By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 5, 2002
Call it poetic justice. In “Without Me,” Eminem brags, “I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley/to do black music so selfishly/and use it to get myself wealth.”
The controversial rapper has been displaced by Nelly to No. 2 on the album charts, but the best-selling single in America belongs to none other than Presley.
Amsterdam-based DJ Junkie XL’s update of Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” may have topped the singles charts this week, but don’t count on it necessarily being this summer’s most memorable song.
“The sad thing is, it doesn’t take much to have the top single anymore,” says Geoff Mayfield, Billboard magazine’s director of charts. “The industry has done a marvelous job of killing the retail single. In this soft climate, you can be No. 1 with as little as 20,000 [singles] sold.”
But let’s face it–you don’t have to find a great summer song in a music store. A lot of people like to cruise in their cars and hear the song for free on the radio, or absorb it as it fills the hot summer air. And on that count, Nelly’s “Hot In Herre” and Eminem’s “Without Me” are the prime contenders for the song of the summer.
Oddly enough, there’s not a frothy boy band or Britney song anywhere in sight.
“You don’t see a pop song way up there on the charts because hip-hop is really hot right now,” Mayfield says. “There’s no magic formula to having a popular summer song. It’s about being at the right place at the right time. It doesn’t have anything to do with the time of year.”
Though it certainly doesn’t hurt. Sheryl Crow’s Beach Boys-inspired “Soak Up The Sun” had the potential to be a huge summer staple, but it was released in late spring. Meanwhile, Nelly and his record label timed the release of “Hot in Herre” to match soaring temperatures. What better season than summer for a song with the chorus: “It’s getting hot in here/So take off all your clothes/ … I am getting so hot/I wanna take my clothes off”?
“You want to believe that uptempo, fun, party songs tend to do better in the summer,” says Bill Gamble, program director for WXCD-FM (94.7). “But I don’t know if there’s proof of that.”
Eminem certainly has never been accused of being light-hearted or particularly good-natured. He’s less interested in getting his girlfriend’s clothes off than beating some rock-star butt. In “Without Me,” he brags, “Chris Kirkpatrick you can get your ass kicked/worse than them little Limp Bizkit bastards/And Moby you can get stomped by Opie/You 36-year-old bald-headed fag, blow me/You don’t know me, you’re too old/Let go, it’s over/Nobody listens to techno.”
“It’s difficult to predict what will and won’t be a hit,” Gamble says. “We do really well with Eminem, but the most-requested song for us this summer has been Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Sweetness.’ ”
WGCI-FM program director Elroy Smith adds, “P. Diddy’s ‘I Need a Girl (Part One)’ and Ashanti’s ‘Foolish’ are great summer songs, but ‘Hot in Herre” is the one we feel fired-up about. Everyone loves it and wants to hear it. It fits the mood of the city now with this heat, too, which I think the listeners relate to.”
By year’s end, will it be Nelly or Eminem who we remember as the musical voice of this summer? It’ll be a close call, but Mayfield predicts Nelly.
“He has the larger radio audience of the two of them, so his song will prevail,” Mayfield says. “Eminem will probably be on to a couple different tracks by then.”
Set Elvis, Eminem and Nelly aside for a moment. What other artists can deliver this summer’s hits along the lines of “You Oughta Know” or “Thong Song”? Let’s check out the contenders:
“Papa Don’t Preach” by Kelly Osbourne
SOUND: Kelly Osbourne has one-hit wonder written all over her cute, l’il mug. Then again, the summer is all about one-hit wonders. Forget for a moment that Ozzy’s little girl is covering Madonna’s single about a pregnant girl. The delicious arrangement, able vocals and spunky delivery add joie de vivre to this “issue” song.
SENTIMENT: What teenage girl doesn’t think she knows better than her dad when it comes to picking boyfriends (“Daddy, daddy if you could only see/Just how good he’s been treating me/You’d give us your blessing right now/’Cause we are in love, we are in love”).
“Sweetness” by Jimmy Eat World
SOUND: This sweet follow-up to the hit single “Middle” perfectly captures how delirious summer can be: “I was spinning free/With a little sweet/And simple numbing me/What a dizzy dance/This sweetness will not/Be concerned with me.”
SENTIMENT: Who cares what the lyrics mean? Open your car windows, crank up the radio and drive.
“Hella Good” by No Doubt
SOUND: No one writes about love affairs better than Gwen Stefani: “The waves keep on crashing on me for some reason/But your love keeps on coming like a thunderbolt/Come here a little closer/’Cause I wanna see you, baby, real close up.”
SENTIMENT: Is she talking about her fiance, Gavin Rossdale? Or is she referring to her ex-boyfriend and bandmate, Tony Kanal?
“I Need a Girl” by P. Diddy
SOUND: Backed up by Usher, the song has the smooth style of Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy is Mine.” Supposedly written for Jennifer Lopez, the lyrics are quite touching (by rap standards): “Now you gone can’t love you like I really wanna/But every time I think about your pretty smile/And we used to drive the whole city wild/Damn I wish you woulda had my child/A pretty little girl with Diddy style.”
SENTIMENT: Good news Puffy, er, Diddy: J-Lo is available again!
“Black Suits Coming (Nod Ya Head)” by Will Smith
SOUND: Will Smith sings, “New style, black Raybans, I’m stunnin’, man.” He’ll get no argument from us.
SENTIMENT: The king of summer blockbuster films should do well with the theme song “Men In Black II.” Smith is no stranger to summer pop hits. Back in 1991, when he was still the Fresh Prince, he and partner DJ Jazzy Jeff had a hit with “Summertime.”
