I like girls

Allow me to catch up on some girl pop I've been neglecting...

I've always thought that perfecting the art of annoying was Gwen Stefani's life's work. Now that she's revealed her inner theater dork with "Wind It Up" (making certain that "Rich Girl" was no fluke), I'm sure of it. And I kind of love her for it. I'm kind of scared for the future (what's next in this trajectory -- a Pharell beat made of mouths smacking creamy food and/or gum-popping? Gwen making those noises herself, live and in my ear?), but for now I'm content to watch her act like an exaggerated fool on an exaggerated stage in the track's bonkers video.

I wonder if it's over-confidence or straight stupidity that would lead her to releasing a dance track whose main feature is a sample of The Sound of Music's "The Lonely Goatherd." Does she think that at this point, she's so warmly regarded that she can get away with a yodeling show tune, or is she just oblivious to how ultimately uncommercial that creative decision is? The combination of her moany seriousness on the track and over-the-top mugging in the video offers little guidance. Similarly, aside from the "Goatherd," the only semblance of a hook this track has is Gwen's gym-teacher call to "Windituhhhhhh!" In other words, she is the hook. Is this hubris or a natural progression in recent pop's fascination with minimalism, right down to barely discernible melodies (and again, I ask what's next: blinking over a beat?). "Hollaback Girl," "Wind It Up"'s spiritual guide, had a chant anyone could sing along to; "Wind" has a shriek that no one would want to sing along to.

But really, I admire the audacity, that however cognizant Gwen is of how she's coming off, she's at least committed to her track. Besides, her dubious intention at least gets me thinking -- she's camp that I can't decide to laugh at or with. I don't know if she repulses me to such a degree that I find the effect ultimately fascinating, or if I find her so fascinating that I repulse myself. In the end, it's just dumb fun and not even she would dare to claim otherwise: in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Gwen says that "Wind It Up" "isn't about anything." Whoa -- dumb pop that doesn't aspire to be anything but dumb pop? That's the spirit!

"Everybody askin' why Mary ain't mad no more," goes the first line of the first verse of Mary J. Blige's latest single, "We Ride (I See the Future)" (listen here). Everybody who? It seems to me that those who care most about Mary's lack of drama during these current Kendu years are Mary and her massive ego. Because really, if a question's bugging you then you stop answering it. You don't entertain it repeatedly, as Mary has been for the past five years (most glaringly in "Good Woman Down" from last year's The Breakthrough in what sounded more like a plea than consolation: "I'm still with you, my sisters. My troubled sisters. I still have troubles, too!"). Besides qualifying Mary's lack of drama again, "We Ride" has little purpose beyond shifting units (Brian Michael Cox just redoes what he did for the megahit "Be Without You") and even less to say. You know you're in no plan's land when the song's key refrain is "It is what it is." Then why sing about it? Why not just let it be ("it" being her bond with Kendu, which we've already heard about...a lot)?

"Ride" is the lead single from Mary's career retrospective Reflections, and like it or not (and I sure don't), it sets the mood perfectly. Here, Mary's message is less, "Take me as I am," and more, "Take me as you wish I still were."

You can soak in Mary's past woes, or just listen to Shareefa, who has drama on top of drama in the here and now. Mary's done enough cryin', whereas you get the feeling Shareefa would do some more if only she could. But in her latest single, "Cry No More," she suggests that it's physically impossible. What's more is that she tells her object of annoyance, "I seen things deeper than you," including "people shot in front of me." Ain't that some shit? I hope it's true, too, since a major theme on Shareefa's debut, Point of No Return, and the mixtape that preceded it, Got Reefa?, is realness. For example, the drops a fake friend in "Phony" and delivers one of Return's most inspired lines in the process: "Shoulda known your ass was kinda foul." Even the set's addictive first single, "I Need a Boss," (thanks to Rodney Jerkins' ability to become one with the South) is as much about what she isn't looking for ("I be buggin' 'cause all these fake thugs is tryin' to press up"), as what she is.

