Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Akon – Be With You

When he gets into a groove, it’s pretty much where he stays…



[Video][Website]
[4.38]

Anthony Miccio: “And no one knows why I’m into you. Cause you’ll never know what it’s like to walk in our shoes. And no one knows the things we’ve been through can never measure up to half of what I put you through. That’s why we’ll break through.” I’d be fine with this utter fucking gibberish if the track didn’t sound like Ace Of Base sans perk.
[3]

Martin Kavka: The reggae-lite production is harmless, even interesting. But the lyrics are disastrous. Never mind the rhyme of “harder” with “enchilada.” Never mind the mathematical oddity of “the things we’ve been through can never measure up to half of what I put you through,” a line which requires a Venn diagram drawn in non-Euclidean space. Mind that that line makes “I’m gonna be with you” sound more like a threat than a profession of love. Get a restraining order, girl!
[3]

Dave Moore: Akon is such a dork. Did he really just call his girlfriend “muffin”? When was the last time someone actually used the phrase “the whole enchilada”? And wait, why do these things actually make me want to score this higher than I would otherwise?
[6]

Chuck Eddy: Like Al wrote here a few days back, it’s weird to consider how singular Akon’s first hits felt six years ago — “Locked Up” and “Ghetto” seemed almost like a whole new unnamed genre, or bridge between genres, or something. Which maybe they were, and it just wasn’t a very good genre. I haven’t paid attention to him for ages, and when I try he mostly seems to shoot blanks. But he’s obviously still capable of gentle high-register beauty — there are hints of it even in this seeming empty-set of a love note. You know who it reminds me of, a little? Milli Vanilli!
[5]

Hillary Brown: So it wasn’t just repetition and fading, like the way your favorite shirt loses luster over time and through numerous washes. Akon did just start lending his talents to weaker songs. But this is kind of charming and sweet and melodic. Woo!
[7]

Martin Skidmore: It’s always a surprise that he can find time to make his own records, what with a few guest appearances every week. This might explain why they sound knocked out quickly. The beats here are close to lightweight reggae, and Akon delivers a phoned in performance complete with autotune, and it’s all too easy to forget it exists even while listening to it.
[3]

Michaelangelo Matos: This probably deserves a 4 or even a 5, but to hell with it, I hate the guy more than I do any currently active pop person. He epitomizes laid-back smarm, and I say this as someone who once found “Don’t Matter” kind of cute (thanks largely to those Huey, Dewey & Louie backing vox). Now I just want him to go away.
[2]

Jordan Sargent: My immediate reaction to all Akon singles (“Smack That” aside) is an eye-roll dismissal, but then they tend to sneak up and get me drunk on laconic Autotune warbling. And so I’ll admit that Akon has a knack for the anthemic, thanks to his broad platitudes, iconic voice and everything-is-gonna-be-alright optimism. “Be With You” though sounds like exactly what it is: a fourth single off of a one hit album. Talk to me next month, though.
[6]

One Response to “Akon – Be With You”

  1. By weird coincidence, I was listening to “Locked Up” and “Ghetto” yesterday, and they still sound great and a little weird – the latter especially, which is just so mournful. At the time they seemed like an interesting little cul de sac, it really is odd how their maker is now one of the omnipresent hooksters of modern pop.