Disclaimer: I wax lyrical about this great Justin Timberlake song below, but don’t sleep on “Strawberry Bubblegum” either, from the same album. I had almost forgotten about it, but it might be my favorite JT song of all time. On a related note, I’m pretty sure that “Let’s Take A Ride”, an excellent cut off his debut Justified, was actually a leftover Kelis song that she wrote but wasn’t credited for (as it is allegedly the case for most of her Neptunes-era work). It sounds just like her.
Kelis is not featured in this series, but she will if I ever cover the 2000s decade. I’m not there yet. Until then…
87.
Justin Timberlake - Blue Ocean Floor (2013)
The collaboration between Justin Timberlake and Timbaland started out as a mutually beneficial agreement. In the early 2000s, The former *NSYNC vocalist raised his hip-hop profile over Timbaland’s pounding beats, while the Virginia producer, coupled with his peers from The Neptunes, established himself as pop’s surest kingmaker. One hit after the other, this association grew into a more symbiotic duo that peaked in JT’s third album, The 20/20 Experience, the first to be conducted by Timbaland as the sole production entity, with notable support from wingmen Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon and James Fauntleroy. Marketed like a Vegas revue, but still hectic and horny as ever, the album turned out to be highly rewarding, the work of a seasoned band having the time of their lives. The 20/20 Experience didn’t exactly break new grounds—the single “Mirrors” sounded like a happy-marriage version of 2003’s “Cry Me A River”—yet it contained at least one true original: “Blue Ocean Floor”, a seven-minute movement that stripped away most of Timbaland’s impulses. Carried by a reversed piano loop and no drums, the song fully lived up to its underwater metaphor—a love letter trapped in a bottle drifting towards pitch-blue depths. With its eerie voices and delicate touches (that bass!), the song introduced a brand new idea of the Timbaland sound, but remained a fascinating one shot, never to be revisited again. A literal deep cut, “Blue Ocean Floor” might be the lowkey centerpiece of the duo’s songbook.
35.
Abd Al Malik - Le Meilleur des mondes / Brave New World (2010)
In French rap lore, Abd Al Malik has long been derided as the rapper for those who disdain rap. This conventional wisdom made him permanently rive gauche—agreeable and cultured like a new MC Solaar, and a figure of conciliation for a France riddled with identity grievances (his 2007 memoir, and his subsequent movie adaptation, were titled May Allah Bless France). The rapper cultivated that image as much as he let it slide, even when it overshadowed his own artistic merits. After breaking out from his group, the Strasbourg-based trio N.A.P., Abd Al Malik produced a daring body of work, moving freely from ideas to ideas despite (or thanks to) the rap crowd’s indifference. Château Rouge, his fourth album, might be his best. In an apparent nod to the indie scene, the record convened a few Blog Era favorites, including Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. With help from producer-maestro Chilly Gonzales, the rapper embraced a more seamless form of pop songwriting, away from the heady classicism of his previous albums. “Le Meilleur des mondes”, in particular, traced a lineage with a certain kind of synth-obsessed chanson from the eighties, calling to mind a less cynical time when a pop single could serve as a universal rallying cry. Abd Al Malik has frequently aimed for a front-row seat in French culture. Here, he got as close as ever, and all it took was some pretty fine synthesizers.
61.
PNL - Sur Paname (2015)
Hailing from the Tarterêts housing projects, south of Paris, the duo named PNL—real-life brothers Ademo and N.O.S.—captivated and confounded the French rap audience with their unique way of mixing the vulgar and the sublime. Over soundscapes that felt like they were beamed from a desolate outer world, Ademo and N.O.S. shared aching observations, drug dealer dreams and random slurs, all shrouded in layers and layers of slang that gelled into a sort of street Esperanto, inscrutable and universal at once. There’s all of that in “Sur Paname”, from Le Monde Chico, the album that supercharged the PNL craze in 2015. “Sur Paname” is a song that opens with the most jaded don’t-give-a-fuck line in French rap history, and still contains disarming confessions that resonated on both sides of Paris’ périphérique. “Des fois je rêve de la mer, et je traîne seul sur Paname”, they lament on the hook, and a translation is barely needed. I have to admit, Le Monde Chico appeared on my radar at a time of figurative and literal wandering, so the song always reminds me of a truth I shall not forget: when you’re on your own, with a chip on your shoulder and nowhere to go, rap can be the most reliable companion.
24.
Kanye West, Paul McCartney - Only One (2015)
It was the morning of January 1st, 2015. During New Years Eve, Kanye West had released “Only One” a lowkey duet with Paul McCartney who, in an elegant touch, inhabited the song as a quiet, benevolent presence, more so than a co-performer. Kim Kardashian, Kanye’s then-wife, called “Only One” her favorite Kanye song. At this exact moment, an alternative path opened. In that spacetime, performing “Only One” had brought Kanye West some much-needed closure, seven years after the passing of his mother, Donda. He was a father now, and being a father had helped him let go of his obsessions. He had seen the fine line between ambition and hubris, and decided not to cross it. He just didn’t need the noise anymore. “I know you’re happy, ‘cause I can see it”, Kanye sang in the first verse, channeling his mom’s words from above. She was right—he was. But that future never happened. Years passed, until Kanye’s delusion and narcissistic quest for cultural disruption reached their tragic, logical endgame, one that keeps unfolding with every spasms bursting out of his murky bigotry. Yet the memory of that January morning, and the peace it carried along, are still felt every time Paul McCartney hits those first notes on his Fender Rhodes piano. It makes “Only One” all the more heartbreaking.
38.
The Night VI - Sienna (2014)
The Night VI, a French-British sextet out of London, never made it big. The band, whose traces online are slowly vanishing, went through a brief cycle of hype, scoring a placement in a Burberry campaign and releasing a handful of songs before quietly dismantling. (The lead singer, Sophie-Rose Harper, joined another group, Paradisia, whose fate is uncertain as well. She is now a pilates instructor.) The group’s blurring image makes “Sienna”, a 2014 single that became my definition of a Soundcloud miracle, even more topical. Sophie-Rose Harper talks to an ex-partner about their new girl, “that Sienna girl”, and wishes them well in a way that could pass as passive-aggressive, but is just plainly heartbroken. In a world where bittersweet pop ballads could still have a legitimate shot at cultural dominance, “Sienna” would have been a radio hit, but everything about the song converges towards unfulfilled aspirations. That’s the beauty of “Sienna”, a song on a marriage that never was, from a band that wasn’t really meant to be.
In the previous entry, I wrote about Tinashe, Mahmood, Nolwenn Leroy, William Sheller and Rae Sremmurd. Check out the full playlist on Tidal and Spotify.