Some songs are hard to love. They take multiple listens and an open mind before they finally begin to grow on you, getting gradually better with each listen.
This is not one of those songs.
For me, this song was an insta-love. It was 2004, and I was wasting time in the record store (remember those?) at one of those “listening posts” that were so handy in the pre-YouTube era. I was giving a first listen to the album Deadringer by RJD2, which had been highly recommended by a friend. For no good reason, I skipped to track six. Within five seconds, I was intrigued. Within thirty seconds, my head was nodding approvingly. By two minutes, I didn’t know whether to discard the headphones and run to the cashier, or continue to demonstrate my erratic dance moves to the increasingly uneasy co-shoppers who were quietly edging away from me.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. It’s got spooky sampled vocals. Listen for them starting at 0:46. They’re similar to the type of samples Moby used to use, but more haunting.
2. It’s got big funky horns. Clear some space around you before you get to 1:30. Those horns have been known to cause some serious cases of spontaneous running-man.
3. It’s got some serious groove. Try walking with this in your headphones. You will be unable to stop your feet from walking in time with the beat. Add those horns, and before you know it, you’ll be walking with some serious attitude, like you just gave that annoying co-worker a piece of your mind.
Recommended listening activity:
Strutting.