Beautiful Monster is ok but not one of my Ne-Yo favourites. Still pleasant enough though.

I had poppier taste back in 2010 and I liked “Beautiful Monster” and several of Ne-Yo’s hits a lot. Now my response to it is similar to yours - still pleasant enough.

“OMG” is iconic in that it encapsulates the period so perfectly in so many ways and I can’t help feeling some nostalgia at it. But hardly a very good record.

I do like Beautiful Monster but rarely seek it out

Beautifully monster cant be that good its the first 1 I haven't recognised so far

Yup listening to it definitely 1 of neyos weakest

Agree with the general sentiment on Beautiful Monster, quite a good track but below his 2008 hits for me. I liked the way he had a solo No.1 every other even year: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012.

I think I'll go against the grain (again) and proclaim that 'Beautiful Monster' is an excellent song and one of my favourite hits of 2010. I think it's my favourite Ne-Yo single!

I recall being quite shocked that it went to #1 because hype seemed very muted for this compared to his previous eras. I also don't think I recall seeing it on the music channels etc anywhere near as much as his previous singles... I guess (like alot of the songs that made number one around this time) it had a little case of lead boots causing it to sink to the bottom of the chart 🤣

I didn't like 'Beautiful Monster' at the time, I like it more now but it's only a notch above OK for me.

I really like 'Beautiful Monster'. Amazing how much bigger it was in the UK than basically anywhere else. 'Closer' will always be my fave from Ne-Yo but this one has a lot going for it too. It's true the production does much of the heavy lifting but I enjoyed how much his vocals channeled Michael Jackson, the year after he passed.

Oh I really liked this track I think, my memory is it was a bit of dance banger which always helps, and the production still sounds great now I play it, makes me want to hear it again. I wouldnt say I was a Ne-Yo fan per se, but I have certainly bought his latest single, the rather good (and Radio 2 playlisted) Up Out & Gone, more in his r'n'b vibe. Consulting my A to Z, Beautiful Monster peaked at 2 and hung around a while, so it's a shame it's not much played (that I have heard anyway) these days as one of my top 40 tracks of the year. Easily the best track on the rundown so far by a country mile. It's Mozart compared to previous.

'OMG' has aged pretty badly, not a fan of the chanty backing vocals and some of the lyrics are laughably naff, especially during the first verse.

'Beautiful Monster' feels so forgotten now but I do remember it well from the time as my brother played it a lot. I don't think I ever noticed the Michael Jackson similarities before but now it feels so obvious, both thematically and in his vocal style. Overall it is a bit lacking for me but I do quite like the bubbling synth throughout the song.

I remember liking Beautiful Monster at the time and thought it was an interesting change in direction for Ne-Yo. Someone was clearly influenced by the European dance music festivals and nightclubs. 😆

Listening to the song with 2026 ears, I think it sounds dated now and I prefer Ne-Yo's R'n'B offerings. However, you can't blame an artist for trying something different. Same with Usher.

Edited Wednesday at 14:435 days by Charlielargepotatoes

26. Jason Derulo – In My Head

1 week at #1 (entered 28^th February): 01-03-05-07-08-11-13-20-24-23-34-35-41-49-49-54-61-64-66-67-85-88-93-89-93

Kept off #1: Florence/Dizzee Rascal – You Got The Dirtee Love

EOY #40

Yeah!

Ｊａｓｏｎ Ｄｅｒüｌｏ

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Beluga Heights •°*”˜.•°*”˜

'In My Head' is in a pretty weird place for a #1. It's the second-ever single from everyone's favourite popstar with zero quality control, Jason Derülo (umlaut for this era only), yet I bet if you asked anyone what their opinions on Jason Derulo's singles from his first album were, after they'd finished looking at you slightly strangely, they might muster up some half-remembered anecdotes about a whiny single about either masturbation or Han Solo, and if they're cultured, they may bring up the song that sampled a sped up version of Imogen Heap's 'Hide & Seek', neither of which were #1s. They would not remember 'In My Head'.

I certainly remember 'Ridin' Solo' from the time, that was absolutely huge, if intensely annoying to listen to these days in my honest opinion, and I think 'Whatcha Say' might be the most defensible Derulo song in that it's got some pretty fun mixing with the samples. 'In My Head' again, is somewhere in the middle.

