Album- Dirty Bass
Artist- Far East
Movement
American hip hop quartet Far East Movement have been around
in the music world for quite a while, but really broke out into the major music
market and public consciousness with their massive 2010 hit ‘Like a G6’, which
gave them the distinction of being the first ever Asian American group to earn
a number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. However the group have only had one
top ten hit since that track. Could this be the album that brings them back to
greater heights of musical success?
Track 1- Dirty Bass (featuring
Tyga)
The album’s title track is a hip hop track that lives up to
its title in terms of the heavy beats of the production that creates a great
bouncy rhythm that can make you feel like a hip hop star in your mind. The raps
simply focus on the idea of this dirty bass and girls, and both Tyga and Fra
East Movement come across with little personality, and so the track doesn’t
excite you in the way that it should. Tyga is the stronger of the rap sections
however and he actually makes this feel slightly more like a proper hip hop
track. The chorus is also quite bland, with the uncredited vocal performance by
Wendi Cakes having no personality, and so this song could be much better than
it actually is, with the interesting production really being the only exciting
element of the track.
2/5
Track 2- Live My Life
(featuring Justin Bieber)
After the bad qualities of the last track it seems that this
song is designed to make up for the album opener, as it is a commercially
calculated slice of fun dance/electro pop and hip hop that sees the group team
up with worldwide mega star Justin Bieber and hit making producer RedOne. As
the title would suggest, the lyrical content of the track has a typical live
for the moment message, with Far East Movement rapping about partying and girls
and also once again referencing a dirty bass, with these references featuring a
lot and just coming across as annoying. However, whilst the rap sections aren’t
totally interesting, the chorus has a simple catchiness in terms of the statement
of ‘I’m gonna live my life’, with Bieber providing a light and youthful vocal
performance that is simpe and ineffective in making you wanting to dance along.
And although the production of the song is familiar in terms of RedOne’s sound,
the track has enough of a forceful dance edge to getting you wanting to join
the party and actually do what the guys are saying.
3/5
Track 3- Where the
Wild Things Are (featuring Crystal Kay)
Featuring Japanese recording artist Crystal Kay, Where the
Wild Things Are is a vibrant dance pop and electro pop stomper that lives up to
the album title in terms of the idea of a dirty bass (that is in the sound of
the production rather than the dirty bass references). The track finds the Far
East Movement boys rapping about crazy girls and being ready to take this girl
home, whilst Kay provides a strong, simple hook driven chorus in which she
exclaims of being where the wild things are, and in the process implies that
she is wild. The raps are a little bit catchier here and have just an frenzied
quality of fun, whilst Kay brings a strong vocal performance to the song which
is filled with a nice vitality, and we can believe she is wild, although the
singer is perhaps not utilised in the best way, as she could have provided a smooth
vocal part to act as a bridge, and intermingled with some rapping, this would
have made the final chorus a bit more impactful. The production is strong in
terms of the electro pop sound that is fast paced and thumping in a way that is
slightly infectious, and so this song definitely brings the album onto a better
form.
3.5/5
Track 4- Turn Up the
Love (featuring Cover Drive)
Things take a more summery turn with this track that
features the Barbadian pop group Cover Drive. The song finds the group rapping
about partying and clapping your hands, bland rap topics, but the guys here at
least of a bit of a cheeky personality coming through and so the song sounds
very catch. Cover Drives lead singer Amanda also provides a great vocal in the
chorus that is smooth and light and which makes the song much more memorable
and powerful. The song is all about being one in the partying and just feeling
the love for each other, and it’s a nice lyrical sentiment that will be great
at summer parties with your friends. The contrast of the light tones of the
chorus with the heavier beats of the verses is also really great and makes for
a catchy sound, with the transition between sections being strong moments to
dance along to.
4/5
Track 5- Flossy
(featuring My Name Is Kay)
Canadian singer songwriter My Name Is Kay comes on board for
this RnB tinged track filled with a touch of urban swag and slowing the record
down a bit. The song also takes a bit more of a lyrical turn, with the Far East
Boys and Kay taking on the perspectives of a male and female in a great
relationship and basically saying how the other is great and how they are all
that they need. The combination of the vocals here gives the song a slight
sweet edge, and the only things that ruin the song is the bass references in
the bridge and this idea of being flossy which just feels weird. The light
vocal tone of Kay makes for a light chorus that you can just chill and listen
to, whilst the production of the song with the electronic stuttering’s and use
of strings is a welcome change of sound that makes the song a little more
interesting.
3.5/5
Track 6- If I Die
Tomorrow (featuring Bill Kaulitz)
With a title like If I Die Tomorrow, it was pretty safe to
assume that this song would have a flavour of live for the moment about it, and
the group deliver on this stereotypical front . As they rap about shaking
things and partying, Kaulitz provides an annoying chorus about how if he dies
tomorrow then that’s alright cause he has really lived this night and lost control.
The song is just completely cliché driven electro pop with a touch of hip hop,
and Kaulitz is just more of annoying feature than a cool guest artist, as his
vocals are really heavily Auto Tuned and so bring no vitality or personality to
the song. The production is okay, but the dance beats and electro pop wobbles
are pretty typical of the genre, and so just add to the run of the mill quality
of the track.
