Hidden Billboard Gems - Light It Up (Remix) by Major Lazer featuring Nyla & Fuse ODG

Welcome back to my blog titled Some Random Pop Nerd, where I take a look at the popular music of today and sometimes examine rarer music (which we will get to in a few months). Today, I would like to introduce a new segment titled "Hidden Billboard Gems". In this segment, we will take a look at songs at the bottom half of the Billboard Hot 100 which I feel don't have the traction they deserve. For the first entry in this segment, we will take a look at a song that has been flipping around and constantly gaining and dropping positions in the #70-90 range. The song I will be talking about to introduce this segment is the remixed version of Major Lazer's "Light It Up", featuring vocals from Jamaican Reggae singer Nyla and British Hip-Hop artist Fuse ODG.

I have been raving about this song for a while ever since I heard it being featured on the extended edition of Major Lazer's album "Peace Is The Mission", and for me it was one of its standouts, along with the smash hit "Lean On", "Powerful", and "Be Together" (all of which are songs I highly recommend). Since the version of the song I am talking about is a remix, I might as well address how it compares to the original version. I think it is a huge improvement on the original. While the original version follows a grandiose drum pattern with space-flavored synthesizers piled on top of it, I felt that Nyla's vocals became grating as the autotune became a heavily expressed element in the song and it felt too slow and cluttered to embrace the celebratory mood of the song. The remix on the other hand, improves on the song by wholeheartedly capturing the joyous mood the song was trying to go for, ditching the slow drum patterns for a more fast-paced reggae/dancehall fusion sound with an awesome horn line to back it up. Another major positive for the remix is that due to the fact the tempo is faster, Nyla's autotuned vocals aren't as grating and they actually bring out a lot of the Caribbean flair the song has going for it. Sure the lyrics aren't all that special and follow the "feel the groove" trope present in dance music, but what more do you want from a dance track with a catchy vibe and energetic instrumentation? Fuse ODG's verse and pre-chorus represent his great ability as a hype man, especially when he recites his countdown before the drop with that kick-ass trumpet line hits.

Overall, I really hope this song can be a part of the trend of being among the few reggae songs becoming popular in America. It improves on the original by injecting a more Caribbean flair with active instrumentation and a great hype man, providing excitement during the build-up to the drop. This is one of the songs I feel genuinely come close to capturing that authentic Jamaican dancehall/electronica vibe. I hope that as soon the the hype for Drake's VIEWS album disappears from the Billboard Hot 100, this song can become a huge hit amongst American audiences when the summer months hit. This track receives an A from me and I highly recommend that all of you check this song out. Until next time, peace! Links to check out the song are below.

This song is available on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42LmC14TPVKWKiGo4jNWT7
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/peace-is-the-mission-extended/id1056418024
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Major_Lazer_Light_It_Up_Remix_feat_Nyla_Fuse_ODG?id=B5udfjyiqjrhobo772si2mcy7pu