Tom: There are rappers who write lyrics that could change the world; there are rappers who burn with energy; there are rappers whose flow is so tight you can barely track what they’re saying as they blaze through lines at a hundred words a minute.
Tim: There are.
Tom: Then there’s Pitbull.
Tim: You know, you keep implying you don’t much like Pitbull, but thanks to all the tracks you’ve brought to the table he’s now our joint-second most featured artist, tied with One Direction and behind only Eric Saade. I hope you’re happy with that.
Tom: The thing is, the hooks are frequently brilliant, the production’s always excellent, and generally the only thing wrong with the track is the man himself. He is, if nothing else, a rich vein of interesting things to write about.
Tim: That, I don’t think anyone will dispute. So let’s see what we can write about here.
Tom: But does he ever actually say anything? There are words, sure, and they’re in some sort of order, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything other than vague platitudes from him.
Tim: I noticed him trying to rhyme “player” with “Fred Astaire”. Not entirely sure he pulled that off.
Tom: And there are, what, two unhurried verses in the whole track, surrounded by a hook that’s just begging to be more than a chorus.
Tim: The slowness of them really does grate. Get some actual talent, push them up to twice the pace and we might have a song worth listening to. As it is…
Tom: They got the credits the wrong way round for this one: get Danny Mercer to sing some verses, have Pitbull in as a crowd-grabbing hook, and you might have a decent track here. As it is: it just seems lazy.
Tim: I’m not quite sure about that – sung verses would be nice, but keep the chorus as well. Basically just ditch Pitbull altogether.