Alecia “P!nk” Moore hit the scene in 2000 with Can’t Take Me Home, her debut album that was largely a pop-tinged R&B affair. Led by the She’kspere produced “There You Go,” plus “Most Girls” and “You Make Me Sick,” P!nk seemed to be yet another addition to a line-up of R&B starlets; her sound more akin to  Destiny’s Child, Mya, and TLC, than her the Pop girls like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson. P!nk, however, had no interest in being boxed into either of those lanes. Enter M!ssundaztood.

Released less than 18 months after her debut, P!nk’s sophomore set M!ssundaztood was a reinvention; or, rather, a reveal. Originally shepherded by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, signed to his and Kenny “Babyface” Edmund’s label, LaFace Records, it’s not surprising that P!nk debuted sounding more similar to the R&B of the new Millenium, than Y2K Pop. Plus, she certainly possessed the voice for it. Full of soul, no doubt influenced by her Philadelphia roots, P!nk’s voice exuded the essence of a soul much more mature than her then 21 years might suggest. Still, truth be told, P!nk was not strictly an R&B act, nor a Pop act, and with M!ssundaztood, she defied expectation to redefine her artistry.

The story goes that when it became time for P!nk to begin the sessions for her sophomore album, she had one woman in mind as her muse: Linda Perry, of the 4 Non Blondes. Perry told Rolling Stone, “She left me this really crazy message how she would come find me if I didn’t call her back … I said, ‘I think you have the wrong Linda Perry.’ She’s like, ‘Is this the Linda Perry who sang ‘Dear Mister President’ in 4 Non Blondes?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ She’s like, ‘Well, I have the right person.’ The first result of their union was “Get The Party Started,” which Perry says she originally offered to Madonna. Together, they crafted eight more of the album’s fifteen tracks. P!nk’s other chief collaborators on the album were Dallas Austin, perhaps most famous for his work with TLC, and Damon Elliott.

M!ssundaztood is notable for its genre-melding sound. While it still possessed strong R&B influences, P!nk leaned into more of a singer-songwriter, Pop/Rock sound that was elevated by her soulful, one-of-a-kind vocals. Not to mention, her bad-ass attitude. P!nk gave no fucks. She exuded “tough girl” on her debut album, but Missundaztood amped it up a notch by not only being tough, but vulnerable and unfiltered. P!nk was living her truth, sharing her truth; the album was like a confessional. On it, P!nk revealed her true self both as an artist and as a person. She let us into her soul, baring it all for the sake of her art, but also likely for the sake of her own sanity. The album’s fifteen songs encompass a journey of self-discovery; one that allowed a budding starlet to become a bonafide superstar.

The Angst

Anyone who experienced the era firsthand will probably associate M!ssundaztood with the image of an angsty young P!nk who pushed the envelope visually, sonically, and lyrically. There was no one else quite like her at the time, and two of the album’s biggest hits are largely responsible for this take: “Just Like a Pill,” and “Don’t Let Me Get Me.” In both songs, P!nk is equal parts vulnerable and angsty. Both co-written with and produced by Dallas Austin, it’s interesting that an era that finds its success largely attributed to P!nk’s partnership with Linda Perry actually owes two of its biggest hits to another partnership: P!nk and Dallas Austin. The pair also concocted “Numb” and “18 Wheeler,” both bubbling with P!nk’s signature, feisty attitude.

It’s interesting, on all four of these songs, as well as on the Perry collaboration “My Vietnam,” P!nk uniquely conveyed both maturity and immaturity, simultaneously. She came across as amazingly self-aware in her vulnerability, yet almost naive.

Think of “Don’t Let Me Get Me.” The video, specifically, takes us back to her teenage years that she is lamenting upon as an adult. “Just Like a Pill,” meanwhile, paints the picture of a run-away. It sounds like a teen girl running away from her troubles, but really, it’s a burgeoning young woman dealing with the traumas of her teen years. These guitar heavy anthems redefined the perception of P!nk. No longer was she another young girl singing “male-bashing” R&B-inspired pop. Now, she was dragging herself through the mud in the name of self-improvement.

