The Singles Jukebox

Pop, to two decimal places.

Chamillionaire – Good Morning

Xzibit’s stand-in gets Lucky (because Lucky is the name of the character voiced on popular sitcom King of the Hill by Tom Petty who is sampled here do you see)…



[Website]
[5.29]

Ian Mathers: The whole ‘hater’ thing still strikes me as protesting too much; it may be true that “when you getting big cash stacks all the haters hate that ‘cus they hate to see you be successful” but that probably has to do more with their opinion of you than a general resentment of success. By which I mean “aww, you’re just a hater” isn’t much of a defence, or anything other than a trivial statement, and the fact that the subtext is always “any criticism you have is invalid, because you’re just a hater” bugs the hell out of me. Which is why “Good Morning” is such a nice change of pace; over some sunny Tom Petty guitar chords Chamillionaire does go through the usual anti-hater paces, but at least: a) he admits that he’s petty enough to hate anyone more successful than he is; b) his reaction is less “I don’t have to listen to you” and more kill-em-with-kindness; and c) that Tom Petty sample really is pretty.
[6]

Michaelangelo Matos: Believe me, hating on this has nothing to do with my shoes and everything to do with sampling fucking Tom Petty.
[3]

Chuck Eddy: Wonder if notorious rap-hater Tom Petty will feel differently once he starts cashing royalty checks for this…Well, actually, he’ll probably feel the same as when Chamillionaire cashes checks for Weird Al’s “White And Nerdy,” right? And if you hate them for it, you’re just jealous of their retirement accounts. Still, where Petty’s 1987 rap move “Jammin’ Me” was at least an 8, this hit’s nicely relaxed but just too vapid to excuse.
[5]

John Seroff: If you had to discuss “Good Morning”, the smart move would be to avoid discussing the constant ‘Free Fallin’ refrain; it’s so immediately self-evident that it hardly bears scrutiny. Unfortunately, there’s almost nothing else to talk about. Musically, there’s only one idea at play here, and it’s a pretty bad one; nothing about Tom Petty’s megahit suggested it demanded the “I’ll Be Missing You” treatment. Cham’s flow is, as usual, respectable if not outstanding; the continuing tautology of hating on those strawman haters is as bluntly witless as ever and the Maino bite makes me wince a little. Icky.
[3]

Erick Bieritz: Rappers have certainly juxtaposed hater missives with upbeat tracks before (e.g., Trick Daddy’s “I’m A Thug”), but Chamillionaire launches “Good Morning” into its own cereal commercial stratosphere. The day-glo blast is dizzying and nausea-inducing, but not entirely unpleasant.
[6]

Anthony Miccio: Hater-hate is usually a sign of creative bankruptcy, but rather than reaffirm his credibility with pro forma hardness, Chamillionaire audaciously brandishes a Tom Petty sample even The Black Eyed Peas might consider gauche. And since his defensive prattle relies less on bombast and the cult of personality than recent TI, it makes for better, battier bubblegum.
[7]

Hillary Brown: Man, who ecstasied up Chamillionaire’s coffee? This could practically be on Sesame Street, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a little corny, too, but couldn’t rap use a bit more of the Tom Petty chilled out happy philosophy?
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