Ciara ft Chamillionaire - 'Get Up'
Rappers, THIS is how you do a guest appearance! Rather than take the standard, well-worn and uninspired approach - which is to name yourself, and then the artist whose record you are appearing on, and then the year, and then do 16 bars of what amounts to little more than saying "I am here, I am here" over and over again (the best example of which can be found on Snoop Dogg's Pussycat Dolls moments), Chamillionaire effectively pulls the wheels off Ciara's song so comprehensively that it takes her twice as long to get everything back to normal as his rap section actually takes to listen to.
And this is no bad thing, because up until that point, the song itelf was proving to be an unremarkable listen. This is partly due to the frustrating magpie of a melody, which flits about pecking up beakfuls from a whole library-full of classy R&B tunes (leaving us poor listeners going "ooh! Is that Beyonce? No wait, that's Usher! No, AKON! Oh...now, it's..er...it's...'Somebody's Watching Me' by Rockwell. Hahahahahahaaa!").
It's also because there's just nothing here which really DEMANDS your attention. Pleasant backing, whisper-sung vocal, gentle squitty noises...all very nice, but hardly arresting stuff, right up until Chammy barges in. And once he leaves, it's like one of those Missy Elliot moments where everything stops for THE BOMB to drop.
And drop it does. With a BOOM! the entire song is put on pause while chiselled harpies breathily yell "It's Ciara time!", and stuff like that. More BOOM!s, more yelling, someone takes a picture, and the attention of a startled (and slightly scared) public is fully engaged.
Which makes the moment when the song comes back in feel less like a welcome return to familiar territory and more like the second day back at school after the summer holidays. You've seen everyone you'd been missing and there's no more excitement on the way for AGES...
Bet Ciara's wishing she'd got Snoop Dogg after all now...
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 18th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
You're right about the melody man.. there's a bit that screams PCD-Buttons to me.. boring.
What is it with dancing in the rain??? Loads of singers dance in the rain in their videos and frankly I reallly can't see the point! It's so unoriginal!
Uh-huh, uh-huh, Mr H in da house, 2007 style,
It's Chart Blog time of day.
Mr H, Mr H rockin the mic,
Chart Blog may be right,
But Mr H has got the vibe,
Uh-huh.
"FRAISER M" WHO ARE YOU! EVRYTHING I HAVE SEEN YOU REVIEW, YOU CRITISISE AND SLAG OFF! WHATS WITH THAT? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU ACCOMPLISH WHAT MANY OF THESE ARTISTS HAVE ACHEIVED. CIARA (AND I FIND THIS HARD TO ADMIT) IS AN R&B GENIUS, PERFECT FOR HER ROLE, AMAZING DANCER, EXCELLENT PERFORMER, GOOD AT ACTING AND I BET SHE WRITES HER OWN MUSIC TOO AND YET YOU STILL REVIEW THIS AS IF SHE IS AN AMATURE. GIVE HER SOME CREDIT AN ALL THE OTHER ARTISTS YOU BLOG! THERE BETTER THAN YOU!!!!!
[Maybe, but at least I can spell. - F.R.A.S.E.R.]
i like ciara because she is superb
She is my best singer