First off, despite the title of this week's U.K. chart post, I can't honestly compare Mr Hudson and Frankmusik—two great British male artists who seemingly emerged out of nowhere this year, but who've actually been banging around the indie scene for several years now. I won't even go there.
But we can discuss something I've brought up here before, which I'm now dubbing the Kanye West Factor. And, popular music heavyweight though he is, you can really use Kanye generically here—sub him with T-Pain, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, etc. Of course, I'm referring to the great "featuring dilemma," something that, good or bad, has dominated the American music scene this past decade, moreso than ever.Alright, so get to the point already, D'luv! This week sees Mr Hudson's Kanye-featuring single "Supernova" debut at #2 on the Brit singles chart, just behind the now two-week reign of X Factor boy band JLS' "Beat Again."
On the flip-side, Frankmusik's equally-as-super single "Confusion Girl" makes a ho-hum entry at #29, three positions lower than the peak of his previous one, "Better Off As Two."In June, on the Pop Trash Addict weekly Pop Panel, I had this to say about "Confusion Girl": "Classic pop in every way. I'm not totally aboard the Vincent Frank bandwagon, but this has me thinking about taking a test ride." (P.S. The brand new Pop Panel is up on PTA!)
The obvious point being Frankmusik doesn't have the luxury of featuring anyone on his jam. But, OK, does that really matter? I'd kinda argue that, yes, it does, here. Like it or not, Kanye's got the knack for hitching his pompous wagon to rising stars these days.
The "Confusion Girl" vid:
Would Estelle's "American Boy" have done as amazingly well on both side's of the pond without him (or won a Grammy, for F's sake)? There's no denying that him lending a rap to Keri Hilson's current single "Knock You Down" helped it become her first "solo" Top 10 hit, as well, after several that failed to resonate.
He's now touring with Lady Gaga—herself a pop star you can argue benefited from being touted and signed by Akon—and, well, we've already covered the Mr. Hudson triumph this week.
I dunno. I guess I'm taking the long way around to say that I wish "Confusion Girl" would've done as well as "Supernova." Two great songs, but one with a decided advantage over the other.
The U.K. Top 10:
1. "Beat Again" - JLS *2 weeks*
2. "Supernova" - Mr Hudson feat. Kanye West *new*
3. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Evacuate The Dancefloor" - Cascada
5. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
6. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
7. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
8. "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga
9. "Sweet Dreams" - Beyonce *new*
10. "Poppiholla" - Chicane