will.i.am ft... hang on, is that our Cheryl?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Latest evidence that Mrs Cole can indeed dance slightly better than the Girls en masse. Shame the song is a lazy re-tread of 'I Will Survive'.

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Cheryl merits a 'featuring' about as much as Gwen Stefani merited a 'featuring' on 'Can I Have It Like That?' Seriously, I'm disappointed - I'd heard she'd recorded a new verse and new lyrics, but this is exactly the same as the album version. Which I presume she wasn't on, as she wasn't credited. So...has she just overdubbed some of the chorus? Or just been spliced into the video in a really cheap way that makes it look as though she was never on the same continent as will.i.am?

I still like the song though in a sort of 7/10 way. Did we ever discuss the will.i.am album? It's oddly anonymous from someone who'd previously been so obnoxious. I like the loungey electro mood, a lot of the beats feel like tools for later use (and indeed 'Impatient' became 'American Boy'). The Booka Shade-sampling track is awesome though.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

will.i.am must be a contender for the most annoying man in pop at the moment, but I agree that this isn't bad at all. If Cheryl got paid any money at all for that she must have been laughing all the way to the cashpoint.

Still, Cheryl looks gorgeous and certainly seems to have some moves - I suppose this is her dipping her toes in the big leagues and seeing what the water's like. Good on her for that, but it would be a shame to move from an act whose style is so out there and yet are so loved and acclaimed in favour of what is basically r'n'b mediocrity.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

R&B mediocrity would be a step UP from the last Girls Aloud album dude.

Anyway will.i.am used to be annoying but over the last few years he's developed into a really interesting producer, definitely one of the best around for pop-r&b - he uses the 80s electro template really well, and often incorporates really surprising elements of other dance music - I mean, people went nuts over Kanye jacking Daft Punk, but will.i.am really trumped him by sampling BOOKA SHADE. His work on the Fergie album was magnificent (and really varied! snappy electro on 'Fergalicious', opulent balladry on 'All That I Got (The Make Up Song)', sinister trip-hop on 'Velvet Doll', brash bangingness on 'Here I Come').

Plus, he's got quite a hitlist going on even apart from Fergie Ferg:

Pussycat Dolls - Beep
Ciara - Get In, Fit In
Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
Flo Rida - In The Ayer
Estelle - American Boy and Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)