Stuck In My Skull 416 -- "Live It Up" [Pop Week II]

Pop Week II, Part 1 || Song: "Live It Up" || Artist: Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull || http://youtu.be/BofL1AaiTjo ||

Comments: Good morning, everyone! Today's song opens Pop Week II, where we take a look at the current state of 'pop music.' Don't worry -- I have good taste. (I think...) To open the week, I decided to use this track. Less than a month old, this song confirms my long-held belief that Pitbull is always better as a featured artist. I tend to dislike songs where the canine-inspired rapper is the principle artist is the primary artist, but he sounds great when he is working on another artist's track. Additionally, this song was written by RedOne, that hidden power-behind-the-throne of pop music. As a song, I like it. It's a tad too heavy to be a quintessential 'summer song,' but it works nicely as a dance track, and I foresee this song having a long career in FM radio song rotations. I think its structure is a tad too irregular to be a good club hit -- the several times where the song stops the beat for the Pitbull verses and champagne-popping sound effects really breaks the tempo, in my opinion, which I suspect will prevent it from getting much use on the dance floor. That being said, I'm a fan. I'm not sure that I agree with the Wikipedia entry that calls this a europop or a dance-pop song, but either way it's a good song. I just think more of Cascada or Inna or Edward Maya or Alexandra Stan when someone says europop. The video's not bad either -- a Pitbull song without Pitbull advertising some alcohol? Count me in.

I'm going to be doing five entries this week, so check back every day this week for more!