Shareefa is a vocalist in the tradition of Mary, which is to say that her considerable lack of technical skill is supposed to be balanced by her emotion. The post-epiphany Grinch probably doesn't have a heart big enough to compensate for Shareefa's rangeless honk of a voice, but hey, she's trying. It's easy to admire her moxie and to be charmed by her willingness to tell it like it is (on "No One Said," which is directly inspired by the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Everyday Struggle," Shareefa mentions her morning sickness and late period even though, you know, no one asked). As Reefa's image seems to be based on her lack of polish, you have to wonder if Return is necessarily her peak. Anything after this would have to be met by a more refined Reefa who's learned a thing or two from her time in the spotlight...unless she's just crazy and/or a train wreck to which I say: bring it on. Really though, I hope this isn't her peak -- she deserves better than this enjoyable but uneven set. I similarly wonder if she and her people are spreading it thick (and insincerely?) with the hoodrat angle (not that that's any worse of an angle than your typical pop star -- less commercial perhaps, but certainly just as eye-catching). But then, I think of that cranky voice, that asymmetrical hair that I love so much, that name (I mean, it's just Shareefa). If this is a put-on, it's a very elaborate, perhaps self-defeating one. Either way: props.

So, uh, Whitney appears on a new track by Ray J that recently leaked. The fuck? In my messageboard research, I read that it was recorded last year. It should have stayed in 2005. Whitney's merely a yes-diva to Ray's caterwauls. And not a very good yes-diva, at that. She sounds hoarse and petite. Like a Chihuahua. Which is to say: nippy.

The throwback of the week is Yo-Yo's "You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo," one of my very favorite hip-hop singles of the '90s. Yo-Yo was problematic (she spoke of women's independence, yet she rarely left the shadow of her male mentor Ice Cube; she advocated brain use, yet packed a real small gat in her purse; she called out black women for having fake hair and colored contacts, yet, she had fake hair and colored contacts), but I think that this song is ultimately empowering. She was (is? I have no idea what her politics in '06 are) a self-described "womanist," which is basically just a feminist with a fear of semantics. If that doesn't seem very progressive, consider the fact that, 15 years later, there's been no commercial rap song that's as uniformly pro-woman [see the comments section - Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y." was a bigger, less confused hit for sure -- that makes two, I guess] (besides maybe some empowerment-via-sex tracks, which are valid, but not quite the same thing). Plus, Sir Jinx's production is amazing, this rumbling and soulful beast. I wish rap still sounded like this.

This one goes out to my man the Game.

And on that note: ha!

(Double ha! if you forward to the 7:46 mark here and catch his Reasonable Doubt error -- thanks to Bill for the chuckle.)

Comments

[christy]

Although I really can't stand Gwen Stefani OR that song, it always makes me laugh to hear the little "clip-clop" of horses hooves she has in the background of "Wind it up". I like to imagine that she is galloping around banging coconuts together a la Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[James Derek Dwyer]

Poor GWEN! Her new look a la Raffaella Carra is sooo wasted on this crappy new cd... even the new Janet sounds better than this tired ole junk.

[Shot of Love]

Yo-Yo's got a touch of Bob Dylan in her with this lyric:

How many more rounds must I go
In order to let my people know
Times were hard, things have changed

That smacks of three Dylan songs that I can think of. Too bad that song isn't on iTunes.

[vida]

"Wind it Up" is a crappy MIA knockoff.

[Penny Woods]

That clip of Wendy Williams is the most useful clip of the Wendy Williams Experience ever.

[Lara]

i LOVED "the sound of music" as a kid, and now i'm excited that i get to dance to it at the club. i think "wind it up" is what it is: a catchy dance tune that means nothing.
i like it (but probably only for the next week or two).

[Christa]

I think Rich hits the proverbial nail on the proverbial head when he suggests that fascination with Gwen may stem from her nothing-is as nothing-does honesty. She's a bit mad, yes, but doesn't the radio need a little bit more spectacular nothingness to its mostly-despicable pop froth? (Rather than, say, spectacular nothingness in no-dude-I'm-like-really-serious clothing?) Besides, this is a woman who is making oodles of oodletastic money from a public image that is, nowadays, all about "being pink" -- whatever that means, yes, but methinks it's a pretty accurate summation.

