Yesterday, a six-track sampler of the original take on the Sugababes’ made-for-American-audiences Sweet 7 leaked—the difference between this record and the soon-to-be-released album is the presence of Keisha Buchanan, who last month was unceremoniously booted from the girl group and replaced with Eurovision-tested singer Jade Ewen. The sampler contains the already-released (and underwhelming) “Get Sexy” and “About A Girl,” as well as one track that made me chuckle mirthlessly over just how badly the group’s handlers wanted to try and break the girls in the States.
The Sugababes feat. Sean Kingston, “Miss Everything”:
Now, why did this make me chuckle? Not because of the song itself—it’s a trifle that, because of the three-headed hydra that makes up the Sugababes, is overshadowed by Kingston’s presence. But on the most recent single by Amerie (an artist who I have a similar soft spot for, and who’s proven fairly difficult to break in the States—the Sugababes’ people must have looked at the trajectory of Because I Love It when researching their options for U.S. market penetration!) she makes a crack about having a Sean Kingston feature-spot forced upon her in the “old days,” presumably by her former handlers at Columbia. Hey, maybe some of those folks are working on the Sugababes project! It would actually kind of make sense, given the way things have been botched so far…
Sugababes/Sean Kingston - Miss Everything [YouTube]
Sugababes - Sweet 7 [Album Sampler ft. Keisha] [PLEASEDONTSTOPTHEMUSIC // ooooh la la!!]
Amerie - Heard 'Em All [Dailymotion]
Earlier: More Like Sigh-ababes, amirite
I love Amerie and find that she is the one artist who, when presented to pop-minded friends who haven’t heard of her, instantly wins hearts. She is a very universal pop artist, and I would like it if she did better.
This track really is Sean Kingston Feat. Sugababes, no? I had been looking forward to “Thank You For The Heartbreak” since the Capital FM live version was actually quite a stomper, and while it’s nice to have a bookend on Keisha’s work with the band, it’s very demo-ish. Crap effort all around.
I was recently shocked when talking with some friends (who are otherwise fairly tuned in to mainstream pop music) that had NEVER HEARD “1 Thing.” I was like, yes, YES YOU HAVE, you just don’t remember. But you HAVE heard it if you were in a bar or club or near a radio or anything while the song was around. It was so infuriating though, I played it for them and they still said they had never heard it!
Sorry, that’s really neither here nor there.
@chachwitablog: This is totally a good point though; when I first heard it, I was certain it must have been in a commercial or something, because it felt incredibly familiar. I’m not sure if it was, but I loved it because it felt very honest and, again, universal.
I think uinversality was what Sugababes were going for with this release; before Keisha got booted she sort of went out of her way to disown their last album, which itself was “very British” sounding. But watered-down blandness and mediocrity does not equal being universal to different audiences.
I think you misunderstood that line in the Amerie song. She never meant for that line to be about Sean Kingston.