Confession time: I have always loved… the (now defunct) Sugababes.
Particularly the first two line ups.
No, I will not run.
I mean, yes, they are about as pop as the year 1999, and
were probably manufactured by a bunch of old, rich dudes in a cold boardroom
somewhere, but dudes, those three-part harmonies man….
And you know what, these girls always had flavour. They
weren’t your typical, plastic, pop princesses a la Brit and them. Sometimes,
but not always.
Anyway, I love them and that’s that. No shame.
So they went through a bunch of line-up changes over the years
that kept getting worse with each change.
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| This was exhausting.. |
But now the original members are back together under a new
name, MKS.
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| Black and White always looks good man |
They are; Mutya who has a killer lower register, all rich
and delicious and things, Keisha a gorgeous black girl with a sugary sweet
soprano and Siobhan (I love that name), whose voice I don’t know but is lovely
all the same. Also she should seriously play a young Elizabeth I in a movie one
day. I mean, come on..
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| All Hail.. |
These girls have been doing a bunch of covers
including this gem of a track that I stumbled on on the youtubes..You are
welcome.
Where do I start?
Right. For starters, these girls are ballsy.
I don’t need to
tell you how big Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming pools is. To do a cover of something
that big is always tricky cause die-hards don’t want to hear a version.
Ever. At least I usually don’t. Do you guys?
Even if it’s a great rendition, I
usually have a hard time reconciling myself with anything other than the
original.
Cause you know, songs have moments. That’s what I look for. For the
different moments. These moments are very particular. They are exact. They are
established after you have formed a sort of relationship with the original song.
They cannot be replicated.
Covers, even good ones, don’t have these moments and that kinda kills it all. But
this track created whole new moments for
me. The whole chorus is a freaking moment! I have never experienced that before.
Secondly, these chics can SING. I mean, homie, there’s no
one who can tell me anything on this. It’s a declaration. I have declared. I
know some of you will be like, “Oh, these girls aren’t belting notes that only
dogs can hear! Like Mariah!”
Yes.
And that’s
exactly why I know they can sing. They have such freaking control of their
instruments. You can tell they could go all Christina Aguilera on you if they
wanted but mamis are so chill man. You don’t have to go all gospel to be an
amazing singer.
And lastly, This song stood completely on its own even if it
borrowed heavily from the original. The song is an accurate interpretation of
what Kendrick was talking about on “swimming pools” that is done in a voice
that is distinctly MKS’. They didn’t get swallowed up by the original and they
didn’t lose the plot. Do you realize how delicate a balance that is? These
girls are professionals. Such rare thing amongst pop artists.
I love this song so much man, I don’t even know.
And whilst you are there share your pop guilty pleasures.
You know you have them ;)
Happy Friday.
K.