Me, I'm loving the musical remix thing. A top forty princess actually referenced "The Lonely Goatherd," man. There ought to be a plaque somewhere. What's old and campy has once again been made new and campy. How postmodern, how insane, how refreshing!

Ha, it's not even her singing the clip from "The Sound of Music." She's Milli Vanilling it.

[Sophia]

I found a mix of Wind It Up that doesn't have the yodeling, and it's actually pretty catchy.

[Megan]

...made of mouths smacking creamy food...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Bwa.

[trick please]

Props on the chihuahua, nippy pun. Funny, funny stuff. I too had a WTF moment when I 'saw' Whitney on a Ray J track. I could not bear to listen. Why does it hurt so bad? Why? Clive Davis better get on it.

Mary: over her and her no more drama, non-drama.

shareefa: Quien?

Gwen: If it has a nice beat people will dance to it. But as you pointed out even she admits its fluff.

[care]

haha nippy. rich, you crack me up.
i absolutely detested "wind it up" the first time i heard it with the yodeling, etc. but now that it's resided IN MY BRAIN FOR THE LAST WEEK, i don't feel i can say anything bad about it. actually, now i can't say anything not in yodel form. thanks a lot gwen.

[xnowhereboyx]

I rock rough and tough with my afro puffs.

Geez I miss the '80s: http://youtube.com/watch?v=rv4SiMAzTGY
(Confidential to Lara -- check this one out)

Although "Rich Girl" was a poor-girl's remake of the basically unknown Lady Saw original from ten years ago (someone mixed Gwen's version with the original Lady Saw version here http://youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-GP-lmtGw -- you can close your eyes so you don't have to see some queen lipsynching the whole thing) and Gwen knew she could get away with it and come off looking like she did it first, I think using the SoM sample in "Wind It Up" is really an attempt to do something original and different in the pop music world of today. I imagine the writing session to go something like this: "Everyone's doing the '80s now. Everything's been done already. Fergie is ripping off my brand wholesale. We need something so crazy that no one else can do it without being accused of plagiarism (said without a hint of hypocrisy). Why don't we use Supersonic and call it Gwenalicious? No... I know -- let's see that Bitchess try to do a song with yodeling!!"

I love reading your entries on music because your wit just keeps hitting the spot. "Feminism without the semantics" made me tingle and the Mary J Blige part made me cream my jeans.

[Tom]

The thing about Gwen is, and I believe one of the main reasons why people are so attracted to her, is that she is probably the only mainstream artist that doesn't take herself seriously. She's out to make fun dance music with these two solo albums, and god bless her for it, because in a sea of other pretentious artists she is our only saving grace for that fluff we really need. While The Killers are comparing themselves to David Bowie, and Justin is comparing his sophmore album to 'Thriller' and Christina is failing miserably recreating a genre nobody cares about, Gwen really is our Sweet Escape.

[Tom]

The thing about Gwen is, and I believe one of the main reasons why people are so attracted to her, is that she is probably the only mainstream artist that doesn't take herself seriously. She's out to make fun dance music with these two solo albums, and god bless her for it, because in a sea of other pretentious artists she is our only saving grace for that fluff we really need. While The Killers are comparing themselves to David Bowie, and Justin is comparing his sophmore album to 'Thriller' and Christina is failing miserably recreating a genre nobody cares about, Gwen really is our Sweet Escape.

[lpiel]

I haven't heard the yodels mix anywhere--I probably would've lost my jaw on the changing room floor if that'd been the version stuttering out of H&M's speakers.

Seems like the track's hit the mainstream yodel-free.

[Tremayne]

While we're on the subject, do you remember a female rapper named Boss? She was like REALLY gangster and kinds scared me as a child. Whenever I ask people about her, I get blank stares and google searches are too broad and ultimately give me nothing. Is there a Boss or is this just a figment of my overactive imagination???

[xnowhereboyx]

"from what I remember about the whole Boss thing, ya know she came out all hard like she was from the streets and she was this and that, and came to find out she went to damn prep school, and she was raised in the suburbs...she was in other words a "studio gangsta"..."

