Shawn Mendes—“Life Of the Party”
#24
A fifteen year-old Canadian who jumpstarted his career posting six-second covers of pop hits on Vine delivers a lyrically cliche-ridden party song converted into a dubsteppy self-actualization power ballad. Who knew the end of the world was so near?
Robin Thicke—“Get Her Back”
#82
For Thicke, this is a return to standard form after the quirk success of “Blurred Lines” (which was barely Thicke’s record to begin with). The repetitiveness of the lyric makes his desperation believable, and conceptually “Get Her Back” is as good as any record he’s made. But it goes nowhere. That may partly be the point, but it doesn’t make for a very enjoyable record. Which it doesn’t have to be. But it’s missing something all the same.
Jeremih featuring YG—“Don’t Tell ‘Em”
#89
Music aside—which is OK, though DJ Mustard gets less spicy every time out—this is as tiresome as current hip hop gets. What bothers me most, though, is the recurring motif of guys urging their women not to tell anybody that they get together. Since they spend a good deal of time bragging about putting one over on the other guy or their other women, fear of being caught cheating is probably the least of it. Whatever the reason, it’s just another form of manipulation and power play. It’s about as far from love, or even lust, as you can get, though the songs are usually presented as being about both. It’s an unhealthy state of affairs (no pun intended) all around, and “Don’t Tell ‘Em” is unhealthier than most.
Vance Joy—“Riptide”
#92
Hey, babe, sit still while I mansplain my love for you. To summarize: you’re hot, dumb, and remind me of Michelle Pfeiffer. And hey, ain’t I cute?
Sam Hunt—“Leave the Night On”
#98
Better than average bro-country, with decent lyrics and a reference to Train that’s smarter than anything the guys in Train itself have ever come up with. Still, it is a Train reference, and though Hunt skirts the edge of bro-country cliche he doesn’t avoid it either. So let’s call him promising and wait to see what he does next time.
Ca$h Out—“She Twerkin”
#100
All styles exhaust themselves eventually, but this particular type of rap seems too new to have been drained already. Unless, of course, there wasn’t much to it to begin with. I don’t think it’s Ca$h Out, because in spite of the overall weakness of the track, he comes up with some decent, clever rhymes. He has nothing new to say, though, and the music and the pace drag everything down.