Music Review: Aloe Blacc "The Man"

Aloe Blacc
The Man
Album: Lift Your Spirit
Year: 2014

              Aloe Blacc thinks he has reached legendary status in the formal "The Man."

Pompous strings open the single, setting a mannered tone.
Part of the chorus begins the single. He whoops and hollers,
exclaiming to his girlfriend that she has a boyfriend she can brag
about. He's experiencing one surreal moment after another. Life is awesome right now. ("Girl you can tell everybody/Yeah you can tell everybody
/Go ahead and tell everybody/I'm the man I'm the man I'm the
man/Yes I am yes I am yes I am/I'm the man I'm the man I'm the man.")

However, his success involved exaggerating his abilities
and misrepresenting himself, if need to be. He flirted with some
women who could help him on the way. He worked several jobs to make rent. Not once did he gripe
about the hours or the time he sacrificed. He
has the ambition and heart to become who wants to be. He's been broke and
dealt with problems within his family. He was meant to be special. It was God's will. ("I believe every lie that I ever told/Paid for
every heart I ever stole/I played my cards and I didn't fold/Well
it ain't that hard when you got soul (this is my world)/Somewhere I
heard that life is a test/I been though the worst but still I give my
best/God made my mold different from the rest/Then he broke that mold
so I know I'm blessed (this is my world.")

           In the pre-chorus, he says he's prepared for the craziness
that will follow. He isn't going to fall apart and sabotage his
career. He has to be a role model now. People are looking up to him.
("Stand up now and face the sun/Won't hide my tail or turn and
run/It's time to do what must be done/Be a king when kingdom comes.")

The chorus is sung.  ('Girl you can tell everybody/Yeah you
can tell everybody/Go ahead and tell everybody/I'm the man I'm the man
I'm the man/Girl you can tell everybody/Yeah you can tell everybody/Go
ahead and tell everybody/I'm the man I'm the man I'm the man/Yes I am
yes I am yes I am/I'm the man I'm the man I'm the man.")

             He tells people he knows everything. They can learn
something from him. He can offer guidance through their troubles. His
job lets people relax and forget for a little while. He tells his
detractors to really look at themselves. He doesn't have any intention
of letting their words get to him. ("I got all the answers to your
questions/I'll be the teacher you could be the lesson/I'll be the
preacher you be the confession/I'll be the quick relief to all your
stressing (this is my world)/It's a thin line between love and hate/Is
you really real or is you really fake/I'm a solider standing on my
feet/No surrender and I won't retreat (this is my world.")

The pre-chorus is sung again.

              The chorus is sung again.

              In the bridge, he changes parts of the chorus around.
("I'm the man/Go ahead and tell everybody what I'm saying y'all/I'm
the man/Go ahead and tell everybody what I'm saying y'all.")

             The chorus is sung four times to end the single. A gospel
choir joins him, pushing the celebrity-as-god implied theme over the
edge.

         Blacc's oratorical vocals proclaim his superiority over the
everyday people. He sees himself as a voice of the people and has
completely lost perspective. He was a featured singer on a mainstream
hit EDM single like Hayley Williams and Foxes. It was his big break,
not an iconic visual album shattering sales records. Nothing
innovative happened. Along with Avicii (who seems to be forgotten by
Blacc), they were able to connect with people for about three minutes.

       The  hubristic "The Man" is a weather worn garden statue that
thinks it belongs in the Louvre and not on some rinky dink porch in
the middle of nowhere.