Tag: Justin Bieber

Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee – Despacito

“A tad spoiled by Daddy Yankee doing the school register”

Tim: It’s been out a few weeks already, and is already phenomenally successful, but I made a discovery the other day that surprised me. Let’s listen to it first, though – here’s the Bieber-less original.

Tom: Blimey, they filmed in La Perla and made it look beautiful. I mean, it is beautiful, but let’s hope tourists don’t get confused.

Tim: A decent song, nice summer dance track that’ll take over the world, albeit a tad spoiled by Daddy Yankee doing the school register at the beginning and shouting all over the place in the middle.

Tom: You may enjoy this school register. Anyway, yes, the music.

Tim: Haha, I do like that as it happens. But yes, it’ll do – got me excited and dancing around in a bar late last Saturday night anyway, which is a good sign. But, as alluded to earlier, there are multiple versions of this. The standard we have here, the one with Justin Bieber singing some of the lyrics in English.

Tom: Which, let’s be honest, is the only reason the UK’s heard of this at all. Which is a shame, because this is a pretty good latin-pop track, albeit indistinguishable from many others for us dullards who don’t speak Spanish. What else was there?

Tim: An urban version, a god awful dance reworking by Major Lazer, and, most interesting for me, a ‘Versión Pop‘, which is the same as this but with Daddy Yankee removed. Perfect, I thought, I’ll have that. Except: it’s a bit dull. It drags, it’s uninteresting. Somehow, despite making a part of it vaguely unlistenable, Daddy Yankee (can’t believe I’ve typed that name four times now) actually saves it. Who’d have thought it?

Tom: Whoever called in Justin Bieber, apparently.

Justin Bieber – Love Yourself

“Right then: my name is Tim and I’m a Belieber.”

Tim: Okay, so, there’s a thing, you see. It’s something I’ve, er, come to realise about myself. It’s been a difficult process, coming to terms with it, accepting myself for it, and I’m hoping people will be okay with it. Basically…well, the thing is…right, I’m just going to say it. Now. This moment. Well, after this.

Tim: Right then: my name is Tim and I’m a Belieber.

Tom: Let me guess: and then you saw his face? Anyway. Why are you suddenly a fan?

Tim: If anyone had suggested that I’d be saying that as little as two months ago, I’d have said absolutely not. A year ago, I’d probably have told them to go love themselves, but I’m fairly sure that right here and now is the moment where Justin finally (if he hasn’t already) exposes himself as an actual musical talent with depth, skill and personality.

Tom: Mm. It’s not a bad track, I’ll grant you that — and it’s certainly a cut above what you’d expect given his reputation of recent years, or less recent years. I’ve said for a long time that he’s a good musician — I just didn’t like the music. And this is… well, it’s okay, I guess. Why does it work for you?

With such minimal instrumentation in the background, this shows one hell of a raw side to him that I think even his biggest fans haven’t seen before – it’s apparently written about a particular person, but unlike Taylor Swift, he ain’t saying.

Tom: Mm. Unfortunately, that minimal instrumentation isn’t quite enough for me: it’s good, I know it’s good — and I should mention that video, because those dancers are wonderful — but it’s just not enough of a pop song to make me want to hear it again.

Tim: All in all, I am a big fan of this Justin than we’re seeing at the moment. A proper human being, a very good musician with songwriting talent and vocal skills, and great tracks to present himself with. Also, “my mama don’t like you and she likes everyone” is one of the best burns I’ve heard in a long, long time, so well done for that as well.

Justin Bieber – Sorry

“I suspect his PR machine’s worked better on you than it has on me.”

Tom: Oh crikey, is this the Apology Track off the Apology Album?

Tim: Well, look. Now, I detest the entire concept of guilty pleasures. As far as I’m concerned, people should be free to like whatever the hell they like and not care what other people think. Nonetheless, I am JUDGING MYSELF and I DO NOT LIKE ME for really, really liking this song.

Tom: A video that doesn’t star him. That’s an interesting choice, certainly. Why do you like it, so much?

Tim: It’s a number of things, really: partly it’s the “oo-oo-oo-oo-o-ooh” in the background that just won’t leave my head; partly it’s the catchy, melodic and memorable chorus; it may also be that I’ve recently started thinking of him a whole lot more favourably after reading this i-D interview and watching his Carpool Karaoke.

Tom: People do change, that’s true: perhaps he has grown up.

Tim: I was never a Bieber-hater, mind—much as he was a total bellend for a good amount of time, who wouldn’t be after the controlled and manufactured teenage life he had?—but suddenly I think of him as an actual person, and now this song has some emotional depth to it. Is it just that I’ve heard it so much that it’s penetrated my head and won’t leave? Possibly, but I think it’s more that’s a really good song, really well-performed.

Tom: Hmm. It’s okay, I guess? But I suspect his PR machine’s worked better on you than it has on me: yes, that oo-oo-ooh is good, but I just don’t find it all that catchy. It’s not together enough, it’s not “full” enough, it’s not… enough. Just like the apology, I guess.

Tim: Basically, in summation: I don’t like the genre, I’ve not liked any of his previous tracks, but dammit, I really, really like this.