Pop Goes the Music Diary: Angstrification

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Bad Meets Evil is a pseudo-duo including Royce da 5’9? and Eminem, first heard on the song of the same name from The Slim Shady LP in 1999. The duo have recently gone back into the studio and popped out another EP, this one featuring Bruno Mars in a generic pop-rap-combo song that is all the rage these days. For other examples, see pretty much anything with Bruno Mars in a supporting role, anything at all with Pitbull, BoB and so on.

The song that has gotten the greatest amount of attention is ‘Lighters’, which as I mention features Bruno Mars. My kids used to joke with her because she liked him – but it is easy enough to understand. He is a classic-style crooner who performed well at the Grammy Awards, has catchy songs and an easy style, and put on a great show when we saw him at the New York State Fair. Now they joke with her because he was arrested (again) for being a coke-head.

But like with so many other songs, it is easy to think that Lighters is a Bruno Mars song – I know I did when we first heard it together in the car. The kids already knew it was by ‘Bad Meets Evil’, meaning that the overall lead artist was Eminem. To me that made the song even more curious – because Eminem’s performance couldn’t possibly be more generic and incongruous.

The second time we heard the song in the car, about halfway through the song I said ‘angstrification’. Everyone said ‘huh?’, to which I remarked that to me it sounded like Eminem dropped into the studio on someone else’s song about something, and just dropped a generic canned rap on top of it. As I said, it is generic and incongruous, and lacking the humor and pathos Eminem used in earlier recordings.

Still, the family looked for an explanation on the word … and I said he sounded Angry, Angsty, and Constipated. Therefore … angstrification. Enjoy.

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!