Imma Be Up Top

    Finally, Ke$ha's monster has slipped from the top spot of the Billboard charts. It held the throne for a good two months and may very well force it's way up for a few more on-and-off weeks. But the continuous reign of the terrible tune has ended, and can only fall further down the slopes, hopefully (though unlikely) into obscurity.
    We now have the second song to reach apogee in the new decade. Much to the pleasure of the Black Eyed Peas' new "we are the future" image, their latest off the supposed ultramodern The E.N.D. has spiked public attention. Here it is:

"Imma Be" by The Black Eyed Peas.
    You can tell right there from the single's cover that things are about to get a bit weird. In the music video, following a shaky intro where the Peas prove how obsessed they are with "the next" and also why they're not actors, a look into the future is portrayed, complete with flying robots, metallic clothing, and apparently some sort of audio-gun that forces people to dance. The end of "Imma Be" meshes into "Rock That Body", the next single to be released. Ironically, the first song I heard from The E.N.D. in fact was "Rock That Body", which I thought happily paid homage to groups like Daft Punk while keeping in line with the usual Black Eyed Peas sound. Of course, the point of this album is not to have that usual sound.
    So Imma be blunt. While being leagues above "TiK ToK", "Imma Be" gets much too repetitive and cliched to truly hit that next level. The beat and style certainly attempts to push the boundaries of popular music into new realms. Based on the success the Peas have had with their unique rhythms and layout, the industry may very well emulate them, thus fulfilling their wish to be the founders of a new musical era, so to speak. But put aside all the glorified hypotheticals and desires. What's left?
    "Imma Be" blasting way too many times to count, sounding like "I'm a bee" after a short while. "Fergie-Ferg" drawling out her usual half-singing verses about being the "fly-est", as heard before in tracks like "Fergalicious" and "My Humps" (though the "Do It, Do It!" "Okay!" part of her lines here marks some comedic value). While we're at it, the other members rap about their fame and fortune as well. In fact, the only distinguishing feature for new heights is the feel of the song. Starting off bare bones, the synths build up complexity and weight through the entire number. When the tempo change occurs midway through, will.i.am tries his hand at some off-key singing as the the heavy electro-dance beats take charge. The notes and vocals jump around, never settling on a particular chord. No chorus exists for the song, which would make for an interesting development in modern hits that rely on playing the chorus excessively as time-filler.
    All in all, I feel "Imma Be" is an experiment in futuresounds. There's a few good novelties for daring artists to take away and implement themselves, like the "no chorus" gig or frantic instrumentation that never backs into standard chord progression. The biggest lesson though? Never repeat this experiment. Better lyrics could have upped the song's quality. Mainly, though, a phrase should never be duplicated over 50 times. Preferably not even ten times. There's enough vocabulary in any language to mix it up. Unless, of course, you're writing a country song.