SONG REVIEWED: "My Imagination"
NEPOTISM ALERT!... I REPEAT, NEPOTISM ALERT!... OK, BEFORE DIVING HEADLONG INTO THIS REVIEW, I MUST PREFACE THIS BY SAYING THAT I WAS RECENTLY AT A FAMILY REUNION OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND, AND AS IS THE PRACTICE WITH THESE FUNCTIONS, I SPENT MOST OF THE DAY CATCHING UP WITH RELATIVES I HADN'T SEEN IN YEARS OR HAD NEVER MET... WHILE SCHMOOZING WITH "THE FAM", I FIND OUT THAT MY COUSIN (WHOM I HAVEN'T SEEN IN ALMOST A DECADE) HAS A DEAL WITH LOGIC/BMG, GOES BY THE NAME SK8, AND IS TOURING CLUBS ALL OVER THE EAST COAST. HOWEVER, MY KNOWLEDGE OF DANCE MUSIC IS LIMITED ONLY TO WHAT I HEARD DURING MY FOUR YEARS AS A BOUNCER IN BOSTON. AFTER A QUICK REFRESHER COURSE, AND MORE THAN A LITTLE RESEARCH, I'M READY TO BEGIN MY FIRST REVIEW OF A CLUB DISC.
FIRST OFF, SK8 IS BEING PRODUCED BY TODD TERRY... NOW, WHETHER YOU'RE A FAN OF THIS KIND OF MUSIC OR NOT, THAT NAME SHOULD SOUND FAMILIAR. WHY? WELL, HE'S A MULTI-TALENTED DJ/PRODUCER/REMIXER/ARTIST WHO'S WORKED WITH MICHAEL AND JANET JACKSON, JAMIROQUAI, EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL, GARBAGE, MARTHA WASH (REMEMBER "IT'S RAINING MEN"??) THE LIST GOES ON... THIS BEING SAID, YOU KNOW THE PRODUCTION IS GOING TO BE TOP NOTCH, SO THERE'S REALLY NO POINT IN CRITIQUING THAT. IT'S CLEAN, AND WELL PUT-TOGETHER, AND IF YOU PLAYED THIS IN ONE OF THOSE CAR SOUND SYSTEMS THAT HAS A KICKER BOX IN THE BACK, YOU'LL BE BUYING A NEW WINDSHIELD IN NO TIME.
AS FAR AS THE SONG GOES, IT'S APPROPRIATELY MINDLESS. THAT SOUNDS BACKHANDED, SO LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF BEFORE I GET SOME NASTY PHONE CALLS. DANCE MUSIC ISN'T INSIGHTFUL; IT SHOULD BE SIMPLE, HOOKY, AND MAKE YOU WANT TO MOVE AROUND LIKE THE FREAK YOU ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE... "MY IMAGINATION" DOES JUST THAT. THE MAIN MELODY IS VERY CATCHY AND YOU'LL BE HUMMING THIS WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT AFTER ONE LISTEN. LYRICALLY, IT'S NOTHING TERRIBLY COMPLEX... AGAIN, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE; IT'S SIMPLE. TO HER CREDIT IS THE FACT THAT SHE IS WRITING HER OWN MATERIAL, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT MANY OF THE YOUNG FEMALE SINGERS AREN'T DOING.
IMAGE-WISE, SK8 IS ON PAR WITH BRITNEY, CHRISTINA, MANDY, AND THE SLEW OF YOUNG FEMALE ACTS THAT WE'RE BEING BOMBARDED WITH ON A DAILY BASIS IN THIS COUNTRY....ALTHOUGH SHE'S GOT MORE OF A RAVE THING GOING (WHICH IS GOOD, BECAUSE THE REST OF THEM STAY AWAY FROM THAT) ... SHE'S YOUNG, CUTE, AND COULD VERY EASILY HAVE THOUSANDS OF HORNY TEENAGE BOYS MOBBING HER. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE DOESN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE MAJOR LABEL BACKING THAT A LOT OF THEM HAVE, AND THAT IS GOING TO KEEP HER IN THE SHADOWS FOR A WHILE...ESPECIALLY WITH EVEN MORE OF THESE YOUNG FEMALE ACTS COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK.
SK8 COULD VERY EASILY LEND HER VOICE TO A MORE POP-ROCK STYLE (IE; SARAH MCLAUGHLIN, OR EVEN SHANIA TWAIN)... SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE TYPE OF VOICE THAT IS IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATED WITH DANCE MUSIC, SO SHE COULD QUITE EASILY CROSS OVER. A MOVE LIKE THAT WOULD ALSO EXPOSE HER TO A LARGER AUDIENCE. AS POPULAR AS THE RAVE SCENE IS, IT'S STILL A LIMITED AUDIENCE COMPARED TO ONE THAT A MORE TOP 40 SOUND COULD DELIVER. I'D BE CURIOUS TO HEAR WHAT SHE SOUNDS LIKE ON A LOWER TEMPO PIANO BALLAD.
RIGHT NOW, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO CATCH SK8 PERFORMING AT DANCE CLUBS UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST (SHE RECENTLY TOURED WITH L.F.O.), AND DOING APPEARANCES AT RADIO STATIONS LIKE WKTU IN NEW YORK AND WFHN IN MASSACHUSETTS. WITH A LITTLE LUCK, AND A WHOLE LOT OF BUST-ASS WORK, SHE'LL BREAK THROUGH TO A MORE MAINSTREAM AUDIENCE, AND YOU'LL START HEARING MUCH MORE FROM SK8.
