TS: "Case of the Ex" vs. "Are You That Somebody?"

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heard "Somebody" the other day for the first time in years, and saw, to my dismay, that it's never had an ILM thread. so, I decided to make one! and for good measure, I've thrown in another great song that is inexplicably and inextricably linked with it in my mind!

(great choreography in both vids, too)

― Bernard Snowy (sixteen sergeants), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:32 (nineteen years ago)

"Are You That Somebody?" is just stone cold classic, of course, but "Case of the Ex" is one of those songs that sounds like the greatest thing ever when you're listening to it, no bad thing. (I remember making that realization on my trip to Melbourne and the first person I told that to, appropriately enough, was Tim Finney!)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:37 (nineteen years ago)

after further deliberation... my only knock against "Are You That Somebody?" is that the baby-talk sample is much more prominent and annoying than I remember it being. I think "Ex" narrowly edges it out in terms of production, and may even have a better hook, but "Somebody" has that totally-awesome-weirdness factor going for it, and Aaliyah was miles ahead of Mya as a singer, so I think I gotta give "Somebody" the nod.

― Bernard Snowy (sixteen sergeants), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:57 (nineteen years ago)

"Oops (Oh My)" wins over everything (even more so by virtue of the whole album being imminently listenable!)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:59 (nineteen years ago)

Haven't heard both these in forever, but I did love both of them at the time. Anyone got a list of similar songs/era so I can throw these onto a mix cd-r? My mind is blank.

― Harpal (harpal), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:35 (nineteen years ago)

Always had a soft spot for Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine," actually.

― Harpal (harpal), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:42 (nineteen years ago)

ooh, yeah, that's a good one

Alex, "Oops (Oh My)" is a decent enough song, but why bring it up here? it doesn't really have much in common with the others mentioned here, at least in my utterly subjective opinion.

― Bernard Snowy (sixteen sergeants), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:51 (nineteen years ago)

I've said this before that "Case Of The Ex" has one of my favourite lyrics of any R&B song ever. And Mya is a way underrated singer, although stuff like "Case of the Ex" doesn't show off her talents as well as stuff like "Best of Me", "Why You Gotta Look So Good" etc. Basically Mya sounds best when she's singing about hate sex.

Having said that it's hard to top "Are You That Somebody".

More elegant classics of the jitter R&B era:

- All Destiny's Child singles from The Writing's on the Wall plus "Perfect Man" for good measure
- Pink's "Private Show" and "Is It Love?"
- Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right But It's Okay"
- the R&B-ish stuff from Da Real World (specifically "All In My Grill", "Hot Boys", "Sticking Chickens", "We Did It"
- Kelis's "Get Along With You" and "Mafia" (her most Aaliyah-esque moments)
- Janet Jackson's "Empty" (1997, bitches!)
- Nicole's "Make It Hot"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 22 January 2007 06:44 (nineteen years ago)

Do the liner notes for the eventual comp, would ya?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 06:53 (nineteen years ago)

I already made my comp: Wanderlust: Exploring the Outer Reaches of Sumptuous R&B

The track listing is somewhere on ILM

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 22 January 2007 06:55 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, that's right. Brainlock on my part.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 06:56 (nineteen years ago)

Random question for now that you've doubtless already posited to yourself -- at what point does a sound like this start curdling and/or seeming old? Or can it? (Compared to some of the stuff out there it still *always* seems like the future.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 06:57 (nineteen years ago)

I guess it's a bit case by case. The odd thing about the above is that it wasn't actually that long or populous a moment in music - yes "One In A Million" came out in late 96 I think but this stuff only really exploded in late '99 and by late '01 the sound had gotten a lot harder and heavier and clubbier - from the Neptunes sound as epitomised by Britney's "Slave 4 U" to that more generic (but still ace) club thump sound typified by 112's "Dance With Me".

Aaliyah's self-titled album was the last gasp in some ways.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 22 January 2007 07:09 (nineteen years ago)

It's a bit like certain aspects of jungle '94-'96 in that way.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 22 January 2007 07:10 (nineteen years ago)

I don't "get" either of these or most R&B from this era (much respect to Timbo, but the "Timbaland saved R&B" meme WTF? 92-96 or 02-06 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 97-01) and just in general don't like Mya but "Anywhere" by 112 is the bestest of evar.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooone. Bone bone bone.
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooone. Bone bone bone.
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooone. Bone bone bone.
Ba-da dew-dew. Dew-dew. Dew dew dew BA-DING! BA-DING!

'Nuff said. There will a better bassline than that.

― The Reverend Rodney J. Greene With Strings (R. J. Greene), Monday, 22 January 2007 07:40 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, and it's got the "Whisper Song" awesome bassline + shuffly hi-hats + nothing else thing almost a decade before the YYTs.

― The Reverend Rodney J. Greene With Strings (R. J. Greene), Monday, 22 January 2007 07:41 (nineteen years ago)

Also awesome for warping my 12-y/o brain somewhat. (Not that it didn't have help.)

― The Reverend Rodney J. Greene With Strings (R. J. Greene), Monday, 22 January 2007 07:44 (nineteen years ago)

"Case of the Ex" is "Case of the Ex," but "Are You That Somebody?" is fruit and cake

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 22 January 2007 08:26 (nineteen years ago)

I've said this before that "Case Of The Ex" has one of my favourite lyrics of any R&B song ever.

"and you told me that she turned trick when y'all broke up in '96"!!!

i can't decide at all, these are two of the best songs ever obv.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 08:27 (nineteen years ago)

every single time the lex posts that line without the "s" on "tricks" makes me wonder why he thinks it's so great

― ex-mongrel (kit brash), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:30 (nineteen years ago)

trick >>>> tricks

as in, not just one-off behaviour, but she sunk so low that she became a crack whore

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:40 (nineteen years ago)

also mya says 'trick'

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:40 (nineteen years ago)

I started loving 'Somebody' even more when that mash-up version, combined with some Adult. song ('Dispassionate Furniture' I think) started circulating. That's the only time a mash-up has really added to my enjoyment of a song.

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Monday, 22 January 2007 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

also mya says 'trick'
gah, I just listened to the live at Farmclub version and you're absolutely right. fooled for years by assumption of proper rhyme!

(I don't get how plural = one-off behaviour but w'evs)

― nu-mongrel (kit brash), Monday, 22 January 2007 23:03 (nineteen years ago)

"Somebody." No contest.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Monday, 22 January 2007 23:21 (nineteen years ago)

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