Busta Rhymes ft. Linkin Park - 'We Made It'
For some reason, knowing whose song this is makes a big difference how successful it seems to be. Not chart success, you understand, that's in the lap of democracy, but whether it really works as a musical endeavour. This kind of stuff is really important to consider when two mighty musical forces combine. Will they compliment each other? Will one side have to compromise their sound more than the other? Is it going to be like the bringing together of salt and vinegar, or the bringing together of banana milkshake and onion gravy?
And as I said, it can sometimes depend on which is the primary ingredient. Lyrically, writing a song about the trials and tribulations involved in rising above a tough start in life is more common to hip hop than it is to rock...especially moany old Linkin Park-type rock, which would typically tend to focus more on the notion that success brings as many problems with it as failure does.
So, the fact that this is Busta Rhymes's song, one of several in which he strikes a triumphant note and brags at high speed about the work he put in to turning his life around, means it's sort of easier to take than if Chester Bennington were to suddenly launch into a verse or two about how brilliant he is. It just wouldn't work, coming from someone who has always been very lyrically candid about his own flaws.
In fact, when Chester gets to do his thing in choruses, his emphasis is more on the "backs against the wall" bit, rather than the making it bit, and that's exactly what you'd expect, really. The kind of "duh!" obvious juxtaposition moment which seasoned rock journos go on about in Beatles songs. The bit where Paul's sunny optimism - "it's getting better all the time" - is undercut by John's sour "it can't get no worse".
So, with the two key vocalists playing to their respective strengths, it's left to Mike Shinoda to bridge the gap (he's effectively Ringo in our little Beatles analogy above). He chips in a very Eminemy section, which contains elements of Busta bravado and Linkin darkness. And all while pretending to play the piano.* The man's a genius of multitasking, I tell ya...
My only real problem is the end result sounds like an inconclusive Linkin Park song, with a slow hip hop track over the top. Nobody seems entirely comfortable, and there's no real sense of occasion. We should be blown away by the coming together of these two musical powerhouses (powerhice?), there should be a feeling of total wonderment whenever Busta and Chesta step up to the mic.
As it is, there's just a kind of "oh look at that! I didn't even know they knew each other" sort of shrug. Which makes Busta's victory dance look a bit rubbish, truth be told.
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 30th
(Fraser McAlpine)
LP fans: I've no idea if he can play the piano or not. He's still on grade 1 miming though.
Comment number 1.
At 22nd Jun 2008, pinkparadox wrote:Mike Shinoda can indeed play the piano. And yes, he's a lot better at that than he is at lip-syncing.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 22nd Jun 2008, -RachelS- wrote:Yay! - powerhice!
Talking of collaborations - 'Eminemy' - the chance to use that as a name is a good enough reason for The Enemy and Eminem to do something together, surely?
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)