My blind spot for R&B music emerges again as I consider Usher’s 2004 album Confessions, a massive hit with which I have almost zero familiarity.
This album, the singer-songwriter’s fourth, was the sixth best-selling album of the entire 2000s in the U.S. and produced four #1 singles. You’d think those songs would instantly ring a bell for somebody who was in his early 20s and an avid music listener at the time.
While looking for clips for my Shakira theme week, I came across her video for a song called ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).’ It was written for the World Cup, which I’d probably know if I had been able to watch more than 30 seconds of the World Cup without wanting to gouge my eyes out from boredom.
Seriously, I can watch golf or tennis for hours at a time, but soccer (sorry, football) works on me like anesthesia.
What’s most bizarre is the dichotomy between the brain-numbing quality of the “action” on the field as compared to the unbridled hysteria of the most ardent fans. I mean, golf is boring… sure it is. But have you ever seen a golf fan painted head to toe tearing apart a metal barricade with his teeth because his favorite player almost got a hole in one? Jesus. But I digress.
Meet Me In Montauk 