Will.i.am. - T.H.E.

Will.i.am. seems to love acornyms, earlier the Black Eyed Peas had the abum The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) and now he's giving us The Hardest Ever. The Black Eyed Peas may been taking a break for now, but by this point the Black Eyed Peas aren't really much more than Will.i.am. and Fergie, and if you get Jennifer Lopez to replace Fergie than you can still turn out a hit dance tune.

This song has all the qualities to be a smash in the world of dance and by extention pop. JLo gives us a catchy, repititive hook throughout the song, while Will.i.am does his rap/singing thing. Combine that with a killer beat and it's easy to get pulled into a dancy mood with the song. The song goes back and forth between Will.i.am and JLo which keeps the energy alive and keeps the song very catchy. The only odd thing is the addition of Mick Jagger. It seems like a strategic move, combine the smash of dance with the rock sound of Mick Jagger, but it doesn't quite work out that way. Jagger's verse at the end of the song really doesn't fit and just throws off the whole feel of the song. It's like they just wanted to cram him someone to make the song seem special, yet it only ends up making it sound cluttered.

Another problem is the lyrics. Jennifer Lopez is just offering the same thing over and over and over again. The same sentence on repeat isn't too interesting. But Will.i.am's verse are just plain weird. I mean, I know that a lot of his songs have an abstract meaning in them, but those are usually clever and understandable. They're are just so many crazy lyrics throughout the song that it gets annoying. "I woke up in the morning, hard like morning wood in the morning," What the hell is that?

The song has qualities, but it also has faults. I don't think most people care about lyrics too much today and especially not when Will.i.am's involved. The song sounds like it's combining a lot of good sounds, but when you hear it, it's nothing super. I don't see this song becoming huge, but it might gain some success. Let's wait and see.