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May 17

Charts – 13 May 2012

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2012 by Paul in Music

Just a single week at number one for “Young” by Tulisa, though it’s still selling in pretty respectable quantities.  It’s replaced by a record which, judging from the midweeks, might be around for a while.

If you haven’t heard this before, pop quiz: who do you think it was originally written for?

1.  Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah – “R.I.P.”

If you said “Rihanna”, then congratulations – not only do you recognise her trademark verse monotone being dutifully recreated by Rita Ora, but you’re also absolutely right.  This is indeed a song that Drake wrote for Rihanna, who passed on it.  Frankly, I can see her point, because it’s a good chorus with a lousy verse, helped out by a decent production job from Stargate and Chase & Status.

In the now familiar way of these things, Rita Ora started her chart career as a guest on someone else’s record, providing the vocals for DJ Fresh’s number 1 “Hot Right Now” earlier in the year.  This is her “proper” solo debut, though.  She’s originally from Kosovo but based out of London.  The opening guest rap by Tinie Tempah gives him a third number one, if you count this sort of thing.

If you’re trying to place the sample, it’s from “Heartbeat” by the Nigerian singer Nneka, which reached number 20 in 2009.  More specifically, it’s from Chase & Status’s own remix of that single, which is the version best known in Britain, and is also a rather better record than the Rita Ora single it now spruces up.  Ah, recycling.

For comparison, here’s the original version.  Number 9 in Portugal, fact fans.

More Nigerian pop music next week.  (No, really, there’s some in the midweek top ten.)

7.  The Far East Movement featuring Justin Bieber – “Live My Life”

Remember these guys?  They did “Like a G6”, which reached number 5 in late 2010, and they had a follow-up single called “Rocketeer” that made number 14 in 2011.  They certainly don’t have a following of their own that’s strong enough to get a forgettable single like this slab of dated Europop into the charts, so it’s presumably guest star Justin Bieber who deserves the credit for forcing it into the top 10.  (It won’t stay there.)

The video does not feature Justin Bieber, who evidently has better things to do with his time.  The video does feature LMFAO, who are not on the record, but evidently have nothing better to do with their time.

Bieber has three singles on this week’s chart, with current single “Boyfriend” at 17, and… well, we’ll come to the other one.

27.  Emeli Sande – “My Kind of Love”

This is going to be the fourth single from her album, though officially the single version doesn’t come out until June.

Sande has been around since 2009 as a guest singer on other people’s records, but this year she’s very clearly made the transition into being a star in her own right. After all, people can’t buy that Adele album forever.

29.  Matrix & Futurebound featuring Luke Bingham – “All I Know”

Not exactly the most expensive video, but hey, it’s nicely shot.  Somebody knows their (budgetary) limitations there.

Matrix is drum and bass producer Jamie Quinn; he was also a member of Goldtrix, who had a number 6 hit a decade ago with a cover of “It’s Love (Trippin’)”.  No, I don’t remember it either.   Futurebound is a guy from Liverpool called Brendan Collins.  And I have no idea who Luke Bingham is, to be honest, other than that he’s the guy singing.  This climbs slightly in the midweeks.

34.  Labrinth – “Express Yourself”

Labrinth, you will recall, is a singer, writer and producer who serves as the token proper artist on Simon Cowell’s label.  This is kind of sort of a cover of NWA’s 1989 single of the same name, which reached number 26 in the UK, though it’s really more a case of reusing the same sample.  Here’s the NWA version.

The hook originally comes from “Express Yourself” by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, a heavily sampled act who never actually had any hits in the UK.

39.  Justin Bieber, “Turn To You”

This was released without much in the way of publicity.  It’s a charity release raising money for a women’s shelter in Ontario, and it was timed to come out for Mother’s Day.  Unfortunately for its British promotion, that’s American Mother’s Day, which doesn’t match the British one.  I suspect the only reason it’s been released at all is on the logic that his more completist fans might want it, so what the hell.

Considering that it’s a rushed charity release by Justin Bieber timed for Mother’s Day, it’s a surprisingly acceptable record.  It’s a lot better than many of his regular singles, clearly recorded with a view to shifting him to an older audience, and I’m a little surprised it’s been dumped on the market like this.

And finally for this week, let’s note the now obligatory talent show re-entries: “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz at number 40, and “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap at 26.  Neither will stick around.

Bring on the comments

  1. Nick says:

    I’m in shock. I hated earthquake and I actually really like his version of express yourself.

  2. The Kid Nixon says:

    Is…is that Dr. Dre claiming to not smoke weed?

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