Kanye's new album...

Great.

"Trade the Grammy plaques, just to have my granny back..."

And so, it was that Kanye's verse didn't make the cut for Sunday's live performance of "Forever". My theory is that the Grammy team didn't think Kanye's ambiguous message (e.g. this post's title...) would fly.

I'm not usually a fan of live hip-hop for two reasons: hip-hop beats' oft-complicated texture rarely translates well to live performances,* and the rappers themselves often fail to produce stunning on-stage output. So it was great to see a fantastic (if heavily-censored) performance by Drake, Wayne and Em. Eminem in particular was stunning. That man may be a hip-hop bit player right now - relegated to guest-verse status, not quite capable of carrying a whole track or album - but, damn, he can rap.

Reading over the full list of Grammy winners here, I was struck by the breadth and diversity of the world's music - and by how much of it I simply haven't experienced. Just look at all those categories. Maybe in 2010, I'll find the earworms in places besides the old stand-bys of rock, rap, R&B and pop.

What'd you all think of the Grammys?

* The same's true of rock, but less so; in my opinion, there's better translation. Plus, rockers can compensate with embellished solos -- and live performance (touring, shows, etc) is firmly embedded into rock and roll culture.

A return to the return of beauty

I've made fleeting mention of Maxwell's newest nine-tracker, that of the irregular title of BLACKsummers'night.

I'd like to use "Pretty Wings" (Bsn's lead-off single) as an opportunity to contrast the old and the new in production styles. Kon, we've both been proclaiming the need to celebrate not only the author and singer of a pop song, but also the individual that produced the song. (Great example - GaGa and RedOne.) Here's a chance to walk down that road again.

Now, "Pretty Wings" ain't really "pop" - it's much more in R&B territory. But in the chorus, there's one of those hooks that nips at the bottom edges of the Earworm Level. Definitely a great song.

It (and the rest of the album) stands out because of producer Hod David's stripped-down, old-school approach. Listening to the album puts me in a place where... I feel like I'm in a smoky New York jazz club, with Max & a full band blasting out these tunes.* I'm not hearing the distinctive sheen of AutoTune, or any kind of toppings that a guy like Timbaland (below, his "My Love") or RedOne might throw on top of one of his creations. It's organic, not electronic. It's refreshing.

My question is, do you see such an "old-school" style catching on in mainstream pop? I could never see someone like Britney doing something like this. In the pop-rock realm, John Mayer is likely capable.

* Maxwell, in an interview: "I wanted it to be pure like that, you know."

Songs

Justin Timberlake - "My Love" (f. T.I.)
Maxwell - "Pretty Wings"

Re: "Forever"

I had something else in mind to write today, but I just watched 8 Mile last night, so I feel the need to say more about this. Drake's rise to fame was fairly unique: although usually it goes get signed, record a huge hit, make it big, Drake was discovered by Lil Wayne and recorded a few songs with him before even being signed! And that's what "Forever" is about: making your own fame and the respect you get for it. It's a bit easier to talk about this kind of thing now that they're on top, but it's getting to that point and remembering how they got there. Marshall Mathers sure as hell remembers "establishing a name as he goes." And as long as those guys are on top, you can be sure "rap will never be the same as before."

"Forever"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afKsssTPfyw&feature=player_embedded

Good to see that the most talented basketball player in the world is observant of hip-hop's hierarchy.

Re: "Go shawty. It's your birthday..."

I don't know if I agree with you on the "silly" bridge there. When you think about the song being fittingly called "In Da Club," that bridge is KEY. It breaks up the song, giving it that short downtime (but not really downtime) that is much needed in a club setting: that 10 seconds of switching up the the flow (but not the beat), breaking up the repetitive motion of the usual grind (some double meaning in there somewhere). Dropping a beat is important, so are the lyrics. But if you want a song that's here to STAY, one that outlives the usual few months of fame, and is played in clubs for years on end, just ask Fiddy and look at "In Da Club" (2003-) to see how important balance is.

"Go shawty. It's your birthday..."

50 Cent may be a sniveling, oddly insecure loony right now. And maybe he always was. But for a two-year run or so, he - in Chris Martin fashion - "used to ruuuuuuule the woooooooorld..." Or the rap game, at least.