2/5
Track 7- Ain’t Coming
Down (featuring Sidney Samson and Matthew Koma)
Leading on from the blandness of the last track this song
starts off in a much more interesting way with the use of a almost perhaps
haunting piano melody. But all to easily the song slips into dull territory
with typical boasts from the group about
a dirty bass and other stuff that really shows they have nothing interesting to
offer because apparently they can only focus on a few things all the time. The
song is strong in the way that the chorus and verses clash, with the verses
having a grittier, heavier, dance beat driven sound, whilst the chorus features
simple piano and electro pop tones. However whilst this is interesting it still
feels generic, and so the frenzied finish of the track just falls flat. The
song would also work more in the chorus if Koma’s voice wasn’t so Auto Tuned,
as although initially the chorus starts well, it quickly dissolves into a
lacklustre affair that needs more personality.
2/5
Track 8- Candy
(featuring Pitbull)
With Pitbull jumping on board for this track I expected this
song to be bad, because like the group is raps aren’t that innovative and
recycle a lot of material. The song is all about girls shaking their booties
and basing this idea in the metaphor of sweets. This lyrical subject has been
done so many times before by a range of artists that it just holds no appeal
here, and both artists just come across as trying too hard to get a girl and
just being annoying, with only Pitbull having the slightest touch of charisma.
The distortion of the vocals is also just annoying, whilst the tinny percussion
of the production and the gritty bassline is just really bland, and combined
with some vocal ‘oh’s’, this song just comes across as proper annoying.
1.5/5
Track 9- Fly With U
(featuring Cassie)
Here the group goes back to a sweeter side with another
track that finds them loved up, with American recording artist Cassie providing
the loved up chorus that finds her telling her beau how she doesn’t care what
he has done and will just be with him flying high on their love. The rap
sections have a lighter, cheekier quality that makes these sections a little
bit better than the other songs, whilst the heavy bass, fast paced electro pop
beats and light energy of the production is catchy. The breakdown at the end is
also quite cool, and so producer Dallas Austin does a much better job than some
of the other producers on the album. Yet whilst there are good things about
this song, the track still has a lot of problems, with the final minute of the
song in terms of the raps being dragged down by further stereotypical lines
from the group. As well as this, the chorus is made extremely annoying by the
way that Cassie’s vocals are so heavily distorted, and so she just comes across
as this robot that nobody is going to fly with.
2.5/5
Track 10- Show Me
Love (featuring Alvaro)
When this song began I thought finally they have produced
some quite good music, as the light blend of piano and heavy bass gave the
opening a kind of ethereal tone that was quite appealing. But as the vocals
begin and then the track gets heavier and more dance driven, the group just
completely ruin things. Alvaro’s chorus is all about her just asking you to
show her love, and it probably would have been quite nice, but once again the
Auto Tune button just ruins the song and makes for a more grating listen. The
raps of Far East Movements are also just completely generic to the point where
now you almost feel like they are parodying themselves, the production is quite
good, with the gritty quality of the bass in the verses complimenting the
lighter vibe of the chorus, but yet it is not enough to make this a good
listen.
2.5/5
Track 11- Live My
Life (Party Rock Remix) (featuring Justin Bieber and Redfoo)
As if to put a stamp themselves on the fact that they
haven’t got a lot to offer musically, the group here simply provide us with a
remixed version of track number 2. The only difference with this song and the
original is that you have the broken down, heavier dance moments that are
typical of a remix and a designed to just jump around to, with the verses being
complete similarly and so completely dull. One half of the kings of partying (a.k.a.
LMFAO), Redfoo, brings a short kind of rap near the end of the track, but
doesn’t really add much to the song, and so whilst its not bad as far as
remixes go, I am bewildered as to how this become a standard album track, as it
is pure bonus material for proper Far East Movement fans.
2/5
Track 12- Little Bird
The only song not to have a credited guest artist, this song
is the only track on the record that is more emotional in tone and shows the
smallest slither of artist credibility from the group. The chorus features a
fragile female vocal that is for once not ruined by Auto Tune, and whilst they
don’t necessarily sound completely sincere in tone, the group can be commended
for not just talking about partying, as they speak of having lived all their
life for love and showing this sense of fragilty. The production is nice in
terms of the jangly tone of the piano in places and the simpleness of the heavy
electronic beats. A little bit too little too late, but this track is a better
song to end the record with rather than one of the other offerings.
2.5/5
Final Review
Far East Movement are just really bad. The group needs to
start coming up with raps that don’t recycle the same material and actually
have a bit of an infectious vibrancy. The production needs to be less generic
and tonally similar. And the guest artists need to be chosen a bit more
carefully, or rather the use of Auto Tune needs to be heavily toned down. People
may have liked ‘Like a G6’, but I don’t think this group has a lot more to
offer.
3/10 I don’t think this group has a lot more to offer.
3/10
Best Track- Turn Up
the Love (featuring Cover Drive)
Worst Track- Candy
(featuring Pitbull)
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