Flo Rida’s Sample-tastic Single

It is quite a sad state of affairs, but Flo Rida is apparently the most ‘prolific man in pop’ (good one, 4 Music). It seems that every pop record title is followed by the words ‘feat. Flo Rida’ – Olly Murs’ ‘Troublemaker’ being the latest example. The ingredients for Flo Rida’s chart-topping success usually includes a bastardised version of a very good song from decades past, spliced over a heavy dance beat which Flo Rida can rap along to. Whether it be a sample of Etta James’s ‘Something’s Got a Hold on Me’ for his #1 UK hit ‘Good Feeling’ or an adapted chorus from Dead or Alive’s 80s classic ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ for the Ke$ha collaboration ‘Right Round’, it is a tried and tested formula. There is the exception of the ‘Whistle’ song, an entirely original and sample-free track which, admittedly, is quite good and annoyingly catchy. His most recent release ‘Let It Roll‘  from Wild Ones uses a sample from Dallas legend Freddie King’s 1974 tune ‘Let The Good Times Roll’. After a gentle piano introduction, Freddie King’s gorgeous gospel tinged vocal sample blasts over the club-ready dance beats and keyboard synths (courtesy of production team Axwell and SoFLY & Nius), before giving way to the usual Flo Rida rhymes…yawn.

Solange

 

Solange released her 7-track EP ‘True’ towards the end of last year, co-writing on every song with producer Devonte Hynes (Blood Orange). The pairing is evidently an artistic match made in heaven. The record radiates 80s RnB vibes, with bubbling synth-sounds that are almost Madonnaesque and the style suits Solange’s celestial vocals beautifully. Solange is a great lyricist, each track is one of those that should be played on repeat until you take in every word. For songwriting, Pitchfork‘s review has it in a nutshell: “The record never builds to a huge chorus; instead, its hooks bubble up quietly and quickly, then dissipate as the songs return to their downbeat simmer.” You’re not going to find conventional pop songwriting structures from Solange, but who cares, it works.

The One Direction Magic Formula

It seems that these five boys can’t go wrong when it comes to generating hit after hit. It’s all down to the very talented team of songwriters and producers working on their album, with a writing/production team that includes Rami Yacoub (Britney Spears, Pink, The Saturdays), Carl Falk (Backstreet Boys, Nicki Minaj, Akon) Savan Kotecha (Britney Spears, Alexandra Burke, Justin Bieber) as well as Cirkut and Shellback to mention but a few. Each track is hooky, catchy and a slice of perfect pop pie. If you listen carefully, you may notice that there is something almost formulaic about that coveted boyband sound. PopSlutz have done some careful calculations and come up with the following equation:

Let us break it down for you…

Instrumental Hooks

Each track on the album has one bar of a recognisable instrumental hook that opens the song (usually an electric guitar riff). This riff continues throughout the song, subtly sitting underpinning the catchy vocal hooks to make it even catchier. As an intro, the guitar riffs serve as a way of announcing which song is about to play; so that only 3 seconds into the song the avid girl fans can squeal with excitement, jump up and down and exclaim ‘this is my favourite!’ before One Direction have even opened their mouths.

Power of 3

Here are a few lyrics to prove our point.

‘Let’s go Crazy, crazy, crazy, till we see the sun…And never, never, never stop for anyone’ (Live While We’re Young)
‘Baby I’ll take you there, take you there, baby I’ll take you there…’ (Kiss You)
‘Cause it’s you, oh it’s you, it’s you they add up to’ (Little Things)

If you want a hook hammered home, do it three times.

Na na naaaa

Each One Direction song has some nonsense pop lyrics in there. Usually a chanty ‘naa naa na na na na naaa’ in the Middle 8 (‘Kiss You’, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’). Throw in a smattering of ‘yeaaahs’ in the chorus and some ‘oooohs’ wherever you can fit them in. Oh and don’t forget to address the listener as ‘baby’ or ‘girl’…but never ‘baby girl’.

Add it all together, get One Direction to sing it, get hit producers to produce it and voila: Bob is your million-dollar-royalty-earning Uncle.