Friday, October 15, 2010

Nicole Scherzinger Creates A Rhythm Nation with Her Single ‘Poison’


Listen to "Poison" on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEThIoyrcI

On her newly premiered single “Poison,” Nicole Scherzinger definitely doesn’t stray far from her old songs with the Pussycat Dolls. Of course Nicole gives the song a spunky “girl power” message, but the track itself is a lot darker than its lyrics.

Producer RedOne (Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias) produced “Poison” and his “track” is industrial. It makes me picture the insides of a dark factory and Nicole dressed like Janet Jackson “Rhythm Nation style, in all black clothes with a military state of mind. Now sonically, “Poison” is militant, but lyrically it’s the same femme fatale routine Nicole has always done (“Got venom dripping from my lips/know who you’re ‘bout to kiss/think that you can handle it/boy it’s on”). Although “Poison” doesn’t contain a socially-conscious message like “Rhythm Nation” had, the song’s aggressive production keeps the song alive.

RedOne works his magic again, and should be commended for such a great track, but it’s clear that he saves his best stuff for Lady Gaga. As good as “Poison” is, it’s more along the lines of Enrique Iglesias’ RedOne-produced hit “I Like It," which uses RedOne’s reliable recipe for chart success. “Poison” has all the ingredients of an epic RedOne hit: verses filled with sinister synths, a pregaming b-section that takes shots before the big fist-pumping chorus and hook. And of course Nicole still packs the same huge Taylor Dayne vocals she showcased with the Pussycat Dolls.

I don’t know what the “Poison” music video will look like (hopefully not a video set in a club, ugh!), but I would love to see Nicole pay homage to Janet’s Rhythm Nation days, and add a militant visual to match RedOne’s militant track. If she does this, the femme fatale lyrics will sound ironic. Then again, with lyrics like “that bad girl power I got, I’ll abuse it tonight,” maybe “Poison” is more socially-conscious then I initially thought.









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