"Milkshake" vs "I Luv U"

Conversely, is "Milkshake" a "token weird" record that's snapped up the niche "I Luv U" might have filled had it gotten an earlier US release?

As for it's influencing America's "I Luv U" reception, while that raunchy sound is somewhat challenging, it's more in a "techno" vein to American ears (kind of like how "We Need a Resolution" opened up the acid squelch to RnB and Hip Hop), whereas Dizzee's vocal delivery might be much more off putting/abrasive.

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I guess I just don't see "Milkshake" as being that weird... it seems like a bunch of other Neptunes tracks. The first time I heard it, I thought it was catchy as hell. I figure it's no more out there than anything Missy Elliott has put out... either way, I like it a lot.

On a side note, I thought a REALLY weird single that did well was the Lumidee song from this past summer, where she just goes "Uh Ohhhhh" over that galloping, dubby beat.

exactly, it's much more claustrophobic than "Milkshake", as if the beats/squelches aren't so much sequenced as simply stacked on top of each other.

I can't wait til "Show me your Milkshake" becomes a catchphrase. Or maybe "Shake that Milk". The message makes me think of lactating tits, unfortunately.

"Damn right, it's better than yours" is already my catchphrase.

US charts are based mostly on radio airplay aren't they? "I Luv U" is not very radio friendly. "Fix Up Look Sharp", on the other hand... I see no reason why that couldn't chart, though sadly the novelty may be the biggest factor.

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I think it's more the accent than the reverb. You don't hear many thick Cockney accents on US radio.

Is "Cockney" the best description for his accent?

Actually yeah, the track is a little too, well,clangy and metallic for mainstream American club and radio play.

..and while there are extreme voices in American hip-hop, Dizzee's is extreme and heavily accented.

That said! "Lucky Star" is getting US club play.

Isn't Cockney the standard term for an East-end London accent? FWIW, in the NY Times article, Dizzee himself says, "I'm Cockney."

Whether or not "I Luv You" get any radio play in the US (which I don't think it will), I do think there are good odds of Lil Jon hearing it. And that's when things could get interesting...

One of the problems with talking about Dizzee effecting a similar crossover is working out where it's crossing over from. Presumably all the surprisingly hard urban crossover hits have all had their popularity reared in urban clubs and on urban radio, and then it spills across into Mainstream America consciousness. For Dizzee to build on the success of tracks like "Milkshake", he'd have to succeed in such club/radio contexts first, where he doesn't have the advantage of the physical familiarity of the Neptunes' changing-same groove structure (at this stage of the game the Neptunes' approach to grooves is like its own genre), or some equivalent like Southern Bounce (which i suspect is closer to "I Luv U" than "Milkshake" is, and just as abrasive).

i guess I'm kinda missing the point though, which is that sonically the game had to be changed enough for something like Milkshake too be released into the wild (it doesn't really sound too jarring after Grindin' and that Busta track about asses being on fire). but it still GROOVES like a motherfucker, the Neps can probably get as harsh and abrasive sounding as they want (and probably will, bless em) as long as they can still arrange so precisely. Also, maybe grasping at straws a bit by this point, but does it maybe help that the chorus starts at the opening of the track? That chorus alone could be enough for a giant single, and maybe the fact that it kicks it off is enough to mask any harshness in the beat.

I listened to I Luv U 20 times to figure out what the big deal was, I still don't get it. I caught about a minute of Milkshake while I was driving and without even realizing it I was singing the chorus over and over for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, the track made a big impression.

I live for the shock of the new and different on the radio as much as anyone else, but I'm not going to praise garbage just because it's really weird garbage.

(but you don't really need to read it unless you think you can explain what he means about blaxploitation to me)

(bootysploitation maybe)

(splootyboybation)

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~ben.pearson/milkshake.jpg