2006 had "Crazy", 2007 had "Umbrella". What will be 2008's Song of the Summer (SOTS)? Help us decide by leaving comments with your nominations!
We'll be frank: we were slow on the uptake on "Sexy Can I", mainly because we were so saturated with the Ray J./Whitney tabloid news (what can we say, we read Crunk & Disorderly a lot) and we've never really trusted anything that Ray's big sister, Brandy, has even remotely anything to do with, except of course "The Boy Is Mine". Anyway, when we finally were goaded into listening to "Sexy Can I" by one of our DJ friends, who recently got a gig at a Sweet 16 and got nothing but requests for this song, it all kind of made sense. It's catchy as hell--the sing-song, nursery rhyme aspect of the chorus is too much for our frontal lobes to handle. We've been whistling it all week. And as the saying goes: if you can whistle it, it's a hit (we just made that up). Let's review the pros and cons:
Pros:
Catchy as all hell
Ray J. already has a certain level of notoriety (Whitney, Brandy, etc)
Cons:
"Sexy Can I" was released way back in January and already has over 5 million views on YouTube. While the song has lasted with radio airplay this long, most R&B aficionados are probably already over it.
What's a Yung Berg?
SOTS probability: 55% .
So there you have it, another song compared and duly evaluated. Check this space for more in the coming weeks, and as always leave your suggestions in the comments field.
We’re super excited that it’s summer and everything, but one tiny anomaly (other than you know, global warming tornadoes and stuff) has us kind of concerned: as far as we can tell, there hasn’t been a Song of the Summer yet. That one, genre-busting crossover pop hit that everyone undeniably loves. A SOTS gets bumped incessantly at BBQ’s, blasted from car windows, is covered “ironically” by at least three major indie bands, and somehow, you never get sick of it. 2007 had “Umbrella”, 2006 had “Crazy”, and so on so forth. But today is June 17th, 2008, and we ain’t got a SOTS for jack. So, RCRD LBL readers, together, let’s make this happen. We want YOUR comments and suggestions on which songs should be this year's SOTS. The only rule is that the song had to have charted in some format in America. Until some amazing song comes along, we’re going to nominate recent mainstream tunes in hopes that, by putting positive vibes into the Internet ether, we’ll save summer 2008 from total SOTS-lessness.
Estelle has finally broken America, it seems almost accidentally, after years and years of being kind of under the radar in her native Britain. “American Boy” is cute and all, and has a guest spot by one of the hottest rappers in the country (just ask Bonnaroo. Yikes). Let’s review the probability of “American Boy” being this year’s SOTS.
Pros:
Estelle is a fresh face on the music scene in the US, thus an American audience has no expectations or preconceived notions of her work.
Kanye is featured on it prominently.
We’re pretty sure there’s a heavy ‘80s soul/R&R sample up in there somewhere.
Cons:
The Kanye rap is ridiculously sub-par and kind of takes over the song. Rhyming "UK" with "You 'K?" No.
Having a fresh face also means no one know who the hell you are.
Probability of “American Boy” being a SOTS: 70%.
While the probability is (possibly prematurely) high, the quest continues. Leave your suggestions in the comments and we’ll review their eligibility. Only you can save 2008 from being that summer where people just had to play old Michael Jackson songs over and over.
