Amanda Blank - I Love You Review
Posted by Michael James on 08.10.2009
Artists like M.I.A. and Santigold have brought exciting new sounds to the hip-hop world. Is Amanda Blank the next superstar to surface from their crew?
The past four years have seen the emergence of a new breed of hip-hop- influenced stars who embrace a more alternative, experimental style. Unlike in the standard hip-hop arena, this new sub-genre is powered mostly by its female stars, most notably critical darlings M.I.A. and Santigold. With the release of her debut album, I Love You, Philadelphia singer-rapper Amanda Blank attempts to claim her place in the burgeoning scene.
Track Listing
1. Make It Take It
2. Something Bigger, Something Better
3. Make – Up
4. Gimme What You Want (feat. Spank Rock)
5. Lemme Get Some (feat. Chuck Inglish)
6. Shame on Me
7. A Love Song
8. DJ
9. Might Like You Better
10. Big Heavy
11. Leaving You Behind (feat. Lykke Li)
Lyrically, Amanda Blank shares more similarities with Lil Kim than as M.I.A., as much of I Love You is an explosion of sexual assertiveness. Blank’s sensibility is perfectly summed up by the album’s lead single “Might Like You Better,” which builds on a line from an obscure 1984 semi-hit by Romeo Void: “I might like you better if we slept together.” One of the album’s strongest tracks, it filters old-school rap vocals through a series of computerized distortions. The result sounds like Salt-n-Pepa on a trip to Mars.
There are points on I Love You where Blank explores more tender emotions, albeit with mixed results. “A Love Song” begins as a cover of LL Cool J’s “I Need Love.” While Blank’s own verse on the song captures the spirit of the original, she just doesn’t have a strong enough flow to pull off a straight rap track. Much better is the surprisingly subtle ballad “Leaving You Behind,” which features plaintive vocals by Lykke Li. However, Blank still seems most comfortable on tracks like “Gimme What You Want” where she exchanges boasts with Baltimore alternative rapper Spank Rock as each claim to be the “hottest muthafucka on the whole damn block”.
Throughout I Love You, Blank’s vocals seem almost secondary to the adventurous production provided by Diplo, Switch, and XXXChange of the group Spank Rock, among others. Elements of house, new wave, hip-hop and rock are seamlessly blended to create fresh, original sonic pastiches. “Something Bigger, Something Better” begins with shades of M.I.A’s “Paper Planes”, with the sound of a gun being cocked, only to build into an electro-dance track full of bells, bleeps and bass. Elsewhere, “Big Heavy” is a new wave dance track which heavily features a funky guitar/bass line and vintage 80s keyboards.
I Love You is mostly a club record and as such doesn’t really lend itself to intense critical analysis. When you take the time to wade through the innovative production on tracks like “Make-Up” is largely nonsense, you realize that the song is basically nonsense. However, since the album speeds through 11 tracks in 33 minutes, there’s no time to be disappointed before being swept away in the next track. I Love You comes closest to a coherent concept are “Lemme Get Some,” an invigorating “battle-of-the sexes” with The Cool Kid’s Chuck Inglish.
If you’re like me, most of your music ends up in an endless .mp3 “shuffle.” In order to preserve your valuable disk space, here’s what’s Ipod-worthy from I Love You:
Surprisingly, everything except “Make-Up”, “A Love Song”.
The 411: I Love You is a solid debut for what it is. I probably won't be giving it a lot of close follow-up listens and I doubt Amanda Blank's career is destined for M.I.A.-like heights. However, occasional vulgarity aside, its a great album for the drive to the beach or a particularly lively pool party. Most of the songs are fun, yet disposable, listens.
