Music

Top 5 Pop Releases: March

by Aaron Zorgel

Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Pop Tracks: March

DJ Khaled – Take It To The Head feat. Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne

I know I ranted about DJ Khaled not contributing sweet piss all to his own tracks this week, but at the end of the day, a reluctant part of me has to hand it to the guy – he knows how to put a winning team together. The first single from the upcoming Kiss The Ring (Cash Money) is a Summer banger in waiting. “Take It To The Head” is produced by Orlando production team The Runners, and features, for better or worse, some of the biggest names in the game today. Chris Brown’s layered chorus vocal has 3 or 4 hooks embedded in its bones, making it hard not to believe that “Take It To The Head” is the “I’m On One” of 2012. Strong verses from Rozay, Weezy, and Nicki also speak volumes for Khaled’s rolodex. It makes me wonder just what he’s got up his sleeve for the remix.

The Wanted – Gold Forever

Go-to superstar English pop producer Steve Mac (Il Divo, Westlife, Susan Boyle, JLS, One Direction) handled writing and production duties on The Wanted’s follow-up single to the massive Atlantic Ocean spanning smash “Glad You Came,” and having an experienced professional’s touch on the boyband format really shines here. This song is like a pop “perfect storm” – the verses, bridge, and chorus all stand alone as insanely addictive hooks of their own. The lyrics are a little cheeseball, but that’s to be expected. Steve Mac’s varied instrumentation (electric guitar, piano, strings, and synths) keeps the song interesting throughout, and affirm The Wanted’s international conquest as legitimately and terrifyingly viable.

Taylor Swift – Eyes Open

Speaking of terrifyingly viable, Taylor Swift, the most profitable human in music in 2011, has written two songs for soundtrack of The Hunger Games, a movie that had the most profitable film opening of 2012. This song gets a far more massive and epic arrangement than your average Taylor Swift jam, which is likely more suitable to the grave subject matter of the film than her typical sugary sweet country-pop format. Highly regarded record and soundtrack producer T-Bone Burnett was at the helm for this one, and it’s possible that he has his eyes on another Oscar trophy. The vulnerable but self-aware lyrics warn the listener to keep their heads up, which I guess is suitable advice for Katniss and company, right? The Hunger Games soundtrack debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 this week, thanks to the quick success of this Taylor/T-Bone collaboration.

Rita Ora – R.I.P. feat. Tinie Tempah & Drake (Remix)

Kosovo-born/current London resident Rita Ora is Jay-Z’s latest pet project, and the Roc Nation signee made major waves in the pop world this month. She dropped two radio singles, the latter being this song, which was originally written for Rihanna by Drake, and produced by electronic gurus StarGate and Chase & Status. Thick synths and massive electronic beats provide a dramatic backdrop for Rita Ora’s arrival on the scene. It’s only fitting that she’s joined by fellow Brit Tinie Tempah, and the song’s original writer Drake on the remix. Rita Ora is opening for Coldplay on an upcoming European tour, so expect big things from this newcomer in the rest of 2012.

Nicki Minaj – Beez In The Trap feat 2 Chainz

Finally we get a taste of the old Nicki on a track from the upcoming Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. She only finished and released “Beez In The Trap” this week, but my immediate enthusiasm for the track clinches a spot in my Top 5 for March. Her other singles have been deemed as too poppy, pandering, and (for lack of a better word) stupid, but “Beez,” a throwback to her mixtape days, makes you forgive and forget about that. Up and coming producer Kenoe provides a snappy beat that allows Nicki to go off for 4 and a half minutes straight. An on point cameo from 2 Chainz easily makes this the hardest track off of Roman Reloaded. By now we’ve previewed most of the album, and it’s a bit of a relief to hear that Nicki isn’t done with her straight-up ferocious rap days.

Surprises, disappointments and tracks/albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” falls flat for me. I had high expectations for the first single from Believe, and this Mike Posner produced track just isn’t catchy enough. This is as much a surprise as it is a disappointment, FYI.

Disappointments: Pitbull doing the theme song for Men In Black 3 instead of Will Smith. I was seriously looking forward to a new MIB theme song, Big Willie Style.

Out in April: New albums and singles from Nicki Minaj, Train (barf), and the debut album from The Wanted.