At 12:42 PM 6/23/2004 -0700, Jocelyn Geboy wrote:
>> 7. Yeah -- Usher with Lil Jon and Ludacris
>> 
>~~~~this song drives me crazy for two reasons:
>1. because it's so damn catchy it'll jump into my
>head, unprovoked, at the weirdest times.
>
>2. because the middle rap breakdown is so... ick. (is
>the word i'm looking for smarmy? at best?)

Ludacris is certainly an acquired taste, but once you've acquired it, his
charms reveal themselves.  ("Stand Up" was one of my favorite singles of
last year...it was the line "Feels like a midget is hangin' from my
necklace" that finally tipped it over for me.  He's a funny guy, I like his
flow, and he's got a way with a hook.)  The first few times I heard the
song, I kept missing his parts, and my opinion was basically, "Okay, Usher
wants his own 'Rock Your Body.'"  Finally hearing the whole song, with the
Ludacris raps and Lil Jon's interjections (the reason the Dave Chappelle
impersonation is so funny is that it's so true), is what made me a fan.
Sascha Frere-Jones in this week's New Yorker, of all people and places,
nailed this song's effect: it's like a jewelry box with a diamond ring
inside.  It's snapped open, it glitters for a while, and it's snapped shut.

S