On “My Vietnam,” she further laments teenage emotions, while “18 Wheeler” has almost cringe-worthy lyrics. On “Numb,” she compares herself to a “battered child.” These songs are like a therapy session in which the patient wrestles with the childhood trauma that is crowding their subconscious. Then again, perhaps that is exactly what they are.

The Confessionals

The bulk of M!ssundaztood consists of confessional songs on which P!nk bears her soul. The majority of these are collaborations between P!nk and Perry: “Dear Diary,” “Eventually,” “Gone to California,” and “Lonely Girl” (which also features Perry, and written solely by her). There’s also “Misery,” which P!nk didn’t pen and features Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. However, the cream of the crop is “Family Portrait,” on which P!nk literally places herself in her youngself’s shoes, taking us back to when her parents divorced, walking us through how it affected her. It’s perhaps one of the most heartwrenching “pop” songs ever recorded. While it might have been the least successful of the album’s singles (peaking at #20), it is by far the best of the bunch.

All of the Perry collaborations have similar vibes: prodding, moody with soulful vocals and unrelentingly honest lyrics. Of them, the standout is “Eventually,” perhaps because it’s especially heartbreaking, yet still maintains P!nk’s tough girl attitude: “you’ll get yours, eventually,” she sings vindictively. On “Misery,” P!nk doesn’t hold back vocally, going blow for blow with Steven Tyler and winning handedly. In fact, on the original pressings of the album, there is no Tyler. His vocals hadn’t been recorded yet, so they released the album with P!nk’s solo version. While P!nk indeed sings her ass off, and it is a nice song, it does feel a bit out of place on the album.

The Bops

The album isn’t all heavy, though; there are a handful of bops to lift your spirit. Of course, the album’s lead single and biggest hit, “Get the Party Started” leads the way. Penned by Perry and produced by Damon Elliott, the song is best described as bad-ass pop. It serves dance-pop, yet hip-hop, and P!nk is probably the only artist of the time who could’ve pulled it off so perfectly. Its now-obscure and underrated Rockwilder remix, though, is actually the superior version. Mashed up with The Eurythmic’s “Sweet Dreams,” the remixed incarnation of “Get the Party Started” features a guest verse from Redman and P!nk gliding atop a slinky, hip-pop beat. It has a sexy and mysterious, yet equally danceable vibe that the album version just doesn’t. The remix is sorely missed from streaming services.

Aside from “Party,” there’s the title track, and “Respect” which appears to be some sort of maniacal ladies’ anthem that doubles as somewhat of a tribute to Aretha Franklin’s classic. At the start, P!nk refers to it as her “rap-song.” Both songs are rather strange (the former mentions being an “Exlax” commercial, while the latter features a beatboxer, Scratch) but are still undeniably fun in that sort of “no fucks given” way. Very P!nk indeed. Rounding off the bops is the equally strange and equally fun bonus track “Catch 22.” On it, P!nk plays the role of stewardess of “P!nk Airlines” for an all around good time. Personally, I’d have included this one on the main tracklist in favor of “18 Wheeler.”

The Impact

In the United States, M!ssundaztood has sold nearly 6 million copies and is currently certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA. Worldwide, it has sold several million more, having gone 6x, 5x and 4x Platinum in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, respectively. The album’s first three singles peaked within the top 10 of the Hot 100, with “Get the Party Started” landing at #4 in the US and in the pole position in a number of other countries. However, sales and chart success are not where the album’s impact ends.

More significantly, M!ssundaztood marked a shift in pop music. P!nk not only inspired her peers to bear their souls, confessional-style, but she also inspired a reemergance of angsty pop that would once again find itself at the top of the charts. Kelly Clarkson, who won American Idol that same year, would go on to follow in P!nk’s footsteps by following up her R&B leaning debut album with an angsty, pop/rock sophomore album, Breakaway, in 2004. Avril Lavigne would debut to similar success, with a similar sound, in 2002. However, perhaps the most inspired by P!nk’s Missundaztood was also her fiercest rival and fellow “Lady Marmalade,” Christina Aguilera.

