's exactly what is happening. At this point I'm curious if they are gaining as many fans as their losing, or if their losing fans at all - after all, Maroon 5 was never that elegant of a musical experience.
Another One: "Both of Us" by B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift
B.o.B has another hot single this week, and you've got to think that he might be saturating a disinterested market. Still, I'm interested, and this is another jagged fresh track from one of the best new voices in hip-hop. The addition of Taylor Swift is a good one, more and more rappers need to give up on singing their choruses and focus on collabos that work to the benefit of the song, like they do here. Taylor's presence on a B.o.B song would seem promising, but none of the stuff off Strange Clouds has seemed to catch on, which is bizarre because that album is sick as hell.
Three Kings: "Till I Die" by Chris Brown ft. Big Sean & Wiz Khalifa
This is a nasty song. It's about time these three rising superstars got together and made an assault upon Summer. Everything about this video is ridiculous, from Chris Brown reassuring us that he's the biggest douchebag on the planet, Big Sean's best Jazzy Jeff impression "Quit hoggin the blunt-" and Wiz just high as fuck along for the ride. Big Sean's fame is still up in the air, and society's forgiveness of Chris Brown is highly questionable, but Khalifa here tends to elevate this from forgettable smoothie jam to something that ought to be recognized, as he usually does. I also like how hard Chris Brown is trying to be hard - you're a woman beater, Chris, we don't care if you got a shitty grill and look mean, you're still just an asshole.
Ghost Tracks: "How We Do (Party) Remix" by Rita Ora ft. Notorious B.I.G.
This track may be blasphemous to some and well it should be - as far as pop starlets go, Rita Ora is fairly talentless and she took over this Biggie classic a few months ago before someone came up with the bright idea to mix the original B.I.G. back into it. The best part of the track by far is Biggie's first couple of voices, the rest is fairly garbage. But it's hot! Party and Bullshit!
One Hot Shit: "One Thing" by One Direction
This Jam has already done well in the UK, but it's just now making its rounds in the states. It's interesting how that market for squeaky clean boy bands is back again, although *NSYNC and Backstreet were always quite a bit harder than this. Somehow that's true. One Direction is a bit too manufactured to ever really hit it huge authentically, but for now this is a steady follow-up hit to "What Makes You Beautiful."
Cardiograph Jamming: "Heart Skips a Beat" by Olly Murs ft. Chiddy Bang
This has the potential to be a pretty big jam if it can gain a little traction. It's a fairly fresh sound, even if it reaches that status by sounding a lot like an 80s song. I think it's the amount of synth and the rhythm of the bridge that sounds like just about every 80s melody ever. Still, it's a new artist (in America) with more original clout and crossover appeal than the Carly Raes and One Directions of the world. Jam on!
The Queen Wants Her Throne: "Princess DIE" by Lady GaGa
We should hand it to GaGa, she doesn't even have to actually release a single, just perform a track like this in Melbourne and start generating some buzz. Both her lyrics and image have certainly grown in sophistication since her "Just Dance" days (tho I may argue differently), and if she does give this track a proper release there's no reason the heartfelt ballad can't get huge.
Disinterested Pop Goddess: "National Anthem" by Lana Del Rey
For all of GaGa or Katy Perry's claims to "weirdness," none of them hold a candle to how batshit crazy Lana Del Rey actually is. It's hard to believe she ever gets real mainstream acceptance, but she makes pop music her plaything in refreshing ways and maintains a level of ambivalence towards her own fame and success that's both frustrating and liberating. Nevertheless, this is a cool and engrossing track that's worthwhile for a Summer Chill-Out Session.
The Ass-Kicked: "One More Night" by Maroon 5
Apparently one terrible single wasn't enough for Maroon 5 this summer. "One More Night" is surreal - it's like that dude who was passionately belting out "She Will Be Loved" eight years ago is doing the same thing but underneath a sell-out veil of cheesy pop instead. Oh wait, that's exactly what is happening. At this point I'm curious if they are gaining as many fans as their losing, or if their losing fans at all - after all, Maroon 5 was never that elegant of a musical experience.
Another One: "Both of Us" by B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift
B.o.B has another hot single this week, and you've got to think that he might be saturating a disinterested market. Still, I'm interested, and this is another jagged fresh track from one of the best new voices in hip-hop. The addition of Taylor Swift is a good one, more and more rappers need to give up on singing their choruses and focus on collabos that work to the benefit of the song, like they do here. Taylor's presence on a B.o.B song would seem promising, but none of the stuff off Strange Clouds has seemed to catch on, which is bizarre because that album is sick as hell.
Three Kings: "Till I Die" by Chris Brown ft. Big Sean & Wiz Khalifa
This is a nasty song. It's about time these three rising superstars got together and made an assault upon Summer. Everything about this video is ridiculous, from Chris Brown reassuring us that he's the biggest douchebag on the planet, Big Sean's best Jazzy Jeff impression "Quit hoggin the blunt-" and Wiz just high as fuck along for the ride. Big Sean's fame is still up in the air, and society's forgiveness of Chris Brown is highly questionable, but Khalifa here tends to elevate this from forgettable smoothie jam to something that ought to be recognized, as he usually does. I also like how hard Chris Brown is trying to be hard - you're a woman beater, Chris, we don't care if you got a shitty grill and look mean, you're still just an asshole.
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