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6344

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Gangstaz-Boss/dp/B0000024IY

[Jelinas]

I don't care much for Gwen's solo stuff (in spite of my undying love for No Doubt), but I do have to give her ups for not trying to be all relevant and stuff. That's my biggest beef with pop music in general: most pop "artists" are light on the talent and even lighter on the substance, however poignant they try to be. Those who are big on the talent (Xtina and Kelly Clarkson actually have ossom voices, I must admit) are way light on the substance, which just makes me cry out, "Kelly! Why are you wasting all that talent on crap??"



Whatever happened to the good ol' days of Mariah Carey? She crazy, but girl can write a song. And saaaang.



That's why I like artists like Gwen and Weezer. They're fun and don't take themselves too seriously and poke fun at those who do. Kinda like Rich. ;-)

[JH]

Yo-Yo was ace, and I totally miss 70's soulful samples in rap songs.

Gwen's going for a Peggy Lee kind of look but, as per usual, is reading more as a Lorraine Gary!

[Jenn]

I read this blog all the time and I've never commented. So, I figure there is no better time to say that I love it.

Second of all, when I first started reading this, the first thing I thought was to ask if you had ever heard of Lily Allen (I'm assuming you have). I rarely find myself truly liking pop music, but right now I'm addicted to her, my favorite songs being "Not Big" and "Friday Night". I mean, who wouldn't like a song about threatening to "tell your friends your rubish in bed"? There is also that mention of crackwhores in one song that catches you a bit offguard.

[Joe]

The first time I heard Rich Girl, the "na-na-NA-na-na-NAAA" chorus was stuck in my head so badly, I thought I was gonna go fucking *insane*. Thank God, the Harajuku Girls are gone - I just thought they were there for set dressing and to give blah Gwen the vibe of "exotic". I like Wind It Up - it's fun, danceable and allows drunk queens on Halsted to shriek "WINDITUP!!!" and spill their Long Island Iced Teas all over the damn place. This is precisly what Gwen intended.

[Todd]

I've been a big Gwen fan since No Doubt, but unlike most I like her better solo. She's 100% committed to making a crazy, moronic, fun as hell albums and I love her for it.

I've heard The Sweet Escape, and while there are definitely NO stand out singles like Hollaback Girl (seriously, Wind It Up might just be the most commercial song there) its serious fun. My faves are "U Started It", "Early Winter" and "Don't Get it Twisted" (in which she procalims 'this is the most craziest shit ever', gwen's bringin bad grammar back).

I hope to see a sweet escape review here!

[Tanith]

San Fernando Bjork.

[Lindsey]

Gwen is scary looking now and "wind it up" sucks...

Anyway have you seen this?
http://community.livejournal.com/howtheylooknow/352928.html#cutid1

:( :(

[J'ason D'Luv]

This song will chart at #2.

[Marie]

My daughter used to adore Gwen. "The Return of Saturn" was her most prized CD for years. She memorized every single lyric and vowed to meet her "idol" Gwen Stefani one day.

Last year she received a backstage pass and watched Gwen's entire concert from the wings. When it came down to meeting Gwen, however, she declined. I asked why, suggesting a photo would've been cool. She told me Gwen was a skank now and she had no interest in meeting her. I thought skank was kind of harsh, but now I'm beginning to see a little bit of her point. While I do appreciate how down to earth Gwen appears (a Cali girl all the way), I don't get the value of her music. Sure, I liked "Cool" on the first CD. That was okay, catchy. But this new stuff is pure crap. I mean, you just had a baby, Gwen; why the rush to get back in the recording studio? It's not like you were sitting on a masterpiece here! This stuff is manufactured beats pieced together as sounds. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but neither does her latest single or new CD. I guess when you can get millions of people to buy your image, it's kind of hard to resist selling it. Ask J Lo. Anyway, there seems to a great deal of vanity involved here and not a small touch of greed, methinks.

It'll be interesting to see how she fits back into No Doubt.

