Music Review: Karmin "Hello"

Karmin Hello

Album: Hello

Year: 2012

Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan fire back at their hometown critics in the vitrolic “Hello.”

Gaudy synths open the single, setting a chintzy tone. The chorus starts the single. In it, Heidemann and Noonan are going to do things their way. People who second-guessed them in the past will able to read about how they grew up and have a newfound respect for them. The popular singers will soon see they have competition. They have arrived and will have a bunch of fans. (“I'ma do it, do it like I wanna do it/You gon' know me, like you ain't never know me before/I'ma bring it bring it, I'ma give it give it/You gon' love me like you ain't love nobody before/Hello, hello, hello, hello/Hello, hello, hello, hello/Hello, hello, hello, hello/You gon’ love me like you ain't love nobody before.”)

When she would tell people she wanted to become a singer, she would be discouraged. She was told she was innocent and naïve. She wouldn’t make it. She blows them off now. They don’t have the talent she does and could only wish to be able to think of stardom as a possibility. Her friends would say she had a fantastic performance after a show. Then, later she would hear them giggling, gossiping that a local show was going to be as far as she was ever going to get. She came from a nowhere state where nobody ever became famous. She wants to be known. Her mother was the only one who believed in her and she’s on her way to being a star. (“Too nice, too clean, too white, too green/Little haters, big dreams/I don't care what you think about me/Two faced, old friends/Told me, the end was near/Ha! Forget them/ See a lot of things changed since then/Don't they know that I came from Nebraska?/Am I gonna quit?/Nice of you to ask but/Momma told me go and chase what you after/I'm on track so I'm gonna rap faster/I'm gonna break it down with you/And get a little diva/Slaying on prayer/Like a grim reaper/Running on thermometer/Yup, I got a fever/Hi, konichiwa, are you a believer?”)

The chorus is sung again.

She mentions she was also told she wasn’t tough enough to handle the industry. She was sweet but frigid. Instead, she went to Hollywood and got her big break early. After she got off in the airplane in LAX, she was noticed right away and was invited to a party where she could network with other people. Soon, she was on the red carpet and asked what designer made her dress. (“Too hard, too soft, too rough, too posh/Lemme know what I want/Lace it up, baby tie it in a knot/Race track, two legs, Hollywood, big break/Suck it up, intake/Let me tell ya how it happened real quick/Touchdown in the middle of the city/Massive street, jammed up to new weary/Million dollar party/Now tell me who you wearing/That's a new hand held high you can carry/I will break it down for you and get a lil' diva/Slaying on a prayer, on the record grim reaper/Running on thermometer, and yep I got a fever/Hi, konichiwa, very nice to meet ya.”)

The chorus is sung again.

In the bridge, she says she has a career in music now. This is only the beginning. (“I'ma keep going/Baby til I'm dead and gone/That's my only way/And if you don't know/I'll be singing my song/I got a lot to give.”)

The chorus is sung again to end the single.

Hendemann’s brazen, resentful vocals splutter, choking out the words in short spurts followed by spitting in every direction after gasping for air. She wants to show everyone how wrong they were. Whatever minor success she had has gone to her head. She believes she's a major star now and no one is ever going to tell her no ever again. Noonan is otherwise irrelevant and can be heard briefly in the chorus.

The arrogant “Hello” has a huge ego and nothing to back it up.