Tom: It’s time for a stupidly high-budget video disrupted by sound effects!
Tim: That is BRILLIANT.
Tom: In fact, it’s so distracting that I’m going to put an unofficial lyric video in here, and we can work from that instead.
Tim: Oh, fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTF9Z6cjb4
Tom: Adam Levine sounds increasingly like a parody of himself; there’s a fine line between “recognisable voice” and “Kermit the Frog”. Still, he hasn’t crossed it yet, and when the chorus is this good I think we can forgive occasional bits of nasality. And the usual one or two swear words – just enough to create an “explicit” version to seem edgy, but not so much that they have to censor every other word.
Tim: Indeed – edgy is cool, whereas Kid Cudi just sounds like he’s got a particularly bad stutter.
Tom: Oh wait! It’s time for a rap bit that announces itself with a good bit of profanity.
Tim: Hooray!
Tom: It’s not as bad as it could be, though; Wiz Khalifa’s always had a more laid-back flow that fits into a pop record. Here’s my general rule for rap middle eights in 2012: “it could be worse; it could be Pitbull.”
Tim: That’s true. It also doesn’t last particularly long, which is nice. Actually, strike that—it does, but I was too engrossed in that first video to notice it. Oh well.
Tom: Good song though.
Tim: Indeed, and we must ensure that it gets top 10, so that Radio 1 are either broadcasting explosions over the airwaves or the official expletive-filled lyric video over the internet.