Sabi / Where They Do That At

Yet again, pop proves it’s not so much *what* you’re saying, but *how* you go about saying it. Or rather, a song can say a lot without actually *saying* anything. Sometimes the music itself is moving enough, which is something I talk about a lot here, and this is a good example of that. Just from listening to the production - glimpses of a summer day, the palpable heaviness of the air, driving slowly down the block, windows rolled down, as the syrupy honeydew music bops, and late nights spent on the back porch as mosquitoes bite at the legs (auto-tuned “la la la”’s sound like bugs fluttering their wings to me).

“Where They Do That At” - well, what does that mean? I KNOW what it means but it doesn’t matter what it means, in this circumstance - with the beats and melody in such beauteous harmony - she could be saying just about anything. The track only needs a vocalist to fill the gap between good production and good song, and Sabi manages that well. Not to diminish her part; Sabi’s flow is tight, she has the right amount of cool, and it’s not the type of song anyone could pull off. A big voiced diva would be too clumsy for a wisp of a song like this, while a non-rapper might not have such confident grasp of the beat. 

This song succeeds however because it realizes that setting the mood can be more important than what words are used. Sabi can say a lot more than words because of how the track is put together. The offhand delivery of the vocals, the rhythm to her flow, the melody of the production itself - all to me have an air of “coolness”, but Sabi doesn’t need to say “this is cool”, because it’s implied. And that also means the listener can draw their own meanings from a song. The lyrics of this song speak nothing of the balmy summer day I described earlier, but everything outside of the lyrics allows me to interpret it in that way. 

All that to say - “Where They Do That At”, a masterclass in everything that isn’t spoken, and a great fucking pop song.

Nelly Furtado / Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)

After weeks of letting it sit - I hate this. I’m impressed by what it accomplishes, but I hate it. Its abrasiveness is unrelenting; a porcupine of a song which pricks from every angle. Not just the sound of her voice, but the way she enunciates. This mumbled, child-like, whiny, alien-(mono)tone, wrapped in the uneasy tilt-a-whirl production, is maddening. The d&b break finale can only be described as a barrage - sonic bullets meant to end anyone who survived the previous 3 minutes and 20 seconds of assault. It’s like the part in Kill Bill where O-Ren says “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?”, and then a bunch of dudes with samurai swords come rushing out and start swinging everywhere. Except this time Black Mamba got her ass kicked. 

A*M*E / Ride or Die

British poptart A*M*E appeals to me in many of the same ways K-Pop does. Her bouncy club thumper “City Lights” might as well have been a Nine Muses single, and while the dancehall-funk of new track “Ride or Die” hasn’t made its way to Korea (yet), it hits all the same pleasure centers in my brain. 

The colorful sense of playfulness (and I’m not just talking about the video, the song itself sounds like a sparkling rasta-pop rainbow), the blurring of lines between rapping and singing, and the presence of that easy “WE’RE JUST GOING TO MAKE A STUPID FUN POP SONG AND NOT THINK VERY MUCH MORE ABOUT IT” aura. 

Anyway, my summer anthem - sorted. And any song that sounds a bit like it could fit on either Rihanna or 2NE1’s next albums - obviously amazing. 

Loreen / Euphoria

Okay this isn’t the europop-y sort of blog but we can listen to other things that aren’t K-Pop too! Well, sometimes. “Euphoria”, from Melodifestivalen contestant ‘Loreen’, is quite the earth-shaking, wind-rattling, storm-brewing dance tune, and I think you’ll all agree. Or at least laugh at the sheer campy absurdity which is the above performance.