"In Da Club" was his inescapable hit. Dr. Dre served Fiddy up a beat so mammoth that sabre-toothed tigers were trying to rip its guts out. And Curtis puts in yeoman's work, laying down a soon-to-be-ubiquitous sing-song chorus and a few memorable couplets. Wisely, he doesn't overstay his time on top; "In Da Club" clocks in at a lean and mean 3:13. There's no third verse... nothing, really, to dilute the atmosphere of determined menace. (Well, maybe that silly bridge... Fiddy really had a thing for nursery rhymes.)

Still, though... it's all about that beat, which made "In Da Club"'s title incredibly fitting.

Songs

50 Cent - "In Da Club"

A return to beauty

Just got back into Maxwell's BLACKsummers'night, a startlingly erratic - and beautiful - nine-track composition.

The first two of these nine - "Pretty Wings" and "Help Somebody" - are without question worth checking out.

"Young Hov, y'all know when the flow is loco..."

There's a little snippet in my first post about "Poker Face" being GaGa's "synth-powered freight train". It's only fair to mention Beyonce's brass-boosted variant, which had rolled through the Billboard charts five years earlier. This is arguably producer Rich Harrison's finest work (Amerie's "1 Thing", which deserves its own post, is also in prime contention). Harrison took a horn line from the Chi-Lites' 1970 "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)", and flipped it just brilliantly.* The sassy Queen Bey vocal on top is icing on the cake.

Lyrically and vocally, this song would establish a Knowles trademark, one that (in my opinion, as always) sets her apart from the cohort of R&B divas on today's market: her near-complete capacity to go bat-shit insane on a track. On this one, she's not just in love - she's crazy in love. It's that kind of rampant energy that puts her at that Queen spot.** (Mariah used to be there. Now she's all bloated. Yikes.)

It is here that you should know: I am a raving mad Jay-Z fan, and will habitually give him between 50 and 2,000 percent more credit than he deserves. But, damnit, it's his wry brilliance here that really makes the track tip over into "smash hit" territory (and gives this post its title). As with his earlier sixteen-bar turn on Mariah's "Heartbreaker", Mr. Carter plays a simple role - coy, seemingly detached object of feminine love - with ease.

* Think about the way the titles of the sampled and sampling songs fit together. The Chi-Lites ask "Are you my woman?"; Beyonce answers "yes", and leaves no damn room for further questioning.

** I devoted some tweets to this topic, along the way managing to compare Beyonce to George Costanza. Twitter is fun.

Songs

Beyonce f. Jay-Z - "Crazy in Love"
Chi-Lites - "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)"

Re: Introductions

Kon, you make a terrific point in that final paragraph.

What I call "tags" are short vocal introductions employed to denote a song as being produced by a particular producer - J.R. Rotem, Timbaland, Darkchild, RedOne, etc. They can get a little obnoxious; it's rare to have a tag be perfectly consonant with the enveloping beat, and sometimes you just want to hear the song, without having the incongruous information taking you out of the "listening zone". But in the world of pop music, tags serve a valuable purpose.

In rock music or folk music (and other genres, of course), it's reasonable to assume that an individual will be writing and performing their own songs. Pop, though, is structured around idiosyncratic vocalists, who often lack the musicianship or creativity for songwriting. It, then, marches to the beat of a different drummer. Pop performers (Jason DeRulo) sing songs ("Whatcha Say") that are usually written and/or produced by separate individuals (J.R. Rotem).* Thus, tags give the songwriter/producer the credit he or she deserves. They encourage us to think of pop songs as complex entities: pieces of art that are shaped by one artist and brought to life by another.

In contrast to the rock/folk mold, the soul and R&B music of the 60s, 70s and 80s laid the groundwork for the current pop system. Groups like the Temptations and Supremes infrequently wrote their own tunes; they had writing teams (a most notable one being Holland–Dozier–Holland) churning out songs for them to perform. So, imagine if this kind of music had had such "tags" back in the day. For example, the entirety of Michael Jackson's Thriller would be covered with "Q-Q-Quincy Jones" (or something similar). I'm not sure it would exactly change the course of musical history, but it would help us remember Quincy as much as we'll remember Timbaland.

* This is a very loose rule that isn't a rule at all. Performers' involvement in the songwriting/producing process really depends on genre. A rapper, if he desires any credibility, is going to write and perform a set of lyrics; but he'll rarely craft the beat that shall lie underneath these lyrics. An R&B singer may or may not write his own songs - there are many examples on either side of this coin. I think that pop singers, though, are the least autonomous.

