Still obsessed with kick-starting a solo career that no one really cares to hear, head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger’s latest singular career move sees her popping up on the “official” remix to Pitbull’s party rap, infidelity-anthem “Hotel Room Service”…because what we all really needed was a verse-long female perspective on a song in which Pitbull gleefully explains where on his multiple sex partners’ bodies he would like to plant his “egg whites”.
Pitbull is nice enough to keep this new uni-sex version clean though, penning up a brand new, far less titillating verse where all that ejaculation talk is omitted. But Nicole’s breathless contribution in which she mostly focuses on the perks of the room (“Penthouse, top-floor/ Suite, presidential/ Overlook the whole city/ Standing from my window”) feels like a waste of opportunity.
All that time spent leading the “Blow-Up” Dolls, and she can’t give us at least a smigden of Lil’ Kim, circa ‘96, lady raunch? Shame shame, Nicole. If was up to us, we would have completely bypassed her and just hired up one of those cruelly under-appreciated background Dolls she so yearns to distance herself from. They’re so desperate to break out from the shadows that we bet one of them would have brought the nasty stuff this kind of track begs for (complete with expert hoochie ballet choreography for the accompanying video clip).
A couple years back Timbaland had hit a career rut. With Neptunes minimalism, sped-up soul samples and synthesizer-crazed crunk dominating the hip hop sound, there didn’t seem a place for the Virginia producer’s alien-toned funk anymore. This obviously got to Timb, who joined several other rap icons in the trendy “the hip hop scene today is disheartening” bandwagon. It seemed every interview he was in predicted that an early retirement was on the horizon.
Then 2006 happened, and Timbaland had found two new muses in Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. Yeah these were pop stars, but their desire to push themselves creatively resulted in some of the decade’s greatest pop singles and suddenly Timbaland felt not only re-relevant, but re-inspired. The amazing back-to-back chart topping success of “Sexy Back”, “Promiscuous” and “My Love” pushed Timbaland into going back to the boards to host this year’s much-anticipated compilation album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value. Alongside the A-list celebrity bolstered lead single “Give It To Me” already storming up the charts, pre-announced collaborations with the likes of Fall Out Boy, Elton John and Bjork have set this album up as a major event with leakages popping up everywhere. Here’s a look at a couple stand-outs:
The essential party starter, “Release” is a pleasing extension of the obliterating spooky funk of “Sexy Back”. More or less an instrumental track, an addictive four-on-the-floor pulse and inverted “Sexy Back” bassline point it as the perfect example of a sweaty dance free-for-all.
“RELEASE!/ I’M OUT OF CONTROL/ WHO’S HERE TO PARTY?!” the hook exclaims, daring you not to lose all your inhibitions to it’s fun strut. It instantly sends you back to the synth-funk heyday of the 80’s when Rick James was at his most nastiest and The Time invited all to their formally attired VIP parties. The vocals that are featured help provide the ambiance; pop music’s new dynamic duo Timbaland and Timberlake sporting the weirded out “SB” vocoder effect as they throw out random celebratory dialogue. It’s the quintessential jump-off and anyone not ready to have a good time after absorbing it’s groove should be checked for a pulse.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is “Scream”, a Giorgio Moroder/ Donna Summer orgasma jam for the new millennium. As with “Release”, the chorus orders a reaction but this is a whole different kind of release expected. Over galloping percussion and rock guitars straight out of the land of prog-rock, Timbaland sits back and proudly watches as his track oozes into the nether-regions of any girl around, leading to the most erotic of responses. R&B up-and-comer Keri Hilson and lead Pussycat Doll Nicole “I-should-really-not-use-my-last-name-because-it’s-a-total-fantasy-killer” Scherzinger take turns topping eachother’s “Big O” squeals of delight, unable to control themselves against the throbbing adventure being pumped into their eardrums. Near the end, Timb puts on his best Barry White impression for a spoken-form tease (“Come here/ Sit on my lap/ Ooh I like that”), mind controlling his victims into doing whatever he wants them to.
If tasty morsels like these indicate the direction Shock Value will be taking, look for it to be the ultimate soundtrack of the ‘07 summer season and for the Year of Timbaland to take form yet again.
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Still obsessed with kick-starting a solo career that no one really cares to hear, head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger’s latest singular career move sees her popping up on the “official” remix to Pitbull’s party rap, infidelity-anthem “Hotel Room Service”…because what we all really needed was a verse-long female perspective on a song in which Pitbull gleefully explains where on his multiple sex partners’ bodies he would like to plant his “egg whites”.
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