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BuzzJack Music Forum _ R&B and Hip-Hop _ FIVE YEARS OF URBAN
Posted by: mdh 18th September 2016, 06:29 PM
I'll be providing commentaries to all the tracks in this thread, and you can comment along on your favourite tracks. To be included in this list the songs must be any of the genres stated above, and they must have charted in the UK Top 75 from 2012-present.
Posted by: ML Hammer95 18th September 2016, 06:58 PM
Mate, this is like my thing!! Love that you're doing this, hope you keep it up.
Posted by: Cremey 18th September 2016, 07:31 PM
Yeah this looks great! Looking forward to it
Posted by: HarryEzra 18th September 2016, 08:45 PM
Looking forward to see what you are doing
Posted by: Ðøßßø 18th September 2016, 08:46 PM
Very intriguing 
(Oh and hype!!!)
Posted by: mdh 18th September 2016, 09:14 PM
The first track in our listing, this is a huge bop from Flo Rida, with the hit Good Feeling which transfered from 2011, to 2012. What with a chorus identical to Avicii's "Levels", this track can be likened to the rap, and dance genres with its party style vibe that we see ever-so-present especially at the start of this thread. You've got an anthemic, soaring chorus that was stuck in everyone's heads, and some slightly crude but addictive rapping from Flo - and that spelt a hit back in 2012.
This was one of the first in what would become a seemingly never ending string of hits in 2012 for Flo - like him or not (I know the more critical of commenters in here will have a distaste for him), he was practically everywhere in 2k12.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 18th September 2016, 09:23 PM
Ew... not a fan of track #1 at all, jumped on Avicii's train & overshadowed the superior Levels at the back of 2011. One of his worst songs - thankfully his best ever song IMO Wild Ones would soon follow
Posted by: awardinary 18th September 2016, 09:25 PM
Flo Rida was at his peak around that time, Good Feeling had a good chart success.
It's a shame he doesn't have the same impact anymore.
Posted by: ML Hammer95 19th September 2016, 06:45 AM
Unashamedly loved this back in the day... still sounds good now actually. Flo Rida is very hit and miss, but this was one of the good ones.
Posted by: HarryEzra 19th September 2016, 09:14 AM
Flo rida does have some tunes but there are most that annoy me this is kinda in latter category oops Wild Ones, Low, Club Cant Handle Me Jump, Sugar and Right Round all tunes though tbh
Posted by: mdh 19th September 2016, 03:27 PM
Good to see you liking this so far - would you all rather me do every top 75 Urban hit or just the big ones?
Posted by: ML Hammer95 19th September 2016, 04:12 PM
Every one would be great to uncover some hidden gems!
Posted by: Ðøßßø 19th September 2016, 04:13 PM
Every top 75 hit would be quite the task, in a way that would be cool as I'd prob make a few discoveries but whatever's easiest for you really.
Posted by: ML Hammer95 19th September 2016, 04:52 PM
Yeah, if you want any help just hit me up and I'll do what I can.
Posted by: mdh 19th September 2016, 06:41 PM
Infectious, different, and a massive bop are all words that can be used to describe this sick track. Earthquake was massive at the time, crossing over into 2012, and the catchy chorus from Labrinth was everywhere at the start of 2012.
The real highlight of this for me was Tinie's part, he was at his peak around now, and in my opinion this was his best rap, something so irresistable about that 'Hey Simon, we're f****** it up line. This climbed up to #8 in the charts at the start of 2012, after peaking at #2 in the November before, but this was a hit with real longevity - a massive track.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 19th September 2016, 08:43 PM
Now THAT is a tune 
one of the best of the year!
Every single collab they've done has been nothing short of superb, I'd say Earthquake only ranks as the 3rd best actually (behind Pass Out & Frisky), Lover Not A Fighter is also an overlooked gem too.
Posted by: burbe 19th September 2016, 10:25 PM
Earthquake still sounds huge!
Posted by: mdh 20th September 2016, 07:28 PM
Back at the time where Rizzle Kicks were in their prime, they had this novelty style hit. With a catchy chorus and some pretty respectable rapping, there was no doubt this would be a hit. Climbing into the top 10 at the start of 2012, this would end up having some great longevity, in the end going on to be a massive top five hit - one that epitomised the start of 2012 in music.