An Extraordinary Example - Timbaland & Jay-Z, "Off That"

Having just devoted a couple of paragraphs to tags, it's only fair to mention moments when a tag evolves into something more evolved - a dramatic prelude to a song... a proper introduction. "Off That", off Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3", exemplifies this.

Over a menacing hum of synth chords, it's Jay (the performer) and Timbaland (the producer) who proclaim, together: "Welcome... to the future." Then, it's a dialogue between the two minds...

Blueprint 3... hey hey
Hey, count me in. Find me a nice, soft place to land.
I got you, 'Hov!
I'm so high up...
Yeah! Come on now.
Find me a place to land.
Come on now! Come on now!
Yeah... right there... yeah.
'Hov!

By the end, we're at dramatic peak; we're truly ready to hear Jay launch into the first couplet. But firmly ensconced in our minds and ears is the concept of creative partnership. Jay's the one doing the rapping, but it's Timbaland who's "find[ing him] a nice, soft place to land". It's a poetic way of denoting the two respective roles. Oh - and of setting the stage for a kick-ass song.

Songs

Jason DeRulo - "Whatcha Say"

Jay-Z f. Drake - "Off That"

This post needs no introduction.

Introductions. In a live performance setting, when a prominent figure speaks in public or an artist is about to take the stage, we hear "Ladies and Gentlemen, here to talk about/perform X, let's welcome person Y." This way, if you couldn't recognize them, then you know, this is Kanye West, not Jay-Z. Steve Jobs, not Bill Gates.

So when the trend to introduce a singer or producer at the beginning of a recorded song started, it made a lot of sense. See Jason Derulo's collection ("J-J-J-J-Jay R... Jason Derullloooo... Beluga Heights") referring to his producer JR Rotem and label. Some are more subtle: "Darkchild" appears in Say My Name (Destiny's Child) and Shake My Ass (Three 6 Mafia). In "Just Dance", you've got the longer "RedOne.... Konvict, Gaga [and in another version, Kardinal Offishall's famous] yeauhh" intro. Kanye tends to be less subtle with his building the intro into the lyrics ("Mr. West is in the building"). Pitbull's "Mr. 305" going back to his miami roots. And the list goes on.

More often than not, we'll know who is singing the song: either the radio DJ or the mp3 tag will let us know. But the producers, the behind the scenes folks who do a ton of work are left anonymous. Steve may disagree with me on this particular example, but RedOne (and especially the RedOneKonvict collaboration with Akon) has done incredible things, producing number one hits in Lady Gaga and Sean Kingston, among others. Hits whose hooks have (Fire) burned into the collective pop music memory on (Just) dance floors across the globe. We think about the artist, but let's not forget the efforts of the producers working tirelessly to get their music up to the Earworm level.

Re: "... That Planet Earth turns slowly ..."

Here at the Earworm Level, we'll usually focus on the music itself, but there's something to be said here about the social appreciation of music. The popularity of a song, in general, is the sum of how many people like it by some vague personal definition of how "good" a song is. That said, opinions differ and one person's treasure may be another person's trash. Enter the Internet and the Theory of Anonymity. This is what happens when an artist with a fairly specific niche already, Owl City, gets a number one hit (on a personal note, congratulations to him. I've been following Owl City for years and I think his distinctive ethereal, video game style is incredible). The huge backlash to "Fireflies" (see comments on the YouTube video, where the song is constantly described as "gay" and proponents of the song as "fags") is a good example of the Theory, but it speaks to the song being so polarizing. The beeps and whistles and the happy innocence lyrics are what make it unique in my mind, but may make it cheesy to someone else.

Other than that, I'll agree with Steve's sentiments: mix a dream-like feeling with a hook with which you can identify and you've got a recipe for a number one hit.

"... That Planet Earth turns slowly ..."

On a music message board where I regularly sear my eyeballs, numerous critical voices enjoy ripping the shit out of the Owl City tune that is known as "Fireflies". I think they resent the fact that it hit number one.

After more than a few listens, I'm inclined to agree with their negativity. Just not much going on in the verses. Well, that's not precisely true; lyrically, things are happening, but they are the sort of things that make me want to punch myself in the face.

