Hiya!
There’s no denying that a song will endure in the memory of the public has to have an extremely catchy hook. It doesn’t have to run through the entire song. But, as long as a portion of the song is memorable, it’ll stick in people’s minds. That doesn’t mean that the song is any good, though. Oh, it may seem like a great song at the time since you can’t get it out of your head. But the same thing can be said for a brain eating virus! And that’s exactly what how I feel regarding Bang Bang, a song collaboration between Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.
I do have to confess. The first time I heard Bang Bang, I thought it was pretty good. I liked how catchy the refrain was and I couldn’t help myself singing along to it. It’s also got a great bass intro. It’s a fun and sassy song, no doubt. And it’s also got this very strong female power tone as well. I mean, Jessie J and Ariana Grande have extremely powerful voices and they do demonstrate that power liberally throughout the song. I also enjoyed how fast Nicki Minaj’s rap part here as well. It was fast but managed to have a great rhythm to it.
But after hearing it a few times, I started to realize how flawed Bang Bang was. For one thing, for the first few times I listened to the song, I honestly, thought that there was just one singer and Nicki Minaj. I could already tell it was Nicki because of the extremely high pitched tone she used as well as the incredible speed she would say the words.
But I couldn’t differentiate between Jessie J and Ariana Grande! They sounded too similar! Like I said, I didn’t know that there were actually two singers! When I found out that the singers were Jessie J and Ariana Grande, I initially thought that it was either Jessie J or Ariana Grande performing backup vocals, not singing an entire portion of the song! It would’ve been much better if these two didn’t sound alike!
Vocal twins!
I can’t really complain or give any compliments about the lyrics since I can’t understand them for the most part! I can give a pass with Nicki Minaj since, when she gets going, it’s really difficult to understand what’s she’s saying. I actually think half of the fun is trying to decipher what they heck she’s rapping about at times! But with singing, no. I have to be able to understand the actual lyrics!
There’s just something about the way the two of them focus more on trying to get the sound right that makes the way they pronounce the words so hard to follow! The tone is great but I just can’t understand what the heck you’re singing about! Initially, I thought maybe I was just dumb or tone deaf and everyone else could understand them. But apparently I wasn’t the only one!
If you watched this React video, the teens that knew the song didn’t know what it was until they got to the refrain/chorus of the song! Well, that’s just terrible! How do you expect me to butcher this song during my friend’s singalong parties if I don’t know the lyrics?
Finally, while the song starts out strong and fun, Bang Bang slowly dissolves into an incoherent mess of screaming. After Nicki’s rap, it becomes all three ladies just yelling at the top of their lungs, hoping something good comes out. I’m sorry. I know I should like this part since it’s so full of energy but it sounds horrible!
I don’t really like Bang Bang anymore and I’m ashamed that I ever liked it during the first few times I listened to the song. I hope that this song will fade into obscurity after a few weeks.
What’s your thoughts on Bang Bang? Let me know your opinion of the song in the comments section below!
Byee!
3rd World Geeks 
Jessie J’s voice was throroughly overpowering and punching Ariana’s. Ariana’s sounded like it was harmonising Jessie’s voice in the lower octave. Contrast was decent, but I expected better out of the collaboration. Ariana’s voice could have been less modulated (but its a studio thing, she sounded better live though). Jessie is the obvious star of the song, lets not forget it. But my complaint is that the producers did not take advantage of Ariana’s full creative and vocal range, seriously, given how a collab with her is a great bang for the buck. The collab label with her name gave the popular impact for the song.
However, Nicki Minaj’s bacground beats and vocals for the first few lines seemed thoroughly of place. It was a loud and blinding contrast. However the lyrics and vocals started falling in line with the entire song structure at this phase.
“If they test me, they sorry
Ride his uh like a Harley
Then pull off in his Ferrari”
Nicki’s vocals in the live versions are the worst, THE WORST.
I would give it a 6.5 on 10.
”They sounded too similar!”
The reviewer said later that maybe they were either dumb or tone-deaf(regarding the lyrics). Well, I don’t know if they are either of those things but they do not have a good ear for music if they can’t tell the difference between Jessie’s and Grande’s voices. I don’t listen to either of these artists – and I understate this – regularly, but there are strong vocal differences between the two singers, tone and all. I’m not trying to insult anyone who can’t tell the differences but maaaaaan…you need to get your ears checked, lol, or you are just not ”musically inclined”. I mean how can you not tell the difference when they individually belted? The difference is so obvious, hahaha. Again, no offense, but I can’t take any person seriously when they claim Jessie J and Ariana Grande sound the same to them, lol. In a not-so-analogous example – it’s like saying someone who can sing with grit and distortion sounds like Chester Bennington(R.I.P).
TLDR; their voices are not the same!
Oh and one minor thing, there is a fundamental difference between not knowing the lyrics of the song and not understanding them. Those teens didn’t know it was the song not because they didn’t understand the lyrics – they simply didn’t remember them. Common sense dictates you remember songs by melody, LYRICS, etc, not by understanding the meaning…I mean first, you need to remember the song lyrics to try to decipher them right?!
TLDR; The teens problems with the lyrics are different from your problem with the lyrics, lol.
It’s your decision not to like the song anymore…but the reasoning is so…ugh. But it’s your reasoning and choice.