I've never really warmed to it myself, but in a year where they'd not take advantage of the popularity they had, I quite liked this at the time. Not their best at all for me, but I do like it once in a while. There are some more Urban style tracks coming up, but it's always nice to reminisce over a bit of old mainstream R&B.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 20th September 2016, 07:35 PM
About the only track of theirs I like, awful band!
At least their vids were alright...
Posted by: mdh 20th September 2016, 07:38 PM
At least their vids were alright...
Do they even play instruments?
Posted by: Ðøßßø 20th September 2016, 07:41 PM
I use band as a default term 
(Group)
Posted by: HarryEzra 21st September 2016, 02:08 AM
Earthquake and Mama Do The Hump both tunes!!
Posted by: The Codemeister 21st September 2016, 03:51 AM
*sighs* I remember when Labrinth used to produce good music
Posted by: mdh 21st September 2016, 06:39 PM
Agreed! Jealous is a massive letdown.
Posted by: mdh 21st September 2016, 06:44 PM
This is absolutely class. Such a great tune, unfortunately it was somewhat of a one hit wonder for Lloyd, but this track that combines R&B vibes with some crooning, soul-influenced vocals and it's a genuinely great listen if you want to hear something you probably didn't realise you knew. Loads of 'pussy' references, not a surprise that it was a hit, though, as I did find more songs swore a few years back.
I leave you with this question - have you noticed how around 2012-13 more songs swore than they have done this year? Anyway, this doesn't detract from the fact this is a huge tune - exactly what I wanted from this thread, to rediscover some insane music. Love.
Posted by: danG 21st September 2016, 07:26 PM
Earthquake and Dedication To My Ex were my JAMS!!!
I actually mostly listened to the radio edit of that last one, it was easier on the ears than the one with all the pussy references 
Posted by: RobinJuanPersie 21st September 2016, 08:41 PM
I used to be obsessed with Dedication To My Ex, such a tune. I always though the girl in the video was great, it was only recently that I realised that it was Natalie La Rose.
Posted by: Mack 21st September 2016, 09:47 PM
Dedication To My Ex (Miss That) haven't had that for a long time that was brilliant. He might have meant this cat but clearly not with the reference he was making. Also featured on 'BedRock' and did he appear in a UK #20 hit in 2005 with Ja Rule?
Posted by: mdh 22nd September 2016, 07:29 AM
Yep, called Caught Up - it spent 2 weeks in the top 40 in Spring 2005. He's also had some flop singles that all just missed out on the top 40 by a few places.
Posted by: HarryEzra 22nd September 2016, 07:53 AM
Omg I still love Dedication To My Ex its such a jam 
Posted by: Ðøßßø 22nd September 2016, 01:25 PM
Catchy track that & I did enjoy it at the time but it's nothing I revisit too often.
Posted by: mdh 23rd September 2016, 05:43 PM
This is a discovery for me! I'd never heard this before previous to this for some reason. It's very similar to Too Good but a whole lot better. Drakes rap is brilliant as per, and it sounds so fresh right now - even in 2016! Could easily be a hit again if it was re-released.
This was before Drakes mainstream success, and I'm sad I didn't find this before. Tune.
Posted by: mdh 23rd September 2016, 05:48 PM
This was the start of the year of Emeli Sandé - after being a #1 this hung around for months into the start of 2012, and what an anthem it is! Love the emotional chorus from Emeli and Green's rap is brilliant. Always been a fan of him and I'd love for him to come out with something similar to this again! That'd be brilliant.
I always listen to this when I'm down or I need a bit of retro - genuinely a timeless song that I think we all know, and I'd be surprised if any of you dislike it.
Posted by: Mack 23rd September 2016, 05:54 PM
The best that Professor Green did, I remember people saying that was his version of Eminem's 'Love The Way You Lie' when it come out from various people around.
Posted by: *Ben* 23rd September 2016, 06:03 PM
Flo Rida - Good Feeling: Good track, I loved it at that time but totally bored by now. Was overplayed.
Labrinth - Earthquake: fantastic track with some electro beats 
(and lots better than Beneath your Beautiful....)
Mama Do The Hump: Never liked it....
Lloyd - Dedication to My Ex: The best urban track at that time. Couldn't stop listening to it
Drake feat. Rihanna - Take Care: Another brilliant track! And Drake made better music at that time imo. Although he was rather on the safe side in 2011-2012 and now he's experimenting more.
Professor Green -Read All About It: I much prefer this version than the Emeli Sande part 2 version. (I think it was played to death and that's why)
BTW just listening to Dedication to my Ex again. Could hit the charts even today, such a TUNE!
