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Kevin Federline is releasing an album at the end of the month. I know, I know... old news. But my interest in exactly what kind of musical masterpiece K-Fed would create was piqued when I came across an article about him in the latest People magazine.
The brief interview revealed Kevin's intelligent side with such humble and articulate statements as this review of his own performance (as your basic garden-variety urban delinquent) on CSI: "'I shocked myself. There were parts that I wish I would have done different, but there are parts that really took me, like, Wow, did I do that? I looked at myself and I was like, It looked good. It looked perfect.'" Wow, he's perfect as an actor, with no formal training, no experience, and only a handful of spoken lines? I figure that must bode well for his music career. So, I checked out the video for his first single, "Lose Control". As I watched it, I typed out the lyrics (yes, he's singing so slowly that I could type along). I think they're very telling:
***K-Fed's "Lose Control" Song Lyrics***
[Intro] [Chorus] [Verse One] [Chorus] [Verse Two] [Chorus] That's right, just get it ***End K-Fed's "Lose Control" Song Lyrics*** Inspired. Let's delve a bit deeper, shall we? In the introduction, Federline says, "We did it again." But this is his first single from his first album. What exactly is the "again" about? Already he's creating mystery and tension in the story. Then, he chooses to make another contradictory statement when he says, "This is that hip-hop flavor / Mixed with a little bit of rock and roll." Now, as one listens to the song it becomes obvious that there's not even one little bit of rock and roll. Of course, our lyricist would have known that. So why say it's rock and roll if it isn't? Simple: it's satire. Clearly Kevin Federline was inspired by Mark Twain and other great American satirists. Not that Kevin is just bookish, mind you. He's also plugged into modern culture. So much so that he can use slang terminology out of fashion in all but a few very small regions within California. Example, "Valet your whip" means "Allow the valet to park your very expensive automobile." Does anyone listening know that? Of course not, but K-Fed is such an iconic figure that he can singlehandedly inject a regional idiom into the national culture. While he's tackling popular culture, he's also taking some admirable artistic risks. A lesser artist might hesitate to sing a line like "Can I make them hits when the beat drop?" for fear that his audience would immediately think, "Probably notsomuch." But Kevin doesn't hesitate. He's confident that we all know the answer. So confident that he never actually answers the question. Instead he follows up with "That's when you hear me say "Hold up, stop!" Does he worry that people who've never heard him before might respond with, "Dear god yes please stop!" No. Of course not. A great artist never doubts his gift. And Kevin never doubts the gifts his wife has given him. "A lifestyle of rich living and fast cars" is a key lyric in "Lose Control". This proves that Kevin is 100% secure in his manhood, because an insecure man would never ever brag about the expensive lifestyle his young naive pop star wife provides for him. Britney and Kev's marriage gets a lot of criticism in the tabloids, but that doesn't make him insecure about his relationship either. He writes, "Don't hate 'cause I'm a superstar /And I married a superstar." I mean, it's a pretty powerful thing to be a careerless Mr. Spears and then in the blink of an eye declare oneself a superstar. Only a really unique personality could carry off such a claim without seeming idiotic. We would be remiss if we did not also note the non-conformist choice that stretches convention to rhyme "superstar" with "superstar." Even though Kevin is, as we've already seen, phenomenally talented, he's also humble. So humble, in fact, that he makes note of his humbleness in his song with the simple line, "And I ain't here to brag" shortly before he reminds us, "Look man, I'm in a whole 'nother tax bracket." Finally, Kevin cements his confident lyrics with this evocative line: "Then we pop Crys off like we won Grammys." Forecasting a Grammy win before the album even drops? What kind of new artist thinks that way? A quality one who's only concerned with his music and not the acclaim it may or may not bring. And one who's so sure of his own original idea of pop music that he's not concerned about contemporary artists releasing new albums that are also considered Grammy-worthy, like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. In conclusion, I'd like to remind each and every one of us how hard it is to be Kevin Federline. As he says at the end of his song, "Magazines talk 'cause they don't understand me." Maybe those loquacious print materials don't understand you Kevin, but we do. I hope you always and forever continue to have exactly as many devoted fans as you do at this very moment. One thing's for sure: I'll always feel the same way about Kevin Federline as I feel right now. |
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