[pk]

It'll be interesting to see how she fits back into No Doubt.

i dunno about that one. they'd been doing their thing locally for years by the time "i'm just a girl" went national, so they may well be over it at this point.

i'm designing for a young band now. watching from the sidelines, it's amazing the amount of work and dedication that level of cmmitment to popularity takes. it's probably exhausting, both emotionally and creatively, to get as big as no doubt did.

[theidlereceptionist]

There's enough shitty pop out there. At least Gwen does it well and pulls all the stops. That vid WAS redonk, though! Hah!

But I like the song. It really commits to itself.

Her new hair is fug. Why can't she go to a fawn color like her "I know we're cool" video?

[starstattoo]

I think Gwen's styling and image is amazing - the combination of Michelle Pfeiffer from 'Scarface' with nun garb from 'Sound of Music' is inspired. I love the whole Convent Coke Whore thing. It's so gay, in its iconoclastic-lite camp.

And I think she could have done something clever with any of several 'Sound of Music' songs, like a rewrite of 'My Favorite Things' or 'I am 16 Going on 17,' updating the lyrics for Gen Y.

But yodeling 'Lonely Goatherd' against a tepid 'Hollaback' rehash was such an extreme mistake. I was so embarassed for her when I saw the video. I was like, Gwen, I want to root for you, but you are making it difficult.

However, for a 38 year old woman to have a huge fan base among preteen girls, and to play to that demographic with style and credibility, and yet not be an immature brat offstage, is quite an achievement.

Oh, and every time I hear 'Fergalicous', I start rapping, "the S is for Super, the U is for Unique..."

[Mara]

gwen, gwen, gwen...used to love her in no doubt and even liked most of her 1st solo album, but the new album is crap...just like this new "style" she has goin on--wtf??

i HATED wind it up the 1st few times i heard it, but it grew on me *sigh*. gwen needs to take care of her kid and mature a bit before she churns out anymore shitty albums like "no escape" because honestly, she's too old to be pullin off this kind of crap, and i know she can do better.

ps--i i i i i i i i i heart shareefa too :P

[Mer]

Hilarious and extremely well written. You always deliever. Wiiiinnnnnnddddituppp!

[guerlane]

I think the only song I hate more than "You can't mess with my Yo-Yo" is anything from Michelle (Ice Cube's other lame ass find.)

Now this shitty Yo Yo song has been stuck in my head for 2 days - Thanks Rich!

It's pretty apparent that you chose the craptacular Westsiiiiide over the more talented East Coast Rappers. I'm from LA but I knew enough that Beat Street kicked Breakin's ASS!!!!

You want a good song to remember? Try "Headed for Self Destruction" just please don't dredge any more of Ice Cube's minions from the Venice Boardwalk.

[Maria]

Rich, I know you've heard it before. You are a very good writer and I hope you are receiving offers.

[LaSexorcisto]

"Wind It Up" is an infectious tune. "Infect" being the key word. It crawled into my brain and rotted it away. Now I can't stop listening to it. It's the musical equivalent of a lobotomy.

I read that the concept for the song came about after some DJ did a mash-up of Sound of Music and some drum beats for one of her L.A.M.B fashion shows. I also read on EW that she's going back to record with No Doubt and that she doesn't like being solo as much as being with the group. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen.

[hey]

ok it took me a day to figure out what was niggling at my brain: while Gwen obviously samples The Sound of Music, the video brings to mind Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's "Girl on a Music Box" scene. WIND IT UP Gwen! What's the next homage, Mary Poppins?

[ChristopherM]

I have to differ with you on the pro-woman commercial rap song. Queen Latifah had a hit 13 years back with U.N.I.T.Y. When I first heard her holler, "Who you callin' a bitch?! You gotta let 'em know, you ain't a bitch or a ho!" I thought, it's about damn time. Well played, Latifah!

[parcequilfaut]

Shamefully, I adore "Wind It Up"; if you listen to the nonsense lyrics, it sounds like it's about robot hoochie dancers, and it uses the LG sample; when I was about 10 years old, I thought that the Sound of Music soundtrack was about the hottest shit dropping, and I can't help but crack up and have the tainted love for the track.

As for the woman-positive rap (which there is not nearly enough of in the mainstream), has anyone ever heard Baby Stout?