Posted by: Ðøßßø 23rd September 2016, 08:46 PM
Take Care is absolutely sublime, that production is just interestingly I wasn't fond of it at first but it's definitely one of my faves of both of their discographies.
Read All About It is just annoying really, too overplayed at the time & hasn't aged all that well.
Posted by: Chez Wombat 23rd September 2016, 09:07 PM
Have some good memories of a lot of these actually - they were prominent and played a lot during my first year at uni, Earthquake in particular was an absolutely *.* moment both in a club and on the radio! Shame both artists haven't produced something a tenth as good since. Read All About It beating it to number 1 looks rather bizarre now, especially as it's not even the most prominent version of that song any more! I did always have a soft spot for it though, even if it is about as formulaic a pop/rap crossover ballad as you can get (and started the Emeli domination :/)
Take Care is wonderful as well (FAR better than Too Good, which tried and failed to emulate it) visually and musically beautiful, yet subtle in it's nature. I miss when I actually really enjoyed Drake's music </3
Posted by: Mack 23rd September 2016, 09:54 PM
Take Care should have had the run 'One Dance' did.
Posted by: Jonjo 24th September 2016, 12:51 AM
Posted by: mdh 24th September 2016, 08:00 AM
I'd have loved that! So much more deserving.
Posted by: mdh 24th September 2016, 08:07 AM
This is another track you probably forgot. The sultry vocals of Lily Allen collaborating with the auto-tuned rap/vocals from T-Pain is ridiculous, but it happened. This isn't bad at all, but definitely not the best from both of them. I find it a bit emotional, but after a little while it does get very boring for me. Not one I'll be revisiting any time soon.
Posted by: Ultraviolence1989 24th September 2016, 08:09 AM
Dedication To My Ex and Read All About It are both incredible ❤️❤️
Posted by: Ðøßßø 24th September 2016, 08:11 AM
That autotuned mess is a bit crap IMO, the original Who'd Have Known is one of Lily's best & most underrated tracks however!
Posted by: Mack 24th September 2016, 06:16 PM
Was I the only one who liked this? Thought this was all right from T-Pain.
Posted by: burbe 24th September 2016, 09:21 PM
5 O'Clock was pretty bad What a mess!
Posted by: mdh 25th September 2016, 08:07 AM
What the hell is this? I was quite excited to hear this, after the brilliantness that is Beautiful Girls - but this is an absolute pile of shite. Those vocals are so grating. Sounds like a cheap Pitbull ft Flo Rida buzz single. I suppose it's a bit of a guilty pleasure if I was at a party, but I'm not. I'm a casual listener and this is awful.
This somehow peaked at #9 at the end of 2011, and it re-entered the top 40 on New Years Day in 2012. God knows how. New Year Party effect I guess?! WE LIKE TO SLEEEP ALLL DAAY AND PARTY ALL NIGHT
ok this is quite good
Posted by: danG 25th September 2016, 08:16 AM
I was one of the few who actually enjoyed the T-Pain song, it just works somehow.
Eww at that Sean Kingston song. Nonono :|
Posted by: Ðøßßø 25th September 2016, 11:09 AM
Nooo Party All Night is a jam on toast 
Posted by: Chez Wombat 25th September 2016, 12:51 PM
Party All Night sounded so much more great as it was featured in the Inbetweeners movie which made me have memories of that <3 It's not as good in isolation, but still a bit of a guilty pleasure jam.
Posted by: Mack 25th September 2016, 10:03 PM
Party All Night was a personal chart #1 for me this is quite terrible to listen to now. Was I the only one not keen on 'Beautiful Girls'?
Posted by: TheSnake 25th September 2016, 10:09 PM
Just new on this thread, the 2010s had some good urban tracks, my favourites are probably the early Tinie Tempah stuff - Written In The Stars, Wonderman etc.
For me the best years of urban were 2000 to 2004 imo, we had Christina Millian, excellent dancey Destiny's Child hits like Lose My Breath, the debut singles from Rachel Stevens and Holly Valance (do they count as urban), Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On and Eminem's good phase too.
Things went downhill in 2005, too many dull rap tracks with boring minimal instrumentals, and I never liked the likes of Get Right either.
Posted by: Mack 25th September 2016, 10:16 PM
For me the best years of urban were 2000 to 2004 imo, we had Christina Millian, excellent dancey Destiny's Child hits like Lose My Breath, the debut singles from Rachel Stevens and Holly Valance (do they count as urban), Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On and Eminem's good phase too.
