"this is why i'm hot" - mims
"This Is Why I'm Hot" - Mims (download here)
from M.I.M.S. (Music is My Savior) (2007)
released by Capitol (buy)
week of March 10, 2007
#1 this week, #32 last week, 6 weeks on chart
(file expires March 21st)
I appreciate the Zen/pop logic of the line "this is why I'm hot/I'm hot 'cause I'm fly/you ain't 'cause you not," I really do. And I certainly appreciate any song that employs a theremin, as "This is Why I'm Hot" does occasionally.
But Mim's #1-with-a-bullet feels completely rudimentary, all but ignoring the symphonic beats that occasionally crest and distort behind it, instead using them to frame a bland, linear melody. There's a simplicity to it that I like in theory, no particular tongue-twisters, or even trickery, just a beat and a vocal. The regional shout-outs are kinda curious and, likewise, there's probably something to be said about the fact that (per Wikipedia) it samples Kanye West, Mobb Deep, and Dr. Dre, possibly about the boring recursiveness of hip-hop sampling itself, but I didn't pick up the samples. Mostly, reduced to its hook, the song still feels like a placeholder. Nothing about it makes me want to put it on, and it feels too sluggish to dance to.
More Zen: if a bullet misses its target, and there's no force to stop it, is it still a bullet?
Comments
Have you heard the remix? Way better. I think its all about how the drums occasionally drop out when the chorus hits - that dynamic just works. By the way, Rich Boy's "Just Bought a Cadillac" is the best song on hip hop radio right now. That shit IS the south. In Durham, where I live, dudes bump that shit out of Caprices all day long.
Posted by: ben weidner | March 7, 2007 10:40 AM
Ah, but which remix?
You can hear both (and the original) here: http://criticalmetrics.com/demo/filter?search_string=this+is+why+i%27m+hot&commit=Search&max_return=40&time_frame=7&publications_choice=all
I like the reggae one. It definitely makes it nice & airy. And I dig the variation on the verse. It makes the melody feel more durable and, er, real.
Musically, the Jae Millz take feels like a jerkoff. But I do so enjoy the cross-pop dialogue. I swear he sings he sings "this is why I'm hot/you ain't 'cause you pop."
Posted by: Jesse | March 7, 2007 1:01 PM