Music Review: will.I.am & Justin Bieber "#thatPOWER"
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will.I.am & Justin Bieber
#thatPOWER
Album: #willpower
Year: 2013
will.I.am buys into his own hype in the presumptous “#thatPOWER.”
Scraping synths open the single, setting an agitated tone. The chorus, sung by Justin Bieber, starts off the single. In it, he states he’s content with his life and can do anything he wants. All he has to do is snap his fingers and someone will fetch him some candy and then, with another assistant in tow, lift him up from the leather couch and seat him on the chair by the computer. There, he will read articles about himself and tweet them all to his followers while evaluting the comments with his publicist. (“And on, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive/And on, I can fly, I can fly, I can fly/And on, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive/And I'm loving every second minute hour bigger better stronger power..”)
Next, an ominous will.I.am chants that he’s famous. (“I got that power/I got that power/I got that power/Power power power.”)
He says he’s awesome and has millions of dollars. He has people working for him now and no longer has to do pesky normal things like going to the bank. He can’t even think of the word for deposit anymore. He doesn’t listen to anyone who doesn’t love him and immediately says yes to whatever inane idea he has. Then, he excuses his arrogance by saying everyone else is just jealous. He makes sure he’s at every photo op, calling the paparazzi if needed. He’s special and far better than anyone else, including other famour people. He is going to be a rememberd in the industry as an innovator and will continue to make music for years to come. (“They call will-A/Stay so cool, I'm chilly/I done made that maley/On my way to that valet/Used to have a ticket thing, but now I got that bigger bank/Who who cares what the haters state/They hate on me cause we doing what they can’t/I stay on that hustle, I flex that loose to muscle/Hate to bust your bubble/I'm on that other level/I’ma take it higher and high and high and higher/I stay and buy attire/Keeping burning like that fire.”)
The chorus is sung again.
He says he’s great right now. The song’s finished. All he has to do is promote it. When he was a kid, he told his mom he would be famous one day. He would have hit records. (“Yes yes yes y'all feeling funky fresh y’all/Work to be the best y’all/We're good under pressure y’all/Been through all that stress y'all/Get this off my chest y’allMade it out in project where this project thats progress y’all/I beat it through my mama/I told her what I was on it/That I’ma be that number/One day I’ll be that number one/I take it higher and high and high and higher/I stay and buy attire/Keeping burning like that fire.”)
In the bridge, Bieber says criticism doesn’t faze him. He’ll ignore it anyway. He’s been in the music industry for a long time. (“Whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger/So I’ma get stronger/Call me like a veteran, veteran/I lock lock it down and go again/Call me like a veteran, veteran/I lock lock it down and go again.”)
The chorus is sung again.
Bieber’s repeats “And I'm loving every second minute hour bigger better stronger power” twice to end the single.
Bieber’s buttery, fusible vocals model each word with a vacant pout, expecting shrieks on cue. Meanwhile, will.I.am’s phonetic, idle vocals are unable to form coherent sentences, much less rhyme. In light of the Twitter theme, putting Justin Bieber on it was fitting. It’s as though the single is spamming, trying to get attention with the site’s most common topic.
will.I.am has become one of those annoying people in social media who will use as many keywords in their posts to get people to follow them. Some suggestions for will.I.am for this song should include: : #toodumbtolive, #sobaditsbad and #notevenshirtlessphotoscouldsavethisthing.
In the famewhorish “#thatPOWER,” will.I.am has let celebrity goes to his head, cutting off oxygen and killing off any remaining brain cells.