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B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars - 'Nothin' On You'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:12 UK time, Tuesday, 11 May 2010

B.O.B.

Interesting fact: This wasn't originally suppose to be a B.o.B song: it was written with Lupe Fiasco in mind. The idea was that Lupe would provide a cerebral spin on Bruno Mars's sighing claims of eternal devotion, some kind of crossword-puzzler's version of romance, possibly including anagrams, palindromes and other dazzling forms of wordplay.

It took an intervention from the-man-we-should-all-just-go-back-to-calling-Bobby-Ray's producer to change the direction of the tune. So now it's Bruno that takes the high ground - emotionally and musically, while Bob provides the physical heat and grit. He's all accent and silliness, half-shouting his lines about Wonder Woman, paying taxes, and having a bit of a coy joke about Mr Fantastic's stretchy body-parts.

It might not be educational, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

(. It's a ripping yarn.)

Now, it would be a dereliction of duty if I didn't helpfully point out that the song you are currently hammering your own forehead in order to place, the song which shares the same melodic launchpad as the start of this song, is 'The Scientist' by Coldplay. When Bruno sings "beautiful girls, all over the world", the voice in the back of your mind belongs to Chris Martin, and he's singing (in a slightly lower voice) "come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry".

Luckily, at this point the two tunes take different paths, and they're BOTH good. Where Chris's rises and falls gently, like the ribs of a dog that is dreaming about running on a beach, Bruno's tune monkey-swings up to the rafters, blowing cobwebs out of the way and re-arranging the chandeliers.

Put these things together - or rather, allow them to STAY together, you didn't make this thing any more than I did - and you've got a ridiculously charming and goofy sort of a song. I'm not saying it wouldn't have been as good with Lupe spinning a verbal web over the top, but it's hard to see how it could've been better.

Five starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: May 17th

(Fraser McAlpine)

"Musically, this song is a true delight."

"He even manages to make a Nintendo 64 reference sound romantic, which, if you'd asked me yesterday, I would have told you was impossible."

"I got a feeling this is guna be my summer track!"

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