Mutya Buena & Amy Winehouse - 'B Boy Baby'
What does poor Mutya Buena have to do in order to maintain the attention of a fickle pop public, eh? She's already collaborated with Groovy Amanda (must check spelling), and sampled Benny Crabbitz (I think that's what she said, anyway), and now she's got the backing of the one-woman-media-typhoon and headline magnet that is Any Whinehorse. She's got heavy friends, people!
Not only that, but this song takes one of, ah, Ill Spectre's (don't leave, I'll get bored with it soon) best and most influential songs, the immortal 'Be My Baby' by the Ronettes, and then sort of half-sample/half-updates it, based around a squitty saxophone, a collossal breakbeat and a very audacious pun. The kind of pun which will delight some listeners, to the point of actual joyclaps, but will cause an equal amount of teeth-gnashing in irritation.
So, all in all a very high-profile campaign for Mutya. The question is, will it be enough?
Well, I for one would rather she released songs as atttention-grabbing as this one that any amount of drab R&B normalcy. Yes the backing is unsubtle, yes the sax is lairy and muppety, yes she is commiting some kind of treasonous act of vandalism on a '60s classic and yes, that pun is really going to irk people...but at least it's not boring, or worse, respectful.
If you're going to tackle a venerated old pop warhorse like 'Be My Baby', you can't come at it timidly, like the enormity of the challenge is going to beat you. And Mutya Buena possesses one of the best 'O RLY?' sneers in the world, so she's definitely the right person for the job. Plus anyone who has a problem with this version can just take it up with the beehive lady in the vest, and see how far that gets you.
And let's face it, you're going to need to pay attention this time round, cos if you don't, she's clearly going to go for the jugular next time. Sweet dreams!
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 26th
(Fraser McAlpine)
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