The Singles Jukebox

Today in Screencaps That Double As Mime…

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[5.12]Scott Mildenhall: Watching Dizzee Rascal at Glastonbury and the disparity between the crowd’s reactions to his old stuff and his latest single, it became clearer than ever just how long it’s been since his imperial phase. Specifically, it’s been three years since Tinie Tempah took the baton as Britain’s biggest rapper, his apparently instant rise coinciding with Dizzee’s step back from the spotlight. Thing is, it’s been almost as long since Tinie took a break too; he featured on three massive hits in the last two years, but none of his own. Seemingly, he wants everyone to believe the two years he was away were spent conquering the world: no more Scunthorpe, no more Southampton, just an arbitrary list of international cities. But then he’s deigned to feature another rapper on “Trampoline,” and an American one at that. What was best about Tinie first time round was his silliness and his shibboleths; there was something charming about the ropiness of pointedly parochial lines like “she likes to talk a lot, that’s why I call her Trisha,” and the introduction of 2 Chainz seems likely at first to be an affront to that. But then, the song is called “Trampoline.” That could never happen. From “tangerine” to “Agyness Deyn” and everything in between, order is maintained. Meet the new Tinie: same as the old Tinie.
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Crystal Leww: I smile every time I hear Tinie Tempah’s stupid “yeah!” ad-lib. He is just so goofy and fun, even if he’s not the most technically adept rapper. Fitting that he teams up with 2 Chainz for this silly track about bouncing butts.
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Katherine St Asaph: If you gave Diplo “Pass Out,” you’d get pretty much this a week later, guest and all. The beat is so stiff — maybe they mean one of those mini-trampolines?
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Alfred Soto: Idiotic bubble crunk, and it does bounce bounce bounce, despite Chainz.
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Brad Shoup: Are the NSJ kids ghostwriting? Those cadences are super familiar. So are the Fischerspoonery electro bits. A lazy theme can get put over by kinetics: that’s just foundational.
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Josh Langhoff: Well I’ll be, tambourine and trampoline do rhyme! If music videos exist, surely they should offer us images we couldn?t see otherwise, and people getting high and jumping on trampolines in slow motion while listening to an absent 2 Chainz isn?t that big a deal. You know what?d be cool? A spherical room, revolving on three axes like a gyroscope, walls made entirely of trampolines, into which Tinie sets loose a bunch of tambourines And tangerines, I don?t care. Now you?ve got yourself a music video.
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Patrick St. Michel: I was ready to stop “Trampoline” completely when Tinie Tempah honest-to-goodness said “Anne Frankly,” which is a whole lot of stupid. Yet I let the song play just to hear what 2 Chainz had to say, and I was rewarded with “ring ring/mobile phone,” simplicity I reveled in after Tempah’s dumb verses. Shame 2 Chainz is barely in this.
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Iain Mew: I am British. I enjoy the 2 Chainz verse and its succession of “might be” brags, but when Tinie Tempah says “I go Claridge’s to do high tea”, I know what he means in a different way. I’ve never been there, but the first time I heard it the image of frivolous and anachronistic luxury, and its incongruousness next to the club beats and “thank god it’s Friday” arrived fully formed without having to think about it (although I wonder if this would be the same for someone from Scunthorpe.) More generally, I find his cheeky wit and personality easy to relate to and am willing to forgive him the bits that don’t work, like “Anne Frankly,” in a way that’s definitely boosted by his Britishness. That would reverse if the quality wasn’t up to feeling proud about, though — which is not the case for “Trampoline,” with a chorus that packs almost the punch that “Pass Out” did. Plus, while Diplo’s popping and rattling dance production might be suitable for British pop sensibilities, it doesn’t feel completely confined by them. That’s what I’ll cling onto to hope my love for this is different from Hilltop Hoods.
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