Musical Youth

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just jealous that a 10-year old has a record in the charts and I don't, but I am afraid that I just cannot stand Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair", a pre-pubescent paean to the joys of spinning your head around really fast (which, if I tried it, let's face it, would probably put me in the ER in minutes) and letting your long locks whip around like some hairy helicopter blade.

While this may be, in young Ms. Smith's mind, a worthwhile topic to discuss with others of her peer group, I feel that it should be a topic best discussed in the schoolyard as opposed to the Top 40 charts. Don't get me wrong, I am sure she is a pleasant enough young lady, and her parents are both fine individuals, as is her brother, but I really cannot see that she would have made the charts if her dad wasn't Will Smith.

Let's just take a gander at some of the, ahem, lyrics, shall we?


Don't let haters keep me off my grind What does that mean?
Keep my head up and I know i'll be fine
Keep fighting until I (yea)
Am down and I feel like giving up


I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (just whip it)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (whip it real good)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (just whip it)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (whip it real good)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (just whip it)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (whip it real good)


I really despair sometimes. Let's just hope that if any more, er, tracks are forthcoming from Ms. Smith, she has the good sense to employ songwriters who do not have "songwriter for Barney the Dinosaur" on their resume. She's not going to be 10 forever, so a little imagination and maturity in her lyrics might be an idea. Still, as ridiculous a song as it appears to be, it's insanely catchy... unfortunately I don't seem to be able to find the video on YouTube as I'm in the UK, and for some reason Willow's channel is not available to us Brits, even though we buy her records and watch the video on TV. Here's a TV performance from the Ellen Show, and I guarantee you will either be pulling out your hair afterwards or singing it all day tomorrow.





Earlier, while skipping from channel to channel in the company of 17-year-old Jack, I was subjected to something that to me is quite odd - British rap. Yes, rap is big in this country, but when you see a video that looks like it could be any other rap/hip-hop joint and the black dude opens his mouth and starts sounding like Snoop Dogg meets Dick Van Dyke, it's a bit jarring. I'm still not used to it. Let me show you what I mean...



In fact, ever since Corinne Bailey Rae's big hit of a few years ago, Put Your Records On, it seems to have been in vogue not to disguise your English accent when you sing, and in fact to exaggerate it so that you sahnd like ya come from the East End of Ol' Lunnon Tarn, innit, blud? So we now have all these singers like Eliza Doolittle, Lily Allen  and Kate Nash going for that cute-English-girl-next-door-with-attitude sound. It's a bit bizarre.

Used to be the only singer anyone could think of that didn't adopt a North American inflection when he sang was Morrissey, or perhaps John Lydon. Now the place is crawling with 'em.

Anyhoo, that's about all I have to say today. Sorted, mate. Back of the net.