poptimists | Another Year In Pop: 38

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katstevens.livejournal.com posting in

Sorry it's late dudes! This week sees barely anything new going on in the top 10 at all, and me feeling very stupid for not realising that P Diddy was just giffing on over a Jay-Z track instead of being a musical genius etc etc. I blame it all on the fact that I am HORRENDOUSLY busy (which has also meant a rather hasty poll, sorry if I've missed anything out).

[Poll #1265404]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

Hang on what is this a different version of 'Swagga Like Us'? How have they relegated TI from being the lead artist to not even being credited?? Is TI not enough of a household name for the UK? God that's annoying esp as Jay-Z's verse is by far the lamest. I don't know whether to tick this or not - I think the use of the sample starts out great but swiftly becomes v grating; Kanye and Wayne are both good on it but nothing I'd listen to over their best work this year; TI is oddly unmemorable, despite him being my favourite rapper around just in terms of how his voice sounds; and Jay-Z is as tedious as all of his new material. Rapping about skinny jeans, dnw, even if he is dissing them.

J-Hud HURRAH, this remains a terrific slow burn of a track. It works in a similar way to 'Bleeding Love' and Ne-Yo's 'Because Of You' - doesn't blow you away at first, but it doesn't need to because the subtleties and nuances inevitably end up getting to you anyway: the way the main vocal line and the backing vox play off against each other, the way the chorus builds, the way the song feels like some kind of pivotal setpiece musical number, the conflict in the lyrics...this is one of my favourite pop songs of the year. OMG, the middle eight is so teary and dramatic! The Quentin Harris remix is also recommended, it's this towering house thing where judicious echo effect transforms J-Hud from meek & mild girl-next-door into EPIC BELTING HOUSE DIVA with tears in her eyes.

Will Young - kind of boring and nothingy? I remember a time when it looked like he'd become a great English eccentric pop star but he seems to have retreated into bland ersatz soul and can now be filed alongside Adele. 'Leave Right Now' is still the only really great song he's done and it's looking more and more like the anomaly in his discography.

The Streets - ughhhhh I hate him so much! His VOICE. His MAWKISHNESS. His ORDINARY BLOKE affectations. Bizarre to remember how much I loved Original Pirate Material - I don't think I could bear to go back to it now.

Sorry, not bothering with Fall Out Boy.

From:

alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

Re: J-Hud, I posted the video and mp3 a while back. No one seemed to care :(

From:

alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

oh ffs. for all you NOT HEARD ANYs the original post is HERE (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/601600.html)

From:

katstevens.livejournal.com

I took the info off the OCC website (http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php), no idea why TI isn't on there. He's surely reasonably well know since the Justin Timberlake song he was on did REALLY well?

From:

chezghost.livejournal.com

Chart Stats has decided to just credit it to Jay-Z only ha

From:

lockedintheatti.livejournal.com

That's bizarre, as it's listed on iTunes as Jay-Z & TI (featuring Kanye & Lil Wayne)

From:

alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

Plus, it's going to be on the Jay-Z and TI solo albums, but wasn't on Lil' Wayne's and presumably won't be on Kanye's.

It might be because the actual UK lead single off the TI album, 'Whatever You Like' (which is MUCH better than 'Swagga Like Us'), seems to be slowly making its way up the chart as well, and if that's getting the promo push then presumably the record company doesn't want to confuse people by pushing two lead TI singles simultaneously.

From:

jeff-worrell.livejournal.com

I must say I thought it was TI featuring [the rest of hip hop].

Slightly more importantly, though, is it Swagger or Swagga (I've seen both cited)?

And if it is 'Swagga' as in Ragga, then surely the title ought to be "Swagga Like We" ;)

From:

koganbot

Billboard credits it to Jay-Z & T.I. Probably some U.K. typist made the decision to keep T.I. off. However, I think Kanye's rap is the one that drives the song. Who's the producer?