This is the Earworm Level, though, and I do admit that the chorus has gotten itself stuck.

I'd like to make myself believe
That Planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

This kind of wide-eyed innocence - just barely on the good side of the Utter Idiocy line, but there nonetheless - is why this baby hit number one. It's reflected not only in the lyrics but also in the melody's sweep (which truly emerges during the chorus' second appearance, an emotional firework that Dashboard Confessional is probably crying over right now... that is, if those tear ducts haven't been worn dry). I think a part of all of us wants to forever linger on the edge of wakefulness and sleep - and, similarly, on the edge of our realities and our dreams. And as long as we keep wishing for those formers to cross over into those latters, songs like "Fireflies" will continue to hit number one.

Songs

Owl City - "Fireflies"

Re: Earworm

Greetings. Other half of The Earworm Level here.

As Steve so eloquently put it in a text message to me right after the release of United State of Pop 2009 (Blame it on the Pop), "EARWORM is on another level." It's true. His 2009 mashup is electric. A source that I can't remember had "autotune" as the word of the year of 2009. And Blame it on the Pop hits it on the nose.

Those of you who are with us in Mark Zuckerberg-land already know my opinions on this. Simply put, I think the 2008 version is better done than the 2009. I may have overstated this in the past though. The problem with comparing these songs is the same as when comparing two fantastic wines: two works of art that for some reason or another just capture our attention. A background song/taste that holds everything together. Overtones of each hook, each subtlety. The occasional violator ("Guess what? I liked it!" puts a quick metallic taste in my mouth), but one that is instantly forgotten when the next hit is a fruitful Ne-Yo taste.

Viva la Pop is for sitting and jamming. Blame it on the Pop is for feeling good. It's in my personality to like listening to 2009 more, but 2008 soars high above the music scene. I've never been disappointed with the way pop music has progressed and moved forward since I have been listening to it. If Earworm can see 2010 from his level, I'm sure he'd agree "this year's remix" will be simply incredible.

Earworm

Don't lie: we've all consulted the Urban Dictionary to get a read on what's happening in the cultural lexicon.

Said dictionary's second definition for "earworm" is as follows: A song with an 'addictive' element (hook, melody, lyric) that draws people into listening multiple times. Song doesn't have to be good or bad, it just needs to have that 'addictive' element.

I don't know about you guys, but that's why I listen to pop music. For the earworms. I don't care much about however the fuck Lady GaGa's embarrassing herself in the media. I am, however, down with the opening synth pattern in her stomping, triumphant "Poker Face" - as well as the undeniable hook, the strangely operatic "Can't read my" that prefaces each mention of the song's title. These musical fragments - even if they're not supported by a larger, coherent whole (Poker Face's verses are nothing special) - are why someone like GaGa pops up on my radar screen. Like worms in soil, they borrow deep into my ears... perhaps reaching my soul.

So, looking back, it was natural for me to love a mash-up guy who called himself "DJ Earworm". But when his 2008 opus - the audaciously-titled "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop)" - found its way to my iTunes, I was blown away. Here were all of the "earworms" to the music that I had been listening to for the last year... "Apologize"'s "Too late...", Wayne's "She lick me like a lollipop", and the list goes on. The thing was, all of these fragments were stitched together into a "larger, coherent whole" -- a beautiful melody over a lush bed of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" strings. Here's one example of this stitching of disparate elements...

Baby you can have whatever you like
'Cause you asked for it, tonight
With you, with you, with you, with you
Touch my body (she lick me like a lollipop)
But I don't care what they say - guess what?! I liked it!
Come closer, 'cause you need one... tonight

As with many things musical, it doesn't have the same impact on paper. But DJ Earworm's feat was still amazing - he managed to fuse together the hooks from all of Billboard's top 20 hits for the year 2008. And he's done it again for the year 2009. That, I believe, is worthy of celebrating - even if only on a silly lil' blog.

So, I think Kon and I are trying to find songs that hit "the earworm level". If it's got one of those "addictive elements" - be it an interesting set of chords, a hilarious lyric, or a wild melody - we'll try to document it here.

Songs

DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop)" - Lyrical. Purdy. Soaring.
DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It On The Pop)" - Frenetic. Groovy. Upbeat.
Lady GaGa - "Poker Face" - A synth-powered freight train.