In Defence Of Pitbull's 'Timber'
Josh sticks up for one of the catchiest songs around.
It's funny, I never thought that there would be people that I believe were heroes as I got older. As I try to make a name for myself as a writer, I have a few writers I admire, and one of those writers is Shea Serrano.
Shea is a New York Times best-selling author and has written about hip-hop and pop culture for years. He has written for the Houston Press, Grantland and currently, is a staff writer and podcast host for The Ringer.
When I'm a fan of a writer, I will go back and read some of their old articles and any books they have written. I read some of Shea's articles from his Houston Press days during my Christmas break. One, in particular, caught my attention for its honesty and hilarity.
The article in question, 'Pitbull's "Timber" Is Just The Worst.' Here are a few highlights from the article:
The song at the time was number 2 on the Billboard chart and 1 on Shea's GTFOH chart.
Shea points out that nine people wrote the song, with Kesha's mum also one of the writers.
That it only takes Pitbull one second to rap a cliché.
Also, originally Rhianna was meant to be on the track instead of Kesha.
I'll finish with a positive critique; he notices that Pitbull always looks like he is having a good time.
I am sure that a lot of people don't like it. As much as I enjoyed the article, I am one of the few thousand people who like the song, and I'll tell you why it's a catchy earworm. The club I worked at when I lived in Canberra had a nightlife jukebox in its function room. Every time I cleaned that room, I would put a playlist on, and 'Timber' was one of the first songs I would pick (It only had songs from 2010 onwards).
I'm not sure I defended the song too well; I only said it was catchy. Now and then, you want a song that you can put on and relax and enjoy, and for me, 'Timber' is just that kind of song.
Anyway, Shea, please don't hate me if you read this.