Special Weekend Bonus For EW Readers!

Hello to everyone visiting this site after reading Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 25 best music sites. I’m very flattered to be on the list, much less place so highly. This isn’t the Robyn song that they mentioned in the blurb, but I think it’s actually a little better.

Robyn “Konichiwa Bitches” – One does not reasonably expect much from token hip hop tracks on the albums of Scandinavian pop stars, but with this song, Robyn defies the odds and makes me wonder if she ought to be doing this sort of thing on a full-time basis. The beats and keyboards are minimal and perfectly composed, flowing smoothly and changing up consistently throughout the song without distracting attention from her vocals, which sound like an adorable anime version of Missy Elliott. There’s a very delicate balance being maintained here, keeping it from tipping too far into tweeness, and I suspect that it is kept mainly because it’s so clear that Robyn isn’t totally kidding around. The lyrics are certainly meant to be humorous, but the love for hip hop is very earnest, and it’s clear that she has a musical understanding of the genre that many cutesy hip hop dilettantes lack. (Originally posted 5/25/05) (Click here to buy it on import from Amazon.)