Music Review // DJ O Show "Love & Monogamy"

 

The way in which DJ O Show creates a sort of fun, light-hearted hip hop song on "Love & Monogamy" is just not something you hear a lot of in the world of hip hop these days.   This is that type of vibe we may not have really heard in the mainstream since Outkast.  Even though the pacing on "Love & Monogamy" is a bit slower, there are a lot of similar elements which make me think of the song "Give It Up" by Public Enemy, which, yes, back in the day I did buy a cassingle for.

First seeing the title "Love & Monogamy" I think this might be a song like Babyface, how it's going to be R&B but also sing about how they'll treat you and only you right.  What unfolds is a lot of the opposite of that because this song is more about someone who has been wronged by both love and monogamy and now doesn't want to get married, as one lyric says: "Not running to the altar with you".   And it really does just feel like the further into time we go, the more difficult it becomes to find someone who also believes in "Love & Monogamy".

One of my favorite parts about this song is that even though the music itself is a lot of fun to listen to, when you're hearing the lyrics there are parts coming from different people.  Sometimes it can even just feel like that group vocals idea, where more than one person provides the backing vocals at the same time.  This is why I think of artists like Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest and Onyx because it has that sense of community about it, where everyone has their role to play and they all make an appearance.

Even though I feel like everyone has gone through a breakup before or at least been wronged to the point where they can relate with this song lyrically, I also just believe that the upbeat, pleasant nature of the music itself is enough to bring anybody into it- even if they're happily in love right now.   If you've been happily married for over ten years, I bet you still can't hear this song without echoing "Yeah right" when the titlular line is delivered.   It's a blast.