On her own sophomore album, 2002’s Stripped, Christina enlisted the help of both Linda Perry and Scott Storch to co-write and produce the bulk of her album. For her lead single, “Dirrty,” Christina tapped Rockwilder and Redman for a feature. Sound familiar?

Linda Perry, of course, was involved in 9 of M!ssundaztood’s 15 songs, and Storch collaborated with P!nk on the standout track, “Family Portrait.” While Storch had been an in-demand R&B producer for many years prior to collaborating with P!nk, she was indeed one of the first “pop stars” he worked with, and the collaboration only helped raise his profile. No doubt, his work with P!nk likely put him on Aguilera’s radar.

However, as far as working with Perry, P!nk’s impact was. She had not done much of anything since her early 90s peak with the 4 Non Blondes. P!nk had essentially plucked her from obscurity to collaborate on her album. Suddenly, Perry became a sought after writer and producer, and Christina Aguilera benefitted beautifully.

Aguilera wasn’t the only one, though. Perry went on to collaborate with dozens of other acts over the years, from Alicia Keys to Adele, and she had P!nk to thank for it all. However, Aguilera’s “Beautiful” aside, no one quite found as much success with Perry as P!nk had. Sadly, the pair only collaborated again for a few trakcs on P!nk’s Try This, the commercially disappointing follow up to M!ssundaztood, and never again.

In the music industry, there is a history of pop stars, women especially, being forced into sounds, looks, and songs that didn’t genuinely reflect the artists they wanted to be. P!nk fell victim to that when she debuted, but fought for her artistic freedom in order to bring her vision to fruition on M!ssundaztood. Her label doubted her, but she prevailed: M!ssundaztood remains the best-selling album of her career, and inspired other artists to follow in her footsteps. She might’ve felt M!ssundaztood before the album’s release, but afterward, who she is as an artist had never been more clear.

Listen to P!NK’s M!ssundaztood

The post M!ssundaztood: How P!nk Defined Herself by Defying Expectation appeared first on THE 97.

On the first play of the song, I thought I hit the wrong button on my iPhone and accidentally played a Mariah Carey song.  The airy harmony of low and high cooing “ooh yeah” that open the song sound very Mariah. The whole structure of these You+Me songs, so far, are a lot like how she does some of her songs.  Except, Mariah harmonizes with herself, the lows and  highs, across octaves.  It is a testament to the masterful harmony between P!nk and Green; they are able to seamlessly interwine their voices and sound as one.  You plus me, truly.

From the pair’s lead single, “You and Me,” one could have assumed the album to be full of similarly sparse acoustic productions centered around a guitar, however, the second single breaks any chance of that cycle continuing.  Another solid effort from what is shaping up to be one of 2014’s best albums.  Watch “The Story of You+Me” below.

Grade:

90/97

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Looks like you’ve given up, you’ve had enough

But I want more, no I won’t stop,

‘Cause I just know, you’ll come around… right?

No, I don’t believe you when you say don’t come around here anymore,

I won’t remind you, you said you wouldn’t be apart.

No, I don’t believe you when you say you don’t need me anymore,

So don’t pretend to not love me at all

“Side Effects” by Mariah Carey came 10 years after her divorce from Tommy Mottola. On the track, she reflects on her marriage and how she “still deal[s] with the side effects.” In interviews, she always spoke about Tommy’s controlling nature, and how trapped she felt in the relationship. Not only was she deprived of musical freedom, but also personal freedom. The song has a bitter, somber tone yet feels triumphant.

Furthermore, this need for support also comes through in the first verse of the song, where she sings, “I was naive, I just believed everything that you told me. Said you were strong, protecting me, then I found out that you were weak. Keeping me there under your thumb because you were scared that I’d become much more than you could handle…” When she sings “keeping me there,” she means at their mansion – “Sing Sing” as she called it – in Upstate New York, where she lived as Mrs. Mottola. There, was where she was trapped. Even her friends like Da Brat and Jermaine Dupri spoke about this; how she wasn’t allowed to go out and be with friends. She just stayed home, working on music. The song goes on to reference the house more specifically: “Shining like a chandelier that decorated every room inside the private hell we built, but I dealt with it, like a kid I wished, I could fly away.” Referring to the mansion as a “private hell,” and referencing her symbolic song and album Butterfly (which will be reflected upon next week) this line says it all.

