The Problem With... Black Eyed Peas' "Just Can't Get Enough"
Categories: The Problem With...
The last time we saw the Black Eyed Peas, they were offering up the sensory violation that composed their performance at the Super Bowl halftime show a couple of months ago. Their massive lights so bounced off the snow, I could see it from Denton.
Yet another example of the Peas placing style over substance, I guess.
Which brings us to their latest single, "Just Can't Get Enough," which stands as yet another example of how derivative the Peas can get. In other words: It's nothing we haven't heard before. See: The electronic R&B-styled beat so frequently and absurdly used on the radio these days and in this song as well.
This song does one thing pretty well, though: It shows off a bit of Fergie's vocal range. Or, rather, how great of a vocal imitator she is -- like her Axl Rose impression during in the Super Bowl halftime show. In this track, she sports a fake-ass Caribbean accent on her verse lines and an awkward Lolita voice in the chorus.
The Caribbean impression sorta brings something to mind: You could probably cut Rihanna's lines from "What's My Name?" in here and get a similar-sounding track. The Lolita voice, meanwhile, kinda messes with her enunciation. What does she mean when she says "Wanda German side you low?"
Who cares?
Not the Peas, that's who. Because, even in the filming of this video, they couldn't help but steal a bit from someone else -- in this case Sofia Coppola's 2003 film, Lost in Translation. In the video, Fergie skulks around with minimal clothing in a fancy hotel overlooking Tokyo, just like Scarlett Johansson did in the movie. And, OK, Fergie's purty and all, but she's not Scarlett Johansson purty. Meanwhile, everyone else is wandering around in the street or singing karaoke. That might be a reason this track sounds so borrowed -- it's probably just karaoke, too.
But it's not just Fergie and Will.i.am on this track. Taboo gets in on the action, too, tacking on a few technological references. We get it, Peas! Your Intel processors and smartphones make you evolve into musical Cylons.
Unfortunately, and here's something y'all Peas should have learned by now, you cannot substitute technology for talent.
Or retreads. This track ends with the "switch-up" thing the Peas do. It's no longer the surprising novelty it might have been years ago. Listeners kinda expected now, like a breakdown or a live encore.
Seriously, I can't take much more from the Peas. Their music is starting to make me want to German-side someone. Whatever that means.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