Things went downhill in 2005, too many dull rap tracks with boring minimal instrumentals, and I never liked the likes of Get Right either.
Which rap tracks would you say from 2005 were dull then, TheSnake?
Posted by: TheSnake 25th September 2016, 10:32 PM
Well the Kanye West ones were good as they used nice instrumentals sampled from older records. I am talking about the ones in 2005 which just had a minimal beat and someone rapping.
I am talking about the likes of MVP Rock Your Body (Mic Check) and Will Smith's Switch too.
I dont like Linkin Park and Jay Z's Numb/Encore either (althpugh that is late 2004), bpth acts have better songs.
Posted by: mdh 27th September 2016, 05:50 PM
This was MASSIVE. I'm not quite sure why, but the bubbly, infectious vocals of Nicki Minaj and the chorus that was simple yet effective shaped most of our summers in 2011. A decent tune, but nothing I'd have prefered to hog the airwaves for three months constantly.
This was the spring-board for tracks like Va Va Voom and Starships to jump to success from, and although the two I mentioned are far better than this, I don't have a problem with hearing this still once in a while. The sound of this track seems DREADFULLY dated nowadays, though, it's a relief to see how much rap music has matured over the last few years!
Posted by: Ðøßßø 27th September 2016, 06:47 PM
Love me some Super Bass! Definitely among the best of that year.
Posted by: Riser 28th September 2016, 12:20 AM
I couldn't disagree more about Super Bass! 
Such a stellar pop song that was perfect for Nicki, whereas Starships relies too much on generic production and the lyrics are pretty lame.
Posted by: mdh 29th September 2016, 09:54 PM
Countdown resuming with a double post tomorrow!
Posted by: mdh 30th September 2016, 03:48 PM
Yay. This is where the countdown starts to get mildly interesting. We've got into the second week of 2012, finally, and we see a massive new chart entry at #3 in Troublemaker - the song by Taio Cruz that shares the same name with the also-good-but-irrelevant Olly Murs track.
The track gives me strong will.i.am vibes, and if I'm honest it sounds pretty dated, especially at the start of the track. BANG. There's the fantastic chorus, such a great anthemic vibe I get from that, along with the token 'oooohhh, ehhhh ohh', we saw in so many pop-r&b tracks around that time. I really like this, I just wish the verses were even half as good as the brilliant chorus is.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 30th September 2016, 08:12 PM
Really like this one, as I do quite a fair few of Taio's hits actually. This one always felt like it had a few more moments in it, if ya get me.
Posted by: Mack 30th September 2016, 08:17 PM
Whatever did happen to Taio Cruz just seemed to vanish from the charts. Forget about 'Troublemaker'.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 30th September 2016, 08:21 PM
I've no idea! He had that track Don't You Dare floating around in 2014 which was supposed to lead #Black but it flopped & the album never saw the light of day.
Posted by: Riser 1st October 2016, 01:18 AM
Loved 'There She Goes' sooo much more than 'Troublemaker', and I also adored his song 'Fast Car'
Posted by: HarryEzra 1st October 2016, 01:52 AM
Super Bass, Take Care and Read All About It are my highlights from what I caught Up on
'Party All Night (Sleep All Day)' is a guilty Pleasure song for me as I have fond memories of it from The Inbetweeners
Posted by: mdh 2nd October 2016, 09:10 AM
This debuted at #31 in the chart in the second week of 2012, and this was before Skepta got really famous, so that was pretty impressive. A quite moving chorus combines with a really snarly grime theme, and some pretty decent verses from Skepta.
This was standard 2012 stuff if I'm honest - not as good as any grime we get these days (Skeptas verses are a lot more advanced these days) but this a really nice track with a nice meaning.
Posted by: Mack 2nd October 2016, 11:17 AM
He should have released this when the London 2012 Olympics were on. He had have a couple of hits before this with 'Bad Boy', 'Rescue Me' and 'Cross My Heart' with EastEnders actress Preeya Kalidas.
Posted by: Ðøßßø 2nd October 2016, 01:26 PM
Big fan of Skepta but that's not one of his best. Rescue Me from around that time was far superior & of course all of his recent efforts.