However, the bridge is more triumphant: “Forgive but I can’t forget, every day I deal with this, I live with the side effects, but I ain’t gon’ let them get the best of me” as she emotionally ad-libs about finding the “strength to leave,” while at the same time… painfully recalling “waking up scared sometimes, still dreaming about them violent times; still wake up crying.” Though she denies physical abuse, the line alludes to it, which prompted Oprah to ask her the question in 2008. However, Mariah essentially stated that she meant violent in a more verbal way. Let’s hope that’s all it was. Perhaps in an effort to prove she wasn’t going to let those “side effects” get the best of her, she married Nick Cannon shortly after releasing this song on E=MC2 in April of 2008.

The reason the song appears on this playlist is that (like me) Kanye is an only child and his parents divorced, so he and his mother had a very close relationship. Kanye reminisces about his childhood, and recalls a powerful memory:

You never put no man over me,

And I love you for that mommy, can’t you see?

Seven years old, caught you with tears in your eyes,

‘Cause a n**** cheating, telling you lies, then I started to cry

As we knelt on the kitchen floor,

I said, “Mommy, I’ma love you ’til you don’t hurt no more!

And when I’m older, you ain’t gotta work no more!

And I’ma get you that mansion we couldn’t afford!”

Kanye sounds childlike as he raps this verse, and shows unconditional love for his mother. Unfortunately two years after the song’s release, his mother tragically passed away. He gave a gut-wrenching performance of the song at the 2008 Grammy’s the following year, breaking down in tears on the stage. While people often question his character, it’s moments like this one that I can never forget.

“Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson is a song she wrote at age 16. She fought her record label to put the song on her debut album, Thankful, but ultimately didn’t succeed until her sophomore, Breakaway. Like P!nk’s “Family Portrait” and Mariah’s “Side Effects,” Kelly talks about the effects divorce had on her – her parents’ divorce, that is. She speaks on her trust issues, and how carefully she treads the concept of love. She blames this on her parents’ handling of their divorce, and perhaps for not sheltering her from their battles. Ultimately admitting “because of you, I am afraid” …of love. Kelly reflects on how she deals with her own instances of heartbreak perhaps being a result of her parents, singing, “now I cry in the middle of the night for the same damn thing.” However, she vows not to “make the same mistakes” her parents did. And, well, it seems she didn’t – or at least, she learned and matured – because like P!nk, Kelly is also happily married with a child. Come to think of it, all four artists this week are married with children now.

Listen to the full playlist, so far, below:

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Today was met with an unexpected new single release from pop superstar P!nk… however, it’s not what you’d expect.  The single is actually the debut of music’s latest duo, comprised of P!nk and Dallas Green, also known as City and Colour.  Together, they equate to You+Me.

The duo’s debut album, Rose Ave., is due October 14th, and is lead by the single, “You and Me.”  This romantic, acoustic ballad finds P!nk exploring territory that was usually regulated to one track per album on her own projects.  It is comparable to songs like “Crystal Ball,” “Beam Me Up,” and “The One That Got Away,” but still fresh and different.

This spontaneous and creative move brings a refreshing change to P!nk’s catalogue.  Just as it felt she was an creative halt with her last album, The Truth About Love (which, while great, didn’t show much artistic growth), she follows up with this organic new single and album release.

The pair’s vocals mesh well, and the song is sung almost entirely in harmony.  It is a different approach to the traditional duet and it works remarkably well. P!nk’s soulful, bluesy vocal is complimented perfectly by Green’s wonderful low tones. Not only that, but its lyrics are simple yet moving and after one only listen the song feels like an old classic.

Thankfully, the album will be released in just over a month, so we do not have to wait too long to hear the rest of what is sure to be a great body of work from P!nk and Dallas, or rather… You+Me.  Take a listen to the single below.

Grade:

97/97

The post Single Review: “You and Me” by You+Me (P!nk and Dallas Green) appeared first on THE 97.