Rihanna’s single for ‘the Smurfs’ is strange, so much that it does not seem single. Much less a children’s song. On the other hand, ‘Friend of Mine’ seems an experiment inspired by the spirit of the Jamaican Soundsystem, although it sounds more to Rave Madchesterian than classic Dub. The team of composers and producers The Beautiful Mind Projects is at the head of the musical proposal, while Rihanna occupies a background: her voice does not enter the mixture up to 40 seconds.
The experimental nature of ‘Friend of Mine’ is evident in the rhythmic base so “baggy” of production. It is also – let’s – experimental the vocal take of Rihanna, which does not sound exactly polished. But Rihanna’s vocal take, above all, is scarce: Barbadense barely records a stanza and some “adlib” at the end, while producers are responsible for stretching the gum by pulling vocal chops everywhere. Will we have approached the intention of the song or at all?
Perhaps the big question that leaves ‘Friend of Mine’ has nothing to do with its quality – although also – but with the fact that it does not sound at all to a song that someone would expect to hear in a movie aimed at children. It sounds like ‘the Smurfs’ in negative. Beside his side, Britney Spears wants much more friendly. It will be that Rihanna is still in her ‘anti’ era.
Charging …