Posted by: twentyonemdh 5th October 2016, 06:47 PM
This track debuted outside of the top 40 in the second week of 2012. A track that's maybe slightly more 2011 than 2012, but this is frankly a massive tune - a really great few verses from Pitbull and a really soaring chorus from Chris Brown. Maybe some parts of the track are slightly underwhelming, but this was one of Mr Worldwides better songs.
I wish we could have some more music like this these days
Posted by: twentyonemdh 5th October 2016, 06:50 PM
Well wasn't this different 
. One of the most prominent rap tracks of the year for all the wrong reasons, but if you can look past the slightly... fruitful language this is actually a great song. This raised all sorts of questions, like "is this going to be the normality in 5 years time"? Five years later, it's not the normality (luckily).
I love the trumpets in this, such a massive tune even with the swearing!
Posted by: danG 6th October 2016, 11:13 AM
'212' remains brilliant, such a unique chart smash
'International Blegh' tho 
Posted by: Mack 6th October 2016, 08:43 PM
'212' was and still is iconic.
'International Love' was good but pretty generic now. Solid tune though from Pitbull and Chris Brown. Did Pitbull realise what he was doing on 2:58 in the video by the way?
Posted by: TheSnake 6th October 2016, 10:29 PM
Ah 212, nice memories of Nick Grimshaw's nighttime show a couple of months before it charted when he started playing it a lot and it became my personal chart number 1.
I was quite a fan of Jumanji by her too.
Posted by: twentyonemdh 8th October 2016, 07:46 AM
So we move into week three of 2012, and this is a pretty decent track that entered just outside the top 40. The raps in this kind of remind me of Macklemore, and I quite enjoyed the chilled vibe of this track. It's infectious and Bruno's laid-back vocals compliment Snoop and Wiz's raps.
Obviously nearly five years later Snoop has resorted to shit like Sucker For Pain 
Posted by: Mack 8th October 2016, 10:15 PM
Snoop? thought it was Wiz Khalifa on 'Sucker For Pain'.
Posted by: twentyonemdh 8th October 2016, 11:18 PM
Oops. Yep, you're right.
Posted by: twentyonemdh 10th October 2016, 05:50 PM
A track from Pro Green that's got indie influences mixed with his usual emotional rap parts and a slightly underwhelming chorus, this is one of his worse songs, I've found. Some decent verses here but this track debuted outside the top 40 in January 2012, for a song that does sound relatively radio friendly it'll probably be regarded as a 'flop'.
In the end this peaked at #35 and spent 5 weeks in the top 40.
Posted by: Riser 11th October 2016, 01:50 AM
It was a very disappointing follow-up to a #1 but he followed THAT up with something much better *.*
Posted by: ML Hammer95 11th October 2016, 10:14 AM
Remedy is my favourite Pro Green song! Will do a more in depth comment soon, but some of the throwbacks here...
Posted by: Mack 11th October 2016, 05:54 PM
'Never Be A Right Time' was OK from Professor Green this featured Ed Drewett I believe did it? Hasn't aged well though this.
Posted by: twentyonemdh 19th October 2016, 04:50 PM
This track entered the charts at #41, and fell out the week after. That's a bit unfortunate Anyway, you can't deny how much of a massive tune this is - I strongly encourage you to give it a listen, some really cool bars from JME and the music video is interesting too. This was before JME got 'big', before the days of 'Can You Hear Me?', which'll obviously be appearing later on in this reveal.
I wish he'd come back with something similar to this, it still sounds current to this day.
Posted by: TheSnake 19th October 2016, 05:59 PM
Just commenting now, I actually like the Sean Kingston - Sleep All Day (Party All Night) because of the 00s eurodance style production.
Posted by: TheSnake 21st October 2016, 04:31 PM
I am really looking forward to the 2013 part of the thread when a certain song from a film makes it into the thread (my favourite urban song of the 2010s)
Posted by: twentyonehorrors 30th October 2016, 02:21 PM
Next up we see Wild Ones, which was a massive hit at the start of the year that most have probably forgot. The infectious chorus mixed with the only slightly cringey Flo raps are a recipe for success, and some would see this is one of the tracks that kick started Sia's career, to make her the MASSIVE artist she is today.
The good thing is, that she still appreciates rap on her songs with the fantastic inclusions of Kendrick and Sean Paul in her recent songs, which is really refreshing. Anyway, I'm still a fan of this.
Posted by: Count Snakula💀 30th October 2016, 03:22 PM
Sia's vocal in the chorus particularly is euphoric and excellent in this one...really liked this at the time and it is my favourite Flo Rida song.
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