Song #896: "Shake Ya Tailfeather" by Nelly, P. Diddy, & Murphy Lee

Date: Sept 6, 2003
Weeks: 4

Any song that contains both the Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop cheer and a recurring sample of a police siren is vying for the title of Most Annoying Song I've Ever Heard. And the worst thing is that that tomahawk cheer seems to be the closest this song comes to a melody.

The drum and bass line are actually very enjoyable. I like what's happening there. That is a solid base on which to build a fun song. Also a plus is P. Diddy's rapping. I like his voice and style. I can't say I've heard this Murphy Lee before, but his voice and style are okay. And that's about the end of the list of things I like about this song.

As for things I don't like, there's the tomahawk chop standing in for the melody, like I said before, and the police siren sample. Listening to this song in the car would irritate me. I'd constantly be checking my mirrors before I realized the siren was in the song, not coming up behind me on the freeway. I still don't like Nelly's voice, although this song helps explain why he spelled the title of that other song "Herre," because that's how he actually pronounces that word in this song.

Overall, though, I guess the general sound is kind of all right. If I ignore the things that irritate me, it's a decent enough song to dance to during some of the middle parts. It's from the movie Bad Boys 2, and I bet it fits in with the movie. But the lyrics... oh, the lyrics.

First we have the obnoxious branding. They make sure to insert the rappers' names into the beginning of the song. Not like they're singing about themselves, but like they're making sure if you hear the song on the radio or in the movie, you'll know exactly who sings it without having to ask or read the credits. Then they add "Bad Boys 2, the Soundtrack, let's go." So now you know exactly where you can buy this song. I guess I'm surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more, but it sure removes any chance that a song could be mistaken for art.

I feel like some of these lyrics in the Murphy Lee part need special individual commentary:

"They be like he the man, but I'm really a Thundercat." That's a really clumsy He-Man reference. No one would ever connect "he the man" to "He-Man" without the Thundercats reference. Also, would you rather be a Thundercat than He-Man? Especially when you're trying to reference your virility with regard to sex with women?

"Connect like Voltron." Murphy Lee was a nerd like me when he was a kid, wasn't he?

"Collect so much grass popo thinking we mow lawns." The police wouldn't think you're mowing lawns if you're "collecting" grass. Even I know that slang. Plus it makes little sense from a lawnmowing perspective. Maybe they should have said they collect so much grass, the police think they compost. No, that's stupid, too.

Otherwise, it's just your typical rap "I like to sleep with many women, and I get to because I am just that awesome" song. Nothing new to see here, lyrically.

My verdict: Don't like it. It's not a terrible overall sound, but there are too many obnoxious details that ruin it.

Song #889: "Bump, Bump, Bump" by B2K and P. Diddy

Date: Feb 1, 2003
Weeks: 1

After listening to "Can't Buy Me Love" (#106) several times yesterday, I immediately checked to see what song came up next to give it a listen. And I immediately thought this was the worst song I'd ever heard.

24 hours later, my opinion has softened quite a bit. I realized that after raving about the full sound the Beatles were getting out of little more than a bass guitar, I got a bit of auditory whiplash moving on to the spare sound of this song.

The music is just so bare. It's a little light guitar and a very sparse thumping bass. Most of the music comes from the lead singer's voice, which I have to admit is pretty decent. He's expressive and has a good range. When he really explores his vocal range it seems like he's trying to create music, not that he's just showing off his range for the sake of showing it off. With very little music support he's carrying the song, and he does a pretty good job of it.

Unfortunately, he can't save the song from the terrible background vocals, nor from the awful orchestra stings that happen whenever they sing the title. It's an okay little song up to that point, then suddenly there is this musical slap in the face to get your attention. The song ought to be titled "BUMP, BUMP, BUMP" to properly express how hard and obnoxious that hit is. It's like they took all the music they drained out of the rest of the song and compressed it into those moments.

Then you have a rap break by P. Diddy. I've always liked P. Diddy's rapping well enough. He has a good rhythmic sense and matches his performance to the music he's using. His rap break here is generally okay. Except for the moment when a wimpy female voice comes in to sing "do do do do." That's pretty awful.

As for the lyrics, it's pretty typical "you're so sexy and I want to get with you" stuff. It objectifies women pretty badly, with lyrics like "Baby turn around and let me see that sexy body go bump, bump, bump. That is all I want to see." Don't show me your face, I just want to see your body, because that's the best thing about you. That's pretty bad objectification. Also, is it really supposed to be a compliment to call a woman a "ghetto queen?" Really? I'm going to leave alone the fact that P. Diddy keeps referring to the woman as "mommy" because according to the lyrics site I saw it's actually "mami." I know that's a thing in some cultures, and although I'm not sure P. Diddy belongs to those cultures, I don't know enough about the expression to make that assertion with any confidence. So I'll leave it alone. Except for the two sentences I just wrote about it. Ahem.

My verdict: Don't like it. It's not a good song, but don't listen to it right after listening to the Beatles, because then it'll seem worse.