Pop Justice League - Week Eight!

[The Curmudgeon]

Funny story, I've actually lost about 90% of my voice this week, due to a flu I caught (I'd imagine at T in the Park), so while my voice is silent - yours is not. Stick with me, I think I'm making sense with this.

Anyway, we turn to a guy who has sunk like a stone in my estimations as of late, and he's carried the trademark downfalls of every rapper to bend over for Mr Record Label. His first release, the one we'll see today, is a future classic. A fucking enormous beat and a chorus you could stack books on. His third release was actually the soundtrack to a major WWE PPV event, so it's clear he was making big waves very, very quickly.

It's Tinie Tempah.



So what went wrong? Well, he then featured on a terrible song with now defunct boy band JLS, a signal he was already in "show me the money" mode, and then he teamed up with Swedish House Mafia on one of the most hollow, empty, stupid dance songs of all time. And he's never recovered. Still bringing in the big hits, mind you, but they're all fucking garbage. Fuck Tinie Tempah.

This, though, is what we're judging on him today. No real video, sadly, because every clip I could find is censored. And that's no good.



Well, League? You know what to do.

[lemex]

I remember hearing this song in a night club as an undergraduate. I had had a fair amount to drink that night (I think I drank £30 worth of alcohol that night) and when this song came on I loved the fuck out of it. The mood of the song, and that bridge perfectly captured exactly what I was feeling that night. It became something I had in my head every time I went out on the town. And I'm still very impressed he even bothered to put the word 'Scunthorpe' into a song.

Call it a guilty pleasure but I do honestly really like this song. I have a connection with it. Not guilty!

[trashcanman]

I love this old school video game sound some rappers are utilizing with their tracks. I dig the change at around 3:00 too. That was pretty happenin'. Why even put something that cool on the chopping block?

[The Curmudgeon]

See, part of the reason I like doing these things is the sheer unpredictibility of it all. I felt for sure that "Blurred Lines" song would have got straight A's from everyone, but most of you hated it. It's hard to tell, so it's pretty interesting hearing people's reactions.

I guess Tinie Tempah has fallen so far out of my radar now I never really thought it weird to "put him on the chopping block." So "Pass Out" was his first single, this is (I think) his most recent. It's like a completely different guy, and after a promising minute and a bit of footage that makes you think what is going to come next will be great, it's just SO uninspired and mundane it's depressing.



"Drinking from the bottle" has got to be the weakest boast since "we stayed out till 10 o'clock" from Grease.

[Mrs_C]

I loved Pass Out.

I remember when I worked door to door for a gas company I used to listen to BBC radio 1 all the time most of all a DJ called Zane Lowe who has an alternative music show and he is hilarious especially when he gets excited about a new track.

I remember for weeks he would start his show with the bass of this track (you know the bit that sounds distorted and under water) and it used to make me really excited about what was coming up a real weekend track to drive around on a summers day to. The lyrics on this track are even pretty good (more on that later).

He followed it with Frisky which to be fair I still enjoyed even with the line"would you risk it for a chocolate biscuit" mainly because Labyrinth the guy responsible for the killer baseline in Pass out did the same with this track.

I even liked the collaboration with Swedish house mafia again down to baseline not the lyrics as they are pretty much as shallow and hollow as you can get.

So I ask the question is tinie actually good or does he depend on good producers to give him a killer baseline to "make the track"? The above "drinking from the bottle" shit lyrics banging baseline. The only good thing about this track is Calvin Harris.

I think it is. Tinie Is no good at writing his own tracks and needs a good producer to give his songs edge otherwise he sounds the same as every other shit rapper out there. Without labyrinth, Sweeds, Calvin, Eric turner & Chase N Status he is nothing. Those artists are responsible for the "Hitz"

For pass out though. He gets a Pass from me as Labyrinth said "this song is a straight 10 on the Richter scale"

[The Curmudgeon]

With only one "pass", Tinie Tempah walks out with his head held high. Till next time, Tinie..