Selena Gomez Featuring A$AP Rocky
“Good For You”
#9
Gomez says “Good For You” is intended to demonstrate both her strength and vulnerability. What I hear instead is desperation and obsession. These could be classified under vulnerability, I suppose, but the strength is harder to identify. The comparisons to Lana Del Rey are obvious, but even though Gomez has a far better voice and “sultry” may as well be her middle name, she lacks the sense of danger and decadent self-absorbtion that Del Rey is capable of. It all feels too much like something put on, a costume she slips in and out of at will. Maybe that’s her strength. But if it is, it’s a commercial strength, not an artistic one. At least not yet.
Janet
“No Sleeep”
#67
The introductory thunderstorm melds seamlessly into a timeless slow bass groove, but that’s the high point; the rest is Janet purring as she has many times before over a Jam/Lewis production you’ve also heard more than once. In terms of craft “Sleeep” is flawless, and almost automatically better than much of the rest of the chart, but it’s only mid-level Janet. After nearly a decade away, I’ll assume this is a testing of the waters, with the more intense stuff still to come. She hasn’t lost her touch, though, that’s for sure.
Flo Rida Featuring Robin Thicke & Verdine White
“I Don’t Like It, I Love It”
#74
This sounds more like a Robin Thicke record with Flo Rida than vice versa, and I’ll bet the main reason the credits are reversed is that after a terrible two years Thicke worries he’s still anethema to radio programmers and DJs. In truth, and understandably so, it doesn’t sound much like Thicke either, but occupies an odd middle ground where both he and Flo Rida can function, even if it’s at nowhere near their best.
Meek Mill Featuring Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj
“All Eyes On You”
#81
Hearing two rappers, lovers or not, speak to each other as if they were in the same room is almost enough for me to give this one a pass no matter the quality of the rest. Fortunately, “All Eyes On You” features one of Chris Brown’s better choruses, and Meek Mill is at the top of his game even when lovestruck. Oddly, it’s Minaj who sounds slightly off—love makes her throw softballs, and not always on target. Her singing is sweet, though, and overall this gets by.
Jake Owen
“Real Life”
#93
A while back I suggested that bro-country had broken into a number of micro-genres, and here’s the latest from a writer/producer who’s almost become a micro-genre of his own, Shane McAnally. I’m not suggesting Jake Owen didn’t contribute something to the creative process, even if it was only going along for the ride, but this is McAnally’s record from start to finish. Which means it upends the usual country cliches without being insulting, and leavens its nods to traditionalism and country authenticity with a layer of pop sheen and touches of camp. I don’t know if McAnally is the smartest person in country right now, but he’s certainly the most knowing.
Janelle Monae & Jidenna
“Yoga”
#93
I really like the idea of Janelle Monae, but I’m rarely excited by her music. It’s too calculated: there’s always the feeling that she’s holding something back, or that she can’t access the parts of herself that would set her music free. Who knows, maybe those parts don’t even exist for her (though whenever I listen to OutKast’s “Call the Law”, which is still her greatest performance, I think they must be in there somewhere). Whatever the case, this is enjoyable without being awe-inspiring, has great lines (you know the one) that are never reinforced with equally powerful music, and generally fails, once again, to deliver. In this case, the excellent verses are undermined by an ordinary chorus that sounds out of place in these surroundings. Maybe she’s too smart to be a successful pop artist.
Sam Smith
“Like I Can”
#99
End-of-the-album-cycle barrel-scraping, indistinct from anything he’s done before, which makes his vocals mannerisms stand out and become even more grating than usual. Meanwhile, Smith is making a new record with Disclosure. I’ll wait for that.
Young Thug
“Check”
#100
The way Thug’s various voices weave around and through each other, slipping and sliding and crossing the beat with stunning fluency, is one of the sonic marvels of the last couple of years. What he does with it lyrically is somewhat less impressive. His phrasing and flow owe an obvious and admitted debt to Lil Wayne (with whom he has, let us say, a somewhat complicated relationship), but his style is smoother and more fluid, without the sudden stops and jerks that made Wayne so unpredictable. He isn’t as deep as Wayne was at his best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s less talented, just younger.