“Give It 2 U”

Robin Thicke, “Blurred Lines”

Robin Thicke has done it again. “It” meaning, of course, delivering shady pick-up lines in a Justin Timberlake-esque falsetto in between rap verses by hip-hop’s finest. Thicke’s previous single “Blurred Lines” was labeled offensive due to percieved misogynism, but the way he sings “angel” in “Give It 2 U” with a deep, breathy gasp feels like a much sleazier offense. The official remix of the song includes a verse from 2 Chainz in addition to Kendrick Lamar’s original verse, which emphasizes the disparity between the rappers’ talents. While 2 Chainz’s verse features the line “Let’s put this thing in action” repeated six times and two of his signature name checks, Kendrick’s nimble verse features a reference to Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner in addition to rhyming “detrimental” with “credential.”

“Hold On, We’re Going Home”

Drake, “Nothing Was the Same”

Ah, the smooth, relaxing sound of Canadian rap. Drake’s collaboration with producing duo Majid Jordan gave fruit to a song even less hip-hop than Kanye West’s “Heartless” from his genre-bending “808s and Heartbreak.” While Drake’s first single, “Started From the Bottom” was a standard hip-hop anthem with a rags-to-riches narrative, “Hold On, We’re Going Home” is a synth-pop/R&B slow jam about romantic love, the object of which is the “good girl” who’s been increasingly prevalent in hip-hop lately—with the exception of Miley Cyrus, who has left her Disney channel persona in the dust. Perhaps hip-hop radio would embrace this saccharine song if Cyrus were to lend a verse challenging Drake when he sings, “you’re a good girl and you know it.”

"Roar"

Katy Perry, “Prism”

“You’re gonna hear me roar!” asserts a heavily auto-tuned Katy Perry in her latest single, a catchy, midtempo anthem about self-empowerment. And, based on its number of digital downloads, radio spins, and YouTube views of its newly released video, she may be right. A lot has been written about the fact that the track is reminiscent of Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.” Considering the similarities between the songs, the massive sucess of “Roar” seems to suggest that sometimes the popularity of a song is all about the brand, as Katy Perry is a pop superstar while Bareilles hasn’t had a significant hit since 2007’s “Love Song.” “Roar” isn’t breaking any new ground for Perry musically or lyrically, but it is breaking records.