I-Tunes Single of the Week Review: Tinie Tempah’s ‘Wonderman’

As Pop-Hop feeds off the emaciated carcass of hip-hop, iTunes supplies the silverware with Tinie Tempah’s “Wonderman,” featuring Ellie Goulding on this week’s free single.

Take the hypocrisy of hip-hop’s pet project, Drake, dress him in Kanye’s hand-me-downs, throw in a British accent and you’ve got Tempah. While this pop star continues to masquerade as a rapper the music industry’s macabre confirms FamilyRadio.com’s rapture.

“Wonderman” is another collaboration between Tempah and producer/songwriter Labrinth. Labrinth produced “Pass Out,” a Tempah track that charted on the Euro Billboard and won a Brit Award earlier this year. Backed up by Labrinth’s club ready dance/hip-hop style, Tempah serves another anthem to follow his WWE Wrestlemania’s adopted theme song “Written in the Stars.”

The second bar of Tempah’s intro, “My uncle used to drink a can of Kestrel when life got stressful” highlights the seemingly random lyrics cut out of a rhyme book and meaninglessly pasted onto a strong beat with a popular UK female vocalist singing the hook. It’s not what is said, but how it is presented that matters. “Wonderman” is an empty song dolled up and packaged with shiny ribbons and pretty faces.

Goulding, who has charted more times than Tinie – though with less success – sings the chorus with the aid of heavy vocal effects. Her performance is strong and an interesting listen, although the contemporary club music approach makes it difficult to differentiate her presence from that of any other vocalist due to the severe over production.

Tempah released his debut album in the US, “Disc-Overy” this week, featuring appearances by acts like Wiz Khalifa and Eric Turner. Despite the support from iTunes, the previously released singles off of “Disc-Overy” have garnered more success than “Wonderman.”
Wiz Khalifa, a relatively new act who has found success, has paid his dues with a series of well-received mixtape releases. His unofficially accepted song “Black and Yellow” has become the anthem for his hometown of Pittsburgh and now starts off the Steelers games.

The difference here is that Khalifa has earned his stripes through intelligent lyrical content and due diligence. Tempah’s sensational public acceptance came from the utilization of professional marketing and production, a strategy that allowed him to forgo depth in favor of tactical approach to fame.