[Casey]

The video for "Wind It Up" be so out there, it almost reminiscient of Daft Punk's "Around The World."

[spiffy]

OK, so the whole chaining to the supposedly underwater gate was a bit confusing, and the G logo was just a tad self-indulgent. But at least she has the cojones to sample Rogers & Hammerstein. It may not be the most clever mash-up there is, but still better than most of the crap on the radio. A few years back someone turned "Climb Every Mountain" into a dance track, and I've been waiting for more TSOM remixes ever since. This is not exactly what I wanted, but good enough.

[kaz]

Yo-yo maybe gone, so the closest to old-skool lady rap we now have is Leslie and the Lys. Sheer gem sweater-y brilliance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCtlQynXwY

[jezebelly]

You gotta give Gwen credit. She namedrops L.A.M.B. in it. That's sheer marketing brilliance.

[yeahkate]

Don't get all philosophical about Gwen Stefani. A lot of stuff has already been done and she is supposed to be so different so she's reaching for whatever her producers give her that is eclectic. It's entertaining. She's an entertainer, not an artist. I've seen her live and it was painful, no art there. She has a terrible voice, but gimmicky hair and a job where it pays to dress funny. That's about it.

[Rich]

I have to differ with you on the pro-woman commercial rap song. Queen Latifah had a hit 13 years back with U.N.I.T.Y.

This is glaring oversight. Duh. Sorry about that.

Also: Add this to the Boss links. "I Don't Give a Fuck" was also fantastic.

[afrobella]

I'm having the same problem finding empowering rap, Rich. I just started a series on Hip-Hop Heroines and so far I've highlighted MC Lyte (who I think should and could totally have a comeback) and Lauryn Hill, who seems less than interested in a comeback. I miss rap that made me feel like Public Enemy and Queen Latifah did, like pumping my fist in the air with pride.

And I personally love Gwen's disposable pop. My fave Sweet Escape track thus far is Yummy, which I can't get out of my head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hs-IM3zDLo

[Cheryl Lynn]

I'm SO mad that video doesn't have Yo-Yo's intro, which is probably my favorite part of the whole song.

It's me, the brand new intelligent black woman Y-O-Y-O...

[millie]

I hated, hated Wind it Up when I first saw the video...and now I'm am addicted to it. Damn you Gwen! You always do that!!

[Foxy]

The Gwen Stefani single (and video) is just crazy icing on the bizarre cake that is pop music these days. People are releasing some truly bonkers music these days as singles. I do agree; half the time I'm not sure if I am enjoying the song itself or just the sheer audacity/naivete of it all.

And now I can't get the imagined sound of Gwennie nasally chanting "Don't try to play me out, don't try to play me out" out of my head. Gee thanks.

its weird

the "i'm just a girl" gwen and the "wind it up" gwn are two different girls

i want the old gwen back

[Hateraid]

I would write something analytical but I'm drinking my coffee and jamming....YOU CAN'T PLAY WITH MY YO-YO.....

[April]

Mary's "We Ride" sounds like Danity Kane's "Ride For You"

[um]

u gotta post l'trimm's cars that go boom!!!!!!! i miss the jjfad-ish rap

[Blacklilly]

Gwen Stefani was obviously influenced by Toni Basil's 1981 hit "Hey Mickey" and has never been able to get that one-hit wonder out of her head - EVER.

[♥dex]

"I think Rich hits the proverbial nail on the proverbial head when he suggests that fascination with Gwen may stem from her nothing-is as nothing-does honesty. She's a bit mad, yes, but doesn't the radio need a little bit more spectacular nothingness to its mostly-despicable pop froth? (Rather than, say, spectacular nothingness in no-dude-I'm-like-really-serious clothing?) Besides, this is a woman who is making oodles of oodletastic money from a public image that is, nowadays, all about "being pink" -- whatever that means, yes, but methinks it's a pretty accurate summation.

Me, I'm loving the musical remix thing. A top forty princess actually referenced "The Lonely Goatherd," man. There ought to be a plaque somewhere. What's old and campy has once again been made new and campy. How postmodern, how insane, how refreshing!"

As well said as Rich's entry.