B.o.B - Both Of Us

B.o.B. seems to have an unpredictable history when it comes to hit singles.  He's had ones that top charts like "Airplanes" and he's had songs that felt like they might be hits, but never really made it, like "So Good."  It's very clear that he's trying to get another "Airplanes" with this new song.

We've got the tender voice of Taylor Swift doing the chorus this time.  Sound familiar?  That's right, it's basically the role that Hayley Williams did on "Airplanes."  Taylor may be a bigger name than Hayley, but really she doesn't bring anything different.  And it's just her singing the same lines over and over again.  It's pretty the first time, it gets a little redundant after a while though.

Then we've got the rap verses from B.o.B.  They're good, they're catchy, they've got meaning; yet it's nothing new.  A common thing you'll notice with pop rap songs is that you really have to depend on the pop part to make things interesting; since most rappers sounds same once you've heard their sound once.  Taylor isn't sounding too exciting in this song, and the rap is all stuff we've heard before.

Lyrically, it seems to have a good meaning; it's just a little tricky to figure out what it is.  From Taylor's lines I would guess it's about not being strong enough to maintain a relationship.  Yet B.o.B. raps about unfortunate people in general.  Taylor sounds like she's longing to hold onto someone, B.o.B. sounds annoyed at the world.  There's a bit of a dissonance there, which doesn't help the song.

With all that said, though, it's not really a bad song.  B.o.B. still sounds good rapping, and it's clear that he does have his message in mind that he's trying to get across.  Taylor still sounds pretty, I just don't think she was the right choice for this particular song.  Still, I suspect that it'll be enough to make another big hit for B.o.B.