It is tangential, but the official description for the Jason Derulo album on Apple Music includes this line "His singles "Whatcha Say" and "In My Head" spin his pleading vocals against club atmospherics and stripped-down, post-808s & Heartbreak-esque minimalism"*. Even if you barely remember the songs, it's pretty clear which one of those two singles is referred to with the artsy critical description and which one is referred to as 'club atmospherics'. And that's why it's just a little weird that this was Derulo's first #1, especially as if you take it as a club banger, it's not an immediately iconic one either.

Apparently this song was originally meant to be called 'In My Bed' but was changed because the label thought it was a bit much - this factoid only surfaced in a 2025 interview with J.R.Rotem, founder of Beluga Heights, giving some retrospectives of working with its artists like Sean Kingston and Jason, which may possibly be the only time that any media has covered this song since its release. Looking at the lyrics, if you do a find and replace, then it starts to make a lot more sense, though it certainly becomes a far sleazier song. As it is, Jason seemingly has a very active imagination about his current beau: 'In my head, I see you all over me' - whatever could that be referring to?

I do really quite like 'In My Head' for what it is, and it's in the upper-tier of his songs. He uses his high voice pretty well here, it's got a lovely shining bit of energy, and making the lyrical images evocative is such an improvement over what could have been - there's a heavy bit of nostalgia running through this sound and line. Enjoyable when it comes up even if very few people would call it outstanding, I'm not one of those.

It kept off Florence & Dizzee Rascal's BRITs collaboration 'You've Got The Dirtee Love', that coming in at #2 for the second-week in a row, the first was behind Helping Haiti, and I knew I had so much more commentary for that one so saved its mention for here - a fun mix of 'You've Got The Love' and 'Dirtee Cash', this mashup has to be one of the most chart successful and notable BRIT performances ever, and would have been a really unique and fun #1.

Chart-wise, I think this just got lucky sneaking a week in between Helping Haiti and the song to come after it, it was a fairly low sales week and all told, despite a fairly respectable chart run, this was several positions below 'Ridin' Solo' in the end of year charts.

_{*As a big fan of charting popular music's direction around this turn of the decade and talking about albums that got more influential than they ever were meant to be, I love dropping in oblique references to how 808s was one of the most influential albums on pop music ever, especially for the years immediately following 2008, and will probably do that every chance I get.}

This was a surprise #1 for me at time!

I enjoy it in a basic bop kind of way.

Jason Derulo’s success has always mystified me. Whilst he’s not terrible, he also doesn’t really stand out as an exceptional talent either.

Didn't like that at the time but have listened to it again now, not sounding quite as bad now. Just very generic. It's better than 'Ridin Solo' at least which is awful imo.

Didn't remember In My Head from name alone but it's coming back to me listening to it. Beautiful Monster... existed, I remember it being a thing but whilst I don't actively dislike it I have no desire to listen to it again!

Ooops at another song I love being out already 🤣

This one wasn't quite wearing the lead boots 'Beautiful Monster' was wearing... But it certainly hasn't stood the test of time. This is one of my favourite of his singles, he sure knows his way around a bop (plus 'Cheyenne', which I wouldn't describe as a bop, but it's certainly sublime). I feel he's mostly remembered for announcing his name in his songs these days 🤣

Okay, 808s absolutely is an all time great album!

As regards Derulo, In My Head is okay and Whatcha Say is a banger, but mainly due to Imogen Heap of course.

I personally never rated Jason Derulo that highly myself.

When he hits those high notes, he sounds like a cat being castrated.

Edited Wednesday at 20:055 days by Charlielargepotatoes

2 minutes ago, Juranamo said:

Ooops at another song I love being out already 🤣

This one wasn't quite wearing the lead boots 'Beautiful Monster' was wearing... But it certainly hasn't stood the test of time. This is one of my favourite of his singles, he sure knows his way around a bop (plus 'Cheyenne', which I wouldn't describe as a bop, but it's certainly sublime). I feel he's mostly remembered for announcing his name in his songs these days 🤣

I think 'Cheyenne' remains his best for me!

Shame it did absolutely nothing.