DJ Khaled Scores A New Hit With Justin Bieber, “No Brainer”: Or Is It “Brainless”?
I know the saying “the sequel sometimes is better than the original” can be true but not in the case of DJ Khaled’s new single “No Brainer”.
The hit making American DJ-producer is going to release as promised later this year his new studio album titled “Father of Asahd”, which will feature 11 tracks in total because this will be his eleventh album, and according to his words, every song will be a hit. But getting back to the true topic of this post, DJ Khaled released last Friday (July 27) the newest single from this forthcoming album and it is a collaboration with Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo titled “No Brainer”. These are the same people who participated in DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One” last year, a song that had massive success in the U.S. Back then, it’s true that I liked the song, I liked the singing cast DJ Khaled recruited, and honestly I had no problem supporting “I’m The One” publicly. However, in this occasion I can’t say the same thing. “No Brainer” features the same collaborators as “I’m The One”, sound-wise both tracks are very familiar (No Brainer’s could be I’m The One’s illegitimate brother), but sadly in this case the sequel isn’t at the same level as the original. I mean, let’s leave the obvious aside first, thanks to Justin Bieber “No Brainer” is catchy and will no matter what enjoy success in the U.S – for now the song is already #1 on iTunes. But focusing on a true review of the song, “No Brainer” leaves much to be desired. The lyrics are cringey (I’d actually retitle the song to “Brainless”), the production hurts DJ Khaled’s reputation because it’s simply too lazy and too similar to “I’m The One” (no originality), and the rap verses by Chance the Rapper and Quavo are just not my cup of tea this time. If I were Chance the Rapper, I would disassociate from DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber from now on. I don’t think this is a path he should be taking. But summing it up, I think the true problem here is DJ Khaled’s decision to repeat the same formula as last year’s. Same people, same sound, same everything. This just feels tired.
DJ Khaled also premiered Friday the music video for “No Brainer”. The visual doesn’t really deserve an in-depth review but what needs to be noted is that the best thing from it was Justin Bieber’s flaunting of his new hipster, scruffy look, and his very quirky, personal dancing. Oh, and by the way, poor Quavo only gets like 10 seconds of screen time in this music video. Why was him so shamelessly marginalized? Poor dude.
So, what do you think of “No Brainer”? Be honest.
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